New Catholic chaplain assigned to HAFB

Friday, Sep. 05, 2025

OGDEN — For many years, Father Cory Sticha felt a calling to the military chaplaincy, a dream he was only recently able to realize. Since March, Fr. Sticha has been serving at Hill Air Force Base alongside Father David McGuire, who is the 75th Air Base Wing chaplain. They serve about 27,000 active duty members, civilian employees and contractor personnel.

Fr. Sticha’s path to the priesthood was shaped by his own military experience. Growing up in eastern Montana, he enlisted in the Air Force for four years after high school. While he initially planned a career in the computer field after his discharge, he said, “God laughed.” 

He began considering the priesthood after getting to know a couple of Catholic chaplains in the Air Force, the first priests he truly knew. “Through interaction with them, the idea of the vocation really started to grow,” he said.

Fr. Sticha spent the next eight years in seminary, earning a bachelor’s degree in philosophy from Mount Angel in Oregon and a master’s in theology studies from Mundelein in Chicago. He was ordained in 2008 by Bishop Michael Warfel in St. Patrick’s Co-Cathedral in Billings, Mont.

For 16 years, Fr. Sticha served in the Diocese of Great Falls-Billings, first as an associate pastor and then as a pastor at several parishes. He made many requests to become a military chaplain, but his requests were repeatedly turned down by Bishop Warfel due to a shortage of priests in the diocese. His wish was finally granted when Bishop Warfel retired and the new bishop, the Most Rev. Jeffrey M. Fleming, assented. 

“This is something I felt called to for a very long time” because of his firsthand experience, Fr. Sticha said.

“Having been in the military, having seen the need for chaplains and what chaplains do, at least a little taste of it, of what they do,” he explained. 

Bishop Fleming once asked him if this new role would make him feel “happy and fulfilled” in his ministry, he recalled. “At the time, I said, ‘I believe so,’” Fr. Sticha said. “Now, next time I talk to him, I’m going to tell him, ‘Now I know. Yes, it absolutely does.’”

Fr. Sticha has been a chaplain and back in the Air Force since January, after completing two months of officer training school in Montgomery, Ala., where he achieved the rank of captain.

On base, Fr. Sticha works closely with Fr. McGuire. “By me being here, he can focus a lot more” on his responsibilities to the wing commander, Fr. Sticha said. He called Fr. McGuire an “excellent mentor” who helps him understand how the roles of priest and chaplain “play together.”

Having two Catholic chaplains at Hill Air Force Base is “unheard of,” according to Father Ken Vialpando, the diocesan vicar for clergy. “I don’t remember there ever being two priests up there at once, which means that the small congregation they have gets a bonus,” he said.

Fr. Sticha’s duties are divided between Catholic ministry and general chaplain services. The Catholic ministry includes celebrating Mass and the sacraments at the Christ Prince of Peace Chapel on base, coordinating religious education and counseling parishioners. His other chaplain duties involve ministering to different units on base. 

“So if they need a chaplain to come in to talk to them about a deployment that’s coming up or something that’s going on in the unit,” he said. The chaplains also organize special events, like an upcoming military family trip to a Real Salt Lake soccer game in Sandy.

“We’ve got a very active Catholic community here,” Fr. Sticha said. “The parish is similar to some of the small parishes I was in in Montana, but there is so much more going on; it’s so much more active, so many more people involved. It’s really energizing to see this parish community and how much energy there is here.”

Due to the demands of his chaplaincy, Fr. Sticha has limited interaction with priests from the Diocese of Salt Lake City, but he and Fr. McGuire were able to join a one-day retreat with the northern deanery priests during Lent.

 An outdoorsman, Fr. Sticha hopes to explore Utah’s mountains in his spare time.