Bob Merkel » 2024-2025 Welcome to Another Great Year!

2024-2025 Welcome to Another Great Year!

This is my sixteenth year teaching at Thomasville High School, and I'm very excited!
 
I strive to "reach and teach" all of our students to prepare them
for post-high school education, a career, or military service.
Your 3 E's
Continue your EDUCATION
Seek gainful EMPLOYMENT
ENLIST in our Military
 
The Army Values are very important to me and I strive to live them every day.
Loyalty, Duty, Respect, Selfless Service, Honor, Integrity, and Personal Courage
 
For specific JROTC curricular resources, please visit our JROTC webpage.
 
Please feel free to contact me
Classroom Phone ... (336) 474-4321
 
 
 
 
A little about from where I come ...
 

I was born in Elizabeth, New Jersey.  In 1987, I graduated from the Virginia Military Institute with a Bachelor of Arts degree in History as a Distinguished Military Graduate and was commissioned a Second Lieutenant in the Ordnance Corps. I hold a Master of Science degree in Logistics Management from the Florida Institute of Technology and a Master of Arts degree in Educational Leadership from Queens University of Charlotte.  I also hold a North Carolina secondary school administrator's license.  My military education includes the US Army Command and General Staff College, Basic and Advanced Munitions Materiel Management Courses, Support Operations Officer Course, Explosive Ordnance Disposal Course, and Airborne School.  In our Army, I served as an Explosive Ordnance Disposal Officer, a Logistics Officer, an Ammunition Officer, and as a proud Paratrooper in the 82nd Airborne Division.

 

In 2009, I retired from the US Army after 22 years of service and immediately started teaching JROTC at Thomasville High School.  This is my fifteenth year serving alongside our Bulldog Cadets.  As a Soldier, I served in many units around the world and in the United States.  As an Explosive Ordnance Disposal Officer, I served in the Republic of Korea, Chicago IL, Fort Meade MD, Atlanta GA, and Fort Bragg NC.  As a logistics and ammunition officer, I served in the Republic of Korea, Goldsboro NC, and Fort Bragg NC.  I have deployed to combat during Desert Storm, Restore Hope (Somalia), and Iraqi Freedom (three tours).  My awards and decorations include the Legion of Merit, Bronze Star, Meritorious Service Medal, Army Commendation Medal, and Army Achievement Medal, as well as the Master Explosive Ordnance Disposal and Parachutist badges.

 

My spouse and I have been happily married since 1992; Ann is a Senior Vice President for Hanes Brands, Incorporated.  We live in Winston Salem, NC where we are raising our eighteen year old son, Isaac, who is Freshman at Tulane University.