I'm Home.

It has come to my attention that I never "arrived" home. On the "way home" I met my wife and boys at Muskogee Airport for a Air show. The Blue Angels rocked the place. Man that's cool. The boys thought it was cool, until it got loud.

The boys enjoyed playing at the airshow. I think I need to teach JD a bit about safety with automatic grenade launchers. Leave it to the Marines to let my kids play with one. Jd also showed them up with his skill on doing pull-ups.

It was really good to see my family. We finally got home saturday. It's good to be home.

I will be posting further blogs on

http://d-chap.blogspot.com/

this will be continued next summer. during phase 2 and 3

Day 41 (Week 6)

Last Day of Phase 1

And my last day till next summer. Thanks to all the guys and girls for making this a great experience. We made some great friendships that will last. We will also be serving with this bunch for a very long time. The troops will be blessed. I look forward to finishing and pinning on the Cross.

We have a great Cadre that helped a lot. It was good.

We just did some out processing and everyone was off. I will be on the road for the next 13 or so hours. I have an appointment with my family tomorrow!

Day 40 (Week 6)

A very good day!

We went to Cow Pens Battlefield. It was really a good time. We reenacted the Revolutionary war battle. Not exactly "historically accurate". But we did win. I was captured and forced to fight with the British, only to be rescued a short time later.

Standing on a stump is the only way that "certain people" could be as tall as other people. This is not a "caption", but pictures sometimes just don't make sense. hopefully you can figure it out?

The guy that took us to the battlefield was really interesting. It is fun to watch someone that really "sees" the battle in his mind try to explain it to us. He is very passionate about history. I really like history as well, so I really enjoyed his detailed recreation of the battle. He knew every detail about individuals that were involved life. Who they were and what happened to them.

We also did a prayer breakfast. It was done very well. I didn't have anything to do with it. But the guys worked very hard and it showed. We got to spend some time with some chaplain's assistants. They are great. But man are they young. Does that make me old? I don't think so. They are just getting younger.

Day 39 (Week 6)

Another good run. Actually I did not do so well. Tried to run with A/B group. Just not up to a 16 minute, 2 mile. Really embarrassing for "getting famous" for "falling out"(falling back) in a run. I wish there was a C+ or B- group. Oh well.

More Death by power point. Most of it was good stuff. Lots of practical stuff. How a ministry team will work. How to take care of your chaplain's assistant.

Tomorrow will be a good one. But once again you will have to wait. I should have lots of pics.

:)

Day 38 (Week 6)

Gave my sister the camera. Not a good idea.

Another day of Power point.

Got to learn a lot of Chaplain history. Very interesting.

More operational stuff. Can't tell you. Your a civilian.

Got my BC glasses. Pretty exciting. Oh you don't know what BC stands for? Well if someone wears them they do not have to worry about contributing to the gene pool. Look at them. I am sure you understand.

Got to be part of a pretty good PT session this morning. Had another class with us. They did not know what to think. Just "make the bad man stop!" was in the forefront of their thinking. The fun you can have with a simple deck of cards. Hee hee! More Pop PT. Not too bad.

Day 37 (Week 6)

Man it was a good picture day. I wish I could put up all off them. Check them out on the Picture dump. Not a lot of pics. But ones that I like. Ones that tell a story. Too bad I cannot add captions. Oh well.

Got to give briefings today. Quite a bit different from giving a sermon. More stress involved. I had not thought that would be the case.

We had a dinner for those of us that were leaving. Our Cadre showed up. It was really fun to see them in a slightly different light. I am looking forward to not being a "student" and being an "equal". The dinner was very good. We got to have some awards. Mine was pretty funny, the "This would not be nearly as fun without that blog" award. We also got to have communion with the whole platoon. A very special time. I am truly blessed to get to be part of this. I really cannot describe it.

I am looking forward to seeing my family. Talked with my four year old about going to see the blue angels on Saturday. I can't wait to see them through his eyes.

Day 36 (Week 6)

Starting Week Six!

Here are a couple of random pics. The cool shades are from having my eyes dilated. No glasses yet. They should be here at the beginning of the week.

We are gearing up for a busy week and then I am headed home. Wish I could stay, but I am equally ready to go. I will have to continue this blog next summer when I come back. Who knows maybe someone else will "continue" blog. If so I will add a link.

My Vikings just could not get it done against the Cowboys. Neither could by Raiders. Not picking real well this year.

Went to Chapel Next again. Very good service. Something to get very excited about. I know everyone pictures Father Mulkahey from "MASH" as what a chaplain does. I like his ministry, but his services leave a little to be desired. Chapel Next is very contemporary. Excellent Stuff. I could get very excited about being involved in a Army Chapel like that.

Day 35 (Week 5)

Wow, God is good. I think I may have been tired. I went to bed at 9:00 and got up at 9:30 this morning. Still pretty sore, but in good spirits. Tommorow starts my last week here. I'll be back next summer to finish what I started. But I am ready to head home. On thursday my 4 year old made me tell him our address. He wanted to make sure I knew where to come to. That will get you.

Our buddy is out of the hospital. We showed up at 10:15 and he was already gone. Removed his gall bladder yesterday afternoon and gone home (sorta home) this morning. Amazing!

Day 34 (Week 5)

What a day!

I picked the wrong day to "promote myself" from the "C" ability group to the "B" ability group. Both groups upped the ante with PT this morning. I probably would have been smoked by the "C" group. But "B" proved to be way to much fun. I was done when we finished.

We had some more briefings on ethics and Islam (not the same class). Good stuff. Especially the Islam class.

We got off early and no Pop PT. I think everyone was really glad. I know I was.

Some of the guys are going to the fair tonight. I'm going to pass. Just get some dinner, run some errands, talk with my wife and go to sleep.

Got a Care package yesterday. That was really nice. We love the jolly ranchers. Good stuff.

Day 33 (Week 5)

Another long day.

AM "Muscle failure" Pt. Circuit training. Not too bad, everyone had a sense of humor. Even with the ungodly hour of the morning.

More classes today. Spent a lot of time on ethics. Had a guest speaker. She really was a "subject matter expert". They spend a lot of time and money bringing in people to train us well. She had a lot of knowledge. She obviously knew lots of stuff that was over our pay grade. She did challenge our thinking and made me mad a couple of times. But that is what she set out to do. So mission accomplished. In the military you will not always deal with people you agree with. She challenged us to be great chaplains (which I agree with). That our job would often shape the army, one person at a time. Not a responsibility to take lightly.

We also learned about basic officer stuff. Evaluations and stuff like that. Simple, but if it gets messed up, "Get your resume ready!"

More Pop Pt. Upper body and stomach. No running. I'm glad. I was just about through on the running side. Tomorrow will be more running.

Day 32 (Week 5)

Well the suspense is over. The Chief of chaplains for the army came to see us. Pretty cool. We had a Regimental Run with all of the chaplain school house running.

We then had the chief there speaking and answering questions for us. He was very nice. Seemed to be a good leader as well.

Did Pop PT in the afternoon. More running. Good stuff. But I am tired

Lots of homework. So I am off to bed to start it all over again

Day 31 (Week 5)

Franco Harris was here at the NCO club. I didn't go. But one of our instructors is a huge Steeler fan. He got an autograph. I'm a Steeler hater, so I wasn't greatly impressed (I've not been a fan since I was a kid). He was impressed.

More briefings. Learning to be a chaplain. Lots of practical stuff. If that doesn't get your chaplain blood pumping nothing will.

Day 30 (Week 5)

Well it looks like the pace is not going to slow down. Much is going to happen. It should be fun. Can't tell you, you know "Ops-Sec"and all. You can just be surprised. Actually you may not care at all. Oh well.

The classes seem to be picking up too. Much more practical stuff. We are finding out what it means to be a chaplain in the real world. Good stuff.

Lots of PT today. Also went to the eye doctor again. I think I was busy today. Maybe that is why I am tired. Don't think I will finish the football game.

The guys were calling me "Hollywood" due to my "stylish" shades that the Dr. made me wear after getting the eyes dilated. Will try to get a pic of it. Pretty funny.

More faces from home. My recruiter is here at school with us now. Oklahoma has quite a representation here. That is due mainly to him and his guys.

Day 29 (Week 5)

Well we are off. Time for week 5. More death by power point.

I enjoyed my weekend up in Greenville with my parents. Just sat around and watched football and some movies. Nice change of pace.

Oh, gotta love those Patriots. It's always a good day when the Cowboys lose and my Vikings win. If the Raiders would have won it would have been a great day all the way around.

Day 28 (Week 4)

Last day of week 4. Went home to visit family. It was good. Slept for 11hrs. I must have been tired? Not sure why?
Met my niece's fiance'. Wow am I really that old? Pretty cool, he seemed like a nice guy. Paintball player and all.
Yesterday we went to the Officer's club. Not bad. I am not sure what I was expecting. Not sure I will be a regular. Sorta like a country club, only not quite. Hard to describe. It was fun to meet the families of several of the guys that we have been hanging out with.
Well, church in the morning. Then back to Ft Jackson.

Day 27 (Week 4)

Frisbee football (or ultimate frisbee) for PT. That was fun. I think I was more tired from the football than I was from actual PT. Funny how competitive a bunch of chaplains can be. But as usual 2nd platoon rocks! We ended up playing eachother for the "championship". It was a tie. They should have beaten us. but we ended with a tie. we'll take that.

Off early. on pass, yescya

Day 26 (Week 4)

My Flak vest is gone! We handed in our TA-50. Sweet.

Things have changed greatly. We are done with our Basic training. We are going to be learning to be staff officers from here on out. Good stuff. We are spending a lot of time doing PT. In the last two days I have done PT 4 times. I sure hope it pays off. I believe it will.

Day 25 Week 4

Check the pics, Added part 2 to week 3. Lots of pics from another guys camara.

Another long day. A good day. Had an excellent Devo. Then a good run. I would not really put good and run in the same sentence, but it was not too bad. Several good hills. Got to meet a accessions officer. He told us the straight deal on how we would be handled when we go active duty. Really laid out that if we became chaplains we would be deployed. End of discussion. We need to really count the cost and know for sure that this is what God is leading us to. We should be heading towards what God has planned for us, not going to fill a need we have. Hope that makes sense? We also got to have an excellent chapel service. Too cool. We get paid for this?Did a layout of our equipment. Not to bad.

We also got to try on our Berets. Lots of berets that looked like pizza hats. I am sure that tonight there are a lot of us with wet berets on our heads while working on the computer or watching TV. Pretty funny. But serious. Our berets are part of our uniform. We should take pride in the uniform and not wear it all jacked up.We will get to start wearing them tommorow. I miss my maroon beret (Airborne). A few years to wait.Man, it sucks getting old. I just got my first perscription for glasses. Bifocles! Oh well.

My oldest JD just informed me that he has 4 stickers from AWANA for scripture memory. pretty cool. He's just turned 4! I'm impressed.Went and had Chick-fil-a tonight. Man that's good stuff. My "comfort food". I guess that comes from 18 years working in Malls.

Day 24 (Week 4)

Death by power point! Lots of lectures. Learned about the rules of land warfare. Or the Geneva convention. More on non-combatant stuff. I am pretty sure I understand it.

We had a very good discussion with a guy that knows the Reserves inside and out. Very knowledgeable. We picked his brain for quite a while. Learned a lot about how things really work.

I promise to break out the camera again. I have been slacking. I have another disk to download and post to the picture dump. Maybe tomorrow.

I've got an eye appointment tomorrow. Man it sucks getting old. I really am having difficulty reading. but I suppose I will just get it over with and get glasses before going back to my day job at the jewelry store. It just would not do to have a blind jeweler would it?

My wife is pretty cool. She is a trooper. I do not know how she does it. She had maintained those three wild Indians and still got things done. She is remarkable.

I am ready to go home to be with them. But at the same time I really wish I could finish with this class. I have really enjoyed getting to know them in a way that I have not done in a long time. There is something about the military community that I really enjoy. It is also amazing to be around this group of guys. They are commited to ministry to soldiers. Many have had similar experiences to my own and are trying ministry again. Some have just come out of civilian pulpits. But across the board, they are amazing people. I am privileged to serve with them. It is an honor to be with Warrior/Priests.

Day 23 (Week 4)

Columbus day! And here in Columbia, it is taken seriously. Actually it is just a federal holiday. So we were off. Spent the day doing homework and watching TV. Actually spent a lot of time sleeping. Very nice!
Watched the Cowboys play the Bills. Couldn't believe the ending. I stayed up and watched it. Good game, even if the Cowboys won.

Day 22 (Week 4)

Sunday,
Well I guess I got a bit behind. But sunday was very low stress. Went to the catholic service. It was much different than I expected. They had accustic guitars! Pretty cool. Still all of the vestments. Lots of stand up, sit down. If they had a order of service I would have enjoyed it more. But I did have a nice gentleman help me out somewhat. But the Priest (chaplain) was pretty good.
Had our usual formation and got off. It was good to finally meet some of the family members that my wife has met on line. Connect the dots.

Day 21 (Week 3)

Well this has been a low stress day. We have the day off and I am working on homework. Yes homework! We have assignments that we have to do.
We will do a few more services tomorrow.
Piggies was good. BBQ. I'm not a huge fan of vinegar BBQ sauce, but it was still good. You can tell you are in the south when you order Tea, you get SWEET tea. Heavy on the sugar, light on the tea! Southern Ice Tea. They look at you funny if you order it any other way.

Day 20 (Week 3)

Ok now we are caught up.

Secret methods of chaplains 101

1. Become one with your gear. Today I took a shower with all of my TA-50 gear. You would be amazed at how much sand a vest, harness, pads, pack, Kevlar and boots ( I still have to shower with my cloths) can collect. That stupid vest is still heavy, even without the armor plates. In fact the shower is still running. My gear is still enjoying it's shower. Maybe I have issues now? Don't answer that!

Today we cleaned gear. Not a problem. Cleaned a couple of Hummers and 5 tons (trucks). Normal stuff for post field time. We even got off early for the weekend. Pretty cool.

We are headed out for a "platoon dinner" tonight. Can't tell you where, you know "Ops-Sec" (Operational Security) and all? I could tell you, but then would have to kill you.

:)

Got a real cool video/slide show from some of our instructors. It shows a lot of the pics that they got from our training. I will try to come up with a method for posting it (my wife will help me over the phone!)

Day 19 (Week 3)

Today was supposed to be a smoker. The first half was and so was the night part.

We did "day infiltration". Which is not as "high speed" as it sounds. What it really means is that you are getting your face in the dirt! Crawl and crawl some more. It will smoke you! Well if you do it right! gotta love the low crawl! We ran that a couple of times. Then we ran an "assault course". I got to play an assistant. I had a pretend rifle and said "bang" a lot. My chaplain ran with me. Good stuff. Love the knee and elbow pads. We really do have some excellent equipment. I remember my basic training, we often received the worn out, antiquated stuff. Not so anymore. most of the equipment is at least serviceable, if not new. Very surprising.

We did some "paintball". Which means we ran, while instructors shot at us. That had some great possibilities for training. Plus as a avid paintball player, I would have loved to "play" if I had the chance. But in this case it is like "raccoon hunting", and the raccoon doesn't need a gun. Not that I have ever been coon hunting. I just think the saying is funny. But getting a chance to shoot back would be good stuff. There is at least one other guy that has a lot of experience playing. teaming up with him, we could really have some fun with our instructors. I doubt that will happen. But one can dream.

Night infiltration! Man that was fun. We got poured on. It rained hard so that the ground was nice and soggy. Then we got out on the range with machine guns shooting over our heads and crawled for quite a ways. It was funny to listen to the Drill Sergeants tell their troops that the bullets were flying 30 inches over head. If you think about it, you will know that that is not a true statement. This training is very safe. Well except for the bullets. If it were really dangerous they would not sent thousands of soldiers through the courses. The army tries to be safe with its property. But that does not mean that they won't mess with privates, just for fun!

We crawled the course along with some other soldiers. Some had never done anything like that before (I suppose that outside of the military nobody would?). We encouraged them as much as you can crawling through wet sand, under barb wire, with bullets flying by 10 to 20 feet above our heads. Not at all like the movies. where the drill sergeant has the machine gun firing just above soldiers. These guns are very safely employed. Fixed to fire at a certain point well above the soldiers. I remember doing it as a private, I believed the drill sergeant. I had seen the movies. This time was much more fun. Perspective and age are valuable commodities. Sorry no pictures of this range. it was at night and we were hustled into and out of it so that we could come back to our rooms

Showers are great! I feel sorry for the staff that cleans our rooms. They have to deal with the Red Clay/Sand. It stains.

It felt good to be in a real bed!

Day 18 (Week 3)

Gotta love ants. they are a bain to the existence of "big people". I believe that this must home to most of the worlds ants. And they bite!

More good training. Ran the "fit to fight" obstacle course. A smoker. I believe the fastest time was in the mid 12's. We were through when we got done. What's funny is people pay good money for this sort of fun.

Also ran the night land navigation course. Good stuff. took the lead and "plotted" the first point. Way off. but recovered and ran a good compass azimuth to redeem myself.

We also got to see how convoy operations are run. Very educational. Can't go into how it works. But suffice it to say that the army is learning lessons and trying to be more effective. And even chaplains have to learn how to react to hostile fire. The enemy does not care that we are non-combatants. We have to do it right.

Had "Hot A's" for several meals today. We do not have MRE's all the time. Gotta love those hockey pucks (fried veil patties, I think?).

Day 17 (Week 3)

We are back! would have posted this last night, but I was just too tired. Talked with my wife and went to bed. LOTS of good pics just posted.

Well life at chaplain basic training is MUCH different than infantry basic training! We stayed in Large tents with cots. Much lower stress. Much better treatment. Almost fun. Almost. But not bad at all. It was really interesting to see how the other half lives. But in spite of it not being stressful, it was still good training.

If things seem vague as to details on training. This is on purpose. We have to maintain operational security. We cannot give details as to times, numbers and other details that could be used to potentialy be used by our enemies.

So that being said, here we go.

Since chaplains do not handle weapons at all, what do we do "in the field"? Well we do quite a lot. We were able to spend quite a bit of time doing land navigation. Basic compass and map stuff. It was a lot of fun. I haven't done land navigation for many years. Kinda rusty. I was supposed to be an expert. Oops. go back to basics, do it the way you are trained without the "tricks" and it is amazing how well you do.

We got to see a "field" service in action. Good stuff. I really like seeing how it all works for real. Kind of a combination service. Some litergy and some contemporay elements. We call it field expedient. We want soldiers to have a worship experience no matter where you are at.

Got to have the new MRE's (meals ready to eat). Man they have changed. I had MRE's 16 years ago. They were pretty good. Today you can have all sorts of meals. Really good. Well not all are good. But you get what you get, then trade. They have vegeterian and Kosher meals. Thats pretty amazing to me. But in today's climate, you must accomidate soldiers beliefs as much as is possible.

We also got to participate (walked along during) in a live fire range with basic training soldiers. That was good stuff. It is humbling to realize that many of these kids (18-20 year olds) will be walking hostile streets in just a matter of weeks. They a have answered the call during war. The training they do is vastly improved over when I went through infantry school.

Day 16 (Week 3)

Map reading and first aid. A pretty good day. People seemed to get a pretty good handle on the map reading. We will spend quite a bit more time during our Field time.

We had a very good first aid class. It really helps to have sergeants that have been there done that. The NCO in charge of the class was first rate. It also helps when you have someone teaching how to treat tension pnemothorax when he has done it 4 times for real. Much more serious to be sure.

We were encouraged to get to know our medics. We would spend a lot of time with them.

Day 15 (week 3)

Well today was an "off" day. Which means we were busy. We went to 3 services. A protestant, an LDS and a Pentecostal. Talk about opposites. I really enjoyed the protestant service. It was packed with new recruits. They may have been just trying to get away from their drill sergeants, maybe they really wanted to be there. I don't know. They really got into it. A good service.

The other two services were interesting. The Pentecostal was pretty wild. They "sang" most everything that happened. Man they know how to get a congregation going. I'm not sure that is a service that I would like every Sunday. But it was interesting to go to.

The LDS was very different for me. I had never been to anything quite like that. I found it to be very educational. I suppose that is why were are doing this exercise. To expose us to a variety of worship styles and religions. We are expected to minister to soldiers that are of a different background than us. We are here to allow for the freedom of religion of our soldiers. So a basic knowledge is good thing. I think it is kinda hard to explain exactly how it works. I have a clear view in my head though.

Then we had a formation to get us ready for the field. Make sure we have all of our toys.

Nate is ok. He is home from the hospital. He had pneumonia (still has). They gave him some breathing treatments. Mom and nate are doing much better.

Day 14 (week 2)

Well here is a strange day. We were off. Slept in. A good start to the day.

Then I went to tail gate at a South Carolina football game with my sister and brother-in-law. This is not normal "tail gating". This is how the other half does it. We spent the day moving from gathering to gathering in a high rise building right across from the stadium. People that buy apartments for a 6 or 7 weekends a year. And spend 20,000 per parking space cause they don't want to walk or pay 20 bucks for parking. Unreal. Not a world I live in. But fun.

We got to look down on the commoners that came and went from the stadium.Then I got a call saying that my 1 year old, Nate, was on his way to the hospital with pneumonia. I really wish I could hop on a plane and go. I can't. But I want to. This is not easy. They say he is OK.