Injured McConnell EOD Airman returns home

Published July 6, 2011
By Senior Airman Abigail Klein
22nd Air Refueling Wing Public Affairs

MCCONNELL AIR FORCE BASE, Kan. -- With the outstretched arms of not only his wife and two children, but also of McConnell's Leadership and the community, an explosive ordnance disposal Airman returned home June 26.

Staff Sgt. Beau Chastain, 22nd Civil Engineer Squadron EOD specialist, returned to Wichita, Kan., from a Joint Force deployment to Camp Bastion, Afghanistan, after sustaining a gunshot wound to his left leg June 9, 2011. Sergeant Chastain's EOD unit was attacked while investigating a weapons cache in the Helmand Province.

As he arrived late in the night at Wichita Mid-Continent Airport, Sergeant Chastain was amazed by the sea of people, including members of the community, who welcomed him.

"It was really overwhelming to see everyone there, even though it was really late at night," Sergeant Chastain said.

The welcome was a vast departure from the combat region where he and his unit were attacked. The unit was given away by the very nature of its job, disabling bombs - the main method of attack by local terrorists.

"Our job is to head toward the bombs, and they knew we were there to disarm it," Sergeant Chastain said.

The EOD investigation triggered an attack that led to Sergeant Chastain's leg being hit with an AK-47 rifle round, the fragments of which injured a Royal Marine in his unit. The bullet entered and exited through Sergeant Chastain's leg, taking off a chunk of flesh, narrowly missing the bone, he said.

"It took me a minute to realize I had been shot," he said. "It felt like getting hit with a baseball bat."

As the bullets continued to rain down on the EOD unit, a tourniquet was placed on Sergeant Chastain's leg. When the medics arrived, they transported the wounded Airman back to Camp Bastion for surgery. While hospitalized, Sergeant Chastain was awarded the Purple Heart by Brig. Gen. Tod Wolters.

Upon hearing the news of her husband's condition, Sergeant Chastain's wife, Amanda, was relieved his injury wasn't worse.

"With his job, we fear IED's (improvised explosive device) and if you survive that, you're pretty messed up," she said. "I knew he would be okay in time so I was relieved."

This was Sergeant Chastain's fourth deployment to Afghanistan. Despite the injury, Sergeant Chastain will continue to fulfill his duties as one of the fewer than 1,000 members of the Air Force EOD. This means he will also be eligible to deploy again within a few months.

Though the idea of deploying isn't something he is anxious to undertake again, Sergeant Chastain is more than willing to do his part as an Airman.

"This is what I signed up for," he said. "I will go wherever they tell me to go."

As for his newfound hero status, Sergeant Chastain is quick to correct those who believe he's a hero.

"I don't consider myself a hero; the only heroes are the ones that don't get to come home," Sergeant Chastain said.