For Army Reservist, 3rd Retirement is the Hardest
Fayetteville (N.C.) Observer | Dec 22, 2014 | by Drew Brooks
For the third time in more than 40 years, Bob Jangro is leaving the Army.
But this time, he said, the decision will stick.
Jangro, the U.S. Army Reserve safety director, said goodbye to friends and co-workers at a ceremony on Fort Bragg last week.
A retired Army aviator who went on to serve more than 22 years as an Army civilian, Jangro was praised for his leadership and compassion while helping bring accidents within the Reserve to an all-time low.
Under his direction, the Army Reserve received last year's Army Headquarters Safety Award from the secretary of the Army and the Army chief of staff.
It was the first time in the Reserve's history it had received the honor.
Maj. Gen. Luis R. Visot, the Army Reserve Command chief of staff, said Jangro's legacy would live on long after he leaves the building.
Jangro, who also is a bishop in the Old Catholic Church, will now dedicate his time to his faith and hopes to start a parish in Fayetteville, Georgia.
"Two people told me to leave," Jangro said. "God and my wife."
"The calling has always been there," he said of his renewed focus on his faith. "Hopefully, I'm not too old to start anew."
Speaking in an empty office days before his retirement ceremony, Jangro recounted the circuitous career that brought him to Army Reserve Command.
A native of Scotia, New York, he enlisted in the Army in 1971 after losing his draft deferment once he quit school.
Jangro served three years as an air traffic controller at Fort Rucker, Alabama, and Seoul, South Korea, before leaving the military.
But he returned to the force six months later, this time as a warrant officer and helicopter pilot.
Through 1991, Jangro flew several helicopters for the Army.
He flew medical supply missions in a CH-47 Chinook helicopter in Honduras and later served as an extra while piloting an AH-64 Apache for the 1990 movie "Fire Birds," starring Nicholas Cage and Tommy Lee Jones.
After retiring in 1991 as a chief warrant officer 4, Jangro again returned to serve, this time as a civilian.
He later held the position of command safety director for the 10th Mountain Division at Fort Drum, New York, for nine years before serving in safety positions for U.S. Army Pacific Command in Hawaii and then U.S. Army Forces Command.
Jangro moved to his most recent position four years ago, shortly before U.S. Army Reserve Command moved to Fort Bragg from Fort McPherson, Georgia.
"I've had a fabulous career," Jangro said, particularly praising his time at Army Reserve Command. "It is the best job I ever had because it's the easiest."
Jangro said the command safety office is in good hands but admitted the third time leaving the Army has been the hardest.
"It's going to be hard leaving friends," he said.
Jangro has a combined 42 years of service in the Army. That time was honored by several awards at his retirement ceremony, including the Meritorious Civilian Service Award and the Directorate of Army Safety Composite Risk Management Award.
Officials said Jangro helped save numerous lives, with the Army Reserve cutting the number of fatal training accidents in half and significantly reducing off-post accidents.
Those gains led to the Armywide safety award, which the Army Reserve received for the 2013 fiscal year.
http://www.military.com/daily-news/2014/12/22/for-army-reservist-3rd-retirement-is-the-hardest.html"We are quite proud of it," Jangro said.
