Just a little about me…
I married my bride, Tina, in 1989 and we have two amazing daughters, two wonderful son-in-laws, and seven grandchildren ages twelve and six. My wife and I reside in Clarksville, Tennessee, and have two crazy Siberian Huskies.
I retired from the United States Army in 2011 as a Master Sergeant with 5th Special Forces Group (Airborne) as a Special Forces qualified soldier – Green Beret. My retirement from active duty comes after twenty years of service and multiple deployments to multiple countries for humanitarian, supporting the UN and NATO operations, and six combat rotations to Afghanistan and Iraq as a Green Beret in response to the attack on New York in September 2001.
Today, I serve as the Military Pastor at First Baptist Church in Clarksville, Tennessee, and as the Area Director in Kentucky and Tennessee with Soul Survivor Outdoor. Soul Survivor Outdoor (SSO) is a Christ-centered outdoor adventure organization that provides resiliency and spiritual fitness events for active-duty service members across the United States focusing on service, identity, purpose, and value from a Christian worldview. While my focus is serving units assigned to Fort Campbell, Kentucky, there are times when I travel to other locations to host events.
My work with veterans and families struggling with posttraumatic stress caused by war began with my role as the Military Pastor in 2016. It was during this time that I asked the question of why so few churches near a military community provided trauma-informed care. Thus my doctoral studies focused on developing an educational program to equip local churches to develop an integrated trauma care ministry. During my studies, I was invited to serve at a Joni and Friends Warrior Getaway to minister to our combat veterans and their family members based on my educational and ministry focus, combat experience, and being a veteran diagnosed with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
Since serving with Joni and Friends Warrior Getaways and before implementing the new playbook, I prepared training presentations for volunteers and the warrior families. The presentations cover the topics of military training, posttraumatic stress caused by combat, secondary traumatization, and posttraumatic growth. Since the first Warrior Getaway in 2020, my bride and I have served at numerous Warrior Getaways in Tennessee, South Carolina, New Mexico, and Arizona. In 2023, I was privileged to join Joni and Friends in Germany and serve Ukrainian veterans and their families at the first International Warrior Getaway.
Currently, I travel to Ukraine to teach lessons on trauma care and discipleship at the Institute for Leadership, Management, and Coaching at the Ukrainian Baptist Theological Seminary in Lviv. The lessons being taught are supplementary topics for a seminar on disability ministry based on the workbook Beyond Suffering by Joni Eareckson Tada and Steve Bundy. The supplementary lessons on combat trauma and disciples include sixteen topics to follow the seminar’s structure of the Beyond Suffering workbook. The sixteen topics are an expansion of my doctoral work, continuing trauma-focused education, and ongoing ministry among combat veterans and their spouses.
Keep watching my page for updates as I continue serving our veterans and active-duty service members or find me somewhere goofing off with my family!
All the best!
Dr. Richard E. Davis
MSG, USA (Retired)
De Oppresso Liber
Strength and Honor
My expertise in the field includes the following:
Doctor of Educational Ministry (DEdMin), Master of Theology-Applied Theology (ThM-AT), Master of Theological Studies-Missions Emphasis (MTS) with Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Kansas City, Missouri, and a Bachelor of Science in Religion with Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia.
Certified Trauma Professional (CTP) through Evergreen Certifications in 2018 with yearly continuing education requirements to maintain my certification. Current certification expires on October 4, 2024.
Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training (ASIST) in 2010.
Licensed (2011) and Ordained in the work of the Gospel Ministry since 2014.
My doctoral work is available on ProQuest. The dissertation title is Educating Local Church Representatives on Developing Integrated Trauma Care Ministries in the Clarksville-Montgomery County, Tennessee, Area to Care for Spouses of Soldiers Struggling with Combat Trauma.
The continuing education courses successfully completed include:
Strong Family Strong Forces, Strong Star Training Initiative, 2019
Trauma, PTSD & Complicated Grief, PESI, 2020
Moral Injury Following Traumatic Events, PESI, 2021
The Body Keeps the Score, PESI, 2021
Trauma and Relationships, PESI, 2021
Grief Treatment Certification Course, PESI, 2022
Suicide Assessment and Intervention, PESI, 2022
Post-Traumatic Growth for Loss, Grief and Related Trauma, PESI, 2022