‘It’s been an adventure’: Ky. Baptist pastor retires as a military chaplain

Tyler Shields, a Kentucky Baptist pastor whose influence and witness has extended far beyond the borders of his community, has retired as a National Guard chaplain, ending a 20-year career of military service.
His military experience is not your typical story. He enlisted in 2006 at age 18 as an infantryman in the U.S. Army — but ended his military service with the rank of major, serving in the National Guard.
“It’s been an adventure,” said Shields, pastor of First Baptist Church in Barbourville. “I always wanted to be a chaplain, but you have to have experience and education, but I only got to be a chaplain for half of my career.”
He noted that the opportunity to be a pastor as well as a military chaplain fulfills “a dual role as a pastor to soldiers and their families. But by being endorsed by the North American Mission Board you are a missionary, to make Christ known. I have been blessed to do weddings to funerals to baptisms.”
Shields said the pinnacle of his chaplain career came last summer when he baptized nine soldiers in Trinidad.
“I had been building relationships with these soldiers — some for years — and we happened to be in Trinidad on mission near the ocean. The opportunity for baptism was so clear, so I got together nine there who had committed to baptism. I have gotten to do a lot of things in my career, but to me that was the most meaningful.”
Shields has pastored Barbourville FBC since September 2020. Prior to that, he pastored Rockhouse Baptist Church in the small community of Hyden, Ky., where the church experienced a dramatic turnaround, growing from 25 people to more than 100.
“I have been blessed to have churches that have been very understanding and supportive of my service,” Shields said, noting that his military role required him to miss some Sundays but “sometimes months at a time. I think they have seen my ministry as an extension of the church.”
Shields said the support of his wife, Kaitlyn, and children, Easton and Audrey, have been crucial in his military service. “I couldn’t have done it without their support. Our children have never known a dad without him being in the military — they have always been used to me being away — either with deployments or trainings.”
In 2007, a year after enlisting in the Army, Shields entered the ROTC program at the University of Kentucky. His training involved completing the Army Air Assault Course in Oregon and the Leadership Development and Assessment Course in Washington.
In May, 2010, he was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Field Artillery Branch, serving with Headquarters Co., 1st Bn, 149th Regiment (Kentucky Army National Guard).
In 2011, he completed the Field Artillery Basic Officer Leadership Course at Fort Sill, Okla., before deploying with a military police battalion to Iraq in support of Operation New Dawn. There he served as the base operations support officer in charge.
In 2012, after the deployment, he completed the Military Police Transition Course at Fort Leonardwood, Mo., and served as the law-and-order operations officer in the 940th Military Police Company.
In 2013 he served as fire support officer in the 149th before becoming the assistant effects coordinator the following year.
But 2015 began a significant milestone when he entered the chaplain candidate program, and completed various training opportunities and the Chaplain Basic Officer Leadership Course at Fort Jackson, S.C. During this time, he served with the Kentucky Joint Force Headquarters and the Kentucky Recruiting and Retention Battalion in Frankfort before becoming a chaplain and promoted to the rank of captain. He was assigned to be battalion chaplain of the 103rd Chemical Battalion National Guard unit based in Burlington, Ky.
In 2019 he completed the Chaplain Captain Career Course at Fort Jackson and was selected to represent the Commonwealth of Kentucky at the National Guard Bureau for the General Douglas MacArthur Leadership Award.
During this time, he earned an M.Div. degree (2016) and doctorate (2021) from Liberty University.
In 2022, he transferred to the 75th Troop Command in Louisville, serving as brigade commander, and participated in the multinational joint-force exercise TRADEWINDS in Belize.
He was promoted to major in 2023, and last year participated in the TRADEWINDS exercise in Trinidad and Tobago.
At Shields’ retirement ceremony, Ralph Neal, who was Shields’ youth pastor years ago and now a member of FBC Barbourville, recognized Shields this way:
“During combat operations, he was there.
“During COVID operations, he was there.
“When tornadoes hit western Kentucky and floods hit eastern Kentucky, he was there.
“He’s performed numerous church services, baptisms, weddings, counseling, funerals, casualty notifications and memorial services for his friends and fellow soldiers.”
In addition to continuing as pastor of FBC Barbourville, Shields is a trustee at Clear Creek Baptist Bible College.