Applying as a chaplain in the US Army is a very laborious work and entailed a lot of paperwork, too. I’ve have submitted all the requirements but it will take maybe a year or so (from December 2007) for the application to be approved.<\/p>\n
I flew in to New Jersey yesterday for today’s event which was MEPS (Military Entrance Processing Service) and an interview with a senior chaplain (a full-bird Colonel and Rabbi).<\/p>\n
The USAREC put me up at Crown Plaza, where an entire floor was reserved just for applicants (the basic recruits share a room, the officers have their own room). There I met two other Roman Catholic priests (a Filipino and a Nigerian) who were also applying for direct commission as army chaplains.<\/p>\n
We were roused from our sleep at 0300H, got bused to Fort Dix at 0400H, and started the whole MEPS process at 0500H. The MEPS process involved various paper-based and computer-based tests, as well as blood draws, urine sampling, agility exercises, and physical examination by a military\/contracted physician. I was done by 1100H. With my recruiting NCO, we waited until the other two priests were done, and headed off to lunch.<\/p>\n
At 1300H, all four of us (three priests and the NCO) headed off to the main post chapel to meet the garrison chaplain. He gave me a tour of the chapel area and introduced me to his staff. In the chapel, we met one of his assistants (another Jewish person) who upon knowing that I was a Roman Catholic priest, jokingly said that the “Blessed Mother assaulted [him] for locking her up in the closet” (it turned out, he was taking something from the closet and a statue of the BVM fell over on him)! They were a hilarious bunch and I believe they liked the jobs they were doing in the army and were having a lot of fun working with each other and with their army congregation. It was a heartwarming experience to see the UMT working together and liking each other!<\/p>\n
![\"Fort](\"http:\/\/army.pajarillo.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/JB-MDL.jpg\")
<\/a>Fort Dix, NJ<\/p><\/div>\n
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Applying as a chaplain in the US Army is a very laborious work and entailed a lot of paperwork, too. I’ve have submitted all the requirements but it will take maybe a year or so (from December 2007) for the … Continue reading