Welcome to the web page for the Office of the Chaplain at the Joint Forces Staff College. Feel free to contact me or come by and chat. I am here to support your religious/spiritual needs, and also provide a safe space to talk.

Blessings,

Chaps

The Joint Forces Staff College (JFSC) is the Norfolk, Virginia, campus of National Defense University (NDU) which is located at Fort McNair in Washington, D.C.  NDU falls under the direct supervision of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in order to carry out joint professional military education. Thus, the Office of the Chaplain at JFSC provides traditional pastoral care and counseling in a unique setting that educates Air Force, Army, Marine Corps, Navy, and Coast Guard officers to serve in various joint billets within the Department of Defense. Civilians from other U.S. government agencies and officers from the armed forces of other nations also attend the schools of JFSC. By virtue of a memorandum of understanding with the Chairman’s Joint Staff, and as a representative of the Joint Staff Chaplain located in the Pentagon, the Command Chaplain of JFSC also provides pastoral care and counseling to military and civilian workers at Joint Staff South locations in Suffolk, Virginia, and NSA Hampton Roads.

The billet of Command Chaplain belongs to the Chaplain Corps of the U.S. Navy, and it requires the individual to be trained and certified in Joint Professional Military Education Phases I and II. In addition, the Command Chaplain must have a professional naval code in ethics. This additional educational requirement, which goes beyond what is required to be a military chaplain, enables the Command Chaplain to teach a military ethics elective to students of the Joint and Combined Warfighting School (JCWS), advice JCWS curriculum developers on the Foundations of Unified Action module on ethics, give an ethics lecture to students of the Joint Advanced Warfighting School (JAWS), and be the ethical and moral advisor to the Commandant of JFSC.

Lieutenant Commander Schumann was born in Provo, Utah and grew up in Lawrence, Kansas.  He is an alumnus of the Cleveland Institute of Art with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Drawing.  He also earned advanced degrees from: Indiana University (Master of Fine Arts in Printmaking), Utah State University (Master of Arts in Family and Human Development), Lubbock Christian University (Master of Arts in Biblical Interpretation), the Naval War College (Master in Defense and Strategic Studies), and Duke University (Master of Theology emphasis in Ethics). 

Prior to his military service, LCDR Schumann served in various pastoral roles: Missionary in Hawaii (1992-1994); Assistant Pastor over Adult and Home Visitation Ministries, Minneapolis, MN (2003-2007); and Religious Education and Teacher Development Instructor, Logan, UT (2008-2010).  In 2010, he commissioned as a Chaplain in the U.S. Army Reserve. 

As a member of the of the 644th Regional Support Group Chaplain Staff (USAR, 2011-2012), he deployed to serve as an Advisor to the Afghan National Army School of Cultural and Religious Affairs, in support of NATO Training Mission-Afghanistan.  Upon commissioning in the Navy in 2012, he served as Group Chaplain for Naval Beach Group TWO and its four component commands that provide ship-to-shore capabilities for Amphibious Ready Groups.  In 2016 he transferred to Twentynine Palms, CA.  As Battalion Chaplain for 1st Battalion 7th Marines, he served as the Ground Combat Element Chaplain for Special Purpose Marine Air Ground Task Force, based at Al Jaber, Kuwait, from April to October 2017.  During this deployment he traveled to locations in Iraq and Jordan providing religious support to Marines and Sailors of the battalion.  In November 2017 he received orders to 3d Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion where he served as Battalion Chaplain until 2019.  From March 2019 to July 2021 he served as Command Chaplain on USS RUSHMORE, home-ported in San Diego, CA. In support of Pacific Partnership 2020 he deployed with the USS COMSTOCK from July to September 2020. After completing a Master of Theology program (emphasis in Ethics) at Duke University in May 2022, he reported to the Joint Forces Staff College in June 2022 to serve as Chaplain and Military Faculty.

LCDR Schumann’s personal awards include: the Navy and Marine Corps Commendation medal (2), Army Commendation medal, Navy and Marine Corps Achievement medal (3), and Army Achievement medal. 

He married his wife, Emily, in 2003 and together they have three sons, Josiah (12), Benjamin (8), and Isaiah (2).

 NSA-HR POW-MIA Chapel (1453 Mitscher Avenue, nearby JFSC)

Catholic Mass
-Tuesdays 0630

Bible Study
-Mondays and Thursdays 1200

Naval Station Norfolk Chapel (1630 Morris St, Bldg C-7, Naval Station Norfolk, VA 23511, located just inside Gate 2)

CATHOLIC SERVICES (Our Lady of Victory Chapel)
- First Saturday of the month Mass, 0900
- Sunday Mass, 0930
- Daily Mass (Tuesday), 1130 Holy Mass (Office Hours 0930-1300)
- Wednesday, 0600 Mass followed by Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament (Office hours 0600-0830)

PROTESTANT SERVICES (David Adams Memorial Chapel)
- Sundays at 1045

JEWISH SERVICES (Commodore Levy Chapel – 2nd Deck of Bldg C-7):
- Shabbat (Fridays) at 1145

MUSLIM SERVICES (2nd Deck of Bldg C-7)
- Prayer room available throughout the week

The Joint Forces Staff College Chaplain has information on a variety of programs, services, and local resources including:

• On Campus worship
• Naval Station Norfolk and other local area worship opportunities
• Pastoral and Marriage Counseling
• Bible Study
• Marriage Enrichment and Personal Growth Retreats through Chaplains Religious Enrichment Development Operation (CREDO) program
• Suicide Prevention and Awareness

Purpose

Joint and Combined Warfighting School (JCWS) and Joint Advanced Warfighting School (JAWS) students are encouraged to do more than simply study the material and pass their respective courses. Acculturation with each other and the community, and extra-curricular activities that build group cohesion, are also designed pieces of the curriculum. As a part of this emphasis, the seminars (classes) are also encouraged to participate in activities with community agencies and organizations which allow them to give of themselves in the service of others. The Command Chaplain is the coordinator for those seminar activities.  In this capacity, the Command Chaplain meets with the seminar points of contacts at the beginning of each term, gives them information they need to plan an outreach event in neighboring communities, and maintains contact to monitor success and record metrics of planned events.

The faculty and staff of JFSC are also encouraged to participate in community relations projects.  The Command Chaplain supports and encourages an enlisted petty officer who is assigned to JFSC and has been given the collateral duty of coordinating outreach events. Together, they write and revise the outreach standard operating procedures (SOP) for JFSC.