The value of freedom, from a local Catholic military chaplain

By Mary Lim 

Father Mike Martinez, a recently retired Military Chaplain for the Arizona Air National Guard, says this of the importance of the freedom which we remember on Independence Day: “Without freedom we are not a country. It comes with a price. Freedom is not free – it is only free because brave people have died for it. It’s come with a price.”  

Fr. Martinez was ordained to the priesthood in June of 1989. For the first ten years of his priestly career, Fr. Martinez served at a parish. He joined the United States Air Force in 1999, served mostly at the base chapel on the 162nd Wing in the Arizona Air National Guard for 21 years, and then retired from the military in June 2020 with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. Today he serves at the parish level again as the pastor of Our Lady of the Mountains Catholic Parish in Sierra Vista. 

He says that our freedom – freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom of the press, freedom to a good education... this is what makes us a country. But like our freedom from sin and the death that results from it, we neither earned it, nor do we deserve it. It has a price, and those of us who enjoy it did not know its cost. His extensive work as a chaplain with the men and women who were prepared to make that sacrifice every day gives him a unique knowledge and appreciation of the cost of freedom. 

Journey to the priesthood 

Though Fr. Martinez comes from a long family line of military heroes, he says that he never dreamed that his calling was to serve as a priest in the military. Like many young children, as a boy he would say that he wanted to be either a cop or go into the military when he grew up. He didn’t know then how much the Holy Spirit informed his boyhood desires.  

A “cradle Catholic”, Fr. Martinez was confirmed on the same day he was baptized as a baby. Because of this, he didn’t need to attend Religious Education classes, and the bulk of his formation came from weekly Sunday sermons at his church. As he and his peers were preparing for their senior year of high school and their anticipated graduation, young Martinez’s friends asked him whether he planned to attend their baccalaureate Mass (a special Mass offered to honor new graduates). He could only do so if he was a part of the parish youth group. For this purpose, he began attending his parish youth group, and it was there that the first seeds of his vocation were planted.  

Fr. Martinez said that his discernment journey “was a process”. As he grew in his faith and relationship with God while attending youth group, he started asking God what He wanted him to do. His understanding of vocations developed and his personal love for the Lord blossomed during his senior year of high school, and he kept asking God, “What do you want me to do?” 

The following April, Martinez decided to see what the priesthood was like. At the age of 17, he applied to become a seminarian. He continued to discern, and semester after semester, his discernment brought him back to the seminary. Fr. Martinez said that “the feelings, thoughts, and decision [to become a priest] grew stronger each semester.” 

Military service as a chaplain 

How did Fr. Martinez come to join the military and serve as a military chaplain? He was assigned as a priest at St. Ambrose in Tucson when one day, a man who was a lector and a Eucharistic Minister at the parish approached him after Mass. This parishioner also happened to be in the 162nd Wing Arizona Air National Guard, and he explained to Fr. Martinez that their chaplain on base was going full active duty, leaving him and his fellow Catholics on the base without a minister. “Will you fill in until they can hire another chaplain?” was the simple question posed to Fr. Martinez. 

Fr. Martinez “filled in” on the base for three years until finally, Bishop Manuel Moreno let him join the Arizona Air National Guard, which is a reserve component of the Air Force.  

He was considered “deployed in place” and mostly completed his service in the military at the United States Air Force Base in Tucson. Twice he was deployed overseas: in 2002 to Saudi Arabia, and in 2005 to Qatar, from where he volunteered to be sent to Iraq four times to minister to and retrieve the wounded in aero-medivac missions.  

He says that his time in Iraq was the only time in his military career that he was in danger. Fr. Martinez says that those four trips were the highlight and most difficult part of his ministry in the military. He says that being there for people who received news that someone they knew and loved died and helping people who were considering suicide were the other two most difficult parts of his job as a military chaplain.  

While overseas and when he was deployed in place in Tucson, Fr. Martinez says that suicide prevention was probably the biggest obstacle that military chaplains were called on to help people through. 

As an active-duty military personnel, Fr. Martinez did all the same training as everyone else who serves in the military. His additional duties as a chaplain included ministering to the entire base, being a chaplain for everyone, regardless of religious affiliation, and supporting people in their struggles and spiritual needs. He and the other chaplains on their team did this through a “ministry of presence”; 80% of their time was dedicated to visiting each section of the base, and the other 20% of their time was spent in appointments with people who called and requested to talk to a minister. Through his work, he was a “visible reminder of the holy”. 

In the last three years of his military service, he was also the State Chaplain, meaning that he oversaw all the chaplains and the chaplain assistants. In this role, he was a “mentor and a subject matter expert”, as well as an advisor to the two-star general of the state. 

On living the faith this Fourth of July and always 

Fr. Martinez was proud to reiterate the three core values of the United States Military: integrity first, service before self, and excellence in all you do. He says that while these values were formulated outside of a religious lens, it is very easy to weld them into the way of living the Catholic faith. 

Reflecting on his time in the military and on his priestly duties at the parish, Fr. Martinez says that, though it is often difficult to see people through the most difficult times of their lives, it is also the most fulfilling to “be able to help them have a better life and relationship with God.” 

To any other young priest who may be considering ministering as a military chaplain, Fr. Martinez gives this advice: “Your main job is to bring Christ to others. Be outgoing. Go out to where the people are at, because that is where you are needed. Put others first and you are the right person for the job.” 

Fr. Martinez’s Fourth of July message to our community is this: “We have freedom so that sin does not dominate our lives, and the price of that freedom is the cross. It is the same on the secular side. Freedom has a price, people died for it. Respect needs to be given to those who have made that sacrifice, just as respect is due to Jesus for the sacrifice that He made for our freedom from sin.” 

And, “Pray for all priests and bishops, and all those who serve in leadership positions. There are many obstacles that come our way.”  
 

For more information about vocations in the Diocese of Tucson, or if you think you may have a calling to the priesthood, visit the Diocese of Tucson Vocations webpage.