Gone Fishin!

I rode in a large group of motorcycles one time about 20 years ago, but I was 21 and stupid and we almost got killed going too fast. I did it again today, older and wiser and less young and somewhat less stupid. There is a group of soldiers that gets together to ride once a month, all from FT Jackson. It’s a wide variety of folks, some officers, retirees, Drill Sgts, NCO’s and even a SGT Major or two. We met this morning in memory of our fiend Bob, who died on his bike last spring. He loved to ride wo we celebrated his life by riding as friends. Most of the time I ride alone, just me and the road and a destination in mind. Today was different, we just rode to ride. It was a blessing. We took a lap around lake Murray (I couldn’t finish the whole thing had to get back to work) but it was truly glorious. The weather was perfect. We had a mix of Harleys and assorted cruisers. There were amped up super bikes and even one Big Dog Chopper and it was unbelievably loud. We rode tight and stagge...

We had a death in our Battalion this week. It has been hard. Death is never easy. I've been so busy with ministry that I haven't had time to put things in perspective. The following was written by my friend and colleague CPT Ken Quimby and has a great ring to it. Hope you enjoy it. Change of Mission. This has been a difficult week. We lost a Soldier suddenly and unexpectedly. 1 SG Gerry Spivey suffered a deep brain aneurysm and essentially dropped dead. It is interesting that this happened on the weekend and even the day that we were honoring our regimental veterans that had been assigned to 1/61 in years past. Many of the veterans were Vietnam Veterans who witnessed a great deal of death. Many of the current cadre have seen far too much death in their tours in Iraq in recent years. We are dealing with a Drill SGT and his severe struggle with PTSD and delusional visions and flashbacks and trauma from his experiences in Iraq. Currently he is in the hospital where th...

It was Army day today. May friends Robbie and Kelly were here visiting this week with their three kids. My family was also here so that means 9 people in my apartment. We are getting close! Today we spent all day at Ft Jackson. It began with Victory Tower. I hooked up with the range NCO and arranged for Robbie and Bekah (their oldest) to go down the rappelling tower. We got there along with about 180 soldiers in training. We tied up our harnesses and hooked up our D rings and made our way to the top. The Drill SGTs from Echo 1-34 hung out for a few minutes extra to make sure we got down the wall safely. Bekah jumped off and flew down the rope like a pro, except for the part where her hair got caught in the figure 8 ring! It was traumatic for a moment, no need for scissors though, she got herself undone! Robbie went down like an Airborne Ranger and his belay man held him tight in the air to get some good photos. Tammy and Kelly stood safely away from any danger while Jack, Tori, Daniel ...

Read an article today in Time Magazine about the Army being broken. I agree. I agree that there are soldiers hearts being broken becasue God is bringing them back to Himself. And when He brings a warrior back the strength of God is revealed. The following link is way too cool. Hope you enjoy it! http://www.benningnavs.com/Navideo/armynavs.wmv

I just got off the phone with a parent of one of my soldiers. She’ll be referred to as PVT S. PVT S came to us back in January in our first cycle of the year. We get so many soldiers with so many stories. Many times I just get brief snippets of their lives, other times I get more information than I want! PVT S is older, probably in her 30’s. I met her through a request she put in through her Drill SGT. My first meeting with her I remembered thinking “Man!; What is this person doing in the Army?” She was struggling both physically and emotionally. One Sunday at church she came forward at the invitation to receive the grace and mercy we all so desperately need. She was overcome emotionally at the thought of God’s forgiveness. I knew she had been on the rough side of things, but I never pried. Her physical difficulties continued. She missed some crucial training and did not graduate with her company. This was a heart breaker for her. But to her credit she pressed on. She refused to give u...