By Brad Dison
Robert Norman was born in Daytona, Florida, in October 1942. He grew up loving animals and nature. As a child, he raised a baby alligator in the family bathtub. For unknown reasons, he quit school and went to work with his father, Jack, as a carpenter. After an accident with a saw in which he cut off the tip of his left index finger, Robert lost what little desire he had for woodwork.
In late 1960 or early 1961, 18-year-old Robert joined the Air Force. He was initially stationed at a base in Florida, but, at six-foot-two, with flat feet, and an uncompleted high school education, Robert was not eligible to become a pilot. Instead, his superiors assigned him to a desk job as a medical records technician. In 1963, Robert was transferred to Eielson Air Force Base, about 25 miles from Fairbanks, Alaska. Robert had spent all of his life in warm and cozy Florida. The frigid environment in Alaska was in complete contrast to what he had known in Florida. Robert said he was 21 years old when he saw snow for the first time. He said later that Alaska, “has some of the most beautiful mountain scenery that I’d ever seen.”
Through the years, Robert earned numerous promotions. He eventually became a military training instructor, what most of us refer to as a drill instructor. To supplement his Air Force income and as a means to escape, he took a second job as a bartender and spent hours staring at the snow-covered mountains. “I was the guy who makes you scrub the latrine, the guy who makes you make your bed, the guy who screams at you for being late to work,” Robert explained. “The job requires you to be a mean, tough person, and I was fed up with it.” Robert was good at his job and earned the nickname “Bust ‘em up Bobby.” He said later, “I promised myself that if I ever got away from it, I wasn’t going to be that way anymore.” He hated the person he had to be at work, a “mean, tough person.” In 1981, after 20 years of service, Robert, then a master sergeant, decided he had had enough. He retired and was determined to never raise his voice again. He also abandoned the clean-cut hairstyle required by the military.
Based on classes he took while in the Air Force, Robert found a new vocation. He began teaching in 30-minute episodes which were broadcast on public television (PBS). He unexpectedly became a cultural phenomenon. Unlike his years screaming at fresh recruits during boot camp, Robert became known for his voice which was “so soothing that its effect was once compared to Demerol.” Robert taught the world to paint “pretty little mountains,” “happy little clouds,” and “happy little trees.” Thankfully, few people remember “Bust ‘em up Bobby,” but the world remembers Robert Norman “Bob” Ross and his television series entitled “the Joy of Painting.”
Sources:
1. The Republican (Springfield, Massachusetts), July 15, 1995, p.49.
2. Blake Stilwell, “Famous Veteran: Bob Ross,” Military.com, May 31, 2013, accessed April 27, 2025, https://www.military.com/veteran-jobs/career-advice/military-transition/famous-veteran-bob-ross.html.
3. Sara Kettler, “How Bob Ross’s Time in the Air Force Inspired His Paintings,” Biography.com, June 4, 2020, accessed April 27, 2025, https://www.biography.com/artists/bob-ross-air-force.
4. “The Bob Ross Story,” Bob Ross, accessed April 27, 2025, https://experience.bobross.com/the-bob-ross-experience/.