An Expert Gunner and a Dedicated Teacher

By Lauren Perry

Robert L. Able

January 20, 1926-January 24, 2009

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When someone mentions a military career, many think of high-ranking officers and older battle-worn veterans training cadets. However, there is much more to a military career than fighting in combat. There are chefs, printers, journalists and teachers who serve, each job is critical to the success of the military. Education is a very important aspect of our society and Robert Able dedicated his life to furthering his education and helping others grow academically.

Robert Lowry Able was born January 20, 1926 [1] to Albert and Martha Able in Louisville, Kentucky. He grew up in Louisville with his mother and sister, Martha Jane.[2] When Robert was six years old, his father Albert, a World War I veteran, passed away.[3] Martha remarried Stiles M. English.[4] When he turned eighteen, Robert joined the United States Air Force. He then served in World War II and completed eighteen combat missions as a B-24 gunner in the European theater in the final years of the war. The B-24, also known as the Liberator, was a long-range bomber that typically completed difficult tasks. The machine gun, located dangerously on the belly of the plane, was in a small glass cage where the gunner sat with the twin 0.50-inch machine guns able to aim and fire at enemy planes.[5] Robert was also deployed as a B-26 pilot in the Korean War in 1952 where he completed fifty combat mission following his pilot training in 1951.[6] When he was only twenty six, “the Distinguished Flying Cross [was] awarded to First Lieutenant Robert L. Able for extraordinary achievement while participating in aerial flight” while in Korea.[7]

[27] Robert Able is a member of the Chamber of Commerce, as pictured in the University of Kentucky yearbook.

Robert began his academic career when he attended and graduated from the University of Louisville in 1949, the same year he married his wife, Janet Neehouse. After serving in Korea, he returned to Kentucky and began teaching as an assistant professor of Air Science and AFROTC instructor at the University of Kentucky (UK) while working to complete his Master’s degree in business management.[8] In the next few years, he was inducted into the Lexington Jaycees, an organization that helps young people get a head start in their business career;[9] the business fraternity Beta Gamma Sigma;[10] and the Chamber of Commerce at the University of Kentucky.[11] In January of 1955, he was promoted to the rank of Captain in the Air Force.[12] He earned his Master’s degree and finished his tour of service at the University of Kentucky in 1956.[13] In the summer of that year, Robert and Jan’s first child, Marc, was born.[14] Two years later, their little girl, Holli, was born.[15] While at the University of Kentucky, he began an economics club along with other graduate and undergraduate students and was named the president.[16]

[26] Robert Able’s promotion to Captain of the Air Force.

[25] Robert Able (Top row, second on right side) is inducted into the business fraternity Beta Gamma Sigma

In between the years 1956 and 1958, Robert and his family moved around the country for various military assignments. Robert underwent navigator training in Texas;[17] flew as a B-47 pilot (a jet bomber known for breaking speed and distance records at the time)[18] in Louisiana; and worked as an assistant base operations officer in Missouri. By November of 1959, the Able family was back in Lexington, Kentucky.[19]

In the spring of 1962, Robert graduated with a doctorate in economics from the University of Kentucky.[20] The next month, he was promoted to a Major in the United States Air Force,[21] and was assigned to be a professor at the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colorado.[22]

[28] Robert showing wife Jan, daughter Holli, and son Marc a magazine of the Unites States Air Force Academy once he accepted the position of professor.

He moved his family to Colorado and he began teaching right away. He remained at the Air Force Academy for six years. In 1966, he was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel and wrote several articles and books for various management and business journals.[23] Remaining true and dedicated to his passion for education, he joined the University of Colorado – Colorado Springs after he finished his tour at the Air Force Academy. Here, he would be a Professor of Economics and would be a part of many public lectures regarding management, banking, and business until the 1980’s.[24] After risking his life for our country and dedicating his civilian life to academic and military education, Robert Able’s legacy will live on in the students he taught, the cadets he helped train, and the lives he saved abroad. Lt. Col. Robert L. Able, Ph.D., died in Littleton, Colorado on January 24, 2009 at the age of 83.

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[1] “Veterans Affairs BIRLS Death Files,” http://fold3.com, entry for Robert L. Able, Birth Date: 20 January 1926.

[2] “1930 United States Federal Census,” http://ancestry.com, (accessed 13 June 2018), entry for Robert L. Able, Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky, p. 101.

[3] “Albert Dewey Able,” www.findagrave.com, (accessed 13 June 2018), entry for Albert Dewey Able, died: 1932 (aged 33-34).

[4] “1940 United States Federal Census,” http://ancestry.com (accessed 14 June 2018), entry for Robert L. Able, Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky.

[5] Guilmartin, John F. “B-24 (Aircraft),” Encyclopedia Britannica. Accessed August 16, 2018. https://www.britannica.com/technology/B-24

[6] “Faculty Biographical Sketch,” USAFA Faculty documents (accessed 6 July 2018), entry for Robert L. Able, pgs. 1-4.

[7] “The Medal.” The Distinguished Flying Cross Society, 1994, www.dfcsociety.net/the-medal/ (accessed 6 July 2018).

[8] “Faculty Biographical Sketch,” USAFA Faculty documents (accessed 6 July 2018), entry for Robert L. Able, pgs. 1-4.

[9] “Professor W. L. Matthews Named Jaycees ‘Outstanding Man,’” Lexington Leader, January 26, 1954.

[10] “Commerce Honorary Inducts 13 at UK,” Lexington Herald, May 11, 1955.

[11] University of Kentucky, “Kentuckian,” 1955, p. 96.

[12] “UK Air Science Professor Wins Promotion,” Lexington Herald, January 20, 1955.

[13] “Faculty Biographical Sketch,” USAFA Faculty documents (accessed 6 July 2018), entry for Robert L. Able, pgs. 1-4.

[14] “Kentucky Birth Index 1911-1999,” http://ancestry.com (accessed 14 June 2018), entry for Marc L. Able, Date of Birth: 13 July 1955

[15] “McLennan County Birth Records,” www.familytreenow.com (accessed 27 June 2018), entry for Holli H. Able, Birth Date: 13 April 1957.

[16] “Economics Club Formed at UK,” Kentucky Kernel, February 23, 1960.

[17] Thompson, Scott. “Air Force Navigator Job Description,” (accessed August 16, 2018), https://work.chron.com/air-force-navigator-job-description-15194.html.

[18] “B-47 Stratojet,” Boeing, (accessed August 16, 2018), https://www.boeing.com/history/products/b-47-stratojet.page.

[19] “Faculty Biographical Sketch,” USAFA Faculty documents (accessed 6 July 2018), entry for Robert L. Able, pgs. 1-4.

[20] “Faculty Biographical Sketch,” USAFA Faculty documents (accessed 6 July 2018), entry for Robert L. Able, pgs. 1-4.

[21] “Academy Promotes 48 on Monday,” Denver Post, July 14, 1962.

[22] “Faculty Biographical Sketch,” USAFA Faculty documents (accessed 6 July 2018), entry for Robert L. Able, pgs. 1-4.

[23] “Faculty Biographical Sketch,” USAFA Faculty documents (accessed 6 July 2018), entry for Robert L. Able, pgs. 1-4.

[24] “Clinic for Bankers Set,” Denver Post, March 12, 1969; “Public Invited to Real Estate Investment Seminar,” Denver Post, November 25, 1984; “Management,” Denver Post, November 20, 1969.

[25] “Commerce Honorary Inducts 13 at UK,” Lexington Herald, May 11, 1955.

[26] “UK Air Science Professor Wins Promotion,” Lexington Herald, January 20, 1955.

[27] University of Kentucky, “Kentuckian,” 1955, p. 96.

[28] “University of Kentucky General Photographic Prints,” database, http://exploreuk.uky.edu (accessed July 5, 2018). Entry for Robert L. Able.

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