Ten-hut! This Friar is Making his Mark on the Air Force Academy
SJB Communications Director Toni Cashnelli
visited Fr. Bob Bruno, OFM, at the Air Force Academy last summer.
The following is an adaptation of her report from
the SJB News Notes June 21, 2012.
Not once, not twice, but a half-dozen times during our visit, Fr. Bob Bruno says something like, “I love showing off the Academy.” And he means it.
Fr. Bob Bruno, OFM, at the Academy's Cadet Chapel, where there is worship space for Protestants, Jews, Catholics, and others.
There’s a lot to see in Colorado Springs, Colo., and nothing is bigger or more impressive – if you don’t count the Rocky Mountains – than the U.S. Air Force Academy, where Chaplain Colonel Robert Bruno, OFM, is the officer in charge of the Chaplain Corps. If this sounds impressive, that’s because it is. The next rung up the ladder of promotion is brigadier general. When cadets and officers pass Bob, their eyes fly to his lapel for the sign they’re seeking, an eagle patch that has them snapping to attention with a smartly executed salute and a deferential “Sir”. Entering a room of lesser ranking airmen, Bob may actually elicit a “Ten-hut!”
His career path is one that vocation directors point to with pride when they outline opportunities in ministry. In his previous job Fr. Bob was Chaplain to the Joint Chiefs of Staff at the Pentagon, routinely rubbing elbows with Washington’s elite.
St. John the Baptist Province supports his ministry, and he’s doing the kind of work he has always loved, offering support, guidance and faith formation. When most of us hear the word “military” we think, “monolithic establishment”. Bob thinks “young people”, in particular the 1,200 high school graduates who arrive on campus every June and, God willing, emerge four years later as second lieutenants in the U.S. Air Force.
The purpose of the Academy is “to educate, train, and inspire men and women to become officers of character, motivated to lead the United States Air Force in service to our nation.” It’s that part, the “officers of character”, that involves Fr. Bob and the Corps.
Staff Sgts. Max Guin, Cecilia Toomey, and Jonathan Velazquez
Fr. Bob’s staff is young, helpful, enthusiastic. And when the boss leaves the room, they’re happy to talk about him. “He’s very detail-oriented, which is awesome for the job he’s in,” says Sgt. Maxwell Guin, a five-year veteran at the Academy. “Chaplain Bruno is meticulous. The types of decisions he gets to make her, they’re huge.
“He has a command presence,” says Staff Sgt. Jonathan Velazquez, but also “that ability to be pastoral and reach people, talk to them.” In this driven, competitive, focused environment, it’s a commodity that is sometimes in short supply.
“He’s very good at clarifying our mission,” says Staff Sgt. Cecilia Toomey. “The thing I’ve really noticed is his passion for the Academy Cadet Chapel.” The symbol of the Academy, it’s also an emblem to ecumenicalism, housing Protestant, Catholic, Jewish, and Hindu places of worship under one roof. “He is responsible for the overall religious climate of the Academy,” says Lt. Col. Dan Brantingham, Fr. Bob’s deputy.
When first-year cadets arrive by the busload, Fr. Bob and his team of chaplains begin their annual “hand-holding” ministry, “getting them through the first two months” of basic training. “They come here with a lot of baggage,” says Bob. “Our job is to take that baggage and transform it into luggage for life. They come from big towns, small towns, wealthy families, poor families, the mainstream and minorities, Asian, Hispanic, African Americans, conservative and liberal backgrounds. The thing they have in common is that they’re American and want to serve their country.”
A worship space at the Cadet Chapel
Fr. Bob saves the best for last, a tour of the Cadet Academy, where Air Force retiree Mark Firks, formerly with the Academy Band, is the fast-talking, enthusiastic greeter. In the summer this focal point of the Academy landscape attracts thousands of visitors each day. The cavernous worship space is used primarily by Protestants (with special occasion exceptions). Downstairs are the Catholic chapel and worship space for Hindus and Jewish cadets. When Bob is asked, “How come the Catholics are in the basement?” he replies, “Because we’re the foundation.” The ecumenical outreach extends beyond the chapel. Bob was one of the architects of the Academy’s religious respect program, a response to interfaith friction in the past. Through scenario-based training, today’s students learn how to accommodate the preferences of their peers and how to protect themselves against unwanted proselytizing. By the time he leaves, Bob wants the entire Academy to understand inclusion.
Fr. Bob’s extraordinary career has taken him to bases throughout the United States, Europe and the Middle East. At Ramstein Air Base in Germany, he greeted wounded warriors as they were carried off airplanes. “I’m Fr. Robert Bruno,” he would say. “You’re out of danger. Welcome back to freedom.” At St. Peter’s Square, he once did a reading with Pope John Paul II in the audience. Last year Bob shook hands with Barack Obama when the President gave the commencement address at the Academy.
He knows he has been blessed. “I thank God every day.” But when his last extension of duty ends, he’ll be ready to move on.
He still sees himself as “this little kid who came from this little town in northeast Ohio. And look where I am now.” There’s no telling where he might go next. “When God closes one door, he opens another,” one that could lead almost anywhere.
But Bob is a Franciscan. With 15 moves in 32 years, he’s got the itinerancy thing down pat.
Photographs by Toni Cashnelli
Fr. Bob in the Catholic chapel where he celebrates Mass.
Posted in: Missions, Prayer, Saint Anthony, Vocations
