FORT BRAGG, N.C. —Robert “Doc” Piragowski, a 24-year member of the U.S. Army John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School training development department, passed away June 22 after a lifetime of military and civilian service to the United States.

Piragowksi, 82, retired from the U.S. Army as a lieutenant colonel in 1971, after having fought in Korea, Vietnam and the Dominican Republic as both a field artillery and psychological operations officer. He was the first commander of the 245th Psychological Operations Company, and had also commanded the 1st PSYWAR (Field A) Company, of the 1st PSYWAR Battalion.

Following his military retirement, Piragowski earned master’s and doctorate degrees in education from North Carolina State University in Raleigh, N.C., and brought that education back to Fort Bragg, where he became a training developer at SWCS and had a significant role in establishing many courses and programs that are now a fixture for Army special-operations soldiers’ advanced training.

“When the Warrant Officer Advanced Course was established in 1987, he was the first training developer to work on that course,” said David Clark, the SWCS Plans and Capabilities Manager, who worked with Piragowski for 24 years, including several as his supervisor.

Piragowski’s legacy at SWCS runs deeper; over the years, he worked as the training developer for the Warrant Officer Technical and Tactical Certification, Special Forces Advanced Targeting Reconnaissance Target Analysis Exploitation Techniques course, Special Forces Advanced Urban Combat course, Special Operations Target Interdiction Course, Advanced Special Operations Techniques course, and Combat Diver Qualification, Supervisor and Medical Technician courses.

For 18 years, Piragowski worked directly for 2nd Battalion, 1st Special Warfare Training Group (Airborne), for the time when training developers and writers worked directly for the battalions they supported, Clark said.

“He knew his job, and he did it well,” Clark said. “He worked harder than anyone else.”

Piragowski moved to the Directorate of Training and Doctrine when positions were reorganized in 2001.

“For the past 10 years, he’s handled all of our Key West training development,” said Michael Pevlar, Pirigowski’s supervisor in DOTD.

“When Doc took over the dive training, he made himself an expert,” Pevlar said. “He bought a lot of books out of his own pocket: dive physiology, diving science, all that stuff. Every year, Doc produced a new, up-to-date program of instruction.”

“For a guy who was not a subject-matter expert in dive operations, his lesson plans were better than anyone else’s,” he said. Pirigowski was the only member of Pevlar’s team who did not enter the job as a subject-matter expert in advanced special-operations skills, but he quickly fixed that by making himself into an expert, Pevlar said.

Piragowski’s military awards include the Bronze Star Medal with two oak leaf clusters, Meritorious Service Medal, Air Medal, Army Commendation Medal, National Defense Medal, Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal, Vietnam Service Medal and Armed Forces Reserve Medal, among others.