Vladimir Sobichevsky

Mission Mortuary - Monterey

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Vladimir Sobichevsky (Ret. Col.) (Sobi)

1937 - 2016 Obituary Condolences
Vladimir Sobichevsky (Ret. Col.) (Sobi) Obituary
(Ret. COL.) Vladimir Sobichevsky (Sobi)
November 1937 - July 2016
CELEBRATION OF A SOLDIER'S LIFE
Sobi passed peacefully from this life on July 13th, at his home in Seaside, CA with his family by his side.

The grandson of a general in the Czarist Russian Army, Sobi was born in Kiev, Russia in 1937 and escaped the USSR with his mother in 1943. In 1949 they left a Displaced Persons camp in West Germany and immigrated to the United States.

Sobi, as he is lovingly called by family and friends, was going to join the Marines, but he kind of fell into the Army Special Forces. He was standing in a drugstore on Geary Street in San Francisco, reading a magazine, and saw an article titled "The Apes of Rath,' about Colonel Rath, who was putting together the first Special Forces group. He thought they had nice headgear, the Green Beret. So in 1956 (19 years old) he joined the U.S. Army Special Forces and spent most of his 40 years of his life in the military with this organization. As all enlisted Special Forces soldiers, he served nearly 10 years with the workhorse and backbone of Special Forces, Operational Detachment "A."

In 1965, he graduated from the Infantry Officer Candidate School as a Second Lieutenant of Infantry, U.S. Army Reserve. Three years later, he was appointed into the Regular Army ranks. He participated with Special Operations Forces worldwide, with twenty-five years on parachute status. He served fifteen years overseas -- nine years in Germany, two in Korea, three in Panama, and combat tours as Sergeant with Special Forces "White Star" operations in Laos and as Captain with Studies and Observation Group (MACV-SOG) in Vietnam.

He was an expert in day and night airborne jumps over land and water, guerrilla warfare, covert operations, combat patrols and rigorous physical training. He spent military time skiing the Alps with 100-pound rucksacks during his Green Beret tours. He wore Ranger and Special Forces tabs on his left shoulder and the green and yellow lightning patch of the Army's elite Special Forces on his right shoulder. He earned the Combat Infantryman Badge, Master Parachutist Badge and Scuba Diving Badge, Ranger and Special Forces Tabs, and the Legion of Merit. During his last parachute jump in Hawaii, he was manifested aboard an MH-53 Helicopter, with Navy SEALs and other SOF officers and NCOs, all younger by about a decade, and as he waited for the exit light inside the aircraft to turn green before his final jump, he asked himself, Vladimir, when are you going to grow up and stop jumping from planes at 55 years of age? In short, the time was ripe to depart the physically demanding environment of Special Operations.

He commanded Special Forces Operational "A" Detachment, Company and Battalion. His Special Forces staff assignments included Battalion Adjutant, Operations Officer, and Executive Officer. He served two tours with Sixth US Army as Senior Advisor to Special Forces Reserves, and Chief, Individual Training, evaluating and managing Special Forces Reserve Components throughout fifteen states. He later served as Special Assistant to the Commanding General, US Army John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School. As a Colonel, he served as Chief of Operations Command-Pacific (SOCPAC) with responsibility for all SOF Joint/Combined operations in the Pacific. Assignments outside Special Forces included Inspector General, CFA Korea - the largest Combined Field Army in the free world. Sobi served as the Chief of Staff, Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center (DLIFLC). In 1992, the DOD's Joint Service General Officer Selection Board selected him to serve as the Commandant, DLIFLC, and Commander, Presidio of Monterey and the former Fort Ord. After 39.8 years of military service, he retired on 1 January 1996.

Sobi held bachelor's and master's degrees in Government from the University of San Francisco. He was a graduate of the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College and the National War College. He spoke Russian and had a working knowledge of several other languages.

In 1974 while stationed in Bad Toelz, Germany, a mutual friend introduced him to his future wife Karin. At first they were travel buddies who enjoyed traveling throughout Europe. Much later in the summer of 1988, they got married in Pacific Grove, California and a whole new adventure began for both.

After his military retirement in 1996, Sobi worked for another ten years for the U.S. Government overseas.

Sobi loved his family, friends and his fellow soldiers. In his later years he began to study art and started to paint. It became a passion of his and he completed well over a hundred paintings. He was an avid reader who enjoyed history and studied it throughout his life. He was also a great story teller and prankster. His appreciation for classical music was passed on to him by his Mother, Tatiana, a trained classical pianist. He was very close to his beloved son Mark, who resides in San Francisco with his wife Gabriella and their daughter Mikayla. The birth of Mikayla, his only grandchild was another highlight of his life. Another passion of his was his love for animals; he especially adored his two Westie Girls --Sophie and Daisy.

A Celebration of Life will take place on Saturday, August 20th, from 2:00 to 5:00 p.m. at the Embassy Suites Monterey Bay, located at 1441 Canyon Del Rey, Seaside. All are welcome to attend this celebration of Sobi's life.

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