A few prayers

A Soldiers' Prayer
"Almighty Father, with an upright heart I have left my dear ones at home, to defend my country against its enemies. My thoughts constantly goes back to them. They are thoughts of love and of anxiety. I ask You loving Father to keep a watchful eye over each and every one of them. Soothe their hearts and help them to bear my absence patiently. Protect them from the dreadful dangers of war.
O my Lord, I ask not much for myself - just only courage to perform my duties well. I offer You this day and every day my thoughts, words and actions of mine as prayers of faith in You, of hope in Your provident care, of love of You and Your justice. May my prayers parallel all my service and sacrifices for my fellow comrades, my family and my country, protect them all and bless them now and forever. For all those who have died welcome them into your loving embrace. Gracious Lord, lend an ear of compassion to the supplication of a soldier - your child - serving my country to the best of my ability out of love for You. Amen."

American Soldiers' Prayer
"Help me to remain true to my ideals during my service to my country. Help me be what is in America, the land of the free. May I realize that I represent what our country stands for. My uniform is a symbol of duty and valor both in peace and in war. I take up arms to defend what all Americans hold dear: life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Grant me the strength to live according to these ideals, the courage of my convictions, and the resolve to endure whatever dangers threaten. With You at our side I fear no evil and resist every enemy, secure in the knowledge that you hold me in the palm of your hand. Amen."

Prayer to St. George
Heroic soldier and defender of your Faith, you dared to criticize a tyrannical Emperor and were subjected to horrible torture. You could have occupied a high military position but you preferred to die for your Lord. Obtain for us the great grace of heroic Christian courage that should mark soldiers of Christ.

Prayer to Saint Michael
"Glorious Prince of the heavenly hosts and victor over rebellious spirits, be mindful of me who am so weak and sinful and yet so prone to pride and ambition. Lend me, I pray, thy powerful aid in every temptation and difficulty, and above all do not forsake me in my last struggle with the powers of evil. Amen."

And the wait begins...

SO I completed my Apprentice Technical Training (ATT) ten days ahead of schedule. It was all computer-based, and self-paced so I, being the intellectual that I am, of course finished early. It wasn't hard, just alot of pointless math and stuff I really won't use except on my advancement exams.

So anyways, I was thinking that by getting done faster I would get out of Great Lakes faster. Well that is not to be. Since I am Full Time Support (FTS), which means I am active duty in all ways except for when they count the number of active or reserve members I am counted as reserve, my orders for my next duty station have to be written differently.

So what does this mean? It means that I am on hold (stuck here) for more than a month. Now I am not complaining too much about sitting around here, doing practically nothing and getting paid for it, but I would trade that for getting into my actual training and moving along in my Navy career, and oh yeah BEING IN FLORIDA.

Oh, and the explanation I got for why I am different from the rest of the students transferring to Pensacola was so vague and worthless, I almost lost it on the woman. Is it too much to ask to get a proper explanation of why it is that I am getting screwed over? I would hope not, but as I always say... "Welcome to the Navy".

So anyways, maybe with all the down time I am about to start having, maybe I will blog more. I know I have been slacking, and I am sure my reader base has dwindled to almost nil, but let's see if I can draw in some new fans by updating my site somewhat regularly!

That's about all I have at the moment, so I will call it a post. Be back soon with some exciting or at least funny Navy stories!

~Ian