THE CIRCUIT DRIVER BISHOP

assistance of Deacon Douglas McNair. e Deacon is employed at the SSC and he is ordained to serve in the Diocese of Biloxi. Deputy command chaplain, LTJG Wileslie Wint served as my escort o cer for the day and oversaw my processing onto the NASA property and drove me to the room that was prepared for the celebration of Mass.

Before the next circuit drive, I conducted annual pastoral visits to the Army’s National Training Center at Fort Irwin, CA, and the Marine Corps Air Station in Yuma, AZ. I also represented the AMS at Bishop David O’Connell’s funeral

KC-135 STRATOTANKER SIMULATOR L-R: LT COL JON CAMILLETI, MAJ GRANT STARKWEATHER, BISHOP NEAL J. BUCKON, AND A1C JOSHUA REYES.

at Our Lady of the Angels Cathedral, Los Angeles, CA. Each destination is just hours away from my home base at Sacred Heart Church on Coronado Island, CA. Every mission is important.

e itinerary next called for a 10-day peregrination on the Great Plains in Oklahoma and North Texas to visit Fort Sill, Altus AFB, Tinker AFB, and Sheppard AFB. I always enjoy returning to Fort Sill, OK, where I served as the Garrison Chaplain from 2006-2008, and seeing all the great Americans that I still call “friends.” e Sunday 8 am Mass at Fort Sill can count as many as 350 recruits in Basic Training among the participants. Our soldiers are never far from home when they can attend Mass. ere were two new experiences on this circuit.

e rst surfaced during my visit to Altus AFB, OK. Father Dennis DeGuzman, USAF, Wing Chaplain, arranged for me to visit the 97th Training Squadron and spend 30 minutes in a Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker ight simulator. e pilots trained for this airframe will perform aerial refueling missions all over the world! e second extraordinary learning opportunity was arranged by continued on page 26