From 2001 through 2004, Chaplain (Major) Steve Peck deployed with the 1st Special Forces Group on several 90-day rotations to the Philippines, Iraq and Afghanistan. He also provided support and training to deploying soldiers. He was originally commissioned as an infantry officer through the ROTC program at Texas A&M. After participating in Operations Desert Shield and Storm, he left the Army to attend the Dallas Theological Seminary. Upon graduating, he returned to the Army in 1996 as a chaplain. While the casualty assistance officer at Fort Lewis, he took part in the notification of the first soldier killed in Afghanistan, Sergeant First Class Nate Chapman. He was also on the notification team that notified the family of Corporal Pat Tillman, former NFL player for the Arizona Cardinals. When the GWOT first began, he taught deploying soldiers about the Five Pillars of Islam and the differences between Sunni and Shi'a. While deployed, he provided both religious support and counseling. He was unique in that due to the positions he occupied, he was usually without a chaplain's assistant. His biggest lesson learned was to approach every day intentionally and deliberately think about the unit and its mission. Without dedicated transportation assets, he actively pursued opportunities to get out and be with soldiers. He found that he was needed most as a counselor - an area, he said, that the Army can do a better job of training chaplains in.

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