Waiting for the Call...

Last Thursday I was down in Arlington, VA at the Pentagon for the final interview with the Chaplain CARE board. There were 6 candidates and I was the #5 interview. As we waiting, Captain Jack Lea, Chaplain and in charge of Manpower for Chaplains, sat down with us and described what he does currently and relayed some great stories of his time as a Navy Chaplain. Clearly after many years, this Chaplain still has passion for the Chaplaincy. It was good for us candidates to see that.

I went into the interview, where 7 officers greeting me. They were 6 chaplains and a line officer from the Marines. I was surprised to see that 5 were women. I believe they were Lieutenant Commander or Commanders and the guy in charge is the Executive Assistant to (two star) Admiral Mark Tidd, Chief of Chaplains.

Each officer asked me a question. I was expecting a bunch of questions about my experience and about my vocation story. I was surprised to be asked a bunch of tough questions. The blank faces, not indicating how I was doing, added to the intimidation. I realized that it has been a long time since my last job interview (1997)!!

I tried to answer the questions honestly and to end on a positive note. At the end, the officers asked if I had questions. I asked, "assuming I am selected, what can I be doing to prepare given that I won't be available to enter until July?"  Each officer gave me some great advice on things to work on: take a CPE (Clinical Pastoral Education) course, read some Navy professional development reading, develop a network of chaplains I could reach out to for support in the future. Very helpful stuff.

So now I wait for the call...

Chaplain Joel DeGraeve, my recruiter, will call me sometime in the next two weeks to let me know the results. In the words of Tom Petty, "the waiting is the hardest part..." Pray for me.

On an up note: I ran 2 miles in 16:43, so an 8:22 mile! That is great for me!