This means we slept in tents, ate MREs (meals-ready-to-eat), practiced land navigation (even at night), wore camouflage face paint, and got sweaty and dirty. We stayed up late, hiked around the woods of Rhode Island, and learned a lot from our Gunnery Sergeant. We also went through a Confidence Course and a Leadership Reaction Course.
The LRC was amazing. It consists of several scenarios in difficult obstacles where leadership and teamwork is required to accomplish the mission. The Marine Officer Candidate School uses the LRC and apparently so does the Army, among other groups. Believe it or not the LRC concept was actually started by the Nazis to test their officers. The main difference was that the Nazis executed those who did not pass the obstacles. Thank God we dropped that part of the course.
I came back to my room tonight bruised, smelly, and dirty. Oh, and with plenty of laundry. I'm so glad to be sleeping in a bed tonight. The week was amazing though. I really appreciate the Marines more than ever and thank God for those sleeping in tents in Afghanistan, Iraq, and elsewhere. They stay tired, dirty, and lonely so that we can sleep well, be clean, and enjoy our families and friends.
The worst part of the week was not being able to call Kara on her birthday, Thursday. That was our busiest day in the field. All day I felt bad, but it also reminded me that those are the kinds of days that I must get used to. Being on deployment will mean missing out on birthdays, anniversaries, and holidays and having a lot of days where calling home won't be possible. I'm so grateful for a strong wife like Kara who can persevere through the hard times. She completely understood that I could not call. My work in the Chaplain Corps is only possible because of her support and strength.
Pray for those still out in the field defending our country.
Pray for their families holding down the fort back home awaiting their return.
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