HAGERSTOWN ? The Rev. Clark Carr, pastor of Grace UMC, is preparing for combat. He and five other Maryland National Guard chaplains went through a sort of mini-boot camp training at Camp Fretterd in Baltimore County in early February, reported the Washington Post. As an Army chaplain, Carr is a non-combatant, forbidden to carry a weapon. But if he is deployed to Iraq, he knows he'll need sharper survival skills, and welcomed the tough day of ducking and covering from imaginary enemy fire. The training was a reminder that in addition to blessing the dead and leading troops in prayer, he will need to know what to do when the bullets start flying. Carr had a 12-week chaplain officer basic course when he entered the service. But in the years since basic training, he's more accustomed to 'honing homilies than survival skills,' the Post said, and less physically fit than the average soldier. Carr readily admitted that he wasn't in war-time shape. 'When I'm behind the pulpit, I'm not looking for snipers in the rafters,' he said.
Carr knows he can be deployed at any time, joining the Revs. Willie Carballo-Lopez and Will Butler who are serving in Iraq now. | 
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