About Chapel of the Wings · Laughlin Air Force Base, Texas
The Chapel of the Wings is the Roman Catholic parish serving Laughlin Air Force Base, located about seven miles east of Del Rio, Texas, in Val Verde County. Operated under the Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA, it ministers to the Air Force pilots, instructors, students, and families of the 47th Flying Training Wing. Housed in a single-story base chapel at 583 Fifth Street (Building 359), the parish offers daily and Sunday Masses, religious education, Vacation Bible School, and sacramental preparation for the Team XL community.
- Diocese
- Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA
Why belong here
The Chapel of the Wings is the parish home for the Catholic community of the 47th Flying Training Wing — the undergraduate pilot training wing that has produced more than 15,000 Air Force, Reserve, Guard, and allied aviators since 1972. Worshippers come for Sunday Mass at 9:30 a.m. in the Main Sanctuary, weekday noon Masses in the Blessed Sacrament Chapel, Saturday Vigil Mass, and a full sacramental and faith-formation program (CCD, youth groups, Vacation Bible School) shaped around the demands of a flying training base. The community is small, tight-knit, and explicitly interfaith — its chaplains partner with Protestant, Muslim, Jewish, and now U.S. Border Patrol chaplains to care for service members and their families, and the 1973 Vietnam-era stained-glass memorial window gives the sanctuary a distinctly military and devotional character found at almost no other parish.
Mass times at Chapel of the Wings
Weekly Mass schedule
History of the Chapel of the Wings
The Chapel of the Wings serves the 47th Flying Training Wing at Laughlin Air Force Base, a pilot training installation established in 1942, deactivated in 1945, and reactivated on 1 May 1952. The chapel itself sits inside a single-story military chapel building (Building 359, 583 Fifth Street) that follows a standard Air Force plan — a plan also used at the now-closed Laredo Air Force Base. The most defining moment in the chapel's known history came at the end of 1973, when its sister chapel at Laredo was deactivated and its stained-glass memorial window was transferred to Laughlin, where it has remained as the parish's signature feature.
- 1942 — Laughlin Army Air Field established 2 July 1942
- 1945 — Base inactivated 30 September 1945
- 1952 — Reactivated as Laughlin Air Force Base on 1 May 1952; named for 1st Lt. Jack Thomas Laughlin (1914–1942)
- 1961 — 3645th Pilot Training Wing (later 3646th) activated to begin T-37/T-33 student training
- 1972 — Wing reorganized as 47th Flying Training Wing on 1 September 1972
- 1973 — Laredo AFB deactivated; Vietnam-era memorial stained-glass window transferred to Laughlin at end of 1973
- 2014 — Father Tom Edelen arrives as full-time priest after 11-month vacancy
- 2020 — Chapel staff partners with U.S. Border Patrol chaplains for joint resiliency training
The Memorial Stained-Glass Window
The most prominent sacred object in the sanctuary is the chapel's memorial stained-glass window, a multi-panel composition made of hundreds of pieces of colored glass. The window depicts the missing-man formation — the flyover salute performed at funerals and memorial events for fallen pilots — and was designed in the immediate aftermath of the U.S. withdrawal from Vietnam. It honors the 22 Laughlin instructor pilots who lost their lives during that war and, more broadly, all Air Force aviators who have given their lives in training or combat.
- Originally designed and installed in the chapel at Laredo Air Force Base, Texas
- Laredo AFB and its chapel were closed in September 1973 after the base was declared 'excess' under President Richard Nixon
- Transferred to Laughlin at the end of 1973 because the Laredo and Laughlin chapels shared an identical design
- Ray of light from top to bottom represents God's concern for all mankind
- Vapor trails represent hope reaching out to prisoners of war and those missing in action
- Tribute to all wing pilot training personnel lost in combat or aerial flight accidents
Faith Formation and Religious Education
When Father Tom Edelen arrived in 2014 after an 11-month vacancy, restoring a robust Catholic program was an explicit priority of the chapel staff. Today the parish offers CCD (Confraternity of Christian Doctrine) religious education for children on Sundays at 11:00 a.m., youth groups, Vacation Bible School, and sacramental preparation in cooperation with the Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA. The wing chapel team has held Vacation Bible School programs (e.g. 8–12 July 2019) focused on team-building, resiliency, fun, and faith formation for military children.
- CCD / Sunday school — Sundays at 11:00 a.m.
- Youth groups
- Vacation Bible School (annual)
- Sunday school programs
- Sacramental preparation for Catholic children of military families
Chaplaincy Team and Clergy
The chapel is staffed jointly by Air Force chaplains of the 47th Flying Training Wing and by a Catholic priest assigned under the Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA. Recent chaplains include Chaplain (Maj.) Dwayne Keener (2014), retired Chaplain (Lt. Col.) Eric Renne (who helped preserve the history of the memorial window), Chaplain (Lt. Col.) Gregory Brunson (2020), and Chaplain (Maj.) Andrew McIntosh. The Catholic priest assigned since 2014 has been Father Tom Edelen, who volunteered to relocate to Laughlin after the parish had been without a full-time priest for 11 months.
- Father Tom Edelen — Catholic priest, arrived 2014, previously served in Paris, Clarksville, Longview, Marshall, and Trinity, Texas
- Chaplain (Maj.) Dwayne Keener — 47th FTW chaplain, 2014
- Chaplain (Lt. Col.) Eric Renne — retired former 47th FTW chaplain
- Chaplain (Lt. Col.) Gregory Brunson — 47th FTW chaplain, 2020
- Chaplain (Maj.) Andrew McIntosh — 47th FTW chaplain
Outreach and Community Partnerships
The Chapel of the Wings participates in a wider web of pastoral and resiliency ministry on and off the installation. In addition to ecumenical and interfaith services offered under the same roof (Protestant, Muslim, Jewish, and others), the chapel staff has built working relationships with civilian chaplaincies in the Del Rio area. In January 2020, four U.S. Border Patrol chaplains from the Del Rio sector spent half a day with Laughlin's chapel staff, touring the base, experiencing pilot-training simulators, and conducting a roundtable on resiliency training for the roughly 5,000 Air Force and Border Patrol members in the region.
- Joint resiliency training with U.S. Border Patrol Del Rio Sector chaplains
- On-base Protestant worship service, Sunday 11:00 a.m.
- Faith-tradition services for Muslim and Jewish service members as scheduled
- Hospitality events such as Fair by the Chapel
Visiting Laughlin Air Force Base
Because the Chapel of the Wings is located on an active military installation, all visitors must comply with standard Air Force base access procedures. The base sits approximately seven miles east of Del Rio, Texas, roughly 140 miles west of San Antonio, and is home to the 47th Flying Training Wing, which has trained more than 15,000 Air Force, Reserve, Guard, and allied pilots since 1972. The chapel is open to authorized ID cardholders, retirees, and their guests; those without DoD credentials should coordinate entry through a military sponsor at the Visitor Center. The Chapel Office (Building 359, 583 Fifth Street) is open Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., at (830) 298-5111.
- Address: 583 5th Street, Building #359, Laughlin AFB, TX 78843
- Chapel Office hours: Mon–Fri 8:30 a.m.–4:30 p.m.
- Phone: (830) 298-5111
- Base access: standard DoD credential requirements apply
- Distance from Del Rio: ~7 miles east; ~140 miles west of San Antonio
Pastors & rectors through the years
- Father Tom Edelen2014–
Volunteered to move to Laughlin when the chapel had been without a full-time priest for 11 months; previously served parishes in Paris, Clarksville, Longview, Marshall, and Trinity, Texas; born in Japan to an Air Force family; attended Stephen F. Austin State University; re-established daily Mass and active religious education program.