In August 2021, he was piloting one of the last C-17s to evacuate hundreds of people from Kabul during the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Afghanistan. That was almost 20 years after he chose a life of service. Now, four years later, Ed Sutton, \u201906, is a lieutenant colonel with the Air Force Reserve and the state senator for a wide swath of the Charleston metro area. His district covers portions of the peninsula, West Ashley and James Island, where tens of thousands of his constituents live.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was his decision to serve that brought him to the Lowcountry, a place that he, too, began to consider home. \u201cThe Sept. 11 attacks happened my senior year of high school,\u201d said Sutton. \u201cJust like previous generations, I felt like this was a call to serve. At the time, I was considering the University of South Carolina and The Citadel, but 9\/11 kind of sealed the deal.\u201d Later, when he graduated, Sutton accepted a commission into the Air Force and became a C-17 pilot stationed at Joint Base Charleston.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Much of his 13 years on active duty were spent in Afghanistan, and the lessons he learned in the Corps of Cadets created different opportunities. During one of his deployments, Sutton was flying airdrop missions to resupply remote outposts until he was asked to join the Air Mobility Liaison Program, which embeds Air Force officers with another branch. The Army\u2019s 101st Airborne Division needed someone to help coordinate airdrops, and they needed someone who understood both the Army and the Air Force. \u201cI went to The Citadel,\u201d said Sutton. \u201cI can speak Army.\u201d As a result, he was put on an exchange tour with the 101st for two-and-a-half years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
His time at The Citadel would be essential again during the evacuation, when his first mission out of Afghanistan lasted nearly a day and a half. \u201cWe ended up flying for about 34 hours,\u201d said Sutton. \u201cYou\u2019re not supposed to be awake and operating that type of airplane that long.\u201d But managing stress and obstacles is what he learned in the Corps. \u201cThere\u2019s a job that has to be done here. And so we kept flying until we were done,\u201d he said. \u201cWe did some really good work and literally saved lives.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Much of Sutton\u2019s life\u2014choosing The Citadel, getting into the Summerall Guards and serving as a cadre platoon leader responsible for training the knobs and becoming a pilot\u2014 has been about the challenge. \u201cIt\u2019s not just pushing yourself, but the folks around you. And, especially as a cadre platoon leader, the folks that you\u2019re in charge of,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s about getting comfortable with being uncomfortable and going further than what you thought possible.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now, in his time as a South Carolina state senator, Sutton continues to draw on the lessons he learned at The Citadel and in the armed forces. Sutton focuses on flexibility and finding compromises. \u201cIn aviation, one of the key tenets in our doctrine is: \u2018Flexibility is the key to air power.\u2019 Your expectations coming into it are probably vastly different from how things will develop,\u201d he said. If a bill he\u2019s working on begins to fall apart, Sutton starts to look for a way to change course and get it over the finish line.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI love that I\u2019m in a position to give back and help the school grow …\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n In addition to his work in Columbia and the Air Force, Sutton also works as a developer in the Charleston area. Though many pilots who leave active duty go to work for the airlines, Sutton said, \u201cThat\u2019s a copy-and-paste day. I wanted something that was a little bit more challenging, and obviously in Charleston we\u2019ve got an excellent supply of old buildings and abandoned buildings that need to be renovated. And a big part of that\u2014going the renovation route, not tearing down those buildings\u2014is to tell our story. They tell the story of people in this region and how we developed.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Though he wears many hats, his main focus is on his constituents. \u201cThat\u2019s the number one team that I\u2019m looking out for\u2014making sure that we get the most amount of money that we can get back in the district and also addressing the issues up there that have the biggest impact on the district.\u201d For Sutton, politics is a game of addition, and he started early as a cadet at The Citadel. For three of his years in the Corps, Sutton participated in the S.C. Student Legislature, which has provided students with the unique opportunity to participate in a mock legislative assembly since 1956.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Even without that extra experience, team building is something that comes naturally to Sutton. \u201cOne of the things that makes The Citadel unique is we are oriented around the idea that you win if the team wins, whether it be your platoon or your company competing at parade. It is very much team oriented. At an academy, for example, I\u2019ve gotten the impression it\u2019s much more of an individual focus,\u201d he said. \u201cI hear from my Air Force Academy friends all the time, \u2018Man, I wish we were as close as you and your Citadel buddies are.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sutton\u2019s connection to his alma mater continues today. He is an involved graduate, organizing reunions and fundraising campaigns, and his district includes The Citadel\u2014both the current campus on the Ashley River and the original I\u2019m excited about is that The Citadel hasn\u2019t had a directly represent the school since 1984,\u201d said Sutton. \u201cThere are other Citadel graduates in the State House, but we haven\u2019t had a graduate directly represent the school in 40 years.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Like every graduate, Sutton\u2019s passion for The Citadel comes from knowing what the college can do for tomorrow\u2019s leaders. \u201cThis is a place that is obviously a bedrock foundation in my life, and certainly I feel like it set me up for success,\u201d he said. \u201cI love that I\u2019m in a position to give back and help the school grow and make sure that we continue to put out a superior product compared to anywhere else in the state.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" In August 2021, he was piloting one of the last C-17s to evacuate hundreds of people from Kabul during the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Afghanistan. That was almost 20 years after he chose a life of service. Now, four years later, Ed Sutton, \u201906, is a lieutenant colonel with the Air Force Reserve and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":694,"featured_media":898,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-829","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-other"],"yoast_head":"\n