*NOTE I just completed the Chaplains Basic Training course for the Canadian Forces. I was asked to write an article about our experience for the Borden newspaper. Here's what I came up with...
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What is ‘our story?’ Can a single rope be woven from so many threads? This is the challenge of writing an article about our collective experience at this years’ Chaplain’s Basic Training, BOTC 0901. So over many a pint at the mess I’ve hashed out this question with my colleagues, which has truly helped me appreciate all we’ve been through together.
Perhaps the most striking point that kept coming up was how much we’ve given up to be here. This is not to say that other military members do not also make enormous sacrifices to serve. But as Padres, we tend to be older; the vast majority of us begin military life by saying goodbye to spouses and families (personally, I had to leave behind a wife in her third trimester of pregnancy). We’ve also come into the military fully educated with at least 2yrs experience in a pastoral charge; many of us have left tearful congregations behind—one of us just left one he’s been at for the past 13½ yrs.
And as it turns out CFB Borden is a long way from Kansas. Many of us have gone from being ‘worshiped by old ladies’ into the ‘Green Phase, where we’re told how to dress, how to cut our hair, even how to speak correctly—and in no uncertain terms. Drill, dress and deportment, discipline. Our Green Staff Sgts got the job done, all under the watchful eye of Warrant Bumstead. And a big thanks to Cpl Wells for all he’s done to encourage and cajole us along, and for some very ‘creative’ PT—for most of us, pulling ML’s around parking lots at 5.30am seemed something only out of Dante’s circles of hell.
This was the tip of the iceberg; enter the ‘field exercise’. Considering some of us had never even been camping before, we were in for a real eye-opener. We learned survival skills, navigation, trench-digging, and tested our mettle on the repel tower and obstacle course. And then there was the unforgettable experience o f ‘artie sim’ attacks at 3am (though we could never understand why the Green Staff had to go around yelling “WAKE UP! WAKE UP!” after unleashing dozens of eardrum-shattering explosions). But mostly, we learned about teamwork and leadership, and how to do our best under much stress and little sleep.
The Green Phase was followed by the Purple Phase, in which we learned the ins and outs of being a Padre in the CF. This presented us with a different kind of challenge, but thankfully it was on more familiar ground; we covered such topics as pastoral counseling, the ministry of presence, and how to conduct a Padre’s Hour . But that didn’t make it any less stressful—rather than artie sims, we were bombarded with a flurry of assignments, exercises and exams.
Looking back, Padre’s Basic Training was a great introduction to the CF; we were given a taste of a soldiers life, with some of the stresses, challenges and long absences from family it entails. This was vital because in order to be effective Padre’s, we have to walk a mile in the shoes of those we minister to. But it was also a test of our own aptitude to serve in the CF—and in the process of our own self discovery we had the chance to walk that same road with some pretty amazing people, people whose friendships will endure throughout our careers in the CF and hopefully beyond.
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