Week 4 - Days 3-5 (Wednesay-Friday)

Chaplain Initial Military Training (CIMT) is over and phase one of CHBOLC begins on Monday. In CIMT we have learned the basic skills of being a soldier. In phases 1-3, we we learn what it means to be a chaplain in the Army. In CIMT we had the largest class ever at this school in SC. and on Monday we will add 41 new students to the class growing to a total of 171. Two weeks later, we will loose about 40 students who have not yet finished seminary and we will again pick up a few more.

The pace has really changed as we have moved toward phase one. We now spend most of our time in the classroom receiving briefs (lectures) on various topics. One of my favorite ones recently was from a retired chaplain that served in WWI, Korea, and in Vietnam. He spoke to us about what it meant to be a chaplain.

One of the not so exciting events this week was our TA-50 gear inspection. We had to haul our gear over to coleman gym and lay it out on the floor for inspection. Can your guess which chaplain forget to bring his sleeping bag? Our platoon still took third place out of five, which means, I guess, that we are average.

The big benchmark this week however was the dawning of the beret ceremony. Up until this point, all we could wear were the field caps (which I love). From now on though, we will look like the rest of the Army unless we are in the field.

We have the weekend free including most of today (friday). I plan on laying low, studying for a test next week, and watchiing Die Hard 287, or what ever number it is.

I love you all! Thanks for all your prayers and support.

Week 4 - Days 1 and 2 (Monday Tuesday)

The first phase of CHOBLC is almost over and we are finishing up with a "thunk". In other words, we are landing hard. This week began our first "real" PT with a very hard run on Monday and a full body workout today. I thought I was in decent shape, but now I feel 40. This week also began the official "Death By PowerPoint" phase. For those of you who are not familiar with PowerPoint, it is basically the same as the old fashioned overhead projectors, but works off of a computer. Imagine with me hour after hour of sitting in a classroom staring at the screen after having given all your energy during morning PT. As you can imagine, it is hard to stay awake. So pictured below is the official CHOBLC survival kit.
The kit includes coffee (to beat morning hypnosis), water (to wash down the way to strong coffee), and Mountain Dew (to keep the eyes propped open after lunch). And of course, no good chaplain goes anywhere without his/her notebook.

My mom supplemented my brown bag lunches by sending this awesome care package this weekend. Thanks so much mom! I knew I could count on you to come through. Not to be trumped however, my aunt and uncle made a second contribution to the "Save The Starving Chaplain" fund today with another great care package. Thanks so much. I love you all!

Well, on another note, I called Ft. Hood today to check on my assignment and discovered that I was reassigned yet one more time. But this is great news because I have be assigned once again to the 3rd battalion, 4th Aviation Regiment. If I had to choose one unit out of the entire 4th ID, this would be it. I was told as well, that this would be my final assignment.
Please keep my family in prayer as we prepare to move our entire platoon of children out to Ft. Hood. Pray that the Lord would prepare our hearts for the soldiers we will be ministering to and that God would open up the doors to a home on base large enough for our family.

Week 3 - Days 2-5 (Tuesday - Friday)

What a week it has been! I am tired, sore, broken down, and loving it. If I had to use just one word to describe this week, it would be the word "comradery". There is nothing like sweating together, smelling together, struggling together, and sitting around and doing nothing together hour after hour, to bring a group of soldiers together into one unit. Here are just a few of the pictures from this week.
We put into practice what we learned on Monday in the classroom. We were given grid coordinates and a map. We had to plot a course on the map and find the exact location of that grid coordinate.

Here is our team after we found our first check point.

On our second day, we received instruction about IEDs and convoy operations. in this picture, Sgt. Loftin and Chaplain Crisp react after there vehicle was hit by a roadside bomb. It was good to see this simulation and to get an idea of how to react when attacked.

In between activities we enjoyed MREs (meals ready to eat). There not as bad as they once were, but I am glad to be back to regular food again.

Chaplain Palmer shares from the Word of God in a demonstration of performing a field service.

Chaplains Crisp, Austin, and Palmer administer Communion to the troops.

Toward the end of our second day out, we were marching down a dirt road and I decided to just hold my camera up over my head and shoot a picture backwards over my head. What I expected to see when I looked at the picture was a group of tired and worn out soldiers, but what I saw instead was a bunch of crazy guys taking advantage of a photo opportunity.

My team here successfully performs land navigation at night.


Do I look tired? I was. We arrived back at camp the night before at midnight and were back up at 4:00 am. At the time of this picture, it was almost seven and we were preparing to move out for more training.
Here is my "battle buddy" Lt. Phipps. He is a great guy and will one day make a great chaplain.

Here is what we did most of the third day. It is call the "Hurry up and Wait" formation. I am now able to sleep anywhere at any time.

Leaning to high crawl, low crawl, and back crawl.

Practicing simulated movements under fire. The man leading is playing the part of the Chaplain's assistant, and the one following is the chaplain. Only the assistant is allowed to carry a gun, so the Chaplain has to stay close behind him.

Finally Friday, and after a good nights sleep and a long hot shower, we worked on cleaning equipment and prepared to enjoy a long weekend.

Week 3 - Day 1 (Monday)

Yesterday, I had the opportunity to visit three different Sunday services here on Post. At 8:00 I attended a Lutheran service at Memorial Chapel. At 9:30, I attended a Jewish service at the same chapel. Finally, at 11:00 I attended a Catholic mass at the main post chapel with one of my neighbors from my apartment.

The question I have to ask, and the question that all people have to ask is, "Who is God?". What I mean is that people tend to "worship" their own perceptions of who they think God is. But, if all of our perceptions are different, and if they are opposed to each others understandings as they often are, can all of us be right.

I am a tolerant person. I tend to believe that each of us needs to discover truth as God opens our minds to understand it. But at the same time, God is God, and not simply a figment of our imagination to be worshiped.

I found myself hurt yesterday when the Rabbi stated that "Jesus said that he came to fulfill the Law, but in my opinion He fulfilled nothing." Now I understand that Jewish people do not believe that Jesus was who He claimed to be. But at the same time, I could not help but to be saddened by the offhanded negative remark aimed toward my Lord Jesus Christ whom I have come to love so much. Sometimes you don't know how dear something or someone is to you until that thing or person is taken or attacked in some way.

Well, enough rambling. Today, we focused our day on learning to read maps and to using a compass.
We are headed to the woods tomorrow for three days of survival and navigation training. I am excited about this adventure and looking forward to learning some new trick. Pictured here is one of the many tents we will be staying in.

Tonight, a group of 45 of us were put on detail to go to the woods and to set up the tents for tomorrow. I was one of that lucky group and had a good time doing it.

Tomorrow starts early and I will be out of touch for several days. I will be sure to update things on Friday night, although I will probably be exhausted.

Week 2 - Day 5

Friday has finally come and gone and two weeks are in the books. We began our day today with our first morning of PT together. I can't begin to tell you how invigorating it is to run two miles in formation in the drizzling rain at 6:00 a.m. All I can say is "God Is Good"!

After an invigorating morning rolling in the grass and running, we returned to the school for a couple hours of touring the building. The chaplain school has a great library and museum as well. It is good to have these resources at hand.

After lunch will finished off our day with a four hour course on life saving techniques used while on the battle field:Kihato here has been treated for a chest wound

Valencia is practicing his life saving techniques on Phipps

After an exciting day of saving lives, my squad (1st Squad, 2nd Platoon), went out for dinner. This is a great group of men whom I'm proud to call friends.

This weekend will be a great time of rest and relaxation as I attempt to heal up my knees, shoulder, elbow, and feet. Yes, I am falling apart. Sunday I will have the opportunity to visit several services here on post. We are required to visit twelve different chapel services which include Catholic, Jewish, Muslim, Baptist, and others. I am looking forward to seeing some things that I have never seen before. At 11:00, I will go to mass with my neighbor who is Catholic. That will be a first for me.

Thanks for you prayers and encouragement. I have a new address you can use that will send the mail directly to my apartment. It is:

Chaplain (1Lt.) Mark Olson
3772C Gilmore Ct.
Ft. Jackson, SC. 29206

Week 2 - Day 4 (Thursday)

Can you say your full name, rank, and serial number while standing in a gas chamber? I can! But I never want to do it again!!!I can honestly say that I am glad I did it, but I will be glad if I never do it again. No I did not puke, and no, I did not let anyone take any after pictures.

Can you guess who these three soldiers are?
We were all instructed to go without patches, so that will make it more of a challenge. One hint, I know who the tall guy is.

Here we all are being marched into the chamber.We spent the second half of our day learning how to communicate using the Army's communication system. Here Lt. Burton tries to communicate with God.

Here is the first place winner of the "Feed The Starving Chaplain Contest". My Aunt Pat and Uncle Dick were the first to help make sure that I will not starve during the remaining eleven weeks. Thank you so much for the Blessing!! I love you both.

Week 2 - Day 3 (Wednesday)

It's a great day to be an Army Chaplain! As the days pass by, I become more convinced every day that I am right were God would have me to be. The days here are often challenging mentally, physically, and emotionally, but as each day passes, I become more excited about all that God is doing in my life here in the Army.

I am learning about humility! I thought I was humble, but as I face the loss of control in my day to day activities, I fight my pride. I am learning though, as hard as it may be, to be quite and smile.

I am learning about the Joy of the Lord! My friend Kevin has taught me so much about the joy of the Lord. In one of the pictures in my previous posts, he is pictured marching down the road with his full load gear on and sporting a big smile. Kevin always smiles because his hope is in the Lord.

I am learning about the chain of command. For most of my life, I have always gone to the highest level possible in order to accomplish what I needed to do. But here in the Army, it is imperative to start with the soldier just above you who in my case, is the the squad leader. If he can not answer it, he takes it to the platoon leader who then goes to the class leader who then goes to the Cadre, and so on until the question or problem is taken care of.

Most of all, I am learning to love God more and more. He is so good!

With that said, just a few words about my day today. We were blessed with a day of rest today in that we did not have to road march. However, with every blessing comes challenges. Tomorrow, we will march in full battle rattle to the NBC (gas chamber) to get just a small taste of how to use a gas mask, and what it is like to be gassed. There will be plenty of tears shed and breakfast regurgitated to make up for our day of rest today.

We prepared today for the gas chamber by being trained in how to use a gas mask. I am now very capable of putting on my mask and clearing the air inside in less than nine seconds - hoooah. However, I am still not excited about having to demonstrate that tomorrow.

One more noteworthy peace of news to share is that this afternoon, we had a convocation for all the students at CH-BOLC. The guest of honor was the Chief of Chaplains, Ch. (Maj. Gen.) David Hicks. He has been in the US Army for 42 years and will retire this fall. He shared with us some great thoughts on what it means to be an Army Chaplain. What a privilege it is to meet a man of his caliber.

Check back tomorrow for some great pictures of some very sick chaplains.

Week 2 - Day 2 (Tuesday)

Here are a few pictures from our day today. I don't have much time tonight so I will leave you with these to enjoy. Notice on this first picture that I am preparing to ride this zip line in a parachute harness. It was a lot of fun until you come to end and are thrown up into the air with a jerk and then whipped back down. The wait of my legs coming down tor some muscles in my stomach and I had to sit out some of the other challenges. However, I am still loving it!







Hoooah! For God and Country

Week 2 - Day 1 (Monday)

Week two has started with a bang. We assembled this morning for formation at 6:20 with all of our battle gear on and then marched about two miles to a "Team Building Course". I wish every day could be this fun!Chaplain Nagy on the road march

First and second squads of 2nd Platoon

Yours truly

Our team is moving this barrel across the Euphrates River using only a few boards and some bridge pilings that were not blown up

2nd Platoon preparing to move a wounded dummy (soldier) across an obstacle

Learning to cross a ravine on a cable

Chaplain Austin performing an after action report

Sgt. Lopez saying "This is a Humvee"

I'm Loving It!!! Hooooah

Week 1- Day 7 (Saturday)

Here are just a few pictures from my day today. We had most of the day free today until 3:30 when we went on a road march and then on to Victory Tower. At Victory Tower traversed rope bridges, rappelled down walls, and climbed down cargo nets.

Tomorrow is free except for a formation at 7:00. In the morning I plan on attending a couple different chapel services here on base before going off base at 11:00 to visit a Korean church. I am looking forward to a great day of worship!

Week 1 - Day 6 (Friday)

Week one is almost in the books. Today was just our second day in uniform with temperatures soaring to near 98 degrees. In the picture below you will see that we all have our trousers unbloused and our sleeves uncuffed. We were instructed to do this so as not to overheat. We also have to carry our canteens with us at all times in order to stay hydrated. This picture is of second platoon out of five. We began our day with several hours of lecture concerning sexual harassment and equal opportunity. the rest of the day was spent learning how to march as a platoon. At the end of the day we a had a marching competition with my platoon taking second place.
Tomorrow (Saturday) we are scheduled to repel off of victory tower, a 40 ft wall, so I am very excited. We have the day off until 2:40 when we have to report.

Click on the red letters below to get a preview of of what victory tower will be like:

VICTORY TOWER

Week 1 - Day 5 (Thursday)

Today I was blessed by starting my morning at 4:45 with a PT test. This was a diagnostic test to determine our beginning condition. I was required to do:
34 push-ups, I did 45
38 sit-ups, I did 39
two miles in 18:18, I did it in 15:07

So, I passed - by the skin of my teach. Hopefully, by the end of this course, I will be able to do much better.

This picture is of my friend Kirk Kay. We first met online through his blog (Chaplain Ken)
Today was our first day wearing the uniform. It was good finally to have everyone's last names to see and their rank as well. Many of the student are chaplain candidates and have not finished seminary yet, so they cannot wear the cross on their chests yet and are not called "chaplains", but are referred to by their rank. The rest of us are simply called "Chaplain" regardless of our rank.

Pictured below is myself with another "Olson". He is a candidate and therefore has no cross on his uniform. When he returns to school next year, he will then be a first lieutenant and be able to wear the cross. He is a great guy and I look forward to serving with him someday.
It is good to finally wear the uniform. It is one more step to finally feeling like I am really in the Army. It still feels like I am in a seminary class however, but hopefully soon the reality of what is ahead will really begin to set in.