MEMORANDUM FOR ALL AFJROTC UNITS
FROM: HQ AFOATS/JR
551 East Maxwell Blvd
Maxwell AFB AL 36112-6106
SUBJECT: Chaplain’s Message
Hey everyone! Happy New Year late! I hope this note finds you all “rip roaring” to go in facing the challenges that this year may hold. Interestingly, the E2C program offers a wonderful construct for handling any challenge you may face this year. Please allow me to share a brief personal story to express what I mean.
I love, and have always loved, sports and athletic competition. More particularly, I love to run. In fact, those of you who know me know that I even love to talk smack when running competitively. (I’m certain I have probably broken some kind of chaplain “nice guy” rule…) I love the training, the talking, the attempts to back up the talk, the 2-a-days, etc. Running and physical training (PT) simply rock! I love it.
But running is more than just a part of my love for sports and physical training. Running is spiritual for me. Many times I have prayed while running. (And not just for the muscle pain to go away…) I have had meaningful discussions with friends while running. I have connected and developed friendships with the senior and junior cadets while doing PT. I have been able to encourage, and have been encouraged, while running with Airmen in deployed locations. Hence, running and PT are much of who I am and what I do.
I signed up to help with the E2C program because I really saw it as an opportunity to minister, or to care for the team I have the honor of serving. E2C fits my belief that physical well-being goes hand-in-hand with spiritual, mental, and relational well-being. So, in essence, E2C has become a part of what I do as a chaplain. It has become part of my calling.
Combine the passion for running and PT with my understanding of how physical well-being plays into the overall package of who we are and you can understand how the E2C program and I became like a “hand in a glove.” It fit me, and I fit it. So, for me, it has not only been easy to promote, but fun to implement.
But guess what? I got hurt. No, not by doing the E2C thing… I was playing Flickerball. What is Flickerball? Flickerball is like Lacrosse without the sticks and has more rules than my eighth grade English teacher! Trust me, I need not say more. Anyway, I had to play as part of an Air Force school I was attending.
I messed my knee up pretty bad. I injured some tendons with Latin names that only God knows how to spell! The point is that E2C and running do not come easy to me any more. In fact, no matter how great my passion may be, or how great I understand all that well-being stuff, I am really struggling right now. It is a frustrating experience. I want to do it all at the level I once did, but I can not. I see others doing PT and doing it well and I just seem to suffer on the inside. It stinks!
But, I am learning something from this injury…. I think the good Lord is humbling me and helping me empathize with those who struggle with PT and the E2C program. Perhaps some of you struggle with PT for whatever reason. Maybe you are an instructor who was once faster, stronger and even better looking then your students. Maybe you were high octane once and now are just older and slower. Maybe, you have suffered an injury or an illness and are not able to get up and go like you used to do. Maybe you’re a cadet who is naturally strong and talented in many areas but are weak in the athletic department. Maybe you’re a lovable athletic klutz. Maybe you’re over weight, but want to make some changes, but those changes scare you because you are not sure how you will get there. Maybe you’re the jock who just got hurt and wonders if the athletic scholarship will ever come through now. Maybe you’re the nerd, and PT is just plain foreign to you, but you love JROTC and want to participate in the E2C program. Maybe you really have a passion for JROTC and fully understand the whole wellness thing, but you are just struggling and the struggle has you discouraged or frustrated. Well, I think I might actually understand a little more of what you are going through.
So, what do I do now? I will not give up! That’s what I’ll do! I’ll follow the doctor’s orders and I’ll press. I have to rebuild. I have to take it one step at a time, but I can get there. I’ll dig down deep to my spiritual strength in God, lean on my friends and eat plenty of bananas! I’ll give the “C” (the challenge) an extreme effort; and guess what? I bet in the process, I’ll find excellence again. That’s how it works. When one part of the equation gets “blurry,” focus on the other parts.
This equation not only works for challenges directly related to physical conditioning, or related to physical injuries like mine, but to any challenge we may face in this New Year. Let us give everything in life an extreme positive effort. Let’s make the most of every opportunity and take it one step at a time. Let’s face the good and the bad with excellence. If our extreme efforts become tiresome, and we are tempted to give up, or our thirst for excellence seems quenched because the challenge seems too big, then let’s dig down deep to our diverse spiritual strengths. Let’s embrace whatever challenge we may face this year with help from God, family and/or friends. And guess what? I bet in the process, we’ll find the two “E”s again. We’ll find our efforts are both still excellent and extreme in a good and positive way. When one part of the equation gets “blurry,” let’s focus on the other. If we’re struggling in our efforts, let’s focus on our continued goals for excellence. If our goals for daily excellence seem distant, let’s give it a greater effort. If we’re feeling disillusioned and tired, then let’s embrace the challenge as a time to receive help from family and friends to press on together. You see, this E2C model really does fit all aspects of our lives. So, let’s apply this E2C construct this year!
Remember, no matter what we face this year; let’s face it always with excellence!
Blessings,
Ch Dan “Crash” Forman
AFOATS Chaplain
E2C Development Team Leader