Army Lifer

Dr. Bob Watson didn’t plan to spend 30 years in the United States Army, it just worked out that way. Watson, a 1954 graduate of Arkansas City Junior College, wanted to be a teacher and coach. He spent a few years doing just that, but the Vietnam War, continuous education, and his expertise in health care administration instead all contributed to a successful career in the Army. “I still miss it,” said Watson, who retired from the Army in summer 1989. “If you didn’t have to retire after 30 years of service, I’d still be in the Army. I liked it. At least I knew what I was going to wear every day.”

Watson, who was born in Wellington and moved to Arkansas City when he was 5, retired from the Army in 1989. He retired July 31 from full-time work as administrator of the University of Florida Student Health Care Center in Gainesville. Now, he works two days a week as a health care administration consultant and on a few special projects.

Watson could be described as an opportunist. Although he moved frequently, including stints out of the continental United States, he never grew tired of learning and accepting new challenges. His doctorate and three master’s degrees prove that.


Life in Arkansas City
Watson attended Pershing Elementary School, starting the first grade with Donna Louderback, the wife of Watson’s best friend since junior high, J.C. Louderback. Watson has kept close with several friends in Ark City throughout the years. He graduated from Arkansas City High School in 1952, and together with J.C. and a few other friends, went on to Arkansas City Junior College. At ACJC, Watson played football and ran track. Louderback played football, basketball and tennis. “We really had a good (football) team my sophomore year” (1953 season), Watson said. “Bunt Speer was the coach, and Dan Kahler was assistant coach. Those two guys really had us going. We won every game until the last three.” Actually, the Tigers lost three of their last four games, dropping decisions to Dodge City (20-0), Independence (7-6), and Hutchinson (39-6). Kahler, also the Tigers’ basketball coach, started basketball practice three weeks before the end of the football season, limiting his contribution to the football team. “My contention is that if Dan Kahler would not have left to start basketball practice, which he needed to do, I think those three games would have possibly been different,” said Watson, who played offensive guard.

Watson studied business administration while at ACJC. He was in the high school printing program prior to college, and was influenced by printing instructor Tony Buffo. “He had a great impact on young people’s lives from the point of view that if you work hard, you’ll succeed,” Watson said. “If you’re honest, you’ll be respected. He had a good work ethic. He gave you the foundation of life, which is integrity, loyalty, and hard work.” In fall 1954, Watson transferred to Washburn University to play football. After one season, an injury cut his football career short, so he transferred to Emporia State. He graduated in 1956 with a bachelor’s degree in business administration.

Watson meets the Army
After ESU, Watson began a two-year stint in the Army, then returned to Emporia to complete a master’s degree in education in 1962. He wanted to be a coach. He coached running backs in football and was the head swim coach for three years at Shawnee Mission East High School in the Kansas City area. His last two years at the school, 1965 and 1966, East finished second at the state swim meet. He ran the state swim meet in 1966. In football, East finished third in the state both years.

Watson got called back into the Army for the Vietnam War, and his life would never be the same. That was toward the end of 1966. “My first assignment was at an Army medical center in Honolulu,” Watson said of his time at Tripler Army Medical Center, the largest military medical treatment facility in the entire Pacific Basin. At Tripler, Watson was in charge of all the athletic programs. After six months, he was approached about a new job. “This hospital administrator took me under his wing and said why don’t you go into hospital administration,” Watson recalled. “He sat me down and said that I should go back to the University of Hawaii and earn a master of business administration. I said, okay.” Taking night classes, Watson earned an MBA from the University of Hawaii in January 1969, which turned out to be an important step in his career.

In early 1969, Watson went to Vietnam for the first time. After only a few months, he was back at Tripler for a while before heading back to Vietnam for a full year. Watson was stationed in Long Bihn, about 30 miles northwest of Saigon, with the 44th Medical Brigade. He was a captain, and chief of medical records and statistics. Watson returned from Vietnam in 1970. The head surgeon at Tripler had been promoted to general, and his job was to be the chief of medical corps affairs in Washington, D.C. “He asked me before I went to Vietnam if I’d come back and work for him,” Watson said. From 1970-1974, Watson worked in Washington, where he assigned and transferred Army physicians on active duty. In August 1974, Watson graduated from General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, a correspondence program he completed by mail.

From 1974-1976, Watson went to Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington as assistant administrator. During his entire six years at Walter Reed, Watson was allowed time to work on yet another degree. “This general let me off early every afternoon so I could walk over to George Washington University and get another master’s degree,” Watson said. Watson completed a master’s degree in hospital administration in 1974. Two years later, he had a doctorate in medical education, qualifying him to run a graduate school medical education program.

From Texas to Germany
Watson’s knowledge and background in health care was beginning to pay dividends. In 1976, the Army sent him to Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, Texas, the Army’s medical training center. For a year, he worked at developing a program used to train basic Army medics. From 1977-1980, Watson was an assistant professor teaching in Baylor University’s graduate program for health care administration in San Antonio.

In 1980, Watson boarded a plane for Frankfort, Germany. He went to the 67th Medical Group outside Frankfort as the executive officer with the U.S. Army. “We oversaw two combat support hospitals, two ambulance companies and one helicopter ambulance company,” Watson said. “They trained all the time in the event of a war.” In 1982, Watson returned to the U.S., this time to Irwin Army Hospital at Fort Riley. He served as assistant administrator there from 1982-1984.

It was back to Germany in 1984, to Augsburg as deputy commander for administration, the No. 2 person in the hospital. Watson was promoted to colonel about a year later. “I had seven small clinics out in the Alpen area where we had troops stationed in a barracks area,” Watson said. “In all of these barracks areas, we had medical clinic staffed with doctors and nurses to take care of the troops.” In July 1986, Watson completed another Army correspondence course, graduating from the Army War College in Carlisle Barracks, Pa. The course involved higher levels of command and decision making related to military logistics. In 1987, the Army moved Watson again, this time back to the medical training center at Fort Sam Houston. Watson was the assistant dean of the medical field service school, the Army’s training facility. “This was my last job with the Army,” Watson said. “I came to the University of Florida in August 1989.”

Responding to an ad
After a 30-year career with the Army, Watson wasn’t sure what he was going to do. His years of experience in hospital administration caught the eye of officials at the University of Florida. “I saw the job advertisement in the Chronicle of Higher Education,” Watson said. “I called and they sent me an application form. I wrote it long hand. I didn’t even type it.” Watson was chosen from a field of 200 applicants, and he became administrator of the university’s Student Health Care Center. “It’s a big ambulatory clinic in the middle of campus,” Watson said. “In the spring and fall semesters, we see between 450 and 500 patients per day.” The center has a medical staff of about 30 people. Watson had one interview prior to coming to Florida. It was with a company in Houston. “I made the top three, but I didn’t get the job,” he said. “This job at the University of Florida was the second job I’d interviewed for in my life. In the last 40-50 years, I’ve only had two jobs. I’m pretty lucky. I attribute a lot of that to growing up in Ark City and getting a good education there.”

Memories from Ark City
Watson, who visited friends in Arkansas City this summer, wouldn’t change a thing about his early years. “There are so many things I remember back in school or playing football,” he said. “I just have a lot of good friends in Ark City and in the surrounding area. Some are in Wichita, some in Newkirk. I have fond memories growing up in Ark City.” A brother, Dick Watson, still lives in Arkansas City. “I was really privileged to grow up in a small town,” Bob said. “I had great parents and great friends, and have stayed in touch with an awful lot of them.” Those include Johnny Deibel, Kenny Gilmore, and of course, the Louderbacks. “And I had good teachers while I was there,” Watson said. “Miss (Henrietta) Courtright was a good math teacher. In high school, Gaye Iden was a good chemistry teacher. Raymond Judd was a good history teacher and tennis coach.”

Retirement?
Watson said working just two days a week has allowed him to travel with his wife and to spend more time doing volunteer work at Mill Creek Farm, a retirement home for horses in Alachula, Fla., just outside Gainesville. “There are 125 senior horses there that are turned loose in the fields,” Watson said. “This couple takes care of these retired horses. They’re old circus horses, abused, abandoned horses, police department horses. I go out there and do maintenance work, like repair fences, change water troughs, trim trees and mow. It gives me a chance to do farm work, stay in shape and be outside.” His three daughters are scattered about, and so are his stepchildren and grandchildren. Oldest daughter Stephanie is a tenured associate professor at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis. Second daughter Stacey is married to an Army dentist and lives at Fort Hood, Texas. Youngest daughter Susannah is married and lives near San Antonio. Watson also has two stepchildren. One is the assistant hospital administrator at Duke University Medical Center in Durham, N.C., and the other just moved back to Munich, Germany, after her husband completed his master’s degree in finance at the University of Florida. The Watsons have six grandchildren.

Fall 2004