Ft. Sumter & Charleston

So this week we took a bit of a road trip.

We went to Charleston AFB and Ft. Sumter.

The Air base trip was in order to see a ramp ceremony, understand a little about our Air Force and Navy chaplains, and to have lunch at the Officer club there. I highly recommend the officer club. It was REALLY good food (seems like food has become a focal point in the last few posts).

From there we drove over to Ft. Sumter. The launching point for the ferry to the fort is also where the USS Yorktown is anchored. Plus some other very cool historical ships, planes, and displays.

If you are ever in the area you may want to stop by. The folks working there did a wonderful job of helping us to understand the history of the site and its role in America.

I am posting some pictures of the trip. One cool thing is that the picture with me and the flagpole and water behind me demonstrates a first in my life. I have been all over the west coast, however, this was actually the first time that I have seen the Atlantic. Big deal for me anyway.

Today I am preaching my "sacred communications lab." Basically, we are given a scenario "down range" in Iraq and we have to put together the plan for a complete worship service there. We do up the bulletin and then we preach just the sermon. It is a little challenging to just kind of "drop yourself" into the middle of a scenario like that, but all of the students have done a great job thus far.

We're all looking forward to the weekend, mostly in order to catch up, or get ahead on some of the assignments. The papers and readings are beginning to come at us pretty fast and furious. Of course in the midst of it all we are still figuring out household and family moves. Hectic days.

But God has been good, and so far, other than "death by PowerPoint and memos" we are all doing well.

Thank you for your continued prayers, mail, and care packages.

Let me just add that the mail and care packages are VERY MUCH appreciated. It is like Christmas when they call out your name.

Blessings,
Corey

Visit with the Family

I know that I am a little late on this post, however, I have good reason.

Over the President's Day break I was able to visit with my family in Clarksville, TN. We all flew into Nashville and met up there. We were able to visit Ft. Campbell, look at housing options, and even visit with one of the brigade chaplains on post.

One side note, while I was at the Charlotte airport I visited the USO. These people absolutely rock! They took care of all of us who were there, and helped everyone feel welcome and appreciated.

Even if I had not been able to visit with my family, that visit with the chaplain would have made the trip worthwhile. We were able to talk about the post, the area, the brigade, the different battalions, and expectations.

I will be honest with you, PT (Physical Fitness Training) was a concern for me. The 101st Airborne are known for being in great shape. They have to be! Some of the things that they do regularly would give some people panic attacks. Therefore, they have set their own PT standards very high.

Now, I do not mind working hard, I had to drop 70 pounds just to get into the Army, and I have never been much of a runner. That being said, for me to just pass a standard PT is quite an accomplishment when you consider have far I have come in my fitness.

My main concern is that I do not want to be a liability to the battalion to which I am assigned. I know that I will be one of the older folks at the PT formation, but that is no excuse. I also know, simply because of our schedule here at school, that I will be able to continue to improve my PT a little bit, but it will not be drastically different than it is now.

I really just wanted to know how the PT standards are applied. The chaplain was able to reassure me that as long as I am demonstrating that I am continuing to try, and that I am not quitting, that I should be fine and accepted. That was an overarching concern. I want to get off to a good start in reaching the troops in my battalion. I do not want them to be disappointed in their new chaplain.

In any case, we really liked the Ft. Campbell area and the post. Everyone that we met was really nice, and authentically seemed appreciative of the Army. We also found some REALLY good restaurants. Some of them I will probably have to avoid if I am going to continue to pass my weigh-ins.

I have included some pics. We have a diagnostic PT test tomorrow AM. It is suppose to be really cold. I passed my weigh-in this morning with about 20 pounds to spare, not that I am looking to put those back on.

Blessings.

Weekly Update

I realize that I have been somewhat remiss in my duties as a blogger. I am endeavoring to do better.

This week was quite busy, and this upcoming week is not looking any better as far as workload.

The classroom presentations were so extensive that they actually broke us up into our platoons and had us all rotate through most of the material.

However, one entertaining event was an obstacle course that we tackled on Friday. Yours truly was on a medical profile for tendinitis in his right elbow and so I did not get to participate in much of it, but the road march in body armor and kevlar helmet was fun. I am including some pics.

The other great thing is that the weather has REALLY warmed up. This weekend we hit 70! Of course I was inside for most of it trying to get a leg up on our homework. No complaints though. I did step outside a couple of times and got some good workouts in, in spite of the workload.

Blessings