Warrior Care Month "Show of Strength": Airman serving with honor after IED strike Published Nov. 14, 2014 By Kimberly Woodruff Staff Writer TINKER AIR FORCE BASE, Okla - -- (Editor's note: November is the Department of Defense Warrior Care Month and all this month the Take Off will feature a Tinker warrior who has stepped up with a great "show of strength.") In an instant, a regular guy gets thrown into a position to step up and make a difference. Staff Sgt. Michael Helsdingen, a former security forces member who is now attached to the Tinker Honor Guard, recalls being in the hospital, under medication and calling his parents to tell them, "I just got blown up." Later, after coming down from the meds, he was able to better explain and to put his parents at ease. "They didn't exactly take it well," he said. Sergeant Helsdingen received a Purple Heart, the Air Force Combat Action Medal and the Air Force Commendation Medal for his actions in the line of duty. Aug. 2, 2011, was just another day in Afghanistan for Sergeant Helsdingen. He was driving a truck from FOB Morales Frasier to Bagram Air Base as part of a security mission. The drive took them along a mountainous rocky terrain when, all of a sudden, a 60-80 pound improvised explosive device blew up right underneath him and his passengers, destroying the front quarter of the truck. Sergeant Helsdingen's foot was broken, his neck and back took a jolt in the blast and he blacked out. Sergeant Helsdingen was in Afghanistan as part of a security mission with the Office of Special Investigations. Thankfully, no one was more seriously injured. However, the truck had to be towed and, in such a hostile environment, time was of the essence to get the Soldiers to safety. "When it exploded, we knew what happened," he said. "Then, we were hit with shock, adrenaline, and fear. Our biggest fear was of IEDs placed in the side of the mountain designed to blow us over the cliff." . "It is hard to describe the bad terrain," Sergeant Helsdingen said. "There were times our tires were hanging on the very edge of the cliff." Another truck came to bring him and the others to safety. In the midst of being towed, Sergeant Helsdingen, though in pain, stayed behind the wheel to steer the vehicle. "Going downhill, we began to pick up speed, so I applied the brakes only to find the brakes were out," he said. "To avoid hitting the truck towing us, I turned the wheel and we tipped over in a ditch." After stripping the vehicle of important information, the men left and were taken to a rally point for the medevac team to take them to safety. "It was a fun deployment -- it was something new I hadn't done before," he said. "That deployment was the coolest and most rewarding." Sergeant Helsdingen spent the first six years of his career in security forces before switching over to the Honor Guard. "Being a cop, we trained so much on things that normally we didn't get to do," he said. "On that deployment I used the training and it justified the time we spent on the training. It was rewarding and it felt like we were doing something important. "I cherished every moment because I was chosen out of a number of security forces troops to go over to Bagram, one of only two bases with this particular mission." Sergeant Helsdingen got to serve on a 13-man team clearing buildings, handling IEDs and doing what he was trained to do -- move, shoot and communicate. "We protected the base," he said. Sergeant Helsdingen distinguished himself by not taking the early out. With an injury, he could have gone home. With only three months left, he stayed to carry out his duty, all while sporting a boot cast, back and neck brace. "I didn't want someone to have to be notified on short notice to come over to take my place," he said. "I wasn't special -- it can happen to anyone." The sergeant says the Air Force puts Airmen in positions to succeed. "You're held accountable to know your job, so we have to take it seriously because it can really happen to anyone," he said. Sergeant Helsdingen said it felt weird when he came home. "I just wanted to be myself," he said. "It was wonderful to be recognized, but I was just doing my job."