Former Army Ranger Rids Richmond, Virginia of Mosquitos

Robert Rummells is a former Army Ranger turned bug killer, eager to fight the mosquito situation starting May 2013 in Richmond, Virginia. Originally from a small town in Iowa called West Branch, just off Interstate 80, by 1984, Robert was living in Los Angeles playing semi-professional football for the San Fernando Valley Freelancers, part of the 18-team Valley League which played the High Desert League.  Robert played for one year  and during this time, he married his wife Christine (aka “Murph,” a name that just stuck for them). Then, on January 14, 1988, Robert enlisted in the United States Army where he became an Army Ranger and was assigned to the 1^st Ranger Battalion at Hunter Army Airfield in Savannah, Georgia.  Robert retired from the US Army in March 2009 after a 22 year career. Robert’s career proved vast in scope. He was a machine gunner for his first mission called Operation Just Cause in Panama on December 20, 1989. The First Ranger Battalion performed a night, Mass-Attack Combat Parachute drop, the first since October 1983.  Fourteen months later, Robert went to war again in Operation Desert Storm in 1991, where Robert was a Squad Leader for second squad, second platoon, Company B. After he left the Ranger Regiment, he became an instructor at Ft. Story, Virginia, which is what brought him to Virginia Beach. He was then off active duty and went to the Virginia Army National Guard where he served as a Ranger Instructor at the Regional Training Institute at Ft. Picket, Virginia. Upon retirement, Robert also did two additional defense contractor jobs before working with Mosquito Joe*. In 2010, he installed 3D technology equipment into seven classrooms at the Central Alabama Community College, helping to oversee the $3.9 million installation as Program Manager; a second contractor job was training on  “use of force” simulators, which the military uses to “get bad guys.” During a seven year period, Robert served as the Chief of Staff for Delegate John Welch in the General Assembly of Virginia in Richmond, specifically in the House of Delegates (e.g. Representatives in other states). There was a job fair for military veterans in February 2013 that first introduced him to Mosquito Joe and by April, he was in training. He opened his territory in May and has seen great success with the VetFran brand. "For three years, I had been searching the internet for a franchise opportunity. It came down to six or seven companies, but there always seemed to be one or two areas lacking that just didn’t fit the bill. Some were too expensive or the company looked like it had major deficiencies, so I was careful to not sink my money into something that wasn’t a fit," Robert said. "I’m also not a cubicle kind of guy, so doing battle with pesky mosquitoes and creepy crawlers made sense. That’s my new enemy. It also helped to get $2,500 knocked off the franchise fee since I am a veteran."