Member Spotlight


John H. Campbell, CRP
President
Studdard Relocation Services
P: 816.524.2772
P: 800.836.0908
E: jcampbell@studdardrelo.com

1. Tell us the history of John Campbell up until the relocation industry entered your life.
I was born in Augsburg, Germany into a military family. My father served in the Army for 27 years. I moved 13 times and lived overseas twice. My father retired from Fort Leavenworth while I was in college. I completed the ROTC program at KU and after graduating with a liberal arts degree, served on active duty for a short time before returning home to work in my father's moving company, Studdard Moving and Storage.

2. How did the relocation industry come into your life? At what stage / age were you? Describe your career briefly?
After my father retired from the Army, he purchased a moving company, Studdard Moving and Storage in Leavenworth, Kansas. I joined the business in 1988 and worked in the sales department. I worked in residential and corporate sales for him until I purchased my own company, Studdard Relocation Services in 1999. Up until that time, my only work experience was with the military, so beginning to work with the public was a challenging and rewarding experience.

3. Talk to us about your decision of service to our country - can you describe what the experience was like and your impressions of that chapter in your life? Opportunities - Hardships?
Like many young college students, it took me some time to decide what I wanted to do with my life. As I'd only known life as an Army Officer's child, I think joining the Army was a natural progression. After my short tour of active duty, I'd made the decision to join the civillian world, but did not want to abandon my interest in the military or service to our country, so I became a member of the Kansas City Army National Guard. Throughout my 20 plus years of service, I have had numerous rewarding and challenging positions. I have served in Command at three different levels, including a tour in Sarajevo, Bosnia as a Company Commander. I have been deployed on 4 seperate occasions: Kuwait, Bosnia, New Orleans (for Katrina), and Iraq. I currently Command a training battalion in Salina, Kansas

My tour in Iraq was especially interesting and challenging. I worked 16 or more hours every day. My unit provided security for a very large base protecting over 60,000 service members, contractors, and government officials. The base encompassed over 72 square kilometers of space and literally circled the Baghdad International Airport. We were also responsible for the area outside of our base where nearly 250,000 Iraqi citizens lived within proximity of our walls. I have worked with Iraqi sheiks, businessmen, and religious leaders from all different factions. Some conspired against us, but most were happy to have us there and enormously appreciative of the freedom we had given them. There were sad moments, like the death of someone with whom we worked, but there were also triumphs. We helped restore a hospital in one of the neighborhoods that had been completely looted. Today, there are doctors and nurses helping the people of their community.

Deployments - especially in a combat environment - can certainly be challenging, but the rewards are immeasurable. I have been priviledged to serve with, and lead, some of the finest people in the world. The work is always difficult, but in the end it is well worth the effort.

Having experienced life as the child of a soldier who served in Vietnam twice, I can attest that Combat Deployments are much tougher on family and loved ones than on the soldier deployed. The soldier always gets the first hand experience and really understands where and what kinds of dangers exist, while family members are left with little information and a few brief phone calls or emails to fill in the blanks. My parents, and more recently, my wife have born this burden filling in for me during these periods. My Mother drove 60 miles, one way, from Leavenworth to Lee's Summit to assist my company during the 15 months I was away. My family truly are the real heroes in all of this.

4. Introduce us to your family.
My father, Charles, is my hero and mentor. He has provided advice and encouragement to me in the sands of Kuwait, the smoke and fire of Sarajevo, the flood waters of New Orleans, and the streets of Baghdad. He served in the Army for 27 years, including a tour in the pentagon and two tours in Vietnam. He still owns Studdard Moving and Storage in Leavenworth and actively works in the business every day.

My mother, Henria, is the rock of our family. She is the one who holds us together through adversity and joy. As an Army wife and mother of four, she began her working life as a school teacher. Today she works in the family business in Leavenworth.

My wife, Meegan, is the person in my life who makes me whole. She works in marketing and is the smartest person I know.

My older brother, Charles, is a cardiologist and also a veteran of Iraq. He is married with three children and teaches at the University of Kentucky Medical School.

My younger sister, Lee Ann was a beautiful person whom I miss daily. Prior to her death, she worked with my parents.

The youngest sibling, Sarah, is the smartest and brightest of the four. She also served in the Army after college. She is married and is currently the mother of two precious babies. These children absolutely own their Grandfather. They get away with things that would have landed the rest of us in the hospital.

5. What advice would you give to someone just graduating from college today?
Find what you are passionate about in life. Even if you have a few restarts, life is much better when you are doing work that means something to you.

6. You have just been given a week off from work (with pay, mind you). You can do anything you wish, anywhere you wish, with whomever you wish. You can even break it down and do several things. Give us a picture of how you would spend your free time.
I would definitely choose to travel with my wife. I would love to go to Austrailia. The people are wonderful, the country is spectacular (and huge) and it is the only continent I have not visited.

7. If you could spend an afternoon with anyone living or dead, who would it be, and why would you choose them?
I can't pick one, so I will give you a group.



8. Give us a little known fact about John Campbell.
I went to 3 different high schools: D.C. area, Korea, and Leavenworth.