There... To here... And Now...

I lack the ability to correctly type out just how amazing and beautiful the past few days have been for me.  I have intentionally waited a couple days to post this thinking that it would get easier to say, but it has not and I know that I owe you all the last post of my first deployment. 

I say that I owe it to you in all seriousness. One of the companies that I supported was the mortuary affairs Soldiers who deal with almost every fallen hero in the country of Afghanistan.  In my year tour I saw many fallen comrades going home.  When we got on the plane in Kyrgyzstan, I realized that all the Soldiers that I traveled to Afghanistan with were there with me.  That is powerful stuff and with teary eyes I could not say "thank you God," enough as our plane left the ground headed for home.    

In those last couple weeks we lived in tents and were all on our toes because there was a threat of a Suicide Bomber somewhere in the area.  There is not a whole lot that gets me edgy, but the thought of being so close to going home and having myself or some of my Soldiers killed in that way had me worked up.  Earlier in the year, when I found myself in a tricky situation I was praying to God and just reminding him that he had led me to that place, on that day.  My mind went back to the days in high school and college when I would go rock climbing and someone would be at the other end of the rope to keep you from falling in case you slip.  I felt at the end of the rope and found myself asking, "on belay?"  Immediately I felt Gods arms around my spirit and a clear and powerful "Belay on."  So, knowing that God has the other end of the rope, I spent those last couple weeks fully engaged with our replacements, my Soldiers that were getting ready to come home, and those who I would be leaving to the new Chaplain.

After flying for around 18 hours we arrived at home.  When the plane touched down there was just a huge applause and we all felt the relief of being home.  It was dark and rainy when we finally made it to the hanger where all of our family and friends had gathered for our welcome home ceremony.  I was cold, but it was great to feel the rain on my skin (Afghanistan's average rainfall for Jul-Aug is .01).  We all lined up and started walking into the room.  I was in the last of five rows, and to hear the cheering and clapping for those in front of me was indescribable.  I imagine the cloud of witnesses spoken of in Hebrews 12 to be something like this.  I marched in and immediately saw Lindsay, the boys, my parents, and a couple other chaplain families.  We ran to each other and I grabbed all my gear and went home.

And now I sit in my home, with as much privacy as my two sons will give me, and have gone three days without wearing either a PT uniform, or my Multi-cam Uniform.  

So, "thus far" has taken me into Afghanistan and back again.  I cannot thank you enough for your prayers and support that you have given to me, my family, and my Soldiers.  For me, I will be moving to another post in the summer and will begin my training as a hospital chaplain for the Army.

God bless you all,

Thick Joy and Pain

I am glad to be able to shake hands with the Soldiers that are here to take our place.  It does not seem real that we are so close to going home to be with our families.  It does not seem real that I left a two month old and will soon go back to a 14 month old.  People always ask if it is hard to leave your family for a year.  I don't really ever know how to answer that.  I can tell you about what happened a week or so ago:  I called home and experienced a "first."  My oldest son picked up the phone and said, "Hello daddy," in his funny little voice.  I have never had that happen before.  When I said hello back he exclaimed, "Ethan daddy phone!" and laughed with joy.  We started singing the ABC's together and finished by exchanging sound effects.  Lindsay picked up the other phone and as we spoke, Ethan would chime in with statements about his day, what he was doing, and what he wanted.  I got more joy out of that conversation than anything I can remember.  Then, as the conversation continued I mentioned something about where I was.  The way he says Afghanistan is really funny and hoped to hear him say it again.  However, instead he got quiet and in a serious voice said, "Ethan daddy gone."  That did not, and does not take my joy away, but it cuts me deep to have a son that identifies me with being "gone." 

...

So, it is a deep joy and a deep pain that I feel.  I continue to believe that deployment does not break marriages and families, but just magnifies what was already there.  That being said, I am already noticing the curiosity in myself and my Soldiers about what going home and reintegrating is going to be like. 

For those praying for us:

      I was reading Romans 8 a couple days ago and the word "Groans" in verse 18-31 stuck out to me.  Creation groans, humanity groans, and the Holy Spirit intercedes with groans on our behalf.  There are times that things are so bad that all you can do is groan.  I ask that you pray for the groans of the Soldiers going through tough times.  Specifically, that they are given the intense blessing of feeling like their groans and pains are heard.  And, that they be reminded that they have a heavenly father, family, leaders, and battle buddies that care about them.     

I finally got access to my blog!

Good Morning World!  I have finally gotten access to my blog again and wanted to post some pictures of things that have been going on over the past couple weeks. 

These first two pictures show how large and small the vehicles are here at Bagram.  Honestly it is quite entertaining to see the little white "VanGo" driving next to one of our tactical vehicles.  I keep telling everyone that I am going to buy the little van and take it home to FT. Drum.  It would easily fit into one of our containers, and once I got it home I would put all these "high-speed" stickers on it like you see on some Soldiers cars.  I have only had the privilege of driving the little van once, and its probably a good thing because everytime I would see a Soldier that was my height or taller I would pull over and offer to give them a ride just to see them try and fit into the seats.  

 They all thought that I was being nice, but its just really funny to me to see big people in this vehicle. 

Everyone likes it when the chaplain shows up with snacks!  In this pictures I am handing out snacks out of a care box that I had received the day before.  I think that I have mentioned it before, but it funny to me how many Soldiers will see me with the care supplies and, out of sheer excitement, start cussing like crazy.  "OH ------ ----- ------, the chaplain has snacks for us!"  And then, they make eye contact with me and start apologizing for their language. 

 

The picture below is the beginnings of the new addition to our office.  Well, honestly our original office was little more than a closet so this new room almost triples the amount of room that we have.  This makes my assistant very happy because he no longer has to leave when I am counseling with Soldiers.  And I am very glad that we are able to leave the "fox hole" much better than when we got here. 

A couple days ago I was given the honor of recieving the Bronse Star Medal.  This is myself and Col. Ryan, my Brigade Commander just after the ceremony.  I am very pleased to recieve this honor and owe it to my assistant who makes all my crazy ideas happen, the Soldiers that show up, and my command who is always supporting me to "be where the Soldiers are."  So to clarify, I recieved this award as an End of Tour award.  This is not due to a specific event as if I took out a whole enemy position with my bible or something like that.  It is because my command has recognized the job that I have done throughout this year to be above and beyond what I was supposed to do.  At the beginning of our deployment I had the goal of doing more battlefield circulations than anyone in the brigade except the brigade commander.  After adding all of our trips up, we have traveled almost 6500 miles in the past year. 

This is a picture of myself and my boss, the Battalion Commander, LTC Matthews.  From day one, he has always supported me and said that his goal for me was to be with Soldiers where they were.  That is a great gift to a Chaplain because it means that instead of spending our time sitting in meetings, we can be out and about getting to know the troops and ministering to them.  Oh, and the head at the bottom is my Battalion CSM Phillips.    

Below is myself and my assistant, SGT Carrasquillo just before a worship service.

This is my new home for a couple weeks.  They are force provider tents that everyone in my battalion is staying in so that our replacements can move straight into thier rooms.  I have heard a couple of negative remarks about our new living arrangments, but for the most part everyone is just really happy to be one step closer to being home! 

And below is a picture of the Bagram mountians just before sunrise on a morning that we were getting ready to fly out to another base to visit Soldiers. 

For those of you praying for us: 

      I would ask that you pray for our safety.  I dont want to spend much time on it, but there has been some craziness in the past week or so that has the potential to do a lot of harm.  My prayer is that God confuse those who have no regard for the lives of others, and keep his protection around our Soldiers, civilians, and Soldiers of other nationalities. 
     I also ask that you keep all of us and our families in your prayers.  It is an odd feeling to know that you are getting ready to go home to a family that is a year older.  And, there are some that are going home to empty homes and depleated bank accounts.

God is good!

Its Sunday afternoon here.  We have a chapel service that meets at 1000 on Sunday mornings and today was one of the best services since we have been here.  As we walked to the DFAC afterwards I just kept saying "whew" under my breath because God is just so good!   
Our service is supported by three chaplains, myself, the Brigade Chaplain, and another Battalion Chaplain.  The rotation that we have is that one chaplain will preach, one will be the liturgist, and the third will have the Sunday off.  On the Sundays that I am not preaching I help lead the worship by singing while my assistant plays the keyboard.  Today, the Brigade Chaplain was the liturgist, the other BN Chaplain was the preacher, and I helped with music.   
This has been a long and difficult week.  The chaplain that preached today was not sure that he would make it back in time because he was stuck at a FOB.  The brigade chaplain has faced some struggles this week with all the different details of all the Religious Support Teams in the area, and I felt worn out.  For me it feels more like being weighed down by everything that my Soldiers are going through.  When I sit down in the crap of life with Soldiers, it sticks to me a little bit and I have to find times to refresh myself and clean some of that stuff off.
So, you have three tired Chaplains who would probably all say that they were not "feeling it" as the walked into that service this morning.  And yet, right there God shows up, rocks our socks off, and then with a smile points at us and says, "See!  It's not about you, its about me!  It does not matter what you feel or don't.  It does not matter how tired you are or what burdens you are carrying.  This is about me and I am ready so hold on!"  ... whew!  Praise the Lord! 

About two months to go!

I am so happy that the month of July is done with!  For whatever reason, a number of us knew that it was going to be a tough month.  On top of the difficult times, three months is just too far away to be getting ready to go home.  All of us have our missions to complete, and that does not stop until the day that our replacements take over. 

Now, with closer to two months to go, I am letting myself think a little more about coming home.  What fun to think about being able to celebrate my birthday, thanksgiving, Christmas, Ethan's birthday, and new years (and on top of all those add my mothers birthday, two sisters-in-law, and my sisters birthday... forgive me if i forgot someone)! 

But enough of that, I want to share some good news.  My assistant and I are currently in the middle of a battlefield circulation.  We flew out on Wednesday, spent the night in another area and flew back to Bagram for less than a day before we hopped on another flight.  In my time at Bagram I started my usual pattern of getting all my dirty clothes to the laundry, and cleaning my room and my gear.  I just happened to walk through one of the recreation areas (to talk smack to some Soldiers about ping-pong) and a Soldier walked up to me and asked if we could talk outside for a little bit.  I said sure, and we walked out to the smoke shack and there, after talking for a while he re-dedicated his life to the Lord.  "I feel an empty hole in my life and nothing seems to be able to fill it," he told me as we talked.  As we talked, prayed, and even shed some tears.  Good stuff.    I ask that you pray for this Soldier as he makes these first steps in deepening his relationship with God.  I also ask that you pray me as I chat, share, and pray with this Soldier. 

Once I get back home I hope to be able to add some pictures. 

Thank you for your prayers! 

Prayers

It is hot and dusty here.  I have been really busy the past week or so, and it seems to me that July is going to be a pretty busy month for all of us.  My personal laptop has seen better days and is not letting me on the internet at the moment.  This means that the pictures will continue to be few and far between until I find another way to get them loaded. 

The ministry here is going well.  There are about 200 more Soldiers that I am responsible for now then when I first arrived, and that keeps me constantly busy.  There is not a lot that I can talk about now, but I wanted to make sure that I pass along some information from some Soldiers who specifically asked me to tell people to pray for them. 

-The first Soldier is such an inspiration to me.  He came to me just a few days ago and was almost in tears as he talked about how his oldest child has come back into a good relationship with him, and with God.  He talked about all the wrong that the child had done, and admitted to some mistakes that he had made as well.  He told me about how this deployment has been one of the best things for their relationship because they had to put more work into their communication, and were faced with the fact that the Soldier is deploying and will be in dangerous situations.     

-One Soldier is really struggling with some others in their unit.  It seems that a lot of this is due to the fact that after spending months and months living in the same room with other people can create big tension at times.   

-Another Soldier has struggles at home and is coming to terms with the fact that they are going to be going home to a broken family.   

-Another Soldier is really struggling with whether they should get out of the Army now, or sign another contract for a few more years.  

-And finally, for myself.  Specifically, I need God to be very clear to me about what career path I need to take.  Chaplains can concentrate in many different areas such as being a family life chaplain, a hospital chaplain, working at a school house, and a few others.  It is close to the time that I am going to need to start making those desires known and, honestly, I go back and forth about what it is that God is leading me to.   

Thank you for the prayers. 

Visiting other areas...

In the past week my assistant and I have been focused on seeing our Soldiers in other areas.  Battlefield circulation is one of the many things I love about this job.  Going out and visiting Soldiers is almost always fun for me.  Not only does it put things in perspective for me and my assistant as we see how life is in other areas, but I also enjoy getting to the smaller areas where the dust and traffic are not so bad.  My biggest hindrance for making these trips is the flights.  I hate flying...  A couple days ago I got to experience my first combat landing. If you don't know what that is, I have attached a picture of it.

Personally, I find the picture insulting because it is not what my

assistant and I went through in the back of the plane. He told me, "I thought they were trying to make a tornado or something." So, I have made a modification to the picture to more accurately portray what we experienced. 

 

Once we got our boots on the ground we met with all our troops and hand delivered some goodies to them. One of the areas was attacked recently and the Soldiers there are not getting the same foods that they are use too. Yes, food is available but its the same stuff again and again. These Soldiers were very happy to see me show up with Ramen Noodles, cans of fruit, and snacks.  While we were there, A couple Soldiers really wanted to walk us around the area and show us what all had happened in the attack a couple weeks ago. As we walked it became very clear to me that this Soldier was needing to talk about what he went through.  As we made our way around the base, he started talking about how all of his Soldiers immediately snapped into "help mode" and helped some wounded Soldiers to the nearest medical station.  "I have not always been a big believer in God," he told me.  And the after a pause he added, "but I just don't see how so many of us were so close to such danger and didn't get killed."  As we made our way back to the company area he pointed out the damages done to the chapel (its the most beautiful chapel in AFG. in my opinion).  The back wall is buckling a little bit and the stain glass was blown out.  But the building still stands and work is being done on it to repair it. 

 

For those praying for us:

I ask that you pray for our chapel service on Sunday mornings.  I ask for God to make himself known in such a big way that it is obvious to everyone that it is God moving, not whatever Chaplain is preaching, or whoever is singing that Sunday.  If we go home and have not had a meaningful encounter with the Creator of us all, then we have been ripped off.

 

 

 

Getting back in the swing of things.

I got back from my R&R three days ago and it has been a non-stop blur of meetings, counseling, and services. 

It is so nice to be back with the Soldiers and help point them towards God’s peace, grace, and mercy.  When I walked into my office, the first thing that I noticed is that I had apparently “won” the Battalion piñata for the month.  What happens is that at the end of every month, the Battalion gets together and has a meal and shares stories about stupid things that people have done.  Then we all vote by round of applause for the dumbest event, and that person gets to keep the piñata in their office for the next month.
 

Why did I win?  Those of you that know me know that I have a mischievous streak in me.  One day I was in the command group office and found that the Battalion Executive officer had left his ID card in his computer and left the room.  So, I decided that I would add a mustache to his picture.  It was a really great mustache and made him look a lot like Luigi of the Mario Brothers.  I quickly left without being spotted and went back to my office.  I laughed at the thought of him not noticing the mustache for weeks or months.  It only took him 10 minutes.  I later found out that instead of using dry erase markers, I had accidentally used a permanent marker.  So, needless to say, the piñata has found a nice home with me for the month.
 
For those of you praying for us:

I ask that you pray for God to put me in the right places at the right times.  I have over 800 Soldiers, 7 different companies, and they are located on over 11 different forward operating bases.  I cannot see how I am going to be able to get to them all as much as I want to before my assistant goes on his R&R.  We also have to coordinate carefully with the other Battalion Chaplain because we cannot both be gone at the same time because of our mission to the convoys and the mortuary affairs Soldiers. 

I also ask that you pray for our Soldiers and their family members.  More specifically, I ask that you pray that God help remind everyone of the worth in their relationships.  There is a huge cost that our Soldiers and family members pay while being deployed.  And, when you cannot be around each other much, the costs appear to outweigh the benefits.  “I don’t see anything left to hold us together,” is what I often hear from my Soldiers in regards to their relationships. 

Thank you for your prayers and support!

Home Sweet Home

I am home!  I flew back on the 25th and have been soaking up ever single second that I can.  My travels between Afghanistan and here were a little difficult for me because somewhere along the way I got some bacteria in me that left me feeling extremely sick and weak.  In the worst for days of it, I lost nine pounds (my apologies to those who had to sit next to me on the flights).  I was literally dizzy as I walked from terminal to terminal in Atlanta and Cleveland.  The doctors gave me some good drugs and I am feeling almost 100 percent better now.  We have gone to parks, played in water, been to a farm to see and feed the animals, and have even gone yard-selling together.  The whole time I have been here Ethan has been saying "Daddy this" and "Daddy that."  He will come up and grab my hand and want me to take him somewhere and do something with him. 

The rest of my R&R is going to be free of sickness I hope!  We are traveling to a waterpartk/hotel tomorrow and will spend a couple days there before we head to the zoo in Syracuse where I will jump on my flight back to Afg, and Lindsay and the boys will start their drive down to North Carolina to visit with family. 

It is such a blessing to me to see how God has taken care of my family.  Ethan and William are always into something and Lindsay and right there, keeping them from killing each other and taking care of all the tasks of the house.  How did I get such a great soul-mate?  There is a growing number of my Soldiers who will be coming home from our deployment to broken homes.  I don't think that deployment in and of itself causes divorces, but it is a clear stressor on top of other issues that are present.  Because of all this stress, some relationships break apart and cause a lot of harm to those involved in them.

Please be praying for our Soldiers and family members who are running a little low on morale right now. 
I also ask that you pray for the Religious Support Teams as we try to plan activities and events to help bring Soldiers together with each other, and to help Soldiers grow closer and more open with their families. 

Blessings! 

Its been a tough week.  Reading over all the grammer errors and typos in my last post show how tired I am.  : )     

In the past 10 days, we have had more than 10 fallen Heroes comes through morturary affairs.  Seeing so much loss is difficult.  The proces for me as a Chaplain is that the transfer case is before me and I give a scripture/prayer, and then the Hero is moved from the Building and into a transport vehicle which drives straight to the runway where there is a larger Ramp ceremony waiting.  My mind keeps calling me back to all the times that I have dressed up in my Army service uniform and gone to someones house with a casualty notification officer to deliver terrible news...    

Honoring our fallen is one of the things that the military does better than anywhere else.  While working at the hospital, there was always a rush (sometimes percieved, sometimes real) to get the loved ones in to grieve, get the information needed, and then move the deceased out and get the next patient in.  I was told by a casualty notification officer once that for every one fallen Hero, there is around 200 or so people who are immediately called, paged, woken up, and put to work to honor the Soldier, and inform the family members as soon as possible.  

Also, one of my Soldies just found out that thier fiance died in a car accident.  They were going to get married when the Soldier returned home in three months.  The Soldier cried as we walked around the block to get away from the office for a little while.  The Soldier showed me the paper that carried the terrible news.  It amazed me how such a frail and small piece of paper can carry such weight.  The Soldier could not and would not believe the news at first.  And honestly, probably still doesnt believe it.  Please pray for this Soldier as they travel back home to attend the funeral.

For me, things are busy and I am a delayer when it comes to my grief and stress so I should be good to go until my Brigade CH gets back.  AND THEN I GO ON LEAVE!  The thought of playing with my sons and being next to Lindsay fills me with joy and energy!  

Thank you for your prayers and support! 
 

We are on the downhill side of the deployment!  It is great to realize how quickly our time has gone.  In the last week or so, I have been filling in for our Brigade Chaplain who is home on R&R.  My days begin early and end late and are filled with a lot of different meetings and events.  Also, one of the companies that I work with is the Soldiers in Mortuary Affairs.  We have been busy in the past week the duty is tough.  I am constantly amazed at how professional and honoring the Soldiers are to our fallen heroes.  I find it such an honor to be their chaplain. 

I am also the only Chaplain here to preach at our service, which adds to the stress.  I figured that I would get a three week series together since that opportunity will not present itself again until we get back home.  The idea is to look at three sentences Jesus said that made (and should make) a huge impact on his followers.  Last week was Matthew 10:39 "Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it."  This week is Matthew 19:30 "But many who are first will be last, and the last shall be first."  And then next week will be "But whoever wants to be great among you must be last, and a servant to all."  I look forward to see how God shows up in my life, and in the lives of those that attend our service. 

Another development in the last week or so is that another one of our battalions has make it over here with us from Ft. Drum.  I know their Chaplain very well and we celebrated him being here by doing some "aroma therapy" (smoking cigars) which gave me a terrible headache the entire next day.  Headache aside, it is good to get back into the same area with someone that you know. 

Our Soldiers are doing pretty well.  I anticipated that the 6 month mark would see an uptick in the number of counselings that I do. And I was right.  Fights with family members back home, and conflicts with the people working around us is growing.  Because I expected this to happen, I intentionally held on to some cards from people back in the states to save them for days that Soldiers are more stressed out than usual.  Two or three days ago the stress was high.  I went around handing out the cards and it was fun to see how it lifted so many Soldiers' spirits.  I ask that you pray for our Soldiers to be re-united the with the importance of our mission, and the purpose of our deployment. 

My morale is high for the simple fact that my R&R will be in two weeks!  I cannot wait.  I am tired of playing with Ethan via skype.  Yes, we do i have a lot of fun (though my Soldiers in the computer lab while I am on skype think I am insane), but I cant wait to be able to run around with him, and play with little William who I am told is starting to stand up on his own now!  Thinking about it makes me feel jittery.   

As always, please pray for our Soldiers protection. 

Thank you so much!  

First a little about what has been happening in th last couple weeks:  

I cannot believe that we are right at the 6 month mark of our deployment!  Since the weather has started warming up, my assistant and I have been able to focus more on traveling to visit our Soldiers in other areas.  Previously we had been grouped the other bases into clusters.  This meant that we would spend multiple days jumping from FOB to FOB.  Instead of that model, we are trying to do shorter trips more often.  A week ago, we were able to visit three different locations.   

One of the FOBS we made it to was by an accident.  It is my opinion that the person who was supposed to schedule our  
flight fogot about us until the last minute.  So they scheduled us to fly to another FOB in hopes that we could find another way to our destination.  I was tired and not very happy but as we walked to the DFAC that evening i was able to take the picture to the right.  I had to decrease the resolution and quality of the picture because of the slow internet speed, but it was a beautiful scene. 

The next morning we woke up early and flew back home because there were no flights to our final destination where I had a scheduled for a service the next day.  We arrived at home around 0800 via fixed wing flight.  We took all our gear and range walked (walked fast) down to the Helo terminal to see if there was any chance that we might jump on a helicopter to get us where we needed to go.  I walked in and it turned out that there were two chinooks that were getting ready to depart to our destination to pick up some Soldiers who were getting ready to redeploy.  We arrived without incident and immediately went to the chapel to begin our preperations for the service. 

       In celebration of Easter, we ran, and ran, and ran some more.  Ther was a 5 mile, "run for Jesus" that was put on by one of the other Chaplains, and then a couple days later there was a satallite boston marathon here.  The boston marathon began at 0300 and since my travels didnt allow me to properly train I decided it best to work one of the water stations.  After the marathon was the muleskinner challange which was a 100 mile relay event.  Each team could only have a max of seven persons on a team (i think), and you could only have one runner per team at a time.  Run, run, and more run!

2nd a little about our Troops:
The warmer season is also bring more coflict.  The Soldiers in our brigade always amaze me as I see how strong, mentally and physically they are.  One of these Soldiers whom I consider to be one of the strongest and toughest Soldiers we have came up to me the other day with a worried look on his face.  I knew something was wrong, and honestly, I starteld me a little bit.  We made out typical plesantries, and I finally just asked him what was wrong.  He reached for his neck and pulled out a celtic cross that i have given him a few days before.  "I broke the cross," he said as he pulled up on his ID tag Necklace.  Dangling on the end of the neckalce was a cross that had one of the sides of it broken off.  The Soldier nervously said, "I heard that its really bad luck when this happens."  This Soldier goes outside the wire very often and you could see the hurt on his face as he thought about bringing bad luck down on himself and the Soldiers with him.  I went to my office and grabbed another one traded with him but just trading didnt seem to releave his fears.  "I am glad that you wear this thing enough to wear it out," I told him.  He seemed to accept this and he nodded his head.  We then talked about how lucky we are that God is more than just crosses that can be broke, or books that can get torn up. 

For those praying for us:  1st safety, and secondly for me.  I need clarity and wisdom as I work to keep our Soldiers engaded and thier heads in the game as we move past our halfway point. 

Professionalism

What is professionalism?  This is a term that I am learning to define differently as of late.  Since joining the Army, I have been given the opportunity to stand with some of the greatest professionals that I have ever known.  As many of you know, a couple weeks ago some actions by Soldiers on the base caused riots and demonstrations in the surrounding areas.  The protest here was just outside one of the gates which was too close for my comfort.  The day after the protest, I was visiting all my Soldiers and checking in with them to make sure that every ones nerves were in check.  I made my way around the base, and eventually came to a new company to our Battalion.   

This company is a group of Soldiers that supply ammo to our base, and all the other bases around us.  Because they are new to me, I have tried to spend as much time as possible learning from them exactly what they do.  A few weeks ago they were explaining how the process of getting ammo from them to the soldiers works.  I got lost in all the technical terms and the mountain of paperwork, but the gist is that every piece of ammo (or any property for that matter) is always accounted for by someone.  This means that everything is on some persons hand receipt, meaning that they are financially responsible for it.  One pallet of Ammo can cost a small fortune, and someone has to sign for it. 

On this particular visit, I learned that on the day of the protests, the guards for the base came to these Soldiers with a need for support due to the protests.  The protestors were getting out of hand and the situation was growing more and more stressful.  Simply put, the Soldiers needed an alternative to live-rounds to help the situation.  My Soldiers had to quickly analyze the situation, make the decision, and trust that the paperwork would be completed after the fact (which puts all the risk and accountability on the Soldier).  I realize that this might not resound with those who are not in the military, but to let someone walk out the door with something that belongs to you is a very difficult thing to do.  Should that equipment go missing or be damaged, you are held responsible and it could possibly be something that haunts the rest of your career in the military. 
In the end, the Soldier made the right decision and accepted the potential risk.  The Soldiers at the gate got what they needed and the situation soon de-escalated.  I was almost speechless as the Soldier talked to me about the situation and the role that he played in it.  When he was done I told him how amazing that was and that his actions saved lives.  He told me, “it is not that big of a deal Chap, this is what we are here to do.”  What is a professional?  A professional has developed a gut feeling of what “right” looks like.  A professional knows that the right decision remains right even when there is a large amount of risk involved.  A professional sees the right decision as the standard, not the exception.

Tense Times

First off, I cannot thank you all enough for your prayers and support.  I have received notes and emails from many of you just letting me know that you care.  We also received a few boxes from “operation care and Comfort” on the 22^nd which was a huge lift to our spirits and to the Soldiers in our area.  Along with the prayers and support has come some questions that many of you have about all that has been happening in the past few days.

If you have seen the news then you know all about the issues, and might even know more than I do.  What I know is that at this point my Soldiers are safe and are out of harms way.  When the conflict and tension was at its worst, I will admit that the thought came to me that of my 900 some Soldiers, I am the only one without a weapon.  That is a humbling thought.  Praise the lord for the hedge of protection around this base, and my Soldiers.  And thank God for my assistant! 

Currently, my Soldiers are frustrated, and we are all hoping that we can work through this time with as little conflict as possible.  The cold weather has been nice because it keeps people indoors for the most part which will hopefully mean that everyone has more time to let angers settle down before it warms up.  As many of you know, I am a part of a Sustainment Brigade which has lots of different kinds of units within it.  For example, I am the chaplain for an ordinance unit, finance, postal, customs, HHC (higher headquarters), the riggers, and the retro-sort yard.  We are logistics which means that our biggest concern over the past few days is how to get the necessary supplies out to all the Soldiers that require them.  Imagine how stressed out we can get in making sure that all the smaller bases have everything they need, especially in very difficult conditions or times of conflict.  As the days go on, it seems that things are returning more towards normal, but lots of people are still on edge.  Over the past three days, I have given 14 different briefings to Soldiers in regards to proper ways to handle religious materials.  Tonight I will give my last two and then I can give my voice a rest for a while.  

Thanks for the prayers and support! 

Happy Valentines Day!

Happy Valentines day to you all.  I am really happy to say that we were able to pull off our "operation rosebud" on Saturday and it was a great success.  What we did is contact a florist local to Ft. Drum and worked it out so that he would supply a single rose for each spouse/significant other of our deployed Soldiers here at Bagram.  Then, we had each of the Soldiers type a love note to send via email to the FRG (Family Readiness Group) at Drum.  The FRG then printed out the notes, then matched it with a rose.  Then, the FRG planned and executed a brunch meeting for all the spouses/significant others.  At the meeting, we set up a video conference and each soldier got to spend 15 minutes with their spouse and family.  What great fun!  I laughed to myself a little because we had a couple of spouses that didn't want to get in on the conference because they are working on losing weight and want it to be a surprise for the Soldiers when they get home.  I have good access to skype, but it is so blurry that there are a lot of small details that you forget when you haven't seen your loved ones a such a long time.  It is also interesting how God works.  I has just walked out the door from sitting down with my family when the a leader looks at me with a deer in the headlights look and says "chappie, we need you right now!"  I went from playing drums on the table with Ethan and singing "deep and wide" to helping a Soldier that is facing being kicked out of the army.  They feel like everyone hates them and is doing everything they can just to make their time left as miserable as possible.  As we talked and grieved together, I still had "deep and wide" going through my head. 

For those praying for us:
    I ask that you pray for all the Soldiers that have had close calls with injuries or death.  The tendency is to just roll on and ignore it, but then all the stress and anxiety comes to the surface in other ways.  Please pray that they get the help they need as soon as the possibly can. 

Thank you all for your prayers and your support! 
And happy valentines day! 

Whats been going on.

                I apologize for not posting anything in the past month.  It is hard to believe that the weeks have gone by as quickly as they have.  Two of our attempts to visit Soldiers at other FOBS has been cancelled due to weather.  On the last trip I was really excited because we were able to get on a plane and flew halfway to our destination.  Unfortunately we were turned around mid-trip and sent back because of the snow and fog.  

One of the things I love about this job is that even when plans are forced to change, I am still able to minister to our Soldiers.  As soon as we got back into the office after the cancelled flight, A Soldier with issues back home walked in and asked to talk.  It's great how we make our plan, but God guides out path. 

The Pinata that Lindsay Sent me for my birthday has taken on a life of its own.  Every month our Battalion gets together for a meal we spend a little while telling stories about the funny things that have happened since the last month.  Since we are the “muleskinners,” it is only fitting that the person who has done the most embarrassing thing should have to keep a donkey with them until we meet again.   At first they were going to just give out certificates to the winner, but the pinata was just too good of a “prize.”

CH Mead and SGT Webb picking up our latest delivery of care packages!

One of the great blessings is seeing all the support that we get from people back in the states.  These care packages are from different groups that send us stuff every month or so.  Because of their support and care, our many of our Soldiers do not have to purchase toiletries, and snacks (unless they are picky).  Through the K-cups that were donated all the way down to the flip-flops, our Soldiers are blown away by how much care and support they get from people that do not even know them.  One person Soldier was really moved by us giving her a blanket that we received in a care package.

  One of the reasons that I have been too busy to update the blog lately has been that one of our chaplains has been gone for RandR.  This meant that I had to cover down for him on all his duties.  His unit is a transportation unit which means that are the brave Soldiers to drive supplies from point A to where ever it needs to go.  The Chaplain will always be there for the convoy brief to give a prayer/devotion/thought of the day for the Soldiers before they leave on their trip.  Then the Soldiers grab a meal and leave for the trip.  

 

For those praying for us:  

     We are in the phase of this deployment that we are realizing that this is not just a field exercise.  We are here for a year, and instead of being able to go home to our families, we are living with those we work with.  Needless to say, this means that there are growing pains as we continue to live, work, fight, laugh, and eat with the same people, day in, and day out.  Just like any close family...  

     Also, I ask that you pray for Gods protection for our troops.  IDF stands for Indirect Fire, and there have been a lot of them in the past two months.  Thankfully, not of our Soldiers has been injured, and many of the rounds have been duds. 

     Oh!  I have also found out that our church service is going to be changing in march.  We will be combining with some of the other Religious Support Teams to provide a service at the main chapel.  Please pray that God use us as mighty instruments as we lead services for those who are hungry for God.