Hand--Salute!

ODS Week 3

It wasn't until my wife told me that it had been a week and a half since I updated my blog that I realized how quickly time has begun to move here. After the first week feeling like it was about three, this shortened week flew by. The weekend Liberty from last week was refreshing, but after the flury of activities, I was actually becoming bored without my family by my side.

Monday (Memorial Day)

What a privlege it is to serve one's country. I have always been facinated by the military and have enjoyed watching the reverent ceremonies that take place on and off base. This day, I was going to be part of the color guard for morning colors. The flagpole at NAS Newport is the second highest of any military base so naturally the flag would be gigantic. It certainly was it was 38 by 24 (Roughly). As we began to march out, it was just amazing to see the pride and dignity that our flag was treated with. Those that truly love and honor their country, revere the symbol of it. For a short side sermon, I wonder how many people that claim to love Christ truly honor, revere and honor his name and the symbols of the faith (ie. God's Word). After color's ceremony, I enjoyed a relatively boring day at the liberty center.

Tuesday: Most of the day was spent in our "Death by Powerpoint" session. But primarily this day was immunization day number 1. Unlike ages past, when you were lined up and were shot with everything, our blood had been previously screened and we were selected for our shots. I ended up getting three this day. I honestly don't remember what they were but, my arm was hurting a bit after the shots.

Wednesday: PT early in the morning. My average day involves waking up at 4:15 every morning, going to the head and then getting changed into my PT gear. At 4:45 we're "on the line" and ready to go out and begin PT. After our warm up lap around the track, and our "morning dynamic exercises" we were about to run 3 miles. AHHHH! I have never run 3 miles before in my life. The most my wife ever made me run was 2 miles. So I was unsure of what would happen. Thankfully, it wasn't too bad. I managed to finish with little pain. I don't really remember what happened the rest of the day, but more than likely it was more powerpoint and a review for our Navy exam.

Thursday: Today was the beginning of a flurry of activity. We had our Navy knowledge exam as well as our Mid Navy PRT. For the Navy PRT test, I managed to shave 15 seconds off my run, add the 11 curlups I needed and added 5 more pushups. (Chaplain Alendar, I forgot to do my tricep pushups) I scored an overall "GOOD."

For our exam, we had to remember everything we learned in our power point sessions. Many people spent hours studying for the exam. And if any of you know me, you can figure out how long I studied. I think I studied for ten minutes. I could tell by the way the instructors were wording things, that this would be a "no brainer" I awoke this morning. Did PT and headed for our exam. The exam was pretty easy and I scored an 88. Passing was a seventy, and no one in our entire class failed! After the exam it was time for more lectures and prepping for our lovely third week inspection.

Friday: The inspection was the stress of the week. The instructors made us feel as if it was the most important thing in the Navy. And to be honest, it was our mission to accomplish. The inspection involved  spitting out our Navy knowledge, having our room inspected, and our summer white uniform inspected. I was a bit nervous during it all, but kept in mind what our chief said, "It's all about confidence" I think you could have been confident in your knowledge and been completely wrong and they would have passed you. But that's just a guess. I took several hits on my cover (Lots of IP's (aka Irish pennance, aka string). My bed fold was a 1/4 inch off and I missed my Navy Mission statement. Yet in spite of it all, my inspector said I was above average.

After a few more short briefs this day, we were briefed on the only thing that everyone wanted. LIBERTY! People were allowed alcohol if they chose, and were allowed sweets and to go off base! I chose to go off base with several other chaplains. We went to a nice restaurant in downtown Newport. On a side note, I really wish I had more time here to be able to explore all that Newport has to offer. It really is a beautiful city. However, if the Lord permits, I will have to do that another time.

Today is Saturday! Continuing Liberty. Sort of. We woke up this morning and were instructed to do another 3 mile run. When we arrived on the field this morning. Our chief made us do more "ON YOUR FACE" because two people had been talking during chow earlier in the week. After 3 or 4 mins of that, we began to run our race. The bad part was, we were running through the remnants of Tropical Storm Beryl. But as our chief said, "If it's not raining...We're not training." This is one of many of the "Chiefisms" that he utters. I think I could spend an entire post on some of the strange things he says.

Until next week!