Who's Robert?

Who is Robert L. Vaessen?
I'm Robert; the author and creator of these web pages. All the content (text and images (with noted exceptions)) were created by me. I started writing these web pages in September of 1996, and I haven't given up yet. On this page, I'll present some background about me. In other words, one of those boring history / biography pages. (Hey it's even got a few pictures) Hope you enjoy it ;-)

Genealogy:
The Vaessen family lineage. Thanks to some considerable assistance from some Dutch Vaessen's, I've been able to trace my family history back to 1526 (With a partial history back to 1125). If you're interested in the history of the Vaessen name, check out my Vaessen family genealogy pages. The information was compiled and posted using 'MacFamilyTree' software. The software is capable of importing or exporting genealogy data in various different formats, including GEDCOM standard .ged files.

If you are a member of the Vaessen family, or you're interested in the Vaessen family history, I welcome any corrections, additions or elaborations. Please feel free to write me with any relevant information.

Born:
Date of birth: 26 Oct 1963. That makes me a Scorpio in case you care. It also makes me.. mm. 43 Years old! I have two sisters; Eileen (the older), and Alice (the younger). Although they've both married, and divorced, and remarried, and have kids, and live in Wisconsin; I turned out to be the truly rebellious one in one sense; I didn't stick around.

Raised:
My sisters and I grew up in the great city of De Pere Wisconsin. Born at St. Vincent's Hospital (Green Bay); De Pere was a great place to grow up. My parents had a nice little ranch style home in the suburbs (On Suburban Drive even!) Winters were cold; but I learned to love the snow. We spent most of the summer up north. Camping at Mary lake, staying at the Grandparents cottage on White Potato lake, and later at the trailer near Pickerel lake. The old place on Suburban Drive hasn't been in the family for many years, but it's still home in my heart.

School:
I Attended and graduated from, West De Pere High School in 1982. School was within walking distance of home, and I enjoyed it. Since I was a geek of sorts, I had to avoid the Jocks and violent disgruntled ones. I wasn't really a brain, just one of the weird kids. I even started the schools very first Dungeons and Dragons club. At the height of it's rule, we claimed over 15 members as our own. Then came the dark time! Fundamentalist scare tactics washed over our town like a luke warm helping of Cream 'O Wheat. Our club was banished from school property. They may have thought they had defeated the 'Evils of Satan', but all they really did was eliminate an organized, safe, drug and alcohol free social outlet for many school aged teens. Some of the members left the group, but not all of us were deterred. I continued DM'ing from patios, garages, and basements. A few of us rejected our parents concerns; not accepting the fundamentalist claims that the game was corrupting us. To this day I play one of the most righteous lawful good Paladins this side of Nirvana, and none of the players at our table have become mass murderers or high priests in the church of Satan.

I also spent two semesters of discontent attending Computer Programming classes at NWTI (Now known as NWTC) in Green Bay, WI. Oh yeah, sure, let's teach them COBOL first! That way we'll force a lot of dropouts and be able to pocket the money. Bastards! What the hell is COBOL anyway! (Rhetorical question. No COBOL flamers need apply). I had an early interest in computers and my parents even went so far as to buy me a Sinclair ZX-80 with a 16K RAM pack! Whoa buddy! I was a programming fool. As a matter of fact, I just about ran my senior year computer class. The Teacher was constantly pulling me aside, and asking me things like "How do you end an 'if then' loop?" Unfortunately for me, Basic was not the programming language of choice for the business community. Programming meant math. And that was my weak point. My earlier schooling lacked any serious background when it came to Mathematics. My teachers didn't help much back then. Preferring to push ahead and ensure that their program stayed on schedule. I still cringe when I have to do long division. Thank god for the calculator! Another thing that made NWTI a bad experience was an Ex Girlfriend. One who had used me, and then dumped me. All so she could get even with an Ex Boyfriend. Right, oh so convenient that she should also enroll in computer programming at the same community college. I wonder what ever happened to her?

Marriage:
Kim Kuchta and I dated on and off for approximately two years before I proposed. I first started dating her when she was still in High School. She was 16, and I was, well let's just say I was older. I used to walk her home from school, carry her books, and all the other dating things. I was an unruly rebel back then, with something of a mean streak, and it's no wonder we broke up. I had little control over my emotions, and often said and did horrible things. The military changed all that. I returned a changed man, and soon began courting her through a long distance relationship. Eventually I graduated from my 'A School' and came home on leave. It was during that time, that I asked her to marry me. She said yes! :-), and we started making plans. I went back to Pensacola for more schooling, and she stayed in De Pere. I stuck it out at the school, barely passing an advanced course, and she arranged everything for our wedding. Ironically, the wedding took place on my Birthday. It was the weekend before I would have to leave for my first duty station, and the most convenient date to rent the banquet hall. Kim and I had a traditional Catholic wedding. We even attended the mandatory (but accelerated) pre-marriage counseling sessions. Two hundred eighty two friends and family attended the reception. I had no idea we had so many friends! There have been some bumpy times along the road since then, but we've beaten the odds. The other day Kim was watching CNN and they said that over 50 percent of weddings held in 1985 have ended in divorce. I love her much more now than then, and would give the world for her.

The Military:
The greatest change in my life occurred after I decided to join the military. De Pere was a great place, but the only real jobs in the area were in the Dairy, and Paper industries. As most rebellious children decide, I too refused to follow the path of my Father. I would not work in a paper mill for the next 35 years. I dropped out of NWTI, and entered the delayed enlistment program with the United States Air Force. I chose the Air Force because I saw them as offering the most technically challenging jobs. Plus they were the least likely to engage in hand to hand combat. If I could avoid a bullet in the brain pan, so much the better. I then spent a short time biding my time, working some odd jobs, and eliciting a promise from my current girlfriend. You can just imagine what happened as soon as I was away from her... In either case, I left for boot camp in December of 1984, and haven't looked back since.

After joining the Air Force, Kim and I got too see the world. We lived in a lot of different places, and enjoyed every assignment. For our first tour, we spent seven years in Southern Italy, stationed at San Vito Air Station. They used to joke that I'd be there until they closed the doors. Turned out that it wasn't a joke at all. In 1992 they closed the place (where I worked), and we were forced to PCS (Permanent Change of Station). We loved it there, and hated to leave. But the military doesn't allow you to pick and choose where you'd like to live. Although the long stay was bad for my career, we sure had a good time.

While I was stationed in Italy, I even had the great privilege of attending a school in Berlin. That's right, Berlin Germany. It was during the time that the wall was coming down. It was an astonishing time. I was in the middle of history, and I was loving it. When I got there, the wall was still up but coming down. Military members were not allowed to enter east Berlin. By the time I left, there was no wall at all, and U.S. Military members could enter and leave East Berlin freely. I often hiked "No man's land" (The strip of land where the wall once stood) after classes ended.

After San Vito closed, I got to pick where I went next. Kim and I chose Fort Meade Maryland. I worked there for three years. Although it was an experience I'm glad to have had, I think it could have been better. The DC/Annapolis/Fort Meade area is highly urbanized, and everything was expensive. The lifestyle was very hurried and you had to go a long way to escape the hustle and bustle of the big city. Thankfully, good friends and a good job made up for the drawbacks of life in that big city.

After a couple of years at Fort Meade, I volunteered for more schooling at Pensacola Florida. In the two times that I've been stationed at Corry station, there have been two hurricanes. Both hurricanes went right through the middle of town. Not long after settling in, Kim and I found ourselves spending a very scary day huddled in the bathtub of our apartment. The next week without power wasn't much fun either. Thankfully, the sunny beaches, good food, and great friends once again made for an overall good experience.

After departing Pensacola (with an honor graduates certificate in hand), we headed straight to Sugar Grove West Virginia. Another Navy base of all places. This one was in the middle of the nowhere (In the middle of a National forest in the Appalachian mountains); snuggled up against the shadow of Shenandoah mountain. That peaceful retreat proved to be one of the most technically challenging assignments in my Air Force career. I learned more there than anywhere else. And I made a lot of friends that I'll never forget. The peaceful place in the mountains did a lot for my soul, and I'll never forget my hikes through the forested hills of Pendelton County.

In March of 98' we left Sugar Grove for Misawa Air Base, Japan. The assignment to Japan was technically rewarding, and a boon to my management skills. Thanks to the leadership there, I was finally given the opportunity to run the show as the NCOIC (Noncommissioned Officer In Charge) of an operations center. Living overseas is always a challenge, thankfully the military has a good track record at making you feel welcome and making sure every need is looked after. Despite the fact that we were living in a foreign country, the Japanese did all they could to make us feel welcome, and the base was a fantastic community to live and work in.

After three years in Misawa, we packed up our belongings and once again headed back to the states. This time we landed west of the Mississippi. My last assignment in the Air Force was at Buckley Air Force Base in Aurora Colorado. Kim and I enjoyed this assignment immensely, it was just as rewarding as our previous assignments. As usual, we caught up with some old friends, and made new ones while stationed here. Working at Buckley was an extremely challenging job, and one that I would recommend to any military member. Buckley is approximately five miles east of Denver. If you can see the radomes, you can see the base. The base used to be an Air National Guard Base, but it was recently converted to an active duty Air Force base. The ANG still has some facilities, and a mission on the base, but Active Duty missions, and units, far exceed the ANG components on the base, and the base continues to grow year after year.

Life in the military wasn't easy, but it was extremely rewarding. I entered the Air Force in the Open Admin career field, and wound up getting the greatest job I could possibly imagine. I served in the Air Force from Dec of 1984 - Jan of 2005. I worked as a Signals Analyst, manager and supervisor for 20 years. Although I made it to MSgt (I met the cutoff during my last testing cycle, and was assigned a line number for promotion), I turned down the promotion, and retired as a TSgt (Technical Sergeant). I'm very satisfied with how things turned out. I graduated from several schools, took many classes, and kept current in the telecommunications field. The knowledge, skills and experience that the Air Force gave me, allowed me to find a job with an excellent salary. Now I'm working for a defense contractor. I'm still serving my country, but now the pay is a lot better, and I don't have to worry about getting a short tour assignment to South Korea, or being ordered to get Anthrax vaccinations.

If you're interested in the awards/ribbons that I earned while serving in the Air Force, I've created a web page which illustrates and describes each of the medals in more detail.

The Present:
Kim and I retired from the military in 2005, and we've decided to make Colorado our home. There's a comforting term - Home. It's one we haven't used in a long time. Now that I'm out of the military, we feel safe saying that word again. For 20 years the military was our home, now we'll make our own home in the great state of Colorado. Denver and the surrounding community is a fantastic place to live and work, and Kim and I are looking forward to our life here. Although the cost of living is somewhat high, the level of support services, entertainment and educational opportunities available in the area are vast.

The Future:
I was fortunate enough to find a good job after I retired from the military, and I'm still serving my country. I work for a defense contractor as a signals analyst and it's exactly what I was looking for. I successfully transitioned from blue to gray, and I'm happy with my new job. I'm currently working shift work, but I hope to eventually transition to a straight day job. Kim and I purchased our first house in March of 2005, and we're looking forward to our long awaited reward from twenty years of military service.

Twenty years in the Air Force has taught me a great deal. I've learned more technical skills than one could expect to learn from the strongest of civilian sector companies. Changing jobs every three years has given me the opportunity to learn a continually improving and expanding set of job skills in my career field. Some of the most valuable skills I've learned since joining the Air Force have been leadership and management skills. Skills that aren't always a planned part of the program, but are sometimes more important than the technical skills. I'm sure that the experiences and skills I've acquired while serving our country will more than guarantee me a secure future.

Author: Robert L. Vaessen e-mail:

Last Updated: Tue, January 08, 2008

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