He spent his first two service years stationed at Stewart Air Force Base in Newburgh, New York.

While deployed there, Cheezic would one day encounter South Korean martial arts master Jae Chul Shin, who was teaching Tang Soo Do (Moo Duk Kwan-style) to American soldiers at the base.

Amongst Cheezic's martial arts companions under Shin's tutelage were Bob Thompson, and Chuck Norris, with whom he would remain friends, even after end of military service.

Eventually the group started to get too big for the gymnasium and Cheezic would open his own martial arts studio, the American Tang Soo Do Academy,[a] which, per World Moo Duk Kwan, was the "first ever Tang Soo Do dojang established in the Northeast region of the United States.

[2][9] In 1995, Cheezic and 16 other American martial artists participated at a cultural exchange in Henan Shaolin Temple.

[1][additional citation(s) needed] Aside from Tang Soo Do, Robert Cheezic also has a long held association with the Boys & Girls Clubs of America and has served in the organization's board of directors.