In just over a week, Centre County’s highest-ranking serviceman will be laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery with full military honors.
The services for Lt. General Robert “Bob” Springer, who died on Aug. 19, 2021, will take place on Jan. 20. The Air Force will hold a short chapel service followed by a caisson, which will proceed to Arlington for the service and Lt. Gen. Springer’s interment.
One sister and his five children survive him.
His wife, Bonnie Brubaker Springe, his brother William J. Springer, five half-brothers and one half-sister preceded him in death.
Springer’s Centre County nephews will travel to Virginia for the funeral.
Springer was born in Milheim on Jan. 17, 1933, to Simon Peter and Ruth Olive (McCool) Springer. When the elder Springer passed away, two Old Fort Lodge Masons (Centre Hall) arranged for the younger Springer to go to the Patton Masonic School in Elizabethtown. The two men credited with getting him into Patton were Robert Stover (Milheim jeweler) and John Watson (owned the 5&10 store.)
In an interview for the Centre Daily Times in 1985, after being awarded his third star and a new job at the Pentagon, Springer said, “My dad died when I was ten years old, and although I spent my first eight years in public schools, I had the chance to go to Patton, and I did. The Masonic Lodge supported the school and Mr. Patton’s will set out two requirements only. It was for boys whose fathers were dead, and the school was to ensure that the Bible was taught.”
Patton was the school that Springer said gave him his foundation and zest for life and competitiveness.
Since the school was small, Springer could participate in many activities, including football, despite his small size. As a result, he developed a desire to excel. After high school, he stayed at the school, received room and board for two years and attended Elizabethtown College until an Air Force recruiter approached him and asked how he would like to fly. Springer never hesitated and joined the cadet program with the U. S. Air Force.
The aviation cadet program trained him to be an officer and taught him about flying and navigating simultaneously, according to remarks in 1985 newspaper articles.
He finished his college education by graduating in 1964 with a bachelor of arts in social science and earning a master of science in international affairs in 1969, both from George Washington University.
He earned his pilot wings and became a C-130 pilot, serving in Vietnam from 1965-66. After that, he served as the special assistant to the Air Force vice chief of staff. After that, he served as vice commander of the 317th Tactical Airlift Wing at Pope AFB and then as commander of the 435th Tactical Airlift Wing in Rhein-Main, Germany. When he was serving as the commander of the 322nd Airlift Wing in Ramstein, Germany, he oversaw the lifting of the hostages out of Tehran, Iran, in 1981. Assignments at McGuire AFB and later as commander of the Air Force’s Military Airlift Command at Scott AFB in Illinois rounded out his career, and Lt. Gen. Springer retired in 1988.
After retirement, Springer and his wife made their home in Pinehurst, N.C. They both became active in the community there and worked with the Arnold Air Society for years.
Lt. Gen. Springer’s honors included The Marquis Who’s Who, the world’s noted publisher of biographies. The Marquis group named him as a Lifetime Achiever. There are more achievements and awards and some are outside of his Air Force career.
For instance, Springer served as president of NovaLogic Systems from 1999 to 2007 and president of Bsone Inc. from 1999 to 2013. His service as a trustee on multiple organizations benefited his community. He was a 33rd-degree Mason, decorated with the Defense Department Distinguished Service Medal, the Distinguished Flying Cross, Air Medal with oak leaf cluster and Bronze Star. Gen. Springer looked back on his career with fondness.
Quoted as saying he never had a bad assignment, he was most proud of his work in establishing the Air Force Memorial, “Spires,” in Arlington, Va., in 2006 to honor all Air Force personnel.
According to his son Curt Springer, Springer served as executive director of the Air Force Memorial Foundation. The foundation worked diligently from 1992 until 2006 to accomplish the building and dedication of the memorial. Close to Arlington Cemetery, the Spires can be seen from the Pentagon.
“He was so proud of the memorial,” said Curt Springer. “He had a lot of other interests, though. He was a commentator for a TV show out of Raleigh, N.C., served on the board of a software company and loved golf.”
