NAL/PAA/UAL Capt. Robert Wayne Marcott

Dear friends of Capt. Bob Marcott   .... sharing this news of his passing...........

Robert Wayne Marcott (General - Retired)   ( July 24, 1949 - February 16, 2019 )

            Thank you,

                ~ Carol for the PCN 

 

- IN MEMORY -

NAL/PAA/UAL Captain Bob Marcott

DOB July 24, 1949      DOH Nov 1, 1977      DOD Feb 16, 2019

USAF Veteran-Brigadier General USAFR

 

Click below for Bob's extensive obituary. The second link is to Bob's guest book at Oakmont Funeral Home, which includes a more recent picture. Our thanks to Joe Orzeck for news of Bob's passing. 

 

click here for Bob's obituary  Brigadier_General_Robert_Marcott_version_2-2.docx  

Guestbook available at :

https://www.vacavillefunerals.com/guestbook/robert-marcott-general-retired

 

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Obituary:     Brigadier General Robert “Bob” Wayne Marcott was born in Wichita, KS on July 24, 1949.  He was the son of the late Melvin Francis Marcott and Bernice Dolores Nelson Marcott.  Bob grew up in the rural town of Burns, KS until 1956 when his family moved west to San Mateo, CA.  His high school years were consumed with his passion for baseball with Bob receiving the league’s Most Valuable Player Award in 1967 as a pitcher, the same year he graduated from Hillsdale High School.  He briefly considered a career in baseball and spent the summer travelling with a local baseball barnstorming team, but his true calling was to become a pilot.  In the fall of 1967 he began that journey at the College of San Mateo majoring in aeronautics.  Always goal oriented, he progressed rapidly earning private, commercial, flight instructor and multi-engine ratings.  He would often fly students to Vacaville’s Nut Tree Airport for lunch, not realizing that Vacaville would become his long-time home.  He received his Bachelor of Science Degree in Aeronautical Operations from San Jose State University in 1972 where he was a distinguished graduate of the Air Force Reserve Officers’ Training Corps Program.  He was commissioned a 2^nd Lieutenant in the United States Air Force on June 7, 1972. 

Bob began his Air Force aviation career at Reese AFB, TX, where he earned his Air Force wings flying the T-37 “Tweet” and the T-38 “Talon”.  Following Pilot Training, he relocated to Altus AFB, Oklahoma where he transitioned to the C-141 “Starlifter”.  His first assignment after training was to the 15^th Airlift Squadron (ALS), Norton AFB, CA where he flew the C-141 “Starlifter” to the four corners of the globe.  He served in the “plans branch” of the 15^th ALS, as a duty officer in the 63^rd Airlift Wing Control Center, and later on as an Airlift Control Element (ALCE) Commander for Red Flag at Nellis AFB, NV.  In 1976, Bob transferred from active duty to the Air Force Reserve, joining the 729^th ALS, Norton AFB, CA. 

In 1980, Bob joined the 708^th ALS, Travis AFB, CA where he continued his C-141 flying career.  In 1990, he was activated and served in Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm.  He was later appointed Chief Pilot of the 708^th ALS and served simultaneously as the Chairman of the 349^th Small Computer Working Group.  In 1996, Bob was selected as Commander of the 710^th ALS.  His duties included integrating the 708^th ALS into the 710^th ALS.  On November 15, 1997, the 710^th ALS was formally deactivated, ending the C-141 mission at Travis AFB and Bob’s twenty-five-year career flying the C-141.  He continued his affiliation with the 349^th Air Mobility Wing as Assistant Director to the 349^th Operations Group Commander.  He was promoted to Colonel in May 1998 and transferred to the 615^th Air Mobility Operations Group (AMOG), Travis AFB, where he served as the IMA to the Commander. 

In October 1998, Bob was appointed Vice Wing Commander of the 433^rd Airlift Wing, Kelly AFB, TX where he flew the C-5 “Galaxy”.  In December 2000, he was selected as the Mobilization Assistant to the J4, Director of Logistics, Engineering and Security Assistance, United States Pacific Command, Camp H. M. Smith, HI.  He was promoted to Brigadier General on October 18, 2002.  Throughout his years of service, General Marcott displayed unwavering devotion to duty, inspirational leadership, initiative and professionalism. 

Throughout the course of his military career, General Marcott was employed as a commercial pilot in the private sector.  He began his career with National Airlines in 1977 until its merger with Pan American World Airways in 1980 and flew for Pan Am until its demise in 1991.  In 1990, as a B-747 pilot, he was selected to fly as a member of the White House Press Charter crew for Pan Am.  He retired from United Air Lines as a San Francisco based Airbus 320 Captain in July 2014 after twenty-one years of service.  He briefly flew Gulfstream 200 jets in the corporate sector at the end of his flying career.  Bob logged more than 40,000 hours flight time from the combination of his military and civilian careers. 

General Marcott was a graduate of the Air Command and Staff College, the Reserve National Defense Course and Air War College.  He obtained a Master’s Degree in Aeronautical Science from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and a Fellowship in National Security Leadership from Syracuse University.

General Marcott’s awards included the Legion of Merit, Air Medal, Meritorious Service Medal, Vietnam Service Medal, Kuwait Liberation Medal and various other unit and campaign decorations. 

Bob had a keen interest in and served on the Board of Directors for the Center for Freedom and Flight, an air museum and armory located in Vacaville, CA.  He was honored to be a member of this board and looked forward to contributing to its continued growth and success.  He also served on the San Jose State Aviation Advisory Board where he helped develop curricula, career guidance programs and interview techniques for aspiring pilots.

Bob was a man of many interests, with unrelenting energy, who persevered in the toughest of times.  He was a master at setting goals and achieving them.  He did not have the best of luck with private sector employers as both Pan Am and United Air Lines went bankrupt!  He worked hard to overcome these obstacles and rebuild his career under difficult circumstances.  He was a true Renaissance man with a passion for life like no other and would try most anything at least once including flying a helicopter, (a difficult task for a fixed wing pilot!), scuba diving (he was night dive certified), golfing, sailing on San Francisco Bay, Western Saddle (he once owned a horse) and English Saddle horseback riding (he fell off the horse and that was the end of that!), acting as an “extra” in TV shows (be sure to see him in the upcoming season of the TV series “13 Reasons Why”), and he continued to play baseball in the Roy Hobbs League until his body said “Enough!”  He acted as a General Contractor for his own building project and aspired to grow grapes on his country property.  Bob travelled the world vacationing in Japan, Yugoslavia, Hungary, Viet Nam, Thailand and Cuba, and had travelled to every continent, including Antarctica.  He had planned an around the world trip including stops in Dubai, Oman, and Singapore.  His love, however, was always the Hawaiian Islands, Maui in particular, where Bob and his love, Gayle, enjoyed many happy times. 

And then there were Bob’s two nautical loves, both Chris Craft motor yachts. First, there was the thirty-five-foot Baby Bear and most recently, the Al Di La, his beloved fifty-foot Chris Craft that he finally found in Florida after three years of searching.  Always adventurous, he piloted the Al Di La from Florida’s gulf coast through the Okeechobee Waterway, down the Atlantic Intercoastal Waterway to Ft. Lauderdale where she was hoisted onto a ship, transported through the Panama Canal and unloaded in Ensenada, Mexico, quite a feat.  Bob then piloted her to her new home in San Diego where she still awaits her Captain Bob to return to her.

Always on modernization’s cutting edge, Bob embraced new technology and greater efficiency.  An avid reader and life long learner, he had the vision to understand how new technologies could benefit mankind.  He had the ability to cut through the small details and envision the final outcome and used this ability throughout his life.  Racing towards the future, he thought a Tesla would get him there in style.  So, yet another love, “Teela”, the Tesla came into his life.  While Teela was feeding at the local charging station, Bob was reading –  Wall Street Journals, of course, sometimes ten at a time!

He was quiet and humble with great compassion for his fellow man.  Few really knew him, his titles and accomplishments meant little to him.  To most people he was just Bob…not a pilot, not a General, just Bob.  He would often introduce himself as “Hi, my name is Bob, with one O.” He never brought attention to himself, always willing to let the other person shine...a rarity in today’s world.  He was sentimental and a man of great emotion, always wearing his heart on his sleeve and never afraid to cry with tears welling up in those beautiful, expressive, and kind blue eyes.  Possessing a deep moral conviction, he lived his life believing that one should give freely to others, asking nothing in return.  He lived by the word of God as he cared for his parents, his wife, his children and grandchildren, his mother-in-law, and even a dear elderly friend in need.  He did this in his own way, in his own style.    

Bob is survived by his loving wife, Gayle True Marcott, his son Michael A. Marcott (Kaylee) of Granbury, TX, daughter Michelle Medina (Johnnie) of San Diego, CA, his brother Mike Marcott (Linda) of Port Charlotte, FL, sister Cindy Macaluso (Jim) of Redmond, WA, adoring grandchildren, Nick, Brody, Cooper, Kylie, Aidan, Ethan, Rennlee, and many nieces and nephews.  Bob always said that the reason to have children is to have grandchildren.   

Bob… son, husband, father, grandfather, brother and friend…you will be forever missed.  There will always be a large hole in our hearts as you leave us longing for your presence just one more time.  We will forever miss your sweet voice and your peaceful ways.  What more can you say about this precious and beautiful life that was taken so soon, yet with so much more to give.  He was simply our Bob, our very special Bob.  We love you. 

Godspeed, my Sweet Bear.