This week was spent doing a 3 day Field Training Exercise to familiarize Army Chaplains with basic  soldier task.  We essentially do all the same things that the basic trainees do, but they take out the fun stuff like shooting weapons and throwing grenades.   Over the three days we went through several of the ranges at Ft. Jackson all of which, except perhaps for the land navigation course, were incredibly challenging on the body.  The heat was in the high nineties until the last day and we spent quite a bit of time in our body armor.  I don't think that the average American understands how hot and heavy the IBA is when it has the ballistic plates installed.  I cannot even imagine what it is like in Iraq or Afghanistan when the temperature is 120 degrees. 

The first course was probably the worst one:  The Fit to Win range.  Fit to win is basically an obstacle course that we ran as a squad and is pictured below.  There are 18 different obstacles of varying evilness that you have to traverse over the course.  By the halfway point I thought that my heart was going to explode.  The heat really put the zap on me and my conditioning is not what it needs to be.

The second day was land navigation and it was a standard "go find four or five points in 26 square kilometer area using a map and a compass."  I am very comfortable with map reading and I really just limited myself to doing pace counts for the group so I could try out my new "ranger beads" that keep track of your distance.  Every time I do a pace count I equal 133 steps per 100 meters and I can count on fairly accurate distance measuring.  Later on was the night course in which we did the same thing but at niiiiiight (that is a Sponge Bob joke for my family).  Fairly easy stuff but after being drenched in my own sweat for 24 hours I developed a Job worthy case of chaffing.  I wanted to tear my clothes and rub ash in my hair but I had to keep on trucking.  Next time I head to the field I am taking Desitin cream (I am not joking) and buying some of that expensive UnderArmor underwear.  OUCH.

  In between the day and night land navigation course we did something relatively new for the Chaplain School.  The cadre set up an impromptu course in which we had to move with a Chaplain Assistant while under fire from our combat arms expert: Major ####.  Major #### and another cadre members shot paintballs at us from under cover and we had to not get hit!  Chaplains cannot carry arms so we are being taught to "move tactically" which is the Army version of running away.  Our Chaplain Assistants were armed with their own paintball guns so they would try and lay down suppressive fire but half the time their gun jammed and Major #### is a seriously high-speed soldier who is obviously good at destroying people, places and things.  Somehow I made it out without a paintball splat.  All in all it was really good training and gives you a taste of what it is to be an Army Chaplain in a war zone with no "frontline." 

The next day was the day and night infiltration course.  Like the paintball course, we were paired up with a combat arms soldier (this time it was basic trainees) and we moved through a simulated urban environment while the young private guided our actions.  The only thing that we can do is stick close, move fast and keep low.  After this urban course we moved to the sand pit and practices our low and high crawl in the open and under barbwire.  We did all of the above activities in our helmets and IBA armor which weighs 40 or 50 lbs with the plates in it.  As if I don't have enough of my own bulk, I had to drag that along with me too.  So with me plus the uniform, boots, helmet, armor, LBE, and two canteens of water I am  heaving around close to 300 lbs!  Of course that is 300 lbs minus the quart of water I am sweating every 30 minutes so I had that going for me.  Later on that evening (after an evacuation back to the school for lightning) we drove out to the Night Infiltration Course, and again with young privates, had to high crawl for 100 meters in the dark, under barb wire, in the sand, while they simulated artillery explosions and shot live rounds over our heads.  I am proud to say that although there were two waves of privates that left ahead of me, I passed a good number of them up as I crawled along. I had ear plugs in and the sound of my own heart beat was louder than the explosions they were setting off.   Fortunately, this was the last event and we returned to our quarters a bit after midnight for a much need shower and good night sleep. 

I have just finished the Special Population PT (on Saturday morning!) or those of us who did not pass the Diagnostic PT Test or the weigh-in (or both!).  I initially rued the thought of extra PT, but I really do need it and I do not want to barely pass my semi-annual PT test every time.  The fact is that I have a much higher chance of dying of a heart attack or other weight related illness than I ever do dying in a combat situation.  This is a good example of how irrational our concerns can be sometimes.  I am much more threatened by bad eating habits and lack of exercise than I am by Taliban fighters.

Yesterday was a fairly light day for us since we just did emergency carry training and then had the rest of the afternoon off for administrative errands.  Many of our soldiers are still trying to get ID cards, Glasses, etc. so it was a good opportunity for many of them to play catch up.  The pictures below are ones taken from our buddy carries.  I cannot imagine needing to do these single man carries while your buddy is wearing 75lbs of body armor.  Tomorrow I will probably do a post about the Non-combatant status of chaplains.  This is a hot topic among us and I have some thoughts concerning my personal position. 

I have finally seen the mid-season finale of Battlestar Galactica and everything about this episode moves the plot closer to my predictions in THIS POST and THIS POST.   I have not got too much time right now to gloat since I have to be up early or "special population" PT (for the chubby chaplains) but I expect an apology from all of the geeks on the SCI-FI forums for mocking me so cruelly when I posted these theories over ONE YEAR ago.  So not only am I right about this show's plot line, I have a hot wife and I don't live in my mother's basement. 

I don't care how many times you do this training, it always sucks.  This is my second time in the CS Gas Chamber and it was no better than the first time.  We marched out to the range @0600 and went through all of the training for NBC (CNBR as it is called these days.  Chemical / Nuclear / Biological / Radiological since we did not have the potential for a "dirty bomb" in 1989). The Army has gone to nice new gas mask over the kind that we used back then and seem to be based on the Israeli design of an external filter canister that can be changed without taking of the mask.  That makes sense doesn't it?  The old mask had to be removed to changed internal filters that took about 20 minutes in inexperienced hands.  The new mask also fit better, don't fog up, and are more comfortable. 

After being trained on the equipment we all moved to the gas house and filed in about 50 soldiers at a time.  We went in with our mask on and sealed to give us confidence in our gear (they really work) but after we were inside we had to break the seal, give our name rank and social security number, then clear and seal the mask again.  Your skin and eyes burn, but you did not take a breath so once you overcome the feelings of panic, it is not that bad. BUT...  Before you reach the door they make you take off your mask and go through your name, rank and social security number AND make sure that you take a nice big breath of the CS gas.  Immediately your eyes, lungs and skin start to burn and even though you are out in the fresh air you cannot breath (more panic ensures) and you feel like you are going to throw up.  Snot starts streaming from your nose and your eyes gush as you wave your arms trying not to touch your eyes (it makes it worse).  The Cadre then guided all of us stumbling Chaplains on to a path that we needed to walk until we started to feel better. After about five minutes you start to feel normal and can make it back to the exit of the gas chamber where you can enjoy the spectacle of your friends coming out behind you.  To their credit, the last picture is Cadre, SSG Ayala, SSG Lopez and SSG Lofton coming out of the chamber after going through the same thing that we just did. Actually, all three knocked out some push-ups before coming out!  Hooah...

If anyone has the urge to be a dirty hippie who likes to protest the G8 meetings, this training would cure you of any desire to riot.

This first 5 weeks of chaplain school is a basic introductory to Army skills that are the same for all soldiers.  Since I have not been through basic training since 1989 (almost 20 years!) I had to take this phase regardless of my prior service, but I am enjoying it all the same.  It is a real trip to march down the same roads and see the same barracks that I quartered in back when I was just 17.  Even though I am 20 years older, I feel like that same kid who was out on the PT field struggling with the same push ups and sit-ups that I did back then although the Army PT regime has changed considerably for the better and as an officer, I am treated MUCH better than an E-3 off the block.

Today we ruck marched just a mile or so out to the Team Building Course and took part in some physical challenges meant to strengthen our ability to work together.  Squads 3 and 4 of 1st platoon came together to work on the challenges and although we did not get everyone through them in the allotted time, we all got along and had a good time.  This is a pretty mature group of guys who don't have too many troubles with egos getting in the way.  I am sure that it is a much different experience with a young bunch of recruits.  I think you can tell from the photos that I have included that the day was an enjoyable one.  Yes, that picture of us trying to rig up a stretcher on the metal cable is a botched up as it looks!  We are Chaplains and not Rangers after all...

Our rucksack march turned out to be a walk down the street with our web gear, so that part of the day was fairly easy, but Victory Tower was at the end of that street and I have a deep seated fear of heights. As we got to the site, it was clear that the Victory Tower that I remember from 1989 was not the tower that was in front of me.  The old tower was just a wooden platform that you climbed up and rappelled down, but the new tower seems considerably taller and many more obstacles had been added. The new Victory Tower has a mini-tower to practice rappelling,  a three, two, and one rope bridge, a single rope swing at the top of the tower, a rope net climb with a free fall into a air bag and of course, the rappelling wall.

Ugh.

Not wanting to be the "Chaplain who freaked out on the tower", I soldiered on and completed all the tasks (although I had to do the rope swing over the pit of death at the top of the tower 3 times and fell off the single rope bridge into the net).  At each section I had to stop and let my anxiety amped heart rate return, but it eventually did, and I got through it satisfactorily.  The week before, I almost became the "Chaplain who wet himself standing in the slow line for drug testing after drinking two quarts of water."  There is something to be said for both the negative and positive encouragement that you receive when you live and train with a large group of soldiers.  

On the topic of group dynamics, there are interesting differences between 118 Chaplains and 118 typical soldiers. For example, I have been here for seven days and I have not heard one comment about my mother, the bathroom humor is greatly reduced and I can't say that I have ever had so much concern for my well being in an Army atmosphere.  Although it will probably happen when we are more familiar with one another, I have not heard any heated theological debate.   There is a diverse group of Chaplains here and it is bound to start soon.

I pasted these pictures from 2LT Caleb McCary's Blog which I happen to be reading for several months and discovered that he is in my squad!  Small world.  I will probably get my own camera when we get our first paycheck, but until then I am just going to pick and chose from Caleb's shots. Check out Caleb's blog and you see an similar content to Fear and Trembling.

Yesterday was out first diagnostic PT test.   I did not expect to pass (and I didn't), but I did improve my score by 40 points over one that I took 2 weeks ago and that is certainly moving in the right direction. Now that I have failed this test I am going to be required to receive extra "love and attention" from SSG Lopez every afternoon after the training is over in the form of an additional PT session (in addition to the one we are going to have every morning at 0500).  Just because this is Chaplain School, does not mean that they are soft on the physical fitness aspect of being a soldier. The school probably emphasizes PT more than other schools for the fact that many of us have been preachers for many years and have enjoyed too many potluck dinners and spent too many hours sitting at a desk writing sermons.

I have Eleven more weeks of have my own "personal trainer" so I should have no problem hitting my APFT requirements and even exceeding them by a considerable margin.  I have already taken off 5 lbs and I have been here for a only a week (and no PT formations yet).  This is day six without coffee and it has mad a tremendous difference in my blood sugar control in addition to eating 5 times a day (small meals/snacks).   I need to hit 189 to pass without being "taped" for body fat composition (a ratio of your neck to your abdomen) and I weighed in at 220 yesterday.   If I lose 3 lbs a week (which should be fairly easy under the current conditions!)  then I will make my goal.  I would really like to get down to my marriage day weight of 180, but that will be an added bonus. 

Well, it happened.  I left for Chaplain School without being as ready as I wanted to be.  I had some last minute drama about whether or not I was going to attend Chaplain School and while at Disney World (after making alternative plans to go to Arkansas instead of Chaplain School) I got the word from my XO and my Brigade Chaplain that I was back on for Chaplain School!  Great news, but I was caught with my pants down on my preparations for my family.  Now I have to play catch up while I have 14 hour days hear in South Carolina.  For those of you preparing for deployment, it is NEVER TOO EARLY to start!  Fortunately,  the preparations that I did make helped me to shift gears quickly when the Army changed its mind.  This happens A LOT in the military and for those of you who are in the services, you know exactly what I am talking about!

I will be posting about my days out here in South Carolina as soon as our schedule lets up a bit.  I have to get up at 0330 to be at morning formation and I have not been able to hit my rack until 2100 or 2200 all week.  My housing is not what I thought it would be and since the class is so large I am in the Kennedy building.  It is a lot like living in an episode of Good Times except my kitchen is not as good.  All I have is a small microwave and a dorm type fridge.  This would not be so bad, but I am responsible for all of my own food since I am an officer and there is no Dining facility.  Looks like it is sandwiches and Frozen dinners for the next three months.  Sigh.  Big Sigh.

But a soldier has to soldier on and I am trying to make the best of it.  I look at the situation like when Apollo Creed took Rocky back to his old neighborhood to get back the EYE OF THE TIGER.  Our Daily PT starts on Monday and since I will probably not pass the diagnostic test on Thursday, I will have to do extra PT after class each day.  It will be the Chaplain Short Bus for me until I can pass that test and pass my weight.  I am starting out at 224 so it will take 35 lbs to be able to pass the test with being taped for body fat (I can probably pass with just 15 lbs, but I don't want to be taped and I do not want to just squeak by).  I have also not had a cup of coffee in THREE DAYS.  I have not gone without coffee for this long since I was about 15.  I foresaw that this might be the case and blessedly cut down before I came out here.   I have decided to forsake coffee for the summer and see how it might improve my weight. Coffee jacks with your blood sugar, it disrupts your sleep, and who knows what else (I drank huge amounts).