Here’s the latest update on my training at Officer Development School in Newport, Rhode Island…

First of all, it feels really good to have completed three weeks. I only have two more to go at this station, then I fly down to South Carolina for the Chaplain School at Fort Jackson (which will be another seven weeks). Since my original update, I’ve passed some requirements and tests:

1) I’ve survived a few uniform and room inspections. Meaning, tighten those bed sheets and bounce a quarter off the bed. Get out that lint roller everyday. Lock up your personal items (wallet, cell phone, papers, clothes, etc.) in your closet, or else they’ll magically end up scattered in the main hallway because your instructor found your room "not properly stowed away." Stand at attention for a solid hour while my superior gets within a foot of my face, scanning for any trace of a 5 o’clock shadow. Clean the room like Cinderella. Polish those shoes. Polish those shoes again. And again. Basically, our instructors have drilled home the point that presentation and perception are everything. If I look sloppy or not “squared away”, then why would anyone in uniform take me seriously? I guess cleanliness is next to godliness…or something like that. Just last week on the day before our most recent uniform inspection, I spent four hours into the late night prepping my dress blues uniform. Jenny, this is your cue to laugh.

2) I’ve also passed my physical fitness and book knowledge exams this last week. That was a relief because anyone who fails must do additional remedial work during the evenings, and sometimes on the weekend. Also, I feel up-to-speed (for the most part) on Navy customs and history, Chain-of-Command, international diplomacy, and protocol between enlisted and officers. We have had many more classes/briefs in the last week and a half. It’s a real fire hydrant mentality (death by Powerpoint) and only so much seems to stick. I think the biggest challenge is just trying to stay awake in class when you’ve only had about four hours of sleep on average. However, that part has gotten a little better in the last few days. Getting six hours of sleep last night was like a slice of heaven.

3) Our class/company finally received some off-base liberty this past weekend. Meaning, we finally got to step outside the base gates. I’ve discovered that Newport, Rhode Island is a very nice, quaint city. It’s loaded with steak and seafood restaurants and small village shopping. Twice I’ve been able to visit the historic downtown district for dinner, although only for about two hours. I think the most memorable moment was accidentally stumbling upon St. Mary's Catholic Church, where John and Jacqueline Kennedy got married. While our group is out in town in packs of four or five, our instructors have required us to wear our dress blues uniform (hat/cover included). It’s taking some time to interact with people and try to make sense of the distinction between civilian and military. A few times I’ve felt like an alien or “the other”, sticking out like a sore thumb. After all, it’s not too often you see groups of Naval officers strolling the street looking like blatant tourists. Needless to say, I’ve received both weird glances and genuine greetings.

4) I got to participate in my first “colors” ceremony this past week, where we raise the American flag at 8 AM everyday. Saluting at attention in uniform, guiding the flag to the top, hearing the national anthem, on a military base...it was something that I'll not soon forget. Later that day, I got my official military portrait taken. Again, a surreal experience. Growing up I remember seeing people in military portraits and thinking how different that must be. Now, as a 33 year-old, I guess about anything is possible.

Well, that's enough for now. I hope you are well and I look forward to talking with you again at some point. Please remember our family in this time of transition. I know we are all in good hands now, but we look forward to being with each other again later in the spring.

Kevin

Kevin's Update

Hello from Newport, Rhode Island!

It’s been about a week and a half since I said a three-month-goodbye to my family and boarded a plane for my training to become a Navy Chaplain. I’m currently at Officer Development School (ODS), a five-week training school that will basically get me up to speed on how to quickly become an officer with the Navy. When I finish in early February, I’ll be flown to Fort Jackson, South Carolina. I’ll be there for another seven weeks learning how to effectively minister as a Chaplain in the Navy. Then, I’ll be meeting up with the family around April 1st in Camp Pendleton, California to work with the 1st Marine Division.

Here’s an update on how things have been going…

First week at ODS was exhausting. Basically, here was my daily routine. Wake up at 4 AM and immediately start physical training until breakfast. After about the second day, my body was already sore and very worn out. I think I had to do 220 pushups alone on one day. I found out the hard way that one of my instructors (sort of like a drill sergeant) does not like to be called “sir”. Point taken. During the day, our class does a lot of marching across base for various appointments. One day was for getting my entire medical and shots squared away. I had five yesterday, and three more still for tomorrow. I got my official haircut early last week, but it wasn’t quite the classic “Boot Camp” version.

Also, late last week, our class went to get fitted for officer uniforms. That was pretty cool to think that I would start wearing them so early on. Already I have various uniforms: one brown, one blue, one camouflage, and one white. I still have to purchase another two sets of Marine uniforms, since I’ll need them whenever I’m working with the Marines. Recently, our class has gone to several officer classes and learned about things like: Military Law, Pre-deployment Readiness, or National Security and Defense. Basically, many back-to-back classes with a bunch of notes and PowerPoint. Also, there’s a lot of snow here. After all, it is New England in January. I’m pretty sure the temperature has not even gone above 35 degrees and usually stays around 20 degrees (and a wind chill of about 5 degrees) during the day. We walk/march everywhere, which takes about ten minutes each time. So, after awhile, I’m ready to find a heater.

My class is about sixty people who have also recently been commissioned as a Naval Officer. There are about fifteen other Chaplains here. But, there are also about twenty nurses or medical corps. A few doctors, dentists, and a psychiatrist too. There are even a few nuclear warfare individuals here. They’re from all over the country. We occasionally talk about where we’ve all been assigned and what might be coming next. This past Sunday, several of the Chaplains and I attended one of the base chapel services. It was a nice service and a good reminder of why I’m doing all of this.

In the evenings, our class has been busy with studying, cleaning our rooms, and preparing for the next day. I’ve had to do a lot of shoe shining and uniform ironing too. There’s been important pieces of information for me to quickly learn, like: “The Sailor’s Creed”, “The Six Articles of Conduct”, and of course, “Anchors Aweigh!” to name a few. So, by nighttime, I usually get to sleep about midnight. I think I hit the wall this past Saturday after living off of adrenaline for so much this first week. This week things are going a little smoother. Our class is coming together as a team, we’re doing less pushups (my personal favorite), and we all seem to be getting along well.

Finally, and it obviously goes without saying, but I miss my family. I’ve only been allowed one hour total of phone conversation last weekend. I think hearing their voice for the first time was a pretty unexpected emotional experience. I’m very thankful for Jenny’s brother, Brandon, doing so much to help them drive across the country to Oregon. And, I’m very grateful that my family is now getting so much grandparent time with Steve and Belinda during my absence. This journey, although seemingly isolated and occasionally lonely, reminds me that we’re all sacrificing and growing together.

Kevin


***For now Kevin can't check facebook or really any website. I can email him a copy/paste if anyone wants to send something on to him.

The Trip Across America (almost)

So I guess God didn't agree with our plans to move out of Texas.

We had a great time celebrating Christmas and the New Year in Nashville with Kevin's family. About 30 minutes after toasting and confiscating noisemakers we headed out for Abilene. Yes. Abilene. There was some miscommunication between the Navy folks and Kevin ended up having to fly out of Abilene this morning. My brother flew into Nashville to drive to Oregon with the kids and me. All of this caused a slight problem because we have our van packed pretty tight so an extra person and their baggage had us looking like a Griswold situation.

Road Trip.(I'll just continue to update on this same post)
Day One. January 1st, 2010
Driving through the night on New Year's was a bad idea. Just east of Memphis we dodged someone driving the wrong way on the freeway. It sent us in between the roads and into a panic attack. No one was hurt and the van held together until East Texas where one of our tires blew out. Shredded is actually a better word to describe it. I wish that I had a picture of us driving to Wal Mart with Kevin holding that tire on his lap. We bought two new tires and made it to Abilene. After all the goodbyes I couldn't really take seeing anyone again. We had to focus on saying goodbye to Kevin for 3 months. So at 4:30 this morning the kids, Kevin and I shared some tears and parted ways until April. Too many goodbyes this month.

Day Two. January 2nd, 2010
We went back to the hotel and slept until 9am. We left around 11 with the plan of getting to Albuquerque tonight. Ha. About an hour before Lubbock we had a flat tire. We put the spare on and slowly made our way to another Wal Mart since everything else was closed. By the time we got there it was a two hour wait and so we got the kids some haircuts and a new sword for Owen (looking back that wasn't a great idea). We are now in a not-so-great hotel and realized the dvd player is broken. Awesome. Hopefully tomorrow will be better. We have four new tires and a positive attitudes. Well, all but Owen. Let's hope he doesn't try to sheath his sword down his pants again.

Day Three. January 3rd, 2010
Long day. We got another late start because we have been so tired. No trips to Wal Mart, so that was good. I don't think I was cut out for life on the road. The good news today was that the dvd player started working and we hooked the kids up with headphones. (yes!) The other bonus was that I was able to get a military discount at our hotel for the first time. Thanks Kevin.

Day Four. January 4th, 2010
The drive through Arizona was beautiful. I want to go back there sometime when I am not loaded down with a bajillion suitcases. The snow faded away as we got closer to Hoover Dam. The magic of that place was lost on my children but we enjoyed it. The last time Brandon and I were there he was 5 and I was 12. When we were leaving the dam Brandon said "Where is that dam dog anyways?" So it was fun to go back there with him and listen to him not only repeat the phrase a few times but also do his uncle duty of teaching my kids to say it. I won't even go into all the things he taught my kids but hopefully they will forget most of it by next week.
After we left the dam and its dog we headed to the city that never sleeps (much like us on this trip). If you ask Lucy what her favorite town is, she will now say Las Vegas. They didn't even see any of the fun stuff and they were sucked in to the magic. We stayed at Treasure Island because pirates are rocking Owen's world right now. Brandon was probably pushed to some limits by the time we got settled in the room but he redeemed the night by winning a few hundred dollars. Me, not so lucky but I didn't put much effort into it either. It was quick and anyone that has spent time in Vegas would be disappointed by our experience but it was just a taste. I had never been to the strip and we needed to have one fun day of just seeing something we hadn't seen before. It was worth it. Next time I go back I will not be taking the children and I know better what I want to do.

Day Five. January 5th, 2010
Leaving Las Vegas made the children sad. I was ready to get going and Boy was on a high from his winnings so we headed out hoping to make it to Weed, CA by 11pm. We were only an hour and a half late. Not too shabby. The highlight of this day was a well-deserved trip to In-n-Out Burger. "Hello old friend."
Auntie Dawn was waiting patiently for us in Weed. I guess I should have listened to Owen three hours earlier when he woke up just to say "Something bad just happened", but I shrugged it off when he immediately went back to sleep only to find that he soaked, I mean s.o.a.k.e.d. his pants (like left multiple puddles) while sleeping in the van.

Day Six. January 6th, 2010
As we finished up a load of pee-soaked laundry and slowly got ready for our big 3 hour drive to Tri City, we enjoyed visiting with Toby and Dawn. Of course we couldn't leave without Auntie Dawn reading the kids a Pete and Penny story. To Dawn's credit the kids were still talking about it after dinner tonight. Oh the life lessons from Pete and Penny. Maybe one of them will stick.
So now we are here in Myrtle Creek/Tri City, When we pulled off the freeway I asked Lucy if she could guess the town we were in and she said "Murder Creek". We'll work on that.



Uncle Brandon was the hero of the trip. He changed 3 flat tires, drove most of the way and gave the kids a 'patience high-5' every time they started to lose it. We definitely appreciate him and had more fun with him in the van. Thanks Boy!