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A Co-Sponsored Seminarian’s Summer
A Co-Sponsored Seminarian’s Summer Experience at the Navy Chaplain School
BY BRADLEY EASTERBROOKS
As a co-sponsored seminarian with the Archdiocese for the Military Services (AMS) and the Diocese of San Diego, I am currently in my second year of theology at the Pontifical North American College in Rome. Prior to entering seminary, I served on active-duty in the U.S. Navy as a Lieutenant in the Judge Advocate General’s Corps. As a Co-Sponsored Seminarian, I am able to continue my time in service as a Chaplain Candidate Probationary Officer (CCPO), a Navy program which allows me to retain a commission as an officer and train during summers.
This summer, I was privileged to attend the U.S. Navy’s Chaplain Candidate Orientation Course (known as “CCOC”), a twoweek training held for Navy Chaplain Candidates between 28 July and 9 August 2019, at Naval Station Newport, RI. The course was attended by 24 chaplain candidates from various religious backgrounds, including six Catholics (three seminarians and three recently ordained priests).
A primary focus of the course was to prepare us to serve God as a priest and minister to sailors while succeeding as U.S. Naval officers and leaders. The course’s curriculum included a taste of much of what a chaplain might encounter over a career. We were trained by experienced Naval chaplains who provided information on the unique life of chaplaincy as well as the challenges faced in our twenty-first century world.
Because Navy chaplains serve the Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, and U.S. Merchant Marines, we received practical training on ministry across the services. Towards that end, CCOC students
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L TO R: SEMINARIAN DAVID CAMPO, ARCHDIOCESE OF BOSTON, ST. JOHN’S SEMINARY, BRIGHTON, MA; SEMINARIAN EASTERBROOKS, DIOCESE OF SAN DIEGO, NORTH AMERICAN COLLEGE, VATICAN CITY STATE; FATHER RENE PELLESSIER, DIOCESE OF LAFAYETTE, LA; SEMINARIAN PAUL COLLINS, ARCHDIOCESE OF LOS ANGELES, ST. JOHN’S SEMINARY, CAMARILLO, CA; FATHER BEN PITRE, DIOCESE OF LAFAYETTE, LA; FATHER MICHAEL PLONA, DIOCESE OF ROCKVILLE CENTRE. NY
visited the U.S. Coast Guard Academy for a training with the Academy’s command chaplain as well as lunch and a tour of the campus.
We were also privileged to make a visit to the Submarine Force Museum, where we boarded the USS Nautilus, the world’s first operational nuclear-powered submarine. Continuing our study of Naval history, our class also visited Boston’s Charlestown Navy Yard with the World War II-era destroyer USS Cassin Young and USS Constitution, the world’s oldest commissioned warship afloat.
30 One of the motivating aspects of the training involved our physical training (“PT”) opportunities. Each day of PT, we would rise early and muster at 0445 to commence our group exercises at 0500. This aspect of the training was designed to keep us in shape for the Navy’s Physical Fitness Assessment (PFA). We were led by a Gunnery Sergeant from the U.S. Marine Corps, who ensured
that this training both challenged us and continued our advancement in physical readiness.
With three Catholic priests and seminarians attending the course, we were able to form a tight-knit fraternity for daily celebration of Mass and community prayer. During evenings, we would pray the Liturgy of the Hours together prior to eating a meal at the Officer’s Club. In prayer and fellowship, we found that God had used this time of fraternity to continue to form us into men after His own heart in preparation for Naval chaplaincy. V
Committed to “Serving those who Serve”. N
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Spring Discernment Retreat 12 - 15 March 2020 St. Patrick’s Seminary Menlo Park | California
25 th Annual Memorial Mass 31 May 2020, 4:30 p.m. Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception 400 Michigan Avenue NE | Washington, D.C. 20017 Archbishop Broglio will be the principal celebrant and homilist
Memorial Mass for Father Vincent R. Capodanno, MM, Servant of God 3 September 2020, 6:30 p.m Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception 400 Michigan Ave NE | Washington, D.C. 20017 Archbishop Broglio will be the principal celebrant and homilist
12 th Annual Benefit 21 November 2020
