GULFPORT, Miss. – Stan Campbell stood in the middle of an intersection having prayer with three troops standing guard at a checkpoint in Gulfport. It is what he does daily as a military chaplain serving in the hurricane disaster area.

Campbell , from Nashville, Tenn., is a member of the Tennessee Air Guard and a Cooperative Baptist Fellowship-endorsed chaplain. When the call went out that chaplains were needed to minister to soldiers working along the GulfCoast, Campbell volunteered. He is one of 90 military chaplains serving in the area.

He arrived in Gulfport Sept. 7 and expects to be deployed for about two more weeks because the military presence along the gulf will decrease as civilian authorities are able to manage the crisis.

"I don’t interact much with the victims of the hurricane," he said. "My main purpose is to provide spiritual support to soldiers.

"Even though the soldiers are here, life continues for their families back home," he said. For example, he ministered to one soldier who needed emergency leave to deal with end-of-life issues with his father.

"Situations like that can be multiplied dozens of times over," Campbell said. "On any given day, several soldiers need to go home for crises, or they have a personal problem and need counseling."

Chaplains also help soldiers who need stress counseling because of what they see as a result of their duty. "Just being somebody to talk to in a caring supportive way and listening to them is very important," said Campbell, a member of WoodmontBaptistChurch in Nashville. In a