Lt. Col. Derrick Riggs’s life is not boring. Today he is serving in Afghanistan as command chaplain for NATO Special Operations and the Special Forces Joint Task Force.
Riggs’s parents, retired Col. Dwight Riggs and his wife, Kathy, reside in Columbia and are members of First Baptist Church, where their son was actively involved before being deployed overseas. An Army chaplain himself for 26 years, Dwight Riggs said his son is living his dream. “He always wanted to be an Army chaplain,” he said.
Derrick Riggs is now on his fifth combat tour in his 18 years of military service. “I graduated from Dallas Theological Seminary in December 1997 and went on active duty as an Army chaplain in January 1998,” he said. “I was deployed three weeks after 9/11, which began what has become a ministry of bringing soldiers to God and God to soldiers in garrison and combat.”
When he began his chaplaincy work at age 26, Riggs was the youngest chaplain ever to serve, his dad said.
On Jan. 28 of this year, Riggs began a series of Bible studies based on Psalm 91, which he calls “David’s Fearless Warrior Psalm.” There was a visitor for the first Wednesday study. “Normally the new guy just sits there and listens,” said Riggs, “but not Jason. He jumped right in, not just giving his perspective, but explaining sections and helping to make the complex easily understandable. I quickly realized Jason had a personal relationship with God, and it was refreshing to have another believer in the group.”
Jason and Natasha Landphair. Jason, who was serving as a military contractor, was shot to death in Afghanistan Jan. 29 while coming to the aid of his friends.
The following evening, Riggs received word of an attack at the Special Missions Wing. Three American contractors were dead, shot by an Afghan soldier or someone dressed in an Afghan uniform. The chaplain reported for duty and talked to four men. “Three of them were hunkered down in a bunker when the shooting started,” said Riggs. “The other guy was the one who killed the Afghan that turned on our guys.” The Taliban later claimed responsibility for the killings.
Riggs read the list of the three deceased men. Walt Fisher was from North Myrtle Beach, Matt Fineran was from Summerville, and Jason Landphair was living in Fayetteville, N.C. Riggs did not make an immediate connection to the names until his chaplain assistant said, “Hey, sir, wasn’t that guy from the Bible study last night named Jason? Is this the same guy?”
“I felt chilled,” said Riggs. “Stunned … shocked.”
The following day he accompanied the three bodies to a C-130 transport for a “hero flight” back to the United States. “In one of those cold metal coffins was the body of Jason Landphair,” said Riggs, “the first-time visitor at the Wednesday night Bible study 48 hours before — alive, vibrant, smiling, talking, engaging in the discussion of how God can make a person into a fearless warrior.
“Forty-eight hours earlier, I was teaching about the Fearless Warrior. I had no idea that Jason would be living it.
“ ‘Rest in peace’ is the standard phrase for funerals and sending off the dead. But for Jason, I said, ‘Rest in eternity, my friend, for now you stare directly into the loving eyes and relax in the gentle arms of God. You are the Fearless Warrior.’ ”
Landphair is survived by his wife, Natasha, and two daughters: Sofia, 3, and Wren, 2. Friends have described Natasha as “an amazing woman of God.” Following her husband’s death, she sent Riggs a note that read, “Jason called that night and told me about the Bible study. He was excited and looking forward to going back next week.”
“That note brought tears to my eyes,” Riggs said.
Landphair was described by those who knew him as a true man of God who demonstrated the love of Christ and touched everyone around him. “He always loved the military and always had a strong sense of patriotism and duty to God and country,” one person said.
Landphair’s father described his son as “a devout Christian … passionate about his faith.”
Riggs said that even though Landphair’s time at Camp Integrity was only about two weeks, “the impact his visible relationship with God has had on many of my personnel has been profound.”
A graduate of Idaho State University, Landphair joined the Army and was deployed to Iraq, where he was wounded by a sniper. But he soon returned to duty after receiving a Purple Heart. After his injury, he trained in the Army Special Forces to become a medic and served three more tours in Afghanistan without further injury.
Landphair was trying to help two wounded comrades when he was killed. Riggs said, “Jason was a Special Forces medic and was responding with aid just like he had been trained to do. Most people flee at the sound of gunfire. Soldiers run toward it. Medics run to the wounded to protect and take care of them, even though the danger is still present.”
Psalm 91 is about the security of the one who trusts in the Lord. Verse 2 says, “I will say to the Lord, ‘My refuge and my fortress, my God in whom I trust.’ ” This was likely the last Bible study Landphair was a part of before he met the Lord he served.
Riggs led the second Wednesday night Bible study with a heavy heart, admitting he was “overcome with emotion. All of us were feeling overwhelmed knowing that one of our group was now standing in the presence of God.”
At age 44, Riggs has continued to be faithful in his ministry of “bringing God to soldiers and soldiers to God.” After three tours in Afghanistan and two in Iraq, he will have spent a total of 46 months deployed. He said that after all those deployments and numerous Bible studies in combat areas, he “never really wondered if someone in our group would not return because of death.”
“I am ready to come home for a while,” Riggs said. He is scheduled to return to the U.S. in June.