DOVER AIR FORCE BASE, Del. -- A Philadelphia news station recently named Master Sgt. Eric Robbins, 512th Civil Engineer Squadron heavy equipment noncommissioned officer in charge, one of their Hometown Heroes. 6ABC Action News recognized the Dover reservist for his rapid response during a life-threatening situation while on patrol with the Philadelphia Police Department.
On December 17, 2024, at approximately 1 p.m., Officer Robbins and his partner responded to a call at a multi-level row home with a steep, slanted roof. Upon their arrival, a frantic neighbor, who made the call to emergency responders, flagged down the officers and pointed upward towards a nearby residential building where a diaper-wearing 5-year-old peered over the edge, recalled Robbins.
“Nine times out of 10 when we get these types of calls, it’s always ‘hey, a kid’s hanging out of a window’; and when you get there, the kid’s waving at people through an open window,” said Robbins. “This was not that type of call.”
Within seconds of evaluating the scene, Robbins said he realized the house’s walls were too tall to scale, even with a running start to pull himself up onto the shingled roof. Stuck between calling the fire department for backup and finding a way to access the child through the home, Robbins chose the latter due to the situation’s time sensitivity.
What he didn’t know when he began knocking on doors was that the home was split horizontally into two apartment units, one on the first floor and another on the second.
As his partner distracted the child from the ground, the Dover-based reservist began banging on both front doors and screaming “at the top of [his] lungs.” Thankfully, a response came quickly and one of the doors opened to a tired and disoriented man.
“I can immediately tell that he just woke up, so I didn’t have time to explain, I just knew I had to get to the roof,” he recalled.
As he bolted past the man and up the staircase, Robbins said he made it out of the second floor window, onto the roof, and latched onto the nonverbal child, who was ‘tippy toes over the edge,’ before returning him to the safety of his parents.
“We investigated the situation and found this could have happened to anyone,” Robbins explained. “The older brother had left for the day, but his window was open. Both parents were asleep, and the kid was supposed to be taking a nap. But like children do, they wake up and do whatever they want.”
Grateful that all parties walked away physically unscathed, the third-year police officer said he is looking towards the future in both of his service-oriented careers.
In the 19 years since taking his initial oath of enlistment at Dover Air Force Base, Delaware, Robbins’ military career has provided him with the skills necessary to operate front end loaders, bulldozers, graders and various other types of commercial-grade construction machinery in support of U.S. Department of Defense infrastructure projects. His work has taken him around the country to New York, Alabama, Texas and Mississippi, as well as abroad to Germany, Italy and Jordan.
“I am eligible for military retirement next March,” shared Robbins. “On the civilian side, my main goal is to join [Special Weapons and Tactics team] with the police department. When I was in corrections, I was on the emergency response team for four years and fell in love with it. It’s a crucial mission and is a great fit for me because I love helping people.”