By WES FERGUSON

Don Muchow was the chief of chaplains for the most powerful naval force on the planet.

Now Muchow, a retired rear admiral, is undertaking a ministry on a much smaller scale. He’s a chaplain of the Buda police force, a volunteer post that is a little less demanding than his former military career.

“I don’t deploy for a year at a time,” said Muchow, 74, during a recent interview at the Buda Police Department. “I don’t live inside the skin of a steel ship for months upon months upon months. I don’t usually get shot at,” he added, chuckling. “And that’s the biggest blessing.”

Serving as the U.S. Navy’s chief of chaplains from 1991 to 1994, Muchow also was the chairman of the Armed Forces Chaplains Board from 1994 to 1997. In that capacity he made recommendations to the Secretary of the Defense on religious, ethical and moral matters in the military.

His experience in trying times — responding in tragic situations, for example, and assisting people without becoming emotionally traumatized by their grief — has already been of help to the Buda force’s nine police officers and three reserve officers, according to police Chief Bo Kidd.

“Death notifications are not taught in police officer school,” Kidd said. When officers must approach the home of a person whose next of kin has just died, he added, “It’s a huge comfort to know the pastor will walk up with you. When that door opens, you don’t know what’s on the other side.”

“Sadly I’ve had to bury a lot of people,” Muchow said, “and I’ve been in battlefields where the smell of death is all around.”

“It’s the worst part of the job,” Kidd said.

“It is the worst part of the job,” Muchow repeated.

Before joining the armed forces, Muchow was a missionary in inner-city Baltimore and pastored a Lutheran church in Richmond, Va. There, a number of his parishioners had returned from the Korean War or were reservists in the U.S. Military.

He joined the reserves when the military became short on chaplains as the Vietnam War “heated up” in 1964, and in 1967 he was ordered to active duty. During his military career, Muchow served warships, combat Marines, naval hospitals and shore bases.

Muchow had no ties to Buda before moving here nearly a decade ago. When he retired from the military in 1997, after more than three decades of service, he told his wife Monie: “Uncle Sam told us where to live for 33 years. Any city in the country, buy a home and I’ll live there.”
She chose the Austin area. When Muchow heard that Buda was forming a police force last year, he approached Kidd and told him, “If you’re looking for help, here’s my card.”

Working to address the spiritual and emotional welfare of police officers in Buda, Muchow has integrated himself into the department during regular ride-alongs, conversations over lunch and while hanging out around the department.

The mission of a police chaplain is twofold, according to Kidd. One aspect is comforting victims and addressing their emotional needs, which frees police officers to focus on the investigation. The other aspect is ministering to the officers themselves.

“We deal with tragedy and difficult situations,” Kidd said, “and it can be difficult for officers to cope with the pain and things they see.”

Muchow isn’t the Buda Police Department’s only chaplain. The Rev. Paul Goeke, the 32-year-old pastor of The Well, has also become integrated into the police force after being recruited by his friend Muchow.

“I need backup,” Muchow told the younger pastor. “Help me. I’m an old man.”

As Muchow recounted this anecdote the two chaplains laughed, as did the police chief.

“We tend to get jaded because you just see the criminal element” as a police officer, Kidd said. “An active chaplain helps keep people grounded.”

CORRECTION: The printed version of this story misstated Muchow’s military service record. He served during the Vietnam War but did not serve in Vietnam.

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