Today's guest is BBQ pit master (and military historian), Dr. Robert Wettemann. Bob is an associate professor of History at the United States Air Force Academy. He served as the Director of the Air Force Academy’s Center for Oral History from 2010-2014 and was the Max F. James Distinguished Researcher in Character and Leadership Development at the USAFA Center for Character and Leadership Development. Prior to moving to Colorado Springs, Bob was an associate professor of history at McMurray University (Go Warhawks!), where he served as the director of the public history program. He also worked with the Command Historian’s Office of the U.S. Army Special Operations Command. He is a proud alum of the History Department at Oklahoma State University, and he went on to earn his MA and PhD in History at Texas A&M University.
Bob is the author of Privilege vs. Equality: Civil-Military Relations in the Jacksonian Era, 1815-1845 (Praeger Security International) and has written numerous other essays and articles. He recently completed another manuscript titled The Patriot: An American Golf Odyssey, which was done in cooperation with the Folds of Honor Foundation. He is currently working on a book-length project titled “Rhino Tanks and Sticky Bombs: American Ingenuity in World War Two.”
Bob is dedicated to his students and the profession. His many awards for service include several for mentoring students, including the 2017 Stephen L. Orrison Award for Mentoring Excellence from the Department of History at the USAFA. He is a frequent presenter at meetings of the Society for Military History and remains active in the public history world.
Join us for a fun chat with Bob Wettemann, recorded just as Hurricane Ian missed our Statesboro Studio and began dumping rain on our Spartanburg Remote Production Facility (all safe), while Bob remains a kid at heart as F-16s buzzed USAFA. We'll cover a whole range of topics, from growing up in Stillwater, Oklahoma to the wonders of the 940s section of the Dewey Decimal System, from watching fire with Aaron Franklin to Bob's work with the Folds of Honor Foundation. Good stuff. Enjoy!
Rec.: 09/30/2022
