Message Received: 7.19.2010
Hi everyone,
Monday afternoon - I'm on break for lunch. I just started my 4th (and final) week of Phase 1 of Chaplain School. I hope everybody is enjoying their summer! I got to escape Friday night for some sushi with a few guys but had to spend the weekend doing homework (unenthusiastic "hooray").
The course has been going well, we had a Captain from the Naval Academy give us a three day course on ethics but the pace has been like trying to drink from a fire hydrant.
One of the more interesting episodes happened last Friday morning when we went for a company run with our CO (Commanding Officer - the head of our school) leading out front. We went out for a 3.5 mile run and were keeping together pretty well. About halfway along the run, we made a left turn and starting down the road. Ahead of us was a whole company of Army soldiers running straight at us. I wasn't in the front, but what I heard was someone asked our CO (he is a chaplain now, but served as a Marine officer for 10 years) if we should move and he said, "we're not going anywhere". Apparently he was ready to run over the whole Army. Apparently the Army also saw this because they quickly moved over to the other side of the road. They starting giving us a battle shout (we WERE pushing them around on their own turf) but it was pretty funny.
After this week, we begin Phase 2: RMTEX which is a big "camping trip" in the field. We'll be wearing Marine Corps camo uniforms, go on "humps" (10 -15 mile hikes while wearing a 50 lb. pack), learn field first aid, go through obstacle courses, climb and then repel down "Victory Tower" and enjoy other bruising activities.
I'll try to bring a camera to RMTEX and send some good pics when I get back.
Talk to everyone soon,
Fr. Robert
Message Received: 8.1.2010
Hi Everyone,
A picture's worth a thousand words and since I'm heading to dinner in 10 minutes, I just wanted to send a couple photos of the fun you're missing down here in the 100+ degree heat! Hopefully my remarks correspond to the order of pictures:
1. A couple Mondays ago, we had a Marine Combat Fitness course. We started with an 800 yard SPRINT, then did filled ammo case lifts for 2 minutes.
2. Then we picked up two ammo cans and did a "resupply under fire" drill. Basically, sprint 100 yards, bust out 5 push ups then pick up the cans and sprint back 100 yards.
3. Here is our Gunnery Sgt Robert Foster, our class commander. He is outstanding (and hilarious). We're lucky to be his last class, he's heading for a 2nd tour in Afghanistan after we graduate.
4. A week ago this past Friday, we spent half a day on retreat - guess what I did the whole time?
5. We started out field exercises on Friday and we're heading out to the field this week. Here we are at 0530 this past Friday in Marine Corps uniforms.
6-8. Here are some pictures of my gear that I have to take with me. All together it weighs about 75 pounds.
9. And with all that to carry, I decided to shave my head to shed some weight!
Miss you all and hope you are enjoying your summer!
Peace,
Fr. Robert
RMTEx
(Religious Ministry Team EXpeditionary course)
Message Received: 8.14.2010
Hello everyone,
I am going to send you this update in four parts because of the number of pictures attached. I realized after my last update that attaching too many pictures prevented some of you from receiving the email. I am graduating this Wednesday and will get to see my family again for 2 weeks before flying to Okinawa!
1. Monday morning - 0500 at our schoolhouse, dressed and packed with everything I'll have in the field.
2. Here is a picture of our base camp - it was about a 10 minute van ride from our schoolhouse and in the middle of the woods.
3. These tents were thankfully waterproof and had mosquito net doors but were shared by 2 people (a little tight) and didn't offer much ventilation; I learned to stay hydrated and take baby wipe "showers".
4. These bleachers were our main rally point for briefings and chow (which is what we're doing here). We had our first taste of MREs (Meals Ready to Eat) - it's amazing what you'll eat when you're hungry.
5. See what I mean? It wasn't all that bad though.
6. The last picture is before Mass on Monday morning 0715 with Archbishop Timothy Broglio of the Military Archdiocese (my new boss). Along with Fr. Jim Hamel (Air Force) and Fr. Joe Kokorum (Army) both are also from the Archdiocese of Newark.
Part 2 coming tonight (I'm off to dinner)
RMTEx Part Two
Message Received 8.15.2010
Everyone,
On Tuesday of RMTEX week we headed to the Confidence course which is a series of obstacles whose purpose is to put us in uncomfortable positions (mentally and physically). I don't have too many photos from that day since I was climbing, crawling, squeezing myself through some tough spots and my camera would have been destroyed in the process. Here is one that someone took of my team (four of us) negotiating over progressively taller walls (the last ones were over 12 feet high).
1. Our strategy was to put the heavier, stronger guys up first - so I acted like a step ladder.
2. And then I'd swing around and push my teammate up.
3. We had the use of a cord on the final wall, so we tried that.
4. So they could just grab me and pull.
5. Finally on top of the last wall, it was great.
6. But I was so tired, I just wanted to take a nap!
RMTEx Part Three
Message Received 8.15.2010
On Wednesday of RMTEX we did something that, frankly, I was a little nervous about heading to the site. It was Victory Tower, which included my first experience of rappelling - but that turned out to be one of the most exciting experiences I had all week.
b1. Victory Tower is 50 feet high - here's a picture of the rappelling side of it. We did that twice.
b2. We then went down a cargo net - same size - it was a piece of cake.
b3. The last part of Victory Tower were the rope bridges and "slide for life". The rope bridges were on the outsides and the slide for life was in the middle (this picture is from the perspective of the slide for life).
b4. There's me negotiating the slide for life - once you got the hang of it, it wasn't that tough. You just had to forget that all your classmates were watching you!
b5. And after you were done, you could take a rest and cheer everybody else! And while it looks like we're laying in a rock pit, those are actually chopped-up tires!
RMTEx Part Four
Message Received 8.15.2010
Land Navigation course on Thursday.
d1. We had classroom instruction on plotting magnetic and grid azimuths. Here's a few items we used.
d2. It was a blazing hot day and we were just set off in groups of 4. We'd be given a grid (map) azimuth and we'd have to figure out which direction it was for our compass - and hopefully stay on course.
d3. We'd walk on soft sand roads or directly through the woods and brush.
d4. Here's what we were looking for - a small red and white marker in the middle of no where.
d5. Luckily, every 30 minutes we were told to break for 10 minutes.
d6. Back at camp with a friend (he was the most Catholic Baptist I'd ever met!)
d7. After we were done with Daytime Land Nav, we went to a new location and did Night Land Nav - with full "concealment" aka face paint! Notice how nasty our t-shirts look after a day in the heat and sun!
The best part was that after our Night Land Nav course ended around 0100 (1 AM) we loaded up our gear and went for a "hump" aka a forced march on one of the roads. We went at a quick pace for about 20 minutes and ended up at our schoolhouse. We filed into our classroom and were told to break open an MRE while the staff brought slices of pizza in to eat! What looked like a dirty trick turned out to be a great surprise. Our gunny told us to clean ourselves up and head downstairs where they had ordered about 60 pizzas for us!!! RMTEX was OVER! Exhausted and elated, we stuffed our faces with pizza and watched a great documentary on the Marine Corps. I got back to my BOQ, scrubbed off my face paint, took a long shower (I had a week of grime and sweat built up) and slept until 11am the next day!
That's it for now - I'll probably have more pictures of graduation this Wednesday - can't believe I'm almost done!
Peace,
Fr. Robert
