Vice Admiral (ret.) Robert R. Monroe enlisted in the Navy during World War II, and in 1946 he entered the Naval Academy from the fleet. Commissioned in 1950, he served in destroyers, minesweepers, cruisers, and amphibious assault ships, including three commands at sea. He subsequently served in flag rank for eleven years. As a Rear Admiral he commanded the South Atlantic Force; U.S. Atlantic Fleet; directed Navy Systems Analysis; and commanded the Navy's Operational Test and Evaluation Force.

From 1977 until 1980 Vice Admiral Monroe was Director of the Defense Nuclear Agency, responsible for many of DOD's nuclear weapons activities, including stockpile management, safety, security, and survivability. He managed the U.S. national program for research into the effects of nuclear weapons, determining the vulnerabilities, "hardness," and survivability of U.S. weapons and C3 systems by means of underground nuclear tests, kiloton-level high-explosive tests, advanced simulators, and other means. He played a major role in directing DOD's four-year response to President Carter's proposed Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty.

From 1980 until 1983 Vice Admiral Monroe was Director of Navy Research, Development, Test and Evaluation (RDT&E). In this position he had planning and oversight responsibility for all major Navy RDT&E programs for weapons and C3 systems, strategic and tactical. He also was responsible for establishing, allocating, and managing the Navy's RDT&E budget.

Vice Admiral Monroe retired from the Navy in 1983 after 38 years' service and joined Bechtel, a worldwide high-technology company which focuses on program and project management, systems integration, systems engineering, engineering-construction, full-service environmental work, and operating services. He founded Bechtel's Defense and Space business line and managed it for six years as it grew to be ranked among the top DOD contractors. He also led Bechtel's participation in the "Former Soviet Union (FSU) Demilitarization" market. Working with all involved agencies of the U.S. and FSU governments, he provided industry's perspective to facilitate project development in nuclear/chemical/biological demilitarization and missile and silo dismantlement. Simultaneously he positioned Bechtel for contracts funded by the Nunn-Lugar "Cooperative Threat Reduction" program and related DOE nonproliferation initiatives.
From the late 1990s until 2005 his principal focus with Bechtel was U.S. nuclear weapons policies and programs, including deterrence, non-proliferation, and future nuclear weapons posture.

In 2005, after 22 years, Monroe terminated his association with Bechtel and became a private consultant. He is serving or has recently served as a member of numerous advisory boards for the Department of Defense, Department of Energy, Department of State, NASA, and other government and private organizations. He authors frequent papers on nuclear weapons issues.

Vice Admiral (ret.) Monroe holds a master's degree in international relations from Stanford University.