In a ceremony at the Military Enlistment Processing Station at Ft. Gillem, Ga, on June 23, Chaplain (Major) Jonathan K. Landon (Senoia, GA) of the Command Chaplain’s Office, Third United States Army & US Army Central Command swore his son Jonathan P. Landon (18 yrs old) in to active duty in the US Army. The same day, the new Private First Class Landon departed for basic training.
After completing basic training at Fort Jackson, SC, PFC Landon will go to Advanced Individual Training for Explosive Ordnance Disposal. The advanced training begins at Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Ala, and finishes at Eglin Air Force Base, Fort Walton Beach, Fla.
This new soldier enters the Army advanced to the rank of Private First Class because he completed four years of study in the Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps while in high school. He began in Air Force JROTC in Washington High School, Tacoma, Wash. When the Army moved the Landon family to Georgia, he joined Marine Corps JROTC at East Coweta High School, Sharpsburg, Ga. He graduated from East Coweta High School on May 19 of this year.
PFC Landon represents the fourth consecutive generation in his family to serve in the Army. His father, Chaplain (MAJ) Jonathan Landon is still on active duty, and is preparing to PCS to Ft. Carson, Colo. this summer. His grandmother, JoJene Babbitt Landon served as an enlisted member of the Medical Service Corps, and his great-grandfather, C. Ray Babbitt served in the US Army Air Corps during World War II. Many other members of the family also have served in the military, including his grandfather Chief Warrant Officer (Retired) James Landon, US Navy, and his mother, Rebeka Landon (nee Sturman), who served in the Air Force.
Chaplain Landon is a Priest in the Charismatic Episcopal Church (CEC), serving under Archbishop Douglas Woodall, Archdiocese of the Armed Forces and Federal Chaplaincies. When his military duties permit, he serves as Priest in Residence at the Cathedral of Christ the King in Sharpsburg. PFC Landon has also served at the Cathedral, in the roles of Licensed Liturgical Minister and Head Acolyte.
As a member of the CEC serving in the military, PFC Landon will also come under the pastoral care and ecclesiastical leadership of Archbishop Woodall. Others who fall under Archbishop Woodall’s spiritual leadership include CEC members who are inmates in federal prisons and those who are inpatients in Department of Veterans Affairs hospitals.
The previous Sunday, the young Landon received prayer from the clergy and people of his home church. The pastor, Bishop David Epps, asked all military veterans to come forward and lay hands on Landon. Later in the service, Epps asked Landon, a Licensed Liturgical Minister, to assist in serving Holy Eucharist. Landon assisted his father in serving Communion to the church where the family has served and ministered for the past three years.
