OKLAHOMA CITY - The Oklahoma Army National Guard chaplain corps welcomed a new member as 2nd Lt. Dakota Carrington swore in during an Oath of Office ceremony at the Oklahoma State Capitol, Tuesday, April 16, 2024.



Carrington initially enlisted as a fire control specialist in 2020, but felt a calling to serve his fellow Soldiers through ministry.

“I just felt the Lord put that on my heart to pursue chaplaincy,” Carrington said. “I’m just blessed that there’s a program like the chaplain candidate program that allows me to start getting real world experience while I complete my education.”

Carrington emphasized the importance of spiritual wellness, one of the five pillars of the OKARNG’s Holistic Health and Fitness program.

“I want to be an advocate for the Soldiers to ensure everyone is taken care of and happy on the homefront so we can have a better chance of retaining Oklahoma’s great Soldiers,” Carrington said.

According to Lt. Col. David Jordan, full-time support chaplain for the Oklahoma National Guard, the addition of Carrington comes at a crucial time for the chaplain corps, which has been operating at half-strength.

The mission of a chaplain is two-fold, impacting both individual Soldiers and overall mission readiness. This role includes providing religious support for Soldiers as well as advising the command on religious impacts of missions within the organization.

As Carrington explains, chaplains experience a unique relationship with the Soldiers they lead and are often expected to be in the field with the “joes”.

Jordan expressed a similar sentiment, recalling his experience during his 2011 deployment to Afghanistan.

“The number one thing that’s most fulfilling is the need that the Soldiers had to lean on me, the need that I had to lean on them, means that they trusted you and you trusted them,” Jordan said. “And through a relationship built, ministry was able to happen. That’s a type of ministry you won’t get anywhere else.”

Carrington is looking forward to building rapport with Soldiers and serving as a spiritual advocate for them.

“Looking far into the future, when my time comes to hang up my uniform for the last time, I want to be able to look back and have my Soldiers say that I was there for them when they needed me most,” Carrington said.

Chaplains are required to have an endorsement for ministry through a third-party religious entity, as well as a master’s degree in divinity. The chaplain candidate program allows service members to gain experience in chaplaincy while pursuing their degree.

Carrington will remain a chaplain candidate while he earns his degree in divinity through Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.

If you are interested in the chaplain corps or chaplain candidacy program, please visit: https://ok.ng.mil/Resources/Chaplain/.