Chaplain serves Airmen, Soldiers at remote posts

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. Melissa Phillips
  • 407th Air Expeditionary Group Public Affairs
ALI BASE, Iraq (AFPN) --  When Army Spc. Jacob Boomsaad fell in love with a fellow Soldier while serving in Iraq, he feared he would have to delay the wedding until almost six months after returning from their deployment to marry in a Catholic church.

That is until the specialist with the 2nd Battalion, 142nd Infantry Regiment from the Texas Army National Guard met Air Force Chaplain (Capt.) Chad Zielinski from the 407th Air Expeditionary Group.

Chaplain Zielinski is the only U.S. military Catholic chaplain for servicemembers stationed in southeastern Iraq, and he serves the needs of Airmen and Soldiers in this joint environment.

The chaplain met the couple during his travels far and wide to meet the religious needs of fellow Catholics outside the base.

So when Specialist Boomsaad and his fiancée approached him about their wedding plans, he said it was a breath of fresh air. His typical day centers around helping servicemembers through tough issues and concerns such as infidelity, death, money and relationship problems that crop up back home and affect their duty performance.

“I’m helping them to form goals and dreams for their future,” Chaplain Zielinski said. “It’s exciting.”

Although Chaplain Zielinski cannot marry the two Soldiers here, he is planning to conduct the ceremony in Texas when they return from their deployments.

In the meantime, he provided marital counseling. If he had not, it would have delayed their matrimonial vows by the four to six months it normally takes to attain counseling after redeploying.

It was a wait they had resigned themselves to accept as the price of finding love in a war zone.

“Another priest told us we had to wait,” said Army Sgt. Cintia Hernandez-Flores, 215th Quartermaster from the Indiana Army Reserve. “We live in different states, and we both go to college. It would have been very expensive to fly every weekend to do the preparation.

“(Chaplain Zielinski) was very supportive. It’s a difficult thing for people to understand that we weren’t just trying to find someone for the ‘deployment,’” said Sergeant Hernandez-Flores, stationed at nearby Camp Cedar.

It was not difficult for the chaplain to understand.

“One day each person in the Air Force will no longer be in the Air Force,” Chaplain Zielinski said. “The chaplain’s mission is to bring an opportunity for each person to explore their beliefs and values in life.”

He has helped airman basics to two-star generals, and said the chaplaincy is a safe haven for all who need a break from the demands of the mission.

He is quick to point out that he is not here just for Catholics. The chaplain staff serves all religions and also provides counseling services.

“We are the only organization in the military that can provide servicemembers with privileged communication,” said Chaplain Zielinski, who is deployed from Royal Air Force Mildenhall, England.

“Regardless of one’s faith background, they should feel free to talk to a chaplain about what issues or concerns they may have,” Chaplain Zielinski said. “You have absolute confidentiality; we are not allowed to talk to anyone about what you say.”

Possessing the mindset “have combat boots, will travel,” he takes the gospel to those in need and performs five masses weekly, spread out between here, Camp Cedar and Scania. Scania is a remote site located a three- to four-hour convoy from here.

“Twenty-five percent of the military is Catholic, but we have a critical shortage of Catholic priests in all services,” Chaplain Zielinski said.

It has been that way for several years. In November 2003 to March 2004, he was deployed to Baghdad International Airport, Iraq, where he saw more than his share of death and helped the Army chaplaincy there.

“Two chaplains and I provided memorial services to more than 120 deceased Soldiers,” Chaplain Zielinski said. “That is something that will rock you to the core of your being, seeing seven or eight dead Soldiers lying there in the back of an airplane.”

Fortunately, he has not had that experience here, but knowing the potential for violence is here does not stop him from traveling the dangerous roadways of Iraq.

“I know I’m serving a critical need,” Chaplain Zielinski said. “I will go out of my way even if that means danger to meet servicemembers’ religious needs.”

He understands those demands firsthand. He was an enlisted supply specialist for more than three years before he felt his calling to become a priest. While attending seminary, he served as an aerial port specialist in the Air Force Reserve. In all, he served seven years and achieved the rank of staff sergeant.

A 1996 graduate of the Sacred Heart Major Seminary in Detroit, he left the military and settled down in northern Michigan to serve the community there. That was until 9/11 struck the core of America.

“I got a letter from the chaplain’s recruiting service and e-mailed the contact to say I was thinking about it,” Chaplain Zielinski said. “He called 10 minutes later and said we need you tomorrow.”

Chaplain Zielinski came back in with the idea of doing only three years, but has not looked back since.

“I enjoy living and working in an interfaith environment with (servicemembers) and chaplains of different backgrounds and various faith groups,” he said. “By serving others, I serve God and my country.”

He said the military is rich with the opportunity to expand spiritually.

“As a chaplain, I am considered a noncombatant” Chaplain Zielinski said. “It’s my mission to promote peace and goodness in the world by telling the story of God.”

As a military chaplain, he said it is not his place to push any one religion on servicemembers, but to encourage people to find their spiritual center to better help them deal with the rigors of military service.

Another one of the chaplain’s roles is to help create an environment of mutual respect for religions, and in doing so, both the Air Force and Army chapels provide service opportunities for Protestants, Catholics, Jews and Muslims.

“The role of the military chaplain is to provide an opportunity for servicemembers to exercise their First Amendment right for free exercise of religion,” Chaplain Zielinski said.

For many, it is a much-appreciated service some feel ultimately helps them perform as better Soldiers and Airmen.

“In Iraq, you have people going on convoys and getting blown up,” Specialist Boomsaad said. “I look forward to church every week. I think anything that boosts the morale of the Soldier makes the Soldier better.”

Chaplain Zielinski’s mission is not always easy. Mostly because his job is not as simple as providing a few words to those gathered in front of the pulpit on Sundays.

He once had to tell a young man that his wife and three children were killed in a car accident. The Airman crumpled to the floor at his feet and cried like a child.

He said one of the hardest aspects of his job is finding a way to pay homage to those who have paid the ultimate sacrifice -- knowing they are someone’s child, husband, mother, brother or friend.

“It’s a selfless act for their country,” Chaplain Zielinski said. “The presence of the chaplaincy adds solemn respect for the servicemember who has given her or his life for their country.”

It is a challenge he has made his mission in life.