Fr John in his Air Force Service Dress Uniform in Nov 2023
Fr. John Reutemann is an active duty chaplain in the United States Air Force, currently serving on the faculty of the Air Force Chaplain Corps College, Air University. He was ordained to the Priesthood of Jesus Christ for the Archdiocese of Washington, DC, on June 19, 2010, and then served for three years as the Associate Pastor of Sacred Heart Catholic Church in La Plata, MD. He received permission to go active duty in November 2013, being assigned to the 341st Missile Wing, Malmstrom AFB, Great Falls, MT, where he served as the pastor of the Catholic parish on base and as the chaplain to the 341st Security Forces Group. During that assignment, he was deployed to Southwest Asia in support of Operation Inherent Resolve from July 2015 to January 2016, celebrating the sacraments at 7 bases throughout 2 countries, while serving as chaplain to the 386th Expeditionary Operations Group, the 386th Expeditionary Maintenance Group, the 1st Expeditionary Rescue Group, and the 27th Expeditionary Special Operations Group.
Fr. John’s other active duty Air Force assignments include serving as a Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) resident at Brooke Army Military Medical Center, Joint Base San Antonio, TX, from June 2017 to June 2018; as Catholic chaplain of the 81st Training Wing, Keesler AFB, Biloxi, MS, from June 2018 to August 2020; and as the embedded “True North” chaplain of the 673d Mission Support Group, Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Anchorage, AK, from August 2020 to June 2022. He was deployed again to Southwest Asia from July 2021 to January 2022, this time serving as the chaplain to the 385th Air Expeditionary Group and the 816th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron, ministering to aircrews and evacuees alike during the exfiltration of Afghanistan in August 2021.
Fr. John grew up in the suburbs of Washington, DC, and went into the seminary right after graduating Wootton High School in 2002. He finished college seminary in 2006, graduating from Fordham University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Philosophy and Theology, and a concentration in American Catholic History. He did his major seminary at Mount St. Mary’s University, graduating in 2010 with a Master of Divinity degree (magna cum laude) and an ecclesiastical Bachelor of Sacred Theology degree (cum laude).
The Elevation of the Chalice at Fr. John’s First Mass on Sunday, 20 June 2010
While in seminary, Fr. John was blessed to be able to go on mission trips to Thailand, Ecuador, Argentina, and the Navajo Reservation, and since ordination, he has led mission trips to Argentina and Iceland. He has also participated in the World Youth Day pilgrimages in 2005 (Köln, Germany) and 2008 (Sydney, Australia), and as a priest in 2011 (Madrid, Spain), 2013 (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil), and 2016 (Kraków, Poland). He was privileged to be able to concelebrate the closing Mass of each pilgrimage with the pope (Benedict XVI in 2011, and Francis in 2013 & 2016).
Fr. John really enjoys studying foreign languages. He’s fluent in Spanish and French, can say Mass in a few other languages as well, and taught Latin for two years at Archbishop Neale School in La Plata, MD. He loves studying the works of C. S. Lewis and Eastern Christian liturgical traditions. To that last point, Fr. John possesses faculties to celebrate the Byzantine Rite from the Ruthenian Catholic Eparchy of Phoenix and the Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of Chicago. He is currently working on converting his doctoral dissertation into a book on the sacrament of Confirmation.
Fr. John is also active with the Civil Air Patrol, the United States Air Force Auxiliary, as he has been ever since joining as a cadet when he was in 7th grade. He has earned both the General Carl A. Spaatz Award (July 2002) and the Gill Robb Wilson Award (June 2015). He was the founding Commander of the Charles Composite Squadron (MAR-MD-019) in Charles County, MD, and later served as Rocky Mountain Region’s Deputy Chief of Staff for Cadet Programs.
The entire Reutefam (including all 9 Reutegrandkids!) in September 2022
Fr. John is very proud of his family: his father, John F. Reutemann Jr. (Jack), CEO & Founder of Research Financial Strategies; his mother, Antoinette (Toni), a former Special Education teacher, his four sisters, Dr. Kathryn (Katie) Reutemann, Mrs. Colleen Harbison, Dr. Patricia (Patty) Lucey, and Mrs. Annaliese (Anna) Salb, and his three brothers-in-law, Reilly Harbison, Jay Lucey, Ben Salb. Major highlights of Fr. John’s life include presiding over the weddings of three of his sisters and baptizing his nieces and nephews.
Fr. John can be reached at father@reutepriest.com