Niagara welcomes new chaplain

Published May 31, 2013
By Tech. Sgt. Andrew Caya
914th Airlift Wing

NIAGARA FALLS AIR RESERVE STATION, N.Y. -- There is a new spiritual leader here at Niagara. Chaplain (Lt. Col.) Karis Graham has been around the world, serving as a shepherd and counselor for people from all walks of life.

One of her main focuses is learning about the people she meets with.

"I want to hear people's stories, everybody has a story to tell," said Graham. "All of us struggle as part of being a human. We struggle... and yet we also rejoice. To be able to share in the life of people and to listen to them, and to love them, and encourage them--we all need that, don't you think?"

As well-traveled of an Air Force officer as she is, Graham's story did not start with her donning an Air Force uniform.

A Lutheran Pastor by vocation, she was tending to a small parish near Seattle, Washington. She said she wanted something more. One day she was driving and saw a billboard that read 'Navy: It's an Adventure!'

"I went for it," said Graham. "Long story short, I joined the Navy."

After serving in the Navy for eight years, she got out so she could start working on her Master's Degree and Doctorate. This was her plan until the attacks on Sept. 11 occurred.

"That literally changed my life," she said. "At the time I worked close to the Pentagon and I saw the American Airlines plane circle around...and heard the sound of the explosion. I was recalled to the Naval Reserve shortly after that and went to Italy."

During this time, she thought about going back on active duty in the Navy however, at the behest of several Air Force chaplains to whom she was close with, she crossed into the blue.

As an Airman she was a pastor stateside, went overseas and rose to the position of wing chaplain of the 501st Combat Support Wing in the United Kingdom until 2006, when she left active duty to work on her Doctorate. During this time, she went into the Air Force Reserve and served for the past several years as part of the Honor Guard at Arlington National Cemetery.

After she earned her Doctorate in psychology, she worked in Iraq for several years at Camp Bucca and Camp Taji where she utilized her mental health training for the people who needed her expertise there.

From Iraq, she went to work in the Department of the Army as a civilian in Afghanistan as the Senior Social Scientist as part of Human Terrain.

"It was wonderful in its own way," she said about being in Afghanistan. "I met people who loved their way of life over there. "I was so blessed to get to know village elders and sit down with a governor one day and the next day eat lunch with a common farmer, or meet with the women or the children of that country."

Her time in Afghanistan allowed her to open another chapter in her story.

"In Afghanistan there are a lot of Department of State and USAID people there, so I became familiar with them and applied for a job and that's how I ended up working for USAID."

In her current civilian position as the USAID, Deputy Director for Iraq and Arabian Affairs Office, Graham works with Iraq, Yemen and other countries in the area who need foreign assistance. Her office assists with everything from education to micro finance and micro enterprise to healthcare for the people over there, she said.

"Sometimes as clergy we like to stay strictly in parishes and become religious instructors--things of that nature, but I haven't stayed in a typical parish," said Graham. "My parish has always been out and about, with people, where people are, instead of in a facility. Now I'm an interim pastor in the Metro-DC center...but I also have other callings in life where hopefully I can have a presence outside a parish wall."

Being outside parish walls coupled with her travels and life experiences allowed Graham to listen to many stories about other people while helping to shape her own story--a story still being written, with a chapter at Niagara that is just beginning.

"Performing funerals for seven years at Arlington Cemetery was the highest honor," she said. "There were phenomenal stories from the relatives of very special veterans who passed away and there was not one single committal that I performed that I wasn't moved or touched or awed even after all those years and all those funerals; but I wanted to come back to an operational battle-rhythm and see a different part of the Air Force."

That desire to move to a different part of the Air Force led her here to Niagara.

"She hit the ground running," said Tech. Sgt. Linda Stroka, 914th Airlift Wing Chaplain Assistant.

Stroka said that Graham went to complete the PT test. A little while later Stroka said she received several messages that Graham was in the hospital.

"There was an Airman that had fallen and lost consciousness during the PT test," said Stroka. "The Chaplain jumped in the ambulance without hesitation and rode in the ambulance with her and stayed with her until the Airman's family arrived...and followed up with her later. That was amazing to me."

"I love being a pastor," Graham said. "It compliments everything I do and even though I haven't taken the traditional clergy path, at the end of the day, I hope I reflect God's goodness. If God can continue to bless me to bring hope and life and joy to people, then I have lived a full life. I want people to realize that God loves them a lot."

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