SITREP: AUGUST 2004

by Robert G. Segel

In this issue, we welcome our new Senior Editor, Robert G. Segel. Robert is a long time contributor and we are very lucky to have him on board. To introduce him, it would be best to let him use his own words- so everyone raise a glass and run a few belts to welcome Robert to his new position- Dan Shea

I’ve had a life long love affair with automatic weapons. It is a fascinating subject that touches upon all aspects of the human condition regarding historical context, technological advances, industrialization, economic impact, social ramifications and political study. It began when I was nine years old and got the opportunity to shoot an uncle’s M3A1 Grease Gun. I was hooked. Shortly thereafter while attending a gun show with my father I bought a deactivated British Sten MK II for $25. (I eventually had the Sten reactivated and I still have it.) Thus began my machine gun collecting career. I purchased Dewats throughout my adolescence and teen years and had them amnesty registered in my father’s name in 1968. I bought my first live gun in 1979, a 21/28 Navy overstamp Thompson of which I am only the second owner. Since then, I have been adding to my collection of pre 1945 machine guns and have specialized in the World War I era weapons – particularly water-cooled guns. Besides having an outstanding collection of rare early machine guns I have, what Dolf Goldsmith describes in his third edition of “The Devil’s Paintbrush,” as the “world’s finest collection” of machine gun insignia and memorabilia from around the world. I began writing historical machine gun articles in 1990 for Machine Gun News and have since had many articles published and am an acknowledged contributor in nine books. I have been a Contributing Editor to Small Arms Review for four years.

I graduated from the University of Denver in 1976 with a BA degree in Economics. I was vice president and co-owner (with my brother) of a company in the beef processing industry. We had four processing plants, an abattoir, a transportation company and a distribution center. In all, we employed over 2,500 people with annual sales of approximately 500 million dollars. We sold the company three years ago and I have since been concentrating on further education and study of early classic automatic weapons of the 1884 to 1930 period. I have been married for 28 years to my lovely wife Penny and have two daughters, Lauren and Jennifer, both in college and both avid machine gun shooters who actually enjoy loading mags and belts. Some of my other interests include being a private pilot actively involved in a World War II PV-2 Harpoon bomber restoration project, am a certified scuba diver, and I race a vintage 1947 MG TC sports car. I am also an accomplished trap shooter having won many local club championships. I was born and raised in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and have lived overseas in Australia working as a “Jackaroo” (cowboy) in the Northern Territories and in England in the quick service restaurant industry. I am a member and former director of the Defense Orientation Conference Association. A non-political, non-partisan, non-profit association of civic leaders from across the United States to provide a means of continuing the education of its members in matters pertaining to national security under the direct jurisdiction and supervision of the Department of Defense.

I am delighted with my new responsibilities at Small Arms Review and look forward to making this already great and unique magazine even better. I intend to focus the contents of each issue to address the interests of NFA collectors, historians, shooters, military users, law enforcement users and those in the firearms industry; with articles written by people who are the leading experts in their field providing historical, user and technical data that will not only be entertaining but authoritative, informative and useful. I am excited to bring my business experience, writing and editing skills and, most of all, my passion for the subject to Small Arms Review.

–Robert G. Segel, Senior Editor SAR