Has anyone experienced tasking issues while working as a Chaplain's Assistant? How would you have handled this situation?

Another version of this situation I went through was that the battalion I was in at the time lost its chaplain due to PCS halfway through my tour leaving me alone. 1SG thought this meant I would be sitting in the chaplain's office unsupervised doing nothing all day so he tried to assign me to the orderly room until either a new chaplain arrived or my tour ended and tried to say that AR 165-1 did not apply because there was no chaplain to consult & no functioning UMT. Resolved that by having BDE Chaplain & BDE Chaplain assistant go to bat for me and by contacting the BDE CA by phone at the start and end of every duty day with a report of what I would be doing/had done that day to give me some kind of supervision. I also developed a daily schedule for myself with guidance from the BDE CA and gave copies of it to him & 1SG.

I had that issue plenty, especially since I started out as an E-2 in a battery that had not had a chaplain in about 10 years (and didn't get one until I had been with the unit for about 6 months). Honestly, I always did what I could when the chaplain didn't need me. In Afghanistan I spent a lot of time doing guard duty, riding shotgun on convoys, being an extra body on resupply birds, construction work, supervising Haji workers, etc. It earned me a lot of respect, and it also made the UMT more available, as junior enlisted were much more likely to approach me to speak with the chaplain than they were to go straight to him. Our MOS gets a bad rap, and I think it's because often times situations like yours get misread and people assume (sometimes correctly) that we're shamming while everyone else hustles.

Boy!...things have not changed. I was a chaplain's assistant for 25 years, in the RA, AR, and NG, from 1985 to 2010. This was a constant fight between the unit and chaplain section. Unfortunately, the CA is the one that takes the brunt of it. It starts with the top-down. If the command does not support the chaplain and his assistant, its rough. Even though the CA has his duties and loyalty to his chaplain, the CA still needs to be involved in the unit, because his is still part of the unit. When activities or events come up in the unit and "volunteers" are needed, if the chaplain can spare you, please be involved. It shows "presence of ministry" and also shows to the command and other soldiers that you are a "soldier" too. And kudos about educating the NCO that didn't quite understand your role. As a young soldier, continue to follow orders, but let your chaplain know, without sounding like your "telling on him," that you were tasked by someone else. Instead of being "Sergeant Taggart" I am now just "Chris"...out.