That part of Adventist Chaplaincy Ministries concerned with preparing, counseling, and ministering to members of the church liable to, or called into, military service.
In the North American Division a separate organization within the church to function in this area originated during World War I, when Carlyle B. Haynes was called to be secretary of an agency called the War Service Commission. At the close of the war the office was inactivated. When World War II began Haynes was again called to this work. According to the Yearbook, the Commission on National Service and Medical Cadet Training was established in 1940; after about two years it was renamed the War Service Commission. Some overseas divisions of the church handled the work through the conference administrations or the Religious Liberty Department of the church.
In 1950 the International Commission for Medical Cadet Service (renamed the International Service Commission) was set up to sponsor training programs in other divisions similar to the Medical Cadet Corps program in North America. It was merged with the War Service Commission at the General Conference session of 1954 under the name National Service Organization. However, the name War Service Commission continued to be used in the North American Division for some eight years.
Civilian Chaplains . During World War I and World War II ministers of Seventh-day Adventist churches near military bases in the North American Division were asked to function as camp pastors, that is, to visit and assist members in uniform. When this work grew in volume, several ministers were assigned to this work on a full-time basis. In 1950, when United States military forces were again strengthened, the organization again called some ministers to full-time work for service personnel in areas in which there was a concentration of members in military service. After 1959 these were called civilian chaplains.
Servicemen’s Centers. During World War I action was taken to establish a rest home in France as a center for American SDA service personnel, but the war closed before this could be accomplished. During World War II in the United States many temporary centers for service personnel were established by the church under the War Service Commission. When the basic training center for the United States Army Medical Service was opened at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, Texas, a large center for SDA service personnel was established near the larger SDA church in San Antonio. Many churches have provided simple accommodations for service personnel where they can observe the Sabbath quietly away from the military base.
After World War II, when it became evident that there would be many American service personnel stationed in Europe for some time, such a home was established in Frankfurt, Germany, with a civilian chaplain in charge. In 1975 service personnel centers were operated at San Antonio, Texas; Frankfurt, Germany; and Seoul, Korea.