Robert was born and raised on a farm in rural Ohio where he learned early the value of hard work and discipline.  From a very young age shooting, hunting and the outdoors truly became a way of life for him.  Always being somewhat of a thrill-seeker, while in his mid-teens the Law Enforcement profession sparked his interest.  After graduating high school in 2000 he went immediately into a 2 year Police Academy Program.  It was also at this time that he began actually competing in Practical shooting competitions.  At present Robert is now a 2-time World and 16-time National Champion across 3 disciplines of Practical/Combat shooting.  Besides this he has also been a Police Officer for over 10 years.  Eight and a half of those years were spent as a full-time street cop while also being a member of the Counties joint department SWAT team.  During that tenure he was as well one of the Departments and SWAT teams firearms instructors.

Some other of Roberts highlights/experiences include:

-Police Academy Valedictorian

-Overall winner of over 70 State, National and World Championship matches

-2-Time member of USA Mens IPSC Gold team (Indonesia and Greece)

-Has shot matches and conducted classes/demonstrations in over 20 states and 6 foreign countries

-First Law Enforcement Officer of any kind to win a USPSA  Handgun National Championship

-In the International Defensive Pistol Association (20,000+ current members) is the only person to have won a National Championship in all 3 auto pistol divisions making him the only person to achieve the rank of 3 time “Distinguished Master”.

-Is the only person to have won the Open “Professional” division at the National level Pro-Am match with an iron sighted limited division pistol.

-Has been featured as a guest “Expert” on the History Channel show “Top Shot”

-Is featured in 3 instructional DVDs

-Has a “Vogel Trigger system” available for Glock Pistols

-Has written articles for several National publicized gun magazines

Along with all this Robert has a deep and undying passion for excellence in shooting.  While capable of having both a competitive and tactical point of view he is always trying to stay on the cutting edge of what is happening in the shooting world.  He strives hard to maintain a realistic approach to everything and believes strongly the most important skill is “performance when it counts.”  As of May 2012 Robert went from full-time Law Enforcement to part-time in order to focus more on his shooting/instructing career.