McCombs Alumni Network News

Robert H. Schwenk, BBA ’66, is a 37-year veteran of the Department of Defense. He served as a Navy-carrier based attack pilot during the Vietnam War and later in private sector roles and as civilian employee. The Secretary of the Army recently presented him with the Decoration for Exceptional Civilian Service award, which is the Army’s highest civilian honor. Schwenk received the award for his work in establishing the Department of Defense’s first online learning system, which helped save the Army more than a quarter of a billion dollars in training costs.

Tell me about life at The University of Texas in the mid-60s.
I was there when our football team won back-to-back National Championships. The student body population was around 19,000, which really was a large school in those days, but UT really worked hard to keep the small college atmosphere. I was challenged academically, experienced the greatest school spirit in the nation and lived in a “small town” environment. I am sorry to see the changes in Austin from those days; it has grown too big.

The serious side of the life at UT surrounded the sobering aspect of the Cold War. I was there when President Kennedy stood down the Soviet Union over the Cuban Missile Crisis. Austin would test its air raid sirens about once a month and you never knew if it was a test or for real. In addition, the Air Force Strategic Command was at Bergstrom and we could hear the B-52’s taking off. Also, the Vietnam War was building up from a small action to a major military effort. So although UT was fun, life was tempered by a very serious international scene.

What has service to your country meant to you?
It has been an honor to serve my country as both a Naval officer and a civilian employee of the Department of Defense. I did not choose a career of the “pursuit of wealth” but a life of service to our nation, and I have no regrets.

When I joined up, a lot of my friends thought I would waste my good years and lose my chance at building a really good career. They were really very wrong!  I had no problems finding a good job when I returned to civilian life. In fact, I was hired at or above the salary level of those who did not serve. Employers look at the total person, leadership experience and levels of responsibility.

What does receiving the Exceptional Civilian Service award mean to you?
I was totally surprised when I heard I was selected. And needless to say, it was a true thrill to receive it. It is an honor that only a handful of persons will receive for sustained excellence over the years.

When I started the Army’s e-Learning program in 1998, it was the DoD’s first attempt in using online educational technologies to train its workforce. There were a lot of skeptics who believed instructor led courses were the only effective learning method. They did not realize that today’s generation is very comfortable in front of the terminal and adjusts very well to online training.

The first year, I had only three hundred students and a catalog of one hundred courses. Today, there are over 693,000 students and 3,000 Web-based courses in IT, business, language learning, leadership and personal development. It is the Army’s primary method for satisfying its IT training requirements for its entire workforce. You can imagine the return on investment through “train anyone, anytime and anywhere.” I have soldiers literally in the foxhole studying for professional IT certifications, and it is an indication of how rapidly technology is changing.

How did your educational experience at UT change you?
I cannot imagine going through life without a college degree from UT. It opened both my mind as well as many, many doors. Education is fundamental to my story. UT established a lifelong learning pattern in me and gave me the confidence I could succeed at anything I tried. There is just no substitute for a sound education and the dedicated professor’s push to tackle new challenges. I honestly do not think I would have responded to professional challenges with the optimism to succeed that I have today. Of course there have been a lot of times that I stumbled, but as someone said “you cannot succeed if you don’t try!”

Go Longhorns!

Schwenk can be reached at robert.schwenk@us.army.mil.