#VeteranOfTheDay Air Force Veteran Roberta Pike-Oates

Today’s #VeteranOfTheDay is Air Force Veteran Roberta “Bobi” Pike-Oates, who served for 23 years and retired as a senior master sergeant.

Although she “didn’t think she’d make it [for] four years” in the Air Force, Roberta “Bobi” Pike-Oates has successfully pursued a 23-year career in the branch, serving in several influential positions. She first joined the Air Force in 1976, when she was stationed in Texas to complete basic training at Lackland Air Force Base and tech school in Sheppard Air Force Base.

Oates was stationed abroad immediately after training, moving to Torrejón Air Force Base in Spain, where she served until April 1979. Back in the U.S., she served for 11 years at Williams Air Force Base, Arizona. During that time, she was promoted to sergeant, staff sergeant and technical sergeant. She then returned to Texas to serve in flight screening before being stationed in Korea in 1992. When she returned, she spent the remainder of her career stationed in Nevada at Nellis Air Force Base and Creech Air Force Base.

At Creech Air Force Base, Oates was chosen to serve as production superintendent of the 11th Reconnaissance Squadron, the first Remote Piloted Aircraft Predator unit. In that role, she trained maintenance personnel at Fort Huachuca, Arizona, prior to deploying to Taszar, Hungary, in fall 1996 to support Operation Joint Endeavor, a NATO peacekeeping mission in Bosnia. Oates’s deployments abroad also extended to service at Incirlik Air Force Base in Turkey in support of Operation Provide Comfort, which was initiated after the Gulf War to provide relief efforts to Kurdish refugees.

After serving in several campaigns, states and nations, Oates retired from the Air Force in 1999 with the rank of senior master sergeant. Even after her retirement, though, she continued to serve her country. Remaining at Nellis Air Force Base, she worked as a branch manager at Armed Forces Bank for nine years. In 2014, she became the vice chairwoman of the Governor’s Women Veterans Advisory Committee. During her service in that role, she was also certified as a Nevada Veterans  advocate by the Nevada Department of Veterans Services and was recognized as Nevada Veteran of the Month in December 2015.

Currently, Oates serves as the vice president of Women Veterans of Nevada, vice chair of the United Veterans Legislative Council of Nevada and as West area director of the National Board of the Air Forces Association, of which she is a lifetime member. She is also a member of several other organizations, including the Women Veterans Alliance, Air Force Sergeants Association, and the Veterans of Foreign Wars. In 2017, she was inducted into the Meadows Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution.

We honor her service.

Nominate a Veteran for #VeteranOfTheDay

Do you want to light up the face of a special Veteran? Have you been wondering how to tell your Veteran they are special to you? VA’s #VeteranOfTheDay social media feature is an opportunity to highlight your Veteran and his/her service.

It’s easy to nominate a Veteran. All it takes is an email to newmedia@va.gov with as much information as you can put together, along with some good photos. Visit our blog post about nominating to learn how to create the best submission.

Writer: Khaled Maalouf

Editors: Cate Manning, Marisa Bunton

Graphic Designer: Kiki Kelly