Happy Mother's Day

I would like to wish all of the mom's out there a very special "happy mother's day!"

I have had a chance know to meet some Army moms, and they have my respect. However, I can say that about most of the mothers that I know.

It seems like being a mom just gets tougher and tougher as the years go by. In fact, the Army has begun to offer programs to help strengthen families. They realize that there are a lot of soldiers struggling with the decision to stay with the Army or not, and in many instances a deciding factor is the strength of their family.

I have met families that work well with the stresses of military life, and I have seen others that have really struggled. The Army's "Strong Bonds" program is designed to help families be and become stronger and healthier.

Mom's play a significant role in the strength of our families. So I want to say again, thanks mom for all of your love, help, support, sacrifice, and strength. And that goes for all moms.

I have included some pics from the area. We've had a fair amount of rain and everything is greening up very nice.

Getting Settled In

Good May Everyone!

I know that it has been a while since I posted, but it is needless to say that we have been very, very busy.

Here is a quick run-down from my last post:

We graduated from CH-BOLC on the 3rd of April. On the 4th we finished packing, loaded the van and drove to Fort Campbell, KY. The drive was mostly uneventful. The most amazing thing is that we were able to get everything to fit in one car.

We got checked-into Turner Lodging and then officially signed in to the post on the 5th. On the 6th the in-processing began in earnest. There is a TON of paperwork that has to be completed. You are also issued ALOT of stuff! The good thing is that I was able to meet with my sponsor regularly and get through the process in due time.

I officially signed into my unit, the 1-32 CAV, on the 15th. This is a great unit to be serving. It is mostly men and tends to be somewhat smaller in number than the infantry units. Therefore, there is a great amount of comradrie and positive pride. My predecessor seems to have done a great job as a chaplain, and left me big shoes to fill.

We were able to attend some specialized training on resiliency, and Connor did very well in a "Guitar Hero" tournament.

I have already now done quite a bit of counseling, and led some training on suicide prevention. Please be in prayer about this. Suicide tends to be like an illness that feeds on itself, and the Army is trying to do all that we can to bring this trend to an end.

We are currently living off-post as we wait for our on-post housing. We found a wonderful place that allows us to go month-to-month and have our dog. So we met our friends in St. Louis, at the arch, and re-connected with Kamiah the Beagle. We also finally found a second vehicle. It is a 2000 Suzuki Vitara. So far seems to be a good car for us (mostly me getting back and forth).

Other than that, everyone is settling into Army life well. We are mostly now figuring out the best way to do things with life, work, and school.

As I mentioned before, please be in prayer for us and the soldiers. Many Fort Campbell soldiers have recently returned and we are still waiting for some others. Homecoming is great, but the adjustment can be difficult for some.

Thanks for your patience on this posting,
Corey

In-processing

This is just a quick note to let everyone know that we made it down to Ft. Campbell just fine.

We have begun the steps of in-processing and will hopefully finish soon. I have been through Central Issue and they gave us a BUNCH of stuff. I filled a duffle bag, an assault backpack, and a really big backpack too. The biggest issue is trying to figure out where to put all of this stuff while we are in our temporary lodging.

I should hopefully be signed into my unit this next week, and then getting up to speed with all of that. Right now we are figuring out our short-term housing while we wait until the end of May for our on-post housing. We are also trying to figure out how to get a second vehicle.

In any case, I do have a few pics from the graduation. I hope everyone is having a great day, and has a wonderful Easter.

Thanks