May 29, 2011
By Steven Schoon
In the 1971-72 men's basketball media guide, Steve Robertson, a junior at the time, listed his least favorite vacation spot as Vietnam. As it turns out, Robertson would spend the next 40 years involved in the United States military and government because of the Vietnam War.
A native of Shreveport, Robertson was working towards his degree in education with a goal of becoming a basketball coach. He had all the makings of a great coach, proving it night in and night out with his scrappy play and unselfishness on the court.
"If you ask Coach (Scotty) Robertson about me, he'd probably say that I was an overachiever," Steve Robertson said from his office in Washington DC. "I wasn't the fastest, I couldn't jump the highest and I wasn't the strongest. But when it came to diving for basketball and playing scrappy, I was there."
Playing with the likes of Mike Green, Jim Jenkins and George Thornton, Robertson knew his roll was almost anything except shooting the ball. He averaged 5.9 points and 4.4 rebounds over his four years at Tech, but most importantly helped his team to an overall record of 81-21.
"I was very fortunate to be at the right place at the right time," Robertson said. "I wasn't the most talented ball player on the team, but I recognized I had a role. When you have those outstanding players on your team you have to be willing to accept the role of playing defense, getting rebounds and getting the ball to Mike."
"Bud Dean and Steve Robertson, those were guys that helped you win," said coach Scotty Robertson. "You couldn't win without a guy like that. They sacrificed their egos for the good of the team."
Despite what people at that that time thought, Steve Robertson and Scotty Robertson aren't related despite bringing the same tenacity to the basketball court. When coach Robertson left the Bulldog program and was coaching in the NBA, his former player decided to use that misconception to his advantage.
"I went to the will-call box and gave the guy my business card and said `Will you contact my uncle Scotty and tell him I'm here,' Steve Robertson said. "A few minutes later they gave me two tickets and brought me down to the courtside seats."
While at Tech, Robertson enrolled in the Air Force ROTC along with teammate Gary Miller. Due to the ongoing war, Robertson decided to get his commission as a second lieutenant and enlist in the United States Air Force after graduation in 1973 while Miller attended flight school.
Robertson was assigned to Barksdale Air Force Base in Bossier City, but being in the military didn't stop him from playing the game he loved. He quickly found out that team sports are a big deal in the military, sometimes even playing three league games in one night. Many former college players participated including a hand full from nearby Centenary College.
Robertson spent three years at Barksdale, one year in Turkey and then returned to Barksdale for another year and a half.
In 1976 he was selected for the all-Air Force team, his first of two selections. The event, which featured all the branches of the military, was held at Sheppard Air Force Base in Wichita Falls, Texas. On Robertson's team was current San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich.
"We finished second to the Army team that year," Robertson said. "The ABA (American Basketball Association) was beginning to fold up that time and there were several former ABA players that were playing on the Army team."
After Barksdale, Robertson spent seven and a half years in North Dakota in two different tours of duty. One tour was as a missile combat crew commander and the second as a security police operations officer.
He was deployed to Turkey in 1977, played on the Turkish Air Force team and later went to Sicily in 1984. Robertson joined a team there as one of only two Americans that were allowed to be on the team, a European rule at the time.
Later as a member of the Army National Guard, Robertson was deployed to Saudi Arabia (1991), Panama (1994) and Germany (1995).
"I continued to play basketball until I turned 50," Robertson said. "At 50 I think I was getting more injuries than playing time. The basket kept getting higher."
Robertson married retired USAF Lieutenant Colonel Vivian Wolf and the two have been together for 26 years. They have three children and the oldest, Casey, is a captain in the U.S. Army.
Casey will pick up where his father left off as Steve Robertson retired as an Army captain in 2010. Now 61 years old, Robertson makes his home in Washington, DC and is a senior legislative assistant for U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders, handling defense issues, homeland security issues and veterans issues. He also helps recommend legislation, introduces bills and works with committee staffs with advancing legislation.
"I never dreamt I'd be in the military until I went to Louisiana Tech, and I never dreamt I'd be in politics until I got here," Robertson said. "The places that I've been able to go and the places I've played basketball and the friends I've made along the way. It's been unbelievable."
