'Great leader, great friend': Former Eglin commander Maj. Gen. Robert 'ChedBob' Chedister has died

EGLIN AFB — Retired Air Force Maj. Gen. Robert Chedister, who commanded the former Air Armament Center at Eglin Air Force Base in the early 2000s and spent his subsequent retirement in community service with the Emerald Coast Military Affairs Council (MAC) and in other arenas, has died, according to a Tuesday announcement from the base.

Frequently insisting that he be called by his nickname "ChedBob," which he acquired while growing up in his native Arkansas, Chedister was remembered Wednesday as "a great guy in all ways" by longtime friend Doug Hardin, a retired Air Force colonel who worked with Chedister on the Emerald Coast Military Affairs Council, a liaison between the area's military, business and civilian communities.

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Another longtime friend, Paul Hsu of the HSU Innovation Institute and the HSU Educational Foundation, called Chedister "a great leader and a great friend."

"If you didn't know he was a two-star general, you'd never know he was a general," Hsu said Wednesday, remembering the frequent breakfasts he and others enjoyed at a Crestview restaurant with Chedister, who would help the wait staff clear their table when they were finished.

Hsu is also a great admirer of the leadership style that Chedister employed at Eglin.

"He delegated the responsibility to his people," Hsu said. "He trusted them dearly."

Chedister recognized there were many different ways to approach any given problem, Hsu continued, so he "let them have the freedom of deciding how to get from Point A to Point B" with little guidance other than telling them "I want you to get from this point to this point by 2 o'clock this afternoon."

"His leadership really kind of touched my heart," Hsu added.

Hardin also admired Chedister's approach to leadership, saying "he was one of those people who took care of his people. He led from the front."

According to Hardin, Chedister got involved in the community "right away" after his 2005 retirement from the Air Force.

He was the driving force behind bringing the Fisher House, which provides a “home away from home” for military families to be together when their service member is being treated for illness or getting physical or occupational therapy, to Eglin.

"You knew when he was in the room," Hardin said. "He had a test pilot background. ... He was a big man, a big personality." Shying away from formal titles, Hardin recalled, "He'd say, 'I'm ChedBob.' "

According to Hsu, Chedister had "a charisma that kind of drew people. People liked to be around him. ... He was such a personal, personal guy. If you talked to him, you loved him. You wanted to work for him."

And, Hsu said, Chedister "always wanted to help."

Hsu also took time Wednesday to share a personal memory of Chedister, with whom he often went hunting near Crestview. The first time he went turkey hunting with Chedister and other friends, Hsu was so inexperienced that he was assigned to a tree stand and use a turkey call to lure birds toward the hunting party.

It was a job Hsu undertook enthusiastically, blowing the call frequently until he heard Chedister, some distance away, yell at him to "Shut up!"

"He was so mad, he couldn't stand it," an amused Hsu recounted. "He took the turkey call away from me."

Fort Walton Beach restaurateur Tom Rice was also among those remembering Chedister this week.

"His enthusiasm was just amazing," Rice said.

Chedister also maintained a keen interest in the lives of the people he knew, according to Rice.

"He was just very interested in your success," he said.

Funeral arrangements for Chedister remained pending as of midday Wednesday.

Born in Hazen, Arkansas, Chedister entered the Air Force as a distinguished graduate of the University of Arkansas ROTC program, where he earned a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering, according to his official Air Force biography. He also held a master's degree in electrical engineering from the Air Force Institute of Technology and a second master's degree in management from Troy State University. Additionally, he was a graduate of the Industrial College of the Armed Forces.

At Eglin, where he served from 2001 until his retirement in 2005, Chedister was the Air Force Program Executive Officer for Weapons in addition to serving as commander of the Air Armament Center, which had responsibility for development, acquisition, testing and deployment of all air-delivered weapons for the Air Force, in addition to planning, directing and conducting tests and evaluation of U.S. and allied air armament, navigation, guidance and command and control systems.

The center was deactivated in 2012, and its functions merged into the 96th Test Wing, now the host unit at Eglin.

Chedister's career in the Air Force began in 1972 with pilot training before he went on to serve as a test squadron commander, deputy commander of operations for a test wing, systems program director for a major weapon system, test center commander and program executive officer.

He was a command pilot with more than 3,000 flying hours as a fighter pilot and test pilot, having flown the F-4, F-15, F-16 and F-117 fighter jets, among numerous other aircraft in the Air Force inventory.

Chedister's honors include the Distinguished Service Medal, the Legion of Merit with oak leaf cluster, the Defense Meritorious Service Medal, the Meritorious Service Medal with four oak leaf clusters and the Air Force Commendation Medal with two oak leaf clusters.

This article originally appeared on Northwest Florida Daily News: Former Eglin commander Maj. Gen. 'ChedBob' Chedister has died