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<p><em>Robert Wesley “Bob” Faulkender</em> followed his satisfying Army career with successful efforts as a small business owner, business consultant, college professor and author. In all these endeavors, he strived to meet the principles embodied in Duty, Honor, Country. </p>
<p>Bob was born July 23, 1934 in Dayton, OH to Leitha and Harold Faulkender. After the premature death of Leitha, Harold married the former Jayne Hunt. Under their guidance, Bob grew up in the war years, old enough to learn that patriotism meant service and sacrifice and communities worked together to achieve greater goals. His routine in a co-op high school saw him work at a specific task for two weeks, followed by schooling for two weeks. His duties in the mailroom at Delco Products allowed him to observe the organization and functioning of a large company from the office of the general manager to the oil room. He was president of his high school class, not yet considering a military career. A scholarship exam, taken almost accidentally, yielded an appointment to West Point for the year following high school graduation. He enjoyed the year as a freshman at the University of Colorado. </p>
<p>Plebe year was an adventurous contrast to being a Sigma Chi pledge during the previous one. However, the upperclassmen at West Point did not swing paddles, and the position of chin-in was more civilized than bottoms up. Participation in the 1954 100th Night show planted the seed of drama talents that lay hidden for 40 years. </p>
<p>Sports that required hand-eye coordination were not Bob’s forte, but he was a strong intramural competitor in the “muckoid sports” of track, swimming and water polo. As a firstie, he captained the F-2 water polo team and was athletic rep for the company. </p>
<p>Bob was commissioned in the Infantry and qualified in Ranger and airborne at Fort Benning, GA. In Bamberg, Germany, he joined the 1st Battle Group, 15th Infantry Regiment of the 3rd Infantry Division. As a bachelor, Bob seemed to draw frequent TDY assignments. One signal event took him and his honor guard platoon to Kabul, Afghanistan to help celebrate the 1,000th anniversary of the Afghan monarchy. Less exotic were the umpire details at the German training centers. Grading or being graded on small unit tactics drilled in him his trade, and he relied on those experiences later in and out of the military. In 1961, his new wife, Heidi, presented him with the greatest joy of his life, daughter Kelly Jayne. </p>
<p>Bob spent two years in Vietnam. In 1964, he led a five-man advisory team, operating in a small village in the Mekong Delta. There, in a split second, a land mine earned him the Combat Infantryman Badge and the Purple Heart. Yet, he regarded that year as the most rewarding one of his life. Bob returned to Vietnam in 1968 with the 1st Infantry Division, as executive officer of the 16th Infantry Battalion. Here, he found that his training in Germany served him well in real-time conventional operations. </p>
<p>Between those two years, he earned a master’s degree in operations research and systems analysis (ORSA). Then he joined the Army Management School at Fort Belvoir, VA. His principal mission was to develop and implement a course to familiarize upper management representatives of all the services with ORSA techniques. Following the second tour in Vietnam, he commanded the 29th Infantry Battalion in the 197th Infantry Brigade at Fort Benning. Then it was on to the Armed Forces Staff College. Bob retired from the Army as chief of management at Forces Command while stationed at Fort McPherson, GA. </p>
<p>As his first challenge in civilian life, he became the owner of a small healthcare company. Bob brought the company out of insolvency and sold it five years later. He found that “Duty” was more than a military concept. </p>
<p>Bob launched into the expatriate world for two years as a business consultant in Cairo, Egypt, accompanied by his second wife, the love of his life, the former Luanne Yeager. Hired by the Project Management Firm in Atlanta, GA, he worked with five of the largest construction companies in Egypt. Returning home to Atlanta, Luanne and Bob formed a small financial brokerage company. They helped various-sized businesses raise capital. As chief financial officer, he assisted in the development and financial operations of over 50 small firms. Bob found nothing more challenging to his ethics than the small-business world. He decided to employ his rich experience bank. For 10 years, he was an adjunct professor teaching business courses in management and leadership at American InterContinental University (AIU). He ensured that every course had an underwriting patriotic theme. Bob instructed at two AIU campuses in Atlanta and one summer teaching at the AIU facility in London, England. Additionally, he served as a guest speaker for veterans organizations and the Small Business Administration, and he enjoyed presenting to public school classes. </p>
<p>During this time, Bob relished his involvement with the Kiwanis Club of Atlanta and the activities involved in sponsoring the Builders Club, which worked with local urban schools and their faculty to broaden their students’ exposure to life and possibilities available outside of inner-city dwelling. </p>
<p>He published several books, including a memoir of Vietnam and other fictional page-turners. In 2014, Bob and Luanne retreated to an active military-retired community in Viera, FL, where they celebrated their 42nd anniversary and Bob’s 90th birthday. </p>
<p><em>— Written by Bob and Luanne, assisted by Bruce Stout ’57</em></p>
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