Allegiance USA Name Margaret Kibben | Years of service 1986 – present | |
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Awards Legion of Merit, Bronze Star Medal, Meritorious Service Medal | ||
Service/branch United States Navy | ||
Margaret Grun Kibben, USN, is a Presbyterian minister currently serving as the 26th Chief of Chaplains of the United States Navy. Formerly the 18th Chaplain of the United States Marine Corps (CHMC) and the Deputy Chief of Chaplains of the United States Navy, Admiral Kibben was the first woman to hold each office.
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Education
A native of Warrington, Pennsylvania, Rear Admiral Kibben entered active duty in the U.S. Navy in 1986 following studies for a bachelor's degree from Goucher College in Towson, Maryland. She received both her Masters of Divinity and her Doctor of Ministry degrees from Princeton Theological Seminary, Princeton, New Jersey. She holds a master's degree in National Security and Strategic Studies from the Naval War College. Kibben was a senior fellow at the United States Institute of Peace.
Military career
Kibben’s Marine Corps assignments have included Marine Corps Base Quantico, Virginia, where she served with Headquarters and Service Battalion, Security Battalion, the Brig, Marine Corps Air Facility and the president’s Helicopter Squadron, HMX-1. She also served with the Marines of Second Force Service Support Group Camp Lejeune, N.C., making deployments to both Turkey and Norway. Later she was assigned to the Marine Corps Combat Development Command in Quantico as the doctrine writer for Religious Ministry.
Kibben’s Navy assignments include the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland as the first female chaplain. She was the Navy Chaplain Corps historian at the Chaplain Resource Board and the command chaplain, USS San Diego (AFS-6), in Norfolk, Virginia. As U.S. 3rd Fleet chaplain, Kibben was responsible for the training and certification of all carrier strike group and expeditionary strike group religious ministry teams. She completed a deployment as the command chaplain, Combined Forces Command Afghanistan as an individual augmentee.
Kibben was detailed to the Office of the Chief of Navy Chaplains, first serving as the director for Force Structure and Community Management and subsequently as the executive assistant to the chief of Navy Chaplains.
Most recently, Kibben held the office as the 18th Chaplain of the United States Marine Corps (CHMC) and the Deputy Chief of Chaplains of the United States Navy.
Role and responsibilities
The Chief of Navy Chaplains is the Senior Chaplain in the Navy, the Head of the U.S. Navy Chaplain Corps, and the Director of Religious Ministry Support for the Department of the Navy. He or she advises the Secretary of the Navy, the Commandant of the Marine Corps, the Chief of Naval Operations, and the Commandant of the Coast Guard "on all matters pertaining to religion within the Navy, United States Marine Corps, and United States Coast Guard."
Awards and decorations
Kibben's personal awards include the Legion of Merit with one gold star, the Bronze Star, the Meritorious Service Medal with two gold stars, and the Navy Commendation Medal with two gold stars.