After ordination , Zielinski served as the parochial vicar at Immaculate Conception parish in Traverse City from 1996 to 1998 . He then served as the pastor of St. Philip Neri parish in Empire and St. Rita-St . Joseph parish in Maple City . Zielinski was elected to the Presbyteral Council in 1999 . Beginning in 2000 , he also served as the pastor for administrative affairs of the Diocesan Mission to Hispanics . After the terrorist attacks of September 11 , 2001 , Bishop Cooney released Zielinski from the diocese to serve in the Archdiocese for the Military Services as an Air Force chaplain . He served as a chaplain at the Grand Forks Air Force Base in Grand Forks , North Dakota , from 2002 to 2003 and at RAF Mildenhall in Suffolk , England , from 2003 to 2005 . He was next assigned to HQ Air Force Recruiting Service at Randolph Air Force Base in Schertz , Texas , followed by Cadet Chaplain at the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs , Colorado , from 2009 to 2012 . From 2012 to 2014 he served as chaplain at Eielson Air Force Base in Fairbanks , Alaska
terrorist attacks
September 11 attacks
Chad Zielinski