Ohana

Here in Hawaii, ohana is a term which has great meaning behind it. Ohana literally means family, but in Hawaii it seems that everyone is family. Ch F, our BC and CSM like to talk a lot about how our battalion is an ohana. I agree. This is a group of people brought together through a common interest--serving our country in the military. Its kinda like the Body of Christ metaphor though-- we all have different jobs within the battalion, but we are all essential to the success of the 65th Engineers here at home and when we are deployed. Speaking of deployments, we got our deporders about a month ago, making it pretty much official that we'll be going. As of right now, we're headed to Iraq to do route clearance missions along a major supply route. We are scheduled to leave sometime in December.

So things have gotten much busier around the battalion to get ourselves ready for deployment. We have a major CRTEX (certification exercise) scheduled for Sept-Oct, where we'll be out in the field for about 2 weeks running operations just as we would (or as close as we can simulate) to how we will downrange.

This weekend, I was home on leave visiting some close family and friends, and I took the time to speak to my parish ohana at St. Ann's about our upcoming deployment and my job to prepare the UMT to meet the spiritual needs of each and every soldier in the battalion. I mentioned the project operation bandanas, which imprints Psalm 91 onto an ACU bandana, and it serves as a little reminder to soldiers that God is their protection in battle. It seemed that everyone wanted to make a donation to the organization to allow for us to order enough bandanas to cover our entire battalion before we deploy. What a blessing to see how generously these people wanted to support my fellow comrades-in-arms! But the most comforting part for me was to hear soo many reassurances of their prayers for me and all of us serving in the military. Such support really helps me to face this upcoming deployment with less fear and more confidence that God will bless us with His protection and shield, and that we will have the strength to face whatever obstacles line our path (and for a route clearance unit, there are bound to be many) through Him.

As I wrap this up, for the few of you reading this, I ask for prayers for a soldier in my battalion who is being admitted to the hospital as I write for an inflamed appendix--that he undergo surgery without complications, and have a speedy recovery.

God Bless!

Pro Deo et Patria,
Mandie