| Bobby McMahan |
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Bob was born on July 22, 1933 in Bloom, KS and passed away December 4, 2018 in Gainesville, GA at the age of 85. After graduating from high school, Bob heard his first call to service and enlisted in the Army in January 1953. He completed Ranger School in 1955 in one of the earliest classes During his distinguished 20-year army career, Bob served two tours in combat in Vietnam, one year in Korea and four years in Germany. In addition to Ranger and Airborne schools, he attended Mountain and Cold Weather Training at Ft. Carson, CO, Pathfinder School, the Jungle Operations Training Course in Panama and the Jump Master Course among others. Bob's military awards and decorations include the Bronze Star, Purple Heart Medal, five awards of the Good Conduct Medal, Combat Infantry Badge, Permanent Aircraft Crewman Badge, Pathfinder Badge and, of course, the Ranger Tab. Bob was known as an outstanding mountaineering instructor who was always called upon to share his expertise with those newly assigned to the committee - centralized training at that time - no companies like today. He was also highly proficient as a patrolling Ranger Instructor who neither had nor needed a GPS device to navigate through the North Georgia Mountains. He was a role mode whose skills and achievements were qualities that a newly minted Captain could look upon with admiration and aspiration. After retiring from the Army in 1973, Bob again heard a clarion call to service - this time with the Halt County Sheriff's Department. The same qualities of leadership, discipline and attention to detail that served him so well in the military enabled him to rise rapidly through the Sheriff's Department hierarchy - from patrolman to Sergeant and Shift Supervisor to Lieutenant. Bob was responsible for creating the first SWAT team for the Hall County Sheriff's office. He personally supervised their initial selection, organization and training and molded them into a highly effective unit. Bob was a charter member of the U.S. Mountain Ranger Association and an inspiration to us all. He will be sorely missed. |
