Command Sergeant Major (RETIRED) Robert. B. Breck has dedicated his life to service. At 17, he joined the Arizona Army National Guard and spent the next 17 years with the Guard the Army Reserve. 

He was deployed during Operation Desert Shield/Storm with the Utah Army National Guard, and with the U.S. Army Reserve, supporting Operation Enduring Freedom. In 2015, Breck retired from the Utah Highway Patrol after more than 20 years.

Now, the Bountiful resident has a new opportunity to serve. In December 2022, he was appointed the newest Utah Army Reserve Ambassador where he will work as a volunteer liaison between the Reserve and the community. 

“In my career, I’ve been able to be part of so many wonderful organizations. I look back over my career and want to be able to utilize what I’ve learned,” he said. “For those of us who have served in the military, it gives us the opportunity to continue to serve our soldiers, just in a different environment and a different role.”

As an ARA, Breck will create connections with local and state government leaders and advocate for veterans. He’ll also educate the community to help them understand they have members of the Reserve available to support local causes. 

Breck also wants to highlight the educational opportunities available including the Minuteman Scholarship which offers recruits a four-year scholarship that covers tuition and fees. Breck will also campaign for veterans to get priority when applying for jobs.

“When a veteran applies for a job, it’s about the discipline that comes with it,” Breck said. “It’s about the knowledge and attributes they have as a leader, if they were in a leadership position. It’s about the dedication they have to this country that I’d love for them to think about when they’re looking for employees.”

Breck came from a military family. His father was a Marine and his two older brothers joined the Air Force and the Army. Breck was one of eight children and the youngest of five brothers and said he learned discipline from his father but also the love of service and patriotism. 

“It was hard but I look back on it and think my dad prepared me for my military career by some of his actions he did with us as children,” Breck said. “My dad passed away in 2019, and he was a Marine until the day he died. He was very proud of his service. He always wanted to be a Marine. My dad was also very cognizant of his family.”

Breck graduated from the University of Utah with a bachelor’s degree in sociology and certificates in criminal justice and corrections. He’d hoped to play baseball at the university but when Desert Storm started, he volunteered. 

Breck has earned numerous military awards including the Bronze Star, Purple Heart, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, Kuwait Liberation Medal and Kuwait Combat Action Badge.

“It really was a privilege and an honor [to serve],” he said. “The reasons you join are never the reasons you stay. If you get past that 10 year mark, you start thinking, am I going to stay or going to go? The reason I stayed was because of the soldiers around me and the leadership I was working with. I felt an obligation to them and an obligation to my family. It was something that was deeply embedded in me.”

After his military service, he was hired by the UHP and set three goals: become a sergeant, a motor officer and a member of the SWAT team within five years. During his fifth year, he achieved all of those goals. 

Breck is married to the former Michelle Jones and together they have nine children and four grandchildren. They’ve lived in Bountiful for 22 years.

“I’ve had a lot of humbling experience in my time in the military but now I want to utilize my knowledge I’ve gained at the general officer level,” Breck said. “I would like to be able to do as much as I can to help the community understand they have Army Reserve soldiers in their community who can help, who can literally be a support in the community.”λ