God gave Noah only seven days to pack the ark. Navy Commander Rob Thomson faced a similar challenge loading the USS Boxer, a helicopter carrier, in a week’s time in anticipation of the United States invasion of Iraq.
“We got word in late December 2002 that we would be shipping out to Iraq to prepare for a possible confrontation with Saddam Hussein,” Thomson said.
Normally it takes months to prepare for this kind of deployment. Not only did they compress the loading operation into one week, but it was also the week between Christmas and New Year’s Day. Crewmembers had to suddenly give up their leave and vacation plans.
As Operations Officer, Thomson was responsible for anything that involved planning and executing, such as moving helicopters and crafts, troops, and supplies aboard ship.
“We loaded our 2,000 Marines and 900 Navy crew and all of their gear between Christmas and New Year’s Day, then set sail the first week of January 2003,” Thomson explained.
Pressing utmost on Thomson’s mind was his family he couldn’t take with him or care for while he was gone.
“I was leaving behind Kinuko, my Japanese wife, in what to her was a ‘foreign country’ and Alex, my three-year-old autistic son, for her to care for alone in our San Diego home. No one from her family lived within 10,000 miles, and my family was 3,000 miles away in Pittsburgh.”
Thomson and Kinuko had married nine years earlier, living mostly in Japan where Thomson served three tours of duty. Kinuko, the daughter of a rice farmer, grew up in a Japanese town that was so remote most of its residents had never seen a foreigner until Thomson came to meet her family. “Everyone stopped and stared,” he noted.
Moving to San Diego had been a huge adjustment for the Thomsons but with a significant benefit. For the first time they were able to plug into a church and not simply attend chapel services. Although the church was small, their hearts were huge ark-like.
“The church we attended only had about fifty or sixty members, but the love of Christ dwelt in each one,” Thomson said.
When these church members learned about Rob’s sudden deployment, they offered to help Kinuko and Alex, which gave Thomson tremendous peace of mind as he embarked on a deployment that would take him into a combat zone for the first time of his sixteen years in the Navy.
While Commander Thomson oversaw the practical preparations and operations for loading the USS Boxer and its 2,900 crewmembers, he also looked to the Great Shepherd and a loving community to care for the wife and son he was leaving behind.
Thank you for your practical provisions for my most basic needs.
“The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want.” (Psalm 23:1)