Robert J. Goebel was born in Racine, Wisconsin on February 28, 1923 as the youngest of seven children. He entered the military as an Aviation Cadet at the age of 19 in 1942 and began his career at the San Antonio Aviation Cadet Center. After completing pre-flight training, he was sent to the Primary Flight School at Corsicana, TX and began flying the Fairchild PT-19. Basic flight training followed at Majors Field in Greenville, TX with the BT-13 Valiant and advanced training was completed at Moore Field in McAllen, TX in the AT-6.

After graduating in May of 1943, his first assignment was in Panama where flew the P-39 and P-40 in defense of the Panama Canal. He returned to the Zone of the Interior in December of 1943 and was immediately sent to North Africa. After docking at Oran, Algeria, he was moved to Telergrma where he was checked out in the Spitfire in preparation for joining the 31st Fighter Group (one of only two American Spitfire groups). However, when he finally joined the unit at Castel Volturno, Italy on April 1, 1944, the group was in the process of re-equipping with the Mustang, moving to the Foggia side of Italy and changing from close support of the front lines to heavy bomber escort as part of the 15th Air Force.

Goebel flew a total of 61 long range missions from San Severo, Italy with the 31st Fighter Group in support of the bomber offensive of Southern Europe, including a shuttle run to Russia and 16 trips to the Ploesti oil fields. In the course of his combat tour he totaled 11 enemy fighter kills in the air. He led his squadron seven times and led the entire group of 48 aircraft twice, and was still only 21 years old by the time he completed his tour and returned to the United States. His decorations include the Distinguished Flying Cross with one oak leaf cluster, the Silver Star, the Air Medal with 17 oak leaf clusters, and the Presidential Unit Citation with one oak leaf cluster.

He left the service in 1946 to attend the University of Wisconsin and earned a BS degree in Physics in 1948. After serving with the Wisconsin Air National Guard as Commander of the 126th Fighter Squadron for two years, he returned to active duty in the spring of 1950. After various assignments in Atomic Energy and Space Programs, he retired from the Air Force in 1966.

Robert Goebel and his wife June have nine children and 27 grandchildren and live in Torrence, California. Bob has published his wartime memoirs in a book entitled Mustang Ace.