Robert Kilmartin, US Army, enlisted in 1994, attained the rank of SSG, and then later graduated Officer Candidate School. He has a BA from the University of Connecticut and an MBA from Columbia Southern.
He has served in numerous Combat Arms leadership capacities over the last 20 years, with both conventional and unconventional Special Operations Forces (SOF), lastly returning from deployment leading a SOF CA Team within the most kinetic region in Afghanistan, executing 169 dismounted combat patrols where he conducted Counter Insurgency and Village Stability Operations along with ODA teams and Infantry elements in Zhari and Maiwand District, Kandahar Province, Afghanistan, until he was Medevac’d July 2012 after numerous exposures to IED blasts and direct ground combat while taking small arms fire with enemy forces.
He was awarded over 23 citations to include multiple medals: the Legion of Merit, multiple Bronze Star and Meritorious Service Medals as well as two Purple Heart Medals; one received on 29DEC11, the other 20MAR12. Duty locations include all over the United States, Germany, Korea, and the Middle East and has deployed to Kuwait, Iraq and Afghanistan. Since returning to the United States, he has been a patient at the Tampa VA Poly Trauma Center, released as an outpatient where he works with advocates at SOCOM Care Coalition, various charities, and the Tampa VA as the Military Order of The Purple Heart Volunteer Service coordinator to organize adaptive sports events.
During his rehabilitation, he has participated in many local events focused on Golf, shooting, BJJ, and has participated in the DOD Warrior games in 2015 and 2016. He is currently enrolled in Stetson University College of Law and lives in the Tampa area with his wife Christina and his four children.