Although many people may see Mr. Walling as just a sub-teacher here at the Morgan school, what they don’t know is that 46 years ago, he joined the military.
Mr Walling enlisted in the military after high school graduation, serving in the Air Force in 1978. He was always interested in seeing the world and wanted to give back to the country.
“I remember seeing the Berlin Wall when we were traveling in the military; it truly struck me,” Robert Walling stated.
Walling, who loved airplanes from an early age, decided to choose the Air Force because Groton, where he grew up, was a big Navy town, and he knew he didn’t want to be in the Army or Marine Corps.
“I wanted to see part of the country, and going to college wouldn’t have given me that kind of experience.”
Walling’s adaptation to the military was difficult at first.
“Yeah, it was really hard for me to adapt to military life at first, getting up early in the morning, having to wear the uniform in the big wool socks, as kind of a hippie kid who never wore socks, that was hard, and just being told what to do all the time.”
But Walling was able to find leaders in the service willing to help him. Sergeant Lester from Compton, California, greatly impacted Walling’s life. Sergeant Lester was a very disciplined individual, Robert explained. He viewed the sergeant as a role model. Sergeant took Walling under his wing and helped teach him the way of the world.
“I remember sitting in his office, having conversations with him, teaching me the way of the world.”
Although Walling’s enlistment was over in 1986, his time in the military taught him self-discipline and a little self-control. Most importantly, it allowed him to meet people all around the world because he lived in Germany, Honduras, and England. Walling stated, “It does broaden your horizons as to what the world’s like.”
After the military, Walling taught at Wallingford High School and Plainville Middle School, but most of his time was in Bristol, Connecticut, where he worked as a history teacher. When it was time for his retirement, after a 28-years, he decided to work at a model toy and hobby store in Middletown called Amatos.
Walling has been shopping at this toy shop for many years and has grown a strong connection with the people who work and own the store.“I’ve been shopping at Amato’s toy shop and grew a relationship with the owners and people who work there,” Robert explained.
After 5 years at the store and continuing to work there on the weekends, Walling explained how he missed working in schools. He then worked for a year at Rocky Hill High School as the building sub, but an opportunity opened up at The Morgan High School, and he took it. Walling stated, ”I missed the regular routine of just the school days and the sports and all that.”
Walling enjoys working in the Morgan High School building. Walling stated, “The students here are cooperative and enthusiastic.”
