 Hi, my name is Margaret Grundkibben. I'm the chaplain of the U.S. House of Representatives. I had an opportunity to serve in the Navy and the Marine Corps for just about 35 years. There's an interesting thing about being a chaplain in as much as we are providing for our own and facilitating for others and care for all and advisement. And part of what USIP has done for me and part of my growth as a military chaplain was to understand the role that military chaplains have in advisement, in international relations, in diplomacy, and in combat operations. So when chaplains deploy, they have several responsibilities. One is obviously, and their primary is to their people. That's the primary reason why chaplains go into combat is to make sure that they're people who are dealing with a great deal of issues, a number of issues, both in terms of serving in combat, loss, and distance from their family members. That's our primary responsibility. But to have the opportunity to engage with the host nation, with other national individuals who are participating in that environment. The role chaplains play really creates a connection to religious leaders who are very much a part of international affairs. We don't often realize how much religion plays across the world. About 90% of the world calls itself religious. And military chaplains help to bring that into the conversation. And more than just bring it into the conversation, but to create some translation and to build some bridges. So with respect to peace building, if you want a country to discover peace, it often starts in the community. And if a community tends to be religious, then why wouldn't you want to engage with religious leaders? What I have experienced when I've deployed, and especially in Muslim countries, but almost surprisingly in Muslim countries, is the first thing that they recognize is that I'm clergy. Much of the world does not think America takes faith seriously. And they don't think that they take faith or religion into account when it comes to peace building or engagement with other people across the country, across the world. And so to recognize that they actually have faith leaders in military service is a surprise, or at least a welcome surprise, a welcome engagement that host nations can have at a different level, particularly as it is trying to build its own nation toward peace. As a chaplain, brand new to military service, your responsibility should be first and foremost and almost primarily to your pastoral role. That's why you're there. But the more you, and I don't want to use the word mature in a pejorative sense, but the more you have a, the more mature awareness you have of the environment, the institution in which you're serving, the better understanding you have to see where religion plays a role in advisement. Whether it's internally, you know, and what the morale and the morals of your people are, or externally, I see this would have this ramification or this impact or be perceived in this regard. But that's a role that one has to take time to learn, to look for good mentors within military service, both command, both line officers as well as chaplains. And it behooves the chaplain corps to continue to educate their chaplains in terms of this emerging role, emerging in the sense of from the individual chaplain emerging into this realm that isn't necessarily obvious when one joins military service as a military chaplain.