Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan - Capt. Matt Foley hasn't presided over any weddings or christenings since he arrived here in April - not much call for those services in a war zone.

But the Army chaplain and Catholic priest who spent much of his childhood in Wauwatosa stays very busy ministering to nine companies in the 82nd Airborne Divisional Special Troops Battalion, delivering care packages, checking on soldiers' welfare, presiding over Catholic Masses as well as handling any calls for a priest.

And like all military chaplains, he cares for all service members regardless of their religion.

His job is very rewarding though he says the toughest part is getting to know people and sharing in sacred moments with them such as funerals and prayers and then seeing them leave when their unit returns home.

"You'd be amazed how much support we get here," said Foley, 47. "It's been eight years (since the war began in Afghanistan) and people are still sending packages which is very gracious."

Foley's journey to Afghanistan was circuitous, starting with his decision to become a priest. While attending Marquette University in the early '80s, Foley had a nice girlfriend and was majoring in political science with an eye toward law school. But he felt himself drawn to the priesthood and left Marquette in 1983, enrolling at St. Mary of the Lake Seminary in Chicago, where his morals and canon law classes were taught by Milwaukee's new archbishop Jerome Listecki.

Foley keeps tabs on news from Wisconsin via the Internet in Afghanistan and was happy to learn Listecki was named to head the Milwaukee archdiocese.

"He was very personable, very gracious, very challenging to students," Foley recalled. "I think he'll be good for Milwaukee."

He was ordained in 1989 and spent five years at a parish on Chicago's west side and then six years in Mexico. He returned to the west side of Chicago in 2000 where, in 2006, he presided over the funeral of Pfc. Daniel Zizumbo, a soldier killed by a makeshift bomb in Afghanistan whose parents were Foley's parishioners.

Zizumbo's death was motivational for Foley, whose brother and college roommate served in the Army and whose uncle was an Army chaplain in Vietnam. On the second anniversary of Zizumbo's death, Feb. 27, 2008, Foley was sworn in as an Army officer by his brother Michael, a lieutenant colonel.

"I'm a Catholic priest and I know there's a shortage of Catholic priests in the Army. I thought it was my time to serve," Foley said in his office at Enduring Faith Chapel at this large air base north of Kabul.

If Foley's name sounds familiar to Saturday Night Live fans, it's because Chris Farley named his motivational speaker character after Foley. The two became friends while rugby players at Marquette and when Farley created the loud, brash character at Second City he would use the name of an audience member. When Foley went to see Farley at Second City, the comedian promised he would always use his friend's name, which he did when he brought the character to Saturday Night Live.

When Farley died in 1997, Foley flew up from Mexico to preside over his funeral and has since officiated at the weddings of two of Farley's siblings.

Foley is one of 14 Catholic priests serving in Afghanistan and spends much of his time traveling around the country to visit soldiers at forward operating bases and smaller combat outposts. He also handles nine Masses on weekends including a Mass in Spanish.

"You have to remember it may be your fourth or fifth Mass of the day but to them it's their first Mass, and to some out in the field it may be their first Mass in four or five weeks. For some it may be their last Mass," Foley said.

Among Foley's duties is visiting patients and staff at the hospital at Bagram as well as mortuary affairs. He frequently is called at all hours to go to the hospital to comfort a wounded soldier from his battalion or a service member who is Catholic; he performs the Catholic ritual of anointing of the sick as well as comforts the fallen soldier's buddies.

"It's very somber, very respectful - there's a love for that fallen comrade," said Foley, adding that he's inspired by the attitude of wounded troops.

"You'd be so impressed with the soldiers. When they come in (to the hospital), their first question is, 'How are my battle buddies?' And the second question is, 'When can I get back out there?' It's a pretty inspiring place to be."

On Wednesday afternoon, Foley stopped at a tiny shed that serves as a post office and learned there were 20 packages for soldiers in his unit. He decided to come back later with a vehicle to haul them.

Then he headed over to the motor pool and visited with 82nd Airborne troops including Spec. Janet Culshaw, a radio operator from Menasha. Even though Culshaw is a Wisconsinite she's a Chicago Bears fan, and Foley joked that although he's prohibited as a military chaplain from proselytizing, he spreads the gospel of the Green Bay Packers.

"He's a good guy, he comes on missions all the time," Culshaw said.

First Sgt. Shawn Roberts of Norwalk, Conn., is sometimes too busy to go to church services so "it's always good to see a chaplain. He's pretty personable and makes the rounds around the battalion."

At the hospital, Foley walks the halls stopping in to see medical staff members he's gotten to know including Sgt. Timothy Kusik, a Bay View High School grad who is stationed at Bagram with a group from the 452nd Combat Support Hospital, headquartered in Milwaukee.

Kusik attends Mass led by Foley at the hospital and learned at a prayer breakfast that the priest was from Milwaukee.

"He watches the Packers while running on a treadmill, he runs the whole game," said an amazed Kusik.

Foley interjected that he only runs the first two quarters and then lifts weights in the second half.

Foley has traveled off base, what's called "outside the wire," to visit troops 40 times since he arrived at Bagram. He's usually gone several days and always takes his Mass kit, a soft-sided cooler-shaped Army green bag his uncle Jerome Taddy used on two tours of Vietnam as an Army chaplain.

The kit includes wine, holy oil, a cross, a container of hosts, Sunday missal, monthly missals, prayer books and his white stole and alb made from camouflage material. Sometimes when it's too dangerous in the field, he won't wear the white stole and will perform services wearing the camo alb around his neck.

When he returns from the mission that began Thursday, Foley will organize Christmas celebrations and other services for his solders who will spend the holidays, like their chaplain, far away from home.