Martinsburg, W.Va. –
The West Virginia National Guard’s Chaplain Corps convened for its 2025 Chaplain's Annual Sustainment Training Apr. 4-5, 2025, at the 167th Airlift Wing in Martinsburg, West Virginia. The training brought together 28 chaplains and religious affairs specialists from West Virginia and Maryland for two days of instruction, collaboration, and strategic planning.
This year’s CAST marked the first joint Army and Air training in over a decade for West Virginia, strengthening the Chaplain Corps to offer effective religious support in a changing and resource-limited environment, highlighted key updates, training advancements and leadership transitions within the corps.
“This gathering was about more than just updates — it was about strengthening the spiritual backbone of our organization,” said U.A. Army Chaplain (Col.) Brad Hanna, the National Guard Bureau Chief of Religious Affairs.
Other attendees included Chaplain (Col.) David Johnson, Deputy Director of the National Guard Bureau Joint Chaplain Office; Brig. Gen. David Cochran, Assistant Adjutant General – Air; Chief Master Sgt. Brandon Ives, Air National Guard State Command Chief; and Col. Robert Kincaid, Chief of Staff for the West Virginia Army National Guard.
Throughout the training, unit ministry teams participated in workshops on moral leadership, resource updates and relationship building strategies to better support Soldiers, Airmen and their families. A standardized Moral Leadership Training product, jointly designed for both Army and Air units, was introduced to help foster emotional intelligence, moral decision-making and courageous conversations across formations.
The event also provided a platform for the newly appointed Senior Chaplain for the West Virginia Army National Guard, Chaplain (Col.) Jim Davidson, to outline his vision for religious support within the state, emphasizing unity, accessibility and resilience.