Chaplain School (Part 1)

Now that the first week is almost complete, I can sit down a reflect a bit on what the school is like. It has a great deal of redundant information this week as the instructors and curriculum attempt to ease the new military members into a fleet command. There are still some very annoying remnants of Officer Development School such as standing behind our chairs after every single break awaiting permission to sit back down. This one has been quite irritating, but I am just playing along with the game trusting that there is a purpose I may never quite understand behind the requirement. The Gunnery Sergeant is one of the funniest men I have ever met yet still locked on and as hard as anyone could imagine for a Gunnery Sergeant.

I will say that my classmates are a great group of individuals that should all succeed as Navy Chaplains. The class has a good mix of those going on Active Duty, Reserve Duty and Chaplain Candidates like myself. There are also about a quarter of us with prior service of some form. This mix of experience along with the breadth of faith groups represented make for enriching conversations and debates. I had the privilege of accompanying a Rabbi on his grocery shopping tonight ahead of Sabbath tomorrow. It was a valuable learning experience that doesn't drop into the lap of everyday Christians. We both discussed our faith openly and honestly attempting to learn from each other. I am convinced that after hour experiences such as that are far more valuable than following the curriculum in the school house. The instructors are also very open and agreeable to allowing the free discussion in the classroom to guide the course as that also enhances our learning to be Navy Chaplains.

Next week looks to be a way to dig deeper into the Chaplain way of doing things and also into the military aspect of the job as it stands in relation to religions of peace. We also get to begin our stream of overnight and day long field trips. We will eventually get a chance to tour a submarine. That should be quite a trip as I haven't been an Ensign on a submarine in a long time and I am actually looking forward to the odd stares I will get from the crew seeing a submarine qualified Ensign with a cross on his left collar. I may actually spend more time explaining that to the tour guide than getting an actual tour. It will be especially interesting if we tour a LA class boat, but we will see when that comes around.