Robert Moffat Elton

Retired Army Lieutenant General Robert Moffat Elton

1932-2024

Heroic Soldier, Transformative Leader, Gifted Scientist, Inspiring Educator, Loving Husband, Devoted Father, Grandfather and Loyal Friend

Funeral Information

Date: 01/28/2026

Location: Arlington National Cemetery 1 Memorial Ave. Arlington, VA 22211

In lieu of flowers, we kindly ask for donations to the Gentiva Hospice Foundation.

https://app.etapestry.com/onlineforms/GentivaFoundation/GHS.html

Bob Elton was born in Cleveland, Ohio, on September 13, 1932, to (Frederick) Moffat and Ruth Aldrich Elton. He and his older brother William grew up on Chadbourne Road in the prosperous Cleveland suburb of Shaker Heights. Bob greatly admired his father Moffat, who had been the captain and star of his Oak Park Illinois High School football team, an honors graduate of the University of Chicago, a decorated U.S. Navy veteran of World War I, and a highly successful businessman and entrepreneur. Moffat Elton was a powerful influence in Bob's early life. Shortly after the United States entered WW II, Bob's dad volunteered to serve again in the Armed Forces and was commissioned in the U.S. Army Air Corps and assigned as an air base commander. His dad's temporary return to military service had a persuasive impact on eleven-year-old Bob, and he soon began dreaming of a military career and attending the United States Military Academy (USMA) at West Point, New York. Already a gifted athlete and an exceptionally bright student, Bob entered Shaker Heights High School in the fall of 1946 and, like his father before him, quickly became a star on the high school football team and a brilliant student in the classroom. Pursuing his dream of attending West Point, Bob applied for admission during his senior high school year, easily passed his examinations, and won an appointment as a cadet in the class of 1954.

On July 5, 1950, a few weeks after his high school graduation, Bob reported to the U.S. Military Academy, and his 37-year-long military career began. At West Point, Bob again excelled academically, and on the athletic fields, and on June 8, 1954, he graduated 56th out of a class of 633 cadets and was commissioned a Second Lieutenant of infantry in the United States Army. Bob's early assignments as a platoon leader, company commander, and staff officer took him to Fort Campbell, Kentucky, West Germany, Fort Bragg, North Carolina, and South Korea. In 1963, he earned a Master of Science degree in engineering physics from the University of Virginia, and shortly after, he was appointed Assistant Professor in the USMA Department of Physics and Chemistry at West Point.

Along the way, he attended the Army Airborne and Ranger Schools, the Infantry Basic and Advanced courses, graduated from the United States Marine Corps Command and General Staff College, and earned a second master's degree, this time in Strategic Studies, from the U.S. Army War College. In 1967, Bob was sent to Vietnam, where he commanded the 3rd Battalion, 506th Infantry, 101st Airborne Division. Now wearing the Infantryman's most coveted emblem, the Combat Infantryman's Badge, Bob distinguished himself heroically on the battlefield, earning the Silver Star, the Nation's third-highest award for valor. His gallantry and superlative service were also acknowledged with three Bronze Stars, six Air Medals, all with "V" devices, and the Legion of Merit. Called "Spider Elton" by his soldiers, he truly led from the frontlines and earned the respect and admiration of every man in the battalion. By this time in his career, Bob was fast emerging as an officer of unusual ability and versatility with substantial potential for service in various senior Army positions. He stood out as an inspiring and fearless combat leader, a skilled strategist, a brilliant physicist, and a highly competent staff officer. His uncommon rapport with soldiers marked him, as well, as an officer with extraordinary skill in the management of human resources. He clearly understood the role that future officers, non-commissioned officers, and soldiers must play in the soon-to-be 21st-century Army. He began envisioning, talking, and writing about modernizing existing Army education systems, creating new concepts of developing soldiers, increasing the responsibilities, recognition, and prestige of non-commissioned officers, and improving recruiting incentives.

After Vietnam, the Army, seeking to employ the best and further develop Bob's talents and experience in managing Army personnel, assigned him to the Office of the Secretary of Defense for Systems Analysis at the Pentagon in Washington. There, Bob critically analyzed policies affecting the entire life cycle of a service member-from recruiting to retirement and everything in between, including training, assignment, performance evaluation, attrition, retention, and promotion. At the end of this assignment, the Army asked Bob to serve on the Continental Army Command Leadership Board, where he was able to showcase and successfully promote his strongly held belief that the Army could no longer emphasize short-range organizational goals at the expense of long-range human objectives and expect to have highly motivated, well-disciplined organizations. Bob realized that the Army was strongly dependent on youth, and to successfully compete with civilian enterprises in recruiting young American men and women, Army leaders had to understand these present-day potential soldiers better and respond to their new emphasis on human values.

By 1973, Bob was back with troops, initially serving as the Operations Officer (G3) of the famed 82nd Airborne Division and later, as Commander of the Division's 2nd Brigade's 5,000 soldiers. In 1975, Bob became the Chief of Staff of the 3rd Infantry Division in Germany, and in 1977, now a Brigadier General, he was appointed as the 3rd Division's Assistant Commander and Commander of the Schweinfurt Military Community with more than 12,000 U.S. soldiers, Department of the Army Civilians and their dependents under his care. In 1978, he returned to the U.S. again, now to become the Army's Director of Officer Personnel Management at the Military Personnel Center in Alexandria, Virginia. The following year, after being promoted to Major General, he became the Personnel Center's Commander, supporting more than six and one-half million active Reserve, National Guard, and retired U.S. soldiers. Then, in 1981, Bob was selected to command the 9th Infantry Division at Fort Lewis, Washington, one of only 16 combat divisions in the active Army and the Army's designated High Technology Test Bed.

At Fort Lewis, Bob was able to apply many of his talents as an experienced combat commander, enlightened scientist and engineer, and human resource management expert in developing the light infantry division of the future, in conducting research, development, engineering, and testing of new weapons systems and re-imagining the effective recruitment and shaping of the officer and soldier of the coming new century. For his outstanding service as the 9th Division commander, Bob was awarded the Nation's highest peacetime decoration, the Distinguished Service Medal.

In 1983, Bob's military career was crowned with his promotion to Lieutenant General and his assignment as Deputy Chief of Staff of the United States Army for Personnel (DCSPER) (G-1). As the Army's DCSPER, Bob was the principal military advisor to the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Manpower and Reserve Affairs. He was responsible for the personnel readiness and well-being of all Active U.S. Army Reserve and U.S. Army National Guard Soldiers and Department of the Army Civilian Employees and contractors. He developed, coordinated, and implemented policies directly associated with accessing, developing, distributing, and sustaining military and civilian personnel readiness. During this time, Bob took a great interest in the post-military service benefits accorded to veterans as a reward for their service and a powerful recruiting incentive. One of his proudest achievements in the Army was partnering with Representative G.V. "Sonny" Montgomery of Mississippi, Chairman of the U.S. House of Representatives Veterans Affairs Committee, to create and pass into law what Chairman Montgomery considered his own greatest legislative victory, the Montgomery G.I Bill. Bob retired from active service in 1987 after achieving dramatic changes in Army personnel philosophy, policy, regulation, and management and was again awarded the Nation's highest peacetime decoration, the Distinguished Service Medal.

Following Bob's retirement from the Army, he embarked on one of his life's happiest and most fulfilling periods. He, and his wife, Kally Kern Elton, founded MTL Services International, a Washington, DC, area-based company committed to helping government organizations make continuous improvements by offering them new solutions to old challenges, streamlining existing processes, and replacing stovepipe or silo personnel management practices with mission-focused teams. MTL provided organizational and cultural climate analysis and coaching for government executives and leaders at other levels. It also offered specialized training to enable them to lead with agility, spontaneity, and creativity. MTL quickly became the accepted expert for implementing transformative change in Federal Government agencies. Among the many recognized achievements MTL was credited with inspiring were the transformation efforts in two Government organizations that earned the President's Quality Award, the Government agency equivalent of the Malcolm Baldridge National Quality Award presented to private industry. During this time, Bob and Kally made their home near Fairfax Station's small, historic village in western Fairfax County, Virginia, about 25 miles southwest of Washington, DC. There, on their 5-acre, wooded property, Bob was able, in his spare time, to indulge his love of clearing and cultivating the land. By 2006, after nearly 20 busy years assisting many Federal agencies, Bob and Kally looked forward to actual retirement, downscaling their daily lives, having fewer responsibilities, and enjoying their grandchildren. These plans took them to Boerne, Texas, and a new home in 2007. Before, they were hardly unpacked and resettled; however, their retirement plans were suddenly interrupted.

Their reputations for successfully designing, staffing, coaching, and transforming organizations had spread well beyond the United States. More than 8,000 miles away, the Headquarters of the Armed Forces of the United Arab Emirates asked Bob and Kally to come as a team to Abu Dhabi to design and establish an entirely new military organization. Because their daughter, son-in-law, and children were living and working in Abu Dhabi, it was easy to say, "Yes," and off they went to apply all their skills and experience to this new and unexpected endeavor. After just a year, Bob and Kally designed a forward-looking 21st-century research, development, and engineering center focused on testing and acquiring military ground vehicles and mobile weapons systems. When their proposal received speedy approval from the Chief of Staff of the UAE Armed Forces, they rapidly equipped and staffed the new organization. Their accomplishments were recognized throughout the UAE Armed Forces chain of command and, lastly, by the President of the United Arab Emirates.

Finally, in 2008, it was time to come home again and begin their deferred retirement years. Bob was blessed with uncommonly good health and remained vigorous and engaged well into his late 80s. With Kally at his side, they enjoyed 16 blissful years together in the Texas sunshine, delighting in frequent visits from their children and grandchildren, volunteering in their local community, traveling, and enjoying their many dogs.

Bob is survived by the love of his life, Kally Kern Elton; his children Carin, Richard, Vanessa, Tiffoni, and Kade; his son-in-law, Martin; and his grandchildren, Bo, Bella, and Otalee.

Let duty be well performed, honor be ever untarnished, And when our work is done, Our course on earth is run, May it be said, Well done, Be thou at peace… West Point Alma Mater