COM DOCS

Today I received a call from Lt. Mike Maher. He told me that he officially received my COM DOCS - commissioning documents. Now I can schedule when to be commissioned a Navy Officer. I will be looking to schedule the Commissioning ceremony after the 12 noon mass soon. 

The letter states that I will be commissioned a Lieutenant J.G. (Junior Grade) which is 1 1/2 stripes or one silver bar. Very cool.

On another note. I have a cold and it's stopped me from exercising for now. Grrr! I am on antibiotics and hope to be back in the game soon. I had just run 1.5 miles in 12:35 - 6 seconds faster last Tuesday. I won't worry too much - I still have 6 months to train!

Preparing Myself to Leave and Dealing with the Body

I placed a little blurb in St. Joe's parish bulletin describing that I was accepted to the Navy and would be leaving the parish July 1st. I received a very nice response from people:  a combination of sad to see me go and excited for my journey. It is affirming that people want me to stay.

I have started to encounter events that I won't be around for, usually when looking at the calendar in October or weddings that will be coming late 2013 and into 2014. I am starting to see the activities and people I will miss. I guess it is reminder of what I usually say to seniors in the high school, "look around, enjoy these last months, notice the people who have helped you along the way...the people you will miss most."

I also talked to a priest Chaplain, Fr. Frank Foley from Philly. He was very helpful last year when I was discerning this call to the chaplaincy by sharing his story and experience with me. He will be heading to Afghanistan next month, so keep him in prayer. I am very interested in how he will prepare to celebrate the high holy days of Holy Week and Easter in the desert.

Dealing with the Body

Well, I ran into some minor trouble with physical training. This week my wrists started to hurt a bit. Probably from the pushups and pullups. (Although sleeping wrong on them might have something to do with it.)
Luckily at the parish and schools there are many great coaches. So I talked with Coach Dan Duddy and Coach Cat Werner. They showed me how to wrap my wrists so they won't get in the way of training. I wrapped them today and just cranked out 25+20+40 pushups without any pain. Feels good! Thanks Dan and Cat!

Final Signature, Fingerprints.....Start Training

http://www.navy.mil/local/crb/

I went to the NRD Philly (Naval Recruiting District Philadelphia) to signs some final documents and left with purple fingertips from old fashioned, non-digital fingerprinting.

The next thing is that my recruiter, Lt. Mike Maher, will receive the COMDOCS - Commissioning Documents. When these are received, I can set up being commissioned a DCO (Direct Commission Officer) and I will find out what rating I'll come in as:  either a Lieutenant J.G. (Junior Grade) with 1/2 stripes or a full Lieutenant (two stripes.)

I hope to do the Commissioning Ceremony after 12noon Sunday mass soon after. Stay Tuned.


Start Training.
Went to the gym Tuesday and Tonight. My base in physical requirements so far is 42 pushups in 2 minutes, I did 50 situps (on the slightly inclined bench) in 2 minutes and I ran 1.5 miles in 12:43 and almost died (Not really.) For my age, that would earn me "Good" across the board for Navy PRT. Not bad.

So I have a ways to go to "Excellent," 60 pushups, 78 situps and 1.5 miles in 11:23...

Time for RBA!

Next week, I will start RBA (Ready By August.)  This will be my physical preparation for the Navy PRT fitness test. The Chaplains recommend to be in great shape so the physical part of ODS (officer Development School) and Chaplaincy Training is easy.

So I looked at the requirements for a male age 35 to 39.
The minimum requirements are 37 situps in 2 minutes and 27 pushups in 2 minutes and 1.5 mile run in 15 minutes.

I have been able to do up to 50 situps and 50 pushups and I also ran 2 miles in 16:42 a couple weeks ago. So I think passing is no problem. But - hey - this is for the Navy. Why settle for passing? So I looked at the next steps up, Good, Excellent and Outstanding. I decided to set my goal for getting Excellent across the board. 

The requirements for Excellent are: 78 situps, 60 pushups and 1.5 mile run in 11:23. 

That's my goal. It's a little crazy, but I think it is doable if I work hard.

I have two buds, Mike and Pat, that will be training with me and I may hook up with some other folks for encouragement.

Wish me luck. RBA!

Pat

"You have been selected..." (so excited)

Got a call from Chaplain Joel DeGraeve today. He informed me that the Navy selected me to be a Navy Chaplain! I had a great feeling of excitement for the future at his words.

I will stay at the parish until July 1st (the next regular rotation of priests.) Then I will head out for training in August. 5 weeks Officer Development School (ODS) in Newport followed by 7 weeks of Chaplain School at Fort Jackson in South Carolina.

In the next months, I will get all my ducks in a row and double my efforts to be in shape -- the best shape of my life. In the words of Chaplain Joe Coffey, "you can get a little fat over Christmas, but in January, hit the gym!"

Stay tuned, my friends....now the Journey starts to get interesting!

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!

Tomorrow Final Interview

Today I am driving down to Arlington, Virgina. I will meet up with two Navy Chaplain Recruiters and they will help prepare me for my interview with the Chaplain CARE board tomorrow at the Pentagon. The Chaplains will show me what to emphasize from my experience during the interview and generally get me ready. Pray for me tomorrow and stay tuned...