Spiritual counselling and guiding in military

Spiritual counselling and guidance service in army organizations is an ongoing structure in the military organizations of many countries of the world, especially the United States of America. Today, there are only 21 countries that do not have religious services in the world army organizations. In many countries of the world, there is a religious affairs officer (military chaplain) institution and spiritual advisors have been serving in various positions in the army for centuries. When different periods of Turkish history are examined, it is seen that we have a deep-rooted history of religious services and spiritual counselling in the military. Especially in the Ottoman Empire, the system of army sheikhdom and military imamate, in a sense, falls within the scope of military spiritual counselling and guidance service. Today, the field of religious officer and military spiritual counselling in the Turkish Armed Forces emerges as a new academic and a field of actual service. The aim of this study is to create an academic basis for the studies to be carried out in our country by being aware of the history, system, organization and current situation of military spiritual counselling in some countries of the world, especially the USA, which has had the institution of religious officer and military spiritual counselling for centuries. The research was structured by examining works, academic theses, articles and news on military spiritual counselling for various countries. As a result of the research, it has been revealed that many countries actively benefit from military spiritual counselling and guidance services directly or indirectly in the 21st century and that the institution of religious officer is an essential unit in the army.