This Army Life IS My Style.... Air Assault School Is NOT!

Hey Everyone,

I could only have imagined how busy I would be once things got underway for me as a Battalion Chaplain. Well, Army life has exceeded my expectations. I am going to carve out a few minutes each week to put out an update but for now, here is what's going on.

I've been on the job for a little over 3 months. There's been a ton of on the job training that I've gotten. There has been little from the Chaplain school that I've actually used, but I'm sure some of it will come in handy some day.

I've had all sorts of experiences that I didn't see coming and been able to help some people in some great ways. I've got a great commander and a top notch staff to work with. I feel privileged to work with and for such great people. I tell people all the time that I have the best job in the Army.

For some reason, a few weeks back, I volunteered to attend the Air Assault School. My commander was like "Really? Chaplain, you want to go?" I thought I did. I went to Airborne School and got through with out any issues. I thought Air Assault would be about the same. I was wrong. This school has shown me how soft I've become as I've gotten older. I can honestly say that I've not enjoyed one minute of being there. I've never quit anything in my life, however, the other day I thought about setting up my packing list wrong just to get kicked out so I could go back to my job. Like I said.... I'm becoming soft.

Its 11 days long and I'm through 3 days. This coming week, I'll take the test on phase one (hand and arm signals, pathfinder operations, and aircraft information), then start phase two (sling load). Then the following week we will move into the rappel and fast rope phase. It all ends next week Wednesday (December 16) with a 12 mile road march.

Then after that I'll go back to work for a few days and then start block leave. We will be heading back to Chicago December 23rd through the 30th. Hopefully my body will recover from all this abuse. Hope you all have a great Christmas and have some time of rest.