Hubs' second week

We are heading to Florida tomorrow for almost two weeks. We will end up in Columbus for Hubs' graduation and some family time! Here is Hubs' synopsis of this past week. Gotta' pack!

The first week of Airborne School, called Ground Week, was long and trying. For those wanting a snapshot from the ten thousand foot level, imagine running about forty miles, doing almost 300 pullups and 300 pushups, executing various other exercises (i.e, sit ups, flutter kicks, leg spreaders, buddy carries, lunges, standing broad jumps, crab walks, inch worms, et al) galore, jumping six times from a 34-foot tower, and falling into a gravel pit probably fifty times during five days with each seeing temperatures in the high 90's with near 100% humidity and a heat index in excess of 100 degrees. In short, this old man is tired.

Monday began with an Army Physical Fitness Test (APFT) at 4am. We were expected to do 42 perfect pushups, 53 perfect situps, and then run two miles in less than 15:54. I intentionally held back a little and finished the run in 13:45. I'd estimate that at least 100-150 of the around 520 students starting the course finished ahead of me. I'd never been around so many stud runners in any military setting. One kid finished in around 11:30! Those that couldn't complete any one of the three events satisfactorily were immediately retested and, if they didn't pass that time, were immediately dropped from the course. We probably lost fifteen percent of the class on the APFT alone. For the rest of that day we received an overview of the training we were to receive, learned how to wear a parachute harness, and practiced exiting a mock airplane door sitting on the ground. We left for the day, totally exhausted, around 5:30pm.

Still sore from Monday, we began to settle into a 5:15am - 5:30pm routine on Tuesday morning that begins with one to two hours of good physical training (PT) in the morning. After PT, the officers and senior Non-commissioned Officers get around an hour and 15 minutes to go back to their rooms to shower, eat breakfast and get dressed for the day. What a welcomed break! We meet back around 8:45 and train outdoors for the rest of the day stopping only for lunch and hydration. Nothing is in an air conditioned classroom and shade is scarce. By the time I get home and peel my sweat-soaked uniform off, shower, eat dinner, call Christie and the boys, and prepare my uniform for the next day, I am absolutely wiped out. I collapse in the bed by 8:00pm every night.

In retrospect, this week I learned how to properly exit an aircraft door as an individual (instead of as a group - that's next week) and how to land in such a way as to increase the likelihood of having a prolonged life. Honestly, the hardest aspect has been the heat which has simply been brutal. I have drunk more water and sweated more than I think I ever have in my life. At one point on Friday the ground got so hot that when I sat on it, the heat transferred from the dirt through the sweat in my pants to physically burn my backside.

The Lord has really blessed me with opportunities to share my faith with fellow students. The non-traditional path I've taken into Army service along with my present Chaplain Candidate status has opened plenty of doors for conversation. I pray that I can continue to be an encouragement to believers and an effective reflector of hope onto those who haven't had their lives transformed by Christ yet.

This past Sunday I attended the contemporary worship service on post called "Crossroads" and it rocked. There was a real community feel to that body of believers and you could tell it was a happening place where lives were getting changed. On Thursday night, one of the ROTC Cadets in my Platoon invited me to a Bible Study at the Airborne Chapel immediately next to their barracks. I participated in that and some 30-40 folks showed up. That was encouraging as well to see the ministry in progress to this group of service men and women despite the highly transient nature of their training.

Please pray for perseverance in the coming week. The second week of Airborne School is called Tower Week and is scheduled to culminate in each student being dropped from a 250-foot tower with a parachute already deployed. The PT will once again be strenuous and the weather, if the forecast holds, will be ridiculously hot. As you can imagine, lots of 18 year olds are looking to the "old" Captain for motivation and I'm trying not to disappoint them or myself. Please pray that my motives and actions will honor God.

For God and Country,
Hubs