Board of Directors
Robert D. Chelberg
LTGEN, USA (Ret.)
President
General Chelberg was born September 1, 1938, in Ironwood, Michigan. After leaving the Upper Peninsula of Michigan when he was 19, he graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York, with a Bachelor of Science degree in 1961. Later in his military career he earned a Masters of Business Administration degree from New Mexico State University. Based on academic achievements, he is a member of the Phi Eta Sigma and Phi Kappa Phi honor societies. He has attended all the normal military educational schools including the National War College in Washington, D.C. General Chelberg has been listed in the Marquis editions of Who’s Who in America since 1993, and Who’s Who in the World since 2007.
He has held numerous positions of increasing responsibility in the U.S. Army during his 32-year career. The command positions include: an eight-inch howitzer battery; a headquarters and headquarters battery at a corps artillery level; a direct support 155 millimeter field artillery battalion; an artillery group in Turkey; and he served as the Deputy Commanding General at Fort Jackson, SC, the Army’s largest training center. His unit staff assignments include two tours in Vietnam where he served as the operations officer of three different battalions, and in the U.S. as the operations officer of a division artillery staff. In Washington, D.C. he served in the military personnel assignment center, then as a special project officer for the Army Chief of Staff, and also as a Deputy to the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Military Personnel Policy.
After leaving his first General’s appointment at Fort Jackson in 1986, he held the position of Executive to the Supreme Allied Command Europe (SACEUR). He then served as the Chief Defense Planner in the Supreme Headquarters of Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE), the headquarters for all the military forces of NATO in Europe. During this period of duty, the Cold War ended and the communist wall came down. In September 1990, he was reassigned to the NATO International Staff in Brussels, Belgium, to serve as a Special Advisor to the NATO Secretary General. He was promoted to Lieutenant General in January 1991, and then served as the Chief of Staff, U.S. European Command (EUCOM) in Stuttgart, Germany. During his time at EUCOM, the command participated in Desert Storm, Operation Provide Comfort to save the Kurdish people in Northern Iraq, and numerous relief and rescue contingency operations in Africa.
General Chelberg retired on July 31, 1993 and subsequently assumed the duties of the Deputy Director of the George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies. The school was developed in conjunction with the German Government to teach students from the former WARSAW Pact Nations and from the Commonwealth of Independent States. For his performance at the Marshall Center, General Chelberg was presented with the Decoration for Exceptional Civilian Service.
His military decorations include: the Defense Distinguished Service Medal; the Army Distinguished Service Medal; two Defense Superior Service Medals; the Legion of Merit; five Bronze Stars; two Meritorious Service Medals; ten Air Medals; three Army Commendation Medals; and the Presidential Unit Citation (Navy).
General Chelberg was named the 1986 Outstanding Alumnus of Lake Superior State University, and he was presented the Distinguished Eagle Scout Award in 1990. He was inducted into the New Mexico State University Business School Hall of Fame in 2001.
After military and civilian service of 34 years, General Chelberg has worked for a U.S. defense contractor in Europe and the U.S. He returned from Europe in 1998 and resided in Aiken, South Carolina. He has served as a Senior Fellow at the Joint Forces Staff College in Norfolk, Virginia 2001 to 2010. In January 2003, General Chelberg accepted the position of Program Manager for the Defense Threat Reduction Agency Field Office located in Belgium. This office had the responsibility of working Weapons of Mass Destruction issues with NATO and the US European Command. He returned from Europe in 2006 and now he and his wife, Victoria, reside in North Palm Beach, Florida.
General Chelberg, has been with Wounded Veterans Relief Fund for over 9 years and has served as the Board President for the last 6 years. Wounded Veterans Relief Fund (WVRF) is a nonprofit organization, whose mission is to provide temporary emergency financial assistance and professional services to qualified, disabled veterans residing in Florida. In WVRF’s 11 years of existence, they have provided monetary assistance and services to 10,000+ Florida veterans and their families, delivered $5 million+ in direct financial assistance and raised awareness about the difficulties our men and women are experiencing when transitioning out of the military into civilian life.
When WVRF originated, they only serviced post 911 veterans whereas today they are serving all era veterans, from WWII to present day. The organization has also initiated a new pilot dental program in 2020, providing emergency dental assistance to qualified veterans in need in Palm Beach County which has already saved two veterans lives. This organization received the Community Hero’s Assistance Award from the Military Officers Association of America in October 2015. General Chelberg’s tireless efforts to fill the gap in the fight against veteran homelessness has resulted in thousands of Florida veterans and their families avert becoming homeless. General Chelberg continues to be a major advocate for veterans and their families as well as a strong leader for the WVRF Board members.