TAKING THE FIELD
Wherever your field is... When you enter onto it... You must enter with a combination
of proper attitude, vigilance and energy.

On that field you may find boredom...
pleasure...
challenge...
danger...

If there is a single other human being upon that field, all of these things, and more, are always possible.

Some situations require patience and diplomacy...
Some situations require action and forcefulness...
Still more situations require instant action and command decisions...
For any and all of these we must be prepared before they come.  Usually there is no time to prepare after they come.

I have always been intrigued by the field actions that are later evaluated by personnel sitting in a comfortable room, in comfortable surroundings, who take all of the time that  they desire or require to evaluate what a Peace Keeper did in an action on the field.  The Peace Keeper had little time to respond to some situation or threat that was presented to them.  Response was necessary for survival and accomplishing the job of peace keeping.  Success in many situations is determined by how a Peace Keeper responds and how quickly a Peace Keeper responds.  Sometimes hesitation or acting too slowly means that the situation is past and now cannot be caught and handled.  Some opportunities are lost when action is not soon enough.

This past week has been another busy one but much of it was more enjoyable time than I have spent on the field in a long while.  I loved the challenges of the new job over the past week.  Now, on Monday, I will start a new job that many have assured me that I will enjoy even more than the first new one I am leaving to take the second new one.  I am looking forward to more enjoyment and adventure in the next job.

I receive letters occasionally from parents, spouses and significant others who are in the lives of current Peace Keepers and prospective Peace Keepers.  I read, meditate and pray over what they send...  Their concerns are usually about their specific circumstances and they are seeking either prayer or information or both.

The profession of Peace Keeping is hard on our loved ones.  The major reason that it is hard on them is usually because they do not comprehend what it is that causes us to choose the profession.  Most of them do not comprehend why we cannot just choose some peaceful, decent paying job and enjoy a life of always being more available to our loved ones.  Few people that are not Peace Keepers can understand that we have something within us that literally compels us to move into peace keeping because there is nothing else that satisfies us as a profession.  They usually do not comprehend that it is also our love and concern for them and the need to provide a safe and secure world for our loved ones that is included in that compelling need to be a Peace Keeper.

I have known other Peace Keepers who tried to get out of peace keeping and work in other fields... Including myself... But eventually most of them came back to peace keeping because they were dying inside.  Their spark and zest for life had depleted.
There was no satisfaction that they had done something useful in relation to life, peace and safety.  The need to be out on the field keeping the peace ate at them until they failed to be able to live and enjoy life with their loved ones... Until they went back onto the field as a Peace Keeper.  I know that situation all too well.  For a long time now I have been an administrator too tied up with office work to get enough of the hands on work in dealing with the the field problems and people.  I have missed it terribly.

Some of the things that I and the unit I supervise used to do as regular duty has been altered over the years and we get less action and interaction with people except when we answer emergency calls for service.  This past week for me has been like falling in love all over again.  It was as much fun as I have ever had in the job and the vigor flowed freely.  The zeal for doing the job and doing it well was like a stimulant.  One of those days I worked alone and accomplished much good as well as interacting with thousands of people... Plus I lost four pounds and received some sun tanning as well.

On the field is where my heart has always wanted to be.  Now in my new jobs I am there again and it is good... I am doing what I love to do and getting paid for it... What a combination!!... plus I still have the volunteer admin job for the chaplain unit.  Yesterday I worked 9 hours on the street in the new patrol job and 5 hours on patrol as a chaplain... Both jobs are on the resort strip but with two very different sets of people.

For the loved ones who read this message... If you want us to be the alive, vital person we want to be and need to be... You just may have to let us be Peace Keepers in order to do our part to provide the best possible world for you to live in.  If we cannot do that we may never be able to have the spark and zest for life that you want and that we should have.  Someone has to do this job and we believe that we are the ones who are supposed to do it until others come along to replace us.  It is difficult for us to love you and care for you the way we would like to unless we can be fulfilled in the profession of Peace Keeping that just will not leave our hearts alone until we are in it and doing it.  Thank you for cooperating and supporting us as we do this tedious work of keeping the peace in our world.

THANK YOU... FAMILIES, LOVED ONES AND PEACE KEEPERS!... Thank you for giving all that it takes for us to have life as we know it in this world today.  I am old as far as this world is concerned but there are lots of young people that can tell you that I can still outwork most of the people even half as old as I am. 

It has been a great pleasure to have been a living part of the peace keeping efforts and to have been blessed with such very special relationships and friendships as I have been blessed here among you.... and now I am being blessed as I start to do the fun parts of this work again.

"BE CAREFUL OUT THERE!!!"  Be alert, watchful, suspicious and wary.  Take the best possible are of you as you care for and about others.  See to the care and welfare of your spiritual person also.  Your spirit needs to be strong for you to succeed.

Call or write if I may be of any assistance.

As it has always been... So it still is...

To subscribe to this free e-mail message for Peace Keepers, 
write to Chaplain D. R. Staton at chpln1@verizon.net or at 
3709 Beacon Lane, Virginia Beach, VA 23452.

If you are a Peace Keeper you may subscribe to 
the BLACKWATER TACTICAL NEWSLETTER  by going to the 
website at BLACKWATER USA.

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