Uda, Robert, Capt

PLEASE DESCRIBE WHO OR WHAT INFLUENCED YOUR DECISION TO JOIN THE AIR FORCE.
I wanted to serve my country, become a pilot, and go into combat.

WHETHER YOU WERE IN THE SERVICE FOR SEVERAL YEARS OR AS A CAREER, PLEASE DESCRIBE THE DIRECTION OR PATH YOU TOOK. WHERE DID YOU GO TO BASIC TRAINING AND WHAT UNITS, BASES, OR SQUADRONS WERE YOU ASSIGNED TO? WHAT WAS YOUR REASON FOR LEAVING?
Bob Uda participated in the Air Force Reserve Officers Training Corps (AFROTC) program both at the University of Hawaii (UH) and the University of Oklahoma (OU). He received the Outstanding Sophomore AFROTC Cadet Award at UH and both the Outstanding Senior AFROTC Cadet Award and the Distinguished Military Graduate (DMG) award at OU. In his senior year at OU, he held the rank of cadet colonel and served as deputy wing commander as well as special assistant to the commandant of cadets. He received a commission as a second lieutenant in the USAF upon his graduation from OU.

Bob Uda served for over eight years of active duty in the USAF as an astronautical development engineer (Air Force Specialty Code: AFSC 2845A). His first assignment was to a 24-month graduate program in astronautics at the Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT) located at Wright-Patterson AFB in Dayton, Ohio. Upon graduating with an MS degree in astronautics, he was assigned as a command controller and satellite test planning officer at the Air Force Satellite Test Center in Sunnyvale, California. During this assignment, he attended and graduated from the Air Force Squadron Officer School (SOS).

Bob's next assignments were as systems analyst, launch operations manager, and officer career manager at Headquarters, Space and Missile Systems Organization (SAMSO) (now called Space and Missile Systems Center, SMC) in El Segundo, California. His final assignment was as an astronautical engineer at the McDonnell Douglas Astronautics Company (MDAC) Air Force Plant Representative Office (AFPRO) in Huntington Beach, California.

When the Air Force offered an early-out to reduce the force in 1974, Bob took the opportunity and resigned his commission as a regular captain in the USAF, was honorably discharged, and re-entered civilian life.

FROM YOUR ENTIRE MILITARY SERVICE, DESCRIBE ANY MEMORIES YOU STILL REFLECT BACK ON TO THIS DAY.
Working with satellites, launch vehicles, and guided missiles.

OF ALL THE MEDALS, AWARDS, FORMAL PRESENTATIONS AND QUALIFICATION BADGES YOU RECEIVED, OR OTHER MEMORABILIA, WHICH ONE IS THE MOST MEANINGFUL TO YOU AND WHY?
Meritorious Service Medal (MSM).

WHICH INDIVIDUAL(S) FROM YOUR TIME IN THE MILITARY STAND OUT AS HAVING THE MOST POSITIVE IMPACT ON YOU AND WHY?
Lt. Gen. Sam Phillips, commander of SAMSO - great leader and example.

WHAT PROFESSION DID YOU FOLLOW AFTER YOUR MILITARY SERVICE AND WHAT ARE YOU DOING NOW? IF YOU ARE CURRENTLY SERVING, WHAT IS YOUR PRESENT OCCUPATIONAL SPECIALTY?
Bob currently serves as president, general manager, and principal consultant of Bob Uda and Associates (BU&A). Additionally, he serves as vice president of the SIG West Coast Division of SIG Homeland Security, LLC, headquartered in Florham Park, New Jersey. He has served as proposal center manager at BAE Systems, professor of systems acquisition management at the Defense Acquisition University (DAU), director of business capture and proposal development, Ocean Systems Engineering Corporation (OSEC); manager of proposal development, L-3 Interstate Electronics Corporation (IEC); director of marketing and proposals, The Titan Corporation, Titan Wireless, Inc.; manager of business processes, project manager of information technology (IT), and senior manager of proposal development, QUALCOMM, Inc.

Bob has also served as chairman, president, and chief executive officer (CEO) of Apollo Systems Technology, Inc.; vice president and general manager, North American Manufacturing Corporation; and vice president of business development, Sterling Software, Inc. He has also served as general manager, product line manager, and program manager, HR Textron Inc.; project manager, program development manager, manager of advanced programs (manager of proposal development), and member of the technical staff, Rockwell International Corporation Space Systems Division; deputy program manager (project engineer), TRW Defense and Space Systems Group (DSSG); and astronautical development engineer and Captain, United States Air Force (USAF).

He is a fellow in the British Interplanetary Society (BIS), associate fellow in the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA), Certified Manager (CM) with the Institute of Certified Professional Managers (ICPM), and a founding member of the Association of Proposal Management Professionals (APMP). Bob currently serves as immediate past chairman of the board (COB) of the ICPM Board of Regents (BOR).

Bob Uda holds memberships in the International Association for Counterterrorism & Security Professionals (IACSP), International Association of Law Enforcement Intelligence Analysts, Inc. (IALEIA), International Counter Terrorism Officers Association (ICTOA), InfraGard San Diego Members Alliance, Business Espionage Controls & Countermeasures Association (BECCA), Orange County Private Sector Terrorism Response Group (OC-PSTRG), and the International Cyber Threat Task Force (ICTTF) as well as the United States Cyber Threat Task Force (USCTTF).

IN WHAT WAYS HAS SERVING IN THE MILITARY INFLUENCED THE WAY YOU HAVE APPROACHED YOUR LIFE AND YOUR CAREER? WHAT DO YOU MISS MOST ABOUT YOUR TIME IN THE SERVICE?
Provided me with discipline, planning and follow through.

BASED ON YOUR OWN EXPERIENCES, WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO THOSE WHO HAVE RECENTLY JOINED THE AIR FORCE?
Serve for a career. You are associated with a great profession. The majority of the American people honor and respect what you do in preserving the freedoms we all enjoy. Unlike when I had served in the Vietnam Era when military people were not held in high esteem, all current military war fighters who serve in combat are considered as war heroes. All are great Americans who deserve our love and appreciation for your dedicated service to our country.

IN WHAT WAYS HAS TOGETHERWESERVED.COM HELPED YOU REMEMBER YOUR MILITARY SERVICE AND THE FRIENDS YOU SERVED WITH.
Allowed me to contact a few people who helped me out on my doctoral dissertation research project.

*