IN FOCUS: Staff Sgt. Ross Robbins Published Oct. 16, 2012 By Senior Airman Crystal Charriere 419th Fighter Wing Public Affairs HILL AIR FORCE BASE, Utah -- Staff Sgt. Ross Robbins, 419th Maintenance Squadron, says he planned to join the military since he was young. At 19, he marched into an active duty Air Force recruiter's office, but was medically disqualified from enlisting because of an injury he sustained when he was four years old. Robbins did not back down easily. He said it took eight years of compiling medical records, medical waivers, 50 letters to congressmen, and meetings with recruiters and senators, but he was finally able to raise his hand to take the oath of enlistment when he joined the Air Force on Nov. 3, 2007. Why were you so determined to join the Air Force? I'm fifth-generation military. My father, uncle, both of my grandfathers, my great grandfather, my great, great grandfather, one of my cousins--we're all military. I think my family is just genetically predisposed to serve. Each one of them brought a certain aspect of the military to me, and I just took it all and made it part of myself. It's my family heritage. I had been dreaming about joining the Air Force for 15 years plus, and for someone to tell me "no" when I wanted to enlist was unacceptable. From early on, I knew I was going to be part of the military. I can't even picture my life without it. I'm here until they kick me out because this is who I am. If you hadn't been able to enlist, would you still be trying to join now? Right up to the point when I was no longer eligible because of age. The day before my birthday, I would still be banging on doors and blowing people's phones up. How long were you on active duty? A little over 2 1/2 years. Why did you decide to join the Reserve? I wanted to go back to school full time to study information technology specializing in security. With today's technology and the way businesses operate, it's an industry that's going to be around for the foreseeable future with a lot of job opportunities. Describe your job in the Air Force Reserve. My career field deals with most of the assets that either burn or explode in the Air Force inventory, from small arms assets like ammunition for the M9 or M16, all the way up to 4,000-pound bombs. It is my duty to transport the built assets from the munitions storage area to the flight line to be loaded onto aircraft. What is your favorite part of your job? My favorite part is all the things I've been able to experience and all the people I've met along the way. I love my job in the Reserve; I mean, where else can someone get trained and paid to work with explosives? Stay connected -- Join the 419th on Facebook and YouTube