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.