My name is Robert Taylor. My father served 23 years in the Air Force, but I've lived most of my life in Tucson, Arizona. I decided to join the Air Force when I was 19 years old. After going through basic and technical training, I was assigned to Luke AFB, Arizona as a Munitions Systems Specialist. I was stationed there for three years before I was sent to Kunsan AB, South Korea for a one year tour. Then, I was stationed at Tyndall AFB, Florida for three years before being assigned to Misawa AB, Japan. Misawa was my last duty station as an active duty member and it was also a turning point in my life. The job satisfaction I once had wasn't there anymore. I decided to accept an early separation incentive, as part of the drawdown, and became a civilian after 10 years of service. I had also met an active duty Navy cryptologic technician who would become my wife (click this link then look for Lisa Taylor near the bottom of the page) and best friend.

Lisa and I moved to Monterey, California (a great place to get married) where she was assigned to the Defense Language Institute. We have three children; James (13 years old), Megan (9 years old), Brian (8 years old). Monterey is also where I started taking college classes. I was skeptical about my success in college because the last time I had been in school was 12 years prior to this. But, after my first year, I managed to do fine with a GPA of 3.54. After 18 months, we were sent to sunny southern Spain. We've been in Rota, Spain for two years and have one to go. Our apartment (in this case, my classroom) is located on the beach right above the main boardwalk. The giant living room window gives us a spectacular view of the ocean and I never take a sunset for granted. I'm a full time student at the University of Maryland University College with a major in psychology and minor in management studies. I also do volunteer work in the physical therapy clinic and in the emergency room, as an emergency medical technician, at the Rota hospital. My educational goal is to finish my bachelors degree by the end of term five then apply to graduate schools to pursue a Master's Degree in Physical Therapy.

When I'm not involved with some type of college work (very unusual) or at the hospital, I like to rock climb, scuba dive, snowboard, camp, hike, and work out at the gym. I love to do "adrenaline sports" such as canyoning, puenting (Spanish for jumping off bridges), and skydiving. Lisa is a great companion because she's always willing to give it a try too. When we were deciding what to do for our honeymoon, we talked about taking an ocean cruise. We change our minds and decided to live on the wild side. Our ten-day honeymoon was spent hang gliding, horseback riding, skydiving, spelunking, rock climbing, and sea kayaking. Living in Europe opens up great opportunities to travel, which is another activity I enjoy. I've been to Germany three times where I've hiked from the town of Garmish to the top of the Zugspitze (it took nine hours to get to the top and the last cable car had already left--but that's another story), drove along the Rhine, and stood at Rhine Falls. From Germany, I've been able to go on day trips to Austria, Switzerland, France, and Liechtenstein. During the Christmas holiday, we traveled to Italy and saw Venice, Pisa, Rome, Pompeii, and San Marino. We took the train on our return trip back to Spain, and spent New Years in Monte Carlo.