Flightline chapel is first on BAF to be operated by Air Force

Chaplain (Maj.) Gary Coburn, 455th Air Expeditionary Wing deputy wing chaplain, speaks to Lt. Col. Daniel Hendrix, 41st Expeditionary Electronic Combat Squadron, and Senior Airman Jeremie Bumpers, 455th Expeditionary Maintenance Squadron, during a non-denominational Christian worship service at the Bagram Airfield flightline chapel Oct. 20, 2013. (U.S. Air Force photo/Tech. Sgt. Rob Hazelett)

Flightline chapel is first on BAF to be operated by Air Force

Published Oct. 21, 2013
By Tech. Sgt. Rob Hazelett
455th Air Expeditionary Wing

BAGRAM AIR FIELD, Afghanistan -- The first chapel to be operated by the Air Force at Bagram held its first worship service Oct. 6, 2013.

The non-denominational Christian worship service's unique characteristic is its location inside the entry control point where it can reach airmen who otherwise may not be able to attend a worship service.

"The other chapels on base do an outstanding job in meeting the spiritual needs of everyone on base," said Chaplain (Maj.) Gary Coburn, 455th Air Expeditionary Wing deputy wing chaplain who's deployed from Buckley Air Force Base, Colo. "We're targeting the airmen on the flightline who can't get away from their job for an extended time to worship at one of the other chapels. We want them to know it's 'come as you are', meaning if you're dirty from working on a jet, it's okay, come anyway."

The chapel, co-located with the Airman Ministry Center, conducts a service each Sunday at 10 a.m. However, Coburn said a Catholic service might be in store as a priest becomes available.

Staff Sgt. Lowell Wann, 455 AEW chaplain assistant, also from Buckley AFB, said the chapel is ideally placed between several squadrons.

"The airmen in these units rarely get an hour to two hours to leave their shop to attend a service that's more than a 30-minute round-trip walk. There is a segment of our airmen who have been left and forgotten about, and we hope this opportunity helps fill that void," said Wann, who deployed who hails from Odessa, Mo.

All in all, the flightline chapel has more to offer than just chapel service each Sunday.

"We have free phone cards, morale phones, free Wi-Fi, computers for Skype or football scores, free toiletries, a big screen TV with hundreds of movies, playing cards, board games and free post cards to send back home," said Coburn, who's a native of Prattville, Ala.

Coburn said other faith groups interested in using their facility are more than welcome and can coordinate with the chapel for more information.