My First Trip to Wisconsin

Recently I spent a week at Fort McCoy, Wisconsin for my Army Reserve Annual Training. The exercises were war games, we lived and acted as if we were in the middle of a combat situation. We stayed in a mock Forward Operating Base (FOB) bunking in large open bay tents, ate from a mess trailer and went on long convoys. Other than realizing how nice the weather is in Wisconsin and how beautiful the terrain is there I took away several lessons from the experience:

1. I was proud of the soldiers I serve with. We were one of the first units to the FOB and one of the last to leave despite our location being the least desirable in all of Fort McCoy. I'm complaining but the rest of my unit was there for three weeks instead of my measly one. Despite the rough living and stressful environment the incidents were kept to a minimum. Trust me, this is an accomplishment.

2. Let me be clear, war games are not like actual combat. But there is still something intimidating about driving down the road in a convoy and having a man walk out into the street with a rocket launcher pointed at your car. The explosions are loud, the dummy rounds still sound and smell real, the smoke bombs are acrid and the screaming on the radio as the attack occurs is cringe-worthy.

3. My last day there the other member of my Unit Ministry Team (UMT) and I sat down and did an After Action Report (AAR). My conclusion? I have a long way to go if I want to become an effective Army Chaplain. One example, it wasn't until I was traveling to the airport that my Presbyterian peer pointed out that one of our soldiers was LDS. So in other words I spent a week among my own soldiers unaware that there was indeed a member of the faith group I represent. Oops.

4. I've traveled in uniform before but people seemed to be in a particularly patriotic mood. I shook at least a couple dozen hands and accepted countless thank yous. I was offered lots of free cups of coffee and was happy to take the free snacks on the airplanes. On my way from Minneapolis to Dallas I was the last to board and noticed I was the only soldier on the plane - at least in uniform anyway. When we landed the stewardess came over the intercom and thanked all members of the military. The entire plane then proceeded to clap and several people patted me on the back. It was awkward.

5. Finally, every time I leave home for any amount of time I really miss my family. You don't realize how much your family means to you until you are away from them. I feel fortunate that every once and awhile I am removed from Heidi and Henry because it helps me remember how incredibly lucky I really am.