ANDREWS AFB, Md. –
Father James A. Hamel, 316th Wing Catholic Chaplain, is hard at work at his position as the new base priest.
In 2000, Father Hamel joined the Air Force to serve his country. "I was looking for new challenges in ministry as a priest. I had been a parish priest up in New Jersey for eight years and I loved it, but I was looking for something different and more rewarding and this is it," said Captain Hamel. Captain Hamel's Air Force career has led him to many diverse bases and all over the world including Grand Forks, Osan, Ramstein, and, most recently, Bolling.
Father Hamel sees several differences between serving as priest in the military versus the civilian world. "Air Force chaplaincy is very different from the civilian world. In the military, we have all the policies and rules to follow and most importantly, serving in the military, you have to be militarily and spiritually prepared to go to war and you have a much more transient community, as well. And the nature of the mission is another difference between the military and civilian worlds. My parishioners are Active Duty military folks that are asked to do difficult and dangerous things on behalf of their country and on behalf of the world. So, those are some of the things that attracted me to the Air Force chaplaincy."
In high school, Father Hamel looked at priesthood as a career. "I thought I wanted to be a priest. I had an image, as a Catholic, and I had an idea-however small it was, but I went into the undergraduate seminary to become a priest. It was four years of undergraduate school and four years of graduate seminary - it seemed so long and distant. So, I plodded along in making the next milestone and in May 1992 was my ordination day."
Father Hamel brings to his work traits that he learned from his own personal role models in the Catholic faith. "Growing up, I learned from Father Cawley, a priest that I had known. He was an American who went to Hong Kong, learned the local language, and was really a dedicated man. And being in the military, I can appreciate how he left his homeland and went out into unknown territory. In the military, that's what we are asked to do - go overseas, move often, and go in to combat. I learned from Father Cawley to trust and put your life into His hands."
Father Hamel knows what his calling is here. "I'm here first and foremost to take care of families."