RESCUE SPECIALIST HOME FOR REUNION.

Byline: DIANA PEYTON Community Columnist

Air Force Master Sgt. Robert Sheets came back to town for his Calabasas High School 20-year class reunion last week as one of just 300 pararescuemen, in the United States.

``It's a funny world, you just grow up in a town with all the other kids and you never know where you will be 20 years later,'' he said.

The former teen surfer and high school athlete speaks as if he has surprised even himself.

``I've traveled the world and done pretty good for Rob Sheets from Calabasas, Lylene Sheets' son,'' he said.

A member of the Air Force's elite group, he is a trained paramedic, military free-fall jumper and military diver. His capabilities make him seem invincible in an emergency. He can fly, fall, jump, swim, crawl or climb to anyone he is called to rescue.

He travels by helicopter or by the transport and cargo aircraft HC 130 Hercules. He's a Desert Storm veteran.

He also is assigned to NASA's Space Shuttle Recovery team for hardware recovery.

``If that thing comes down in the water, I am one of the guys who goes in after it. My job is to get there and do the medical work,'' he said.

Sheets would take along a Rigged Alternate Method Zodiac, a kind of ``boat in a box.'' The pararescueman drops the watercraft before he jumps. The boat has a fully submersible engine and is used for water rescues, he said.

His decision to join the combat exclusive (without women) rescue team came easy.

``I was in boot camp in Texas, just out of high school. There I am running, sweating in full gear, and it was hot! I saw this group of guys running in shorts, going into the pool to swim . . . it was the pararescuemen.

``I decided I'd rather do that, so I took all of the training. It has allowed me to be able to travel around the world,'' he said.

A 1980 graduate, he played tackle on the football team and wrestled for the Calabasas Coyotes. He also a student at A.E. Wright Middle School.

Family members who still live in the Valley include his mother, brother and sister-in-law, Mike and Shelley Sheets, and their son, Jake.

Sheets and his wife,Michelle, are stationed at Fort Moody Air Force Base in Georgia. They have two children, a daughter, Beth, 17, and son, Kris, 22.

Upon his return to the base, Sheets is headed for Kuwait to serve as part of the Desert Shield team, ``to give a military presence,'' he said.

Local children enjoyed a Dodgers game compliments of federal employees who supported the fifth annual Federal Employees Appreciation Day at Dodger Stadium where they hosted more than 400 special needs children.

One of the agencies the Federal Employees Combined Federal Campaign supports through contributions is the Children's Hunger Fund in Pacoima.

Nine-year-old Russell Pineda was invited to attend his first professional baseball game.

``It was most fun when we were cheering,'' said the fifth-grade student from Lorne Street Fundamental Magnet School in Northridge. He said his favorite subject is math and he likes problem solving.

He cheered for the home team with his cousins, Reggie, Ryan and Reynard Mendoza; friend Geordelle Mayriano; and others from Salt and Light of the Valley Church.

``They must have been the loudest in the whole crowd! When he came home he was so happy! He loved being part of the crowd,'' his mother, Eden Pineda, said.

Pineda is a seamstress who runs her Eden Mendiola Pineda business from her home.

``I wanted to go with Russell, but I had to wait for someone to come from San Francisco whose wedding dress I am making,'' she said.

Pineda designs gowns and women's clothing, taking jobs by referral.

The Children's Hunger Fund provides services for 22,000 families through 300 churches in California each year.

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Air Force Master Sgt. Robert Sheets, a member of the Air Force's elite pararescuemen group, recently attended his 20-year Calabasas High School reunion.