Maria Zito-Kaufman, left, sings the national anthem

Maria Zito-Kaufman, left, sings the national anthem at the retirement ceremony for chaplain Brig. Gen. Alphonse J. Stephenson, director of the National Guard Bureau Joint Chaplains’ Office and Air National Guard assistant to the United States Air Force Chief of Chaplains at the New Jersey National Guard’s Joint Training and Training Development Center, Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, N.J., Oct. 18, 2014. Stephenson was commissioned in the Air National Guard in December 1989 and served as an installation staff chaplain, and later as wing chaplain to the 108th Air Refueling Wing, New Jersey Air National Guard, McGuire Air Force Base, N.J., until 1994. He was then selected as the NJANG state chaplain, Joint Force Headquarters, N.J. In 1995, Stephenson became the first NJANG chaplain to become the state command chaplain of the New Jersey National Guard. From 2011 to 2012, he served as chief, National Guard Joint Chaplaincy, National Guard Bureau, Arlington, Va. (U.S. Air National Guard photo by Master Sgt. Mark C. Olsen/Released)