3 years after losing leg, airman deploys

[unhappycamper]

3 years after losing leg, airman deploys
Staff report
Posted : Wednesday Dec 31, 2008 20:01:14 EST

Three years after losing his lower left leg in an Afghanistan land mine explosion, Tech. Sgt. Christopher Ramakka is deployed again.

“I’ve been trying to get to where the Air Force would deploy me ever since I got hurt,” Ramakka said in an Air Force release. “I didn’t see much point in staying in if I couldn’t deploy.”

Ramakka, a bomb disposal expert, is in the desert as flight chief for the 380th Expeditionary Civil Engineer Explosive Ordnance Flight. He is deployed from Lackland Air Force Base, Texas, where he is the EOD Preliminary Course chief.

Ramakka’s odyssey began June 17, 2005.

“We were recovering a weapons cache; the area was supposed to be cleared of mines,” he said. “The area was being used by the Afghan Army, which is a good indicator the area is clear and it wasn’t far outside , which is also a good indicator.”


Rest of article at: http://www.airforcetimes.com/news/2008/12/airforce_amputee_123108/%2e