Battle Rattle

The training continues. Yesterday we had to try on our "Battle Rattle" This is all the equipment that we wear when in combat situations. It includes a bullet proof vest, knee pads, elbow pads, canteen, a pack my son Ben loaned me which has my sunglasses, goggles, water, and many other things inside. Battle rattle also includes a kevlar helmet and 4 pairs of gloves. Martha Kuder is my unit deployment manager at McConnell and I thank my stars for the extensive detail work she did to get me deployed. We had a "mass brief" last night in the base theater. There were about 450 of us going on this journey. It looks like we will be spending about 20 days at FOB's (forward operating bases) training in how to be in a combat environment. There is no question about the danger we are preparing to encounter. Preparedness anticipates the worse case scenario. It is unlikely we will encouter alot of combat situations but we will be ready if we do. As a chaplain I am not involved in any weapons training so I will have some "white space" (this refers to a colored wall chart that color codes our training. "White space means no training scheduled. This will give me an opportunity to meet more of the great young Americans we are deploying beside.

I got my office set up today and it feels good to have a space to wok in, even if it is only for a few days. Many blessings to you, pray for peace!

Here is a link to the base in Wisconsin. Looks to me like getting guys ready to deploy is something they do often. I'm sure they are great at preparing for the worst, and I'm sure dad will share the spirit and grace of Christ's love in the face of intense stress.