Who Is This Veteran? – Bob Ross

Air Force veteran Master Sergeant and renowned artist Bob Ross
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Who Is This Veteran? - Bob Ross

This Air Force Master Sergeant (E-7) is none other than famous artist Bob Ross, you know the “There are no mistakes, just happy accidents.” guy with the big ass hair. Yep, Bob was in the Air Force for 20 years and was known to be a real badass, Sgt Slaughter type.

Before Bob was painting happy little clouds and trees on his “Joy of Painting” show, he was an airman in the United States Air Force, enlisting at the age of 18. He started off as a medical records technician (the guy that keeps the medical records up-to-date) and during his 20-year enlistment, he rose to the rank of Master Sergeant. While he was on active duty, Bob was spending his spare time, painting Alaskan landscapes on novelty gold mining pans. He retired in 1981 after 20 years in the Air Force.

When Bob got out, he decided that he would not raise his voice again. Ironically, Bob’s signature hairstyle was more of a joke and Bob actually hated it. When he got out of the Air Force, “He got this bright idea that he could save money on haircuts. So he let his hair grow, he got a perm, and decided he would never need a haircut again,” his long-term business partner Annette Kowalski explained. But before he could change his hairstyle to something that he liked, his permed hairstyle became his company’s logo which mean the hair was here to stay and supposedly Bob hated the curly hairstyle.

Bob described his time in the Air Force as,  “I was the guy who makes you scrub the latrine, the guy who makes you make your bed, the guy who screams at you for being late to work. The job requires you to be a mean, tough person. And I was fed up with it.”

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Average Joe

Welcome to the Average Joe Weekly blog. This is basically my place on the web where I can help spread some of the knowledge that I have accumulated over the years. I served 10+ years in the Marine Corps on Active Duty, but that was some 25 years ago.

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By Average Joe

Welcome to the Average Joe Weekly blog. This is basically my place on the web where I can help spread some of the knowledge that I have accumulated over the years. I served 10+ years in the Marine Corps on Active Duty, but that was some 25 years ago.

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