Dwaine Voas last spoke to his son Randy, a veteran Air Force pilot set to leave for his first deployment to Afghanistan, about two weeks ago. His son, an Eden Prairie native, was neither nervous nor excited, Voas said. For him, flying in combat was another day at the office.

"When you go to work in the morning, are you excited?" Dwaine Voas, of Burnsville, said on Saturday. "Randy is a professional Air Force pilot. That was his job, and he loved his job. He loved being a pilot."

On Friday, 10 days into his deployment, Maj. Randell Voas, 43, died when an Air Force Osprey crashed near Kandahar. Also killed was Senior Master Sgt. James B. Lackey, 45, of Green Clove Springs, Fla. Another service member and a civilian were also were killed. Their names have not been released.

Voas and Lackey had been assigned to the 8th Special Operations Squadron at Hurlburt Field, Fla. Voas, who left Minnesota after college, lived in Shalimar, Fla., with his wife and children.

It was the first crash of its kind involving the tilt-rotor Osprey in a combat zone, authorities said. Speaking by phone on Saturday from Dover Air Force Base in Delaware, where he was awaiting the arrival of his son's remains, Dwaine Voas said the family has not been told the circumstances of the crash.

Randy Voas leaves behind a wife, Jill, and two children, Madde, a high school junior, and Mitchell, a seventh-grader.

Dwaine Voas said his son, a graduate of Eden Prairie High School and the University of Minnesota, was an avid runner and skier who had talked of becoming a podiatrist when he was young.

"I didn't know what he was going to do when he graduated from the U of M with his biology degree," Voas said. "Then he came home one day and said, 'I'm signed up to go into the Army.'"

That was 18 years ago. Upon entering a warrant officer flight training program, Randy Voas left Minnesota. He flew Apache helicopters for the Army, then switched to the Air Force, where he piloted aircraft, including the Osprey, which take off and land like helicopters.

With the grief, pride

Dwaine Voas, who served five years in the Army and 23 years in the Army Reserves, knew what the news would be when he heard a knock on the door at 6 a.m. Friday and looked out to see two men in blue uniforms. They were there to deliver the news of his son's death.

He said the family has taken comfort in each other and in their memories of Randy, a devoted father and husband with a dry sense of humor and "a stare that could stop a dime."

As a fellow veteran who understands the dangers of war, Dwaine Voas said he's proud of his son's bravery and sacrifice. But before and beyond that, "I'm just proud of him anyway," he said.

Randy Voas is also survived by his mother and stepfather, Jo and Larry Kallemeyn of Spearfish, S.D.; his stepmother, Vadis, also of Burnsville, and a brother, Jeffrey Voas of Seattle. Funeral services will take place at Hurlburt Field in Florida.

Abby Simons • 612-673-4921