SteelMaster’s “Stories of Service” series continues to highlight members of our team who have either served in the U.S. military or are a part of a military family. Part 2 of our 11-part series of American stories features SteelMaster’s Vice President Rob Poellnitz…

Tucked away somewhere between the old and the new, there is a photograph of young man in his mid 20’s, his face partially covered by a bandana as he stands under the watchful gaze of a clock with hands reaching toward the noon hour. He is consumed by the surrounding darkness, which is in eerie opposition to the time on the clock for it is noon after all. The man in the photo, Rob Poellnitz, doesn’t need to hold the worn photo in his hands to step back into the past because the moment is perfectly preserved in his mind: Black smoke. Black water. The noxious smell of sulfur assaulting his nose. Flames licking the horizon. Fear creeping up his spine, causing him to stand straight and alert like a toy wooden soldier ready for war.

It was 1991, and Desert Storm was raging all around Poellnitz, a recent graduate of the Naval Academy who was serving as an officer on board the USS KIDD (DDG-993) out of Norfolk. The blackness and foul smell in the air were the result of oil fires lit by Iraqi military forces that were destroying anything that might be useful to the enemy while advancing through or withdrawing from the area. Because the dangers were too great to send in firefighting crews, the fires burned out of control. The Iraqi military also placed land mines in areas around the oil wells, and a military cleaning of the areas was necessary before the fires could be put out. Somewhere around 6 million barrels of oil were lost each day.

Eventually, privately contracted crews extinguished the fires, but by that time, the fires had burned for months, causing widespread pollution.

“I was 26 years old at the time and had a position of significant responsibility,” remembers Poellnitz. “When you are responsible for the lives of the people serving under you, you lose sleep over it. We didn’t know what we were heading into because it wasn’t like it is today where you can send an email to get information from the outside world. After returning from Desert Storm, I was blown away when I watched CNN—viewers knew more about the war than I did while I was on the ship.”

Poellnitz’s father, a 34-year Navy veteran, also served in Desert Storm as an intelligence officer under General H. Norman Schwarzkopf. “My father was deployed six times during his career in the Navy, so I grew up being aware of the sacrifices that have to be made in order to serve the country. I was raised with the values that the U.S. military thrives on—discipline, loyalty, and hard work. I bring those same attributes to my professional life as well, and I expect them from the people that I work with.”

As vice president of SteelMaster Buildings, Poellnitz says he runs a tight ship and places great value on communication and growth. “Whether it is developing and nurturing relationships within our office or with our customers, it is vital that it occurs on a continuous basis. But first and foremost, it takes hard work, and I’m proud to say that the people at SteelMaster are some of the hardest working folks that I know. We are like-minded people who put value on family and on achieving a healthy work/life balance. We are proud of our work and proud of how we treat one another and our customers.”

Part 1: Zandra McKenzie, marketing assistant

Part 3: Desiree Lapid-Guiaman, accounting specialist

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