Congratulations Rev. Malasri!

Congratulations to Rev. Somya Malasri who will graduate this month from the University of the West in Rosemead, California. Soon he will become an active-duty chaplain of Buddhist faith for the U.S. Army. His bio in his own words below:

My name is Somya Malasri, a Buddhist minister. My denomination is Theravada Buddhism. I was born on September 11, 1970 in Buriram Province, Thailand. I joined a Buddhist temple as a novice, when I was seventeen. I went to study Buddha's teachings and meditation in southern Thailand for four years. I was ordained as a Buddhist monk in Southern Thailand on June 1, 1991, when I was twenty one years old. I moved to Bangkok for further education and resided at Wat Bodhinimit Temple. I enrolled at Mahachulalongkorn Buddhist University in 1996 and graduated in 2000.
In 2001, I was invited by the Thai Buddhist Sangha Council in the United States (the council of Thai monks) to teach Buddhism and Thai culture to Thai Buddhist communities. I served Thai Buddhist communities in Denver and Colorado Springs, Colorado; Layton, Utah; and Las Vegas, Nevada. While I was at a Layton Buddhist temple in Utah, I met with a Buddhist soldier. He came to the temple to get a blessing before deploying to Iraq. This was the first time that I considered to be a Buddhist chaplain. In 2004, I met with another Buddhist soldier who just finished his basic training. He came to the temple where I lived in Las Vegas and told me that he did not see any Buddhist chaplain while he was in basic training. I then checked with a chaplain recruiter, the recruiter told me in positive.
With the intention to help soldiers in the U.S. Army, I disrobed and joined the Army as an enlisted personnel in 2005. The reason I joined as an enlisted soldier first because I wanted to gain basic knowledge of military. I was also waiting for an endorsing document from Buddhist Church of America. My first duty station was at Schofield Barracks, Hawaii. I received the endorsing paper from the Buddhist Church of America in May 2006. In November 2006, I was commissioned as a second lieutenant and became a Buddhist chaplain candidate in the Army.
I am currently doing my Masters of Divinity in Buddhist Chaplaincy at University of the West in Rosemead, California. I will graduate on May 15, 2010. I am ready to serve as a chaplain and hope to accession as a chaplain in August 2010.