MILLINGTON, Tenn. - The events that took place on Sept. 11, 2001, led a west Tennessee minister to join the Tennessee State Guard, but it's friendships and associations that have kept him in uniform for nearly six years.
Chaplain (Maj.) Robert Norvell is one of more than 60 members of the Tennessee State Guard participating here in Operation Vigilant Guard 08, an exercise testing state and local response to a simulated earthquake that devastates the Memphis area. He is on site providing religious support to personnel from different agencies who are participating in the exercise.
"The most gratifying thing for me has been the associations with Soldiers and the friendships I've made with so many people," Norvell said. "The longer I've been in, the more I see a need for ministry in a lot of situations."
Norvell is a longtime minister with the Christian Church USA. After 35 years as a pastor, he now works mostly as an interim pastor in Christian Churches across west Tennessee and Arkansas. He serves as the deputy regimental chaplain for the Tennessee State Guard's 1st Regiment.
In addition to supplying the traditional religious support and conducting services, Norvell is also active in training military and civilian personnel in conducting military funerals. There is a real need for this support in communities across the state.
"The World War II generation is dying at a rate of 800 to 1,000 a day," Norvell said. "We get a lot of requests for a military presence at the funerals."
This request comes in many forms. Some families want a military chaplain to help preside over the funerals of former service members while others desire pall bearers, flag presentations or to have a volley fired at the service.
Tennessee State Guard members offered support at 560 military funerals last year, according to Maj. Nathan James, the State Guard's public affairs officer.
"It's a way for us as representatives of the U.S. government to let that family know that we are thankful for the service their family member gave to the nation," Norvell said. "It does mean a lot to the family."
The so-called "sandwich generation" is another burden Norvell carries in his heart. The Tennessee State Guard has a good number of members who fall within that age group.
"A lot of our people work full time, and many of them work two jobs," Norvell said. "Many of them are raising teens and trying to care for aging parents at the same time.
"It's a lot of stress and a lot of us do what we can to try to help them."
Norvell's present assignment is working alongside disaster relief workers. He said many of them would need spiritual care if the disaster truly did happen.
"Our troops would be exposed to a lot of bad things," Norvell said. "They will have to deal with a lot of traumatic experiences.
"Potentially, we would be dealing with a lot of injured Soldiers and their family members, but also with civilians who were injured or had lost a family member."
Norvell's service drew praise from his regimental commander, Lt. Col. Brian Willemssen. He said Norvell was not only a quality chaplain, but is also a great officer who sometimes doubles as a battle captain at the unit's tactical operations center.
"He is very good caretaker for the spiritual needs of our unit," Willemssen said. "He is always doing what he can to look out for the spiritual needs of our troops."
"I think of him as my spiritual leader," added Command Sgt. Maj. John R. Burwell III, the regiment's top noncommissioned officer. "I have my own pastor, but Chaplain Norwell is right up there with him."
The Tennessee State Guard is an all-volunteer organization. It falls under the Tennessee Military Department and works to support the Tennessee National Guard in a variety of its state missions.
More than 500 members of the Tennessee State Guard are participating in Operation Vigilant Guard 08 throughout the state. They are playing diverse roles ranging from pulling security at exercise sites and manning their own tactical operations center in Smyrna.