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