AND NOW... Basic Chaplain School!

Dear Readers,

It has been a year since I completed Commissioned Officer Training.  Since that time, I have had amazing experiences serving with my unit in the Tennessee Air National Guard.  First of all, the unit received funding to provide firemen seven days a week (before, they contracted with the Memphis Fire Department on the weekends). What that means to me is that on drill weekends, whereas I used to spend Friday night alone in the firehouse, I am now accompanied by at least two other troops. I'm not going to lie; I miss the quiet of those Friday nights... Now, when I sit down to my Friday night Shabbat Dinner, there is usually a TV on and they guys are eating pork chops or something. Hey, it is what it is - and, as we say in the Air Force, "Mission First!"

I have a monthly Saturday afternoon "social" with the Wing Commander. It's a blast! Each month I bring a different single malt Scotch, and we have been going on a liquid tour of Scotland. Lately, we've been joined by the Assistant Wing Commander; he's being groomed to take over, so he needs to know our routine!

I put together and delivered a presentation on Suicide Prevention earlier in the year. It went over very well, and as a result, I have been in high demand for counseling sessions on drill weekends. I also started a monthly "Old Testament Bible Study" that I do on Saturdays during drill; I hate to say it, but I get more people on average than the Protestant and Catholic services combined!

However, that has all been done in the absence of my "official" Chaplain Training. And that begins next week! I leave for Fort Jackson, SC (outside of Columbia, SC) on Sunday, May 15th. Class begins Monday morning and runs through Friday, June 24th. I am very much looking forward to this!

First of all, this should be nothing like COT. I imagine everything will be a little lower key. Additionally, we will be treated like the officers we are, not like the "hazing" and initiations we had to endure last year at COT. The course schedule has not yet been distributed, but the program focuses on counseling - individual, marriage, suicide prevention, etc. - appropriate prayers for the military, chaplain responsibilities in the field, interaction with the Chaplain's Assistants, ecumenicism... you get the point. I imagine for the newly ordained clergy, this is all new material. I have been doing this stuff for two decades...

Additionally, I am off for Saturdays, so I hope to be able to go into Columbia for the weekends and spend Shabbos with the Chabad rabbi there. I was also given permission to leave for the two days of Shavuos, but I am responsible for the material that will be taught those days.

I will hopefully be better at updating the blog this time. Last year, I didn't have access to Blogger.com; I had to write the blogs and email them to my son, and sometimes they didn't get posted in time, and sometimes I mailed them late... Now, I have a rooted Android phone, so I have my own hotspot!! No more military censorship!!!

So have a great weekend, and stay tuned next week for the beginning of "The Rabbi Goes to Officer Training - Part II"!