“The 1986 Air Force Academy graduate said he came from a devout Baptist home in North Carolina and felt a call to the ministry in high school but was afraid of public speaking and became an industrial engineer in the service instead. He finally switched to the chaplaincy in 1996 and said he has loved having the spiritual role ever since.”

Col. Dondi E. Costin is not your usual military chaplain.

For starters, the former Pacific Air Forces command chaplain is being double-promoted to two-star general and will take over as chief of chaplains at Air Force headquarters at the Pentagon on Friday.

“He is an incredibly charismatic speaker with an undeniable strength of spirit and character,” said Gen. Lori Robinson of Col. Dondi E. Costin, who will be the top Air Force chaplain in Washington.

But what makes Costin really stand out, at least for those who have heard him speak publicly, are the invocations — normally brief, lackluster prayers at special events — into which he breathes personal insight, humor, quirkiness and even geopolitics so successfully that many in the audience are smiling broadly when he’s done.

“I can probably summarize it by the invocation that he gave at the Air Force Ball last year,” said Col. Joseph Anderson, Pacific Air Force’s command surgeon. “It is the first time I have ever seen anybody, chaplain or otherwise, give an invocation and get a standing ovation.”

Part of the appeal is the humor, mixed with a “little bit of ‘I can’t believe he said that,’” said Anderson, who’s a big Costin fan.

When Costin asks audience members to bow their heads, “prepare to be bowing your head for quite a while, because it’s never short,” said Col. Julie Boit, director of manpower, personnel and services for Pacific Air Forces, who also has tremendous respect for the chaplain.

Nor are Costin’s prayers ever canned or standard fare, she said.

“They are always funny,” Boit said. “They are funny, but they are also with a great message.” If Costin is speaking at a promotion ceremony, “it’s all about that person and their family and special stories or things about them,” she added.

Costin goes big on metaphors coupled with quirky language.

Take the Oct. 16 Pacific Air Forces change of command at which Gen. Herbert “Hawk” Carlisle passed the flag to Gen. Lori “Law” Robinson at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii.

Most are watching to see how a change at the top of the system sharpens the tip of the spear. Many wonder what adjustments will be made as bore-sight responsibility shifts in the blink of an eye from a hawk-eyed leader straight into the eyes of the law.

On the departing Carlisle, who is not the tallest man in the world, Costin had this to say:

Thank you for prescribing him airman-colored glasses, which he consistently used to demonstrate that servant leadership is not an oxymoron. Thanks for using him to show us once and for all that leadership effectiveness has nothing to do with a leader’s height, and everything to do with his heart.

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