Church helps recruits combat stress
MARINE CORPS RECRUIT DEPOT SAN DIEGO (Aug. 11, 2006) -- Throughout recruit training, recruits endure a tremendous amount of mental, moral and physical stress.
http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/mcn2000.nsf/main5/E46E7DE5069D9324852571C7006B2530?opendocument
Aug. 11, 2006; Submitted on: 08/11/2006 03:30:18 PM
Story ID#: 2006811153018
By Lance Cpl. James Green, MCRD San Diego
Among the options of dealing with the pressure they are faced with on a day-to-day basis is the choice of going to church on Sunday.
During four hours on Sundays, from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m., recruits have the options of writing letters or preparing their uniforms and other items for the next week of training, however, many choose to attend a religious service of their choice offered on the depot.
Going to church relieves a lot of the stress recruits endure by letting them know God is still in charge, said Lt. Cmdr. James E. West, chaplain, 1st Recruit Training Battalion. It reminds them that there is a bigger world outside of the depot.
“We offer many services from Catholic, Protestant and Latter Day Saints, to Lutheran, Islamic, Jewish and more,” said West.
There are six chaplains on the depot who administer Sunday services for the recruits. Due to the relatively small number of chaplains, it’s hard for them to minister and meet the spiritual needs of the hundreds of recruits in boot camp.
To help with the process of informing recruits about religious services and to help minister to others, platoon prayer leaders are picked by drill instructors at the beginning of each training cycle.
Two recruits from each platoon are picked to be prayer leaders. They are there to lead other recruits in evening devotion, a time when recruits meet in groups with their respective religions for a short prayer before going to sleep.
“We act as counselors and friends to the other recruits,” said Pvt. Guillermo Guzman Jr., a prayer leader for Platoon 2006, Company H. “Sometimes they come up to me and ask me to pray for them.”
Guzman said that going to church and participating as a prayer leader helped him deal with his stress by getting his focus off of his own problems and taught him to help with his platoon mates’ spiritual issues.
Before boot camp, Guzman was an usher and youth group leader at his church in his hometown of El Paso, Texas. It was during that time he learned the skills he passed on to the other recruits and taught them about prayer and how to get closer with God.
“It motivates me as a prayer leader to know I am doing a good job,” said Guzman. “Here, I learned I could help those in need, as well as myself, by doing so.”
Church allowed the recruits to keep track of the days. Recruits would count down the days until Sunday so they had a reason to stay motivated, Guzman added.
Many recruits are grateful for the opportunity presented to them through religious services.
“The appreciation becomes apparent when the graduating company attends church on their last Sunday, “ said West. “They come and thank us, telling us how they couldn’t have made it without us.”
For some recruits, church is the number one way to combat stress. Even though religious services only run once a week, it gets the recruits through each day in between Sundays by giving them something to look forward to during the week.