Lt Col Robert M. Chambers was born in Oceanside, California on 22 October 1956 to George and Joyce Chambers. As the oldest son of a career Marine, Lt Col Chambers called many places home until his fathers retirement in the early 70s. He graduated from Dougherty High School in Albany Georgia in 1974 and Valdosta University in 1978. After graduation in 1978, Lt Col Chambers moved back to northern California where he ultimately joined the Air Force in August 1980. His first assignment in the Air Force was as a Missile Combat Crew Member at Ellsworth AFB in Rapid City South Dakota. He was assigned to the 68th Strategic Missile Squadron, 44th Strategic Missile Wing where he served in several different roles culminating with his selection and tour as a Flight Commander Wanting to transition out of the missile career field, Lt Col Chambers applied for and was accepted into the Education with Industry (EWI) program. He spent ten months working with industry at Lockheed Martin in Sunnyvale California, where he experienced the commercial aspects of the acquisition process. After graduating from the EWI program, Lt Col Chambers was assigned to Space Division at Los Angeles AFB. For the next six years he held numerous positions as a Price Analyst, Contracting Officer and Contracting Team Chief supporting various space programs. In 1992 Lt Col Chambers was assigned to Air Force Special Projects and a year later moved to the Washington D. C. area. During the next seven and a half years, Lt Col Chambers served in several supervisory positions within the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO). From 1993 to 1995 he was the Operations Contracts Team Chief in the Imagery Directorate. He then moved to the Communications Directorate and served as the Contacts Team Chief in the Data Communications Group. He moved back to the Imagery Directorate in January of 1998 and until his retirement, served as the Director, Imagery Systems Contracts. Lt Col Chambers is a graduate of Air War College, Air Command and Staff College, Squadron Officers School, and Defense Systems Management College. He has been awarded the Defense Meritorious Service Medal with one oak leaf cluster, the Meritorious Service Medal, the Joint Service Commendation Medal, the Air Force Commendation Medal, the Joint Meritorious Unit Award, the Air Force Organizational Excellence Award with one oak leaf cluster, the Combat Readiness Medal, and the National Defense Service Medal.