NOAA Leads At Paralympics Too Bob Robertson played a leading role last year in Sydney, where he was head coach of the U.S. Paralympics Shooting Team. Now he's looking ahead to Greece in 2004. Bob is a senior electronics technician at NOAA's Wallops, Virginia office, where he collects satellite-derived environmental data for meteorologists to use in short-term severe storm forecasting. Encouraged by Lou DeAngelis, a former NOAA employee, he became a certified shooting coach in 1983. His aim was to become an active part of his children's 4H marksmanship program. By 1988, he was invited to help select and prepare the U.S. team for the Paralympics in Seoul, Korea. The following year he was chosen as head coach of that team's training camp. Here Bob came to know the coach of the National Wheelchair Shooting Federation and moved on to become its regional coach. He has since directed the Maryland State/Appalachian Regional Wheelchair Games and the Shooting Range for the National Veterans Wheelchair Games. He also coaches and officiates at a nationwide tour for athletes with special challenges in the U.S. and Canada. In 1996, Bob was the head coach at the Atlanta Paralympics. Now he's headed to the Canadian-American Championships in September and, he hopes, to Greece in 2004. Bob Robertson (rear left), head coach of the U.S. Paralympics Shooting Team, with his team at the Olympic/Paralympic Village in Sydney last October. Now they're looking ahead to Greece in 2004.