Dec 2, 20243 min read

Introducing Our First Military Monday

Honoring CW2 Bobby Blair

Military Monday - CW2 Blair

Huntington native Chief Warrant Officer 2, Retired (CW2) Bobby Blair is in the spotlight this week for Greenbear Digital Media’s “Military Monday”, our way of expressing gratitude for the brave men and women who have served this country through the military.

Bobby has traveled all over the world, but calls Huntington his hometown. His mother is Susan Marlow and his father, deceased, was Roger Blair. Bobby’s siblings are Tammi Drabenstot, Janelle Blair and Tina Blair. Bobby has two children, Austin Blair and Emma Blair.

Bobby graduated from Snider High School in Fort Wayne in 1994, but nowadays Huntington North High School is lucky enough to call him the Senior Army Instructor for the HNHS Junior Reserve Training Officer Training Corp (JROTC).

Bobby enlisted in the Army Reserves on January 29, 1993. The following June, prior to his high school graduation, he requested to transfer into Active Duty. His basic training took place in Fort Jackson, South Carolina. Bobby credits his father, as well as one of his former teachers, for inspiring him to join the U.S. Army.

“[My father] had served for 13 years and regretted not finishing the last seven,” Bobby said. “My graphic arts teacher, Mr. Robert Short, was also an inspiration because he was a Navy SEAL and could tear telephone books in half!”

Bobby originally enlisted in the Army Reserves as a 75B, Personnel Administrative Specialist. The following year, he enlisted as a 76J, Medical Supply Specialist. He spent 12 years in the medical field and then applied and passed his Special Forces Assessment and Selection. Later, after a year of rigorous training, Bobby served as an 18B, Special Forces Weapons Sergeant. This lasted for seven more years, after which he was accepted to attend the Warrant Officer Technical and Tactical Career Course and served his remaining years as a 180A, Special Forces Warrant Officer.

In all of his time of training and serving our country, Bobby has been stationed in a litany of locations. After his basic training, Bobby’s Advanced Individual Training took place at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, TX. His first duty station was Landstuhl, Germany, and he was there for almost four years. He had the chance to travel all around Europe before returning to San Antonio to go to the Brooke Army Medical Center for a year and a half.

Upon re-enlistment, Bobby was able to return to Germany and was stationed at Heidelberg Medical Center for two years and he continued to travel through Europe. It was September 11, 2001, that brought him back to the States to be stationed at Fort Bragg, NC at the 28th Combat Support Hospital. He deployed for the first time to Iraq, and upon his return, he transferred to the Special Warfare Center and School to attend Special Forces Training.

In 2005, Bobby was transferred to Fort Carson and stayed there until 2017. During those 12 years, he was deployed to Iraq two more times, deployed five times to Africa and also went on several small training missions to Europe.

In all of his years of experience, Bobby has received an abundance of special training aside from what has already been mentioned. Some of these special trainings include: