Army chaplain sets marching speed record

CNS photo/Chaz Muth

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Father Lukasz J. Willenberg holds a specially engraved tomahawk awarded to him March 8 at Fort Bragg in Fayetteville, N.C., for setting a new record for the fastest 12-mile foot march by any soldier to graduate from the U.S. Army's elite DeGlopper Air Assault School. Father Willenberg, who holds the rank of captain, is a chaplain at the U.S. Army post and trains as a noncombat paratrooper with the 82nd Airborne Division.

FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. (CNS) — Catholic military chaplains make a habit of trying to inspire the men and women with whom they serve, but when Father Lukasz J. Willenberg broke an Army foot-march speed record, his troops were just plain impressed.

Fr. Willenberg is a captain and second battalion chaplain of the 3rd Brigade in the U.S. Army’s 82nd Airborne Division’s 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment located at Fort Bragg in Fayetteville, N.C.

“It makes everyone feel extremely proud,” said 1st Sgt. Robert Frame, with the Headquarters Company in the 82nd Airborne Division. “Not just because he’s the chaplain, but somebody who can go that far and be that fast and do that well and win these honors and awards. That’s fantastic. ... Anyone who can be associated with someone like that as a member of their unit, it definitely fills them with pride.”

The 34-year-old Fr. Willenberg set the new record Feb. 19 for the fastest 12-mile foot march by any soldier to graduate from the U.S. Army’s elite DeGlopper Air Assault School, clocking in at 1 hour, 42 minutes.

He beat the long-standing record of 1 hour, 49 minutes.

This kind of honor does more than bring pride to the men and women in the unit, it allows them to connect with the chaplain on a deeper level, Frame said.

Physical training – called PT in the military – is a substantial component of military life and when an important figure in the unit earns such a physically demanding honor, that person garners a great deal of esteem and trust among the troops, said Sgt. Dennis Houde, the chaplain assistant.

“I think that helps soldiers to want to seek the chaplain out a little more,” Frame said. “It’s easier for them to talk to him, that is if they can keep up with him,” he said with a sly smile and a dry chuckle.

Though Fr. Willenberg said soldiers do seek his counsel frequently by coming to his office, he said many also approach him during morning formation and PT, which he does with the enlisted men and women in his unit most days beginning at 6:30 a.m.

“I think it’s very important for me to be there, to be part of morning formation, but also to be part of their struggle,” he said with an accent that reveals his Polish origins. “By simply being there, you can prove to them that I care. That I’m here for you no matter what.”

Soldiers refer to the DeGlopper Air Assault School as the “10 hardest days in the Army.” Of the 100 military personnel accepted into this particular class, only 65, including Fr. Willenberg, graduated.

The chaplain was required to wear a helmet, a full-battle uniform and carry a 35-pound rucksack during his record-setting march.

Ordained in 2008 for the Diocese of Providence, Rhode Island, Fr. Willenberg joined the Army in 2014.

He spent a 12-month deployment in Afghanistan with the 10th Mountain Division in 2014 and was awarded the Bronze Star Medal for his service there.

Though he enjoys the competition involved in athletic challenges and the awards that go with it, the chaplain said the accolades are more rewarding if the soldiers are inspired and it gains him a greater level of trust among them.

“Part of my job is to nurture the living,” Fr. Willenberg said. “If I can be the source of that inspiration, I’m all for it.”