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Air Force Colonel Ordained Deacon

Diocesan Press Service. February 9, 1973 [73036]

FORT WORTH, Tex. -- When the men of the First Mobile Communications Group (AFCS) at Clark Air Base in The Philippines speak of their commanding officer as " The Reverend Colonel" they're right on target! For Colonel William A. Komstedt who commands the unit is an ordained deacon of the Episcopal Church who is looking forward to becoming a priest in the near future.

Though the "worker priest" or "non-stipendiary clergy" concept is becoming fairly widespread in the Episcopal Church the 44-year-old career officer is only the second man (outside the chaplains corps) to combine the roles of ordained clergyman and military active duty. Colonel Komstedt was ordained deacon on December 31, 1972, by the Rt. Rev. Clarence Hobgood, Episcopal Bishop for the Armed Forces. The ordination took place in All Saints' Church, Fort Worth, Texas, with Bishop Hobgood officiating for the Rt. Rev. Wilburn C. Campbell, bishop of the Diocese of West Virginia where Colonel Komstedt is canonically resident.

The motivation toward Holy Orders was first felt by the officer when he was serving as Project Engineer in the B-58 Hustler Test Force at Carswell Air Force Base, Fort Worth, Texas. It developed over the years and became a clear call to the priesthood while he was assisting the chaplains in off-duty hours at the Veterans hospital in Washington, D.C., as a Lay Reader.

" I felt that I was reaching the limits of lay ministry, " said Colonel Komstedt. "In dealing with patients I became acutely aware of the need for sacramental authority to celebrate the Eucharist which is the church's greatest healing service, and to administer the sacrament of Unction and to pronounce absolution."

Since his ordination Colonel Kimstedt has been serving as a "worker priest" at Clark Air Force Base with the enthusiastic support of the Rt. Rev. Benito C. Cabanban, Bishop of the Diocese of Central Philippines.

"I am in a position to receive lots of interesting direction," said the officer. "In military channels I report to Brigadier General George Iannacito and Major General Paul Stoney. In all things I am under the direction of Bishop Campbell and on a military installation the policies of Bishop Hobgood apply. Off base in the Philippines I try to comply with the wishes of Bishop Cabanban and my ministry on a base must also conform with the desires of the local base chaplain. Obviously we are ' all led by the same spirit' because this combination of supervision has never created any particular difficulties for me.

All three bishops, for example, have given the deacon permission to keep the Blessed Sacrament reserved at Clark Air Base and to administer it as necessary between visits by a missionary priest from Saint Andrew's Seminary in Manila. This lack of Episcopal chaplains was one of the reasons why Colonel Komstedt sought ordination.

"In 23 years of military service, I served at only one installation having an Episcopal chaplain," he said. " The Roman Catholic chaplains usually have declined to provide the sacraments to us and the general Protestants normally don't make them available. I see my role as an Episcopal non-stipendiary clergyman primarily as augmenting the installation chaplain's program and to provide a sacramental ministry to Episcopalians where it is not otherwise available."

Colonel Komstedt was born in New York City and as a boy was a member of St. Peter's in the Bronx. He holds B.A. and M.S. degrees from the University of Southern Mississippi plus a three-year diploma in theology from the Nyack Missionary College in New York. Most of his college work was completed in off duty hours over many years in various military assignments.

"Formal Lay Reader training was provided by Father DeWolfe as part of an outstanding program within the Diocese of Dallas, " said the officer. He was accepted as a Postulant by Bishop Campbell and took written and oral canonical examinations for ordination last spring.

"Nobody was more surprised than I to discover that all examinations required for the priesthood were passed," he said. "After completing the required period as a candidate for orders, I was ordained deacon. I hope to become a priest within the next year. "

Colonel Komstedt is the first to recognize the unusual position in which he is likely to be placed by his dual roles. "The ministry of a worker priest in the Armed Forces is unique and extremely new, " he said. "We haven't begun to understand all of the potential. But at this point I wouldn't trade places with any chaplain or civilian clergyman in existence. The Holy Spirit uses them to reach people I can't, but there is a special rapport which exists between me, our military people and their dependents. We have a t cry real sense of shared ministries in the Air Force. Each does his own special thing in behalf of the rest of the community. I happen to be the one from among them who is ordained to provide a sacramental ministry. "

The deacon also has many opportunities to "bridge with love " the gap which sometimes exists in understanding between civilian and military churchman. His goal is to "live within both military and civilian communities in a manner pleasing to God."

As a commander of a mobile communications unit Colonel Komstedt finds it necessary to travel all over the Pacific theatre, including Southeast Asia. " Frequently our Episcopal airmen ask me to conduct services for them at various sites lacking an Episcopal chaplain," he said. "In a very real sense my command is my parish consisting of the cream of American youth. " He is also asked to conduct Protestant services from time to time when local chaplains need help and he feels "the Anglican touch " is always appreciated by them.

Colonel Komstedt is married to the former Martha Sebolt of Nyack, New York, who is enthusiastic about her husband's new role. She has been a leader of informal prayer and study groups and provided "significant 'help" to her husband in preparing for the canonical exams. He has described her as "a person full of love for mankind, our country, the church and the Lord's service. "

Ordination has added a new dimension to the life of a man who had already expressed a variety of interests and talents. He has played trumpet in the New York All City Symphony Orchestra, and sang (with his wife) in the Fort Worth Opera Company and the Omaha Civic Opera. He is a member of the National Cathedral Choral Society. He has served as an adjunct professor of economics with the University of Nebraska at Omaha and Bellvue College in Nebraska. He recently received the Legion of Merit for service in the Pentagon, including his part "in the development of unmanned reconnaissance aircraft for use on the touch targets where the risk to men is too great."

The "Reverend Colonel" has described himself as "a full time clergyman who happens to be an Air Force officer and a full time Air Force officer who happens to be a clergyman. " He said he doesn't attempt to separate his function as a commander from his ministry as a deacon, especially in the counselling role. "This is as it should be, I believe," he stated.

And his life has become an interesting variation of the "worker priest" role that is growing steadily within the Episcopal Church.

(NOTE: Two photographs of Colonel Komstedt are enclosed -- one in his air force uniform and the other in his clericals.)

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