Centurion Faith!

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Next Thursday, April 09, 2009 - FOB Sharana

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Some soldiers waiting by the road at Bagram Air Field, our first stop in Afghanistan.

When Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him, asking for help. "Lord," he said, "my servant lies at home, paralyzed and in terrible suffering." Jesus said to him, "I will go and heal him." The centurion replied, "Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant shall be healed. For I myself am a man of authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, 'Go,' and he goes; and that one 'Come,' and he comes. I say to my servant, 'Do this,' and he does it." When Jesus heard this, he was amazed and said to those following him, "I tell you the truth, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith..." Then Jesus said to the centurion, "Go! It will be done just as you believed it would."
(Matthew 8:5-10,13)

The day we left Alaska I prayed the liturgy of the hours, based on the psalms, and read this passage: "When O Lord, will I come to the end of my pilgrimage and enter the presence of God!" Kind of funny to read that on that day. Not sure I would term my time in Alaska as a pilgrimage, and I certainly wouldn't say that Afghanistan is the presence of God. But, it did kind of put a good spin on the flight and the next 12 months of my life. This really will be a pilgrimage, not only to physical places, but to mental and spiritual realities that are easily ignored or forgotten. The next twelve months I expect to be challenged, and pushed. I hope to come to grips with my comfortable and sheltered life, my blessed fortune, and my faith/trust in God which I all too often take for granted. This is the reality, and in some sense the goal, of every pilgrimage. It is, and should be, a life altering experience filled with blessings and hardships, ecstatic and humbling moments, and even fear and danger. I am hoping, and I am sure to receive, all this and more...

"Welcome to Afghanistan! Now, pack your gear, let's get moving!" Yeah, I wish that's what I heard as I landed in Afghan-land... These last few days have been filled with frustration as I try to get out and circulate among the FOBs. The weather has been unpredictable, and making travel unreliable at best. Every time I've succeeded in leaving the FOB, I've gotten stuck trying to get back... The good news is that we all arrived safely, and that all our equipment and supplies were waiting for us. This was kind of a shock, as we had been told that the pilfering rate for supplies and equipment moving through Pakistan was near 50%. Obviously that was an exaggeration, as we received all of our conexes and nothing was reported missing in transit. We did have a few locks cut after they arrived on base, and a few items walked away, but nothing major or irreplaceable.

Ceremonies and Rituals

We've had a couple of cool ceremonies already, as a part of our arriving in theater. The first was a transfer of authority ceremony, where we take control of all support operations from the 801st BSB who are heading home after a year of service. It was a neat ceremony, the unfurling of the 725th flag and the furling of the 801st flag, both commanders made good speeches, and the chaplain gave an awesome prayer! (I'm not humble yet!) The only downside was that the weather turned on us a couple of hours before the ceremony, so some of the VIPs couldn't attend, and we had to move the ceremony inside to the hallway of the TOC (Tactical Operations Center). Not as dramatic and exciting, and not as many soldiers could attend, but a good ceremony none the less.

You can't have a party without cake!

The other ceremony was the combat patch ceremony. Soldiers wear the patch of their current unit on the left shoulder of their uniform. On the right shoulder, they wear the patch of any unit that they have deployed with, usually the most recent deployment or the most distinguished unit they've been deployed with. The right shoulder is gives the soldier a chance to brag, to say "Been there, done that..." Regulations say that after a unit has been in a combat area for thirty days, they are allowed to wear their unit patch on their right shoulder. It's one of those things that builds up unit identity, unit cohesion, and the pride and honor of the individual soldier. I'm a little self-conscious wearing the combat patch, I've spent the last 4 months working and serving these guys who have worn the combat patch and been deployed multiple times with years of service and experience under their belts. And now here I am, 9 months in the Army and looking just like them, wearing the same patch as everyone else. Part of me really wishes we received the combat patch at the end of deployment, after we accomplished something. So far I don't feel like I've earned it. But not wearing the patch would be kind of an insulting statement to make and it would separate me from the rest of the troops. That's not really helpful, and not the statement I'm trying to make. So I guess I'm just going to have to dig in and earn that patch, so that it doesn't feel so heavy and out of place over there...

EASTER!

The Battalion Colors displayed in the TOC.
The streamers indicate the campaigns that the 725th has been involved in.

He is Risen! He is Risen indeed! How could I not mention something about Easter, writing this during holy week. This is definitely the strangest holy week I've had so far. I've spent most of it waiting, so I guess it's kind of appropriate in a way. The weather has been pretty sad, and I've spent a lot of time sitting on the HLZ (Helicopter Landing Zone) waiting for a chopper that never arrives, or stuck on a FOB called Kushmond trying to get back home. I've celebrated a few Easter masses, and have used Easter to remind people that God is with us in all things, but especially when things don't turn out as we hoped. The disciples fled in terror and despair on Good Friday, yet God was present and turns humiliation and defeat into triumph and victory. God is still doing this in our lives, and in the world. Have faith, Easter morning is coming!

Pics Page!

Some of my high-speed Paratroops sitting in the Colonel's chair...

The office folks acting goofy for Sgt. Jackson's birthday...

A turtle with all appropriate warning labels attached...

Sgt. Neal's re-enlistment ceremoney (yes, I swore him in!)...

And mass on a tuffbox!

Final Thoughts

Here's where I try to cover all the little details that I didn't want to comment on earlier. I want to say THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU to all of you who have been writing and sending letters, cards, and care packages. It always means a lot when we get mail, something physical from home. I kind of have to laugh when I watch guys unload the choppers on the HLZ. If it's food or water or fuel they never seem to be all that excited or in much of a hurry. But when the mail bird arrives, wow can they move!

Some have been asking what we need here, and what they can send. I have a "Padre's Plenty table" outside my office where I share most things that people send to me. If you're looking to fill a care package, here's some ideas, things that are not at the PX or little things that put smiles on Soldiers faces and disappear fast: