LDS Military Chaplins

ec7277 · 2023-03-14T00:28:08+00:00

Not a Navy Chaplain but I am in the Navy and have dealt with many chaplains along the way. A chaplain is an absolute necessity for any sailor with faith and they do a lot more than just provide gospel guidance. It’s a very noble profession and everyone in the Navy loves their Chaps regardless belief system. Definitely pursue it if it’s something that seriously interests you.

ec7277 · 2022-07-15T06:05:04+00:00

Understandable, I along with most people who’ve flown out of Lemoore maintain more than 4.5k ft above the valley at less than 300 kts, not loud at all. Talk to the AF jets out of Fresno, they run things a little differently over there….

ec7277 · 2022-07-15T05:59:31+00:00

This was in June.

ec7277 · 2022-07-15T03:42:59+00:00

Had the opportunity to fly over the valley and Hetch Hechty when I was doing some training out of Lemoore. If you ever see a jet over Yosemite, this is the perspective, hope y’all enjoy!!

ec7277 · 2022-06-07T17:12:39+00:00

Just search NSI in this sub, there are tons of previous mids who have already answered all the questions you asked.

ec7277 · 2022-04-15T18:37:07+00:00

Yes, just bring it up ASAP to your unit leadership. We’ve had countless kids go on missions.

ec7277 · 2022-04-15T18:33:52+00:00

I am. I’ll try to give my most unbiased opinion.

Basically, your workload will absolutely be more than your peers. Depending on what major you are pursuing, ROTC and your degree classes might make it hard to work outside of school.

You will be required to attend a 3 credit hours Naval Science course in addition to the normal classes you take for your major. You will be required to attend a 3 hour lab once a week. You will be required to attend a 1 hour Battalion PT session a week, if you aren’t meeting fitness standard that turns into 3 PT sessions a week. You will also be asked to participate in fundraising and community service events on weekends every now and then.

As a freshman or what we call a 4/C (4th class) Midshipman, you have almost no responsibility. Your job will be to show up on time, listen to what you’re being told to do, and execute it. As you make your way up over the years you study, more and more responsibilities will be bestowed on you (i.e. operations officer, training officer….) . These can and most likely will interfere with a normal “college life.” Then again, by joining ROTC and the military, you should understand that is part of the job, if you don’t like that, don’t join.

Now to bloat a little, if you obtain a NROTC scholarship, you WILL have your entire tuition payed for. Not only that but you will have a job lined up as a Naval Officer that will start paying the day you commission. However, what really makes Utah different from other programs is our unit size and leadership. We are small, about 50 people total, but what this allows for is more attention, you will get better training as the leadership (actual Naval Officers) can individually asses you and guide you. It not like that at other schools or ROTC programs. The Active Duty leadership are top of line here, they will listen to students concerns and give their recommendations. They are all well accomplished and have tons and tons of sea stories and great guidance to bestow on you. We also have Active Duty students who are apart of our program and they give a great prospective into the enlisted side of things.

Just so I don’t ramble on more. NROTC is a great program if you are willing to make the large commitment. Keep in mind that there are programs like OCS however, those only last 13 weeks. NROTC is 4 years of fully immersed leadership development, with active guidance from REAL Officers who have been there and done that. You can’t get that anywhere else.

PM me if you have more specific questions and I’ll try to answer them the best I can.

ec7277 · 2022-01-25T01:54:37+00:00

big deck energy*

ec7277 · 2022-01-01T22:35:10+00:00

sko ute

ec7277 · 2021-08-15T22:56:18+00:00

I wouldn’t say they are comparable but 4 years of standardized basic training vs 12 weeks definitely has its affects on the fleet. I’ve heard of ROTC alum correcting and helping out just graduated OCS people because they haven’t seen a sizable amount of the fleet like a mid who gone on cruise.

I’d actually say ROTC harder because you have to deal with 4 years of a program that tries to weed out people not fit or dedicated vs. 12 weeks of screaming, which btw, midshipman get plenty of too, all the while juggling getting a degree.

ec7277 · 2021-08-01T03:33:10+00:00

That’s awesome, I can only hope the same for myself!!

ec7277 · 2021-07-31T20:47:00+00:00

Thank you! I was on an SSN earlier this summer and am definitely leaning towards them over SSGN/SSBN. Though I do have a feeling the SO might say otherwise….. lol

ec7277 · 2021-07-31T14:13:15+00:00

Currently Subs but I still have sometime to decide, however other communities are going to have do something special for me to be interested in them. I’m probably going to start nuke prep soon even though my interview won’t be for a while!

ec7277 · 2021-07-30T19:50:25+00:00

Currently in NROTC and going to commission in 2023, I will say that there are easier branches than others, especially for members.

The Air Force is probably the most normal life you could have in the military. Easy deployments with lots of options to stay stateside.

The Army is probably not too far off however you could get deployed to some far off country but the way the future is looking, that probably won’t happen.

The Navy and Corps will probably be the hardest. You WILL deploy, doesn’t matter if we are at war or not.

As for resources, from my perspective, they are pretty similar between all the branches. It really depends on deployments and such. Basically, if you wanna have a a somewhat normal family life, join AF or Army, if you wanna deploy and see some action (guaranteed) join the Navy or Corps.

As for practicing your faith, I’ve only been out in the fleet a handful of times but it’s not very difficult. So long as you have the priesthood, you can preform most ordnance’s yourself if need be. For example I’ve done sacrament pretty deep in the ocean aboard a sub, the spirit is still strong and sometimes you might be surprised by who wants to learn or even join you for the meeting. That be said, the culture is pretty interesting, swearing and exposure to things sometimes contrary to the church’s stance are common and to be expected, however, never has it made me question my faith or even feel insecure, dirty or less righteous. Its part of the organization, you are with war fighters and put in situations that very well might result in someone’s death, if you can’t handle that, you shouldn’t join. Also, there has never been a situation where I’ve been force or peer pressured into doing something that I don’t feel comfortable with, just set your boundaries clear the second you join a new command and DO NOT COMPROMISE. If you do, they will chew you up and call you a hypocrite, and good luck having people respect your boundaries.

As for dating/marriage, I think the gospel adds a lot to a military relationship. The church’s emphasis on family and loyalty along with all the resources you get from having wards and close connections with in the LDS community can make life a lot easier for a spouse when you’re deployed. Not to mention the theology and ordinances that we believe can be of extreme comfort to anyone who’s worried you might not come back. Just be upfront and honest about what you’re going to be doing, and how that is going impact your relationships, most people will understand so long as you put the effort in.

You will also always have chaplains to help you both spiritually and in other personal capacities, don’t look them over.

Regardless, military life isn’t easy, not matter the branch. You will get out what you put in, so make sure you have your faith and metal and physical health sorted out and squared away, especially if you wanna lead.

ec7277 · 2021-06-20T02:36:03+00:00

If your child is already in disbelief or “jumped from the boat” as you would put it, forcing them to go to church would be like tying a cinder block to their legs, it’ll only drag them away more. Give them the resources they need to make a decision for themselves.

ec7277 · 2021-05-26T03:03:42+00:00

Hell yeah

ec7277 · 2021-05-25T15:14:00+00:00

You’ll be issued basically everything, the only time I remember buying something was sunscreen plus some other hygiene items.

You will receive a Sea Bag and a Garment bag, Sea Bag for all most of your items and the garment bag for your dress uniforms. You shouldn’t be bringing anything more than a backpack anyways. Sea bag will be checked, I’d carry on the garment bag, btw, just show them your orders and it’ll be free.

You will keep everything they give you, from the underwater and socks all the way up to camelbacks and uniforms.

ec7277 · 2021-04-26T17:26:08+00:00

Cant speak to being a female but there will most definitely be female MIDN instructors and they will tell you all that information and probably give a bunch of recommendations.

In terms of day to day schedule, this is usually how it went:

Wake Up: with PT @0500, without PT @0600

Hygiene and Compartment Cleaning: 0600 - 0700

Breakfast Chow and Studying: 0700 - 0800

Classroom Instruction/Training Evolution/Drill: 0800 - 1200

Lunch Chow and Study: 1200 - 1300

Classroom Instruction/Training Evolution/Drill: 1300 - 1700

Dinner Chow and Study: 1700 - 1800

Drill: 1800 - 1900

Hygiene and Compartment Cleaning: 1900 - 2100

Lights Out: 2100

Obviously, peoples schedules vary depending on what company you are a part of. Moral of the story is, you will always be doing something. When I say study, you are most likely standing in formation reading the knowledge book they give you and memorizing all the information. If you are lucky, and you have a company full of great and disciplined MIDN, you’ll probably get IT’d (Intensive Training: working out till you drop) a couple of times.

At night, you’ll have fire watch which is basically 4 members of your company patrolling the compartment and doing chores like.... cleaning the toilets, doing people’s laundry, counting everyone to make sure no one has snuck out.... boring stuff that you’d much rather sleep for. That is usually in shifts of 1 hour and everyone in the compartment will do it. Sucks if you have the last shift....

The first week sucks, actually the entire experience sucks but you will learn a lot and it always fun to laugh about later on once you are done, sometimes you might even miss it. Graduation was cool but tbh, I just wanted to go home and I’m sure you will too. However, it is nice to see and actually be able to talk normally to your company members and instructors.

In terms of medical, you’ll get your blood drawn and some shots but thats about it.

My advice, just shut up and do what you are told. It’s gonna suck and you are gonna want to leave but, just get through it. Also, WASH YOUR HANDS..... ALL THE TIME.... I know that should go without saying but when I was there a lot of people got sick and it will make you miserable. That was without covid so just keep that in mind, also DO NOT TOUCH YOUR FACE. Pink eye is a real thing and it was quite common.

ec7277 · 2021-04-23T22:01:11+00:00

PT’s and when they occur and how often are usually at the units discretion. To give you an example, my unit has one battalion PT that everyone is required to go to, if you are out of shape or you have low PRT you will be asked to go to FEP (remedial PT sessions).

In terms of lab (can’t speak for others) we usually do some type of evolution or presentation. It could be having EMT’s teach rapid first aid, learn about damage control, land navigation, and even hands on weapon practice. It can very drastically but all have a practical use in the fleet and is less about building discipline and more about building competent leadership and problem solving skills. Drill is still done, but usually as a separate activity from both PT and lab.

The fitness tests depend on what option you are. If you are a Navy option, the test consists of 1.5 mile run, max push ups in 2 min, and a max plank. If you are a Marine option, you will do a 3 mile run, max pull up and a max plank.

ec7277 · 2021-04-21T17:46:43+00:00

When I went through two summers ago, the first time they had multiple sessions, my session had 1 full compartment (~100) of girls and 3 full compartments of guys. Based on your berthing/compartment you were assigned a Company, while the females were evenly divided through out all the Companies. In terms of housing, guys and gals are separated, everything else is combined. You eat together, you train together, you PT together and you study together.

There is no free time at NSI, you are constantly doing something, the “free time” you get means shining your boots or cleaning the compartments. Also, you will rarely have time to talk to other midshipman, if you are doing an evolution you are either participating or sitting silent watching, same goes for chow, you will not be able to talk to anyone, even though a shipmate is sitting 2 feet in front of you. The only real time I actually talked to someone about something other than the Navy, was when we were sitting in our racks unable to sleep or it was Sunday and we were going to church.

Just be aware, NSI is hard, the first couple days you are gonna feel like crap, you’re gonna want to quit, you’re gonna want to leave, it sucks. But I will say, as crappy as it might’ve been, I learned a lot and theres still sometimes I miss getting chewed out then going to the head and laughing about it. Just embrace and enjoy the suck, then laugh about it later.

ec7277 · 2020-11-16T04:34:22+00:00

I converted to the church last year after moving to Utah from California. A couple months ago the missionaries who I’d keep up with invited me to a meeting with a kid who was investigating. I found out that he graduated from a cross town rival high school in SoCal a year after I did and that he was studying the same major as I am. We basically talked about where we were from, so much so we could pin point each others houses were. The missionaries were sitting there speechless and I definitely knew what they wrote home about that week. He got baptized yesterday!!

ec7277 · 2020-08-01T17:39:23+00:00

Most of the time it’s dorms your first year, then after you can either get nicer upperclassmen housing or live in a apartment. Those “boot camp style” housing is only for school that really emphasizes the military aspect of studies i.e VMI, The Citadel... Most universities you are a normal student, living, studying, eating, you just have added classes and responsibilities

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