Week in Review (07 Feb - 12 Feb)

As we are heading out to the field again tomorrow, I figured I'd post an update before we leave as I have no idea how the connectivity will be at Ft. Pickett in Virginia. I'm looking forward to having an op that is away from Lejeune so we can get away from some of the admin that comes in each day from above. I know that I don't have to worry about fielding many calls from other agencies, etc while we are away from base.

Last week was mostly focusing on getting ready for the next few weeks and was hectic because the battalion leadership was participating in a virtual exercise for most of the week. Monday was full of meetings again and packing the mount out boxes as well as packing the office since RP and I will be returning from the field to new offices. Tuesday was some work on the FMF qualification requirements. I am finally getting into a groove of making progress each week so it should start to feel like I am making steady progress after the field op. I also did some checking in with senior chaplains before heading out to get last minute tasking and suggestions to make the field op run a bit smoother. Thursday was a good day as the base was closed due to snow that didn't arrive so we got some great admin done. Unfortunately, the corpsmen decided I needed both a yellow fever and anthrax vaccination this week. I think I have had 4 shots in the last two weeks and am starting to feel like a human pin cushion.

Off to the field.

Week in Review (31 Jan - 06 Feb)

This week wasn't too hectic as we are getting ready for the upcoming field exercise in Virginia. RP and I are getting everything ready and packed up for the trip. We spent almost three hours on Wednesday going through our stuff in the cage that was left over from the last deployment and discovered that we don't really need to order many religious supplies for the upcoming deployment. I think there are enough materials that anyone can get what they need for any religion or denomination. Plus we also found some good relationship counseling materials.

It was also a good week as the CO and I began to discuss the ministry plan for deployment and how best to get me around to all the companies on a routine basis while deployed. It is pretty amazing at how close the deployment is and at the same time how far away some of the guys think it is. The RP and I also did a good amount of work in prepping our coverage plan for the trip to VA next week.

A quick glance at how consuming the job can be, I didn't even realize that one of the races I ran every year while in seminary, the Krispy Kreme Challenge, occurred this weekend. Had I known and planned better I might have gone to my parent's house on Friday to participate yet again. Maybe next year.