Military chaplains hold services on major bases as well as travel the battlefield throughout Afghanistan, providing a backbone of support for thousands of soldiers struggling with the difficulties of war and year-long deployments away from home. --John Moore / Getty Images (23 images)
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U.S. Army soldiers line up to drink from a cup of wine while celebrating communion with Catholic chaplain Cpt. Carl Subler on March 5 at a small U.S. combat outpost in Sha-Wali-Kot in Kandahar province in southern Afghanistan. U.S. military personnel in Afghanistan and Iraq are prohibited from drinking alcohol while on deployment; although exceptions are made for religious services such as Mass. Getty Images / John Moore
U.S. Army Chaplain Carl Subler opens a smoke grenade container he uses to carry communion wafers before conducting a Catholic Mass on March 3 at Forward Operating Base Frontenac in the Kandahar province of southern Afghanistan. Getty Images / John Moore
U.S. Army Chaplain Carl Subler (C) socializes with fellow soldiers after holding a Catholic Mass on March 3 at Forward Operating Base Frontenac in Kandahar province of southern Afghanistan. Getty Images / John Moore
U.S. Army Chaplain Carl Subler flies over the rugged terrain of Kandahar province on March 3 to visit soldiers at Forward Operating Base Frontenac in southern Afghanistan. Getty Images / John Moore
U.S. Army chaplain Carl Subler reads under the glow of his red-filtered head lamp early on March 5 at a a combat outpost in Sha-Wali-Kot in Kandahar province in southern Afghanistan. Soldiers in combat zones are often forbidden from using "white" light at night, in order to avoid detection by enemy insurgents. The Catholic priest was reading I Am America (And So Can You) by Stephen Colbert. Getty Images / John Moore
U.S. Army chaplain Carl Subler dons his vestments before celebrating a Catholic Mass for American soldiers on March 5 at a small U.S. combat outpost in Sha-Wali-Kot in Kandahar province in southern Afghanistan. Getty Images / John Moore
U.S. Army chaplain Carl Subler presents the Eucharist before distributing communion at a Catholic Mass for American soldiers on March 5 at a small U.S. combat outpost in Sha-Wali-Kot in Kandahar province in southern Afghanistan. Getty Images / John Moore
U.S. Army chaplain Carl Subler celebrates a Catholic Mass for soldiers on March 5 at a small American combat outpost in Sha-Wali-Kot in Kandahar province in southern Afghanistan. Getty Images / John Moore
Catholic chaplain Cpt. Carl Subler (C), says a prayer before a convoy departs on March 4 at a U.S. combat outpost at Forward Operating Base Frontenac in Kandahar province in southern Afghanistan. Taliban insurgent IED attacks on U.S. convoys are the greatest killers of American soldiers in the Afghan conflict. Getty Images / John Moore
Catholic chaplain Cpt. Carl Subler stares at a plate of corned beef hash served to him for breakfast Friday, March 5 at a small American combat outpost in Sha-Wali-Kot in Kandahar province in southern Afghanistan. Although Catholics are meant to refrain from eating meat on Fridays during the period of Lent, small military outposts in Afghanistan have limited food options and serve up whatever they have. Getty Images / John Moore
U.S. Army Chaplain Carl Subler dismounts a Stryker armored personel carrier while moving between bases to celebrate Catholic Mass for soldiers on March 6 in Kandahar, Afghanistan. Getty Images / John Moore
Catholic Chaplain Cpt. Carl Subler reads a prayer book behind an upturned bed cot while waiting to hear soldiers' anonymous confessions on March 10 at Forward Operating Base Ramrod in Kandahar province, Afghanistan. He was using a chapel room where soldiers read stories to their children while taped on video, which is then sent to their families at home. As the only Catholic chaplain in his brigade, Cpt. Subler travels between far-flung bases, celebrating mass and counseling Catholic soldiers accross southern Afghanistan. Getty Images / John Moore
U.S. Army Chaplain Gary Lewis (R) counsels a soldier on March 3 in the chapel of Forward Operating Base Frontenac in the Kandahar province of southern Afghanistan. Chaplain Lewis has spent countless hours counseling grieving soldiers in 1st Battalion, 17th Infantry, which has suffered 21 fatalities since it's deployment last summer, the most of any U.S. Army battalion during the Afghan war. Getty Images / John Moore
Photos of slain U.S. Army soldiers Sgt. Fernando de la Rosa (R) and PFC. Christopher Walz (L) are displayed in a memorial chapel on March 3 at Forward Operating Base Frontenac in the Kandahar province of southern Afghanistan. Base chaplain Cpt. Gary Lewis set up the display. Getty Images / John Moore
U.S. Army Chaplain Gary Lewis uncovers a Bible on March 3 in a memorial chapel for fallen soldiers at Forward Operating Base Frontenac in the Kandahar province of southern Afghanistan. Getty Images / John Moore
Canadian Air Force chaplain Jim McKay (L), and U.S. Army chaplain Carl Subler chat and smoke after holding a Catholic Mass on March 7 at the Kandahar Air Field in southern Afghanistan. Military chaplains hold services on major bases as well as travel the battlefield throughout Afghanistan, providing a backbone of support for thousands of soldiers struggling with the difficulties of war and year-long deployments away from home. Getty Images / John Moore
Canadian Air Force chaplain Cpt. Jim McKay stands outside a chapel after holding a Catholic Mass on March 7 at the Kandahar Air Field in southern Afghanistan. Getty Images / John Moore
Gospel chaplain Maj. Shon Neyland gives a sermon at a gospel service March 7 at Kandahar Air Field in southern Afghanistan. Getty Images / John Moore
Southern Baptist chaplain Cpt. Loren Aderhold gives a sermon on March 7 at a military dining hall near the Kandahar Air Field in southern Afghanistan. Getty Images / John Moore
U.S. Army Chaplain Cpt. Kevin Burton (L), gives a sermon the "Fear of Death" while holding a Protestant prayer service at Combat Outpost Terminator on March 10 in Kandahar province, Afghanistan. Getty Images / John Moore
U.S. Army Chaplain Cpt. Kevin Burton (R), helps Ssg. Isaac Cunningham wire a water pump at Combat Outpost Terminator on March 10 in Kandahar province, Afghanistan. Chaplain Burton, a former electrician, traveled to the outpost to hold a Protestant prayer service for soldiers. Getty Images / John Moore
U.S. Army Chaplain Cpt. Kevin Burton (R), helps Ssg. Isaac Cunningham with a circuit breaker at Combat Outpost Terminator on March 10 in Kandahar province, Afghanistan. Getty Images / John Moore
Chaplain's assistant Sgt. Oscar Santiago carries both a rifle and a guitar after returning from several combat outposts to hold prayer services from Forward Operating Base Ramrod on March 10 in Kandahar province, Afghanistan. Chaplains' assistants are tasked with helping chaplains with their pastoral work as well as protecting them. Military chaplains are non-combattants and are forbidden from carrying firearms. Getty Images / John Moore
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