NWSA Historian
Information from Aerograph, May 2007

CDR Don Cruse, USN RET  
 

LCDR ROBERT F. FREEMAN, USN (Ret)
NWSA President 1981-1982

Bob Freeman was born November 2, 1929, and shipped into the U.S. Navy on December 6, 1946.  His recruit training was at Naval Training Center Bainbridge, Maryland; and today he remains involved in their reunion activities.

After attending the Aviation Fundamentals School on Naval Air Station Jacksonville, Florida, Bob proceeded to the Aerographer’s Mate (A) School on Naval Air Station Lakehurst, NJ and graduated in Class 4682.  Subsequent tours of duty at Naval Air Station Pensacola and Fleet Weather Central at Sangley Point, Republic of the Philippines enabled him to advance in rating to First Class.

Before returning to CONUS, Bob married Remedios Maria Quintana.  Their wedding was in Manila on December 2, 1950.  Eventually, Richie was to bear six children during their marriage.  Ordered to Naval Weather Service headquarters in The Pentagon for a two-year tour, Bob associated with Chief George Wall and Chief “Yag” Crawford, while they were detailing Aerographer’s Mates throughout the fleet.  It was traditional to have one “speedy” First Class in the Climatology Branch.

Bob was ordered from Washington to Sangley Point in 1954 for a two-year tour of duty, and from there back to Naval Air Station Lakehurst for Aerographer’s Mate Advanced Class (B School) in Class 5619, before reporting to the Naval Auxiliary Air Station in Beeville, Texas.  This billet entailed acting as an instructor in meteorology for naval aviation cadets who were transitioning through that phase of flight training.  He was commended for his outstanding demonstration of expertise and high level of dedication to the mission.

With his next move to Fleet Weather Facility Yokosuka, Japan, Bob became cross-trained as an ice forecaster, a skill area which later in his career was to become dominant.  In recognition of his high potential to the Navy, Bob was selected for promotion to Limited Duty Officer, and then transferred to Lakehurst after attending the mandatory “knife & fork school” on NAS Pensacola.

Within the Naval Air Technical Training Unit on NAS Lakehurst, Bob became Director of the various schools specializing in Meteorology and Oceanography.  He was promoted to Lieutenant and served as director until 1965, when orders took him and his family to Kodiak, Alaska.  Within the Fleet Weather Central, Bob functioned as the Director of Sea Ice Services, becoming responsible for all aspects of the ice observing and forecasting program for the Military Establishment in the Alaskan area.  This entailed heavy concentration and reliance on aerial ice reconnaissance.  He earned his Naval Observer wings.

Returning to the “Lower Forty-eight” in 1967, Bob reported to the Naval Oceanographic Office in Suitland, Maryland and became Director of the Aerial Ice Reconnaissance Unit.  A large commitment of time went to the training of ice observers.  He continued to participate in frequent training and operational flights.  There were also pre-deployment and on-board weather and ice briefings for under-ice operations.  Liaison and coordination was maintained with the broader international sea ice community.

Similar responsibilities were carried out when Bob was promoted to LCDR and transferred to the Fleet Weather Central Suitland where he established the Global Sea Ice Forecasting Department.   He retired from that billet on June 30, 1974 and moved into the civilian world where the same ice information was critical to many arctic and Antarctic operations.

Bob worked with Sea Ice Consultants, Inc. and with Ocean Data Systems, Inc. until 1980, doing consulting, research, and forecasting in his specialized area of expertise.  He retired after a fulfilling career in his specialized area.

CDR Don Cruse USN RET