CHAPLAIN (COLONEL) MICHAEL A. MILTON retired on 28 February 2018 after thirty-two years of service. His retirement was marked by the Legion of Merit award for “exceptionally meritorious service while serving in positions of increasing responsibility, culminating a 32-year career as the Command Chaplain for the Military Intelligence Readiness Command.” The Governor of the State of North Carolina received a nomination from Senator Richard Burr (R-NC) and conferred the Order of the Long Leaf Pine upon Colonel Milton. The Order of the Long Leaf Pine is the highest award for public service in the State of North Carolina. Chaplain (Colonel) Milton was noted by Senator Burr for his career service to the Armed Forces, to the Families in North Carolina, and for his contributions to high education in North Carolina. Chaplain Milton’s retirement was held at the United States Armed Forces Chaplain Center and School. Both Army and Navy officers conducted the service.
CH (COL) Milton concluded his service as the Command Chaplain of the U.S. Army Military Intelligence Readiness Command (MIRC). He was selected for that post by a United States Army Reserve Command (USARC) board on 01 October 2015. In that role CH (COL) Milton oversaw religious support to the premier global military intelligence agency in the Armed Forces Reserve. Personnel participated in the event noting Colonel Milton’s involvement in both branches of Service.
Previously, Chaplain Milton served as a member of the faculty of the U.S. Army Chaplain Center and School, where he was a Subject Matter Expert for Homiletics, Pastoral Care, Liturgics, and served as Senior Editor for the Chaplain Corps Journal. He is the former Deputy Command Chaplain for the 108th TNG DIV (USAR) and Assistant to the 81ST Division Chaplain. He was named as Special Projects Chaplain (writer) in the Office of the Chief of Chaplains, the Pentagon. A former Top Secret Navy linguist (Albanian), CH Milton has served as a Battalion Chaplain in Lawrence, Kansas; Special Projects Chaplain for an Area Support Group in Kansas City, Kansas; Chaplain to the U.S. Military Disciplinary Barracks at Leavenworth; and served during operations in Bosnia-Herzegovina, specifically, in USAR overseas missions as Assistant to the Command Chaplain of US Army Europe (USAREUR), and subsequently as Protestant Chaplain to the Mannheim community.
CH Milton is an ordained Presbyterian minister endorsed to the Army by the Presbyterian and Reformed Commission on Chaplains (PRCC). CH Milton’s civilian ministry service record includes founding two congregations (KS and GA), a K-12 academy, and senior minister of the historic First Presbyterian Church of Chattanooga, TN. In 2007 Milton was elected as the fourth Chancellor-President of Reformed Theological Seminary. He holds the academic rank of full professor and presently serves as the James Ragsdale Chair of Missions and Evangelism at Erskine College and Seminary, while also retaining adjunct professorships at several colleges and seminaries. Prior to the ministry, Milton served as a manager for two Fortune 500 companies (Dow Chemical and Ashland Chemical). He is president of Faith for Living, Inc., a NC nonprofit and is the President of the D. James Kennedy Institute, a church-based ministry that provides a pastor-in-residence program for newly ordained clergy of all denominations.
CH Milton earned the Doctor of Philosophy at the University of Wales, Trinity Saint David (UK) in Theology and Religious Studies; the Master of Public Administration from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in public administration; the Master of Divinity from Knox Theological Seminary (with honors), and his BA from MidAmerica Nazarene University (KS) (with award) in management and sociology. He is the author of thirty books, numerous popular and peer-review journal articles, and is a published composer and recording artist, having released four albums of original music. CH Milton is a board certified pastoral counselor and Chaplain (ACCC), a member of the American Association of Pastoral Care, earning four units of Clinical Pastoral Education. Chaplain Milton is a member of the American Legion, the Sons of the Revolution, Gen. Davidson Chapter, North Carolina, the Military Chaplains Association, the Regimental Chaplains Association, and other civic associations. Chaplain and Mrs. Milton reside in Matthews, North Carolina. Their son, John Michael Milton, is a university student and their seven other adult children live on the eastern seaboard or the deep south. The Milton family enjoys traveling in “the Old North State” (North Carolina) and tending hybrid roses in their yard in Matthews, North Carolina.
PROFESSIONAL MILITARY EDUCATION:
- Naval Recruit Training, San Diego, CA, 1976
- Defense Language Institute, Monterey, CA,1977
- U.S. Air Force School of Applied Cryptological Science, 1977
- Chaplain Officer Basic Course, Fort Monmouth, NJ,1992
- Chaplain Officer Basic, Sustainment Training, the Disciplinary Barracks at Fort Leavenworth, KS, 1993
- Chaplain Captains Career Course, Fort Jackson, SC, 2005
- Command and General Staff College (ILE),Fort Leavenworth, KS, 2010
- Army Basic Instructor’s Course (ABIC), 2011
UNIVERSITY:
- PhD, Historical Theology, University of Wales, 1998
- MPA, Public Administration, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill,2016
- M.Div., Ministry, Knox Theological Seminary,1993
- BA, Management and Sociology, MidAmerica Nazarene University, 1989
- Dipl. (now AA), Defense Foreign Language Institute, Albanian, Monterey, CA, 1977 AWARDS AND HONORS:
- Legion of Merit
- Meritorious Service Award(2)
- Army Commendation Medal (2)
- US Navy Good Conduct Medal
- Army Achievement Medal (2)
- Army Reserve Component Achievement Medal (5th Award)
- Naval Reserve Meritorious Service Medal
- National Defense ServiceMedal with (2) Bronze Service Stars
- Global War on Terrorism Service Medal (“M” device)
- Army Service Ribbon
- Army Reserve Overseas Component Overseas Training Ribbon (2)
- Armed Forces Reserve Medal with “M” Device and 30-Year Gold Hourglass
PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIPS AND ASSOCIATIONS:
- American Association of Pastoral Counselors
- American Association of Christian Counselors
- American Society of Church History
- Association of Certified Christian Chaplains
- Christian Association of Psychological Studies
- Evangelical Theological Society
- John Donne Society
- John Milton Society of America
- Military Chaplains Association
- Military Officers Association of America
- Regimental Chaplains Association
- Society for Biblical Literature
- Spiritual Care Association
- The Order of the Long Leaf Pine Society
- The Royal Society of St. George
SAMPLE OF PEER-REVIEWED JOURNAL ARTICLES:
- The Future of the Chaplaincy in the U.S. Armed Forces Chaplain Corps Journal, Summer, 2015
- John Donne in the Trenches Moral Leadership and the Chaplain as the Living Repository of Western Civilization, Chaplain Corps Journal, Spring/ Summer, 2014
- Finding God in Spiritual Depression, The Army Journal, Summer/Fall,2010
- “So, What Are You Doing Here?” The Role of The Minister of The Gospel in Hospital Visitation, Or A Theological Cure for The Crisis in Evangelical Pastoral Care, The Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society, September 2003
A Curriculum Vitae is available at https://michaelmilton.org/cv.