The steadfast service of a reserve officer

Sometimes men and women are called  to the front lines to serve their country. Other times, they are asked to serve behind the scenes in ways that few people ever recognize. They don’t do it for the recognition though. They do it because it is the right thing to do. At least that’s Rob McWhorter’s story. 
McWhorter moved around the country a lot as a child. His father worked for a potato chip company out of Indiana, opening up new territory for the company. 
“So I went to three grade schools, three high schools and three colleges,” said McWhorter. 
After graduating with a bachelor’s degree in General Experimental Psychology, McWhorter joined the United States Navy in May of 1969 at 22 years old. 
Serving in the military was part of McWhorter family history, and he said that definitely played a role in why he joined up. McWhorter’s father served in World War II as an electrician’s mate installing radars in San Diego, and his brother was a Navy pilot during the Vietnam War. 
“I thought that was cool, and I wanted to emulate him,” said McWhorter. 
While his brother served in Vietnam, McWhorter served in the Atlantic.
“My father was proud of us and was happy for it. My mom was a little bit trepidatious. So that had a lot to do with it. It was just expected. And 1969, when I went in, it was turbulent times, but I just felt I had to do it,” said McWhorter.
McWhorter was accepted into the United States Navy’s Officer Candidate School in Newport, R.I. From there, McWhorter was assigned to the Navy Supply Corps School in Athens, Ga.
“Turns out, it was a harder school than I thought it would be. It was harder than college. So I did that. I went to Norfolk, Virginia, waiting for a ship assignment, and then I was assigned to USS SEMMES (DDG-18), which is a guided missile destroyer out of Charleston, South Carolina,” said McWhorter. 
McWhorter was the assistant supply officer, which meant he did everything except repair parts. He managed ship store functions, ship services, dispersing and food service, “which food service for 320 guys actually turned out to be the hardest part of the job,” he said.
The first six months were challenging as the ship immediately went into dry dock, was refitted and a new crew was put together. In the meantime, McWhorter was left with very few workers and had to scramble to stay on top of things. 
From there, McWhorter traveled to Cuba, Europe, the Mediterranean and the Caribbean numerous times. 
At one time, McWhorter served on the flagship for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Standing Naval Forces. The foreign naval staff aboard included Canadian, Dutch, German and British members.
On the way home from that, McWhorter’s captain let him drive the ship. 
“I was not a ship driver. I was what you call a staff weenie, behind-the-scenes person. But the captain let me drive the ship a little bit on the way home. That was fun, because he knew I was getting out,” said McWhorter. “The captain spent quite a while trying to get me to stay in, but I didn’t want to. I wanted to go back and change the way I was headed.”
McWhorter got out in 1972 when the Vietnam War ended and joined a Naval Reserve Unit in Atlanta, Ga. 
“I realized this is a good part-time job, and so I stuck with it. From that, there were a number of stops along the way in my life,” said McWhorter. 
McWhorter was assigned as the Officer in Charge of a cargo handling detachment in Atlanta. He was also assigned to the Office of Naval Research in Arlington, Va.
“This was support to the Office of Naval Research, which is in Arlington, but they have an office in London, and I got to go to London for two weeks. The guy calls Saturday night. He says, ‘The other lieutenant has dropped out. I need you, and you’ve got to leave on Sunday.’ ‘OK, I’ll take it,’” said McWhorter. 
He was assigned to the Advance Supply Base in Birmingham, Ala., as well. 
In 1972, McWhorter also went back to graduate school, where he studied forestry. Out of school, McWhorter worked for the United States International Trade Commission, which used to be called the Tariff Commission. From there, he got a job with the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) in the Interior Department, starting in forestry and quickly moving to environmental. 
In 1981, McWhorter moved to Billings, Mont. There, McWhorter was assigned to the Naval Supply Depot in Yokosuka, Japan, which he said was his favorite unit. 
“That was really a good unit. Everybody in there worked really well. So every year in that unit, we went to Japan to the job that we would do upon activation. I would do this kind of job, which was the warehouse officer for the supply depot. The people in the unit would go right to that desk or right to that place. That’s how it worked,” said McWhorter.
McWhorter went to Japan five times while assigned to that unit. 
“What you do in the reserves is, every year you’re obligated to do a two-week training of some sort. Now it sounds rinky-dink, but it’s actually difficult, because you go to a strange place, this commanding officer says, ‘I want this product,’ and you’ve got to figure out how to produce that product,” said McWhorter. “I already had an interest in Japanese culture, so it was an ideal assignment for me.” 
McWhorter was the Officer in Charge, although his rank was too high for a unit of that size. He said everything ran smoothly, and everyone was promoted at least once while he was in charge. 
“At least once a month or once a quarter we would fly to Seattle and work in the supply department in Bremerton. That was quite a logistics. It made for a late couple of nights,” said McWhorter.
As for his career with BLM, McWhorter worked in the environmental shop in Billings for about a year before he was assigned to Miles City, Mont., as the chief of environment planning. During his career, McWhorter was involved as either the project leader or significant person on 10 environmental impact statements. 
“That’s a big number for a typical person, and it was interesting,” said McWhorter. 
McWhorter later headed to Alaska, where he stayed for the remainder of his career. Out of Anchorage, McWhorter was assigned as a commander of a convoy and later to a voluntary training unit. 
McWhorter said, “My happiest moment was when the guy from the readiness command, which is a regional coordination center, called me and said, ‘Good morning, Captain.’ And I said, ‘Well, no, I’m not a captain.’ ‘Yes, you are.’ That was my happiest day. I didn’t deserve it. I never expected it.” 
As a captain, McWhorter was assigned to a voluntary training unit and was a Naval Liaison Officer for Alaska attached to the Alaska National Guard. 
“I was able to get a job as the liaison person with the state of Alaska. Initially, that was with the National Guard. My purpose would have been if they had a really big disaster to facilitate bringing naval resources to help them. And then I got a position with the Alaskan command, which is a great, big sub-unified command,” said McWhorter. “I was signed as the Principal Emergency Preparedness Liaison Officer, because all the services provided colonels and captains to this little group, and I was kind of the leader of that.” 
As far as he knows, McWhorter was the only reservist in the nation to ever be designated as a Defense Coordinating Officer. 
“This is the person who sits next to FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) for the whole military, not just the Navy,” said McWhorter. 
“My last thing I did in the military was sit next to FEMA when Y2K day happened, and nothing happened. It was an appropriate finish to my career,” said McWhorter. “I retired on January the first of 2000, and it was a relief really, because it’s an extra job. It really is. And I was an officer in charge in two units and the commanding officer in one unit. Reserves doesn’t sound hard, but it can be a real interference with day-to-day living and other plans.”
From there, McWhorter continued to work for BLM for three more years before retiring. In 2017 and 2018, he and his wife of 40 years, Lea Anne, began the process of moving to Custer. Lea Anne was born and raised in Custer, and they had visited the area numerous times to see family. 
“It was not a real hard decision once we decided to do it,” said McWhorter. 
Since moving to Custer, McWhorter has been involved with the Rotary Club of Custer, American Legion Post No. 46, Meals on Wheels, The Storehouse and the Custer County Republicans. 
When asked what it means to him to be a veteran, McWhorter said, “It means I stepped up when there was an apparent need. That’s all. I did what I had to do and finished the course.” 
In reflecting on Veterans Day, McWhorter said, “It’s just simply a day to recognize those who wore the uniform and stepped up, and some of whom were true heroes. Not me, but they were. I’m sure there’s nothing like having bullets zinging by your ears and bombs and grenades and all that going off. I never experienced that. But I was thinking this morning that the words to ‘America the Beautiful,’ all of that is possible because of those guys who protected it and stood up. That’s what it means.”
To the other veterans in the community, McWhorter said to be sure to come to the Custer School District Veterans Day Program Nov. 11 at the Armory at 2 p.m.
“Take a bow, so to speak, because you deserve it,” said McWhorter.