Entering the Desert
In my last few days before leaving Camp Shelby for Ft. Irwin, CA (NTC) there were some other soldiers I met that were noteworthy. First of all, there was Bob. Bob is a man who is overly over 50 years of age. He is round and is missing some teeth. He is a sweet souled man who was told to report to Camp Shelby for deployment. When he stepped into the health screening area for the SRP, the staff took one look at him and told him to go back home. The sad thing was that Bob had is heart on deploying, so I met him when he was a little deflated. MAJ O (my eccentric barracks mate) was once his commander. He did a fine thing by going to the movies with Bob. The next day I met up with them at lunch. I arrived late and discovered that all the strawberries had been eaten. I briefly mentioned something about it when I sat down and got back up to go get some condiments. When I got back to the table Bob had placed three big fat strawberries on my plate. I thought Bob was an excellent example of a human being who in his own suffering still was sensitive to others….a walking sermon.
I haven’t mentioned MAJ O as much as I probably should. He is a bright, eccentric and quick witted man who has a good read on things. He keeps me laughing with his take on things. He also gave me the chutzpa to just stay in the transitional/replacement unit barracks and not go up to my assigned barracks that was packed to the gills. He is a single man in his late forties that continues to try to find the right woman. He is competent in his profession, but I think that he sometimes over thinks things and needs encouragement when it comes to personal decisions. Now that we are at FT Irwin he is working hard with his unit and I see him less.
Before I left Camp Shelby on the final evening before our departure, I decided to do laundry. In the laundry trailer, I struck up a conversation with a young soldier who seemed exceptionally bright. I quickly learned that he had been home schooled by a highly religious mother. He also mentioned that he tended to be a bit more quiet in his unit because they didn’t quite understand him. He told me that he had been studying philosophy, but wasn’t sure that was the way he was going to graduate. We talked a bit about some history of philosophy type stuff. He admitted that he didn’t expect a chaplain to be as worldly as myself. He mentioned that he usually avoided them because they tended to proselytize and be a bit pollyana. I told him my first theological plank was if there wasn’t a God there should be one. And that when someone tells me that they don’t believe in God, I ask them to tell me about the God that they don’t believe in and that chances were that I did not believe in that God either. He tested me when he asked if I had ever heard of Anton LaVey, I said that I recognized the name but couldn’t place the personage. He reminded me that Anton LaVey was the writer of the Satanic Bible. I told him that I knew a little about Satanism and that what most people think of as the Satanic church is a pretty modern construct. I also told him that I knew that Satanism wasn’t the worship of evil. He said that Satanism is mostly about putting oneself first. I told him that the problem with putting oneself first is that it builds hatred toward the weak and treating others as objects. He agreed and told me that he wasn’t a Satanist anyway. He told me in not so many words that the God his mother presented to him wasn’t one that he cared for. I told him that it was OK and that resenting his Mom had more to do with her and less with God. He knew that. I told him to keep in touch with me because I found him to have a hungry mind.
When it came time to leave for FT Irwin a battalion of soldiers stood in formation in the dark and roll was called. When one name was called a young man with a Boston accent yelled “We’re all gonna die!” There was nervous laughter. I heard that later the soldier was confronted by his peers for his poor choice in humor. It took a whole tractor trailer to move all our sea bags and rucksacks. We boarded four school buses and then we went to a processing center where we were weighed and ID’s and dog tags were checked. From there we boarded three tour buses where we took an hour’s long drive to Gulfport, MS to the Trent Lott (ugh!) Army National Guard Post. We arrived after midnight and slept on the cold concrete floor for four hours. Well, it wasn’t consistent sleep. As a matter of fact at one point in the middle of the night when it got really cold a couple dozen soldiers got up around the same time and huddled in the break room. Some soldiers slept seated, others on lined up chairs, and some including me were on the floor.
The flight to NTC was comfortable. We flew on a commercial airliner that treated us to leather seats and a couple of movies. We arrived early in the day. The bus ride to FT Irwin was about 45 minutes. As one drives through the desert on their way past the gate, there is a large rock formation that is painted with various division crests: Airborne, 3rd I.D., 1st Cavalry, and many more insignias were emblazoned on the rocks. It was partly impressive to me and partly saddening. I thought of how in some ways the painting on the rock was a prayer for permanence for some who passed through here and never came back.
The desert is beautiful. The landscape, the weather and even the light remind me a great deal of Greece. Our initial camp site is in a basin surrounded by hills and mountains a few miles out. The weather has been hot and dry in the day, and cold and windy in the evenings. There have been a few dust storms during the day. We live in very large and weathered circus tents that have been rented to NTC for $4 million a year. This is somewhat puzzling since there are dozens of small structures without walls that could be modified. In fact, I was told that years ago all soldiers stayed in these and slept on the ground.
All seven teams (chaplain and assistants) are here now. We’ve begun to coordinate our efforts as the brigade plans the mock battle. Apparently, this battle scenario will be non-linear reflecting the current situations in the world. There are many Observer/Controllers who set the rules, watch the action and give feedback to the leadership. It is now my fourth day here and we are receiving MILES equipment that is worn to detect laser beams as we’re shot at. We’ve also begun to wear our flack vests that contain heavy protective plates inside. Within a few days we will drive out into “the box” which is about 1,000 miles square (the size of Rhode Island) and begin the battle. I will be in a Forward Operating Base for most of the time, but will have some limited functions out in the field for training purposes.
On Sunday, I lead an evening service around the time the sun was setting. There were about 15 soldiers present from various Christian traditions. Instead of calling the service a General Protestant service, I named it an Interdenominational Service in hope of having lay contribution to the service. CH (LTC) Purinton was in attendance and could tell that he appreciated my efforts. He and my immediate supervising chaplain have been very supportive. SPC Hargrave has been an excellent assistant and very helpful. He had been looking forward to my arrival at Camp Shelby because he had been tasked with other things to do beside chaplain related responsibilities. He gets a little frustrated at the bureaucracy and some of the digs that come his way for a variety of reasons. We’re a good match and I sense that we will be good friends as well as a good team. It hasn’t been all roses integrating into the FSB, though. I think that this is partly due to the way the commander views the chaplaincy. LTC Z is new to this unit and had replaced LTC Niles, whom I met back in November. LTC Z is a junior high school teacher in civilian life who has earned an M.S. in Psychology. I believe he is a “gamesman” of sorts who likes to use the chaplain as an information gatherer and a “good cop.”
I haven’t mentioned MAJ O as much as I probably should. He is a bright, eccentric and quick witted man who has a good read on things. He keeps me laughing with his take on things. He also gave me the chutzpa to just stay in the transitional/replacement unit barracks and not go up to my assigned barracks that was packed to the gills. He is a single man in his late forties that continues to try to find the right woman. He is competent in his profession, but I think that he sometimes over thinks things and needs encouragement when it comes to personal decisions. Now that we are at FT Irwin he is working hard with his unit and I see him less.
Before I left Camp Shelby on the final evening before our departure, I decided to do laundry. In the laundry trailer, I struck up a conversation with a young soldier who seemed exceptionally bright. I quickly learned that he had been home schooled by a highly religious mother. He also mentioned that he tended to be a bit more quiet in his unit because they didn’t quite understand him. He told me that he had been studying philosophy, but wasn’t sure that was the way he was going to graduate. We talked a bit about some history of philosophy type stuff. He admitted that he didn’t expect a chaplain to be as worldly as myself. He mentioned that he usually avoided them because they tended to proselytize and be a bit pollyana. I told him my first theological plank was if there wasn’t a God there should be one. And that when someone tells me that they don’t believe in God, I ask them to tell me about the God that they don’t believe in and that chances were that I did not believe in that God either. He tested me when he asked if I had ever heard of Anton LaVey, I said that I recognized the name but couldn’t place the personage. He reminded me that Anton LaVey was the writer of the Satanic Bible. I told him that I knew a little about Satanism and that what most people think of as the Satanic church is a pretty modern construct. I also told him that I knew that Satanism wasn’t the worship of evil. He said that Satanism is mostly about putting oneself first. I told him that the problem with putting oneself first is that it builds hatred toward the weak and treating others as objects. He agreed and told me that he wasn’t a Satanist anyway. He told me in not so many words that the God his mother presented to him wasn’t one that he cared for. I told him that it was OK and that resenting his Mom had more to do with her and less with God. He knew that. I told him to keep in touch with me because I found him to have a hungry mind.
When it came time to leave for FT Irwin a battalion of soldiers stood in formation in the dark and roll was called. When one name was called a young man with a Boston accent yelled “We’re all gonna die!” There was nervous laughter. I heard that later the soldier was confronted by his peers for his poor choice in humor. It took a whole tractor trailer to move all our sea bags and rucksacks. We boarded four school buses and then we went to a processing center where we were weighed and ID’s and dog tags were checked. From there we boarded three tour buses where we took an hour’s long drive to Gulfport, MS to the Trent Lott (ugh!) Army National Guard Post. We arrived after midnight and slept on the cold concrete floor for four hours. Well, it wasn’t consistent sleep. As a matter of fact at one point in the middle of the night when it got really cold a couple dozen soldiers got up around the same time and huddled in the break room. Some soldiers slept seated, others on lined up chairs, and some including me were on the floor.
The flight to NTC was comfortable. We flew on a commercial airliner that treated us to leather seats and a couple of movies. We arrived early in the day. The bus ride to FT Irwin was about 45 minutes. As one drives through the desert on their way past the gate, there is a large rock formation that is painted with various division crests: Airborne, 3rd I.D., 1st Cavalry, and many more insignias were emblazoned on the rocks. It was partly impressive to me and partly saddening. I thought of how in some ways the painting on the rock was a prayer for permanence for some who passed through here and never came back.
The desert is beautiful. The landscape, the weather and even the light remind me a great deal of Greece. Our initial camp site is in a basin surrounded by hills and mountains a few miles out. The weather has been hot and dry in the day, and cold and windy in the evenings. There have been a few dust storms during the day. We live in very large and weathered circus tents that have been rented to NTC for $4 million a year. This is somewhat puzzling since there are dozens of small structures without walls that could be modified. In fact, I was told that years ago all soldiers stayed in these and slept on the ground.
All seven teams (chaplain and assistants) are here now. We’ve begun to coordinate our efforts as the brigade plans the mock battle. Apparently, this battle scenario will be non-linear reflecting the current situations in the world. There are many Observer/Controllers who set the rules, watch the action and give feedback to the leadership. It is now my fourth day here and we are receiving MILES equipment that is worn to detect laser beams as we’re shot at. We’ve also begun to wear our flack vests that contain heavy protective plates inside. Within a few days we will drive out into “the box” which is about 1,000 miles square (the size of Rhode Island) and begin the battle. I will be in a Forward Operating Base for most of the time, but will have some limited functions out in the field for training purposes.
On Sunday, I lead an evening service around the time the sun was setting. There were about 15 soldiers present from various Christian traditions. Instead of calling the service a General Protestant service, I named it an Interdenominational Service in hope of having lay contribution to the service. CH (LTC) Purinton was in attendance and could tell that he appreciated my efforts. He and my immediate supervising chaplain have been very supportive. SPC Hargrave has been an excellent assistant and very helpful. He had been looking forward to my arrival at Camp Shelby because he had been tasked with other things to do beside chaplain related responsibilities. He gets a little frustrated at the bureaucracy and some of the digs that come his way for a variety of reasons. We’re a good match and I sense that we will be good friends as well as a good team. It hasn’t been all roses integrating into the FSB, though. I think that this is partly due to the way the commander views the chaplaincy. LTC Z is new to this unit and had replaced LTC Niles, whom I met back in November. LTC Z is a junior high school teacher in civilian life who has earned an M.S. in Psychology. I believe he is a “gamesman” of sorts who likes to use the chaplain as an information gatherer and a “good cop.”
posted by Chaplain (CPT) Fokas at 8:42 AM
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