I recently spent an amazing day getting a VIP tour of Fort Stewart Army Base located near Hinesville, Georgia. Like most young boys who grew up in the 1960s, my brother and I and our neighborhood friends spent hours in the woods near our home in Pittsburgh “playing army” or playing inside with those little plastic soldiers and tanks in made up battles. So, this was a dream come true in many respects for this long time WWII and Civil War buff to be where the real soldiers and their equipment reside.
How did I end up with a VIP tour of a U.S. Army Base in Georgia? Glad you asked!
Going onto our fourth year of retirement in the Sun City Community in the LowCountry of South Carolina, what I’ve learned is that the world basically revolves around what happens at our dog parks. It’s not only where you bond with your dog, but also where you meet a lot of interesting and amazing people. It’s where you can get incredible information from PIP’s (previously important people). Yes, sometimes it’s just a place to hear rumor and gossip, but I have found that most of my dog park experiences have been worthwhile and beneficial in more meaningful ways.
For instance, one day I met this incredibly energetic new neighbor named Sherry Burik who had her golden retrievers Sabot and Bradley with her. She was wearing a Pittsburgh T-shirt, so naturally I had to inquire.
Sure enough, Sherry is a Yinzer from the Pittsburgh-area borough of Ambridge and an accounting graduate of Robert Morris University. Turns out she’s one of the top players in our women’s softball league in Sun City as well as a part-time fitness instructor, and actually leads a class that my wife and I take at our new amenities center. Sherry recently joined the Community Foundation of the Lowcountry (CFL) as vice president of finance and administration. So much for the quiet life in Sun City!
One day at the dog park, Sherry introduced me to her husband Bob, who is also a Yinzer from Stowe Township. Not only that, but he’s also a Penn Stater! Bob grew up playing baseball in the Sto-Ken-Rox league that used to host one of the biggest Pony league tournaments in Western Pennsylvania, one that my brother and I played in with our dad as the coach.
Speaking of fathers who coach, it turns out that Bob’s father, Jack, was a legendary basketball coach at Bishop Canevin High School in Pittsburgh and Bob was one of his standout players. Bob was recruited to play at Penn State Behrend before matriculating to University Park. But his basketball playing days didn’t end before he graduated in 1986 with a management degree. He regularly played high level pick-up games at Rec Hall, which included Pittsburgh area and Penn State great Suzie McConnell-Serio.
Bob spent his career in the insurance industry, which took him to job locations around the country with his last stop being in Princeton, New Jersey. He has continued to play basketball to this day, but it was another avocation, model building, that led to his role as a liaison to a number of military posts, as well as an encore career as a photographer, author and model builder extraordinaire.
After seeing what he termed “realistic models,” Bob taught himself how to build the most realistic models possible. I will save the specifics for part two of this column in a few weeks. It was Bob’s laser focus on the smallest of details that earned him the reputation as a professional modeler. His seven books don’t just tell the story of the military equipment; he tries to capture the human element that goes along with each tank, helicopter or military transport vehicle.
“My books are designed to provide scale modelers and military enthusiasts with the details of the subject, and also to show how soldiers and Marines work and live with the equipment,” Bob told me. “The models are meant to be historically accurate and photo realistic.”
Bob has written for a number of scale model magazines over the years, and the Society of the 3rd Infantry Division journal. The 3rd Infantry Division considers him to be a historian. He’s assisted with researching and creating a couple of current museum displays at the division museum. He also has several other displays at different battalion headquarters. As a result of his writing and assisting with the museum and other displays at Fort Stewart, Bob received a civilian honor called “The Marne Rockstar” award.
Bob’s hard work paid off with his VIP pass into Fort Stewart, where his face is familiar to many on base. He not only spends time with the leadership in offices and at the base museum, but actually out in the fields during training. More on that next column.
A highlight for me was meeting Lt. Colonel Sam Kriegler, a German-born citizen who did an exchange year in high school at, you can’t make this up, in Hollidaysburg! After a nice chat in his office, he showed us into a few rooms filled with 3rd Infantry Division treasures. It’s the regiment of the legendary Audie Murphy, the most decorated soldier in WWII. We saw his weapon, uniform, letters, citations and photos. We also saw General George Marshall’s desk and many of his prized possessions from pre-war China. Yes, history buffs, THE General Marshall of the Marshall Plan that rebuilt Europe after WWII.
We met Jack Farley, a 1st lieutenant. He is the squadron maintenance officer for 5-7 Cavalry Battalion which works with the brigade support battalion mechanics. Jack was a former Bradley unit commander. At the motor pool we saw M1A2 SEPV3 Abrams; M2A4 Bradley; JLTV in different variants (replaces the Humvee); HEMTT in different variants; AMPV in different variants; and the new Infantry Squad Vehicle (ISV).
Every young soldier that we came across was respectful and friendly. When I thanked them for their service, they very humbly responded “Thank you for your support.”
Here are Bob’s books in order:
- “Thunder Run: The US 3rd Infantry Division’s Drive to Baghdad”
- “NTC Fort Irwin”
- “HEMTT”
- “UH 60 Black Hawk”
- “US Army Combat Aviation Brigade”
- “JLTV Family” (soon to be published)
Bob also contributed to an Operation Iraqi Freedom documentary created by the Army University Press some years ago, and he has helped scale model companies research and correct their kits before distribution.
Bob’s attention to detail earned him his status with the Army. He said with a smile from ear to ear, “I’ve been doing all this for about 20 years now.” His passion was so infectious and made my VIP tour even better.
As I looked at the models in the display cases that were constructed by Bob and some of his colleagues, I was amazed at the level of detail. If a photo of a tank showed that it had been struck in battle, it was depicted as such in the model. Did it have to be? No, but Bob wanted to capture the authenticity in his books and models to pay homage to the crews and soldiers who fought the good fights. It’s all about the details.
