Camera ready, waiting on Lake Superior in a boat was Brock Krause’s uncle, Kevin Berglund, who took this photo of the C-130 H aircraft Brock was in as it flew by. Photo courtesy of Kevin Berglund
Brock Krause was hoping to bring his family from Hibbing to the Fisherman’s Picnic this past weekend, but at the last minute, the steel worker’s second job called him into work, and when Uncle Sam calls, you go to work.
Still, he didn’t want to disappoint his grandparents, Alton and Carol Berglund, or his parents, Tammy and Kevin Krause, so with a little help from his crewmates, he went to plan B.
Brock is a captain in the Air Reserve, flying out of the Minneapolis- Saint Paul Air Reserve Station, which is located at the Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport.
“I fly with the United States Air Force Reserve’s 934th Airlift Wing ‘Flying Vikings’ who fly the C-130 Hercules aircraft,” he said.
Brock is a navigator. One of the fun things his crew gets to do is called Employer Support Day, where you nominate someone who employs you to fly with you.
“This event demonstrates to our employers how their support plays an important role in allowing us to train and get ready to execute our duties as airmen,” Brock said.
Usually, said Brock, they fly to Proctor and then make the turn for Lake Superior and fly along the coast to Split Rock lighthouse. Once there they circle the area three times so their passengers can get pictures of the scenery before they leave for the airbase. It’s an enjoyable way to accumulate hours in the air, said Brock, and for crews to learn to work together.
On Sunday, August 4, it was Employer Support Day, and Brock asked his crewmates if they wouldn’t mind extending their flight up the shore to Grand Marais, and they said yes. With plans set, he informed his family on the shore that he would indeed, make the Fisherman’s Picnic, if only for a moment and from several hundred feet in the air.
Flying low and slow along the shoreline, Brock’s C-130 H3 cargo airplane appeared over the Grand Marais harbor not too long before the Fisherman’s Picnic parade was to begin. Cameras ready, Brock’s uncles took some great pictures of the plane as it swept over the area, tipping its wing to Brock’s relatives and the people who stood in wonder.
“I’m glad I got to do this. It meant a lot to me and my family,” he said.
Brock served five years in the Army and then transferred into the Air Force, where he has served the last four years. “My wife, Tammy, is also in the Air Force and we are in the same unit,” he said.
If it seems frivolous, flying up the shore to grant a small request, it isn’t.
“Right now we are trying to get some extra flying time in to get used to being in the air for longer periods of time in case we are called to Iraq or Afghanistan,” Brock said.
A sober thought in a world that trembles on an uneasy precipice of political upheaval.
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