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<font size="2">"The exercise of vital powers along lines of excellence in a life affording them scope." By this ancient Greek definition of happiness, </font><i>Robert William Studer </i><font size="2">was a happy man, a "laughing philosopher," who in all things sought wisdom. </font></p>
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<font size="2">Bob was born on Sep 6, 1914, a farm boy from Lakeville, MN, valedictorian, humor editor, and cartoonist of his high school class of 1931. In search of higher education during the Great Depression, he enlisted at Ft. Snelling, MN, in 1932. He received an Army appointment to the Academy in 1935, bringing lessons learned on attention-to-detail and on the fundamentals of cribbage and the harmonica from his first sergeant, who in fond memory remained with Bob all his life. </font></p>
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<font size="2">Graduation brought a brief assignment as a signal officer to the 3rd Inf. Div., then at Ft. Lewis, WA, before he was sent to Ft. Ord, CA, to the 7th Signal Co. as part of the newly formed 7th Inf. Div. In April 1941, First Lieutenant Studer received orders to the Philippine Division with assignment to the 12th Signal Co. (Philippine Scouts). Shortly after arriving in Manila, the young bachelor was smitten by a local bank branch manager, a Spanish beauty named Rosario Duarte. While she turned down marriage the first time he asked, his persistence paid off. Their wedding was to have been on Christmas Day 1941, but after the Japanese invasion of December 8th, marriage plans fell aside, dress uniforms and saber were buried, and Bob deployed to Bataan.</font></p>
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<font size="2">During the next four months, with the indefatigable service of his men, Bob helped to maintain division communications in a hopelessly deteriorating campaign. He was awarded the Silver Star for gallantry, an honor he always attributed to the industry and bravery of his Philippine Scouts. He also retained his wry humor. In a letter home on Mar 6, 1942, he wrote "we are not starving although the variety is not good. The old water buffalo tastes better than it looks."</font></p>
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<font size="2">With surrender on Apr 9, 1942, Bob joined his fellow POWs in the brutal evacuation of the Bataan Peninsula to initial internment at Camp O’Donnell. While there, as a member of a prisoner work party, Bob was taken on one occasion to Manila, where, by chance, he and Rosario saw each other from across a city street. After secret nods exchanged, they would not know the fate of one another for almost three-and-a-half-years while Rosario remained in Manila under Japanese occupation and Bob was shipped to camps in Japan. Fellow POWs would later attribute boosts in morale to Bob’s cartooning and drawings of playing, birthday, and holiday cards. In late September 1945, freedom brought Bob back to a decimated Manila to search for Rosario. News of his return sent her running home to find her recently promoted captain; they were wed two weeks later on Oct 6, 1945. The couple sailed to the United States, she for the first time, to begin a family and continue his military career. </font></p>
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<font size="2">From 1946 until his retirement as a colonel in 1968, Bob’s career was richly filled with staff, command, diplomatic, and education assignments. He served in special weapons operations at Sandia Base, NM (1951</font><font face="Times New Roman" size="2"><font face="Times New Roman" size="2">–</font></font><font size="2">53) and at the Pentagon (DCSOPS 1954</font><font face="Times New Roman" size="2"><font face="Times New Roman" size="2">–</font></font><font size="2">56) where he wrote atomic weapon presentations and speeches for Generals Ridgeway and Taylor. He worked in the EUCOM J3 Division in Paris (1957</font><font face="Times New Roman" size="2"><font face="Times New Roman" size="2">–</font></font><font size="2">59). His commands included Chief, Research Support Division, Army Research Office, Arlington, VA (1959</font><font face="Times New Roman" size="2"><font face="Times New Roman" size="2">–</font></font><font size="2">62), and, in his final Army assignment, Director, Electronics Warfare Laboratory, Ft. Monmouth, NJ (1966</font><font face="Times New Roman" size="2"><font face="Times New Roman" size="2">–</font></font><font size="2">68). He was also the military attaché to Colombia from 1963</font><font face="Times New Roman" size="2"><font face="Times New Roman" size="2">–</font></font><font size="2">66.</font></p>
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<font size="2">It was from Bob’s education assignments, however, that he realized his most satisfying and lasting contributions as a citizen-soldier author and thinker both during his military career and in retirement. He taught at the Signal School at Ft. Monmouth, NJ (1947</font><font face="Times New Roman" size="2"><font face="Times New Roman" size="2">–</font></font><font size="2">49). He obtained master degrees in both electrical engineering (U. Illinois, 1951) and international relations (Geo. Wash. U., 1963). And he was a graduate of the Spanish War College, Madrid (1956</font><font face="Times New Roman" size="2"><font face="Times New Roman" size="2">–</font></font><font size="2">57), Command and General Staff College (1953</font><font face="Times New Roman" size="2"><font face="Times New Roman" size="2">–</font></font><font size="2">54), and the Naval War College (1962</font><font face="Times New Roman" size="2"><font face="Times New Roman" size="2">–</font></font><font size="2">63). From these experiences and from his life-long reading he developed a special interest in military organization as it related particularly to national security under the time-honored concept of civil-military control. His Naval War College thesis, "Why Not a Supreme General Staff?" was recognized as an outstanding work that remains in the college library as a resource for those who have come after this scholar. </font></p>
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<font size="2">In retirement, Bob earned a doctorate in political science (U. So. Cal., 1975), again returning to the theme of military subservience to civilian rule in his dissertation on the Colombian military. He would continue to publish articles of military history and political affairs over the next 30 years. He also served as the editor of his local chapter newsletter of the Retired Officers’ Association (now MOAA); every edition was imbued with his insights and his humor. On his artistic side, cartoons ultimately gave way to superb award-winning water colors. His paintings of Trophy Point and the Cadet Chapel graced the covers of the September 1991 and January 1992 issues of the <i>ASSEMBLY</i>. His love of golf, bridge, and cribbage, born of his military service, delighted his days. So too did he delight all with his harmonica. A favorite tune, one that always glistened the loving eyes of his Rosario, abides, "When I grow too old to dream, I’ll have you to remember."</font></p>
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<font size="2"><i>— His Family</i></font></p>