I am not a tremendous reader of books. My attention span for these activities is not something I was born with. My reading at this point is basically limited to our trade publications, computing, programming and networking so I can stay ahead of the changes that affect P&C now and in the future. I will admit that one of my favorite magazines is the Reader’s Digest. The articles seem to be written in a fashion that suits me and are limited to basically 4-5 pages in a 4″x6″ format. I got the latest issue (November 2011) a couple of weeks ago and about 3/4 of the way through it I ran across an article about Chaplains in the Military or more specifically Marine Chaplains in Kandahar. I quickly scanned the article for pictures which helps me determine my level of interest and I came across a photo of two Chaplains enjoying their pipes on the Kandahar Airfield flight line! Me being me, I quickly looked for names, jotted them down and logged in to the admin section of P&C to see if they might be a customer of ours and BINGO!
Ch. A.P.Sholtes is the hospital Chaplain at the Marine Base. So I crafted an email to Ch. A.P.Sholtes to let him know that I saw the article (yes, I read it first) and he informs me that they not only are customers but they created a pipe club in the desert complete with t-Shirts and patches.
To paraphrase the article it speaks of the daily activities of the Chaplains, the news they have to deliver to families back home, the services they give to our troops and a myriad of other duties and responsibilities.
The following is taken directly from Reader’s Digest November 2011:
For all their conversations and near constant interaction with the troops, chaplains can have a lonely job, expected to always be the one with answers, never with questions or doubts, never in need of support themselves. They often turn to other chaplains for counsel and seek out their own ways of coping. Sholtes finds refuge a short walk away, on the Kandahar Airfield flight line. As the day stretches into late afternoon and the temperature drops to somewhere near comfortable, he settles into a folding chair and slips a pipe and a pouch of tobacco from his pocket. “This is not recreation, ” Sholtes says of the pipe. “This is therapy. This is essential.”
Even with the occasional earsplitting noise, the flight line is peaceful. Sholtes watches the constant motion, takeoffs, and landings. Jet fighters scream overhead, and attack helicopters cruise by, rotors beating the air. Sholtes lights his pipe, exhales a rich, white puff of smoke, and leans back in his chair. “I consider the tobacco I put in my pipe all the grief and suffering,” he says. “And I will burn it.”
I have never looked at it that way, but I will now.
I am curious. What pipes does the good Chaplin smoke? Or which one(s) did he recently purchase.
Mitch,
Machinist
Camp Leatherneck, Afghanistan
Mitch – We know you’re just curious, but we don’t really feel comfortable publishing customer’s purchase history in a public forum. Regardless the good Chaplin thus far has only purchased tobacco from us and no pipes.
I have been smoking some Petersons and a ‘church warden’ long stem. The Petersons (I own 3) I like because of the 9 mm filter that makes it a cleaner experience. The long stem cools the smoke down and also provides enough room for residue to settle. I am currently looking into more filtered pipes from our friend above. It is still a therapy for me, I am still working at a hospital…
we are not related, – unfortunately…
P.s. Please don’t leave the ‘a’ out of ‘chaplain’… Charlie was a Chaplin…
I was curious about filtered pipes when you mentioned them, so did a search on P&C… some of the makers you may want to check out are Savinelli, Big Ben, Design Berlin, Jobey and Aldo Morelli … just to name a few.
While I am not the chaplain in the story, I smoked Bluenote the entire time I was in Iraq (15 months) in a locally purchased small merschaum pipe. Wanted a decent churchwarden but couldn’t find one – probably better anyway, would have been hard to stick in my pocket.
I’m intrigued by “locally purchased”, I’d love to hear about that pipe shopping experience! You’re right, a Churchwarden wouldn’t make an ideal pocket pipe, but don’t let that discourage you from getting one for those times when you’re able to relax… it is a pipe smoking experience not to be missed! (I personally appreciate the cooler smoke as a result, as Chaplain Sholtes said!)
Not really that exciting of a story, there were a variety of venders and local murchants that sold imported goods. A few in our area caried meerschaum pipes. I actually picked up a few of them in various designs but always smoked one that is a simple unadorned small (about 20 minutes fully packed) round bowl.
For anyone wondering what the difference is between a filtered and non-filtered pipe, here’s something written by our staff that you may find of interest: http://pipesandcigars.com/fiornofi.html