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Soldier for Christ: Fr. Michael Dandurand finds a calling in the priesthood and Air National Guard

BY ANNIE LUST

This summer, you will find Fr. Michael Dandurand celebrating Mass at his parish, Holy Trinity in Assumption on most weekends. If you visited the parish last summer, however, Fr. Dandurand was nowhere in sight. His parishioners received periodic updates sent from the other side of the world while Fr. Dandurand was serving a different flock. He was on his first combat deployment for the United States Air Force.

If you had told Michael Dandurand when he was a high school student in Tiffin, Ohio, that he would be deployed with the 180th Fighter Wing of the Air National Guard, he may not have been surprised. He felt an early call to serve – “I wanted to be a part of something bigger than myself,” Fr. Dandurand said. He was uncertain whether his service would be in the military or in the priesthood. “I had always had an interest in military service,” Fr. Dandurand explained. He considered enlisting in the Air Force in high school and even applied to military schools. His military plans were waylaid during his senior year when he felt a strong call to enter the seminary. “I thought my military career was not going to happen. I would be a soldier for the Lord.”

After graduating from seminary in 1997, that is precisely what Fr. Dandurand did. His first ten years were a whirlwind, serving in five different places: St. Charles Parish in Lima, Calvert High School in Tiffin, St. Rose Parish in Perrysburg, St. Joseph Parish in Maumee, and finally St. Thomas More University Parish in Bowling Green. In Bowling Green, Fr. Dandurand took on the role of Pastor for the first time. In addition, he served as the Chaplain for the Bowling Green State University Football Team.

Working together as a team, Ch Dandurand and two Religious Affairs Airmen prepare for the Sunday Mass at the 180th.

PHOTO BY SCOTT W GRAU/SPECIAL TO THE DIOCESE OF TOLEDO

Unbeknownst to Fr. Dandurand, the Ohio Air National Guard was reaching out to Catholic Bishops in Ohio. There was a tremendous need for Catholic chaplains to serve our servicemen and women. Archbishop Leonard P. Blair, then Bishop of the Diocese of Toledo, met with the Ohio Air National Guard and agreed to release a priest to serve in the military. In 2013, Fr. Dandurand received an email from Bishop Blair asking if he was open to becoming an Air National Guard Chaplain. That same year, Fr. Dandurand was transferred to his current parish, which is located just twelve miles from the 180th Fighter Wing of the Ohio Air National Guard. With the pieces falling into place, Fr. Dandurand was commissioned as an Air National Guard Chaplain in 2014.

In addition to his new duties at Holy Trinity Parish, Fr. Dandurand began to spend one weekend each month training at the Ohio National Guard base. That training included military procedures and response protocols that every airmen learns, but there is also training specific to chaplaincy. Another important part of his weekends at the base is “to be a Catholic presence, to be a presence of God on the base,” Fr. Dandurand shares, which included celebrating Mass, counseling and checking in with the airmen and leadership to be sure that their spiritual needs are being met.

After six years serving as a chaplain, in March 2020 Fr. Dandurand was called for his first overseas deployment. The largest US military base in Afghanistan – the Bagram Airfield – needed a Catholic chaplain. Fr. Dandurand was deployed. Life became immediately different from his normal routine in Assumption, Ohio. Like all airmen, Fr. Dandurand lived on the base, slept in barracks, and ate in the mess hall. “[Bagram was] very dry and arid, surrounded by beautiful mountains,” Fr. Dandurand said. Because Bagram Airfield is in a combat zone, the airmen cannot leave the base. On base, “you have a singular focus. Your world gets pretty small,” Fr. Dandurand explained. Without family, hobbies, or other distractions, each airman is focused on his/her own mission. For Fr. Dandurand, who holds the rank of Major but is referred to as “Chaplain,” the mission was the spiritual and mental needs of the airmen. Mass is, of course, an integral part of the spiritual needs for the Catholic airmen. Fr. Dandurand was responsible for the needs of Catholics and non-Catholics alike: “Chaplains are appointed by the Department of Defense to serve not only a particular religious denomination but to serve all military personnel. And that’s what makes it such dynamic, interesting work.”

Ch. Dandurand confers with airmen at the 180th Fighter Wing in Swanton.

PHOTO BY SCOTT W GRAU/SPECIAL TO THE DIOCESE OF TOLEDO

In August 2020, there was a need for a Catholic chaplain at the Ali Al Salem Air Base in Kuwait and Fr. Dandurand was sent there. Unlike Afghanistan, Kuwait was a desert. The heat – up to 120 degrees – was extreme. Beyond the conditions, there was so much to learn in a short time when arriving at a new base. “It was one of the hardest things. You have to really learn on your feet,” Fr. Dandurand said. The reward was rich though. “Just knowing that you fulfilled a real need that helps someone get to a better place and that you were there for them.” One memorable experience was a soldier who was briefly in Kuwait and immediately looked for a priest to offer Reconciliation, because he knew there may not be a Catholic priest at his next location. Another was a helicopter ride to Kabul where Fr. Dandurand celebrated Mass for airmen who had not had access to Mass for months.

Fr. Dandurand arrived back at Holy Trinity Parish in November 2020. Embracing ministerial priesthood in a parish and in the military is an incredible commitment. Fr. Dandurand credits his ability to juggle both to his parish: “You balance it by having an extraordinary, supportive family community,” Fr. Dandurand said. He’s found that support at Holy Trinity Parish. “I come back, hopefully a better chaplain and a better priest than when I left, and that is the result of God’s grace and many prayers.” 