Chaplain (Colonel) Dave West, United States Army, Retired, is currently pursuing his PhD in Organizational Leadership from the School of Global Leadership and Entrepreneurship at Regent University.
Dave began his Army career as a Private, enlisting in the South Carolina National Guard in 1976. He was commissioned a second lieutenant in the Engineer Corps upon graduation from the Palmetto Military Academy in June 1979, where he was a Distinguished Honor Graduate. Dave served as an Engineer officer for over 20 years. In 2000 Dave was re-commissioned as a Chaplain. Dave retired from the Army in January, 2011 after almost thirty five years service. Dave served as the Deputy Command Chaplain, United States Central Command (USCENTCOM) during thirty continuous months of combat operations where he was the catalyst and driving force for a remarkable climate of joint cooperation and unprecedented display of cross-service collaboration with the services, components, and Joint Task Forces (JTFs) serving in the USCENTCOM AOR during Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom. His key strategic leadership provided the component, JTF and sub-unified command chaplains advice on how religion affected the execution of the USCENTCOM’s theater security operation resulting in the first ever Security Cooperation Religious Support Plan. This resulted in chaplains becoming strategically engaged with religious leaders throughout 25 countries of the area of responsibility (AOR). Dave was instrumental in defining and communicating how chaplains should engage with local and senior national religious leaders. This led to the senior chaplain leadership of both Jordan and Afghan militaries coming together for the first time ever. These highly successful efforts increased mutual understanding and illustrated for our AOR partners the value of religious diversity which helped opened vital new avenues of dialogue in Iraq, Afghanistan, Jordan, Oman, and across the Horn of Africa. His unrivaled understanding of joint religious support in a war time environment was critical during several revisions of the Joint Publication 1-05, Religious Affairs in Joint Operations.
Dave also served as the Command Chaplain, Special Operations Command Central, where he shaped and provided oversight for a comprehensive and dynamic religious support program for over 7,500 Joint Special Operations Forces deployed throughout the USCENTCOM AOR. These units included the forward deployed Combined Forces Special Operations Command, two Combined Joint Special Operations Task Forces, the Combined Joint Special Operations Air Command, and the Joint Psychological Operations Task Force. He provided leadership coaching, mentoring, and supervision to the religious support teams before, during and after their deployment in combat operations for these five commands. Dave also provided timely and strategic advice to the Commander and his staff on matters pertaining to religion and the religious dimension within the AOR.
Dave most recently served as the Strategic Outreach Initiative (SOI) Chaplain, Afghanistan/Pakistan Center of Excellence (AF/PAK COE), USCENTCOM. Under his leadership, the SOI was established in order to widen the aperture of the religious dimension within the AF/PAK region. This was the first effort to map the religious terrain of the AF/PAK region. Dave developed strategic relationships with various departments of the United States Government, including several key offices of the White House and The Department of State, in an effort to coordinate the religious engagement of all agencies within the AF/PAK region. Dave spearheaded several strategic engagements with religious leaders from the AF/PAK region. He was the first chaplain to meet with Deobandi and Ahle Hadith (Wahhabi) madrassa leaders in an effort to reduce the violent extremist ideology and restore peace.
Dave earned a Master of Divinity from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, Fort Worth, TX, a Bachelor of Science Degree in Behavioral and Social Science from the University of Maryland, College Park, MD, and an Associate of Arts Degree in Religion from Anderson College, Anderson, SC. Dave’s military education includes the Engineer Officer Basic Course, Chaplain Officer Basic Course, Infantry Officer Advance Course, Combined Services Staff School, Command and General Staff Course, and the Chaplain Colonel Course.
