For Army spouse Heather Williams, journey through Army life for her and husband Captain Chaplain (CH) Jameson Williams has been one natural transition to another. Prior to the Army, he worked in television, and then entered the Army as a Signal Corps officer before finding his passion in the Chaplaincy.

CH Williams thought about entering the chaplaincy during his second deployment to Iraq. When he emailed home, and the second Heather read the email, a light bulb went off in her head. "I thought, I cannot believe we didn't think of this before - this sounds perfect." The transition from there was a little more difficult, as the conversion took 4.5 years; complete with not only schooling, but numerous steps of completing chaplaincy requirements, like finding an endorsement agent. From there, the Williams' found themselves here at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, with CH Williams as the new 5th Battalion, 5th Air Defense Artillery Regiment Chaplain.

Compared to prior Army life, one notable difference is the placement within the Battalion. "My network here is a bit different. Here, he is his own entity and he is just one Chaplain in the entire Battalion, as opposed to one of many Signal officers."

She notes that while it takes time to ease into a different position within the Battalion, the network and support of Chaplains' wives on post has been tremendous. "We are a very close knit group."

She goes on to mention that she saw what a strong bond they really has after she was recovering from surgery, "the entire experience was very humbling - wives were scheduling blocks of time to visit me, bringing over dinners, and making sure my kids were taken care of as well. I met very nice ladies through this, and we are all dealing with the same stressors. It was great."

Not only does Mrs. Williams have a strong support group here, but she has numerous women to look up too, namely Cecilia Thomas, whose husband Colonel Ronald Thomas is the I Corps Chaplain. "She is just a genuine person, and someone I would model myself after. She has been there - both as a Soldier herself, and a spouse. " 

Heather not only will stand proudly by her husband in his new calling, but she strives to be someone that Soldiers and their families can talk to as well.

"I want to be involved with Soldiers and their families, and also be in the ministry with my husband as much as I possibly can." She adds, "I know my husband gets fulfillment from helping Soldiers.

In fact, just the other day in the Post Exchange parking lot, a Soldier of his stopped us to shake his hand. The Soldier looked over at me and said that my husband had helped them a lot. That meant a lot to me, and it was a moment of pride."