Penn State Altoona presents Lieutenant Colonel Robert J. Darling

Friday, January 6, 2012 - 1358 hits

ALTOONA – Lieutenant Colonel Robert J. Darling will speak Thursday, February 9, 2012, at 7:30 p.m. in the Misciagna Family Center for Performing Arts.

Darling flew attack helicopters in Desert Shield and Desert Storm during the first Gulf War and in Somalia, Africa, in support of Operation Restore Hope. In June 1998, he was selected to fly as a presidential pilot with Marine Helicopter Squadron One and in October 2000, he was hand-picked to work for the White House Military Office, Airlift Operations Department. It was in that capacity that Darling supported the President, Vice President and National Security Advisor in the President's Emergency Operations Center (PEOC) on September 11, 2001. Darling witnessed first-hand the enormity of the crisis leadership decisions that were made that day on behalf of all Americans.

Darling is the author of 24 Hours Inside the President's Bunker, 9/11/01: The White House and is the president of Quantitative Analytics, LLC, an aviation operations and logistics company located in Virginia.

Free tickets are available at the Penn State Altoona Bookstore, at the box office in the Misciagna Family Center, or at the door on the evening of the program if not “sold out.”

This program is made possible by funding from the Division of Student Affairs, the Paul R. and Margery Wolf Kuhn Fund, the John and Ann Wolf Family Speakers Series Fund, the Sarah Simonton Endowment for Excellence, the Student Activity Fee, and Wolf Furniture.