Col. (Retired) Kevin P. Robinson is the keynote speaker for the annual Veterans Day assembly at Perry County School District 32. The district will observe Veterans Day this Friday, Nov. 8.
Col. Robinson enlisted in the Army National Guard in November 1979 and was commissioned as an Aviation Officer as a Second Lieutenant in September 1989. During his enlistment, he served in both the Army National Guard and the Air National Guard as a heavy equipment operator and mechanic. In 1986, he was selected to attend Army Aviation Flight School at Fort Rucker, Alabama, and graduated in 1987 as a rotary-wing pilot and Warrant Officer.
His command experience includes leading the 35th Aviation Brigade and the 1107th Missouri Aviation and Classification Repair Activity Depot, one of only four such depots in the United States. He has extensive experience as a maintenance test pilot for five Army helicopters and is also an accomplished fixed-wing pilot, flying the C-12 and C-23 aircraft.
Col. Robinson's military accolades include the Legion of Merit, the Bronze Star Medal, the Meritorious Service Medal, the Army Commendation Medal, and the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal. He holds a master's degree in Aviation Safety from the University of Central Missouri.
After retiring from the Army in 2008, he worked as a civilian contractor at the National Guard Bureau in Arlington, Virginia, and served as a commercial airplane pilot and Emergency Medical Services (EMS) helicopter pilot. He is currently the Chairman of the Board for River Region Credit Union.
Col. Robinson has been married to Charlotte Winschel for 30 years, and they have two children, Dalton, who served in the United States Marine Corps, and Kirsten, who is set to graduate from Air Force ROTC at the University of Missouri this coming spring as a Second Lieutenant.