New job, new colors for new chaplain

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Connor Burkhard
  • 931st ARG Public Affairs
MCCONNELL AIR FORCE BASE, Kan. --  After five years of playing trumpet for the 62nd Army Band, Keith Saare decided it was time for a change.

So he traded in his trumpet for a Bible and asked to go from Army green to Air Force blue.

"The Air Force has a reputation all across the different services as being the most professional and treating families the best," Chaplain (1st Lt.) Keith Saare, the 931st Air Refueling Group's newest chaplain, said. "As a trumpet player, I did a lot of performances for the Air Force and I was always impressed by the people."

As a traditional reservist, Chaplain Saare keeps busy between Unit Training Assemblies as the director of education at Vatterott College in Wichita, Kan.

In his spare time, he helps run a community book club named the Classical Liberal Arts Society. Of late, he's been working toward making the club a non-profit corporation.

"We study the great books and themes of literature," Chaplain Saare said. "We are trying to get more people involved and we will be reaching out to the McConnell community as we grow."

Chaplain Saare's other interests includes running, hiking and traveling with his wife.

"Most recently, we traveled to Israel for a three-week study trip," he said. "It was very intense."

Like all of his 931st predecessors, Chaplain Saare joins the Group chaplain office with a protestant background. He's excited to be here, he said, and looks forward to meeting his new 931st family members. 


Chaplain (1st Lt.) Keith Saare in the Spirit Spotlight

Hometown: Oxnard, Calif. 

Education: BA in Christian Studies from Howard University
                     Master of Divinity from The Master's Seminary 

What I'm reading now: The Frogs by Aristophanes 

Favorite Movie: The Quiet Man with John Wayne 

What I'm listening to now: Sergio Mendes, Latin Jazz 

Favorite Sport: Hiking 

Favorite way to relax: Attend a weekly Great Books seminar on Saturdays (which everyone is invited to attend, ask me for details) 

Easiest way to annoy me: Hide my Latin grammar book 

Most influential person in my life: My wife, Amber. She has been a wonderful companion for the last eight years and she's a great mommy to my son. 

If I won $1 million, I would: Establish a new liberal arts college devoted to classical education.