Robert O. Anderson USAF (Ret)

Foil: 9 Panel: 2 Column: 2 Line: 52

Wall of Honor Level:
Air and Space Friend

Honored by:
Mr. Michael D. Anderson

My father spent over 50 years of his life protecting and making the sky's of the world safer. He enlisted in the Army Air Corp in 1940 and worked his way up to the rank of Captain upon his retirement in 1961. He served in the USAF during WWII and Korea as a mechanic and then chief maintenance officer in SAC. During this time he opened and closed Vance Air Force base twice in Enid Oklahoma. He also was based in North Dakota, South Dakota, Texas, California, Great Britain, and Japan. He earned his A&P license in the Air Force.
In 1963 he became a maintenance inspector with the Federal Aviation Administration and remained in that position for over 20 years. During his FAA duties he was based in Atlanta as the chief inspector on Delta. He also spent several years on the "transport team" which had the task of "cleaning up" the "northwest corner" of Miami International Airport. Also he spent tours of duty in Germany and Italy.
When he retired from the FAA he continued in the aviation field as a Designated Airworthiness Representative. He was issued DAR certificate # 1 and continued to work as a DAR until 1995. Part of his assignments as a DAR was to issue repair station certificates and ferry permits to aviation companies. During this period he performed assignments for Israeli Aircraft Industries, Commodore Aviation, Evergreen Aviation, and Westinghouse including the certification of four 747's that were leased to Pan Am. He was a man that could quote verbatim out of practically any maintenance manual written. He passed away on August 22, 2000.