Life is going well!

So, I know we haven't written in a while... but it is because life is going good and is soooo busy! So much has happened since Chris wrote last, that I'll give a quick run down.

We are in Fort Campbell now, with our house (3 bedrooms, 2 baths, great back yard, dining room, etc... biggest place we've ever had, and it's single family!). We love our house! It might not be as nice as some of the houses off base, but you can't beat the location! We have great neighbors that we see and talk to everyday! We have a fenced in back yard that is great for the new dog, Cutler. He is a mutt of some sort, looks like a lab with German shepherd coloring. He is doing well. We started training today, and he learned to lay within 1 hour! Smart dog. It is great to let him hang in the back yard for a few hours a day, and he has learned to run with me really well! We go for a run/walk 3-4 times a week, and he already gets excited when I pull out my running shoes.

We also found out a few months ago that I am pregnant! Today I am 12 weeks, so the first trimester is over. It has been pretty easy, compared to others. I have not gotten sick at all, I only get tired. I probably get tired because I try to do too much, but it is hard for me to take it easy. I usually nap once or twice a day, but am blessed with a hubby with a great job, so I don't have to work while going through all this.

We have met and made some great friends. I go to PWOC each week, which is a group of wonderful Christian women on post. I have been part of a Bible study called "for women only" and I recommend it to all ladies who want to know how their men think! We also started to volunteer at Awana, and will eventually teach the 7th and 8th grade group. They are sorta crazy, but we already have some connections to our students. It's really fun to volunteer as a couple! We go to a church on base, called Chapel Next. It is considered the contemporary service on post. We only get to go 2-3 times a month, because we are on retreats and visiting Chicago the other weeks. Last night we had dinner with the other Chaplains from our Chapel, an it was a great time of fellowship, prayer and laughs. I think we have 25 chaplains that help out at our service!

Chris just left for the week. He is TDY (temporary duty station) in Atlanta for the week learning how to put on an amazing marriage retreat! We went to our first "strong bonds retreat" last weekend, and 90 couples learned how to improve various aspects of their marriages. It is great that the Army is dedicated to helping families stay together. You'd be surprised the stories that Chris hears everyday. There are so many struggles that couples are going through with stress of regular life + the Army. Everyday he knows why God has put him here. We know we are in the right place.

that's just an update... and I will be doing it more often... promise!

I hope you all are doing great. Please send us emails of what is going on in your life. We love to stay connected.

Love you all,

Christina

Together Again

Sorry for the delay in posting. The training schedule has been very demanding over the last few weeks. However, there's lots of good news to update.

First and foremost, Christina has arrived here in South Carolina! She flew in Friday afternoon, which happened to be our 5 year anniversary. We had a great dinner at the melting pot and have been enjoying each other's company for the last 2 days. While its kind of weird having no home and living in a hotel, its great to finally be back together. Even this blog entry comes to you via pool side relaxation together. Christina is reading and I am "working."

Secondly, I only have 1 more week of training before I report to my unit. While I look back at the training I received, I am extremely grateful for the hard work of my instructors who have been over worked and under paid for the job they've done. 2 weeks ago we had a 3 day FTX (Field Training Exercise) in the 100 degree heat with the incredible South Carolina humidity. Yet even when we all were pushed to our limits, our instructors continued to teach and guide us. I've met some really amazing guys down here and I look forward to seeing and working with them in the future. There are 5 of us who are reporting straight to Ft Campbell after we finish here. In fact, all of us who are headed straight to active duty assignments (about 30 of us) following this training have become good friends. That's good because we will need it. Since every Battalion only has 1 Chaplain, it can be one of the hardest and loneliest jobs in the Army. Other Chaplain friends can make all the difference.

One particular friend I've made is almost 20 years my senior. We've made a deal, he helps me mature and grow up in areas I need to, and I'll help him with all his technology/computer issues. I think I'm getting the better end of the deal.

Thirdly, we've been added to the housing waiting list at Ft Campbell. We are currently 16 of 26 on the list. It looks like we'll have to wait about 2 months for a house to open up once we get there. Thankfully, we are getting good at living in hotels and they have a post hotel at Campbell that is a suite that has a separate bedroom and kitchen. Not that different from some of our smaller apartments in Chicago. And it will be worth the wait. When we finally do get housing, we will get a large 3 bedroom house, some of which are brand new! Needless to say, it will be the largest home we've ever had and we plan to use that space well! (thats an open invitation to anyone who wants to come visit us.... only an hour from Nashville and 3 hours from the Kentucky Derby next spring!!!!!).

Well thats all from the pool side for right now. We will be leaving South Carolina for Ft Campbell on Friday afternoon after my graduation and we'll get there sometime on Saturday. We are about to start a new chapter in our life and we are both extremely excited to see where it takes us. God Bless!

Soldiers die in war. The question is, how do we deal with it?

One of my jobs as a Chaplain will be to help soldiers learn to cope and give permission to grieve when one of their closest buddied dies. Naturally, when something traumatic happens, tough guys want to shut down and keep it all inside. That is the last thing in the world that I want to see happen. When something traumatic happens we have to open up and talk about it, talk about how it effects us, talk about what it has done to us.

Here is an example of part of what I'll be doing. It's a tough video to watch because its real.

If you watch, you will see a Captain give the "facts" of the situation. This is the first step in what we call at TEM (Traumatic Event Management) intervention. Someone who knows the facts of the event comes in and briefs everyone on what exactly happened. Then that person usually leaves and the soldier are encouraged and prompted (by the Chaplain) to talk about what happened. What they heard, what they felt, what they smelled, tasted and saw. When they share their reactions to the event (weather it be anger, rage, fear, sorrow, regret, grief, or numbness) they are understood to be held in confidence within the group. But when the soldiers open up and realize that others are having the same feelings they begin to help each other cope. It doesn't lessen the loss, but the hope is that the soldiers feelings are validated and normalized and they don't feel isolated and alone.

Give it a watch:

Blue Force Tracker

Today we had an all day training on how to operate a "Blue Force Trackers" (BFT) also know as Force Battle Command Brigade and Below (FBCB2). This might be the most amazing piece of battlefield technology ever developed when working properly. In a nutshell, all the friendly forces (which are blue symbols on the screen) have a computer system made up of a transceiver, touch-screen and key board, CPU, Hard drive and a GPS receiver. What it does is share the location, movement, action, and status of our entire force with everyone else and the commanders. That means, by looking at one large screen in the TOC (Tactical Operations Center) the commander can see, in real time, the location of all his units. In addition, folks over at the Pentagon can also watch a battle take place in real time.

But it doesn't just track friendly forces. It also helps track the enemy. If someone sees enemy forces, all they have to do is touch the screen on the map location where the enemy was seen and give their description. Then, that enemy position is loaded onto the entire system and becomes available to all our forces (Ground, Air and Sea).

Additionally, messages can be sent over this system including specific operations orders, status reports, Medical Evacuation, and my favorite, instant messaging. The biggest improvement to this system when compared to the old system is distance. Previously we would still use a normal radio that worked on an FM radio signal which means line of sight. Well when you get to an area that has lots of mountains, line of sight is not always the best way to go. This system instead uses satellites in orbit to communicate. That's sweet.

While the Army and the Military as a whole has lots of issues (and believe me... it does!), it is really cool to see technology like this that continues to help us maintain our status as the worlds greatest military.

Now, how does this help me as a Chaplain. I will be a Chaplain for at least 4 different companies. Each of these companies can be at a different FOBs (Forward Operating Base) or en-route to different bases. When I turn on my BFT I can get the real time location of all my units and check on their status reports. I can also send them a message and let them know when I will be at their location to provide Religious Support. It is going to be a really great tool. Plus, it combines 3 things that I love: 1) maps, 2) cool technology, 3) things I can touch.

It was a great day of training! Hope there are more like it coming.

Unit Assignment

2 weeks down, 5 to go. Week two seemed to be a bit easier and less stressful. I think I am finally comfortable in the uniform and with the training we are doing. It took a little while but it is beginning to feel normal.

Yesterday I finally talked to someone with answers at Ft. Campbell. I called the Deputy Division Chaplain (who will be one of my many bosses) and we spoke briefly. He gave me my unit assignment. Drum roll please............. I will be the Chaplain for the Support Battalion in the 4th Brigade Combat Team. I am sure many of you need that explained. So here's my attempt.

A few years back the Army decided it restructure itself. Instead of sending entire divisions (like the 101st Airborne Division) to combat, which would be tens of thousands of soldiers, they came up with the idea to make a brigade (which is one level lower than a division) a self sustaining unit which could be deployed on its own. So the higher brass restructured the Army around this brigade model. They call the Brigades "BCT" = Brigade Combat Teams.

At the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) there are 4 normal BCTs and there are 2 Aviation BCTs. I have been assigned to the 4th BCT.

Within every BCT there are 6 Battalions. There are 2 Infantry Battalions which are really the heart of the unit. The other 4 Battalions are essentially in a support role to those infantry guys. They are made up of an Artillery Battalion, a Special Troops Battalion, an Aviation Battalion, and a Support Battalion.

That Support Battalion is now mine! Their official name is 801st Brigade Support Battalion.

The mission of my Battalion is to rapidly deploy by land, sea or air and provide integrated combat service and health support to elements of the 4th Brigade Combat Team. The 3 essential elements of the Battalion include a supply company, a medical company, and a maintenance company. My soldiers provide everything that is needed to make sure the guys in the fight have everything they need.

Now what does this mean for Christina and I in terms of deployment? The 4th BCT has been deployed twice. First to Iraq from Nov 05 to Nov 06 and the second deployment was to Afghanistan from Mar 08 to Mar 09. I will arrive in September which means they will have been back for about 5 months. As of right now there is no public announcement of the next future deployment for the 4th BCT but from what I have heard we will most likely deploy in late 2010.

That's the latest update. I hope you are all doing well. I am going to enjoy a nice weekend off and I hope you do the same.

The dog-less family :(

As most of you know, we have a crazy dog. We've been working with him for the past 3 years, and really intensely over the past 2 months. He shows signs of aggression to tall adults, kids, strollers, bikes, moving plastic bags and anything else we call an "apparatus". It's really been a crazy ride trying to work with Rex. He bites us often and we've learned to dodge his attacks.

A few months ago, we agreed this was not good enough. We're looking to have/adopt kids and there is no way we can have him act this way. We decided to invest in helping him get better. He recently was kicked out of boot camp (first dog in 10 years) and I began a training at home with him. We've established a pack and been working on obedience. We make some good strides, and then he regresses. A few days ago, he attacked me 2x in a day, and now I have cuts and bite marks all over both feet.

I couldn't do anything except cry as he was trying to eat my feet off. Luckily my mom stepped in and said the trigger word, "treat" and he snapped out of it. That was the point that I decided this wasn't going to work. I know he has bitten me many times, but this was different. After all our obedience and pack training, we've really established a bond. It was too hard to have him snap on me after working so hard with him.

Tonight I take him to the city vet where the rescue that we got him from will take him back.

Most of you are probably thinking, it's about time. Well, I know that's easy to say, but this is sooooo hard. I love him. I've spent the last 3 years trying to work with him and teach an old dog new tricks! He runs with me every day. He is my little buddy. But... I can't take it any more. I don't want to move to a new place and not be able to have people over because of the dog. I want kids to be able to pet my dog. I want to be able to pet my dog!

Hopefully the rescue can help him more than I can. My mom is going with me downtown tonight, so that I don't have to do this alone. I know Chris wishes he could be with me with this tough situation. As the tears run down my face finishing up this post... I just wanted to let you all know that we are now the dog-less family.

I do hope to have a dog again some day soon. We'll just have to be more picky about the right choice for our family.

We love you Rex!

A Much Needed Day of Rest

Week 1 is in the books. I made it through our first week of training without any problems. The training day has been long, I typically leave my hotel room at 4:20am and return around 6:30pm. We've covered a wide array of issues in the first week from counseling, to confidentiality, to Operations Orders, a Staff ride to Ft Sumter, to Ramp Ceremonies, to Army Doctrine, Ethical issues, to Traumatic Events Counseling, to Sexual Assault counseling. I worry that there is so much we are being trained on that none of it will actually set in. All I can do is study hard and hope thats not the case. My soldiers need a competent Chaplain who will serve them and work hard to meet their spiritual/religious and emotional needs.

This weekend I was able to hang out with some new friends. We've spent so much time together over that past week, it feels like we've known each other for years. Yesterday I slept in really late, did laundry, ate, ran and went back to sleep. It felt sooo good. Today, I got up and went to the Jewish service. We have to observe the various chapel services on post while we are here. The Rabbi was very charismatic and quite funny. This afternoon I spent some time reading my homework by the pool and then going for a swim when it would get too hot.

I miss Christina a lot. We talk a few times each day, but this phone relationship is getting old already. She is doing well with her family and its nice to know she is in good hands. Thankfully I'll get to see her in 2 1/2 weeks.

One of the biggest frustrations is not having a kitchen. I have a small refrigerator, and a microwave. That means frozen dinners, lunch meat sandwiches and cheese and crackers. But I can't complain too much about that.

I'm really looking forward to next week. At 5:00am tomorrow I have a Fitness Test. Then we have more Operations Orders training, and Counseling Soldiers on the Moral Implications of Combat. Latter on in the week we have some cool events coming up. We are heading down to Paris Island where they conduct Marine Boot Camp. We will meet some Navy Chaplains serving with the Marines and see what their ministry looks like. We will also get a briefing by an Air Force Chaplain about Chaplaincy in the AF.

Hope you are all doing well. I miss everyone a great deal and look forward to seeing many of you in September.