Col. Sam Calkins assumed command of the St. Paul District June 30, 2016, becoming the district’s 65th commander and district engineer. Prior to assuming this command, he served as the command engineer for Army Cyber Command and Second Army at Fort Meade, Maryland.
Col. Calkins, a native of Miami, Florida, earned his commission in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers from the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1993. His first assignment was with the 4th Infantry Division at Fort Carson, Colorado, where he served as a sapper platoon leader and assistant operations officer. He then spent two years in Izmir, Turkey, serving as facilities engineer for NATO Land Forces – Southeast Europe. Following the Engineer Officer Advanced Course, he was assigned to the 172d Infantry Brigade at Fort Wainwright, Alaska, where he served as brigade engineer and commanded the 562d Engineer Company. In 2001, he went to graduate school at the London School of Economics in preparation for an assignment as an instructor at the United States Military Academy.
After teaching economics for three years at West Point, Col. Calkins served as regimental engineer and then executive officer for the Special Troops Squadron in the 2d Cavalry Regiment in Vilseck, Germany. While serving with the 2d Cavalry Regiment, he deployed to Baghdad and Baqubah, Iraq, in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. He returned to the United States in 2009 and became a professor of military science at the California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo, California. Subsequently, he moved to Fort Riley, Kansas, where he assumed command of the 1st Special Troops Battalion in 1st Brigade, 1st Infantry Division. While in command, he deployed with the brigade to Kirkuk, Iraq, in support of Operation New Dawn. Following command, he served on the Joint Staff in Washington, D.C., as an emergency action officer and executive assistant to the Director of Operations. He then attended the National War College and spent a year at Fort Meade with Army Cyber Command.
Col. Calkins is a graduate of the Engineer Officer Basic and Advanced Courses, the Combined Arms and Services Staff School, the Army Command and General Staff College, the National War College and the Army Airborne School. His awards and decorations include the Legion of Merit, Bronze Star Medal, the Joint Meritorious Service Medal, the Meritorious Service Medal and the Bronze Order of the DeFleury Medal.