David E. Graetz

Chaplain David E. Graetz is a resident of Campbellsburg, Kentucky. Ordained as an Elder of The Brethren Church of Ashland, Ohio in 1987, he served as Senior Pastor of the Highland Brethren Church in Marianna, Pennsylvania. After completing a Clinical Pastoral Education Residency at Riverside Methodist Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, he became a hospital chaplain at the Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Louisville, Kentucky. He transferred to the Lexington, Kentucky VA Medical Center on February 5, 2017 where he serves as the Chief of Chaplain Service. He is a board certified chaplain with the National Association of Veterans Affairs Chaplains.

He began his military service in the United States Navy on Active Duty from 1975 to 1979, serving with Patrol Squadron 24 out of Jacksonville, Florida. He deployed to Sigonella, Sicily twice and once to Keflavik, Iceland serving on a P3C flight crew chasing Russian submarines over the Mediterranean and North Atlantic Oceans. He completed his naval service in the Reserves where he achieved the rank of First Class Petty officer.

In 1984, he received a Direct Commission in the Army Reserves as a Chaplain Candidate. He transferred to the Army National Guard in 1985. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree in Biblical Studies from Circleville Bible College in Circleville, Ohio in 1983 and his Master of Divinity degree in Pastoral Psychology and Counseling from Ashland Theological Seminary in 1986. In addition, in 2008 he was awarded a Master of Science degree in Strategic Studies from the United States Army War College.

Chaplain Graetz became the Assistant Chief of Chaplains for the Army National Guard on 17 January, 2014 and was promoted to Brigadier General on December 10, 2014. He became the Joint Chaplain at National Guard Bureau on August 1, 2015. His previous chaplain assignments include serving as the Senior Army Chaplain for the Kentucky Army National Guard, the 63rd Theater Aviation Brigade, 1/123rd Armor Battalion, 737th Maintenance Battalion, 1/110th Infantry Battalion, the Deputy Staff Chaplain for the 377th Theater Support Command in Camp Arijan, Kuwait and the Staff Chaplain for the National Support Element in Taszar, Hungary. He has served in the Ohio, Pennsylvania and Kentucky Army National Guards and served with the Tennessee Army National Guard while in Kuwait. He retired from the Army National Guard on January 31, 2017.

His military education includes the Chaplain Officer Basic and Advanced Courses, the Command and General Staff College, the Division Chaplain and Chaplain Colonel Courses, the United States Army War College and the Defense of Civil Authorities Course.

Chaplain Graetz has served in Operation Joint Forge, Operation Iraqi Freedom, Operation Jump Start as well as serving on an activation in a CBRNE Consequence Management Response Force (CCMRF). He responded to Mississippi following Hurricane Katrina.

His military awards include the Army Distinguished Service Medal, the Army Meritorious Service Medal with three Oak Leaf Clusters, the Army Commendation Medal with three Oak Leaf Clusters, the Army Achievement Medal with one Oak Leaf Cluster and the Kentucky Distinguished Service Medal with one Oak Leaf Cluster.

He is married to the former Gale Ann Unger. They have been married for 38 years. Together they have three daughters and two sons-in-law, one who is also a Citizen Soldier Chaplain in the Army National Guard. They are the grandparents of two grandsons, Josiah and Isaiah and four granddaughters, Kloey, Hannah, Lily and Isabella.