Minnesota is home to many things: the Twins, lots of snow and the Red Bulls. One cornerstone of the 34th Red Bull Infantry Division is the chaplains.

Currently there are three Red Bull chaplains spreading Minnesotan know-how to soldiers across the nation. Two of the chaplains are at the U.S. Army Chaplain Center and School, Fort Jackson, S.C., and one is at Fort Hood.

"It's a really unique opportunity for the Army Guard — we are supporting active-duty operations," said Lt. Col. John Morris, head chaplain, Minnesota Army and Air National Guard.

"It's a tremendous opportunity for the Minnesota National Guard because we are at the cutting edge at both the school that trains chaplains and at Fort Hood, one of the largest installations in the country, doing real-world ministry," Morris added.

Capt. Richard Rittmaster, 34th Infantry Division family life chaplain, is the rear detachment chaplain for the 4th Combat Aviation Brigade at Fort Hood. The brigade is deployed to Afghanistan. While at Fort Hood, he also provides pastoral care to the U.S. Army Operational Test Command, a unit that tests develops military equipment. Rittmaster is using his 18 years of experience and deployment to Iraq with the 34th Infantry Division to help the soldiers and families at Fort Hood.

"The majority of my work (here at Fort Hood) involves counseling and pastoral care," Rittmaster said. "With many soldiers on their second, third or fourth deployments, staying resilient and connected to families presents a lot of difficulties. Clearly there is a lot of work to be done."

He is planning nine Strong Bonds events and three single- soldier events in the upcoming months to help the 4th Combat Aviation Brigade soldiers and families through the reintegration process.

"I try to help family members and the soldiers remaining on rear detachment to find purpose, perspective, hope and a connection to inner and external resources in their current circumstances," Rittmaster said. "My training in Minnesota and my experiences in Iraq prepared me well for my current work. I am grateful to be putting those skills to work here."

Rittmaster has been at Fort Hood since January and is scheduled to return to Minnesota in January 2012.

All three chaplains will bring their newfound knowledge when they return and share it with the other 25 Minnesota National Guard chaplains.

"Those chaplains will come back to Minnesota with that much more experience, contributing that much more to the Army and have that much more insight on how our chaplains can train to be more effective as they go forward," Morris said.