Frank Jobe was born in 1925 in Greensboro, North Carolina. After graduating from Collegedale Academy in Collegedale, Tennessee in 1943, he enlisted in the United States Army and reported to Camp Barkeley for training. Serving in World War II as a medical staff sergeant in the Army's 101st Airborne Division, he landed by glider at Normandy and later was briefly captured during the Siege of Bastogne in the Battle of the Bulge. Successfully escaping, he went on to be awarded the Bronze Star Medal, Combat Medical Badge, and Glider Badge with one star.