January 2026

‘Excellence in All We Do’ May Mean That We Need To Do Less

by Chaplain (Col.) John F. Reutemann III, Chief of Chaplains

As all members of our Corps know well, CAP’s core values are shortenings of the Air Force’s core values, with the exception of our last one which was added to give us a total of four instead of the Air Force’s three.  For this brief reflection at the beginning of a new year, I’d like to focus on the Air Force’s wording of our third core value, Excellence. In all the other components of the Air Force, this core value is always phrased as “Excellence in All We Do.” It is engraved on the walls of the terrazzo at the Air Force Academy, and it is memorized on Day 0 by every new member of our force, enlisted and officer alike.

Here's our problem: we can’t be excellent at everything. No one can. So our options are either do everything mediocrely, or be selective in what we do so that it’s able to be done excellently. I truly believe that ‘Excellence in All We Do’ means that we will occasionally have to make difficult decisions to do less…not because we are lazy, unmotivated, selfish, etc., but because we want to do what we do with excellence.

Allow me to give an example from my own faith tradition, Byzantine Catholicism (Disclaimer: this is not an endorsement of my faith or an attempt to denigrate others, but simply an analogy from my own life’s experience). Yeas ago, I almost became a monk at a quiet monastery on the Keweenaw Peninsula of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. I fell in love with their prayer life, their work life, their brotherhood, and the way in which they balanced all of that…not to mention the forested grounds and the sound of the waves of Lake Superior crashing on the shore right behind the back wall of the main church, which, if you were seated in the last few pews, could be heard in the brief moments of silence between chants. It was like living at Cair Paravel in Narnia!

Here’s their problem: in the Byzantine tradition, their prayer services take significantly longer than any reasonable person would expect...and they’re very proud of that! Morning and Evening Prayer take at least two hours each. Add in Holy Communion and it takes an additional hour. Each of the three Mid-Day Prayers (9 am, 12 noon, & 3 pm) – which were allegedly intended to be short so that monks could return quickly to their work while the sun is still out – take at least 45 minutes each. And of course all of these services – as well as the others that I have not named – require additional buffer time both before and after to light candles, set the page numbers on the hymn board, put on vestments, ignite the charcoals for incense, etc. The common joke among the brothers is that it would take 25 hours per day to do all of the prescribed services properly!

Here's their solution: what most Byzantine monasteries decide to do – with the blessing of their abbot – is to pick only a few of the prescribed daily services and focus on doing them excellently. The thought of simply trying to do them all mediocrely doesn’t even cross their minds as monks would scoff at the idea of rushing their prayer. How backwards it would be to lower the quality of prayer so that one can do a higher quantity of prayer! With this solution, the brothers are still spending upwards of 7-8 hours in the chapel conducting these services, but this way, they are able to eat, sleep, work (which is an additional several hours), and maybe even have an hour of community recreation. After all, they have to do something to pay their bills and keep the heat turned on, much less maintain their own physical and mental health.

As an aside, it should be noted that there are some so-called “sleepless monasteries” that have so many monks that they have the luxury of being able to conduct every single one of the prescribed daily services by putting the monks on staggered sleep cycles and rotating them through different services. At any given moment throughout the day or night, some monks will be in the chapel praying, some will be in the fields or sheds working, and some will be in their dorms sleeping. The monastery as a whole is thus never asleep. In hindsight, it sounds almost like the now-banned practice of “Fire Watch” at encampments during my cadet years, minus the incense and chanting! Joking aside, while one can marvel at such monasteries and the beautiful gift of literally-unceasing prayer that they offer unto God on behalf of the world, one can also recognize that most monasteries simply do not have the resources to pull that off.

Here's our solution: I’m not the abbot of a sleepless monastery. I’m the chief of a limited Corps with limited resources. Yes, we have amazing volunteers who give and give and give of their time, talents, and treasure, and I am eternally grateful for you all. But we can’t do everything excellently, so let’s not try. Excellence will suffer. Our reputation will suffer. Our members will suffer. Let’s spend 2026 zooming in on what’s most important, and doing it excellently. To be clear, if more volunteers step up, and/or more resources become available, we would be able to do more with excellence, but I’m never going to ask you to over-exert yourself. You are our most valuable resource. Stretch yourself, challenge yourself, but don’t break yourself.

Within this past year, CAP as a whole has had to make a few difficult-but-necessary decisions to divest ourselves of certain programs that we were simply no longer able to do excellently, either due to lack of funding, lack of member participation, or any number of other reasons. This is not to discount by even one iota the impact that such programs had on our members (I, for one, learned to fly via the now-discontinued national glider program). Rather, this should encourage us to be constantly evaluating what’s most important, focusing on those things, and making them more excellent than they have ever been before! This means learning to say “no, sorry” to certain ideas (or at least, “not now, maybe later”), but simultaneously giving a resounding “yes!” to other ideas. As I am now almost halfway through my term as your chief, I couldn’t be prouder of those items that we have focused on and delivered excellence: our relationship with the Air Force Chaplain Corps, increased educational opportunities, faster appointment processes, and more user-friendly cloud-based ministry tools…all while continuing to ensure the spiritual fitness of CAP’s nearly 70,000 members, regardless of their religion or lack thereof.

Remember me in your prayers, and I’ll remember you in mine…but then I’m going to bed, and so should you. After all, I need you to be rested and ready at a moment’s notice to respond with excellence.

The Pacific Region Cadet Leadership School

By Chaplain (Lt. Col.) Alan Zaugg

The Pacific Region Cadet Leadership School (RCLS) was held concurrently with the Oregon Wing 2025-2026 Winter Raptor Encampment at Camp Rilea, OR, from December 26, 2025 through January 3, 2026. Chaplain Lt. Col. Alan Zaugg served as the RCLS Chaplain. At the request of the RCLS commander, he designed and instructed three classes, Emotional Intelligence, Ethical Decision Making, and Leadership Core Values.  He prepared for each class by dedicating time to perparing a PowerPoint presentation.  Each class involved thirty-three students including some Senior Member staff as well.

I was asked if I would like to attend another RCLS as a staff member and I said yes. I really felt that my time, talent, and treasures were utilized. Chaplain participation in RCLS is something that I would recommend to all Chaplains. Our ministry of presence whenever and wherever possible contributes significantly to the success of these types of activities.

 

Remembering Selfless Service on Four Chaplains Day

By Chaplain (Lt. Col.) Tim Miner
Commandant, Civil Air Patrol Chaplain Corps College

February 3rd is Four Chaplains Day when we remember the sacrifices of four US Army chaplains during World War II. 

On January 23, 1943, the USAT Dorchester left New York City to a destination in Greenland with 900 military members onboard as part of a three-ship convoy escorted by Coast Guard Cutters Tampa, Escanaba and Comanche.

On February 3 the ship was torpedoed by a German submarine in the North Atlantic, only 150 miles from its destination. As the ship was sinking, the four Army chaplains, all First Lt.— George Fox (Methodist), Alexander Goode (Jewish), Clark Poling (Dutch Reformed), and John Washington (Roman Catholic) — helped hand out life jackets until the supply ended. They then took off their life jackets and gave theirs to others. As the ship was sinking they were seen standing together on the deck, with arms linked together leading the men in prayer.

By act of Congress, they were posthumously awarded a special "Four Chaplains Medal" which was to have the same status as the Medal of Honor. 

In 1951, President Truman dedicated a chapel to honor these four chaplains.  2026 marks the 75^th anniversary of the creation of the Four Chaplains Memorial Chapel. Over 10,000 individuals donated to construct this interfaith memorial which is located at the Philadelphia Navy Yard.

Watch this short video produced by the Four Chaplains Memorial Foundation in Philadelphia.  You can learn more about the individual lives of these heroes at the foundation’s website.

The first class of the Civil Air Patrol Chaplain Corps College’s Auxiliary Chaplain Course graduated in 2023 on Four Chaplains Day.  The four chaplains serve as the class exemplar – a reminder of the calling to selfless service and sacrifice for others. 

Photographs:  United States Postal Service three cent stamp honoring the Four Chaplains and the stained glass window from the U.S. Army’s Carlisle Barracks Post Chapel that honors the heroes through the "Four Chaplains" stained glass window.