Lt. j.g. Nathaniel Cook
Navy Lt. j.g. Nathaniel Cook, a native of Andrews, Texas, is training at the Naval Chaplaincy School to serve as a chaplain for America’s seafaring warfighters. Cook graduated from Andrews High School in 2004. Additionally, Cook earned a Master of Divinity in theology in 2023.
The skills and values needed to succeed in the Navy are similar to those found in Andrews. “One thing that has stayed with me from my hometown is the work ethic,” said Cook. “Growing up, I saw good men working diligently at their professions and that kind of work ethic has stuck with me.”
An Air Force veteran, Cook joined the Navy to become a chaplain. “My grandfathers served in the Navy and Marines,” said Cook. “I joined the Navy because I wanted to return to the military service to serve those who are serving our country. I am a 10-year Air Force veteran with a ministerial calling to minister to our country’s Navy combat team.”
Cook served as a firefighter in the Air Force and deployed twice to Iraq and once to Afghanistan. “After getting out I continued to serve my local communities at Odessa Fire Rescue and the City of Andrews as a firefighter and paramedic for another 10 years,” said Cook. “My life has been dedicated to saving the lives of others and I am proud to carry on that service into the Navy by being in the Chaplain Corps.”
More than 800 Navy chaplains from more than 100 faith groups, including Christian, Jewish, Muslim, and Buddhist, serve in the Navy Chaplain Corps. After seven weeks of training at Naval Chaplaincy School and Center at Naval Station Newport, Rhode Island, the chaplains set on their mission to provide support and guidance to sailors, Marines and Coast Guardsmen at sea and on the shore.
“In conversations about national defense, you hear about great power competition and competition among peers and near-peers,” said Capt. Charles Varsogea, chaplain and commanding officer of the Naval Chaplaincy School. “The people of the U.S. Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard have no peers. Part of what makes them peerless defenders of the Constitution is their determination to do so with body, mind, and spirit. No nation on earth can replicate the fighting spirit of our sea services. The graduates of our Basic Leadership Course are trained, developed, and inspired to give our seagoing warfighters the strength of spirit necessary to complete their missions with honor.”
Chaplains and religious program specialists (RP) play a critical role in helping the Department of the Navy achieve and maintain a ready force through the delivery of professional religious ministry and compassionate pastoral care. Chaplains and RPs are embedded within commands operating at sea and ashore to ensure 24/7 availability. They provide a source of comfort and refuge that enables service members and their families to practice and grow in their faith and to face personal and professional challenges. “Navy chaplains encourage their shipmates to connect to the ultimate good and to a community that shares their convictions about what or who that good is,” said Varsogea. “Navy chaplains help people find the value, the meaning, and the purpose of their lives. Navy chaplains support people in their willingness to serve and sacrifice for the greater good.”
In the Basic Leadership Course, Navy chaplains learn to tailor religious ministry to life in the sea services, said Varsogea. They also learn how to facilitate the free exercise of religion for people of faiths other than their own. They learn service-specific ways to care for all people and they learn how and when to render their best military advice. “My favorite part of my job is getting to minister to the sailors and Marines in their environment,” said Cook. “We like to call this Deck Plate ministry. I get to equip warfighters and guardians in spiritual readiness in everyday work environments and help these men and women be spiritually ready to carry out the mission.”
With 90 percent of global commerce traveling by sea and access to the internet relying on the security of undersea fiber optic cables, Navy officials continue to emphasize that the prosperity of the United States is directly linked to recruiting and retaining talented people from across the rich fabric of America.
Cook serves a Navy that operates far forward, around the world and around the clock, promoting the nation’s prosperity and security. “We will earn and reinforce the trust and confidence of the American people every day,” said Adm. Lisa Franchetti, chief of naval operations. “Together we will deliver the Navy the nation needs.”
Cook has many opportunities to achieve accomplishments during military service. “My time in the Navy is not that long,” said Cook. “I’m proud of my commissioning into the Navy and graduating from Officer Development School.”
Cook can take pride in serving America through military service. “What serving in the Navy means to me is that I have been given the great honor of serving America’s greatest treasures, their sons and daughters by being one of their chaplains,” said Cook. “I get to serve those who fight and defend our nation’s freedoms.”