Jeff Struecker enlisted in the US Army at age 18 and served for more than 22 years before retiring as a chaplain with the rank of Major.
Jeff spent most of his Army career serving in special operations units and was deployed to combat in Panama, Kuwait, Somalia, Afghanistan, and Iraq. He holds many awards and decorations for his military service, including the Bronze Star Medal with the “V” device for valor. His service in the Battle of Mogadishu was depicted in the popular film Black Hawk Down.
While on active duty, Jeff earned an undergraduate degree at Troy University in Alabama. After earning his MDiv from the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in 2000, he was commissioned as a US Army chaplain in 2001. Jeff completed more than 10 years as a chaplain before retiring from the Army in 2011. He is currently completing his PhD work at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in North Carolina.
With experience as a youth pastor and associate pastor, Jeff now serves as the lead pastor of Calvary Baptist Church in Columbus, Georgia. He is also a competitive long-distance runner and author or coauthor of several books of fiction and nonfiction, and he and his former high school sweetheart—now his wife—Dawn are the proud parents of Aaron, Jacob, Joseph, Abigail, and Lydia.