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Wing chaplain arrives on base

  • Published
  • By Mike W. Ray
  • Tinker Public Affairs
TINKER AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. --  For Lt. Col. Paul D. Sutter, religion is a family tradition. The new 72nd Air Base Wing chaplain is a fifth generation Lutheran pastor.

Colonel Sutter, who arrived at Tinker AFB on June 22, has been an Air Force chaplain for 18 years. He is ordained in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.

As the wing chaplain, the colonel provides strategic direction for all base chapel programs and advises Tinker leadership on religious issues and accommodations. He supervises five chaplains and four chaplain assistants, along with 12 contractors. "Occasionally I conduct religious rites and worship services, but primarily I serve a leadership and administrative role," he said.

The most rewarding aspect of being a chaplain is "making a positive impact with marriages, families and individuals," Colonel Sutter said. "I enjoy having couples or individuals report back on how I was able to help them through a difficult time and that their marriage or life is back on track."

The chaplain was reared in a religious environment -- his 82-year-old father, Rev. Richard Sutter, is a retired Lutheran minister -- and was an adult when he made the commitment to be a pastor. "I discerned a call to ministry my junior year of college," he related. "I was drawn to a deeper discovery and articulation of my faith."

He became a chaplain candidate in the Air Force in 1989, was reappointed as a chaplain in the Air Force Reserve in 1994, and went on active duty in October 1995. Besides Tinker, Chaplain Sutter also has served at Whiteman AFB, Mo.; Dover AFB , Del.; the Pentagon; Incirlik AB, Turkey; MacDill AFB, Fla.; and Eielson AFB, Alaska.
Colonel Sutter grew up in Sandusky, Ohio. He was the youngest of five children; he has two brothers and two sisters, all of whom are active in their churches, the colonel said. His mother died almost two years ago.

He received a bachelor's degree from Wittenberg University in Ohio, where he majored in biology, and earned a Master of Divinity degree from Gettysburg Theological Seminary in Pennsylvania. He also has a certificate degree in Organizational Management from George Washington University, and a Master of Military Operational Arts and Science from Air University.