Helicopter pilot from Burlington receives warm greeting upon return from Afghanistan
By Ed Nadolski
Editor in Chief
Ever since he was a young boy, Ryan Calkins said, he knew he wanted to be a helicopter pilot and serve his country in the military.
And while military service is fraught with danger and uncertainty, the work it entails often pales when compared to the challenges of being separated from a wife and three young children for nine months, Calkins, of Burlington, concedes.
“When I left, my youngest (son, Nolan) was 5 months old and he wasn’t crawling or talking or doing any of that stuff,” Calkins said. “And my middle daughter (Abbie, 4) has developed an attitude – and I’m not used to that.”
But Calkins – that is, Warrant Officer 2nd Class Ryan Calkins – is relishing the opportunity resume his primary mission: that of a father and husband.
Calkins, who has been deployed to Afghanistan since last winter, returned to the warm embrace of his family and friends on an unusually cold Nov. 8. His welcoming party – which camped out on the lawn of Calkin’s Kane Street home – included his father and stepmother and three members of the City of Burlington Fire Department and Rescue Squad, including Mayor Jeannie Hefty.
“It was awesome,” he said of the homecoming he received – both at Mitchell International Airport in Milwaukee and in his hometown.
The fire department planned to have a much greater presence, but was summoned to a report of smoke in a home just as Calkins, who is also a volunteer firefighter, was scheduled to arrive.
For Calkins, the temperature in the high-30s was a bit of a shock. He was used to temperatures topping out at 120 degrees in Afghanistan and even got sunburned a few days earlier sitting poolside at Fort Hood, Texas, where he landed for debriefing before returning to Wisconsin.
Medevac operations
Calkins was one of 35 soldiers from the West Bend-based Company C, 1st Battalion, 168th Aviation detachment of the Army National Guard serving in Afghanistan. The detachment consisted of six aircraft, pilots, crew chiefs, medics and support personnel, according to the Wisconsin Department of Military Affairs.
The group performed medical evacuations in support of Operation Freedom’s Sentinel in southern Afghanistan, Calkins said.
During the deployment the detachment flew 41 medevac missions involving 57 patients and three Afghan fatalities, and also flew 31 expeditionary advising package support missions, according to the state Department of Military Affairs.
“In broad terms we’d go out several times a week,” Calkins said.
Missions ran the gamut from routine medical transfers to airlifting soldiers wounded in combat.
Calkins said his job as a Blackhawk helicopter pilot requires laser focus and insulates him from the more gruesome sights of war.
“That part of it is not so difficult for the pilots because we don’t see what’s going on in the back (of the helicopter),” he said.
To read the full story, see the Nov. 16 edition of the Burlington Standard Press. To subscribe to weekly delivery click here: Subscribe.
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