Checkpoints September 2001 by USAFA Association of Graduates

SUMMER 2001

OUR FIRST AWARD WINNERS —2001

DISTINGUISHED GRADUATES

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PERSPECTIVE

fall is in the air mean football

FROM THE ;

■*

that must

(Go Falcons!), re-

unions (including my 40th!), the

BOARD

L'L

end of BCT for the class of 2005, and a full plate of activities. are Gen. Ron

Fogleman, USAF, Retired, (‘63) the first

graduate to rise to become chief of staff of the Air Force; and Mr. Harry Pearce (’64), former vice chairman

of General Motors, now CEO of Hughes Elec-

tronics Corp, chairman of our Sabre Society, and chairman of the

Academy’s Board of Visitors. These two

outstanding leaders will be officially recognized by the Academy and the AOG on Founders’ Day 2002

Dear Fellow Graduates, ummer is

winding down; fall is in the air

(on or about 4 April). -

that

You’ll see more about these

activities as the date gets closer.

(Go Falcons!), reunions

Approximately 130 Sabre Society members,

(including my 40 !), the end of BCT for the

spouses and friends spent two days at the Academy,

Class of 2005, and a full plate of activities for

12-13 July, to play some golf, do some hiking, tour

the AOG, the cadet wing and the Academy. It’s an excit-

Glen Eyrie, attend a reception hosted by the superin-

ing time and I hope you plan to take part in the action.

tendent, and be hosted to a dinner at Doolittle Hall.

must mean football th

You will notice some “new looks” in this issue of

The event coincided with the AOG Board meeting, so

Dick Rauschkolb ‘70 and his staff have

attendees had an opportunity to meet and talk with

Checkpoints.

added more color, glossy paper, and have continued their

Board members at the Friday night dinner.

drive to make the content more interesting and

On a sad note, we lost a long-time en-

I think you’ll agree with me that

thusiastic and dedicated supporter to the

readable.

they’re doing

great job.

AOG

I’m pleased and honored to announce that

the Academy and the Air Force with

the passing of Greg Kolligian on 3

May.

the Board has unanimously approved two new

Among Greg’s many contributions to the

Honorary Members to the AOG. They are Lt.

AOG was spearheading development of the

Gen. A.P. Clark, USAF, Retired, former USAFA

Sabre Society. Without his dedicated efforts,

Superintendent, President of the Academy’s

we would never be where we are

today.

Friends of the Library, and long-time contribu-

Let me close with a big “thank you” to

tor to the Academy; and Fisher DeBerry, our

Jim Shaw and the AOG staff for all their hard

well-known head football coach for the past 18

work, day-in and day-out, to keep our Asso-

years, who has contributed immensely to the positive

ciation running at full speed to serve graduates, ca-

development of hundreds of our cadets. These two highly

dets, the Academy and the Air Force. As we move

respected individuals richly deserve to join our previous

into the fall reunion season, many of you will have the

awardees. As you may recall, Honorary Member status is

opportunity to spend time in Doolittle Hall.

reserved for non-graduates who have rendered conspicu-

miss the chance to chat with Jim and the staff, and

ously outstanding service to the Air Force and/or the

give them a well-deserved pat on the back. 32

Don’t

Academy, and per our Bylaws is limited to a maximum of 20 living persons.

All the best

Another significant announcement was the naming of our first Distinguished Graduate Award winners. They

CHECKPOINTS,

Lt. Gen. (Ret) Marcus Anderson Board Chair SUMMER

2 0 0 1 3

contents summer / 2001

up front 3

BOARDROOM TALK

letters

GRADUATE DISCOURSE IS IMPORTANT

from the past

FLASHBACK

columns

SUPERINTENDENT'S NOTE

INSIGHTS/ WING COMMANDER

CHAPTER NEWS

GONE BUTNOTFORGOTTEN

WALDO F. DUMBSQUAT

SPORTS

CLASS NEWS

features spotlight

AIRMANSHIP AT ITS BEST

Major Julian

M. Chesnutt ‘89 has been named the winner of the

Jabara Award for his outstanding contributions to airpower.

perspective

NEW WING COMMANDER READY TO LEAD Here comes the class of2002. ClC Robert Hamilton has some enthusias-

tic challenges for the Wing and Graduates!

profile

A SPECIAL FRIEND

Gregory Scott Kolligian, one of the most avid supporters of the AOG and the Air Force Academy has passed away. cover

story

OUR FIRST AWARD WINNERS General Ronald Fogleman ‘63 and Mr Harry Pearce ‘64 are the first

Distinguished Graduate award winners of this prestigious honor for contributions to society and nation. football

ARE YOU READY FOR SOME FOOTBALL?

Oklahoma, the National Champ, is coming into Falcon Territory for the season opener. Are we ready? ON THE COVER OUR DISTINGUISHED

GRADUATES

up close

LITTLE GUY A baby falcon, “Little Guy”, hatched at the Academy Mews on June 16. Volume 30, number 2

CONTRIBUTORS

From the President

ver the

past year, I hope you have noticed that we have been

gradually changing the look and content of Checkpoints. This issue completes the process as we unveil a magazine with better paper, larger font sizes, and more color. Our goal is to make it one of the premier alumni magazines in the country. We want it and our other In order to media products to tell the Academy and graduate story. meet this objective, we created a new office—External Communications. For twenty years we had a one-person publications shop headed by Tom Kroboth. Tom put out Checkpoints and the Register of Graduates—he was the editor, reporter, proof reader, advertiser, etc. He performed all the tasks associated with AOG publications. Until we con-

Col (Ret) Jim Shaw ‘67 President/CEO

vinced him that computers could make his life easier three years ago, Tom literally cut and pasted the whole magazine together. He did a superb job and we all owe him a deep debt of gratitude for putting out a quality product in the most difficult of circumstances. Shortly after I took over the AOG in the summer of ’99,1 saw the need to create an office committed to telling the great stories of the Academy and its graduates. Too often the media focuses on negative press and not the positive contributions our cadets and graduates are making to the Air Force and our nation. We have reached a point in our short history where our graduates are having a marked impact in every occupation from government service to the business world. Officers, astronauts, doctors, lawyers, teachers, ministers, airline pilots, entrepreneurs, CEOs—you name the field and we have a graduate who is making an impact in it. Our cadets are winning highly competitive scholarships and making contributions in the public service arena— sacrificing their time off to assist people less fortunate. We need to capture these stories and I am confident our External Communications office has the people to do it.

EXTERNAL COMM TASKED WITH TELLING THE ACADEMY AND GRADUATE STORY

Col (Ret) Dick Rauschkolb ‘70

contributors

Vice President

ick Rauschkolb ’70 is heading up the External Communications Office. Dick spent 28 years in the Air Force. He was Admiral Crowe’s speechwriter and later served as his Ex-

ecutive Officer and Deputy Military Assistant when he was CINCPAC and Chairman of the JCS. More importantly, Dick knows

the Academy from his two tours here and his active participation in every mission element. As an Assistant Professor of Middle East Studies in the History Department, he was the Outstanding Educator in the Humanities Division and runner-up for the Outstanding

Educator Award at the Academy. From 88-91, he was the Director of Enrollment Programs in our Admissions Office. When he retired, he was the Commander of the Air Force Historical Research Agency. Dick brings a lot of Academy knowledge to the table and we are

counting on his leadership and vision to make External Communications a key office in your Association.

CONTINUED NEXT PAGE

CHECKPOINTS,

SUMMER

2 0 0 1 5

CONTRIBUTORS

Bob McAllister

Directo r of Marketing and Media 1

he man responsible for the great new look in our magazine is Bob McAllister. He brings a wealth of experience from the audio-visual

profession. Bob spent a career in the Air Force with Combat Camdocumenting Air Force activities around the world. He has produced over 200 documentaries, was the executive producer for Airman magazine, producer for Air Force Now, and has received numerous awards for his work including an Academy Award nomination for a documentary on the POWs in Vietnam. He provides the creative spark to presenting the AOG and Academy story. era

Jessica Eberhart

Media Spec ialist

essica Eberhart brings some youth to the office as our new Media

Specialist. She is a recent (2000) graduate of

the University of Florida where she earned a BS degree in

Public relations with a minor in Business. After six months

here, she is making an impact on all we do from the magazine and fundraising brochures to our calendar and special projects.

Tom Kroboth

Assista nt Editor i

he ace in the hole for External Comm is Tom Kroboth who has graciously agreed to forego permanent retire ment to work part time.

He assists in laying out the

magazine, providing much needed administrative support, and most importantly, sharing his years of expertise in the journal-

ism business and the production of our publications.

] FALCONS MEET THE PRESIDENT ir Force Falcons receive the

Commander-in-Chief’s trophy from President Bush at the

White House. Air Force has dominated archrivals Army and Navy winning the

trophy outright 14 times.

CHECKPOINTS, 6

SUMMER

2 0 0 1

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PERSPECTIVE

letter to the editor

BY DOUG KRONEMEYER,

CLASS OF 1972

just received my Spring 2001 Checkpoints and Mr. Yost’s letter to the editor was

the first article I read. I appreciate graduate discourse on the direction of the

Academy and feel that graduate input can certainly be an invaluable input for the staff. It takes a lot of courage to write these types of letters because they

can expose one to all kinds of ridicule—deserved or otherwise.

If these types of

discourse are to be encouraged, it is important that the tone be measured and directed at the specific issues and not overly clouded by emotions. As professionals, we need to strive to see through the emotions and examine the underlying causes.

I personally enjoyed Mr. Gallagher’s preceding letter and thought he raised some valid

issues; some of his observations merit further discussion.

he was trying to say two things.

I surmised that

First, that his Academy experience and education is

something he values highly. If one attains excellence in a difficult and highly competitive program, then that is something of which to be proud. If over the years, that person perceives that the standards and levels of excellence have eroded in some way,

then it cheapens his prior achievements. It is a subtle response, but one that can be

expected. Emphasis should be on perception. The next generation always appears to be more undisciplined and have it easier. However, I am also bewildered by a commitment oath. Sounds very foreign to me also.

The second issue could possibly be related to the warrior mentality (possible

“I did not find any of

reference to Marine Corps, career vs. job). Do we now need a program that instills a warrior mentality with its attendant need for mental and physical discipline and

Mr. Gallagher’s com-

willingness to endure physical hardships in preparation for the severity of battlefield environments?

ments insulting, nor

Many past engagements have, more recent ones have not.

Much of

the Air Force battle environment is becoming sterile and Buck Rogers-like. What type

of training do we need for this new environment? I don’t know.

did Mr. Yost attempt to

What I do know is that these are areas for valid discussion. Mr. Yost’s letter was

explain why they might be insulting.”

confusing in that he very subtly ascribed undocumented responses from a prior

undisclosed graduate to Mr. Gallagher, while inferring that the two letters were

basically of the same ilk.

I did not find any of Mr. Gallagher’s comments insulting, nor

did Mr. Yost attempt to explain why they might be insulting. I also do not understand

why Mr. Yost impugned Mr. Gallagher’s letter as being disaffected. Disaffection is to alienate the affection or loyalty. I saw no evidence.

Finally, he labeled him as dissatisfied, again without substantiating the claim. And Mr. Yost did it all by innuendo. However, I am sure that Mr. Gallagher will be very

gracious in this matter. Hopefully, Mr. Yost will take some time and reconsider some of his comments and offer further explanations. Si

CHECKPOINTS,

SUMMER

2 0 0 1 9

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RIC KENBACKE R America’s Ace Of Aces

by Supunnee Ulibarri

trength, honor and patriotism exemplified

World War I flying ace Capt. Edward “Eddie”

Rickenbacker, who was selected as the 2004

Vernon Rickenbacker, he joined the American Expedition-

class exemplar. “We are now referred to as the

ary Force in 1917. He became an aviator in the 94th Aero

Class of Rickenbacker,” said C4C Bhakti D. Beloved, co-

Pursuit Squadron and quickly gained command through

chair for the Exemplar Program.

his daring aggression. Rickenbacker was awarded the Con-

“As the class continues its journey through the Academy, we will try to follow Rickenbacker’s traits and high-

gressional Medal of Honor for his leadership and 26 aerial victories. The famed pilot died on July 23,1973.

light them in major class functions like the ring dance and

“Rickenbacker was and still is more than a hero,”

graduation,” Beloved said. Rickenbacker was chosen from

said C4C Chris

three other possible exemplars, Gen. Carl A. Spaatz, Gen.

“Rickenbacker was a tme warrior in my eyes,” Stepaneck

Chappie James and Airman First Class John L. Levitow.

said.

Stepaneck of Cadet Squadron 27.

The class of2000 first implemented the Exemplar Pro-

Rickenbacker will serve as a present and future role

gram. A class enters the program during their fourthclass

model to the 2004 class. “Morale was never really high

year by selecting

a leader from

the past to represent the

class and serve as a role model.

over there

[World War I] and it was people like Rickenbacker

who gave their troops the will and desire to show what

Rickenbacker is often referred to as America’s Ace of

they are truly worth. This is why I voted for Edward V.

Aces due to his high number of American aerial victories

Rickenbacker as our class exemplar,” said C4C Kristopher

over the Germans

during World War I. Many of the battles

brought him near encounters with death; by his own account, he had 135 brushes with death during his lifetime.

Melton of Cadet Squadron 3. The class will hold an exemplar dinner in honor of

Rickenbacker on Sept. 25. &

Bom in Columbus, Ohio on Oct. 8, 1890 as Edward

CHECKPOINTS,

SUMMER

2 0 0 1 11

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Worth F ighting

“For everyone who goes through this

place, it is a struggle. Mine was just a little more physically challenging.”

BY JOHN DIEDRJCH Colorado Springs Gazette

for the bums.

hannon Merlo has always

worn a one

The doctors told her she wouldn’t re-

seat belt—except

time.

turn to the Academy.

And the Air

plans. hospital, encouraged by the dozens of cards and flower bouquets she received—many from people in the Air Force she had never

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She

May 30.

“If you want something badly enough and believe in it, you can make it happen,” Merlo said. The crash occurred April 30, 1998, as Merlo was finishing the Academy’s punishing first year. As she and two seniors headed to Denver to buy supplies for an upcoming trip, the senior cadet’s 1998 Ford Mustang Cobra skidded across both lanes of Interstate 25 and flipped onto a large, grassy median. Merlo was thrown 30 feet. The car rolled after her. Remarkably, it landed wheels-down with Merlo underneath, in the middle of the four tires. The seat where Merlo had been sitting was completely crushed. Investigators said she would have been killed or brain damaged had she been belted in. After the car landed, Merlo regained consciousHer companions—who weren’t seriously injured— ness. along with passers-by, lifted the car. The next thing Merlo remembers is the paramedics saying, “We can’t wait for a flight. We don’t have time.” She was rushed by ambulance to Penrose Hospital in Colorado Springs. Her leg, pelvis and shoulder were broken in several places. She also had severe internal injuries and third degree bums from the heat of the car. After extensive surgery, Merlo spent a week in intensive care. A metal rod, knee to ankle length, was put in her leg. And skin was grafted from elsewhere on her body

like to be strong, independent, confident and self-assured.” While she recovered, her father arranged for her return to the Academy.

The plan was a medical turn back, meaning she

would take a year off. But Merlo returned to Colorado Springs in

August—less than four months after the crash and probably too early, she admitted. She had tricks to deal with the pain and swelling. She left for everything earlier than other cadets and often slipped into a bathroom to gather herself before class. By the time officials realized she was supposed to be held Merlo had been attending classes. They let her stay. back, But there were challenges. When she couldn’t do the Academy-required pull-ups because of her shoulder, an Air Force doctor said, “It’s time you look for another college.” Merlo went to work on her upper body strength and soon returned to max out the pull-ups and push-ups. Today she carries no visible signs of the crash, except that she tends to get sick easier and has to watch sun exposure on her bums. Merlo is headed for a career in the Office of Special Inves-

tigations, the criminal investigative arm of the Air Force. But first, graduation beckons... “I think I’ll feel the same as anyone else graduating,” she said. “For everyone who goes through this place, it is a stmggle. Mine was just a little more physically challenging. Si

CHECKPOINTS,

SUMMER

2 0 0 1 13

Superintendent’s Note Lt Gen JD Dallager

Billy

into support functions, 10% into acquisitions, 3% will enter

departed and the

logistics, 2% will go to non-line areas, 6% will go to graduate

class of 2005 is onboard and going strong! As I

school (OK...for you “techies” reading this, that adds up to

es...it’s

already summer 2001.

Mitchell Class

(2001) has

The

looked out over the graduation ceremony on 30 May 01,1 found myself thinking about two things.

They’ll all do great things for

Actually the first thing was, what an awe-

“High fives” to Colonel Wayne Schiefer and his staff in

day for graduation; mostly clear blue skies and pleas-

HQ USAFA/XPO as well as the graduation points of contact

(just kidding!). some

How old I was

102% due to rounding errors!). our AF!

putting on a class act. Their efforts earned

ant temperatures were on hand for our graduates and their

across the base for

families. You should be pleased and proud, as I am, of our

kudos from the Vice President and the White House staff as

Billy Mitchell Class. our new

Vice President Cheney’s pep talk for

well as many Academy friends. The second thing I was thinking about was what a

graduates only capped off an outstanding event for

all. Cheers thundered across the stadium for our top gradu-

great first year I’ve had as your Superintendent.

ate, 2d Lt Matthew B. Obenchain, and for every grad that

staff when I first arrived that I sort of felt like a hood ornament

followed.

Applause by family and friends was constant, as

on a fast

I told the

moving car. What a great opportunity to work with

The ceremony

world-class professionals across the Academy, in the Asso-

finished with a flourish, as the Thunderbirds thrilled the crowd

ciation of Graduates, and in the local community. I’d like to

with their show.

give you a “stockholders’ report” on what happened during

were the celebrations at the end of the ramp.

And while the Billy Mitchell Class remembers Gradua-

the first year.

tion Day as a task or era finished... I see it as one begun. Of

pushin’ it up!

So strap yourselves in good and tight...we’re

the 847 graduates of the class of 2001, 65% of the new lieu-

We just welcomed the Class of2005 on 28 Jun 01 and

tenants are entering specialized undergraduate pilot training

we’re once again pleased with the quality of candidates. We

(SUPT), 4% will go into operations-related career fields, 12%

had over 9,500 applicants with over 2,000 of those being fe-

CHECKPOINTS, 14

SUMMER

2 0 0 1

PERSPECTIVE

5 Superintendent’s cont. male and over 1,700 being minority. Out of those applicants we offered positions to

1,609 candidates with 280 being female and 281 being minority. We had 1,271 acceptances with 227 being female and 228 be-

ing minority.

We have been disappointed with the

“WHAT A GREAT drug

OPPORTUNITY

cases this year, but continue to stress with

our cadets that

TO WORK WITH

erated.

83 being female and 72 being minority. Most of these new cadets

completed Basic

Cadet Training on 4 August and

began

classes on 9 Aug 01. They’re a great group of young men and women.. .glad they are

Every cadet on the Academy is aware

that their choices have consequences.

WORLD CLASS

We also had 680 potential

pilot qualified candidate acceptances with

illegal behavior will not be tol-

Switching gears a little, I’d now like to

PROFESSIONALS

talk about some Academy programs. Let’s start with our airmanship programs.

ACROSS THE

Dating all the

way back to 1969 (yes...prehistoric times),

ACADEMY, IN

USAFA graduates have experienced close to

THE ASSOCIA-

50% lower attrition at SUPT (pilot training) than candidates from other commissioning sources.

TION OF GRADU-

Undoubtedly, USAFA’s outstanding airman-

on our team!

As you are all well aware, on 16 Octo-

ber 2000, it came to the attention of base

investigators that one cadet was allegedly involved in the distribution of drugs at

ATES, AND IN

ship programs play a significant role in that

THE LOCAL

trend.

With that in mind, we are constantly

seeking ways to further enhance these pro-

COMMUNITY.”

grams. In the past year, the Introductory Flight

During the course of the

Training Program (IFT) prepared 388 pilot can-

initial investigation, several additional ca-

didates for success at SUPT through a 50-hour

the Academy.

dets were also

implicated.

To date, approximately 50 ca-

FAA-approved syllabus of instruction culminating in a Pri-

dets have been interviewed by law enforcement officials.

vate Pilot License.

Five cadets have been court martialed and found guilty for

were trained at the USAFA Aero

illegal substance abuse. All are serving time in prison with

lieutenants were trained at eight flight schools in the Colorado

sentences ranging from 4 to 42 months. We expect to take

Springs/Denver area. The 557 FTS was transferred from AETC

In addition, 24 other

to USAFA in Oct ‘00 with the task of overseeing the current

cadets have been disciplined under the cadet disciplinary

IFT program and spearheading the initiative to bring all IFT

system for knowing about and failing to report substance

training back to the Academy airfield under a single civilian

abuse activities. Thirteen cadets have been cleared of any

contractor.

wrong doing.

low more cadets to complete IFT before graduation, and will

UCMJ action against 6 more cadets.

Seventy cadets and thirty-four lieutenants Club, and the remaining 284

Consolidating operations at the Academy will al-

We have all learned a lot through this process

provide standardized training in a SUPT-like environment.

and the Training Wing has increased its drug awareness/

Program implementation was delayed as we closely examined

(We’ve also increased

environmental and scheduling concerns, but those issues have

it for USAFA permanent party.) The briefings were part of

been resolved and we are ready to continue the contracting

consequence training for all cadets.

ongoing education process that continues to inform

process.

Contract operations are expected to begin by Jun

cadets about the deadly effects of such “new” substances

‘02. Contractors are free to propose any aircraft that has dem-

Blue Nitro and Ecstasy that have become part of our

onstrated compliance with specified criteria. Aircraft which

culture in recent years.

have demonstrated compliance include: Cessna 182, Katana

We will take added steps with the class of

DA-20 and DA-40, Cirrus SR-20, and the Grob 115E. I’ll ensure

2005 to ensure they understand the consequences of

you continue to receive periodic updates on the status of the

substance abuse.

IFT program.

In addition to

continuing educa-

tion programs, we have increased the number and fre-

This year has also seen incredible movement in the

quency of random urinalysis drug tests and have be-

replacement glider acquisition.

gun conducting them on weekends and holidays.

Requirements Document (ORD) met the Air Force Require-

CHECKPOINTS,

SUMMER

In January, the Operational

2 0 0 1 15

PERSPECTIVE

Sk Superintendent’s

cont.

Following

with the wing receiving the Air Force Outstanding Unit

this milestone, in February was the Acquisition Strategy

Award on 10 Nov 00. As key members of the USAFA

Panel hosted at USAFA. After nearly 1 V2 years of hard

team, the men and women of the wing continue, year in

work, the effort had a dedicated acquisition office and staff

and year out, to accomplish tremendous things in sup-

ments Oversight Committee and was approved.

In April, the CSAF

port of the USAFA mission, touching everything from

expressed his support for the program and in May, $2.0M

family support, housing, installation security, medical/

dedicated to fund the project. We also have a pretty

dental support, and base appearance to support cadet

at the Aeronautical

was

Systems Center.

good “handshake” on the remaining $2.5M in FY02. On 11

programs...and that’s 24/7 and 365 days a year!

Jun, the Glider Acquisition Review Board met at Wright-

pace setter for the Air Force, the wing was the first AF

Patterson AFB to outline the acquisition timeline and mile-

unit to have a civilian take the leadership reins of a squad-

stones.

This plan was accepted and is currently being

ron.

As a

Mr. Chuck Milam took the reins of the Services

At the beginning of July, the Request For

Squadron from Col Steve Wacholtz on 24 May 01. The

placed in the Commerce Business Daily, al-

wing did so well with this change of command that they

turned around and did it again in CE with Mr. Gene Gallogly

August, the glider replacement program will be part of the

taking the reins from Col (sel) Richard Fryer on 25 May

implemented. Proposal

was

lowing companies to submit bids to meet the ORD.

To culminate a great year in the wing, the wing

omnibus action; this should release the $2.0M in funding

‘01.

needed to replace the glider fleet (the motorgliders will re-

transitioned from one great leader to another when Col

quire the additional FY02 funding). The source selection

“JB” Bonapart relinquished command of the wing to Col

committee will meet during the first half of September to

Brad Ward.

select the winning bid.

After this action is complete, a

contract can be let to procure the new aircraft.

And yes, for you Dean’s Listers out there, it’s

With any

been another busy year for the Dean of the Faculty. The

luck, the new aircraft will start arriving by January ‘03 and

$16M construction project to renovate Fairchild contin-

USAFA will go operational with the new aircraft by Sum-

ues

merorFall ‘03.

south end of the 6 th floor in Fairchild Hall has received

to make good progress and is

schedule.

The

On the athletic front, our Fightin’ Falcons con-

the most attention this year and we expect the Political

eluded another stellar season in 2000-2001. The football

Science and Management Departments to move into their

team won its 14

outright CINC trophy title. In Mountain

new homes

in early fall. Our academic programs con-

West Conference competition, 6 of our teams finished in

tinue to seek accreditation whenever possible.

the top three, and 10 cadet-athletes were crowned confer-

recently, the Management Department was accredited

champions in football, baseball, indoor and outdoor

by the American Assembly of Collegiate Schools of Busi-

ence

Most

track and men’s swimming. The women’s gymnastics team

ness

(AACSB). Although this was the first time DFM

also crowned USA Gymnastics Division I national

was

eligible for accreditation by AACSB, they earned

was

champions.

Ten cadet-athletes earned All-American sta-

“eye-watering/sock-rollin-down” accolades (that’s an

tus, a football player earned academic All-American hon-

academic expression I’ve learned this past year)!

ors, and 30 athletes earned all-conference honors. Overall

Computer Science Department also had a very success-

the Falcons had a 46 percent winning average.

Congratu-

ful re-accreditation visit by the Computer Science Ac-

well

creditation Board (CSAB). We also have a major curricu-

lations to all of our coaches and cadet athletes

—

The

lum review underway as we strive to provide our future

done! GO FALCONS! The Academy’s world class support team, the 10

Air Force leaders with the best academic program for the As it is throughout the Air Force, man-

Air Base Wing, had a great year as well. The year in review

new millennium.

for the 10 ABW can be summed up by focusing on their

ning continues to be an issue as the faculty competes for

top priorities: people, Quality of Life programs, and main-

increasingly limited resources. As a result, faculty man-

taining a premier USAF installation. This emphasis earned

ning was at about the 90% point this past year, and would

them numerous unit and individual accolades, culminating

have even been lower if not for the presence of civilian

CHECKPOINTS,

SUMMER

2 0 0 1

PERSPECTIVE

5 Superintendent’s

cont.

instructors. We were successful, however, in appoint-

ing several new Permanent Professors (PPs) to the faculty. Col Greg Seely took over the Civil and Environmental Engineering Dept following the retirement of Col David Swint; Col Neal Barlow is in charge of the Aeronautical Engineering Department since Col Mike Smith retired; and Lt Col David Gibson was appointed to head the Computer Science Department following

the retirement of Col Sam Grier. Just recently, Lt Col Rich Fullerton was selected to be the new PP in Economics and Geography following Col Chip Franck’s retirement. Permanent professor searches for the De-

partment of Philosophy and the Department of Behavioral Science and Leadership will be conducted over

□ Class of 2005 takes the field

the next year.

And returning to our recently departed class

of2001, they had numerous graduate scholarship winners-a

Rhodes and Truman plus 19 other nationally

competitive scholarships to schools like MIT and Harvard. Overall, 66 grads will go directly to graduate

school, including 16 to medical school. And finally,

although the new class of 2005 has just arrived, they already have a “first” to their credit. They will be the first class to be issued laptop computers instead of

desktop machines. This decision followed an extensive “hands on” study conducted over the past year, and will facilitate computer use in the classroom as well as in locations such as the library, at sponsors’

homes, and on trips. For you old “brown-shoers,” we considered

issuing commemorative steam-driven sliderules.. ..but the owner’s manual was written in what appeared to be

hieroglyphics!

OK...that about sums it up. As you

can see, we’ve had a very

busy year, and we couldn’t

have done it without you. I’d like to take this opportu-

nity in my first “Annual Report” to thank each of you for your continuing support and advice throughout

“Take the hill,” said Lt. Gen. John Dallager,

Academy superintendent, and the nine squadrons of cadets broke formation and sprinted up the hill next to the Cadet Gym. “Taking the hill” marked the end of Field day, when trainee squadrons tested their teamwork and physical conditioning with nine athletic events. It also marked the end of the first phase of basic

cadet training, better known as “first beast.” “.. .They’re starting to learn what it’s like to rely on someone else,” said C1C Vaughn Brazil,

commander of first basic cadet training. “We have a lot of valedictorians, a lot of

people who were prior enlisted, and we have lot of people who were team captains. And now they’re thrown in a room full of team captains, full of valedictorians,” Brazil said.

Following Field day was “Doolie Day Out.” The annual event pairs cadet trainees with local sponsor families for a day away from the

Academy. Sunday evening, it was back to the

training. On July 23, the nine trainee squadrons

the year. Whatever the event, from football games to

Founders’ Day, you were always there, standing right

beside us. Thanks for your outstanding support! Great

marched out to Jacks Valley for second cadet basic

training. By John Van Winkle

to be aboard!

CHECKPOINTS,

SUMMER

200 1 17

Flashback A

FLASH

WILEY

SPECIAL

ROOMMATE

‘65 state or all-city. Lance was an all-everything

W e’d never really been far from my

thoughts over the past 25 years.

from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. My high school

And there were moments—very

football career, on the other hand, was sig-

special moments—when my

nificantly less distinguished; but I was the

thoughts and memories of him were really quite

first Black ever recruited by the Academy to

intense, e.g. seeing the Vietnam War Memorial

play football.

in Washington, D.C.; visiting the cadet dormi-

To attend NAPS, one had to be a mem-

tory that bears his name and likeness or ponder-

ber of the Air Force Reserve on active duty,

ing my upcoming class reunion. Indeed, whenever I responded

and that meant joining the Air Force and undergoing ba-

to the many inquiries I received over the years as to what the

sic training at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio,

Academy was like and what type of product it produced, I

TX.

inevitably recounted stories of his life and death as examples.

ment, I suppose it is difficult to imagine the misgivings I

However, my recent chance encounter with Malcolm

had as a 17-year-old Black going into the Deep South

McConnell’s book Into the Mouth of the Cat about his extraor-

with 119 white guys from all over the country.

dinary heroism evoked my deepest, most vivid recollections

the Air Force, as the rest of the military establishment,

and engendered within me an intense need to share these re-

was

far ahead of the rest of the country with respect to

flections with others.

race

relations, I still presented something of a problem to

‘

In today’s age of racial awareness and enlighten-

Although

Haven’t his exploits and

the persons responsible for training us as future cadets

exemplary character already been well chronicled? Indeed,

and officers. In the buddy-system world of military train-

One might ask,

Why bother?

ing, having a roommate was essential and the training

hasn’t he already become a legend?”

Perhaps so, but there are some aspects of his character that can never be overemphasized.

Moreover, there are other

command at Lackland went through great pains to select a roommate for me who was

“compatible.” Lance Sijan

that person, and as he later revealed, he had been

facets of the man that require mention in hopes of understand-

was

ing and nurturing the rich legacy he has left us.

asked pointblank whether or not he had any problems

LACKLAND AIR FORCE BASE, TX, 1960

rooming with a Negro.

Lance Sijan was the first of a long series of roommates I

So there we were—two scared and confused kids—

had as part of my U.S. Air Force Academy (USAFA) experience.

determined to make our families and ourselves proud.

He, like I, had been selected with 118 other hopefuls to attend

Although, as we became better acquainted, I grew to like

the Naval Avademy Prep School (NAPS) in Bainbridge, MD

and admire him; only two years later I came to realize how

(the Air Force Academy did not have its own prep school at the

truly fortunate I had really been to know this man.

time)—a vehicle for obtaining one of the coveted appointments

People were always mispronouncing his name—“See-

Like many of the others in attendance, we had been

Jan” being the most customary misappellation. He was

recruited by the Academy to play football. There were several

fiercely proud of his Serbian heritage and he made certain

high school football All-Americas in attendance; most were all-

that no one mispronounced his name twice. “Sigh-John,”

to USAFA.

CHECKPOINTS, 18

SUMMER

2 0 0 1

FROM

^Flashback

THE

PAST

cont.

he would say, “but you can call me ‘Si.’”

and we were getting a little tired of the routine, but

More often than not, folks called him “Big

our own

Si” because of his broad-shouldered, 6’2”

ing

frame and the proud way he carried himself.

other and pondered the ridiculous sight of a grown

regimentation into the system was driv-

onward.

Suddenly, we each looked at the

(From the waist up, his body was superhu-

man in skivvies on hands and knees underneath a

man; I always teased him about his “bird

bed sweeping at nothing.

legs” that rested atop a pair of very large

ter—each at the other—and that insight into what

feet. I also razzed him over the years about

We burst into laugh-

could become if we let the system control us

his nose, which he was habitually break-

served us well throughout the remainder of our

ing, but he didn’t mind because there were

careers as

cadets and officers.

After cramming eight weeks of basic training

usually sufficient women around to tell him how good looking he was.) During the few

into four, we departed Lackland for Bainbridge and

spare moments the training schedule al-

football.

lowed us, we took pictures of each other to

BAINBRIDGE NTC, MD, AUG 1960

send to the girls back home, deluding our-

Our Air Force contingency comprised approxi-

(though mine was certainly the

mately one-third of the student body at the NAPS,

greater delusion) that they couldn’t wait to

with the rest coming from the Navy, Marine Corps

selves

and Army.

hear from us. Si was “squared away”—by that I mean he was the

opposite of a “screw-up.”

He took to the training fast and

Although Si and I were assigned to different barracks,

we were still roommates on football

trips—a custom we continued

at the Academy.

Then,

Our team was pretty good and, as I recall, the only game we

having mastered the system himself, he helped others do

lost that year was to the Air Force Academy JVs. There were, of

the same.

He was a team player with a capital “T” and a

course, extenuating circumstances. We had arrived in Colorado at

capital “P” and he contributed his all (his all being 110 per-

6 a.m. following a 23-hour trip from MD, but the most debilitating

cent) to whatever objective he pursued. Largely through

factor affecting us was the 7,250 feet altitude. Even Big Si (who

his efforts, I was elected Barracks Chief of our 120-man con-

prided himself on his excellent physical condition) became extremely

was

possessed of good common sense and instincts.

tingency. Lance was one of the key individuals who taught

winded as we underwent even minor physical exertion. But despite

me how to

the loss, we enjoyed the trip for affording us the opportunity to see

lead and manage while helping me do so along

first-hand the goal for which we had all been striving.

the way.

Family was everything to Lance and, after our first week

Si and I

vowed that we’d get there one day.

together, I felt as though I’d grown up in his home. Interest-

USAF ACADEMY, CO, JUNE 1961-65

ingly enough, when I finally met his family, I learned that

Lance and I were in the same Basic Cadet Squadron during the

Lance’s favorable descriptions were, in fact, understated.

summer—G Squadron, which was affectionately termed “Guts

Through them, I came to understand that his extraordinary

Squadron.” In the demanding training system the Academy offers,

character was merely part of a greater whole.

(and this holds true for all four years) one witnesses people per-

Despite the intensity and seriousness with which he

form under very tough physical and mental pressures and looks

approached his tasks, Si had a great sense of humor and

into their very souls to see of what they’re made. From the very

perspective on things. One morning, for example, we were

first, Lance distinguished himself among his classmates and upper

up at 4:30 to prepare for an inspection later that day.

(We

classmen as someone who embodied the qualities of leadership

both liked getting a head start on the 5 a.m. reveille.) We had

and strength the Academy strove to develop. In an era when young

spit-shined our shoes the night before and were down on

men were

our hands and knees underneath our bunks

characterized as “the kind of guy you’d want with you in a fox

sweeping with a

shoe brush the nonexistent dust we imagined was soiling our

already immaculate floor. Basic training was almost over CHECKPOINTS,

weaned on John Wayne’s WWII movies, Lance was

hole;” a reputation that grew during his four years as a cadet. Much has been said about Lance’s legendary toughness and

SUMMER

2 0 0 1 19

FROM

THE

!&Flashback

cont.

PAST

tenacity, but he was certainly no robot or automaton.

and USAFA, our lives took divergent paths. Yet, he was

To the contrary, Lance had the soul and the skills of an

never far from my

artist. He was a warm, thinking, caring and emotional

tion of his gallantry has produced a wonderful font of

individual who was as comfortable singing in the choir,

memories.

thoughts and the McConnell depic-

BOSTON, MA, 1985

painting pictures and sculpting as he was trouncing foot-

If someone were to ask me to sum up the essence of

ball opponents.

He was not a womanizer, but he liked the ladies and

the man and the implications of his sacrifice, I would

they liked him. During our senior year, he was “in be-

simply reply that what made Lance so uniquely interest-

tween” girlfriends and I introduced him to a very ex-

ing and special was that he was so “normal.”

traordinary young lady I knew who was looking to meet

bringing, beliefs, character, family, versatility, joy of life,

Unlike some of the ladies from the

and willingness to make the ultimate sacrifice were typi-

region, she had a healthy disinterest in cadets (her fa-

cal American qualities of the type so exquisitely cap-

ther was an Air Force General and her brother a 1963

tured and immortalized in Norman Rockwell paintings.

USAFAgraduate). However, Lance’s sensitivity, warmth

Lance was the best America and the Air Force Academy

and vulnerability—when combined with his other ster-

produced because he represented America at its idealis-

ling qualities—captured her heart and created an endur-

tic best.

ing relationship.

country before realizing that there are very few Ameri-

someone

special.

I saw a lot of Lance during our last few months at

again.

One does not have to live very long in this

cans who are

the Academy, but after we graduated I never saw him

His up-

truly “American.” And that, I suppose, is

why I have always considered myself privileged to have known him. &

We kept in touch through mutual friends—par-

ticularly the young lady I introduced him to—but after five years of warm and close-shared experiences at NAPS

■ 2001 DISTINGUISHED SERVICE AWARD WINNER ANNOUNCED

Brigadier General (Ret) Philip J. Erdle named

he Air Force Academy has named Brigadier General (Ret) Philip J. Erdle as the 2001

Distinguished Service Award winner. The award is given

annually to an individual who has made a significant and lasting

contribution to the morale or well being of the Air Force Academy. General Erdle was selected in recognition of his outstanding service to the Academy

stretching over 40 years. Most notably, General Erdle has acted as the President and Executive Director of the Academy Research and Development Institute since its inception in 1986. Since that time he has raised donations exceeding

$ 17 million to endow academic chairs for the Academy. General Erdle was also the long time Head of the Engineering Mechanics Department. General Erdle will be honored for his contributions to the Academy at the Parents’ Weekend Parade on Friday, August 31 st

CHECKPOINTS, 20

SUMMER

2001

BEHIND

THE

SCENES

undreds of cadets disappeared into the mountains

and woods this summer for survival training. Each of the three summer sessions of the Cadet Survival Training

taught 348 cadets and four

Reserve Officer Training Corps members what it

fSJB

takes to get back home alive.

“They do academic training for about five or six days, they do one day of water survival training, four days of

survival in the woods, and four days evasion in the woods,” said C2C Nick Lofthouse, superintendent of basic cadet survival

training. “So it simulates the whole package of [what would happen] if you punched out in a temperate climate such as this— how you would live and return home.” While the academics take place on the Academy, the wilderness survival and evasion training portions are in Saylor Park, within the

Pike National Forest. Cadets learn the basics of building shelters,

procuring food and signaling for the survival portion.

There is also

the medical side of the equation that shows the cadets how to deal with bleeding, bums, broken bones and other injuries. But these injuries aren’t just hypothetical ailments pulled out of

thin air and the training cadre explains how certain injuries happen to downed aircrew members. With all due seriousness, the cadets

learned to deal with the following: bleeding that can happen when

plexiglas canopy shards cut into an ejecting pilot or weapons systems officer; or the possible bums to the back of the legs from an

ejection seat’s rocket motors; and the broken bones or sprains

from a less-than-gentle parachute-landing in uneven terrain. Another four days in the woods follow the survival portion; this time for evasion training that puts the thirdclassmen’s newly

gained skills to the test as they try to evade training cadre members who play the role of aggressors.

Later, the water survival portion simulates the beginning and end of the aircrew survival scenario.

First, they learn to ditch in

water and use various floatation devices; later they learn to use

various helicopter hoists, including a metal stretcher and the jungle

penetrator. But the only part of this training that’s tmly visible to the rest

of the Academy is the vectoring portion. And even then, it’s only the occasional UH-1 Huey or MH-60 Pave Hawk helicopters that are seen

flying low over the north end of the Academy. The cadets

have learned how to direct a helicopter crew to their remote location

and evacuate them. The remainder is just a whisper in the supposedly empty

woods. 5

OINTS,

SUMMER

200 1 21

Airmanship ajor Julian M.

Chesnutt, Class of

1989, has been

Among other accomplishments,

Major Chesnutt was awarded the Silver ,h

Star and recognized as the 16 Air

Army launched an SA-6 surface to air missile from beneath his aircraft and two SA-6 missiles from a different battery

named the winner

Force “Pilot of the Year” for his skill

approximately 10 miles away. Major

of the 2001

and heroism in the course of a strike

Chesnutt and his wingman skillfully

Colonel James Jabara Award for Airman-

mission during Operation ALLIED

evaded the first missile, while simulta-

ship for his outstanding contributions to

FORCE.

neously turning to visually acquire and

airpower, including 38 combat missions over Serbia and

Kosovo. The Jabara

Award, named in honor of Colonel James

On 31 May 1999, Major Chesnutt

evade the remaining threats.

Major

led a “night-vision-goggle” (NVG)

Chesnutt then followed the

strike mission against a special

smoke trails from the missile

Jabara, America’s first jet ace, is given

operations training facility in the heart

annually to an Air Force Academy

of the most heavily defended area in

SAM site. After fixing the

graduate whose actions directly associ-

Yugoslavia. Battling poor weather,

approximate location of the

ated with an aerospace vehicle set him/

Major Chesnutt’s flight was the first

her apart from their contemporaries.

back to the location of the

site with his NVGs, he

strike formation out of the 40-ship

activated his infrared target-

NATO strike package to enter enemy

ing pod to pinpoint the exact

airspace. Prior to reaching the target,

Major Chesnutt’s aircraft threat warning system indicated that he had been targeted by enemy radar. Less

position of the SA-6 launcher as well as the SA-6 radar van.

than 30 seconds later, the Yugoslav

Clearing the rest of his formation to the planned

target area, Major Chesnutt

Lp ^

continued his solo attack on the active missile site.

Major

Chesnutt quickly notified the

supporting SEAD F-16CJ of his attack, and requested an antiradar missile to cover his strike. The missile scored a direct hit

CHECKPOINTS,

SUMMER

2 00 1

& Jabara cont.

on the

SA-6 radar van just as Major Chesnutt released

remainder of the 40-ship strike package proceeded

two of his four laser-guided bombs at the SA-6 missile

unfettered to their respective target areas and returned

launcher.

with no losses or collateral damage. After Major

Major Chesnutt further demonstrated

exceptional skill and courage, keeping his aircraft

Chesnutt’s attack, no other SAMs were launched at

steady to ensure a good radar lock and subsequently

NATO aircraft, all of which had targets in or around

scoring a direct hit on the target

Belgrade. Additionally, Major Chesnutt’s flight was

an act that

exposed

him to counterattack from various defenses surround-

100% effective in the target area, scoring direct hits on

ing the site. He then rejoined his formation, led a pre-

7 out of 7 targets. His exceptional skill and heroism

planned second strike on the special operations

were

facility, and scored another direct hit with his remain-

throughout Operation ALLIED FORCE.

ing bombs. Major Chesnutt, at that point critically low on

Major Chesnutt will be presented the 2001

fuel, led his formation out of Belgrade to safety.

Jabara Award for Airmanship on 13 October 2001 at the

Following Major Chesnutt’s bold solo attack on the

critical to the continued success of air operations

Homecoming Weekend Parade and honored at a dinner

Serbian Integrated Air Defense System, the

in Doolittle Hall. \/\

education goals.

□ CADETBRINGSTOPHONORS

After receiving a nomination by

Roberts, along with C2C Paul

the Academy to the national level,

Calhoun, CS 9, C2C Liz Culbertson, CS

Roberts, Calhoun, Lotridge and

and educational excellence

12, and C2C Jessica Lotridge, CS 22,

Culbertson competed against

arrived once again to the Air

were nominated

approximately 750 other junior-level

ational honors in leadership

by the Academy to

compete nationally. “The application

students from top universities and

Scholarship Foundation named C2C

process is intense and lengthy,” said

colleges throughout the United

Matthew Roberts a 2001 Truman

Dr. Kenneth Lavin, director of the

States. The foundation’s finalist

Scholar.

Academy’s Graduate Studies Program

committee then invited only 200

office.

students for interviews after carefully

Force Academy

as the

Harry Truman

Roberts, of Cadet Squadron 11, is

At the Academy’s initial nomina-

reviewing application packets and

prestigious honor since the Academy

tion selection process, cadets “fill out

policy proposals. Only 70 finalists

began competing for the scholarship in

an extensive

1994. During a surprise classroom visit,

policy proposals, are interviewed at

the national pool of scholarship

Academy Superintendent Lt. Gen.

their school [Academy] and are then

nominees. Roberts was among the

John R. Dallager and Dean of Faculty

selected as one of only four Truman

few chosen, while Culbertson,

Brig. Gen. Dave Wagie, informed

candidates to represent their school,”

Lotridge and Calhoun came in close

Roberts of the national award.

Lavin explained.

as finalist interviewees.

the ninth cadet to be awarded this

application and write

were chosen as Truman Scholars from

Lavin added that, “although the

The scholarship is presented

annually by the Truman Foundation,

scholarship will help Roberts meet his

which recognizes junior-level students

future educational dreams, the honor

with exceptional leadership potential

is also recognition of how well our

and commitment to careers in govern-

cadets perform and how well the

ment, non-profit or advocacy sectors,

United States Air Force Academy

public service. As a scholarship

accomplishes its mission of educating

recipient, Roberts will receive a $30,000

and training the best officers in the

merit-based grant towards his graduate

Air Force. ”S

CHECKPOINTS,

SUMMER

2 0 0 1 23

RBH

PERSPECTIVE

By C1C Robert Hamilton Wing Commander

insi gilts he United States Air Force Academy is

these issues you can rest assured that the buck

again turning over a new leaf much

stops here! Enough of the negative and onto the

like they have done for the past 44 years,

positives, and believe you me, there are quite a few

but this year will be different. Different

of them.

once

in the fact that a class equipped with the tools,

Now, I must say that having the honor of

people, and the drive to lead this Academy in its

being the fall semester 2001 Wing Commander at

never-ending pursuit for excellence has taken over.

the United States Air Force Academy is something

Here comes the class of 2002, known as the Sijan

that I am extremely juiced for, but at the same time

class. Of course, keep in mind

I will take the position very, very seriously and I

that every four years USAFA is

refuse to leave this institution without making it

ruled and run by the RTBs but

better than when I found it.

this year’s batch has something

given me so much and after enduring and perse-

that makes them just a little more

vering through New Mexico Military Institute, the

special.

United States Air Force Academy Preparatory

Let’s get this out in the open first thing.

Right now the

School, and finally arriving at my firstie year, I am so excited to

give something back. The great thing

Academy has had some issues

about my vision of raising the Air Force Academy

that had to be dealt with, and

to the highest esteem that it deserves and demands

although many would argue that

is the simple fact that I am not alone, the class of

any

university in the nation

2002 has that exact same passion.

Bottom line:

would love to have the problems

this semester, we need to focus. Focus in on what’s

that we endured, we must re-

important, focus in on why we are here, and focus

member that we are not a uni-

in on the traditions that those who have gone be-

Academy and

fore us have worked so hard to instill; those same

with that status comes a higher

traditions that give us pride in being graduates

versity;

we are an

standard that we must constantly strive to attain.

and survivors of the “zoo.”

We have had many press releases that have put us

what will this semester be like at USAFA?

With that being said,

There are a million great things going on

in the wrong light with the public eye, the same eye

that ultimately pays for our education and funds our

at USAFA for the fall semester 2001.

military. With the Sijan class ultimately inheriting

one of the

CHECKPOINTS, 24

This Academy has

SUMMER

2 0 0 1

Obviously

greatest changes taking place is the fact

PERSPECTIVE

5 Insights cont.

Sooners.

that 2002 gets their shot at

biggest games in Falcon football

leading the Cadet Wing, and

history, and probably the biggest

lead they will. Everyone from

game to ever be played in Falcon

This will be one of the

the element leaders and flight

Stadium. Don’t think for a minute

commanders to

squadron

that this Cadet Wing will not turn

commanders and group com-

into a frenzy when the clock hits zero

manders, all have a unique

and the Falcons are on top and have

and exciting role in the Acad-

just upset the defending national

leadership laboratory.

champs. In fact, I want all the grads

Look for some very amazing

that are in attendance to join the en-

people in this class to do

tire Cadet Wing and tear the goal

emy

some very

amazing things in

the near future.

posts down after our victory.

The chal-

Speaking for first semes-

lenge has been laid out before us by the

who we will protect once we are in the

ter, we are also going to tackle issues

former Commandant of Cadets, Brig Gen

operational Air Force.

Allowing civil-

like pride, the fourth class year, and Ops

Mark Welsh, who said, “No firstie class

ians to walk amongst us as we traverse

LT (this is a form of “Top Off” that is

has ever stepped up and truly led the

to and from class will achieve this goal.

completely an incentive based program

Cadet Wing.” General Welsh, I can only

Thus far, I have received a fair amount

that encourages the firsties to really

“LET ME START BY SAYING, 2002 HAD BETTER PACK A LUNCH AND A HARD HAT BECAUSE WE ARE GOING TO WORK THIS SEMESTER. IF THERE WAS EVER A TIME TO ADOPT THE MOTTO: “WORK HARD, PLAY

HARD,” IT WOULD BE NOW

hope that you will be around to see this!

of support in pursuing this change, but

step up and lead the underclassmen at

Morale is through the roof right

like any new idea, it will take time to

USAFA while providing the underclass-

and as the Wing Commander you

the tools and knowledge needed

answer

and address everyone’s con-

could not ask for anything more. This

cems.

With a little luck I would like to

to progress to the next level of leader-

year we are going to show off this Acad-

have this policy implemented sometime

ship at the Academy). In order for these

emy like it has not been shown before. I

during first semester 2001.

visions to take flight, THE ACADEMY

now

men

have pushed for a change in the Terrazzo

Another opportunity that we

NEEDS EVERYONE TO JUMP ON

policy in terms of allowing unescorted

have to shine will be when we combine

BOARD, and that will be the ultimate

civilians to come down from their perch

the pageantry of college football with

challenge.

chapel wall and observe many of

the tinsel and glare of the Air Force

Another challenge we are go-

the great traditions that this Academy

Academy in front of a national audi-

ing to encounter during this semester

holds near and dear to include the Class

ence on Parents

Weekend. The Acad-

is the adjustment to the new restruc-

Wall and the War Memorial. I would ar-

emy could not have asked for a greater

turing of the staffs within the Cadet

gue that it is a great thing to have a con-

challenge than to host and play the de-

Wing, Group, and Squadron levels.

stant reminder of why we are here and

fending national champion Oklahoma

Wing and Group staffs have been cut

on the

CHECKPOINTS,

SUMMER

2 0 0 1 25

PERSPECTIVE

E Insights cont. Next year the best

future of USAFA.

They are the first class

back to resemble a much more operational

the Wing Commander.

wing or group, and because of these cut-

and most qualified people are going to be

in a while that has been shuffled after their

backs, empowerment is going to be the word

leading the squadrons of the Cadet Wing as

doolie year and this change is going to

for the year. Wing and Group can no longer

Cadet Squadron Commanders and, for this

bring about new challenges.

try to carry the Wing as a whole like they

reason, the Cadet Wing is going nowhere

must FOCUS on quickly uniting together

have attempted to do in the past. There will

but up.

now, and striving to make an impact and

Their class

be a key FOCUS on delegating down to the

As for 2003, they will make or break

lasting impression upon the incoming class

group and squadron level, which is ulti-

this Academy next year because there has

of2005. The Sijan class is going to provide

mately a great thing because some of the

been so much responsibility placed in their

them every opportunity to make that im-

greatest people and best ideas are found at that level day in and day out.

Next year each class is going to

have the opportunity to prove themselves in various roles within the leadership structure of the Cadet Wing.

Let me start by saying, 2002 had

better pack a lunch and a hard hat because we are

going to work next semester. If there

was ever a time to

pact; I know they will not let us down and

adopt the motto: “Work

“To the graduates of

importantly, they will not let them-

selves down. From what I have seen thus

the United States Air

far, 2004 IS AMAZING and I cannot wait to

Force Academy: the

see

Sijan class of 2002 looks forward to joining you, the fraternity, and the brother-

what they produce as young officer

candidates. I have reminded them that how the class below you is trained is a direct

reflection upon yourself. I would look for

hood of the Air Force,

04 to challenge 05 like no class has been

but we must first tend

challenged before.

hard, play hard,” it would be now. The class

to some unfinished

of 2001 did some exciting and new things

business here at

shine and everyone knows that we are the

for USAFA.

USAFA.”

ones

They brought us privileges

Finally, 2002, this is our time to that can lead this Cadet Wing.

May

and liberties that the other service acad-

God watch over us and continue to help us

emies could only dream of having. But with

prepare and train for the responsibility of

those liberties we may have lost a little of

hands to run the day-to-day operations of

carrying the United States Air Force well

edge in terms of discipline. While the

USAFA. I need them to FOCUS on coming

into the 21 st century.

of high morale

through “big” with this newfound respon-

the United States Air Force Academy: the

(which is a great thing), we do need to work

sibility. I have encouraged them to take time

Sijan class of2002 looks forward to joining

on our sense of

our

current situation is

one

To the graduates of

discipline. We are going to

this summer to think about what they are

you, the fraternity, and the brotherhood of

FOCUS in on the perfect balance of high

about to COMMIT to when they come back

the Air Force, but we must first tend to some

morale while maintaining an extremely high

after summer leave and attend that first day

unfinished business here at USAFA. WE

order of discipline.

Many might say that

of classes at the start of their secondclass

WILL NOT LET YOU DOWN and we will

this is not possible, but we are going make

year. If they have not decided the Air Force

continue the pursuit of excellence that

it happen because it is the shot in the arm

is something they want to be part of by the

makes you so proud to be graduates of this

that USAFA currently needs.

end of the summer, I have asked them very

institution.

In my opin-

I close with a parting thought

ion, the best way to increase the discipline

respectfully not to return.

at USAFA is to put the best people in the

want to be a part of this Academy and a part

are

You must put cadets in

of the United States Air Force, I can not wait

greater than yourself?” 02, 03, 04 and 05,

positions where others will follow them, and

to embrace them as the backbone of USAFA

think about it long and hard and get ready

that is exactly what the officer leadership at

and I look forward to seeing them back here

for this semester because we are going to

USAFA has done for the fall semester. They

with their brand new cars, their multi-thou-

make some memories! SH

have placed the best and most qualified

sand dollar loans on the way, and their class

people in the most important position within

ring orders in!

right positions.

the Cadet Wing, and I am not talking about

2004, they will make or break the

CHECKPOINTS, 26

But if they do

SUMMER

2 00 1

that a friend of mine once said, “What good you if you cannot

serve

anything

Visit us on the Web at

www.aog-usafa.org

“Much of the Academy’s recruiting efforts

come

from our

graduates...”

EVER C

olonel Trapper ’73, director Carpenter FF F

of USAFA Admissions, sees the admis-

KOLL1 R.OLLIE Director of

STONEMAN ,

of 1995 has provided increasing numbers of students to the Air Force Academy.

Through Pre-

sions picture for the class of 2005 as,

Junior, we both seek out and respond to inquir-

once again, being very bright. With approximately

ies from students who are not yet age-eligible to

1,000 individuals awaiting UPT class dates, the Academy reduced

apply for admission, adding them to our database of prospects.

target from 60% to 55% for potential pilot qualified (PPQ)

Then, each year in February, the Academy automatically sends an

members in this year’s class. We actually enrolled 54% PPQ. In

application to those who have reached the second semester of

numbers, that means more than 500 graduates will be able to

their junior year in high school. For the Class of 2005, this meant

our

raw

fill Air Force cockpits. Women will make up about 18% (an increase of about 3% from last

year) of the Class of2005. Similar to

an initial mail out of more than

20,000 applications. About 34% of

the Class of2005 were initially in the Pre-Junior Program. In addi-

tion, in 1999 we added an on-line application option. We are

the Class of2004, approximately 18% are minorities. This year’s entering class exceeded last year’s numbers

currently receiving nearly 100 applications a week via this method.

Initial class size was projected to be

In recognition of a constantly changing marketplace, we

approximately 1,225. However, for the second consecutive year

continue to seek ways to spread the Academy message and in-

virtually across the board.

higher than normal yield rate (the percentage of those offered

appointments wholaccepted) resulted in a class size of 1271.

crease our

pool of qualified candidates. Much of the Academy’s

recruiting efforts come from our graduates, including those that part of our 1900 Air Liaison Officers, who serve across the

fact, this year’s yield rate tied last year’s as the highest in 20

are

years at 79%.

world as our “hometown recruiters”. We encourage all graduates

The Air Force Academy applicant pool remains solid. In fact, 4,200 more students requested applications this year.

Moreover, the Academy has had no problem getting the quali-

to recruit for us—the Academy is only as good as the graduates

it produces. The future also looks bright.

For coming classes the

increase in applicants simply because the

Tied candidates needed to fill each class. In that regard, quality is

Academy expects

excellent. The Class of2005 entered with an average high school

high school graduate pool is increasing. College admissions,

GPA of 3.85, sat scores of 620 verbal and 650 math, and ACT

however, is like any commercial enterprise

scores of 27

forward, you’re falling behind,

english and 28 math.

The implementation of our Pre-Junior program in the fall

if you’re not moving

alive.

They have reunited in a different city each year to

gather in private and toast their departed comrades with silver goblets that include the name of each Raider.

For each Raider who dies since the

previous reunion, his goblet is turned upside down to signify his passing. Each year, two

Academy cadets and one officer have the distinction of escorting the goblets to the annual

gathering. Mingling with these military heroes is

something they’ll never forget. C2Cs Ross Graham and Michelle

Clark, along with Maj. John Plating, an instructor in the Academy’s History Department, ac-

companied the goblets to Fresno. Before Graham and Clark went to the reunion, they took part in a small segment of the History Channel documentary, de-

picting how the goblets are packed for transport.

The

program aired locally May 27 and will be shown nation-

“One Hour Over Tokyo” is the 60-minute documen-

wide throughout the year.

tary from the History Channel about the attack on

reunion was a tremendous opportunity.

Clark’s attendance at the

Japan by Doolittle’s Raiders nearly six decades ago.

“I was thrilled and honored to have been se-

It includes a 30-second clip of three Air Force Acad-

lected to participate in the Doolittle Raiders’ reunion,”

emy cadets transferring the Raiders’ 80 silver goblets

Clark said. “It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to

from their permanent display case in Arnold Hall to a

meet

portable case. Two of the three cadets and two other

Raiders.

our

nation’s heroes, and I don’t just mean the I was fortunate

cadets transported the case and goblets to the group’s

were

59th annual reunion held this year in Fresno, Calif.

the Doolittle Raid, and a

The Raiders, the 80-man military team led by

to meet several men who

serving on board the USS Hornet at the time of gentleman named Dick

Hamada, who was a member of the Office of Strategic

then-Lt. Col. James Doolittle, lifted off the deck of the

Services team that rescued, among others, four of the

USS Hornet on April 18, 1942, in 16 B-25 aircraft to

Raiders who were held as POWs in Japan. It’s impor-

bomb Japan in retaliation for Japan’s attack on Pearl

tant for all Americans to know about our heritage in

Harbor five months earlier.

order to honor the men and women who served, and

Only 25 of the original 80 Raiders are still 28

even

CHECKPOINTS,

died, in the defense of our nation,” she said.

SUMMER

2 0 0 1

[^Doolittle cont. Two of the four cadets who attended this year have a closer tie with the Raiders.

C4C Christopher York is the grandson of Capt. Ed “Ski” York, pilot of the raid’s Aircraft #8. His father, the late Ed “Joe”

York, Jr., was a 1970 Academy graduate and navigator before being medically discharged with Hodgkin's disease a few years iaterjK a first lieutenant. He became a very successful attorney in Denver, but died in 1996. “Ever since I can remember, I knew that my grandfather was a Doolittle Raider from stories from my grandma and my dad,” York said. “However, it was not until high school that I really understood how important it was.” York said that, in high school he wrote about the Doolittle Raid with a thesis that his grandfather’s plane went to Russia

intentionally and the decision to do so was not made in mid-flight, but long before. “While writing this paper, I really

Raider reunion. “I have always found it inter-

understood how very important the Doolittle

esting to try to imagine these men and women

Raid was in both boosting American morale

50 years ago.

and crushing the Japanese’ sense of secu-

spunk, so it makes for quite a fun time,” she

rity,” he said.

said.

Second Lt. Sharon Fitzgerald, who

graduated May 30, decided in the sixth grade

Most of them still have their

Fitzgerald is now en route to her first

duty station, Davis-Monthan AFB, Ariz., where she’ll be a public affairs officer.

she wanted to come to the Air Force Acad-

For York, going to the reunion gave

emy. The Air Force was one of two branches

him

in which none of her family members had

grandfather’s fellow fliers and leam what hap-

served. The other was the Coast Guard. She

pened to his crew after the raid. “It was great

also thought the Academy was the best way

to go to the reunion and meet all these war

to enter the Air Force.

heroes I have heard about all my life,” said

the

chance

connect

with his

At age seven, she asked her par-

York. “I talked to the last surviving member of

ents if they would let her learn to fly. On her

my grandfather’s crew and he firmly believes

11th birthday, her dad arranged a surprise

they went to Russia for a reason... I learned

flight and her flying days began. She’s the

more about my

first in her family to fly. Her parents contin-

ever would have from

ued to support her flying interests and enabled her to meet historical flying figures. “I wrote to General Doolittle when

grandfather and the raid than I books,” he said.

At the reunion, he also got to crawl

around inside a B-25. “I found it unbelievable that five men could take such a small

“

It was great to go

to the reunion and meet all these war

I was about

13, and got a reply saying to

plane, about the size of an F-15, and make

come

to his

house if we were ever in the

such a huge impact.”

area.

So, the next weekend we were,” said

Having a grandfather who attended

about all my life...I

Fitzgerald, who lived in Lomita, Calif., with

West Point and a father who attended the Air

learned more about

her parents, and Doolittle lived in the Carmel

Force Academy were the influences that led

of the north central California coast.

him to become an Academy cadet himself.

my grandfather and

“He is truly one of the most amazing people

“Growing up, my dad told me stories of the

I have ever met,” she said. “He got dressed

Academy, the courses during basic, and the

up for this little girl and her family, and he

traditions,” said York, who didn’t decide to

spent hours visiting with us. Truly a role

come here until his

model and gentleman.”

“No one pushed me to come to the Academy,

area

“It was incredible to be amongst a

piece of history,” Fitzgerald said of the

heroes I have heard

the raid than I ever would have from

books.”

junior year in high school.

but I think that without my family history, I

probably would not be here today.” SI

CHECKPOINTS,

SUMMER

200 1

ms Bn

BY PHILLIP S. MEILINGER ‘70

HAP ARNOLD

enry “Hap” Arnold

was one of our

great commanders. The only airman to

hold five-star rank, he led the

Army Air Forces through World War II with a strength, tenacity

and vision that was instrumental to victory, while at the same time

breaking his health. Dik Daso ‘

81, a former Air Force fighter

pilot, PhD, and presently a curator at the National Air &

Space Museum, tells Arnold’s

important story with unusual insight and verve. When West Point in

graduating from 1907, Arnold ear-

nestly desired an assignment to the cavalry, but instead was posted to the infantry.

Despite exciting and

formative experiences in the Phil-

ippines during the Insurrection, he still hankered for the cavalry. Once

again, that was refused; Arnold then transferred to the Signal Corps

and in 1911 became one of our first

military pilots. Fate. Over the next

always a comfort to know that great men

three decades he became widely rec-

are, at base, as human as we are.

ognized as an outstanding aviator— he won the coveted Mackay Trophy

aspect of Arnold’s life—his apprecia-

twice—commander, and staff officer.

tion for the integral relationship between

When Oscar Westover, chief of the

science, technology and airpower. Early

Air Corps, was killed in a plane crash

in his career Arnold recognized that a

in September 1938, Arnold took his

second-rate air force was worse than

place and led the air arm for the next

none at all.

ship was a strong research and devel-

incredible pace he set for himself took

opment program and a commitment to

He suffered severe heart

progress. Arnold’s vision in this regard

attacks during the war, and another

was

in 1950 took his life.

sued contacts with leading scientists,

Other books have been

industrialists and engineers, planting ideas and urging them to move more

oirs are packed with detail. None-

quickly and boldly.

theless, Daso was able to uncover

search into cruise and ballistic missiles,

family sources and documents not

precision weapons, jet engines and rock-

previously used that shed new light

ets.

SUMMER

Daso highlights the special rela-

liant aeronautical scientist Theodore

This humanistic approach

makes for fascinating reading—it is

CHECKPOINTS,

He supported re-

tionship between Arnold and the bril-

Arnold the man, husband, and

father.

extraordinary. He consciously pur-

written about Arnold, and his mem-

‘81, AUTHOR

The path to aviation leader-

But the long hours and

seven years.

their toll.

DIK DASO

Daso also focuses on a unique

von Karman.

2 0 0 1

It was von Karman who in

BOOK

REVIEW

I I Academy announces flying training decision

Arnold cont.

1945 wrote the seminal “Toward New Horizons”—a detailed look at the future of air and space technology that would serve as

two

the blueprint for Air Force research over the next

decades. Daso also points out that Arnold’s holistic approach

airpower was one of his great insights.

He understood

that it took more than a collection of military airplanes to

generate airpower. Needed also were a strong industrial base, a robust R&D program, a broad aviation

infrastructure, a large

pool of qualified personnel, and perhaps most importantly, a clearly devised, coherent and codified doctrine for employment of those air assets.

Arnold, with an unshakeable belief

in the importance of strategic airpower, labored to ensure

America possessed all of these necessary factors. One of the most interesting and insightful portions

of this account is the epilogue, where Daso expands upon a letter that Arnold wrote shortly before his death, regarding his views on leadership. The general noted several vital quali-

ties: technical competence, hard work, vision, judgment, communication skills, a facility for human relations, and integrity. One could also add mental and physical courage. As he went

the right thing regardless of the consequences and regardless of the effect on friends and family is enormously difficult. This list of attributes, which Arnold displayed in abundance throughout his career, serves as the perfect summa-

plans to bring back powered flight training at the USAFAairfield. Since the mid-60s, USAFAhas

conducted flight training to prepare cadets for pilot training, and our graduates have had a 50 percent lower attrition rate at pilot training than their counterparts from other commis-

sioning sources. The return of powered flight training to the Academy airfield is designed to restore the Academy’s historical success of preparing cadets for Undergraduate Pilot Training—this is our mission. The plan calls for contractor operations with direct military oversight, allowing a program customized for

solution for cadets. As a result of public comment, the Academy will take

the following measures to mitigate community noise concerns:

restrict potential aircraft to those with lower noise

limits and increased climb capability, alter the altitude and

ground-track of the route over the Black Forest, re-establish a

south-east route to decrease the amount of aircraft traffic

tion for both the book and the man. One might quibble with Daso over what he left out

of this book.

He spends almost no time discussing broad

issues of strategy in World War II, targeting debates, inter-

service rivalries, or Arnold’s relationships with his commanders.

It is useful to note here that Arnold’s title was “com-

manding general” of the Army Air Forces, and he was indeed that. He had far more control over his air forces and person-

nel than does a present day chief of staff.

Exploring this

subject would have been interesting. Nonetheless, Daso’s research is prodigious, the numerous illustrations are

excellent, and his writing style is im-

minently pleasing. This is an excellent biography of a great commander and is a must-read for airmen of all ranks. K

military pilot training preparation.

Training at the Academy is the only logistically feasible

higher in command and responsibility, Arnold was continuously faced with tough decisions. Having the courage to do

he Academy announced a decision on 24 July that it

over any one

area, and direct preferred, less obtrusive routes

for early morning departures. “We hope to award a contract by January 2002 and

begin training no later than June 2002. We will continue to work with our neighbors, as we have done in the past, to ensure that this

training has minimal negative impact on

local residents.” said Col. Karl VonKessel, 34th Operations

Group commander. “The Air Force Academy has a long tradition of Commitment to Excellence. This program will continue that tradition and will ensure that we provide the next generation of leaders and aviators for the world’s

greatest Aerospace Force,” VonKessel added.

For more

information and a detailed Environmental Assessment of the

Academy flying training proposal check: fc/

http:/www.usafa.af.niil/eev/nepa/ift.pdf CHECKPOINTS,

SUMMER

2 0 0 1 31

Cadets 1st Class Danial Eastman (left) and Jonathan

Mueller work on their robots in

preparation for their first taste of robotic combat during the “Battlebots” tournament in San Francisco from May 22 to 28.

Getting It (Just) Right

Cadets staging metal war on prime-time

by 2 nd lt. Angela aiiredondo

■ or dicus smashes

—

around. Undeterred, the warrior rolls across the floor and wields two face the enemy. Twin blades spin and light glints off wicked teeth,

against the wall and spins

rotating saws into the air, ready to

looking for something to bite.

This is just an afternoon practice for Cadet 1st Class Jonathan Mueller and

Mordicus, a robot he built as

his senior design project in electrical engineering.

Mueller and C1C Danial Eastman each designed a robot for their capstone

spring semester. Eastman’s project is called SMD, short for

laboratory course during

“Something Must Die.” Mordicus is Latin for

“teeth,” since that robot features two counter-rotating saws. Mueller and Eastman’s mechanical warriors competed for the television show “Battlebots” from May 22 to 28 in San Francisco.

The show brought together contestants who designed and built metal arena.

gladiators to fight each other in an

The arena or “battle box” has several hazards and obstacles that can hinder or

blades (that sporadically rise from the floor), spikes, and hammers increase the

CHECKPOINTS, 32

SUMMER

2 0 0 1

damage a robot. Saw

difficulty and decrease the

BEHIND

THE

SCENES

5 Robots cont. odds of survival. Contestants are encouraged to use

Mullins, chief of computer systems in electrical engi-

these hazards to defeat their opponents. Robots com-

neering.

pete in four different weight classes. Non-wheeled

“Our primary responsibility is to monitor the cadet’s

super heavyweights can weigh 316 to 488.9 pounds.

progress throughout the semester,” Mullins said. “We

Non-wheeled lightweights weigh 25 to 87.9 pounds.

attempt to steer them when they wander too far for too

Mordicus and SMD are middleweights weighing 115

long. We are not there to prevent a cadet from making

pounds and 102 pounds respectively. However, both

mistakes; rather, we help the cadet learn from the mis-

pack a big punch. In addition to imposing saws, the

takes, put things into perspective, and move on to a

two-wheeled Mordicus can use its wedge-shaped front

working solution using sound engineering practices.” Prior to the contest, Mueller and Eastman focused

to flip or push opponents away.

The idea to go on “Battlebots” came from Capt.

on the

competition.

Brian Peterson, executive officer and assistant profes-

“I want to honor my family by representing them

in the Academy’s department of electrical engi-

well and I want to represent the Air Force to the United

sor

States honorably,” Mueller said. “I want to win a few

neering. “I had seen the show and 1 thought it looked like a

pounds for Air Force and go home.”

lot of fun,” Peterson said. “When we started, we had

Eastman looked forward to the competition as well.

idea the timing would work out that the cadets

“It’s been a lot of fun making SMD; I think it’s the

could go compete, but it was still something that was

coolest toy I’ve ever had and it probably will be even

easy to get excited about, ft is a lot easier to work on a

more fun

project that you are excited about than one you chose because you just needed something to do.”

The cadets built the robots from scratch throughout the spring semester, with the help of technicians

from the Academy’s training devices department and under the guidance of Peterson and Lt. Col. Barry

breaking it,” Eastman said.

Mueller and Eastman rushed back to the Academy as

competition was over to make their gradua-

soon as the

tion ceremony May 31. Both are going to specialized

undergraduate pilot training following graduation. This “Battlebots” competition is scheduled to air in the fall on Comedy Central. &

| TOM OVERLANDER DELIVERS STRATEMEYER PAPERS T”" n October 2000, Tom

Overlander ofAustin, Texas,

along with his wife Margaret, presented WWII papers to Lt.Gen. -

(Ret) A.P Clark, President of The Friends of the Library. Gen. George

Stratemeyer gathered these papers

during his WWII command of the India-Burma Sector of the China,

Burma, India Theater of Operations. The papers, which are in the Special

Collections Library, will be of use to cadets researching this aspect of WWII.

CHECKPOINTS,

SUMMER

2 0 0 1 33

ieutenant General (Ret) A.P. Clark, former Superintendent and longtime Academy

supporter, joins Coach Fisher DeBerry as the newest honorary members of the

Academy’s Association of Graduates (AOG). Honorary Membership in the AOG is limited to 20 living members. There are currently 15 living members and 10

former honorary members who are deceased. Lt. Gen. (Ret) A.R Clark was the

sixth Academy Superintendent; he served from 1970 until 1974. His solid

leadership had a positive impact on the morale of the Cadet Wing during the difficult years of the Vietnam War. He was instrumental in establishing

the Commander-in Chief’s trophy— emblematic of service academy football supremacy. He has dedicated much of his life to bettering this institution. In 1973, he donated a series of 32 of the principal long arms issued to the US military from the American

Revolution to the war in Vietnam. Informal estimates place the value of General Clark’s donation at well over

$100,000.

For many years, General

Clark conducted orientations to cadet classes on the use and historical

significance of each individual weapon within the display.

Following retirement from active duty in 1974, General Clark immediately became involved with projects and programs associated with the

Special Collections Branch and the Colonel Richard Gimbel Aeronautical History Collection at the Academy Library. He devoted countless hours developing and shaping a collection to capture his experiences as a POW (1942-

1945) in Stalag Luft III (made famous in the movie The Great Escape) during WWII. The collection became the centerpiece of the holdings of the Special Collections Branch and is one of the most valued exhibits at the library. It is a rich source of unique original historical documents and

is widely used by the cadets. Each semester General Clark participates in oral history interviews with cadets who are researching the history of the Allied prisoner of war experience during WWII. A growing number of scholars use the collection and it has been the subject of numerous film

CHECKPOINTS, 34

SUMMER

200 1

& Honorary cont. documentaries that

book Genesis ofFlight by The Friends of the Air Force

have been aired na-

Academy Library and the University of Washington

American

Press. The 350-page volume includes over 300 beauti-

tionally

and British television.

1987, General

ful color images which

are

representative of over

20,000 items of the Gimbel collection.

another

General Clark’s tireless leadership of The Friends

former Superintendent,

and his dedication to the Academy over the last 30 plus

Lt General Thomas S

years have earned him Honorary Membership in the As-

Moorman (65-70), ap-

sociation of Graduates.

Clark

and

preached then Super-

(Editor’s Note—Both Honor Bound and Genesis of

intendent, Lt. Gen.

Flight can be purchased from the AOG—call 719-472-

Winfield

0300 or check out our website at www.aog-usafa.org I

Scott

about establishing The Friends of the Library as a tax-

exempt charitable foundation for the purpose of enhanc-

ing the quality of the Air Force Academy Library as an educational, research, scientific and cultural institution. Since that historic meeting, The Friends has acquired

materials, pursued projects, and implemented services

beyond those provided by Air Force funds.

As Presi-

dent, General Clark has led The Friends organization in the accomplishment of myriad projects and objectives that have greatly benefited the Academy library. over

With

1500 members, the organization has provided over

$550,000 in funding and services to the library.

It has

acquired personal papers and records of members of the Eagle Squadron Association, the Doolittle Raiders, the

DeBerry Demands Excellence

Women Air Service Pilots and the former Prisoners of

Coach Fisher Deberry joins Lt. Gen. Clark on the

War, Stalag Luft III Association. In a major coup, the

Honorary Membership rolls. He has become as much a

Friends assisted in procuring valuable papers that

part of the AFA landscape as Falcon Stadium and the

chronicle the life and military career of General Hap

Cadet Chapel. As successful as he is charitable, he has

The organization also actively supported the

had 15 of his 17 teams post winning records and 11 have

library’s acquisition of key materials related to the Ameri-

captured a bowl bid. He coached the Falcons to a share

experience in SEA. Much of the material was

of the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) Champion-

used in the writing of the Pulitzer Prize winning book,

ship in 1985, his second season, and again in 1995. In

Honor Bound: American Prisoners of War in Southeast

1985, Air Force started 10-0 and finished 12-1 witha win

Asia, I96I-J973.

over

Arnold.

can POW

For the last 12 years, The Friends organization has

national power Texas.

DeBerry was selected as

national Coach of the Year.

been instrumental in preserving and promoting the rich

In 1998, DeBerry guided the team to its first outright

holdings of the Colonel Richard Gimbel Aeronautical His-

title with the WAC Mountain Division Title champion-

tory Collection. Housed within the Academy Library, the

ship and a win over Brigham Young in the title game. The

“Gimbel” collection is the pre-eminent aeronautical col-

team finished 12-1 and ended the season ranked 10

lection on the pre-history of flight in the world.

the country.

The

result of this undertaking was the co-publication of the

CHECKPOINTS,

His success resulted in his selection as the

WAC Coach of the Year for the third time in his career.

SUMMER

2 0 0 1 35

Si Honorary cont. His current overall record of 135-72-1 makes him the

groups. DeBerry has strong ties to the Fellowship of

winningest coach in Air Force history.

Christian Athletes and he and LuAnn have assisted

the 16

In 1997, he became

fund-raising efforts for the Easter Seals, the March of

active coach to win 100 games.

Highlighting Coach DeBerry’s coaching record is the

Dimes, the Salvation Army, the American Heart Asso-

Falcons domination of archrivals Army and Navy. His teams

ciation and the Rocky Mountain Arthritis Associa-

have dominated the Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy series.

tion. He was also the 2000 chairperson for the citywide

Air force has won the trophy 11 times and shared it once in

Relay for Life sponsored by the American Cancer So-

DeBerry’s 16 seasons.

ciety.

He is a combined 28-6 against the

Black Knights and Midshipmen and is the winningest coach

Coach DeBerry’s solid reputation for integrity,

DeBerry has also beaten Notre

service before self, and excellence—the Air Force core

Dame three times and the Fighting Irish were extremely lucky

values, his positive impact on his players and all ca-

to escape with an

dets, and his exceptional coaching record, make him

in service academy history.

overtime victory last season at South

highly deserving of Honorary Membership in the AOG. S2

Bend. While wins and losses tend to define a coach’s suecess, Coach Deberry’s contributions to the Academy ex-

tend far beyond the gridiron. Since his arrival at USAFA in

■ A

FAMILY AFFAIR

1980, Coach has superbly represented the Academy to the nation. His dedication to the Academy, its mission, and its values is clearly evident in all his words and actions.

Dad and sons very committed to service.

expects his players to live up to the Academy’s high academic standards and become leaders in the Wing. His players have earned national

scholarships, become doctors, law-

yers, CEOs, and leaders of the Air Force. Chris Howard was not only an outstanding football player, but he was also the

Wing Commander and a Rhodes Scholar. Chad Hennings won the Outland

Trophy in 1987 and went on to fly combat

■i

•

missions in the Gulf War. After joining the Air Force Reserves, he went on to win three Super Bowl rings with the

Dallas Cowboys. He remains a staunch supporter of the

Academy. DeBerry’s leadership has earned coast-to-coast respect for the Academy football program. In 1996, he served as

president of the powerful and prestigious American Football Coaches Association—a 10,000-member organization founded in 1922 by Amos Alonzo

Stagg and John W.

Col (Ret) Frank Monaco ‘70

USMA, C1C Joe Monaco ‘01 Air Force Academy, Capt

Heisman. Most importantly, Coach DeBerry has had a posi-

Frank Monaco ‘96 USMA, and

tive impact on the thousands of young men who have expe-

1LT Mike Monaco’98 USMA

rienced the privilege of playing for him. His high ethical standards have set the standards for his program. Coach is also a man willing to give his time to worthy causes—both he and wife LuAnn are active in church, charity and com-

visit Doolittle Hall during Graduation week. Obviously a very proud father.

munity affairs. During the course of a year, he gives countless motivational

speeches to religious and corporate

CHECKPOINTS, 36

SUMMER

2 0 0 1

\ Vice Presiident

Xil

encoiirages

200

mmm

o u

BY JOHN VAN WINKLE

B ‘Of all wjho ever

aspire to a commission in the United States Air Force, only a small fraction

achieves it. It is a calling, and here you answered it,” said Vice President Richard B.

Cheney, this year’s graduation speaker. “Every day has brought tests of mental discipline, tests of physical

endurance, tests of moral character. Along the way, you may even have

surprised yourselves. You found strength you didn’t know you had. You pushed on through the toughest moments. You showed yourself, and

others, what you’re really made of.” else

the man whose

he class of2001 will re-

serve the means to carry out the mis-

someone

port to a variety of as

sions we give you. Although I am

foresight and conviction made it all

signments, including

new to my current

position, I am not

possible,” said Cheney. “So I called

559 to pilot training and

new to the concerns of

California, and said ‘thank you’ to

military life. I

Ronald Reagan.”

Congress in the late 1970s,

four to navigator training. Sixty-six

came to

graduates leave the Academy to at-

and saw what happens when our

tend medical school or graduate

military is neglected.”

—

“President Bush and I understand that the decisions we make

school with special scholarships, in-

During his six terms as a Wyo-

today will reach far into the future.

eluding newly commissioned 2nd Lt.

ming congressman, Cheney also saw

No president ever deploys the force

Matthew Obenchain, the year’s top

the opposite side of the funding

he builds. Time frames in the mili-

graduate. He will delay entering pi-

coin, bearing witness to the defense

tary are drawn out. Conflicts often

lot training for two years while he

buildup of the Reagan years. Later,

start and end quickly. But as you

pursues

graduate studies at the

secretary of defense for the elder

can

testify after four years here,”

Bush administration, he saw that in-

he told the

nology. Nineteen other cadets

vestment in

“there is

earned scholarships for medical,

equipment demonstrates its full po-

preparation. A quality force can be

dental, or nursing school, as well as

tential with the skill and precision of

tom down overnight, but creating

commissions.

the air campaign and the swift

Massachusetts Institute of Tech-

“And with your commissions,

ground

troops, training, and

graduating cadets,

nothing quick about

it is the work of years, even de-

cades.”

battle of the Gulf War.

entitled to expect a few

“When it was all over, and I had of-

“Material resources alone are

things from us,” said the vice presi-

fered thanks and congratulations to

not enough. From your commander

dent. “First and foremost, you de

everyone

you

are

in chief, and at every point in the

involved, I thought of

CHECKPOINTS,

SUMMER

200 1 37

7k Vice President cont. chain of command, you are entitled to

warfare, and rapid mobility. “In the not-so-distant

expect clear and consistent purpose.

our

country and our allies from

future,

nuclear attack or blackmail, we will

when deployments are

American land forces will be easier to

work to develop and deploy bal-

made, they must serve in the vital in-

deploy and sustain. On the waters, we

listic missile defenses.

terest. And when the

This

means

objectives of a

will connect information and weapons

deployment are met, it must be con-

in new ways, maximizing our ability to

eluded. The task at hand for the cur-

project power

the globe,” said

fighting force. And every airman,

rent administration is to build the mili-

Cheney. “From above, we will have

soldier, Marine and sailor will have

tary of the future,” said the vice presi-

both aircraft and unmanned systems

the training and equipment he or

dent. “This will require not just spend-

that can strike from great distances with

she needs to do the job.”

pinpoint accuracy. We will protect the

wisely...always holding the upper hand

satellites that carry information vital to

in new technologies in space, stealth

commerce

ing

more,

but

over

spending

“Our administration will waste no time in

building a 21st-century

and defense. And to spare

□ Former Commandant (61-63) visits USAFA Brig. Gen. (Ret) William T. Seawell visited the Academy in June with

nine members of his family. The AOG hosted them. The General and Mrs. Seawell presented AOG President Jim Shaw with a donation.

September 2000, these four officers attended

the ACC Commanders’Conference. These

grads have more in common than just their alma mater. Each was a cadet wing commander, and all four hold rank of general or general select. From left to right: Brig. Gen. (SEL) Steve Goldfein, ’78, is currently the 1 Fighter Wing commander at Langley; Brig. Gen. (SEL) Jack Catton, ’76, is the 53 rd Wing Commander at Eglin; Maj. Gen. Bentley Rayburn, ’75, is LIQ ACC/XP at Langley; and Brig. Gen. (SEL) Ed Rice, ’78, is the 28 Bomb Wing Commander at Gillsworth. st

CHECKPOINTS, 38

SUMMER

200 1

BY JOHN VAN WINKLE

The longest day of their lives'

1,271 “Basics” begin their

41-day-quest to become a doolie in the class of 2005.

n a

second, the only sound heard

is that of the bus engine, growling

away as it takes the trainees from

Doolittle Hall to the Bring Me Men ramp to begin basic cadet training on June 28.

Silence claims all

laughter and smiles once the bus

rounds the second comer. At that point, the

doolie wannabes are out of sight and earshot of their parents, the joyride is over, and C2C Chris Lake speaks up. “For you to survive, I need you to do

something for me,” he demands. “Move to the front one-third of your seats.” Each trainee mimics the position of “attention” to the best of his or her limited

military knowledge. “Your backs should not be touching your seats!

Hands on your laps. Feet are

together... heels touching, at a 45 degree

angle,” he said as he started pacing the bus aisle. “The next step,” Lake continues,

“shoulders are set, and backs are straight. Shoulders are up. Foreheads are back and up...

looking straight ahead at the person straight ahead of you, right at the back of their head. No smiling, no laughing, no talking.”

One trainee couldn’t help but smile.

Lake approached him. Not missing a heartbeat, Lake was close enough to count pores when

he queried the trainee. “Are we going to have

CHECKPOINTS,

SUMMER

200 1 39

BEHIND

THE

SCENES

Si Inprocessing cont. a

problem with that on this ride?” “No sir,” the trainee answered, still smirking away.

“Here’s a suggestion,” said Lake, “I would lose the attitude real quick! There’s only one of me

right now, but you’re about to meet about 15 of my friends. Are we clear?” “Yes sir.”

With that small incident of rebellion firmly squashed, Lake resumes introducing the trainees to what he expects during their first few hours at the Academy. “From now on, if I ask a question, I want to hear ‘yes sir’ as loud as you can. Do you under-

stand?” “Yes sir,” the passengers shout in unison. Lake lets silence reign long enough to make his passengers nervous, as he gazes about at his new group of trainees.

A half-minute later, he breaks the silence.

“You will hold this position until we reach our destination. No looking around...”

Lake continues explaining the new reality to the trainees. “Now you have to earn the right to be here over the next six weeks. we will

If you don’t—

ship you home. Over the next six weeks,

I expect you all to give 100 percent the entire

time. And at the end, if you’ve worked hard,

hopefully you will have earned the right to attend the United States Air Force

Academy.

Can you all give me 100

percent?” “Yes sir,” the trainees respond in unison.

The ride continues in silence until the bus halts at the Bring Me Men ramp. “In a minute, the chaplain’s

going to get on and talk to you,” he says.

“Then the fun begins.” Lake steps off the bus, and the basics

relax as Chaplain (Capt.) William Zeigler boards the bus. “In just a few minutes, your formal military training will begin,” says Zeigler in a conversational tone.

“It’ll be kind of chaotic and pretty stressful, but it’s done for a reason. We want to break you

down, so we can build you up so that you’re stronger people on the other side of this—so that you’re strong Air Force officers, mentally, emotionally, physically and spiritually. It’s all about training, and you can’t take it personally.

“Realize that today,” the chaplain continues, “if you do something wrong, you’re probably

going to get yelled at. And if you do something right, you’re probably going to get yelled at.”

A few

trainees chuckle understandingly. “It’s part of the process,” he says.

Zeigler reminds the now-smiling trainees that their cadre instructors were once in the same shoes and do care about the trainees. He then gives them a quick word about the purpose and availabil

CHECKPOINTS, 40

SUMMER

200 1

BEHIND

THE

SCENES

Sullivan bellows: “Those are: yes sir; no sir; sir,

Si Inprocessing cont.

ity of the chaplains, too. With a short blessing, the

may I ask a question; no excuse, sir; sir, may I make a

chaplain wishes the trainees good luck and departs the

statement; sir, I do not understand; sir, I do not know.”

“Every time my cadre asks you a question, those

bus.

are the first

C2C Clayton White boards the bus and the

things that will come out of your mouth,”

instructs Whitehead.

trainees return to sitting at attention. In an even,

With that, cadre members descend on the basic

authoritative tone, he welcomes them to the Academy.

formation like starved piranhas, as they order them to

“You’re all basics. You should all be proud of your-

selves. You’ve all worked hard to get

recite their seven basic responses. Some

here. We will work you harder.” He

basics have already memorized these

pauses and draws a breath.

responses and survive relatively un-

scathed. But every flight has one or two

“What are you still doing on my bus,” he thunders. “Get off this bus

who draw special attention—the ones

now!” Other cadre members join in the

wearing Oklahoma T-shirts learn that these

yelling while pounding the sides of the

aren’t best for the first day at the Academy,

bus.

especially when the reigning national champion University of Oklahoma starts

The other 15 cadre members (of

the Falcon’s football season. Another in an

whom Lake warned the trainees) are out in full force.

Air Force Rugby T-shirt soon regrets his

They order the basics to

drop their bags and form up on the

clothing choice, and learns that he “must

painted footprints in front of the Bring

earn the

to a cadre member.

Me Men ramp, which they do in haste.

But he gets off light compared to the young man

There they meet C2C Christopher Whitehead, who dominates their attention.

with a spiky haircut, surfboard decal shirt and beaded

“Everything starts now,”

necklace. They rename him “Backstreet Boy.” A woman

he tells them. “Ground zero. You are basic cadets. That means you know

right to wear that shirt,” according

nothing. You are nothing.”

from San Francisco in a leather coat earns a new nickname

White-

of “Shaggy” due to her faddish hairstyle.

head directs their attention to C2C Michael Sullivan,

The basics are soon marched off to continue the

who has been demonstrating “attention.”

militarized portion of in-processing.

“Place your eyes on my aide,” says Whitehead.

Military haircuts,

“His back is like a steel beam, his eyes look straight

shots and swearing the oath are only part of what

Whitehead tells Sullivan to introduce the

becomes the longest day of their lives, as Shaggy,

forward.”

basics to the next most important element of surviving

Backstreet Boy and 1,269 other basics begin their 41-day-

basic cadet training—the seven basic responses.

quest to become a doolie in the Class of 2005. &

AOG ASSOCIATE PASSES THE 30 YEAR MARK

□

■

JfT athy McCann has

worked for the AOG

J!L Hiifc^ince it operated out of

Sijan Hall. Kathy, left, receives a preview of Doolittle Hall in 1991. In May 2001, the AOG gave

Kathy a luncheon to thank her for the past 30 years. President Jim Shaw even “let her eat cake.”

CHECKPOINTS,

SUMMER

2 0 0 1 41

BEHIND

THE

SCENES

adet

For. a Day

HfU Academy since the inception of the program. “The program is modeled after the very

successful ‘Pilot for a Day’ program in place at many other Air Force bases across the country,” Nissen said. “We use organizations like [the] Make-a-Wish [Founda-

tion] to help select candidates who have expressed an

«!SM

interest in aviation or the Air Force and who are going

through physical challenges in their life,” he said. Outfitted in a flight suit, Deberard got an aerial view of the Academy grounds during a flight on an Aero ome dreams are worth

keeping. That’s what the airmen of

Club Cessna 172. The 10-year-old also received a

the Academy’s “Cadet for a Day” program believe.

mission briefing from the 557 th FTS, and toured the

“Programs of this type provide an incredible opportunity

terrazzo and flight lines during a tour of aircraft static

for an organization to give a child a once-in-a-lifetime

displays, the Cadet Chapel, Planetarium and Arnold Hall.

experience,” said program sponsor Lt. Col. Bob Nissen, commander of the 557 th Flying Training Squadron.

Cadet Squadron 34 hosted the afternoon festivities. “1 volunteered to be the point of contact for

“Cadet for a Day” gave 10-year-old Preston Deberard of

Squadron 34,” said Cl C Peter Mastro. “It’s been great!

Thornton, Colo, a chance to “walk a mile across the terrazzo in a

During the noon formation, we drove [Deberard] in my

cadet’s shoes,” and according to Deberard, the shoes fit well. “I’ve

Jeep around...while everyone applauded. Then 1

wanted to visit here for awhile,” Deberard said during his April 19

dropped him off in front of the formation and he

visit to the Academy.

marched the whole squadron into lunch. It was really

The 10-year-old suffers from a severe form of juvenile

cool. He’s a reserved kid, but I know he’s going to be

diabetes that requires him to receive up to seven shots a day.

talking about how he did all this great stuff with us,”

Although Deberard’s illness is not terminal, he still faces significant

Mastro said.

physical challenges. These challenges qualified him to take part in the Academy’s program. Deberard is the second child to visit the

CHECKPOINTS, 42

“He’s having a lot of fun here,” said program

project officer C1C Cate Adams of Cadet Squadron 26. SUMMER

200 1

NEW FACES “He’s had a great time

®Brig. Gen. (SEL) Taco Gilbert ‘78 returns to the Academy as the new Commandant.

here... he’ll remember this forever.”

rig. Gen. (SEL) Taco Gilbert (’78) will replace Brig. Gen. Mark Welsh (’76) as the commandant of ca-

dets. He assumed command on August 3.

Taco Gilbert’s most recent assignment was commander, 436

“I am amazed at how the Cadet Wing has

Airlift Wing, Dover

AFB. The 436

is the Air

embraced this idea. We were concerned about program

Force’s only all C-5 wing,

funding, as we knew it would be done strictly from dona-

but it provides worldwide

tions from the Cadet Wing. We needed approximately

service. In 1978, Gilbert gradu-

$2,000 to get the ball rolling—the cadet wing donated more than $3,500,” said Adams. Money was raised through

ated with honors from

individual donations from cadets to support the program

USAFA. He then attended

annually.

UPT at Reese AFB and, as

The funds are needed for expenses incurred

distinguished graduate,

throughout the entire program. “The last ‘Cadets for a Day’

became a T-38 IP and flight

was from the local area, so we didn’t need to

examiner there.

tap into the

He left flight duty in

money,” Nissen said. But, the program plans to bring in seven to

eight more kids and they could come from out of

1982 and studied the Chi-

language at the Defense Language Institute at the

state. If they do, then the money will be used for things

nese

such as billeting and meals during their visit, Nissen said.

Presidio of Monterey in California. Next, he completed

The program gains full support from all levels at

graduate studies in Modern Economics from Fudan Uni-

the Academy. “A program such as this is only successful

versity, People’s Republic of China.

with the support of those organizations involved. We have

United States and earned his master’s degree in Public

had tremendous support from not only the cadet wing but

Administration from Harvard University.

also from our senior leadership, and the entire Academy

He returned to the

Gilbert resumed flying in 1986 as a FB-111A aircraft

commander, IP, and wing executive officer at Plattsburg

community,” Nissen said. “It was really cool and I got a lot of patches from

AFB. He then attended Air Command and Staff College and the School of Advanced Airpower Studies.

everyone,” Deberard said. Memories and mementos will help Deberard relive

He received an assignment to the Pentagon as a

what was once just a dream. “He’s had a great, fun time

staff officer for the Air Force Chief of Staff’s Opera-

here, and I think this is a wonderful experience for him. He’s

tions Group.

always wanted to come here and he’ll remember this

Air Refueling Squadron. After graduation from the Na-

forever,” said Deberard’s father, Bill.

tional War College in 1996, Gilbert commanded the 22 nd

Families with qualifying children interested in

Then, in 1993, he commanded the 91

Operations Group at McConnell Air Force Base.

participating in the Academy’s “Cadet for a Day” program can

1997, Gilbert was a special assistant to the Assistant

call the local Make-a-Wish Foundation at (303) 750-9474.

to the Chairman of the JCS at the

CHECKPOINTS

SUMMER

Pentagon.®

2 43

BOOK

REVIEW

INTEGRITY FIRST

Review of "Integrity First" "Integrity

First"

sums

Malham Wakin's 42-year teach-

ing and research USAFA.

career

No rational

person

would pick up this book for entertainment

reading any more

than Emerson's

"Essays" or

Marcus Aurelius' "Meditations."

And neither would I

change a

word of any of these books. Editor’s Correction: The book review of “A Return to Glory” that appeared in the

Spring 01 issue was also written by Fred Malmstrom (‘64), not Philip Meilinger (‘70), as was improperly attributed.

BY FKEDERJCK MALMSTROM ‘64

sade, not My Lai.) If that one stumped

cations have appeared

you, answer this question: When did

in a bewildering variety

the fashionable phrase, “human rights”

of journals.

“Integrity

first make it into our leaders’ vocabu-

First” is that much-needed compilation

laries? Why does President George W.

of 19 (but by no means all) of his major

Bush declare Free Trade a “moral is-

papers, beginning in 1963 and until

sue?” Did you know the ideal of the

These essays have aged well

“defensive” (1972) Strategic Defense

and, like the music of Beethoven, the

Initiative has been resurrected under

reader can trace the ebullient style of

another name only to be laid on today’s

the young author to that of a more cau-

international debate table? Did geno-

tious and mellowed scholar.

cide first appear with the Nazi death

1996.

So That’s Where Tftarldea Came

idea,

camps? Despite the Nuremberg “laws” against genocide (or if you will, ethnic

From! Have you ever wondered where the

cleansing), why then did it continue

“Kill ‘em all. Let God sort ‘em

blithely unchecked in Cambodia, It’ll cost

out!” came from? (That chillingphiloso-

Uganda, Kosovo, and Iraq?

phy dates back to at least the First Cru

you some thinking effort, but “Integ-

CHECKPOINTS, 44

ntil now, Wakin’s publi-

SUMMER

200 1

BOOK

REVIEW

& Integrity cont.

rity First” will help you understand these and other questions

Freud and shows you their ideas in plain English.

better. You may not be too surprised to learn that many of these

politicians who came to grief by holding too narrow a view

ideas aren’t new or even 20

Those

of the world are legend. Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain

Century. competent soldier without an

viewed the world narrowly as a banker, afraid to upset eco-

understanding of philosophy, just as one can become a compe-

nomic recovery, thus paving the way for appeasement.

But that’s

Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara, who was hired

Wakin’s perspective

straight from industry, viewed the Vietnam War as a busi-

Certainly tent

one can become a

physician without understanding evolution.

doing things the brute-force hard way.

and style makes our understanding a whole lot easier.

ness, thus opening the door for bottom-line, dollar-valued,

It Isn’t Just Military Philosophy

but falsified body counts. (This is no exaggeration. My wife

The alternate title, “Reflections of a Military Philosopher,”

Susan, an officer-comptroller in Vietnam, was faced with the

that

impossible task of assigning a dol-

Wakin’s message is only for the mili-

lar value to a strafed wild el-

misleads

into

thinking

tary. Hogwash. The book is for anyone

who has seriously taken the

oath to uphold an ideal.

I strongly

believe the FBI or the CIA could learn valuable lessons from this book on the appropriate use of force at places like Ruby Ridge, Waco, or

the Bay of Pigs.

Politicians could

learn about the inappropriateness of cover-ups. And would-be whistle-

blowers could learn what awaits them when they stand up for their

beliefs. This book isn’t for idealists

The alternate title, "Reflections of

ephant.) A President trained as a

lawyer is perhaps more interested

Military

in following the letter but not the

Philosopher," misleads

spirit of the law. (How do you

into

thinking that

Wakin's message is only

for the

military. Hog-

wash. The book is for

define “IS?”)

leadership needs more are historians like Winston Churchill who had a universalist view of the world.

Integrity Alone Isn’t Enough

anyone who has seri-

ously taken the oath to

uphold an ideal.

Perhaps Wakin’s

message is this -—What our world

The world will always have

its evil geniuses. However, these

days there seems to be little interest in

blindly willing to die for a metaphor.

Manson

The world already has too many of

promoting a Charles or

Theodore

However, the reverse doesn’t

them. After all, nearly every idealist is convinced that God is

Kaczynski to public office.

squarely on his side, so is it mathematically possible for all sides to be in the right? Can both sides fight a “just” war?

always hold. A purely moral and professionally inept politician is more likely to be forgiven, but may cause equally

Wakin of course won’t answer that question, but he does allow

great harm. Ulysses S. Grant and Warren G. Harding were

particular political point of view comes from.

personally honest men, but they also unwittingly promoted

He has a tremendous panoramic scope that empathizes with not

corrupt underlings whose deeds still affect our lives. So,

us to know where a

only the view of the churchman and the philosopher, but also

Wakin proposes that the leader with integrity has the moral

the (reputedly) more scientific views of the sociologist, the psy-

obligation to be competent and to find persons of integrity

chologist, and even the economist. Any serious reader of “In-

to work with him.

tegrity First” will find his or her own personal philosophy cri-

but integrity plus competence makes a powerful combina-

tiqued somewhere, perhaps much too uncomfortably. But Wakin

tion.

Integrity alone isn’t sufficient for a leader,

“Integrity First” Needs an Index!

does not moralize.

Thinking Universal

As a summary of a lifetime, Wakin’s “Integrity First”

What I like best about “Integrity First” is its breadth. Wakin

fits somewhere between ““Cliffs Notes”” and “Meditations.”

the philosopher doesn’t limit himself to analyzing other phi-

It is a goldmine of ideas, but the goldminer can find gold

He’s well versed in the writings of Janowitz and

best with a map. And that is my sole objection to this book.

losophers.

CHECKPOINTS,

SUMMER

2 0 0 1 45

BOOK

REVIEW

& Integrity cont

YOUR. NEW

I have always loved “Cliffs Notes” because they are

organized.

I’m delighted Wakin’s works fi-

nally appear under a single cover, but this book

BOARD MEMBERS

badly needs an index, consistent chapter-to-chapter footnoting styles, and perhaps an abstract at

the beginning of each chapter.

When I need to

find references to Milton, Marx, or mysticism, I’m forced to resort to setting a bushel of sticky tabs in my book margins or randomly flipping pages in

the hope a key word will catch my eye.

FRED GREGORY

CLASS OF 1964

Surely in

the age of push-button word processors, the editors at Lexington Books could easily have picked out Wakin’s key words and ideas and placed them,

complete with page references, at the end of the book. Shame on the publisher. The present format of “Integrity First” heads it directly for the book-

AMBER O’GRADY

shelves of Army, Navy, and Air Force professional

CLASS OF 1996

military education. “Integrity First” is destined to become a standard

training reference book for

ROTC, SOS and Air War College

—

and that’s the

Dirty Rotten Shame. This book deserves much, much better.

In a spruced-up, less pricey, and

clearly annotated paperback format, “Integrity First” could be a universal philosophy course best seller. Did I say that Wakin doesn’t moralize? Well I now take that back.

In his final brief chapter,

CHARLES GARCIA CLASS OF 1983

“Teaching Philosophy at the United States Air Force Academy,” Wakin breaks his firm rule. In a

plea to his audience, he exhorts us to a final mission: “Get out there and teach ideas!” Si

“Integrity First” ($60 cloth). May be purchased through the AOG Gift Shop (719) 472-0300, or

online at www.aog-usafa.org.

Or it may be

ordered directly from Lexington Books, 4720 Boston Way, Lanham, MD 20706; (800) 462-6420; or

TED

LEGASEY

CLASS OF

1967

online atwww.lexingtonbooks.com. ISBN 0-73910170-6

visit us on the web at

www.aog-usafa.org CHECKPOINTS, 46

SUMMER

200 1

CHAPTER NEWS ALAMO CHAPTER Greetings from the Alamo Chapter. First to business: we have three new officers at the helm.

On Jan. 26 th Steve Polk became ,

chapter president, Alex Archibald stepped up to the position of vice president, and Les Hobgood continues as treasurer. Founders’ Day Dinner on the 31 of March our

was a

son

great

Lt. Gen. (Ret) Mark Ander-

success.

addressed about 80 graduates and guests

at the prestigious Petroleum Club in downtown

San Antonio. We capped off the evening with

entertainment from the Lackland AFB Band of the West. We took our summer affairs to the great out-

doors.

On lune 23 rd we went to Canyon Lake

for a family picnic and outing.

October 6 th

Arizona Chapter of USAFA AOG and mail to Tim Furst (see Tim’s information below).

—

If you have recently moved to Arizona or have

(which the Air Force has won more

not received our mailings,

Sienicki (‘74) at 602-382-6351,

basis at Scott jackson’s law office in Irvine. Any

please contact Jim or jsienicki @swlaw.com to be added to the mailing list. If you have not paid your 2001 yearly chapter dues ($20 /year), please send your check to Tim Furst,

HQ USAFA/XPAA, USAF Acad-

graduate who is interested in working on the steering committee is encouraged to attend these meetings. We encourage all graduates in the area to join us. The Chapter’s Steering Committee has developed a membership roster for networking and job-finding purposes, and we encourage all members to participate. We are a select group of people, and our members are active, successful leaders and professionals. We have a common bond of education and experience, have learned the value of depending on each other, and know the benefits of being reliable, participating members of a team. We all have somewhether it be professional serthing to offer vices, business opportunities, employment counseling in all areas of expertise, or many other unique areas. If you are interested in this networking program, please call Michael Mercier (‘86), who is the job placement business, during business hours 800/878-2013 (ext.

emy, Colo. 80840-5241, at least six months in advance, with the following informa-

131) for further information. Those who are interested in serving as local

tion: What, when, where? Who

Air Force Academy Liaison Officers should con-

c/o Furst and Associates at 1505 East Missouri

Ave., Suite 100, Phoenix, Ariz. 85014, (480) 7053845, email: tfurst@ learningedge .com. In addition, please email or send your email address, as well as your current address and

telephone

number, to either Frank Schmuck or me, since we are compiling email addresses, then we can better serve you and cut down on some of our

mailing expenses. (Arizona chapter president Jim Sienicki)

times than the Falcons have taken home the

How to Request Academy

Commander-in-Chiefs trophy) and a possible

Staff as Speakers

trip to Albuquerque in late October, where we hope to see the Falcons embarrass the Lobos. That’s all from South Texas.

In order for the Academy staff to provide

better assistance to AOG Chapters seeking

speakers from the Academy, please submit

ARIZONA CHAPTER Thanks, Mike (‘68) Cryer, for organizing the All Services Academy Golf Tournament on April

13, 2001. Everyone had a great time.

seven ofwhom are

relatively active participants. The steering committee meets on a bi-monthly

brings our annual Service Academies Golf Tournament

tee.” This group is currently comprised of interested graduates (spread from ‘63 to ‘89)

a letter to

the

—

Academy staff would you like to have speak at your function? Also provide the names of two other speakers you would

tact Denny Shields (‘71) at 714/532-4200.

out. It was nice to see many familiar faces and

like to have if your first or second choice is

310/282-6770.

several new ones. We hope to see all of you

not available.

Ed (‘63) and Terry Reisdorfs spring dinner

party was a great success

—

about 50 turned

again in the future. Thanks, Ed and Terry, for having the party at your Paradise Valley house. Ron (‘71) and Barb Marusiak generously agreed to again host a 4th of July party, complete with fireworks from the Arizona Country Club house, which is adjacent to their house. The traditional “dessert and fireworks” began

To aid speaker preparation, we will also

need to know the audience, along with any

For

chapter information, please call Scott Jackson (‘67) at 949/851-7427 or Ken Wentzel (‘64) at

PUGET SOUND CHAPTER The Puget Sound Chapter ended the spring

particular interest of the group in any as-

season with a

pect of the Academy, and recommended

and wine-lover, Brian DeLuca, ‘67, organized a

speaker’s attire for the event. Please in-

tour of the Yakima

elude who will be in the audience (i.e., al-

Stan Clarke, ‘72, hosted 16 lucky chapter mem-

spouses, parents’ clubs, LOs, etc.) and what the occasion is for the event.

bers, spouses, and friends for a personal “insid-

The West Point Society of Phoenix will coor-

A point of contact for the event (i.e.,

ton. Stan is well known and respected in the in-

dinate an all Service Academy Golf Challenge

name, address, home and work phone numbers) is needed to make the appropriate arrangements. You can call XPA at (719)

dustry as a winemaker, developer, columnist, judge, and former president of the Washington Wine Institute. He arranged visits to four excellent wineries (of many in the valley): Sageland Winery, Wineglass Cellars, Hyatt, and Covey Run. At each we had the owner/operator guide us through “behind the scenes” visits into areas not normally toured and, of course, great tasting of award-winning and limited production wines. Stan’s wife, Carol, joined us after the tour for a memorable dinner and further tasting, under Stan’s tutelage, at the intimate and truly fine Dykstra House Restaurant in Grandview, which is located in a charming turn-of-the-century house that is registered as a national historic site. If you visit Washington, make time for our Wine we’re definitely going back! Stan, Country thanks again and please share these comments with your friends in the Valley. Thanks, Brian, for your super summary and planning of the event. The monthly joint service academy job net

at dusk in Phoenix, Ariz.

to commemorate

Point.

the Bicentennial of West

The event is open to anyone and will

occur on

Friday, Sept. 21,2001 at Falcon Dunes

Golf Course (near Luke Air Force Base), 15100 W. Northern Ave, Glendale, Ariz.

Priority will

be given to alumni of the three service acad-

emies. The cost is $65 per player (due at time of registration). The registration deadline is

Sept. 6, 2001. scramble.

urns,

333-3832, DSN 333-3832, for initial inquiry but must back up your call with a letter requesting the speaker.

ORANGE COUNTY (Calif.) CHAPTER

The format is a four-person

Contact Mitch Steidl (West Point

Greetings from the Orange County Chapter!

Society) at (602-795-7283) (fax 1-509-479-3869) or contact Mike Cryer (602-231-1280 or email mike.cryer@honeywell.com). Don’t forget to purchase your Arizona Chapter nametag. The cost of each badge is $10.

For 2001, we have tentatively scheduled the following events: August Special Event (e.g. Charity, Casino Night, Progressive Dinner, etc.) Golf Tournament and Membership August Meeting October Wine Tasting Dinner Late Fall Tailgate Party for members only The planning and directing of the chapter’s activities is still entrusted to a loosely federated group we call the chapter’s “Steering Commit

Send email to:

frank.schmuck@ aogaz .intra

nets.com specifying the name of the graduate,

class year, and spouse and/or significant other name.

The Arizona Chapter thanks Frank

Schmuck (‘88) for all his hard work regarding the nametag issues.

Make check payable to

—

great event. Our chapter president

Valley wine country on June 9.

ers” tour of the wine country of Central Washing-

—

(Continued on page 127.) 47

GONE BUT NOT FORGOTTEN

RaymondM. Thomas, ‘64

mrmffWr

George R. Bonds, ‘65

Early Sunday morning, June 10,2001, Rip Thomas was tragically taken from us after suffering a blood clot from a broken leg. Rip is survived

Gibson County, northeast of Memphis.

by his wife, Bonnie, his two sons, Jon and Scot, and his mother, Dixie.

captain and most valuable player in his senior year. His team won 33 of 37 games against mostly larger schools. For those of us who knew George at the Academy, we remember him as an exceptional student who finished high in the class academically without really brealdng into much of a sweat. He disguised his hard work and diligence with ease. He was the first recipient of the “Eugene M. Zuckert Scholarship,” an award given for graduate study to a graduating cadet not eligible for a commission. Back in Tennessee, George attended Vanderbilt Law School. He was an honor graduate and an editor of the Law Review. From 1969 until 1993, George was the executive secretary of the Tennessee District Attorneys General Conference. In 1993, he joined the District Attorney’s office in Nashville as a prosecuting attorney. Due to his deteriorating health, he retired in June 2000. There is a lot more of his story to tell. George was the kindest, most even-tempered person I have ever known. He was stunningly bright

A memorial service was held on Thursday, June 14th at the Church of

the Holy Comforter in Cleburne, Texas, followed by a barbecue reception at Rip and Bonnie’s home. It was a large gathering, giving great testament to Rip’s memory.

His ashes were interred with full military

honors at the Air Force Academy on Tuesday, June 19th.

Many class-

mates, family, and friends attended this ceremony and a beautiful reception was held in Doolittle Hall afterwards. th

Rip was a member of 19 and 24th Cadet Squadrons while at the academy. He was an outstanding cadet for all four years, excelling in everything he did. Rip played on the USAFA football team for two years while maintaining his place on the Superintendent’s List. His first class year was consumed by his young fiance Bonnie, and his new Chevy Impala. After graduation he went to pilot training at Vance AFB, followed by a short tour in KC-135s. Next came F-4 training and a tour in Vietnam in OV-lOs. After combat, Rip went to graduate school in Denver for a master’s degree in mathematics, followed by a tour as a math instructor at USAFA. During his tour on the faculty, Rip was an associate AOC and an instructor pilot in T-41s, flying cadets out of Peterson Field. Though an assignment to ATC was to follow, Rip was accepted into medical school and resigned his commission to follow his calling in medicine. Before finishing school at Texas Tech, however, he decided to continue his life of public service and obtained a commission in the Navy. After graduation, the Thomas family moved to El Paso Texas, where Rip completed his residency program. He was then assigned to San Diego as a radiologist where he and his family spent the majority of their Navy time. Of course, Rip did have shipboard duty (on the USS Dixie, which seemed most appropriate) and the Thomas family had one overseas tour in Guam.

Rip retired from the Navy as a Commander in 1989 and returned to

George was an outstanding

student in high school and a star basketball player. He was the team

as a young man and became even more so as he matured.

Yet he was

self effacing in all things. The word hubris was not in his vocabulary or his manner

although he could have shown some occasionally and George had a wonderful sense of humor. During our cadet days, he never failed to amaze us with his knowledge of things there was virtually nothing that escaped his interest. He was both interested and interesting. th George spent three years in 16 Squadron as a cadet, joining us in our third class year. He spent the Doolie year in 17 th Squadron and came to us to balance the size of the squadrons. Sixteenth was a big winner in that trade. They sent one of their stars, and we didn’t even have to give up a future draft choice. George was elected by his classth mates in 16 Squadron to be our Honor Representative. After the accident, his stay in the Academy hospital exceeded six months, and even though he was in a great deal of recuperative pain, he still excelled in —

no one would have minded.

—

civilian practice in his beloved Texas, where he and Bonnie made many

his studies.

friends and found their permanent home in Cleburne

Tim McConnell’s future wife, Judy, was his physical therapist at the Academy hospital. She writes: “I remember George so well and have thought of him so often during the years. I must say he was one of my very favorite memories at USAFA. I was his physical therapist just after his accident. He was such a special person. He always made me laugh even though I know he was devastated and always in a great deal of pain. He had more courage than anyone I have known.” His recuperation was long and painful and extended well past his cadet days. While still on crutches on graduation day, he made his way up the ramp to receive his diploma. He struggled up that ramp to a huge applause from the crowd. In May of 1969, George and Sandra were married. They were together almost 32 years when George left us. George and Sandra had two children: a daughter, Avery, and George Robinson Bonds, Jr. Avery is married and has presented Sandra and George with two grandchildren. Sandra reports that George was a wonderful father to his children and, as you might expect, a doting grandfather who mesmerized his grandchildren with wise and funny stories and with tunes from penny

Rip touched us all with his caring, humor, and love of life. He was a person who always brought joy, humor, and love to everyone around him. Rip is remembered by those of us who knew him as the most honest, ethical, caring and decent person we have ever known. We will never forget him! (Bob Woods, ’64) George R. Bonds, ‘65 On the 17 th of April, the Class of 1965 lost one of its best and most

courageous members. George passed away unexpectedly from a heart ailment at his home in Nashville, Tenn. George Bonds did not have a chest full of medals for bravery or valor in combat. He never had that

opportunity for service to his country. Nevertheless, he bravely faced and endured a lifetime of pain and physical suffering from an accident that occurred in the summer before our First Class year. George had both legs severely broken after being hit by a car that summer and spent fully half of our First Class year in the hospital. When George’s injuries did not allow him to be commissioned, after graduation, he returned to his home state of Tennessee. George and his twin brother, John, also our classmate, were from Dyer, Tenn. in 48

whistles he collected. Back in Tennessee and during law school, George became an ardent

Cary Clovicko, ‘73

Joseph J. McConnell, ‘99

fan of the Vanderbilt basketball and football programs and was a member of the Commodore Club (a character flaw, but only a small

couldn’t help but like the guy with his enthusiasm and big toothy-grin.

one). It is reported that he did root for Air Force whenever they played

ics no challenge, he took on basketball and tennis. While home on Doolie

Vanderbilt.

George attended our 25

reunion in 1990, even though the travel

and activities were difficult for him. That was the last time he came

back to the Academy and the last time that most of his classmates saw him. In the fall before our 35 th reunion, I called George to see if he was going to be able to make the trip to Colorado. While he sounded just fine over the telephone, he reported his retirement due to health reasons and that he could not make the trip. He was greatly missed last

October and continues to be greatly missed. Throughout the last 35 plus years, I visited George and Sandra whenever I

got close to Tennessee. We kept in contact mostly by telephone

and letters in the days before email. After the reunion in October 2000, I spoke to George several times about his health and how he was cop-

ing with retirement. He was always positive about things even in bleak th situations. On the morning of April 17 I was sitting in my office and I thought about George and that I should call him today to see how he

He was curious about life in general and, finding high school academ-

Christmas leave, I convinced him that the Academy could give him all the challenge he wanted and more. As a member of the Class of 1973 and 18 th Squadron, he flourished both academically and athletically. Cary even mastered

politics, consistently defeating the Commandant in squash

while making the General feel that at least he ran that young cadet into the ground. He could even return my firstie car on empty, flashing that big toothy-grin to reduce my anger to laughter. Cary served his active duty at the L.A. Air Station then left for a career in aerospace. He raised a fine family and was forever bending your ear about how wonderful his two daughters were. Today, as I wrote this, I went through my high school and academy yearbooks searching for hard facts on his accomplishments. But I couldn’t get past the pictures of a wonderful lifetime friend, with a big toothy grin. ( Bruce Kroehl, ‘72)

Joseph J. McConnell, ‘99

feeling. I got busy and I never made that call. I wish I had. (Mike Phillips, ‘65; with contributions by John Swan, ‘65; John Bonds, ’65; and Judy McConnell) Cary Clovicko, ‘73 was

Cary Clovicko died on May 1, 2001 in Manhattan Beach, Calif, of an apparent heart attack. Services were held at the Academy chapel on May 12 with internment at the Academy cemetery. Memorial contributions may be made to the AFA Athletic Association/Men’s Tennis.

When I first met Cary, he was a curious 11-year-old peering through our hedge, getting a good look at my family and his new neighbors. You

Daniel E. Murphy, ‘03 Remembered by Family

(Editor’s note: While it is not our policy to run multiple obituaries, the writers in this case were unable to get together to merge their articles. Due to their brevity, we decided to run them both.) I don’t exactly recall the time at which I was befriended by Joey “JJ" McConnell, being that it was more than four years ago now, and as my squadron mate at USAFA, he was a consistent part of my life before

the friendship began. However, he made a significant impression on me from the first time we met. When we graduated he went on to UPT

and I went to do Aircraft Maintenance. Fortunately for me, he kept in contact over the last two years of his life.

(Continued on next page.) He knew he wanted to fly from the time he knew what an airplane was. He wrote a poem when he was seven years old about

flying to the sight of that dream. His heroes were his grandfather D. E. Pennington, who served in the Army Air Corps during World War II, and his great-uncle Tommy Mauer, who flew Navy Intruders from the carrier Ranger during the Vietnam Conflict. He hand carved a P-51 from memory for his grandfather and built a small model of the Wright brother’s first plane from scratch. He had appointments to both the Naval Academy and Air Force Academy, but once he chose the Air Force he never regretted it. One of his proudest moments was getting his glider wings during his third class summer. He said he had the best job possible as the Morale Welfare and Recreation clerk for Squadron Eagle Eight and he took great pride in finding ways to help relieve stress for others’ moon and he never lost

benefit.

Though not the fastest or strongest athlete growing up, he always had the heart of a champion whether playing little league baseball, footBorn on Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 27, 1980, in Houston, Texas, C3C Daniel Murphy was a one of a kind gift from God to his family and friends. Daniel was killed April 1, 2001 in a tragic car accident while returning to

before, it turned out to be a perfect fit for him. His coach said he had

the Academy after spring break. Known by his friends as “Murf, he had

two attributes that carried him far

ball, or soccer. He was attracted to the Air Force Academy Zoomie Rugby Club in the fall of his third class year and though he had never played —

deep commitment to the team

strong love of life and country, an infectious sense of humor, a keen

and a good attitude in adversity. He played for the sheer love of the sport.

of duty, and a never-give-up attitude that carried him far in his

His coaches, teammates, and friends meant a lot to him and his biggest fear was the thought of letting them down.

sense

short life. He was the kind of young man that other men liked to be a cross between

Daniel’s smile will always live on in the hearts of his family and friends.

the Red Baron and Papa Smurf. His younger friends that he left behind looked up to him as a stabilizing influence and several of them said that

His parents, Harrison and Terry Murphy, would like to thank the Air

he helped them stay away from trouble. Beneath his warm fun-loving

riences Daniel had while there. He couldn’t imagine being anywhere

smile, he also had a tender heart and a deep intellectual curiosity.

else. (Daniel’s family)

around and mothers wanted their daughters to marry

—

Force and the Air Force Academy for the joyous and challenging expe-

Association of Graduates Member Benefits/Services AOG offices are open Monday through Friday, 0730-1630 Mountain Time. For all offices

telephone: (719) 472-0300 (DSN: 333-2067/2073).

E-mail: aog@aog-usafa.org.

15% savings at Woodfin Suites- (800) 237-

•

CHECKPOINTS MAGAZINE; your quarterly link to friends, classmates and the Academy. •

annual presentation of biographical infor-

•

mation on all Academy graduates. E-MAIL:

•AOG-mail fowarding system for graduates. Accessible through the “Graduates” link on the AOG web main page. world-wide support for some 29 chapters

DEPOSIT ACCOUNTS: •

•

8811

sets of six for the military wedding. •

TRAVEL SERVICE:

outstanding yields from MBNA. 1-800-

vacation, business, special Academy events and

9100 and ask for the AOG RSVIP Corporate Rate

reunions. Call Garden of the Gods Travel Ser-

(excludes special and group events). You must

vice at 1 (800) 347-9002 and mention your AOG

present your AOG membership card at check-in.

affiliation.

•

REUNION/HOMECOMINGS; •

coordination and planning by your AOG.

10-25% at the Radisson Inn North

and ask for the Association of Graduates rate

Academy/AOG-unique items created espedaily for members. •

AUTOMOBILE PURCHASE DISCOUNT: 2% over factory invoice on new Pontiacs and

unsecured line of credit is available from

rebates. Drop-shipping available. Contact the

MBNA America. To apply call 1-888-500-6266

Commercial Sales Division, Ferguson Pontiac-

•

save

(formerly Sheraton Inn North) just outside the Academy South Gate. Call (719) 598-5770

GMC trucks and receive all applicable factory

LINE OF CREDIT:

approximate 20% saving at the Embassy

Suites Hotel of Colorado Springs. Call (719) 599-

•

900-6653

year-round full-service travel program for

•

MERCHANDISE/MEMORABILIA;

CHAPTERS: •

SABER RENTAL:

(excludes special or group events...discount depends on time of year and room availability). You must present your AOG membership card on check-in. •

save 50% at the

Wyndham Colorado Springs

when traveling in January, March, April and Oc-

and ask for priority code J2ON-FI-603-2G. You

GMC Truck (719) 596-5005/ (800) 782-0826/ fax

tober, November, and December. Call (800)

will receive a decision in as little as 15 minutes.

(719) 596-7569

962-6982 and ask for the AOG VIP Rate (ex-

•

favorable terms and credit limits from

MBNA America. To apply call 1-800-523-7666

and refer to source code J8CJ. SCHOLARSHIPS; •

a preparatory

school scholarship via the

Falcon Foundation. •

post secondary scholarships to graduates’

children. LOCATOR SERVICE; •

eludes group, special events and promotional

CAR RENTAL DISCOUNTS;

AOG CREDIT CARD:

need to find a fellow graduate? We help!

•

special 10% discount rate from Budget: (800)

455-2848 (AOG ID T507 400). You must present

your AOG-provided Budget card when picking up your car. HOTEL DISCOUNTS: •

save

rates). Discount based on rack rates and sub-

ject to availability. Must present AOG member-

ship card upon check-in. •save 25% at the Las

10% at participating Clarion, Comfort,

Econo Lodge, Rodeway, Friendship, Quality and

Sleep Inns, Hotels, Resorts

Vegas Hawthorn Suites

during June, July and August. This is a nongaming hotel just steps from many major casinos. Call (702) 739-7000 and ask for the

(800) 4-CHOICE.

AOG VIP rate. Discount based on rack rates

(Ask for the travelers discount for AFA AOG members, ID # C00041511).

and subject to availability. Must present AOG

membership card upon check-in.

(Gone But Not Forgotten, Joseph J. McConnell, ‘99, continued from previous page.) To me he was a classmate, a squadron mate, a fellow World War II history buff, a fellow resident of the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex, a “good old boy” in the truest sense of the words, and most of all, a true friend. I guess, being that we had a deeply shared interest in both history and flying, it was natural that a friendship would be sparked, but it went much deeper than that. To say Joey had heart would be an understatement. I don’t think he ever knew a stranger, a quality I both

admired and envied in him, and it didn’t matter what his needs were,

I showed up in my new flight of fellow students knowing absolutely no one and within a

couple of days a short guy with a strange kind of outgoing personality immediately befriended me. I never told him but that simple act of friendship was one of the best gifts that anyone has ever given me. JJ and I were different in a lot of ways, which makes it even stranger that we became such good friends. After our class tracked, JJ went to T38s and I to T-ls.

often wonder why we lose the best people early in their lives, as the

Most people separated at this point and hung out mostly with folks in their track. JJ and I actually became better friends and supported one another throughout the rest of pilot training. I never told JJ what a great friend he had been to me. It’s funny how you fail to see the best things about a person until you lose them. JJ had an enduring heart and truly loved his fellow man. He was a selfless person with a laugh that immediately made you like him. If you argued with him it was hard to stay mad at him. I will deeply miss him. We talked often about that day when he would pull up in his F-16

song goes, why “the good die young”, and I have a theory. I feel that there are those among us who have discovered how to be truly happy

behind my tanker and I would gas him up and send him on his way. I wish we could talk one more time and say our goodbyes for this world.

with themselves and their world, those who give all of themselves with-

Now all I can do is honor his memory. So here’s to you JJ McConnell, LT

he was always trying to take care of others. This was underpinned by the fact that he had a deep and abiding faith in God. He was such an

inspiration to all those who knew him. If I had any regrets about my association with Joey, it would be that I didn’t fully appreciate what a gift I had in his friendship until he was gone; this I will always lament. With a huge grin that seemed a constant fixture on his face, I truly believe that he had life figured out. We

out asking for anything in return, those who know how to make the

USAF, F-16 Viper Pilot, and most of all a true friend I’ll never forget. I

best of both a good and a bad thing. I believe that they have figured

love you bro and I hope to see you again when my life is done. (1 st Lt. Chris Turner)

out what God put us on this earth to figure out, and that in so doing

they show themselves ready for heaven. Because of this, God calls them home. That’s where Joe is to me, sitting up in heaven telling God all

At press time we had learned of the deaths of the following

about being a Viper driver (I couldn’t have been more proud of him),

graduates:

and waiting for the rest of us to hurry up and figure things out too. (1st Lt. GeradR. Reister, ‘99)

of cancer in Portland, Maine.

JJ McConnell and I met in a strange way. I had run into some rough times in pilot training and was the lucky recipient of a medical

a blood disease in

washback. Anyone who’s been to pilot training knows the importance

of the bonds made within each training class and getting washed back was

devastating.

Dr. William R. Ouellette, Class of 1960, who died on July 18,2001 Mr. Joseph C. Hedrick, Jr., Class of 1968, who died on July 18 of

Sacramento, Calif.

Lt. Col. (USAFR) David B. Gladman, Class of 1981, who died on

June 5, 2001 in Marlboro Township, Ohio.

Capt. (MedRet) Edward M. Wooten III, Class of 1995, who died 13, 2001 of cancer in Arlington, Texas. Capt. Mitchell A. Bulmann, Class of 1996, who died on July 6,

on June

For more current information about

graduate deaths, please visit the AOG web site. www.aog-usafa.org 50

2001 in an F-16 aircraft crash off the coast of South Carolina.

Our sincere condolences to the family and friends of these

graduates.

AOG Humanitarian Fund

Standing Nominating Committee to Identify AOG Board Candidates

Helps Terminally Ill Grads

The current bylaws of the Association of Graduates (AOG) con-

By Mark Anderson, ’61

The AOG Board of Directors has established a Humanitarian Fund for Terminally-ill Members to provide financial assistance to eligible

members who need help with the financial challenges of a terminal illness such as Lou Gehrig’s disease, cancer and heart disease. Here are the pertinent points: -

How to make a request: Send a written request with pertinent in-

formation on the nature of the illness, assistance needed, and who the AOG can contact for further details to The Humanitarian Fund, Association of Graduates, 3116 Academy Drive, USAFA, Colo. 808404475. -

How to contribute: Make your tax-deductible contribution to The

AOG Humanitarian Fund at the address above. We hope that this effort to serve our graduates (taking care of our

own) will be well received (and well supported). We’ll keep you posted on progress.

Your Humanitarian Fund committee members are:

Larry Freeman: 16422 Ledge Way, San Antonio, TX 78232, (H) 210494-4827, (O) 210-494-7803, Fax 210-494-0133, lbfinc @sprintmail.com, fsw@juno.com. Vic Andrews: 8215 Broughton Court, Colorado Springs, CO 80920, (H) 719-592-1546, (O) 719-533-8107, Fax 719-533-8447, Mark Anderson: 8852 Rolling Acres Trail, Fair Oaks Ranch, TX 78015,

(H) 830-981-8341, Fax 830-981-8341, marcus@texas.net.

Military Academy, the Naval Academy, the Coast Guard Academy, and the Merchant Marine Academy to jointly provide online access to resumes of service academy graduates to prospective employers. To be a part of the Joint Service Academies Resume Database Systern (JSARDS), visit our website at www.aog-usafa.org, click on “graduate job programs” in the left side bar, and follow the links. If you have questions about this service for members, please contact Wayne Taylor at (719) 472-0300, DSN 333-2067, or e-mail at career@aogusafa.org.

Ways to Give to The AOG

Work: (719) 472-0300

Mrs Jody A. Merritt, ‘89 5751 Condor Court

San Jose, CA 95118 Home: (408) 269-6400

Office: (408) 744-2104

This is an excellent source for those companies seeking highly-qualified,

sets during lifetime. Estate tax savings.

ministered by The Destiny Group. Hiring managers can both see and hear a prospective employee via the Internet while reviewing their resume along with a fully documented file of the individual’s skills and desires. Fees for access to JSARDS vary based on the length of the contracted access period, and the number of seat licenses needed. To find out more about this service, please visit our website at www.aog-usafa.org, click on “Graduate Job Programs” in the left side bar, and follow the links to the Corporate Demo under JSARDS.

*Ability to make larger gift with

*Donor retains use for life. Partial income tax deduction. Estate tax

saving.

*Lifetime income. Income, capital

gain, estate tax savings. *Income and estate tax savings. Assets may be taxed at rates as high as

85% at death if passed to beneficiaries. to heirs.

Home: (719) 488-2185

Work: (703) 227-6719

well-educated and motivated employees. This database is hosted and ad-

rent value and/or cost of premiums.

*Gift of income with assets

Home: (703) 237-7375

^Maximum flexibility. Full use of as-

smaller annual (or one-time) cash outlay. Income tax deduction for cur-

retirement plan asset

USAF Academy, CO 80840-4475

Marines, offers companies online access to the Joint Service Academy Resume Database System (JSARDS).

to AOG/USAFA.

*Bequest of IRA or qualified

3116 Academy Dr.

Arlington, VA 22207

*Full income tax deduction. Capital gains tax savings. Immediate impact

*Full income tax deduction. Imme-

donor and/or spouse.

Col (Ret) James A. Shaw, Jr., ‘67

4600 North 32nd Road

diate impact to AOG/USAFA.

*Cash

*Gift with life income for

Office: (303) 290-1620

Maj Gen (Ret) AlanV Rogers, ‘64

Many of you are in positions to make or influence hiring decisions for your company. Your Association of Graduates, along with the alumni organizations from Army, Navy, Coast Guard, and Merchant

Benefits to Donor

or farm

(Contact one of the following to show interest in becoming a candidate for the AOG Board Directors.)

Hire an Academy Graduate

and The Air Force Academy Method

*Gift of personal residence

An indication of interest, however, will not necessarily result in placement on the list of qualified candidates. The needs of the association will take precedence at all times.

Home: (303) 773-6307

tion service. We have joined forces with the alumni associations of the

*Gift of life insurance

mittee members to indicate their desire to serve as a director.

6851 E. Powers Ave.

Resume Database System

*Bequests (by will or trust)

be reached. Interested AOG members may contact one of the com-

Greenwood Village, CO 80111

As a benefit of membership, your AOG offers a FREE resume registra-

property

Of primary interest in the procedures is the establishment of a standing, vis-a-vis an ad hoc, nominating committee of the board. This committee will have the responsibility for identifying, researching, interviewing, evaluating and recommending to the board candidates for future board membership. In essence, the nominating committee will maintain a continuing list of potential nominees from which it may select candidates to meet the board’s requirements for service over a particular term of office. Individual candidates will be constantly evaluated regarding their qualifications, ability and desire to serve. This and future issues of Checkpoints will carry the names of members of the nominating committee and information on how each can

Mr William W. Maywhort, ‘68, Chair

Academies Offer Joint

or other

rector positions are identified, evaluated and nominated.

Directors Nominating Committee

victor.andrews@usaa.com.

*Gift of appreciated assets

tain provisions for the manner in which candidates for elected di-

immediate

impact for AOG/ USAFA. Estate tax savings. Increased inheritance for heirs.

For more information and a free booklet on charitable giving

and estate planning, contact the Development Office at the AOG,

(719) 472-0300 or e-mail: Gary Howe at Gary.Howe@usafa.af.mil.

Return With Honor Video Available

Directly Through the AOG The video of the dramatic AOG-sponsored movie, “Return With

Honor,” is available for purchase directly through the AOG. Order your copy now of this very powerful film by visiting the merchandise site on the AOG website (www.aog-usafa.org), by calling the AOG

(719) 472-0300, or by visiting Doolittle Hall. Cost is $19 for AOG members and $24 for nonmembers, plus $5 shipping and handling.

The Secret Life of Waldo F. Dumbsquat By Don Hall, ‘76 "Sure are a lot of touri on the wall,” mused C/4C Waldo F. Dumbsquat as he stared out his dorm room window.

“It’s Homecoming Weekend,” noted his roommate, Regs Buch. “Most of our class is out there

looking for girls to escort on the terrazzo.” ‘Wish I was out there.”

“What’s stopping you, Waldo?" “I sent all my white gloves out with the laundry,” Waldo sighed.

‘Did you forget about the parade? You’ll need some

white gloves!”

“Bummer!” groaned Waldo. “Now I’ll have to use White-Out againV

Quickly, Waldo and Regs pulled on USAFA tee shirts, fatigue pants,

and tennis shoes and made for the squadron assembly room. There

they found C/1C Mark Whalen waiting for them with the car wax and buffer. “Where’s the rest of your detail, Dumbsquat?” “Sir, the rest of the detail is escorting visitors.” “Met some girls, eh? Okay, men, I guess that just leaves you to clean up the SAR. I want to see my reflection in this floor before Star Trek comes

on.”

“Sir, may I ask a question?” “What is it, Dumbsquat?”

“Sir, is that the original Star Trek, The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, or Voyager?’ The firstie frowned. ‘You better start melting wax, mister!”

‘Yes, sir!” ^

Both the doolies stared at the Chapel and the large throng of specta-

«ju

tors. Waldo fetched a small telescope from his overhead and tried to

pick out people on the wall. As he focused his spyglass, the doolie gasped as he looked into a pair of binoculars staring back at him. Hastily, he snatched the gray curtains closed. “What happened?” asked Regs. ‘You don’t want to know,” Waldo said slowly. “Let’s just say now I know why they call USAFA the Blue Zoo.” Suddenly the door flew open and their element sergeant, C/3C Todd Spangler ducked into the room. The freshmen popped to attention, exhibiting multiple chins. “Love the chins, you smacks. But get your classmates together for SAR detail. The squadron grads are visiting tomorrow and we need a buck up, ASAP! I better see you two speed out!” ‘Yes, sir!” chorused the doolies as the upperclassman left their alcove.

2001 REUNION CONTACTS (A/0 31 July 2001) ‘61 140th) 12-16 SEP 01-Utah

‘76 125th) 31 Oct-4 Nov 01-Armv

Dr Tom Eller

Lt Col Dan Beatty

1504 N Nevada Ave

12196 Stanley Canyon Rd

Colorado Springs CO 80907

Colorado Springs CO 80921

Ph: 719-632-2259 (H)

Ph: 554-6160 (W)

303-796-4042 (W)

488-1962 (H)

E-mail: eller@compuserve.com (H)

teller@usa.capgemini.com (W) Hotel: Wyndham 800-962-6982 or

E-mail:djbeattyjr@aol.com (H) whrlybrd76@aol.com (H) or (W) daniel.beatty@peterson.af.mil

719-260-1800

Hotel: Antlers Adam’s Mark

‘66 (35th) 26-30 Sep 01 SDSU away

719-473-5600

Need to replace a Polaris

8215 Broughton Ct

‘81 f20th) 10-14 Oct 01

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Ph: 719-592-1546 (H)

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E-mail: vicandsue@aol.com, (H) victor.andrews@usaa.com (W) Hotel: Wyndham 800-962-6982 719-260-1800

‘71 (30thl 31 Oct-4 Nov 01

years still available for sale:

POC:Col Harry Davis, 711080

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6650 Alberta Drive

Colorado Springs CO 80918 Ph: 719-266-0804 (H) 719-333-2250 (W)

E-mail: no Home email

harry.davis@usafa.af.mil (W) Hotel: Wyndham 800-962-6982 or

719-260-1800

USAFA, CO 80841-6066 719/333-4644 email: Rocio.Hunt@usafa.af.mil Cadet Wing Media also produces the graduation and BCT

videos, the Dodo and the BCTyearbook

Ph: 719-534-9836 (H) E-mail: santee@macol.net (H)

Hotel: Embassy Suites

‘91 (10th) 10-14 Oct 01

Wyoming

POC: Capt Carson Tavenner 4414C Bighorn Dr USAF Academy CO 80840

E-mail:carson.tavenner @usafa.af.mil (W) Website: www.usafa.91.com

Hotel: Sheraton Colorado Springs 719-576-5900

It Doesn’t Cost Any More to

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We have copies of the following

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Double Your Gift to the AOG There are more than 1,000 companies that choose to make their cor-

porate donations to charity based upon the interests of their employ-

They do this by matching the gift that you make to your favorite charity. Some companies match one-for-one while others will triple your gift. Corporate policy varies with each company but is a big bonus no matter what their policy is. Does your company have a matching gift program? Contact your human resources office to find out. If they do, get a form, fill it out and send it to the AOG along with your gift. We will do the rest. In just the last few weeks, we have received more than $20,000 from matching gifts. Corporate matching gifts make a difference. Check with your company today. ees.

AOG MAJOR EVENTS SCHEDULE CHECKPOINTS (ISSN 0274-7391) USPS 898-080 is pub-

As of July 31, 2001

lished quarterly in March, June, September and Decern-

August 9

Fall Classes Begin

23-25

SACC

Parents Weekend

ber by the Association of Graduates, U.S. Air Force Academy. (Phone: 719-472-0300, DSN: 333-2067. FAX: 719333-4194, E-mail: aog@aog-usafa.org.) It is provided as

Seattle, Wash. ’

part of a membership package of which the magazine subscription annually accounts for $10. Single copies of CHECKPOINTS for members $2.50. Periodicals postage

September ’

Parents Weekend

1 3 -

Oklahoma at USAFA

Doolittle Hall Open House

Tennessee Tech at USAFA

paid at the U.S. Air Force Academy, CO and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send change of address

12-16

‘61 Reunion (Wyndham)

Utah at USAFA

to CHECKPOINTS, Association of Graduates,

26-30

‘66 Reunion (Wyndham)

Hall, 3116 Academy Dr., USAF Academy, CO 80840-4475.

USAFA at San Diego State University

Doolittle

October 5

Sabre Society Recognition Dinner (Arlington, Va.)

10-14

USAFA at Navy Homecoming ‘81 Reunion (Embassy Suites)

10-14

‘91 Reunion (Sheraton)

13 20

Wyoming at USAFA USAFA at Brigham Young

USAFA at New Mexico

cation does not constitute an endorsement by the Associa-

‘71 Reunion (Wyndham)

tion of Graduates of the products or services advertised.

‘76 Reunion (Antlers)

10-14

Opinions expressed in this magazine are those of the authors. They do not necessarily reflect the opinions, policy or attitude of the Association of Graduates, its officers or the editorial staff. The appearance of advertisements in this publi-

November Dallas

1-3

SACC

1-4

‘71 Reunion (Wyndham)

1-4 3 8 16 17 24

‘76 Reunion (Antlers)

Army at USAFA USAFA at CSU AOG Board Meeting UNLV at USAFA USAFA at Hawaii

Corporate Members Association of Graduates, USAFA

Life Membership Options Explained

Air Academy Federal Credit Union

The AOG offers a life membership plan for graduates and associate

Air Force Association

Air Academy National Bank

members. This plan features rates based on the member’s age and the

Ampex Corporation

following payment plans: Lump Age at

The Boeing Company

Betac Corporation

Two

Last

Sum

Semiannual

Birthday

Payment

Payments

*l-year monthly Payment

Under 30

$650.00 $625.00 $615.00 $595.00 $570.00 $535.00 $480.00 $400.00 $380.00 $350.00 $310.00 $270.00 $230.00

$335.00 $330.00 $325.00 $315.00 $305.00 $285.00 $255.00 $215.00 $200.00 $180.00 $160.00 $140.00 $120.00

$56.00 $54.00 $53.00 $51.00 $49.00 $46.00 $41.00 $34.00 $33.00 $31.00 $27.00 $24.00 $20.00

30 or older 35 or older 40 or older 45 or older 50 or older 55 or older

60 or older 65 or older 70 or older 75 or older 80 or older 85 or older *

*2-year monthly Payment $29.00 $28.00 $27.00 $26.00 $25.00 $24.00 $21.00 $18.00 $17.00 $16.00 $15.00 $13.00 $11.00

The monthly payment plan is allowed only if the AOG is autho-

rized to charge on a monthly basis to your credit card or through the coupon payment plan where the AOG is not required to accom-

plish monthly billing. Information on graduate joint life membership (graduate married to graduate) and credit card and coupon payment options can be obtained from the AOG by e-mail at membership@aog-usafa.org or by writing Col. (Ret) Rich Downing, ‘70, Vice President, Services; Association of Graduates, 3116 Academy Drive, U.S. Air Force Academy CO 80840-4475. Membership forms are available from the AOG or on-line at www.aog-usafa.org.

Support Your Academy! Donate Now to the AOG Annual Fund.

Budget Rent a Car Corporation Van Gilder Insurance Corp. Continental Electronics

(Division of Varian Associates, Inc.) Electronic Data Systems Corporation Embassy Suites Hotel of Colorado Springs General Dynamics Corporation General Motors Corporation Jostens, Inc. Lockheed Martin Aeronautics The MITRE Corporation

Motorola, Inc. Government Electronics Group Northwestern Preparatory School

PRC, Inc.

Raytheon Rockwell International

TRW, Inc., Electronic & Defense Sector United Parcel Service United Services Automobile Association United Technologies Corporation USAF Academy Athletic Association

Walsworth Publishing of Colorado Westinghouse Electric Corporation Defense & Electronic Center

Wyndham Colorado Springs Hotel Corporate memberships are being offered for the life of the corporation. With the exception of voting and holding office, corporate members enjoy all privileges of regular members. For more information write to Col. (Ret) Rich Down-

ing, vice president, Services, Association of Graduates, 3116 Academy Dr., U.S. (719) 472-0300. E-mail services@aog-usafa.org.

Air Force Academy CO 80840-4475. Phone

ATTENTION IN THE AREA By Col. Rich Downing (USAF, Ret), ‘70 AOG Vice President, Services AOG Website is Redesigned

The AOG website at www.aog-usafa.org recently had a “facelift.” The

Class Ring Information Graduates who need to replace, repair or resize their Academy class

opening page has changed and the wide range of topics and information on the site has increased. For information on development activities, job programs, and more, this is the only web address you need. And for those

rings should go directly to the manufacturer. They have the expertise and equipment to repair or replace your ring. Contact them for cost estimates (which vary significantly) or any other questions. The

times you need other sources, we have convenient links to USAFA, Athletics, the other service academies, and the local newspaper.

lostens

manufacturers and contact information:

Classes of 1960, 1962, 1963,

148 East Broadway

Owatonna, MN 55060

A major AOG service is one of providing up-to-date information on graduates through the annual Register of Graduates. The 2001 edition will be mailed to members of record in early November. The biographical information form printed near the center of each magazine should be used on an ongoing basis to update graduate data. Since the individual graduate is the critical source of Register information, it is vital that you keep the AOG informed of address changes, promotions, new jobs, etc. Information updates to be included in the 2001 Register must have been received by 1 August 2001.

Inappropriate Use of Register Addresses We are continually concerned about the misuse of graduate addresses

(800) 852-9353

myersm@jostens.com

1971, 1972, 1977, 1978, 1982, 1983, 1990, 1991, 1998, 1999

1973, 1979, 1984, 1992,

Classes of 1959, 1961, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1969, 1975,

3502 S. Marion St.

1994

Eiigiewouu, CO 80110 (303) 789-0623 (Evenings: (303) 757-0557) Classes of 1985, 1987, 1988,

Herff Jones 226 Public Street

1993, 1995

Providence,RI 02905 (401)331-1 ArtCarved

your AOG. This is directly in violation of AOG policy as well as an infringement of copyright laws as spelled out on the first page of the 2000 Register.

7211 Circle S Road

Class of 2000

Austin, TX 78745 (1-800-531-5131)

The AOG requests that members notify the Vice President, Informa-

they receive where their mailing address was apparently obtained from the Register. The AOG will contact the mailer to ascertain how they obtained your address and take appropriate action.

1970, 1976, 1981, 1989, 1997,

c/o Jess Crane

Balfour Company

listed in the Register for business and political purposes not sanctioned by

tion Services, immediately of any non-AOG-sanctioned solicitation

1968, 1974, 1980, 1986, 1996,

Visitors Center Offers AOG Discount The AOG is pleased to announce a membership benefit. Through the cooperation of the Academy Athletic Association (AFAAA), all AOG members are eligible to receive a discount on over-the-counter sales at the Academy Visitors Center Gift Shop (which is operated by AFAAA).

Graduate-to-Graduate

You only need to show the cashier your AOG membership card to re-

AOG-mail System In Place

only to active duty and retired military customers. The discount does not apply to mail orders.

ceive your 10 percent discount. This discount was previously extended

The AOG has an e-mail forwarding system that graduates can use to communicate with other graduates. There is no need to know the e-

Doolittle Hall Available

mail address of a graduate to send AOG-mail. The system was preloaded with the home e-mail addresses from the AOG database. Gradu-

change, or delete their e-mail address from AOG-mail. AOG-mail is accessible through the “AOG-mail/Class Pages” Link on the AOG Web Main Page. Sending e-mail through AOG-mail is straightforward, but only one class may be searched at a time, and that search may be further limited by graduation squadron or name. ates may add,

There is no automated link between the AOG’s Doolittle Hall data-

base, which holds both home and work e-mail addresses, and the AOG-mail database, which holds only one e-mail address; a change to one database will not update the other.

Each graduate must up-

date the AOG-mail system and then alert the AOG to change the

Doolittle Hall database, and vice versa.

For Many Special Occasions Doolittle Hall is available for special functions. To date the AOG has hosted a variety of events: department meetings, retirements, wedding

receptions, workshops, cocktail parties, luncheons and formal and informal dinners. Doolittle Hall can accommodate as many as 300 at a sit-down dinner and more than 500 for a cocktail party. Available facilities include conference rooms, the library lounge with

bar, and outdoor patio area, weather permitting. AOG members receive

preferential rates. For information and rates on your specific requirements, please call Jean Bickford at the AOG at (719) 472-0300.

Hiring Companies Wanted Service Academy Career Conference (SACC)

Dallas, Texas November 1

Washington, D.C. April 25

3,2001 27,2002

Is your company hiring? Are you looking for well-educated, well-trained, and motivated workers? If so, graduates of the service academies provide the ideal candidate pool. For access to these candidates, participate in one or more of the

upcoming Service Academy Career Conferences (SACC). SACCs are scheduled for Dallas, Texas November 1 -3,2001 (at theWestin Galleria), and Washington, D.C. (at the Ritz Carlton Hotel Pentagon City in Arlington, Va.) April 25 -27,2001. You will find service academy graduates are a cost-effective source of new employees with exceptional life and work experiences. For more information about the Service Academy Career Conferences, call Wayne Taylor at (719) 472-0300 or visit our web site at www.aog-usafa.org. 54

Service Academy

SACC

Career Conference

What is the SACC?

November 1

The SACC is the Service Academy Career Conference sup-

3,2001

Dallas, Texas

ported by the Associations of Graduates from the U.S. Air Force Academy and the U.S. Military Academy, and Alumni Associations from the U.S. Naval Academy, U.S. Coast Guard Academy, and U.S. Merchant Marine Academy. The previous conferences were attended by hundreds of companies and thousands of alumni.

4. To participate in the next SACC, send the following to

the SACC office no later than Oct. 1,2001: a.

Completed registration form

b. A $25 registration fee, payable to SACC c. Two hard

copies of your resume (one page /one side)

Where will the SACC be held? 5. The schedule for the SACC is:

The next SACC will be held at the Westin Galleria in Dal-

las, Texas. You may obtain a room for the SACC rate, if available.

Thursday, November 1, 2001

Call (972) 934-9494 for reservations and ask

for the SACC rate. There are many other hotels available in the area, or think about renewing relationships with

Interview Prep Seminar at 7 p.m.

Friday, November 2, 2001 Registration opens at 9 a.m. and continues throughout the day.

classmates in the area.

How to register for the SACC:

1. Ensure your AOG membership is current as this service is offered to members only.

Two open sessions from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 3 p.m.

to 6 p.m. In the ballroom, wander from table to table

meeting face to face with recruiters from a wide variety of companies.

2. Ensure your resume is included in the Joint Service Academies Resume Database System (JSARDS). To en-

Saturday, November 2, 2001

ter your resume, visit our website at www.aog-usafa.org,

Recruiters may schedule individual interviews.

click on “graduate job programs” and follow the instructions.

When attending the SACC, bring several copies of your resume

3. If you previously submitted your resume to the Joint

to leave with recruiters as they review resumes

collected at the conference and may contact candidates

Service Academies Resume Database System, please use

at a later date.

the password you received to update and verify the in-

the conference offers a unique chance to explore new ca-

formation in the system. Recruiters at previous SACCs

found having electronic access to resumes extremely

reer opportunities.If you have any questions on this AOG membership service, please contact Wayne Taylor at (719)

helpful. Be sure your resume is accurate and complete.

472-0300 or DSN 333-4513.

Although employment is not guaranteed,

SACC Candidate Registration Form (Dallas, Texas) NAME (for nametag, no ranks):

USAFA CLASS:

ADDRESS : PHONE

(Work):

(Home):

(E-mail):

RESUME CATEGORY: (from web site at www.aog-usafa.org/SACC_Registration.htm)

Will you attend the free Interview Prep Seminar?

Please include:

EH Registration Form

EH Yes

EH Fee $25

EH No

EH Resumes (two hard copies)

Mail to: SACC, 247 King George St., Annapolis, MD 21402-5068 55

“Since his first visit to the Air Force Academy, he has embraced the institution, its

graduates and cadets.”

A SPECIAL FRIEND Mr. Gregory Kolligian ne

of the most avid suppor-

ters

of the Association of

and then Harvard University in 1953. He was a former owner of the

Graduates (AOG) and the Air

Kolligian Motors automobile companies in Cambridge

Force Academy,

and Somerville, Mass.

Gregory

Scott Kolligian, died in Bos-

ton at New England Baptist Hospital on May

3, 2001 after a long illness. He was 71. Mr.

Having developed a love for flying Kolligian received first solo flight at the for his certification at an early age, Mr.

Kolligian was named an Honorary Member of the AOG in May 1997 for being “... an active advocate for the Academy and its people” and for being instrumental in conceptualizing the Sabre Society and establishing its identity.”

age of 17. He enlisted in the U. S. Marine

Reserves until 1966.

bre Society ofthe U.S. Air Force Acad-

Among the many honors bestowed on

emy in 1995 and on a pro-bono basis,

Mr. Kolligian for his work with military-related

Together with his family, Mr. Kolligian established the Koren Kolligian

organizations, his lifelong commitment to the

Jr. Award in memory of his brother, a lieu-

ety. A Life Member of the Sabre Soci-

Air Force garnered his being named an Hon-

tenant who was killed in a crash off Cali-

ety, his vision has resulted in more

orary Air Force Thunderbird in 1980, the Ira

fomiain 1955. The Air Force’s most pres-

than 700 current society members who

tigious flight safety award, it honors an aircrew member who successfully copes with an in-flight emergency as a result of mechanical difficulties, personal errors of

have a clear and tangible interest in

th Eaker Award in 1991, being named the 14 liv-

ing Honorary Member of the Association of Graduates of the Air Force Academy in 1997, and receiving the U.S. Air Force Exceptional Service Award, presented to him by the Secretary of the Air Force, Sheila E. Widnall, in 1997. At the time of his death, Mr.

Kolligian

Corps and received his Naval Aviator wings in 1955. Completing his active duty as a captain in 1957, he remained in the

provided all the artwork for the soci-

been presented annually by the Air Force

supporting the Academy financially, through their personal contributions and influence. The society is dedicated toward forming a national network of influential community leaders

chief of staff since 1958.

who act as informed advocates of

others, or environmental factors.

It has

partner and managing director of Brand

For several decades, Mr. Kolligian

Equity International and lived in Lincoln, Mass. At Brand Equity, he was responsible for overseeing the account management, research, and implementation of design and brand development programs for clients, ineluding Amoco Oil Co., Eastman Kodak Co., and Goodyear Tire Company. Bom in Cambridge, Mass., Mr. Kolligian graduated from St. Mark’s Preparatory School,

strongly supported the Air Force Thunderbirds flying demonstration team

years, Zoe; two sons, Kristian of Dover,

and for more than 20 years, he took the

Mass., and Koren of Waltham, Mass.; a

time to help innumerable Air Force people

sister, Karen Anderson of Winchester,

was a

on a

Academy causes. Mr. Kolligian leaves his wife of 47

personal basis.

Mass.; a brother, Ronald of Marina Del

Since his first visit to the Air Force

Ray, Calif.; and two grandsons.^

Academy, he has embraced the institution, its graduates and cadets. He was the central figure in establishing the Sa-

CHECKPOINTS,

SUMMER

200 1

Editor^ note: TheAOGgreatly appreciates Mr. Kolligian *s generous support to the AOG and the Academy. We will miss him.

OVOtOISTlNgVlStfEtD gtRJKDVATES Cjeneraf (Rj)naCcf ^ Togfeman

^ M W

USAF Academy and its Association of Graduates recently announced the

winners of the Air Force Academy’s first Distinguished Graduate Award. General Ronald R Fogleman ’63 and Mr Harry J Pearce ’64 earned this prestigious honor for their singular and distinctive contributions to society and the nation. Honor, Duty,

accomLoyalty, and Integrity capture the essence of these two distinguished graduates. Their plishments are testimony to the values the Academy instills in its graduates. The awardees will be honored at ceremonies and events held in conjunction with the Academy’s

Founders’ Day in April. Both men will have the opportunity to interact with cadets during their visit. The Association of Graduates established the Distinguished Graduate Award as a way to identify to the public and the Cadet Wing the broad national impact that graduates of the United States Air

Force Academy have on society. The individual achievements of our first winners exemplify the

qualities and characteristics that the Academy strives to imbue in its cadets—the future leaders of

our

Air Force and the country. The accomplishments of these distinguished graduates are sketched in the following pages.

Their achievements are too numerous to account for all of them here, but these highlights illustrate

their commitment and dedication to the nation and the Air Force Academy. BY DICK RAUSCHKOLB ‘70

VICE

PRESIDENT,

EXTERNAL

COMMUNICATIONS

DISTINGUISHED

GRADUATES

eneral Fogleman is a 1963 graduate of the Acad-

Since retirement, General Fogleman has remained a

emy. He is the first Academy graduate to rise to

staunch supporter of the Air Force by continuing to serve on

be the Air Force Chief of Staff. As a young of-

commissions to advise the nation on its future defense needs.

ficer, he served two tours in Southeast Asia, log-

Donating his time and resources, he has been heavily involved

ging 315 combat missions and over 800 combat hours as a

in numerous fund-raising activities for the Air Force Memo-

high-speed F-100 Forward Air Controller and F-4E pilot. His

rial Association.

exceptional courage in the face of hostile forces was recog-

His continued love for his alma mater and its ideals set

nized with the award of the Silver Star and two Distinguished

him apart from other graduates. He continues to contribute

Flying Crosses. He also received the Purple Heart for injuries

his time, talent, and financial resources to support the Acad-

received while ejecting from his crippled aircraft.

emy mission and its cadets. He was an early member of the

As the Air Force Chief of Staff General Fogleman stabilized

Sabre Society and he has recruited numerous supporters to

the service after the turmoil of reorganization and downsizing.

join this prestigious organization whose members provide im-

He led the Air Force to new understandings of accountability

portant financial support to the Academy. He has spoken at

and excellence, intensifying the commitment to personal integ-

the Academy on numerous occasions; most recently he was a

rity, service before self, and excellence in every endeavor. Where

keynote speaker at The Academy’s National Character and

others counseled silence on matters of fairness, he spoke out

Leadership Symposium.

courageously on the national stage for accountability and re-

Throughout a lifetime of service to the nation, General

sponsibility. In an act of unprecedented selflessness, he chose

Fogleman espoused and lived by the core values of the Acad-

to retire from office in order to strengthen civil-military coopera-

emy and the Air Force: Integrity, Excellence and Service Be-

tion and emphasize the Air Force’s contribution to national de-

fore Self.

fense.

Harry J Pearce is a 1964 graduate of the

awards. In May, Mr Pearce received The American Jewish

After graduating from the Acad-

Committee’s National Human Relations Award. Last year, he was

emy, he received his law degree from North-

presented with both the Black Patriots Foundation Leadership

western University’s School of Law.

Award and the National Conference for Community and Justice’s

Academy.

During

his Air Force service, he was a Staff Judge Advocate. He started

“Humanitarian of the Year” Award for his work with the NAACP. Three years ago, Harry was diagnosed with acute myelog-

working for General Motors in 1985 as Associate General Coun-

leukemia, or AML, a life-threatening disease.

He beat the

sel and quickly moved to higher positions. From ’96 until re-

enous

cently, he was Vice Chairman of General Motors Corporation. He is a tough competitor, who is credited with making a huge

illness, but saw the devastating toll it takes. He turned his personal battle with the disease into a public mission, and, today sits on the

impact on the way GM did business, winning a legendary legal

board of six different foundations that support leukemia and bone

battle with NBC’s “Dateline,” and leading GM’s advanced tech-

marrow research and treatment.

Few graduates of the Academy have dedicated as much time

nology efforts to produce cleaner, fuel-efficient cars and trucks for the future. He is now the Chairman of Hughes Electronics

and energy as Harry Pearce toward building a strong Academy. He

Corporation, a subsidiary of General Motors.

is currently chairman of the Sabre Society. His leadership over the

But Harry Pearce’s lifetime commitment to causes far more

past year has resulted in a 67 percent increase in membership in this

His

organization of high-end donors pledged to support the Academy

important than the bottom-line is why he won this award.

support for improving education, increasing minority opportu-

and cadet programs.

nities, encouraging local economic development, developing en-

Board of Visitors.

He is also the chairman of the Academy’s

vironmentally sound business practices, and ending the trauma

In spirit, character, and accomplishment these remarkable men

of life-threatening diseases illustrate his unswerving commit-

epitomize the values and ideals of the United States Air Force Acad-

ment to bettering society. His years of concern for higher edu-

emy

cation and minority opportunity have earned him numerous

cog 59

<r* Distinguished he

Graduate Award

eng

Nomination Instructions

he Distinguished Graduate Award is intended to recognize those exceptional graduates who have set themselves apart by making extraordinarily significant contri-

butions to our nation and/or their communities. It is a unique honor bestowed by

the Academy and the AOG recognizing graduates whose accomplishments have inspired

reputation and the standing of the US Air Force Academy. Distinguished Graduates should provide an example to all graduates and cadets of the standards that we value and of the abilities that have made our country and society great.This is our opportunity to recognize graduates who can serve as an inspiration to future generations of America’s leaders.

us all and elevated the

Anyone may submit a nomination package. The pack-

Distinguished Graduate Award

age should not exceed three pages. The first page is a concise information sheet on the candidate and should con-

Calendar of Events

tain a short narrative or bullets addressing the following

Sept 01

headings, if applicable:

April 02

Publicize award

•

Professional Accomplishments

•

Education History

Request nominations

•

Professional Organizations

Deadline for nominations 30 April

•

Professional Career Summary to include job titles and location

•

May 2002

Honors, Awards, Public Recognition

Selection Committee reviews nominations

Community Service •

Additional 3 References (include address and phone

June 2002

number) The remaining page/s should be a strong

Selection Committee recommends

award recipient to Chairman ofthe

written justification.

Board and USAFA Superintendent

Recipient notified and agrees to accept award at the USAF Academy

Submit the Nomination Package by 30 April ‘02 Mail to: Ms Leah Burrows

Association Of Graduates 3116 Academy Drive USAF Academy CO 80840-4475 or

Email as a word attachment to:

Leah.Burrows@usafa.af.mil Questions: Contact Colonel (Ret) Dick Rauschkolb ‘70 AOG Vice President for External Communications. Ph 719-472-0300

Additional Information may be found on

email: dick.rauschkolb@usafa.af.mil

the AOG web site-www.aog-usafa.org

CHECKPOINTS, 60

April 2003 DG A presentation ceremony at USAFA in conjunction with Founders’ Day

SUMMER

2 0 0 1

REDUCED AIRFARES Class Reunions & Homecoming Parent's Weekend

Graduation

Incoming Cadet Class us about arranging car and hotel reservations

GROUP 6 INDIVIDUAL TRAVEL Cruises —The Ultimate Vacation

Family Reunions USAFA Sporting Events Tours —Every Corner of the Globe

Weekend Getaways Let us plan your next vacation!

"Tell us you're in the AOG" www.GardenoftheGodsTravel.vacation.com email:travel@ rmi.net 4105 Centennial Blvd. • Colorado Springs, CO 80907 • (719) 599-9500 8:00am

5:30pm Monday through Friday

•

9:00am

1:00pm Saturday (Mtn.Time)

Graduate Biographical Update Form Date:

Name at Graduation:

AOG ID #

Class:

SSAN:

(From the Register or Checkpoints mailing label) Please make the following Changes/Additions to my records in the AOG Database:

Preferred Name for mailing labels: Effective Date:

Mailing Address: State:

City:

Zip Code:

Country:

Duty assignment or Civilian Title:

Unit/Company & Location: Effective Date:

Work Address:

Zip Code:

State:

City: Home Phone: (

DSN:

_Work Phone: (_

Home FAX: (

Country:

Work FAX:

)

(

Home e-mail:

Web URL:

Work e-mail:

Marital Status: Single/Divorced/Married: If Married: Spouse’s Marital or Legal Name Change:

name:

(provide documentation)

If Spouse is a Graduate please provide the following: Spouse’s Grad Class:

AOG ID #

Spouse’s Graduation Name: The AOG receives promotion, aeronautical rating, PME, and sponsored civilian education updates from the

USAF Personnel Center for Active Duty USAF graduates only; USAFR, Guard, and other service graduates MUST provide us this information personally. USAF Active Duty Graduates should provide it, in case the official data sources are in error. (Please provide documentation to correct errors.) Rank:

Date of Rank:

Aero Rating:

PME:

Residence/Seminar/Correspondence; Dates:

All Graduates:

Civilian

Date of Rating:

Award(s):

Degree:

Year:

Major:

Institution:

The following Data is being collected to populate the AOG Database. Doolie Squadron:

Graduation Squadron:

Source of Nomination: Congressional:

Other: Enter State

Varsity Letter Earned: Year (s):

Home of Record State:

i.e. Presidential, Prep School, etc.

While at USAFA

Sport (s):

Squadron/Group/Wing Command/Honor Positions: Other Relatives Attend

(ed) (ing) USAFA: Name (s), Class and Relationship

Remarks:

Signature:

Date:

Mail to: Association of Graduates (Bio Info), 3116 Academy Dr., USAF Academy CO E-mail to: aog@aog-usafa.org, or update via: www.aog-usafa.org 62

80840-4475, Rev: dtp os/oo

AOG GIFT ORDER FORM Complete and send to: ASSOCIATION OF GRADUATES 3116 Academy Drive

USAF Academy CO 80840-4475

(719) 472-0300 FAX: (719) 333-4194

www.aog-usafa.org

SEE ORDERING INSTRUCTIONS BELOW Item#

Item Description

Quantity

Size

Total Price (Please use correct member/nonmember

price.)

Item #0505

Rosewood/Light Maple Pen Set (Circle One)

Crest #1

Line #1

Crest #2

Line #2 Line #3

Total

Class year/AOG#:

Name: Street:

CO Sales Tax State:

City:

Daytime Phone: (

Check enclosed.

(see instructions below)

Zip:

Shipping & Handling

)

Credit card (VISA or MasterCard only) Print

name on

(see instructions below)

credit card:

Total Due (subject to verification of membership)

Signature: Card #

Expiration:

AOG GIFT CATALOG. Prices current as of 1 May 2001. Price, style and color are SUBIECT TO CHANGE. Prices differfor members and nonmembers on many items. Sales of some items are restricted to graduates and/or AOG members. ORDERING INSTRUCTIONS: List each item on the “Order Blank” fill in item #, quantity, item description, size and total price (using the -

appropriate member or nonmember price). Special order items require extra time and additional information on the order form above. When ordering class-specific items, include the applicable class year. COLORADO SALES TAX: We are required to collect Colorado sales tax for items sold at Doolittle Hall or mailed to a Colorado address as follows: Doolittle Hall and El Paso County 4%. Colorado Springs 6.1%. Elsewhere in Colorado 3%. SHIPPING AND HANDLING: For mail orders, please add $5 or 10% (whichever is greater). If ordering only decals, S&H cost is $.75. PAYMENT can be made by check (made out to “AOG”) or credit card. If paying by credit card, please clearly print your credit card number, expiration date (month and year) and the name as shown on the card, then sign in the space provided. NAME, MAILING ADDRESS, DAYTIME PHONE NUMBER, and CLASS YEAR (for graduates)/AOG# should be clearly printed in the spaces provided. -

CUT OUT OR COPY ORDER FORM and mail to the address/fax to the phone number at the top of the page.

COMMENTS or SPECIAL INSTRUCTIONS:

MOST ITEMS LIST TWO PRICES

THE FIRST FOR MEMBERS OF THE AOG, AND A SECOND, HIGHER PRICE FOR NONMEMBERS.

GLASSWARE: AOG Crest etched on clear glass.

Sold individually or in sets of four. Old Fashion Glasses: Item #0703

Member/Nonmember

Sets of Four

$4.00/$5.00 $4.00/$5.00 $4.50/$5.50

$14.00/$18.00 $14.00/$18.00 $16.00/$20.00

$4.00/$5.00

$14.00/$18.00

7 3/4 oz.

Item #0704 10 1/4 oz. Item #0705 12 1/4 oz.

Highball: Item #0706

10 1/2 oz.

Stemware:

Item #0702

12 oz. Brandy Snifter

Item #0701

7 3/4 oz. Wine Glass

Item #0707

10 oz. Goblet

Item #0700

12 oz. Pilsner Glass

$5.00/$6.00 $18.00/$22.00 $5.00/$6.00 $18.00/$22.00 $5.00/$6.00 $18.00/$22.00 $5.00/$6.00 $18.00/$22.00

Mug s: Item #0415 White Ceramic Mug, 12 oz.

$6.00/$7.00 $5.00/$6.00 $5.00/$6.00

Item #0416 Insulated Water Bottle

Item #0417 Car Cup

SABERS and PLAQUES: The Cadet Saber is sold to GRADUATE AOG MEMBERS ONLY. The AOG does not sell the mounting case

call

for information where to get the mounting case.

Member/Nonmember Item #4000 Cadet Saber with Scabbard

$185.00/NA $70.00/$85.00 $17.00/$20.00

Item #0407 Etched Falcon on White Marble Item #0408 Wooden Chapel

COASTERS: Item #0530

Pegasus Coasters

Terra Cotta and Blue. Water

Absorbent, nonscratch bottoms. Set of four.

$25.00/$29.00

Item #0531 Leather Coasters in a tin display case. Set of six. Three

with AOG crest and three with USAFA crest.

$15.00/$18.00

LICENSE PLATE FRAMES: Item #0402 “FALCONS” frame

$4.50/$4.50 $4.50/$4.50 $8.00/$8.00

Item #0403 “ALUMNI” frame

Mix/Match set of frames above (please specify) PERSONALIZED PEN AND PRESENTATION CASE:

Light Maple or Rosewood. Name on pen. Case engraved with your choice of two of the following three crests, “AOG”, “USAFA”, or “CLASS” and up to three lines of personalizing. Please allow 5 weeks for engraving and shipping. Specify crests and personalizing on order form. Item #0505 Pen and Case

$24.00/$24.00

CHRISTMAS ORNAMENTS:

$19.00/$23.00 $23.00/$27.50 Item #0603 1998 Polaris w/Crossed Sabers (3” x 3”) $23.00/$27.50 Item #0602 1997 Prop & Wings (3” x 3”) $23.00/$27.50 Item #0601 1995 Pegasus (3” x 3”) $23.00/$27.50 Item #0600 1994 Falcon (2.5” x 2”) $23.00/$27.50

Item #0605 2000 USAFA Chapel (3” x 3.5”) Item #0604

1999 USAFA Crests (Double sided, 3”x 3”)

AOG GIFT CATALOG: 1 May 2001. Prices, styles and colors are subject to change without notice. Contact the AOG at (719) 472-0300 for current prices or visit our website at www.aog-usafa.org which will have current “member”

prices.

MOST ITEMS LIST TWO PRICES

THE FIRST FOR MEMBERS OF THE AOG, AND A SECOND, HIGHER PRICE FOR NONMEMBERS.

USAFA SCARF: 100% silk with USAFA crest and falcon

design. Dark blue. $26.00/$29.50

Item: #0302

USAFA NECKTIE: 80% silk tie with USAFA and Prop &

$21.00/$23.00

Wings design. Item #0300 Blue

Item #0301 Garnet (Red) IEWELRY: Item #0433

Sterling silver Prop & Wings

Necklace

$24.50/$28.50

Item #0436 Polaris tie tack/lapel pin

inl4Kt yellow or white gold

With small diamond Without diamond Item #0434

$69.00/$83.00 $42.00/$51.00

Prop & Wings charm in

14kt yellow gold With small diamond Without diamond

SWEATERS AND SHIRTS:

extra

$95.00/$l 10.00 $71.00/$85.00

charge on some larger sizes.

Item #0180 AOG Rugby Shirt: 100% cotton (10% shrinkage, sizes run true)

Gray and navy blue with AOG crest embroidered on left breast. (SM, MED, LRG, XLG) (XXL, XXXL) Item #0200 Crewneck Sweater: sweater.

$47.00/$55.00 $50.00/$58.00

Jersey top, pebble bottom dark blue

100% pre-shrunk cotton. Sizes run one size smaller than

normal fit. AOG crest embroidered on left breast.

(SM, MED, LRG, XLG) (XXL)

$48.00/$57.00 $51.00/$60.00

Item #0210 AOG V-neck Sweat Top: 85% cotton/15% polyester.

Oversized to compensate for shrinkage. Natural oatmeal (light beige) with Navy striped trim. AOG crest embroidered on left breast pocket.

(SM, MED, LRG, XLG)

$46.00/$55.00

Item #0280 AOG Golf Shirt: 100% combed cotton. Colors: glacier

blue, dark blue, or white. AOG crest embroidered on left breast. $38.00/$45.00 $40.00/$48.00

(SM, MED, LRG, XLG) (XXL)

JACKETS:

extra charge on some larger sizes.

Item #0100 Polar Jacket: Fleece-lined blue nylon shell with

embroidered AOG crest.

(SM, MED, LRG, XLG) (XXL) $73.00/$87.50 Item #0110

$70.00/$84.00 (3X) $75.00/$90.00

Suede Leather Jacket: Navy blue/tan with

embroidered AOG crest.

(SM, MED, LRG, XLG) (XXL, 3X) Item #0140

$120.00/$144.00 $125.00/$150.00

Blue Microfiber Windbreaker with embroidered

AOG crest on left breast. CADET ISSUE CLOTHING: (available to AOG members only) Item #0001

(SM, MED, LRG, XLG) (XXL) $73.00/$87.50

$70.00/$84.00 (3X) $75.00/$90.00

Sweatsuit: 89% cotton/8% polyester/3%rayon.

Oversized to accommodate shrinkage.

Light gray with dark gray

reflective strips and USAFA. Sweat Top

(SM, MED, LRG, XLG) (XXL) $35.00/NA $37.00/NA Sweat Pants (SM, MED, LRG, XLG) (XXL) Member price $22.50/NA $24.50/NA (SM, MED, LRG, XLG) (XXL) Complete Set Member price $55.00/NA $58.00/NA Item #0030 USAFA T-Shirt: 100% cotton (will shrink). White with Member Price

blue ringer collar and sleeves. “USAFA” silkscreened on left breast.

(SM, MED, LRG, XLG) $8.00/NA

Member price Item #0050 run

large. Jacket Pants

(XXL) $9.00/NA

Running Suit: Dark blue with reflective strips.

Sizes

(SM, MED, LRG, XLG, XXL) $80.00/NA $48.00/NA

AOG GIFT CATALOG: 1 May 2001. Prices, styles and colors are subject to change without notice. Contact the AOG at

(719) 472-0300 for current prices or visit our website at www.aog-usafa.org which will have current “member” prices.

U. S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY ASSOCIATION OF GRADUATES

(719) 472-0300

Receptionist DSN

333-4513

Answering Machine E-mail

(719) 333-2073

aog@aog-usafa.org

Fax WWW

(719) 333-4194

http://www.aog-usafa.org

Executive Offices:

Checkpoints and Register of Graduates:

President/CEO: Col. (Ret) James A. Shaw, ‘67

Assistant Editor: Tom Kroboth

Saber Rental: Celeste Storie

Executive Assistant: Pat Buland

Advertising: Dick Rauschkolb/Bob McAllister Chapter News: Bob McAllister/Tom Kroboth

Special Case Golf Reservations: John Rice Web Site: Wayne Taylor

Secretary: Leah Burrows Receptionist: Michelle Cowan Accountant: Joyce Love Class Rings: Donna Porter

Services: (continued)

Class News: Bob McAllister/Tom Kroboth ACADEMY PHONE NUMBERS

Services:

Vice President: Col. (Ret) Rich Downing, ‘70

Admissions

(719) 333-3070

Death Notification:

Career Opportunities

Admission Applications

(800) 443-9266

Notices: Pat Buland; Obituaries: Tom Kroboth

Company Contact: Wayne Taylor

Alumni Affairs

(719)333-3832

Development:

Resume Service: Wayne Taylor

Athletic Ticket Office

(800) 666-8723

Vice President: Lt. Col. (Ret) Gary S. Howe, ‘69

SACC: Wayne Taylor

AOG Annual Fund: Michael Brown

Billeting (VOQ)

Service Academy Business Resource Directory

Cadet Awards

Building Fund: Michael Brown Class Gifts: Chery Flores Corporate Giving: Gary Howe Major Giving: Gary Howe Matching Gifts: Sandra Luckhurst Memorial/Endowment Funds: Chery Flores Paver Project: Michael Brown Planned Giving: Gary Howe Sabre Society: Jim Shaw, Kathy McCann

Sales: Wayne Taylor, Celeste Storie Updates: Wayne Taylor, Lani Wing Doolittle Hall Special Functions: Reservations (parties, etc.): Jean Bickford Address Updates: Steve Knight, John Rice Associate Memberships: John Rice Cadet Memberships: Don McCarthy Bio Updates: Steve Knight, John Rice Chapters/Societies: Wayne Taylor Class Reunions: Lani Wing/Donna Porter Grad. Dependent Scholarships: Lani Wing Graduate Membership: Steve Knight Graduate Records: Steve Knight Label/List Requests: Chuck Denham

Cadet Command Post

Information Services: Vice President: Col. (Ret) Chuck Denham, ‘67 ‘

Computer Systems: Jack Mueller, 70 Database Coordinator: Don McCarthy External Communications:

Base Locator

Vice President: Col. (Ret) Dick Rauschkolb, ‘70

Merchandise Sales: Celeste Storie

Director of Marketing & Media: Bob McAllister

Rental Car Cards: Steve Knight, John Rice

Academy Military (719) 333-4262

Visitor Center

(719) 333-4910 (719) 333-3833 (719)333-2910 (719) 333-3972 (719) 333-4096 (719)333-3456 (719) 333-2846 (719) 333-3323 (719) 333-2501 (719) 333-3970 (719) 333-1110 (719) 333-3832 (800) 955-4438

Yearbooks/Cadet Media

(719) 333-4644

Diploma Repair/Replacement Falcon Foundation Golf Course Liaison Officers

Mortuary Affairs/Burial Prep School Duty Officer Transcripts USAFA Operator Assistance USAFA Parents’ Clubs Contact

ASSOCIATION OF GRADUATES 3116 ACADEMY DR

USAF ACADEMY, CO 80840-4475 As of February 2001

Service Academy Business Resource Directory (SABRD) The information reflected in the directory is obtained from members of the service academies alumni associations who wish to have their civilian positions listed in the publication. Indexed by geographical area, industry, company name, graduate last name and class year, the directory contains entries of approximately 14,000 graduates in business across the country and worldwide. Born from the belief that the Associations of Graduates and Alumni Associations exist not only to serve their academies but their membership, this directory creates an excellent business leadership network. The information also provides those in need of certain services an efficient way to find a fellow graduate.

SABRD ORDER FORM

G Please send

copies, at $45 (plus $8.95 S&H, $53.95 total each) of the 2001 SABRD.

Note: SABRD data is also available online (iSABRD). For information on sub-

scribing to iSABRD log onto aog-usafa.org/graduatejobprograms. Please use this address in the AOG Database:

PAYMENT METHOD:

NAME

] Check Enclosed (Payable to “AOG”)

ADDRESS

1 Charge to my

CITY, ST, ZIP

Card Exp Date (Month/Year

AOG or SSAN HOME PHONE (

CLASS YEAR

Visa or

)

MasterCard / /

Name on card:

Signature:

Mail To: AOG, 3116 Academy Drive, USAF Academy, CO 80840-4475.

Telephone orders by

Visa or MasterCard at (719) 472-0300 or DSN 333-2067 or fax to (719) 333-4194.

he Sabre

Society recognizes those people who

have made a commitment to providing an an-

nual, unrestricted gift of at least $1,000 to the

AOG to support the needs of the Academy. Conceived in 1995, the Sabre Society now has more than 700 members.

Sabre Society gifts to the annual fund are

used to directly meet annual Academy needs as well as to create endowments for perpetual support of some

needs.

specific

Society members are some of our most dedicated

and concerned donors.

SABRE

Membership is comprised of

graduates, parents of cadets and grads, many non-

soc IET Y Leading The Way

graduate alumni, and friends of the Academy. The Sabre Society’s members support the Academy by

deed and by word.

They are advocates for the Academy’s

mission. As such, we go to great lengths to keep them

apprised of what is happening at the Academy today.

ensure

that they are fully informed of current issues and

events.

Every other year, we host a Sabre Society Recog-

nition Weekend that allows members to see the Academy

close up and hear directly from the staff and leadership. In the summer of 2000, participants were taken to Jack’s

Valley to see the Class of 2004 training in BCT.

In off

years, we offer a weekend of social events that allows

participants to talk to Academy and AOG leadership. Additionally, we hold Sabre Society events around the country to bring the Academy to members.

e are so in love with the Air Force

Academy and our daughter Katie has

totally fallen under the charm of the Academy. After recognition, she just

opened up like a beautiful flower and told us how much she cared about the AFA. We realized then how important it was for her to make the grade and be accepted. When

she was last home, she even talked about the AFA as home. That is what makes the AFA so special to us as

parents; it is like our home also. The whole process there

Why do people commit to the Sabre Society? Graduates understand the great opportunity they received and feel an

obligation to give something back. Similarly, parents understand that their child has had an extraordinary experience—

unsurpassed anywhere in the country—and help to ensure

makes the parents and families feel part of the AFA. When we look at all of the options she had, it is important for us to know that in her heart, this is where she feels she is destined to be. There is a long line of cadets who have

passed on before her and a long line yet to come, and it is fine to think that the Sabre Society will be there to lend a hand and a strong shoulder.

that future cadets receive the same experience.

Keep up the grand work. Your duty and dedication is very

The Sabre Society is leading the way for annual fund

much appreciated. Our very best,

donors and membership is open to anyone who wishes to

Don and Terry Dildy

make the commitment. 67

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VIDAL

.SASSOON,

SPORTS

Feature

Oklahoma, the National Champ, is coming into Falcon Territory.

But are we ready?

By Troy Garnhart Sports Information Director ir Force returned

far, as just seven starters return. As Air

The Falcons led the conference and

just seven starters

Force head coach Fisher DeBerry enters

ranked third nationally with 295 yards per

entering last sea-

his 18th season with a 135-72-1 record,

game. The difference was the forward

son, the lowest

people will say he needs to work another

pass.

number

Air Force didn’t throw the ball

miracle. Actually, it’s business as usual.

much more in 2000, just much better.

West

“That’s typical of what we’ve been used

Quarterback Mike Thiessen threw for op-

Conference teams. The result: a 9-3 sea-

to here,” DeBerry said. “We’ve had some

tion era records of 1,687 yards and 13

guys that have played a good bit, but

touchdowns. His yards and TDs rank

among

Mountain

son, another Commander-in Chief’s Tro-

phy,

a second

place finish in the confer-

recognized as starters.”

third all-time at the Academy for a single

ence, and a victory over Fresno State in

The Falcon offense was tremen-

season.

the 2000 Silicon Valley Football Classic,

dous last season, averaging 35 points per

Ryan Fleming, who at 6-foot-5 is the tall-

the team’s third bowl game in four years.

game, 497 yards of total offense and hold-

est receiver to play in the DeBerry era.

This season, the Falcons hope to follow

ing the ball for an average of 32:08. Air

Fleming set option era records for catches

a similar

Force’s ground game was its usual self.

(52) and yards (930). His catches rank as

path. The team is one-for-one so

were not

CHECKPOINTS,

SUMMER

Thiessen’s main target was C1C

2 0 0 1 69

SPORTS

Feature

the fourth most in AFA history while the yards are second

Malin and Chris Jessop. Malin was a solid blocker and was

only to All-American Ernie Jennings’ 1970 total of 1,298.

invaluable on special teams. Jessop finished the season with

The good news for Air Force is that Fleming returns for his

eight catches for 143 yards and scored three touchdowns,

senior year and is Air Force’s most serious All-American

candidate since linebacker Chris Gizzi earned the honor in

ters the fall as the starter. He moved from outside linebacker

1997. The bad news is Thiessen graduated last spring.

to tight end during spring drills and was one of the biggest

“The concern we had entering the spring was the absence of playing time at quarterback,” DeBerry com-

option era record for tight ends. C1C Kevin Runyon en-

surprises of the spring. C2C Andy Lueckenhoff and C3C Adam Strecker add depth.

mented. “Mike took most of the playing time last year

Three of the most important positions year in and

because so many of our games were close. We have some

year out for the offense is halfback, fullback and the offen-

sive line. Air Force has significant losses at all three. Gone from the line is first-team all-conference guard David Hildebrand and three-year starting center Matt Dayoc. The team also will miss tackle Luke Porisch, who was a big sur-

prise last year. The Falcons will anchor the line behind tackle C1C Ben Miller, who recorded 150 knockdown blocks last year. “Ben Miller has a chance to be the very best offensive

lineman we’ve ever had. He has so much pride and athletic

ability he could really be something,” the coach said. CICs Brian Strock and Matt Joseph shared time at guard last year. Both return this season and will start at the guard positions. The other tackle position opposite Miller is up for grabs, but

DeBerry said that the unit as a whole will have solid depth thanks to C3Cs Brett Huyser, Jesse Underbakke, Steven

Lizzol, Blane Neufeld and two players returning from Morman missions, C2Cs Wayne Southam and Eric Olson. “The fullback position is a big concern,” DeBerry

said. “We’11 miss (Nate) Beard and (Scott) Becker as much as young men with the ability to do what we need.”

The

anybody on our team. Now it’s time for C2C Jimmy Bums to

battle comes down to C1C Keith Boyea, C2C Bryan Blew

step in along with C3C Anthony Kelley. I also think junior

and C3Cs Chance Harridge and Travis Thurmond. Boyea

William Sargent, and sophomores Dan Shaffer and Todd

enters the fall no. 1 on the depth chart, mostly due to the

Leslie could help.” The group combined for just 117 yards

fact he was no. 2 last year. During spring drills, Harridge

last season in limited duty and will have to replace just under

spent a week at the top spot and Thurmond came on late

1,000 yards from Beard and Becker. All five enter the fall with

to enter his name in the running. “I’d like to have one of

a chance to win the

job.

those guys win it outright the first two weeks in the fall so

The halfback position will welcome the return of

couple of weeks with our no. 1 guy,” DeBerry

senior Tom Heier, who missed all of last season with a knee

said. Whoever wins the job will have plenty of weapons

injury. He’ll team with C2Cs Leotis Palmer and Michael

at receiver. In addition to Fleming, C2Cs Brian LaBasco

Fieberkom to form a balanced attack. The group could also

and Ricky Amezaga return. LaBasco was second on the

get some help from C2C Brandon Brown, who is moving over

team with 15 receptions for 165 yards last season. Amezaga

from defensive back. Palmer is the top returning rusher with

had three catches for 47 yards and a touchdown. DeBerry

260 yards on 44 carries. “There are a lot of talented young

also likes C3C Anthony Park from Las Vegas, Nev., as a

men that will make up our halfbacks this

we have a

contributor at the position.

There will be a new look at

said. “Tom Heier has played a lot of football in his career and

seniors Andy

Palmer played a good bit last season. I also think we could

tight end. Gone from last year’s squad

are

CHECKPOINTS, 70

season,” DeBerry

SUMMER

200 1

SPORTS

Feature

get some help from some newcomers there this season.”

and figures to

The kicking game should be solid again in 2001.

make

The Falcons lost kicker Dave Adams and punter Dallas

push for a

starting position.

Thompson to graduation. Adams tied a single-season

The

out-

school record with 19 field goals last season. They will

side linebacker corps

be replaced by C1C Brooks Walters (place kicker) and

will get a lift with the

C2C John Welsh (punter). Both separated themselves

return of C1C Matt

from their competitors in the spring.

McCraney,

“On paper, as far as losses in the kicking game are

concerned, we have a lot,” DeBerry said.

“

But we have

who

missed all of last season

with a knee in-

some people that will step in there and do a fine job. I

jury. He’s made a full

think John Welsh is going to be a fine punter and I expect

recovery from knee

big things from Brooks Walters as a kicker.” The coach

surgery after being

also feels that C2C Adam Thornton and sophomore Jo-

projected as a starter

seph Ashcroft will provide plenty of depth for the kick-

heading into last sea-

ing game.

son. C1C Tre’

Defensively, Air Force will rely heavily on its

Cage is

slated to start at the other outside position after seeing

front three. DeBerry feels C1 Cs Zach Johnson (NG), along

limited duty last year.

with Justin Pendry and Dan Probert (DTs) compose the

gence of C3C Monty Coleman at outside linebacker. “Two

top defensive line in the conference. It’s hard to argue

of the most promising young people in our program are

with the numbers. Johnson rolled up seven tackles for

Graddy and Coleman. I guarantee you Coleman is going to

loss and a sack in just eight games last year. Pendry is the

be a fine player at Air Force before he graduates. He spent

team’s top returning tackier with 48 stops, including four

time on the varsity last year, but mostly on special teams.”

tackles for loss. He has unlimited potential and great size

The secondary will be bolstered by C1C Sam

at 6-foot-6 and 285 pounds. Both are returning starters.

Meinrod (Falcon Back) and C2Cs Joel Buelow and Wes

Probert was among the team leaders in tackles for loss

Crawley (Comers). Meinrod and Crawley are returning start-

with eight and sacks with five last season, despite start-

ers

DeBerry is excited about the emer-

and Beulow was a part-time starter last season. C2C

“Zach Johnson will be as good a

Paul Mayo at strong comer and C3C Jeff Overstreet at

player as there is in our league at middle guard,” DeBerry

strong safety will also contribute. “Overstreet reminds me

said. “We’ll have a good defensive line. They will be as

physical and athletic as any we’ve ever had.”

DeBerry said. “He has that kind of ability. He’s one of the

ing just three games.

lot of Carlton McDonald (All-American from

1992),”

The biggest losses defensively are at both in-

most promising young players we’ve had in the secondary.

side and outside linebacker. The Falcons graduated their

“Meinrod is the second leading returning tackier with 36.

inside linebackers C.J. Zanotti

He also had two tackles for losses and one interception.

(84 tackles) and Matt Pommer (78 tackles). The pair also

Crawley posted 28 total tackles a year ago, while Beulow

sacks.

had 22. Overstreet had 13 in just seven games after making

two top tacklers last year

combined for 22 tackles for loss and

seven

Gallagher, who doubled as the deep snapper, started op-

his first career start at Notre Dame.

posite Corey Nelson as the outside linebackers. Both are

There are several questions heading into the fall

lost to graduation. The pair combined for 19 tackles for

for Air Force. As usual, there is going to be plenty of com-

loss and 14 sacks. “We lost all of our inside linebackers,”

petition to fill the vacancies and that’s just what DeBerry

DeBerry said. “Jon Eccles and Jamie Arthur, along with

likes. “There seems to be more competition than in the past

Andy Rule, had exceptional off seasons. The guy I’m

for some of the positions, but I think that’s a good sign for

really excited about is Marchello Graddy. He’s going to

be the next really great one for us.” Graddy is a sopho

means so much to your

CHECKPOINTS,

football team. It makes you better when every practice

SUMMER

program.” ^

2 0 0 1 71

SCORECARD SPORTS

The Air Force Academy cadet

rugby team beat both Army and Navy to win the commandant’s Trophy at the 18th Alamo City Fiesta Rugby Battle

April

San

Antonio.

he Air Force shut out the Naval Academy team 12 to 0 in the

morning and beat the West Point team 24 to 5 in the after noon to

close their regular spring season.

Besides winning the Commandant’s Trophy, the academy also fielded a team in the concurrent Sevens Tournament, competing against 14 local and regional teams. Sevens is a version of rugby with seven

players per side rather than the normal 15 players. It also has shorter halves than regular rugby games. The academy team won third place in that competition.

“Our biggest strength was teamwork and consistency,” said Troy mm

Harting, Air Force coach. “In other games throughout the season we ■

had moments of brilliance with a few mistakes behind them, but here we

played very level, consistent games with a lot of effort—from the

opening whistle to the closing seconds. When we gave them that kind of pressure every second of the game, we made it real hard for them to recover and that’s what ultimately led to our victory.”

Junior Matt Clugston, captain of the team, scored twice and played strong defense in both games, according to the coach. Junior Jacob Leek, who had only been playing rugby for about two months, had the best tackle of the touma-

ment, assistant coach Rob Holder said. “Here’s 160-pound Jacob Leek, who took on a six-foot-four or five Army guy, lifted him up in the air, pushed him and drove him back and really stopped an Army drive down near the try line,” Holder said.

Junior Tony Ewers scored once and provided “a well-rounded presence on the field,” Harting said. The Sevens Competition was the first time this team played the abbreviated version of

rugby.

“There weren’t any guys on the team with any experience in Sevens before this weekend. So it was a real accomplishment for them to go 5 and 1 to win third place,” Holder said. The Air Force Academy rugby team has been sending its junior teams to play in the annual San Antonio tournament since 1987. Starting in

1994, Alamo City Rugby Football Club, the tournament sponsors, started

inviting all three academies to send their junior teams down to compete against each other. “The military academy teams are really the central highlight of our tournament during Fiesta, which is a huge

CHECKPOINTS, 72

SUMMER

2 0 0 1

SCORECARD !5 Rugby cont

SPORTS

city-wide celebration here in San Antonio,” said Luis Hernandez, tournament coordinator. “And the military guys on our team helped

work the details to support bringing in the three academy teams.” The academy teams do play each other one on one several times during the year, but this tournament is the only one at which

they are all together, Halting said. “I really enjoy the inter-academy games because in a way it’s

almost like playing ourselves,” he said. “They have different styles in how they conduct their game but the athletes, the guys them-

selves, are much like ours. We come from similar backgrounds, have similar military service, and typically we don’t outweigh a whole lot of people out on the field. We rely on our fitness, our

discipline and our speed...” Holder said the interservice sports rivalry could lead to inter-service cooperation and friendship in the future. “In my own life I look at the facts: I’m an Army grad, coaching at Air Force and some of my best friends are from

the Naval Academy,” he said. “I’ve developed great friendships at all the academies and—beyond that—among all the teams in the services.”

Harting echoed Holder’s comments: “Matches like these reinforce [the] bond. It allows us a familiar face, sort of a

rugby brother, when we do meet up in those joint operations.” &

Academy names new women's basketball coach

rdie Mclnelly, former head coach of Idaho State University, has been named head coach

of the Air Force Academy’s women’s basketball program, according to Director of Athletics

Col. Randy Spetman. “We are pleased to have a quality Division I head coach come to the Academy,” Spetman

said. “Ardie brings a wealth of basketball knowledge and is a proven winner.” The 2000-01 season marked Mclnelly’s fifth year as the head coach of Idaho State. Mclnelly

helped transform the Bengals from a struggling program to one that is respected and successful. When she first arrived at Idaho State in 1996, the team had just completed an 8-18 season and in

the 17 previous years, the Bengals had just two winning seasons. Her first two seasons, the team had winning records, averaging 15 wins a season. She took

the team to the Big Sky tournament four out of five years, finishing third or higher in the conference

those four seasons. I

Mclnelly earned the Big Sky Conference Coach of the Year award for the past two seasons. She had 77 victories at Idaho State. She was 6-10 all-time versus Mountain West Conference teams.

Mclnelly produced 14 all-conference athletic selections, but her players have excelled academically as well. Her team GPA was 3.24, the highest cumulative GPA in Idaho State’s athletic department. She has coached 34 academic all-conference athletes. Before her stint with Idaho State, Mclnelly spent five seasons (1991-96) as an assistant coach at Weber State University. She has also been an assistant coach at Pacific (1991-92) and Montana State (1988-91).

Mclnelly graduated from Boise State in 1982 with a bachelor’s degree in physical education. She went on to earn her master’s degree in education from Weber State in 1995.

Mclnelly is excited about the prospects for the upcoming season. The Falcons will be returning all five starters from last year. In fact, the entire squad will be returning, including four seniors. SI

CHECKPOINTS,

SUMMER

2 0 0 1 73

SCORECARD

Academy cyclists capture NCAA team, solo national titles

Troge led a team of cadets to the top of NCAA

Division II at the 2001 National Collegiate Road

Cycling Championships held May 19 to 21 in Colorado Springs. More than 300 cyclists from 75 colleges around the

nation competed in the three-day event. The points from men and women were

combined to decide the national

championship. Air Force outpaced its nearest competitor, Dartmouth University, 536 to 458.

Troge, a senior, earned the individual rider national title in the process. He took second place in the criterium race

May 19 and the road race May 20 to win the om-

nium, or overall individual title. “This year has been one blessing after another, so I’m very thankful to God,” Troge said. “I’m also very thankful for my team because this championship is a direct reflection on them. Cycling is the most team dependent

sport I know.” Brad Ames, Dan Yousey, Matt McCorkle, Ben Vickers, Bill Danyluk, Mary Rudy, Melanie Barnes and Jen

Stoltenberg joined Troge to win the team cycling title on their home course. Ames, also a senior, was fourth in the omnium competition.

Ames, Yousey and McCorkle raced with Troge in the criterium, a 0.9-mile course where riders

competed against each other and the clock. Men rode for 70

minutes and women for 50 to complete as many laps as possible. Riders reached

speeds of up to 30 mph. “The best way to describe it is that it’s like Grand Prix racing on bikes,” said

Capt. Jay Lowell, academy cycling team coach and the officer in charge. “Re-

place the Formula One cars on a city street with a lot of bikes and you get the idea. It’s a short race, tight turns.”

Three of the top 10 men from the race are Air Force cadets. Besides Troge, Ames finished fourth and Vickers placed ninth. Rudy tied for sixth and Bames

tied for ninth among women racers.

Troge was in position to win the road race May 19, but contact with another rider resulted in a crash within sight of the finish line. The injured cadet carried his bike the rest of the way to complete the grueling 68-mile course.

Lowell compares the course to the difficult mountain stages of the

Tour de France. Men did seven 9.5-mile laps and women completed five,

climbing 900 feet each time. Troge, McCorkle and Ames all cracked the top 10, the latter two crossing the finish line in seventh and eighth places. Rudy

placed fourth, while Bames and Stoltenberg placed 12th and 13th among the women.

Competition wrapped up May 21 with the team time trial, a 16.9-kilometer ride. Time trials feature teams racing in tight formation often inches apart

—

four riders for men and usually three for women. The team time is deter-

CHECKPOINTS, 74

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SCORECARD SPORTS Si Cycling cont. mined when the third man or second woman crosses the finish line.

Ames, Danyluk, Vickers and McCorkle won the event in 24 minutes, 26.1 seconds. A personal emergency left the women’s team short one rider. Making matters worse, Stoltenberg was ill and later diagnosed with

pneumonia. Despite this, the cadets finished in fifth place—about four minutes behind the winners from Yale University. Si

Falcons' track team finishes second in outdoor track championship n

May 19, Air Force track coach Ralph Lindeman

was

named Mountain West Conference Outdoor

Coach of the Year for the second season in a row after his men’s team finished second in the champi-

onships hosted by San Diego State. It was the second consecutive runner-up finish behind Brigham

Young, who won their fifth consecutive conference title. For the record, the Cougars scored 240 points to the Falcons’ 182—their most points ever in a championship. Colorado State finished third

with 171 points followed by New Mexico (91), Wyoming (90) and Utah (24). In the women’s competition, BYU won their 20th consecutive

title with 229.83 to runner-up Colorado State’s 164.33. The Falcon women finished

eighth with 16 points. The highlight of the finals

came in the men’s

triple jump with freshman Anthony Park winning

the competition—his second title of the meet—with a jump of 49-7. The two event victories earned him the MWC Freshman of the Year Award. “It was a clutch performance by ‘Ace’ because he came off of

fouls on his first two jumps in the competition,” said Lindeman. “He is a tough competitor who has a great future in this program.” Other Air Force highlights included a second place finish by junior Brian Carpenter in the

1,500-meters (3:45.80); sophomore Marc Fulson’s third place finish in the 110-meter hurdles

(14.65), sophomore Tom Clark’s third place finish in the 400-meter hurdles (52.60); senior Ben Gensic’s third place finish in the pole vault (16-5 V2 ); senior Shawn Johnson’s second place finish in the shot put (58-9 !4); and freshman Tim Hughes’ runner-up finish in the high jump. The Falcons also placed third in both the 4x100 meter and 4x400 meter relays with times of 41.80 and 3:12.90, respectively. On the women’s side, senior Jamie Flood placed sixth in the 5,000 meter, with a career best

time of 16:58.29. That time ranks her second in school history. Freshman Elissa Balias finished seventh in the 1,500 at 4:32.68 and Erica Lankford finished seventh in the triple jump at 38-1/4. “I thought both our men’s and women’s team competed with exceptional heart, coming off a difficult week of academic finals. I am

especially thrilled by our freshman and sophomores on

the men’s side who scored 90 of our 182 points,” said Lindeman. K

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SCORECARD SPORTS

joins Air Force volleyball team By Staff Sgt. James Garett 81st Training Wing Public Affairs

ummer

Koons, who recently graduated from the

basic communications officer course at Keesler

Air Force Base, Miss., is a seasoned veteran at 23 when it comes to volleyball. A native of Longview, Wash., Koons has been play-

ing volleyball competitively for more than 13 years. She was

recently selected for the Air Force volleyball team. This is an accomplishment she has long prepared for.

Growing up, Koons was active and full of energy. She played basketball, but wanted to keep in shape

during the fall. This, and a desire to be with her friends, got her involved in volleyball. She continued playing volleyball through high school. Her senior year, the tall blonde teenager decided she wanted to attend the Air Force Academy. Because she did not have an appointment, she entered the Academy’s prep school and spent the next five years striving for her commission while playing and coaching volleyball.

Military life is new to Koons. The communications and operations officer is the first person in her family to serve

in the military. She chose to attend the Air Force Academy and become an officer “because it was a

challenge.” During her free time at the Academy, Koons continued her commitment to the game. “We get three weeks off every summer at the Academy,” Koons said. “Every year, I requested the same three

weeks [so I could] work at volleyball camps.” She also played on the Academy’s team the four years she was there because it was important to her and good

experience. “But... it goes back to the fact that I want to know how to play so well that I can be a good coach,” she said.

“Coaching volleyball is the true love.” The 5-foot-9-inch Koons has several reasons she’s so involved in the sport, but said the most important is children. “I feel there are not a whole lot of good role models left in the world,” she said. “To make a difference in a kid’s

life is important to me. Give them a better outlook than drugs and alcohol. Give them something to do and

something they enjoy doing.” Koons believes on or off the court, she can make a difference.

“You can be a good role model on the court too,” she said. “You’re not necessarily one-on-one with the kids, but they still look up to you. They can see the way you act on the court. They see your attitude, your sportsman-

ship and how important that is. Also, the better player you are and the better you are at your sport, the more likely your kids will look up to you.” Koons competed in the Armed Forces championship and—with no break—training began again in

preparation for the U.S. national championships May 26 to 29 in Milwaukee. From there, Koons traveled to Malmstrom AFB, Mont., and went back to work at the 341st Space Wing. !&

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i j

BEHIND S: t

THE

SCENES "

; V

§ I

“Graduation is

only the beginning of a dream I have had since I was in the sixth grade."

s -

he Air Force’s officer ranks swelled by 847 2nd

lieutenants on May 30, when the Air Force Academy

graduated its Class of2001.

By John Van Winkle

Of the 1,118 cadets who entered with the Class of 2001, 559 are bound for

pilot training.

“Graduation is only the beginning of a dream I have had since I was in sixth grade. For over 10 years now, I have wanted to be an Air Force

hats today, I was finally on my way to achieving that goal.” The

>|:Vtv

pilot,” said C1C Derek Root. “When we tossed our

A- : 4

» * »

New Richmond, Ohio native is due at Vance AFB, Okla. on June

8 and begins undergraduate pilot training a week later. But it will be far from his first time flying. At the Academy, he was

involved in the soaring team, and was a soaring instructor

pilot with the 94th Flying Training Squadron. “Derek’s decision to seek an appointment to USAFAcame as

quite a surprise to his mother and me,” said Derek’s father. “In the sixth grade Derek came to us and said he needed to have a serious discussion about his future. He announced that he had decided he wanted to attend USAFA, become a fighter pilot, and make the Air Force a career.” From that day forward, Derek never wavered for one second.

“The good thing for us as parents was that this made our

Photographed by Mark Reis Colorado Springs Gazette

job incredibly easy,” said his father. “We never had to nag him about homework because he knew how demanding

at that moment you realize you've ended a page in

your life, and are starting a new one ..." USAFA’s academic requirements were. We never had to worry about his personal con-

duct straying down the wrong path because he knew that one blemish on his record would

disqualify him from USAFA.” That same dogged determination would drive Derek through the rigors of Academy life:

existence as a doolie; rigors of doolie life; Recognition; the three degree year when he had no

privileges, no car, and a full academic schedule on top of airmanship programs— free-

time was at an all-time low. “As much as we would like to take some credit for his accomplishments, Derek made

them happen, not us,” said his father.

“We were simply fortunate enough to have the

opportunity to stand by and watch events unfold. “With his graduation, we have the obvious strong pride that I am sure every parent of a

graduating cadet feels. However, we have the additional feelings of fulfillment and

thankfulness inherent in seeing your child realize, after many years of commitment and

hard work, the dream that he has pursued so doggedly. This was a dream that has been 10 years in the making, and he saw it through.”

Part of that dream came true, with his graduation and private commissioning ceremony.

Derek had his oath of office administered by a family friend, Navy Lt. j.g. Chad Welbom, and his father pinned on the new lieutenant bars. The person who administers the oath of office and pins on the cadet’s lieutenant bars

is always a private choice of the graduating cadet. For Derek, it’s his father and a family

friend, and for C1C Catherine Adams, her choice was not only close to home, but the start of a new family tradition.

Adams, of Cadet Squadron 26, is the latest Adams sibling to graduate from the Academy.

Her family has been represented at the Academy since 1991 when her brother A1

entered basic cadet training and graduated in 1995; her sister Liz graduated in 1999. Liz selected her older brother—now a KC-135 pilot and aircraft commander with the 99th Air Refueling Squadron at Robins, AFB, Ga.—to pin on her lieutenant bars after her

CHECKPOINTS, 78

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BEHIND

THE

SCENES

S Graduation cont.

graduation. Liz returned to the Academy to do the same

grader is an incredible competitor, he said. “I look forward to

for Catherine. “We’re sort of starting a tradition,” said

watching her compete in college and develop as a leader.”

Liz, now a contracting officer at the Ogden Air Logistics

“As the proportion of society with military experience decreases, I think attending military academies relative to civil-

Center at Hill AFB, Utah. “

When

ian universities is an increasingly difficult decision,” said Al.

she gets to throw that hat in the air, she’s going to realize

“A 10-year commitment following pilot training adds addi-

At that moment, you

tional significance. I respect my sisters and all members of

“I remember my graduation in ’99,” said Liz.

just how much it means to her.

realize you’ve ended a page in your life and are starting a new

the armed forces for choosing to serve their country.” 5

one,” said Liz. “She’s entering a whole new world

and... the Academy will prepare her for it.” Part of that preparation came with the soaring team.

Catherine jumped into that program. But it was a bittersweet

experience when Catherine learned that she

wouldn’t be qualified for undergraduate pilot training

because of her eyes. “I was kind of resigned to that fact and looking into

other AFSCs—other jobs,” Catherine said. “I learned all the stuff you needed to do for the soaring team, so I could learn to fly, teach other people to fly and get some sort of experience with flying so I could relate to pilots...

because we’ll all be working with pilots at one time or

□ AOG SPONSORS BED AND BREAKFAST FOR INCOMING BASICS.

another.” After coming back from summer break, her doctor

he Association of Graduates,

chance to fulfill her childhood dream of flying military

aircraft when she heads to Sheppard AFB, Texas for

Breakfast program for 2001.

told her that she might be able to get a waiver for her eyes, as they were just on the border of the cutoff point to be pilot-qualified. Thanks to that doctor, she’ll have a

undergraduate pilot training.

along with the Rampart Chapter,

organized the sixth Bed and In-processing

for the Class of 2005 was on June 28.

The Adams name will continue to be represented at the Academy, as Catherine’s younger brother Joe is part

Thanks to the Bed and Breakfast program,

of the Class of2005. He reported for basic cadet training on June 28. on

Joe is better informed than most candidates

the rigors, demands, and discipline expected of the

the basic cadets who arrived alone the day

before in-processing had a safe and free

incoming cadets from the experiences of his brother and two sisters who have graduated,” said Dale, the father.

And Joe is probably not the last of the 10 Adams’ brothers and sisters bound for the Academy, according to reports from the homefront.

ter, bought

“Ann, my youngest sis-

place to stay. There were a total of 188

hosts—mostly grads—who offered food and beds to the basic cadets.

About 380 cadets

cadet uniform with her own savings to

wear at home! She’s

already told Mom she will be going

to the Academy,” said

older brother, Al.

The eighth-

CHECKPOINTS,

took part in the program, compared to 360 in

2000.

SUMMER

2 0 0 1 79

The Mark

OF Gerhart Fellowship

Distinction ■

Chris Carden was named the 2001 Gen. John K. Gerhart Fellowship Award winner.

2nd Lt Chris Carden

he Gen. John K. Gerhart Fellowship is a two-year study program. All educational costs are paid from a trust fund established in the name of Gen. John K. Gerhart.

The AOG administers the trust fund.

Chris Carden will study at Middlebury College and a French university and will earn degree from both schools. When Chris is not studying, he will work with the Defense Attache Office of the American Embassy in Paris. Chris Carden’s GPA was 3.61 with a maj or in Military History and minor in French. At the Academy, he was a soaring IP, became interested in foreign languages, held many a

leadership positions, and participated in the French exchange.

He plans to go to pilot

training after completion of the Gerhart Scholarship.

Lequar Scholarship

■ James Christensen was named the 2001 John J. Lequar Award winner.

2nd Lt James Christensen

he Lequar award is presented every year by the AOG to the exchange cadet who

improved relations between France and the United States by making many friends, performing well on all military and academic tasks, and presenting a good image of

the United States and the United States Air Force. The award is named after a former

outstanding exchange participant, John Jay Lequar, who was killed in a plane accident. His family established this award in his memory. James attended BYU before coming to the Academy in June 1995. After resigning to two-year mission to Russia for the Church of Jesus Christ, he returned to the Academy where he majored in European Studies and minored in French. Besides French, serve a

James fluently speaks Spanish, Russian and German. James was selected by his fellow exchange classmates and instructors from both the

French and U.S. Air Force Academies.

Nutter Scholarship

■

Daimon Geopfert was named the 2001 Earle and Marion Nutter Scholarship Award winner.

2nd Lt Daimon Geopfert

he scholarship is awarded to a graduating cadet who entered the Academy after

serving a minimum of nine months active duty as an enlisted member. The field of study for the Nutter Scholarship is varied and the duration of study is 12 to 18 months. The winner is announced every spring and the approximate value of the scholarship is $5,000. Daimon attended the Air Force Academy Preparatory School, and then moved on to the Air Force Academy. He majored in Computer Science and minored in Japanese. He walked on to the intercollegiate rifle team his four-degree year, and has been a varsity letter winner every year. He was also a four time Academic All-American.

Through the Nutter Scholarship, he will attend the University of Michigan for 18 months to get his master’s degree in Computer Science. He then plans to go to pilot training at Euro Nato (ENJPT). 80

CHECKPOINTS,

SUMMER

2 0 0 1

V\ Distinction cont.

Wolfe Fellowship

■

Matthew Tuzel was named the 2001 Franklin C. Wolfe Fellowship Award winner.

2nd Lt Matthew Tuzel

he Franklin C. Wolfe Fellowship was established in 1966 to support a USAFA cadet in postgraduate education in the humanities field.

Interest derived

from $25,000 willed to USAFA by the late Col. Franklin C. Wolfe supports

this scholarship. The Wolfe fellowship sub-committee, composed of members of the Flumanities Division, handles the application and selection process, and the

Graduate Scholarship Committee approves the final selection. While a cadet, Matthew served as a Cadet Soaring Instructor Pilot, a member of the Service Academy Exchange Program to USMA, and as the commander of Eagle

Eight. Matt graduated from the Air Force Academy with a bachelor of science in history and a minor in Chinese. After graduation, Matt will study history at Kansas State University for 12 months. After completing his master’s program, Matt will report to Sheppard AFB for Euro-NATO Joint Jet Pilot Training.

1958 football team to be inducted into the Colorado Springs Hall of Fame he 1958 football team will be inducted into the Colo-

rado Springs Sports Hall of Fame on Nov. 9, 2001 in the Colorado Springs World Arena.

The team completed a remarkable 9-0-2 record with the school’s first graduating class.

The undefeated season is

still the only one in USAFA’s history.

The

squad beat

Stanford, Utah, Oklahoma State, Wyoming and Colorado enroute to a date with Texas Christian University in the 1959

Cotton Bowl. Brock Strom, one of the squad’s leaders, earned consensus All-America honors and Academic All-America honors.

Rich Mayo, an Academic All-America honoree and the team’s quarterback in 1958 said, “I think if college football is still being played 1,000 years from now, this story will not

l/.S. /f/R, For ce Jlc/tysMy 'Fmconj Cot?oh Go»/jl,2)ruas,?£x*>}

be repeated.” Strom and Mayo were later inducted into the GTE Academic All-America Hall of Fame. For more information or to make reservations for the 2001

Hall of Fame Banquet and Ceremony, contact the Colorado Springs Sports Corporation at 719/634-7333 ext. 1003.

CHECKPOINTS,

SUMMER

Little Guy

A baby falcon, or eyas, hatched at the U.S. Air Force Academy Mews on June

16.

JENNIFER.

BRUGMAN

he “Little Guy,” as the bird is affectionately called, is only the second Perregrine falcon ever

hatched here. “We’re elated,” said Maj. Tim Woodruff, falconer program director. “We’re extremely proud that our program has

produced two now.”

The bird’s sex cannot be determined at this time. The falconers will weigh it at a later date. Male

Perregrine falcons are smaller than female falcons however, males develop feathers faster. The odds are that Little Guy is actually female, according to Woodruff. “It’s going to be confused when it grows up,” he joked about the bird’s nickname. It will receive its official name when the cadet falconers return for classes. Little Guy’s birth was a triumph for the Falcon program. Last year, Havoc and Phoenix, Little Guy’s

parents, were paired for breeding. Phoenix laid a clutch of four eggs. Thirty-five days after the incubation of these eggs, it was discovered they were infertile. Two weeks later, the mother laid

another clutch, which also turned out to be infertile. The breeding pair was separated in January.

They were reunited in early April, and the first clutch laid proved infertile. Then Phoenix laid another clutch, and one of the eggs was fertile. “If this hadn’t been a success, we were going to have to break up the breeding pair,” Woodruff

said. The fertile egg proved to the falconers that the pair was capable of breeding. However, the falconers did not like the odds of only one of the four eggs in the clutch being fertile, so they took the eggs away from the pair to encourage Phoenix to lay four more eggs. On May 22, Phoenix laid another clutch. Three of the eggs turned out to be fertile. One of the eggs

began cracking, or piping, June 16; Little Guy announced he or she would be hatching in a few days. CHECKPOINTS, 82

SUMMER

2 0 0 1

St Baby Falcon cont.

his chances of surviving to adulthood are better than 90 percent.

“You could actually hear it,” Woodruff said.

Falcons in the wild have a survival rate ofonly 28 percent. Perregrine

At 1:37 p.m., Little Guy came out of the egg.

falcons were taken off the endangered species list in 1999; how-

“We anticipated the others would hatch,” Woodruff said. “Our

ever, the falcons’ numbers still are not prolific. Woodruff would

suspicion is that since they haven’t hatched, the young

like the falconry program to help change that.

weren’t able to break through the shell. When the first one

“We would like to be able to raise eyas falcons,” he said. The

hatched, we had to decide whether

falcons bred at the academy would be re-

to let them incubate with their par-

leased back into the wild to help increase

ents or to pull them and have them

the Peregrine falcon population.

incubate [artificially]. Either way

“We take extremely good care of our birds,”

wouldn’t have increased the like-

he said. “Our program is actually helping

lihood of their hatching. We didn’t

nature by turning birds back out into the

think the mother would damage or

wild where their numbers are lower.”

hurt the other eggs, so we left them

The next clutch from Havoc and Phoe-

there.”

nix will be taken away immediately and

Getting out of the shell is a compli-

incubated artificially to encourage the

pair to have more children. If the new

cated process, according to Woodrufif. The embryo has to develop correctly, and the shell has to

bird turns out to be male, it will join the falconry program and

be dry enough when the eyas is ready to hatch.

perform at academy football games. St

“You wouldn’t think it would be a problem here [drying out the

On July 12, Woodruffadded thefollowing: Eyas is the name

shell], but the dry climate of Colorado can actually hinder [the

for an immaturefalcon and is spelled eyas or eyess (eyas is

process],” Woodruff said.

preferred). The bird now weighs 24 ounces (at 24 days of

With Colorado’s dry climate, moisture inside the embryo seals

age), which leads us to believe it is a tiercel eyas (male baby

the shell from the inside, making it difficult for the eyas to hatch.

falcon).

“Having the one that we have

spurt and turn out to be 34 ounces. Size is the determining

—

we’re pretty content with

lam only 70percent sure; it could have a growth

that,” Woodruff said.

factor.

Now that Little Guy is more than 10 days old, Woodruff estimates

and males (tiercels) are around 23 to 26 ounces.

SABRE

NEW

Females falcons) are on average 35 to 38 ounces

SOCIETY

LIFE

GETS

MEMBER

ohn Martin (center) ’69 recently became a life

member of the Sabre Society with a $50,000 donation. The Superintendent, Lt. Gen.

Dallager ’69 and AOG President Jim Shaw ’67 thanked John for his support.

CHECKPOINTS,

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BEHIND

THE

SCENES

We Keep it as Real as

ready or not... by Supunnee Ulibarri

hree-degree cadets received a crash course in deployment readiness during Global Engagement held at Jack’s Valley this summer.

The program runs throughout the summer and is a graduation requirement. “The program teaches [ca-

dets] how to deploy into a contingency environment,” said Global Engagement Program Director TSgt. Rodney th

Timby of the 34 Training Squadron. More than 1300 cadets rotate through the summer program. Global

Engagement is held in 10-day rota-

tions, with an average of 225 cadets in each rotation. “This is a great program and the cadets get really pumped up for it. One of the things all the cadets love is the inter-

action with the operational Air Force people-the airmen and NCOs we bring in,” Timby said. More than 30 instructors were brought in from Nellis, Eglin, Hickam, and

Holloman Air Force Bases. The program begins with day zero, when cadets are briefed on

upcoming events. “We give them an idea

of what we expect and get them up to speed on the see-

nario,” Timby said. On days one, two, and three, cadets receive the classroom portion of the program. The 225 cadets are broken up into three squadrons and eventu-

ally receive instruction in three areas: services, civil engi-

neering and security forces. “In services, the cadets get trained on M2 bumers, tactical field exchange, lodging, mortuary affairs, ba-

sic food service and recreation,” he said. The civil engineer

portion mns cadets through the basics of latrines,

temper tents, shower/shave facilities, camouflage netting, corrals and environmental control units for the tents.

“During the security forces portion, cadets leam about patrolling, force protection, and entry control

5 Engagement cont.

points. Once they have all three portions, we take them out to Jacks Valley to actually practice what

they’ve learned,” Timby said. Timby and his staff attempt to keep the exercise as realistic as possible. On day four, cadets go

through a deployment line held at the base logistics building. In the “line,” cadets go through all the stations and procedures common with an actual de-

ployment: deployment eligibility, identification cards, emergency data update, family support assistance,

finance, medical/immunizations, legal, and chaplains’ assistance. “When they come out of the line, they head out to Jacks Valley and build their bed down area;

that pretty much takes up the rest of day four,” Timby said. Cadets spend a total of five days in a field environment where they practice what they were taught

earlier in the classroom. “At Jacks Valley they go

through the same rotations they went through in the classroom portions; services, security forces and civil engineering. They learn more about each area and have to actually do what they were taught,”

Timby said. “The cadets in services have to cook for

their people, run the tactical exchange, learn handson

mortuary affairs and plan recreational events.

While in the civil engineer portion, cadets must go

though the gas chamber and get their water through

sors were

waiting to give them an additional challenge.

osmosis. The security forces group prac-

Ultimately, the cadets had to rescue the downed pilot

tices defending, patrolling, constructing fighting po-

and bring him back to the base. “They also do base

sitions and guarding entry control points,” he said.

defense, fire rescue, nuclear, biological and chemical

On day eight, cadets use all they have

training, recon, and mortuary practice during the final

learned and practiced in an all-day exercise, testing

exercise. At the end, we evaluate them and give them

their newly acquired skills. “We start them out early

feedback on how they did,” he said.

reverse

and work them all day. We set up a mock scenario for

“The cadets are excited about coming out here.

the exercise. For this group, we notified them [at]

We try to keep it as real as possible. Without their expe-

0330 that an aircraft went down some three-quarters

riences from Global Engagement, they wouldn’t know

of a mile northeast of the airfield here. The cadets had

what it takes to get a base up and running. They get to

to gather up their security forces team and do search

learn and experience everything that goes on in build-

and recovery. They also had to set up a mock airfield

ing an airbase; it gives them a sense of appreciation,

marking system and arresting system,” he said.

Timby said. 5

Once the cadet located the downed aircraft and sent out a patrol to secure the aircraft, aggres

CHECKPOINTS,

”

visit us on the web at

www.aog-usafa.org SUMMER

200 1 85

BEHIND

THE

SCENES

One

YEAR Later Gen. Lorenz wanted

MOVES AHEAD

The

BY CHARLIE DYE Chief, Program Management Flight

M-14

authentic

weapon that would better reflect a war-

rior

mentality.

He wanted a weapon

that would prepare cadets for real-world

deployments and one they would respect as a real firearm. He wanted a weapon that cadets would be required to maintain in order to provide them a

A year has passed t:

since USAFA re

ceived the M-14s;

the classes of 2002,

2003, and 2004 have

include parades and

be used for all ceremonies and would instill pride not only in the cadet wing,

tbber M-16 replicas used by the Ca-

but also in the people observing these

det Wing since 1992. His direction to

ceremonies by demonstrating military

his staff was simple: explore the feasi-

tradition and cadet professionalism.

bility of every cadet being issued and

After extensively researching different

responsible for a real, life-like weapon.

options, to include real M-l6s, the M-

The History: In 1992, the Cadet Wing

14, and bringing back the M-l, the de-

finished switching from the M-l car-

cision was made to acquire the M-14.

bine to the rubber M-16 replica due to

The Process: With the approval given,

;, and expense, of M-l

plan to make it happen needed

to be developed. Brig. Gen. Mark Welsh

landant, Brig. Gen. Richard C.

replaced Lorenz in June 1999 and over-

trem,

consequently made the

saw

the acquisition.

There were nu-

decision to switch to the rubber M-16

merous details to be

based on its low cost ($47.10), zero

multiple agencies—both on and off the

and lack of concern

Academy—before M-l4s could be-

about safety due to their non-firing This was a great idea at

the time. The Rationale:

CHECKPOINTS, 86

an action

ts throughout the DoD. Then

capability.

Inauguration.

of realism. This weapon would

idets, Brig. Gen. Stephen Lorenz,

maintenance, the Presidential

sense

irted the process of replacing the

used their weapons in

many ceremonies, to

In 1997 the Commandant

come a

worked, involving

reality for USAFA. Money, usu-

ally the proverbial “long-pole” in any acquisition effort, had to be sourced; a

Times changed and

SUMMER

2 0 0 1

quantity of approximately 3500 “excess”

BEHIND

THE

SCENES

M-14s had to be found; an armory to house the weapons had to be built; a security waiver to store the weapons in the armory and cadet rooms needed to be obtained; rifle racks in each cadet bedroom had to

be modified or built; a software program to scan each weapon for accountability had to be developed; and the weapons had to be made inert before delivery (this was most

critical, since we obviously needed to have an inert

M-14 beyond a shadow of a doubt, but at the same time retain

all moving parts).

The process of ensuring all pieces of the

puzzle fit together at just the right time was one of the greatest teamwork efforts ever for an Academy acquisition.

Academy

personnel from the 10 ABW/LG, Security Forces, 34th Training Wing, Base Civil Engineering, and the Safety Office, as well as personnel from Warner Robins Air Logistics Center, Georgia, and the Navy all worked together to make this happen in a

short period of time. Yes, the Navy had a major role in fielding the weapons; an organization at the Naval Surface Warfare

Center, Crane Division, Crane, Indiana, was used to source the weapons, and then render them inert.

The Success: Air Staff approved the project and we received the money in time to begin acquisition with a target date of summer, 2000.

Warner Robins Air Logistics Center found a

large inventory of M- 14s and the acquisition began. Security Forces worked the waivers and gave advice on resource pro-

tection. Systems Design Group,

a contractor

working with 34 SPTG/AIT, developed a software program

that used bar-code technology for weapon accountability using the social security number of the cadet

along with the serial number of the weapon.

34 TRW designed an armory and civil engineers built it in

record time, meeting all criteria for inert weapon resource protection. The Naval Surface Warfare Center and Warner Robins Air Logistics Center came up with an approved way to make the M-14s inert, but still allow the weapon to be functional without the capability to fire. The 34th Training Squadron trained the

wing’s Air Officer Commanders, Military Training Leaders, and some cadre on the manual of arms, then developed a program to teach the cadets competency in weapons handling, as well as accountability and tradition. In less than a year, weapons began to arrive on the Academy. By the time the class of2004 was to

arrive, all weapons were on the Academy, bar-coded, accounted for, stored in the new armory, and

ready for issue. One Year Later: A year has passed since USAFA received the M-14s; the classes of 2002, 2003, and 2004 have used their weapons in many ceremonies, to include parades and the presidential inauguration. The Class of 2004 used them during Basic Cadet Training, but not when they ran the various training courses, as we want to minimize damage to the weapons. When cadets turned in their weapons prior to

Christmas break, 100 percent were accounted for and damage was minimal—a real indication of the pride taken in the M-14s. The look and feel of the M-14s cast the Academy in a most professional light and their authenticity goes a long way to instilling a sense of realism to those who carry it. 5

CHECKPOINTS,

SUMMER

200 1 87

CLASS NEWS Pete Todd 1250 Big Valley Drive

Colorado Springs, CO 80919-1015 Home: (719) 531-5874 FAX: (719) 531-6697

E-mail: petetodd@aol.com Percent members: 84

I was all set to loaf through this quarter’s column by publishing HT

JOHNSON’S excellent report of the trip he led to Vietnam last summer. However be still, my heart! several of you sent me actual news for the class! So, you’ll have to wait until Christmas for HT’s travelogue —

—

and bear a few from your classmates. The first offering features Flak and MJ WILLIAMS spending two weeks in Egypt visiting friends who lived there. They did the Nile River cruise and saw all the temples, tombs and pyramids that their legs could stand. Among their travels, they visited the Sinai Peninsula and took a “stroll” up Mt. Sinai. Flak says, “Well, not quite a stroll. We wanted to see the sunrise and so got up at 0230 to go to St. Catharine’s Monastery, where we met up with

the camel drivers and their pets. We rode the camels

up the mountain for an hour or so and then came to a rest stop (very loose description) where we disembarked and then started the final assault. They say there are steps from the rest stop to the top, but again, this is a very loose description.” Both MJ and Flak made it to the top and have pictures to prove it. He thinks the trek to the top took an hour, but felt like six. He continues, “The sun did come up and then it was time to start down. This

should be easier, right? WRONG!! It is then that you wonder why you came up in the first place as you can now see just how bad those “stairs” are. We made it back to the rest area and then had a decision to make: walk the rest of the way or ride the camel back down. I opted for the latter. The picture shows me about to depart and the driver making sure all is secure. The grimace on my face is not from fear, but rather because, although I may be “tall in the saddle,” it is also a very tight fit and I am wishing they would provide protective cups a la a baseball catcher!”

‘Tall

—

and tight

—

in the saddle.

”

Flak closes with a fashion note regarding his headgear. “The pith helmet is one I bought at the BX a few years ago when they were on sale

(not sure why). MJ wouldn’t let me wear it around home (again, not why), but I figured it would blend in in Egypt. Never saw another

sure

one! Too bad I didn’t have the blue bunny suit; I’d really have fit in.”

The Windjammer Cruise. Unlike many class activities, this mini-reunion produced great quantities of print and photographic records. The fact that so many of the reported facts and incidents conflicted with one another serves as ample testimony to the level of sobriety on

the cruise. For example, depending on which account you believe, their cruise ship Flying Cloud was (a) a 208-foot-long sailing vessel with three masts, (b) a 140-foot, 1930s-vintage French navy training ship, or (c) the refitted hull of the Graf Spee. That’s OK, though. The one thing all versions agreed on was that everyone had a great time. 88

Merry band of‘59er Cruisers. Back row, from left, CraigSchaum, Leigh Hunt, JoAnn Schaum, Garrie Rhodes, and Jim Rhodes. Middle row: Joe Desantis, Jo DeSantis, Cealie Hunt, Max Miller, and Trix Van Zwieten. Front row: Jon Gallo, Jacquie Gallo, Lucia Montgomery, Ed Montgomery, and Mel Pollard. In the foreground is Louise Pollard. There were only 48 pax on the ship the first week 27 of them from the Academy group that included family and friends. The first-week sailors were the Schaums, Hunts and son Jim, Pollards, DeSantises, Rhodeses, Montgomerys, Max Miller and Trix, and Gallos. Also aboard to provide a modicum of adult supervision and to uphold the honor of the ATOs was Herm Gilster and wife, Helen. The second week there were 18 holdovers from the Academy group aboard, including, the Pollards, Hunts, Desantises, Rhodeses, Montgomerys, Max Miller and Trix, and Gallos. The uniform of the day was shorts or bathing suit and T-shirt—no shoes unless going ashore. The ship’s officers sometimes wore uniforms, but as often as not, they looked every bit the part of Caribbean Sea bums. The ‘59er crowd all tried to look like they'd been in the Caribees a long time, too, but gomers are gomers (reference above picture). Everyone spent the week snorkeling, diving, on the beach, eating (the food was, as one might expect, gourmet quality on board, and better at the various legendary beach bars they visited), sleeping on deck, and standing around the bar. The second week: (yawn!) more gourmet food, rum, beach bars, snorkeling, diving, shopping, lying about the boat (all were especially proficient at that), and other power recreation activities. The third week: the Gallos and another Air Force couple transferred to Windjammer’s Legacy, a 294-foot four-master, sailing out of St. Thomas. In comparison to the Flying Cloud, the Legacy is sheer luxury. It carries 122 pax and would make a great ship for another, more luxurious, sailing mini-reunion in the future. It sails three different itineraries in the central, eastern and southern Caribbean. Conspicuously absent from the ship’s complement were the TODDs, who were off on a week-long cruise of our own, crewing a four-person houseboat with friends from Germany along the Canal du Midi in the south of France. We had a great time cruising, sightseeing, exploring the battlements of Carcasonne, and sampling the local cuisine. We traversed 22 locks going and coming without injury or actionable damage. To round out this chemo R&R for Wendy, we went on to England, freeloading on her family and friends for a couple of weeks. By the time this column appears in Checkpoints, she should be finished with chemo and radiation and be well on her way to kicking some serious cancer butt! Ed LANKENAU sent along the accompanying photo of his encounter with one of our aviation heroes, Bob Hoover, at a recent exhibit. Who —

—

JOIN THE SABRE SOCIETY! YOUR MONEY HELPS FUND

CADET WING PROGRAMS THAT WOULD OTHERWISE GO UNFUNDED. CALL THE AOG FOR INFO.

can

forget his jaw-dropping demonstration of flying skill when we were

cadets?

Ed and Bob Hoover discussing the climb characteristics of the F-86.

Finally, courtesy of HT JOHNSON, here are a few snippets from the ‘Atlantic Coast Conference” of the Class of ‘59: Jimmie JAY is reported as positively svelte and feeling great after losing 30 pounds and getting his heart repaired. Ron LANMAN, now a licensed minister, is about to become a Methodist “circuit rider” preacher in southern Virginia. Judy is hoping she won’t be required to take on preacher’s wife duties, such as leading the choir. Wayne and Bonnie JEFFERSON moved to Wintergreen, VA (near Charlottesville) in June. Jerry ELSBERND took a bus tour of the southeast in the spring. HT says he's doing extremely well, although still missing his beloved Joanne terribly. Steve HAMER is still flying for Dornier, delivering aircraft from Germany to the U.S. and other countries. He takes about one trip a month and loves it. The entire class sends our deepest condolences and best wishes to Walter and Fani SCHMIDT and their family over the unfathomably tragic loss of their son, Walter, Jr. We hope their injuries to body and spirit will heal with time and mutual support. Thought for the quarter: The difference between ordinary and extraordinary is just a little extra. A.J. (Rosie) Cler, Jr. 11181 West 17th Ave. (208)

Lakewood, CO 80215-2759 (303) 238-4973, FAX: 237-7625 e-Fax: (509) 463-4700

E-mail: RCtherose@aol.com Percent members: 84

all the way from Idaho, where his nom de guerre is “The Babe Ruth of the Auto Parts Biz in Boise.” D.K. spoke semi-eloquently and much too long about the raptures of becoming a VFW member, while the aggregation listened with bated breath. Then Mike (Roach) LOH provided an explanation of why the AF Chief had asked Mike CARNS (‘59) to head a group to look at the Academy Honor Code; our own Mike is part of another group which came up with additional recommendations. (See photo of those attending.) Ralph and Darlene LALIME spent three weeks in Hawaii with son Chris (up from Australia), and son Jay and his bride, Aimee (over from Virginia Tech). They stayed at the following: Marine Base Kaneohe, the Hale Koa, AFS Bellows cottages on Oahu, a time-share near Kona, Kilueha Military was in town,

Camp, Barking Sands on Kuai, and Waikiki. Their 25-year-old son Jay had his colon removed in January, which put a damper on some other vacation plans. And Ralph’s nearby D.C. neighbor, Bill HODSON, celebrated his retirement from teaching at the National Defense University with a th party on the 10 of March. Along with wife, Fran, were many, including Tony BURSHNICK, Ralph, Bill and Linda GOODYEAR, Jerry and Betty DE LA CRUZ, John and Lorna MACARTNEY. Bill plans to continue teaching math at Marymount College. This update from Dave LUCE (Radio Club 1): “I’m working as corporate medical director for WPS, which is an insurance company here in

Madison, WI. After the AF, I went to medical school at UCLA, practiced in Oregon for 13 years and southern California for 15 years. My wife, Marilyn, and I more or less raised four kids; the oldest is in medical school at Creighton, and plans to go into the AF; the youngest is at Cal State, and plans on racing cars if someone else pays for it. I was unable to go to the last reunion due to illness in the family, but we are looking

forward to the 45 th I still fly light planes as an alternative to long drives.” Bob and Jane ODENWELLER visited Dave (MD, JD) and Pat REED in New Zealand in April while on a 28-day trip from southernmost South Island to within 100 miles of northernmost North Island (with camera buff ODENWELLER lugging four cameras, and making periodic stops to buy more stamps for his already burgeoning New Zealand philatelic collection). Dave goes “down under” every January, and spent this year until 6 July in his sailing yacht “Curiosity,” stating that his craft is “oak-bottomed, copper-sheathed, and utterly seaworthy.” Bad weather kept them in port in Whangarei on North Island during the visit. Dave wrote: “Pat and I bought a house here. Couldn’t resist, with the strength of the U.S.$ —we got a lovely place for about a fourth of what it would cost in the States. We’re now applying for Residency Status, which means we’d live here eight months a year. I passed my Commercial Glider Pilot license in Boulder, and now soar over the Rockies. I got reciprocity for my USA powered license, and have been flying Archers and 172s.”(R: Talk about double Paradises! Summers and Falls on a verdant isle, sailing his yacht, living in a waterfront home with swimming pool and overlooking Bream Bay. Followed by Summers and Falls in beautiful Boulder, soaring thermals at 24K, and Academy football games. NO winters!). .

Vic YOAKUM’s wife, Patti, died 13 March 2001 of a heart attack. Born 20 November 1936 in Pasadena, CA., Patti Krebs grew up in Palo Alto

and graduated from Colorado Women’s College in 1958. Services were at St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church in Redondo Beach, CA. At the funeral were Greg BOYINGTON and June Colgan, Bill ZERSEN, Tony LONG, Earl and Pat VAN INWEGEN, Charlie and Mercedes THOMPSON, Charlie ZALESKI (‘59), and members of the family. The Beltway Boys celebrated Founders’ Day April 6th at the San Antonio Restaurant in Rosslyn, VA. (They used to hold luncheons at Gampy’s, but they lost their license after Tony BURSHNICK held last December’s meeting there.) Surprise: Mexican food! Deke JOHNSON

Top photo—The Old “Curiosity” Ship. Bottom photo— Bob and Dave well anchored. Dean Franklin VIKAN (Archery Club 2,1) couldn’t make it to our 40

reunion because of his wife Phyllis’ bad leg. She’d dislocated her shoul-

der in a fall after suffering a minor stroke in 1998, then had surgery which resulted in a “Bum Leg” that’s a medical condition meaning she had no control over her leg (she’s now holding steady, and uses a walker in strange places). In an earlier life, Dean spent 25 years in the —

as a Bird Colonel, and wrote: “I retired from Lockheed-Martin in Georgia in 1997 after 12 years working on the F-22 project. Came back to my hometown of Fosston, MN, and built a house across from the farm where Phyllis grew up. We have two children, both

AF and retired in ‘85

Hodson, Weinaug, MacArtney, Fischer, Burke, Alnwick, Lalime, Loh, DK Johnson, Burshnick, Al Johnson, Les Querry, and De La Cruz (kneeling).

of whom spent time in the AF. Todd’s a project manager with KPMG in Fairborn, OH; he and wife Shelby have two sons. Wende married Jeff

and he and wife, Sylvia, of classmate Gary SHEETS live in Franklin, TN with their five children. After coming back to Fosston in ’97, I bought The Thirteen Towns newspaper, which my father edited and published from 1937 to 1987. At the same time, I was director of Economic Development for Fosston’s Development Authority through the end of 2000. Phyllis and I graduated from high school here, so I’ve essentially ‘closed the loop’ on moving around the world.”(R: Dean sent me copies of his paper. He’s got a neat life perhaps, a “retro existence” living in his hometown with his childhood sweetheart, operating a great newspaper, and pillar of the community. (R: Can I have a job as a reporter, Dean?Wait a minute. Don’t you get snow? Lots? Sheets

—

son

—

Frigid winters? Never mind).

I know, we have no other class get-togethers planned before the end of

this year since Jimmy POOLE’s next Redneck Riviera event occurs in 2002. Stay tuned for skiing in February. Hector provided the following to capture the happenings of Brice’s annual event: Once again, friends, classmates, and spouses were treated to the World Croquet Championship (this being the 16 th annual) sponsored by Brice JONES and his Sonoma-Cutrer Vineyards. Classmates attending included Mark and Ginger ANDERSON, John and Lydia BOESCH, Bob and Jan BRICKEY, Gene and Judy DAVIS, Sam and Vivian HARDAGE, Joe HENDRICKS, Jim and Peggy HINKLE (and daughter Christina), Dean and Jo JONES, Frank and Patsy KISZLEY, Peter and Patty LANE, Judy MOORBERG and son Mark, Charlie and Lynda NEEL, Hector and Joan NEGRONI (and son Hector Emilio, with his fiancee Kimberly, as well as his cousin Andrea Lee Negroni), Jim and Linda ROGERS, Charlie and Sarah STEBBINS (and son Charlie Brown with wife, Michelle), Charlie and Gina THOMAS, and Mike and Susan QUINLAN. Others attending included the Koskos, the Lancasters, the Stringers and the Boyingtons.

Friday’s (18 May) activities included touring the winery, lunching with the players, watching the Pro-Am tournament, joining a select group

Fosston’s Very Own Horace Greeley. Mr. Answer Guy. You remember him answer your

—

I hired him (or is it her?) to

questions. In the last issue (Spring, 2001), the childhood

photo is not a classmate! Repeat: It is NOOO-body! And in the Trivia-‘60 question—Who was our first classmate to fly a mission in the Vietnam War? Mr. Answer Guy said it was Andi BLANCUR. Turns out that Dave SWEIGART (Bowling Club 2, 1) was first (if you count TDYs). Dave was in Danang in Feb ‘62 for 30 days and in Saigon for 179 days beginning in Sep ‘62, flying combat support missions in C-123Bs with TDY rotation out of Pope AFB called Muletrain and Sawbuck Two (Dave added

that ‘59er Eddie ROSANE was in the original Muletrain deployment, and may be the first grad to set foot in Vietnam).

By the time you’re reading this, we’ll have trounced National ChampiDay. Natch! For more winners, take out a few number two or three pencils and mark these dates on somebody’s calendar: September 29—AFA @ San Diego State; October 6—AFA @ Navy; November 3—Army @ AFA; November 24 AFA @ Hawaii. The day before beating San Diego State Sept 28th, Earl and Pat VANINWEGEN invite you to Friday night dinner at their home in La Jolla, ons Oklahoma in this season’s football opener on Labor

—

CA—callVan @ (858) 729-0123, or co-hosts Phil and Grace MEINHARDT @ (858) 792-3752. Tailgate before the game is hosted by Mike QUINTON (’62) quinton@quintonpetix.com. Then the Beltway Boys have their th tailgate before and after the AFA-Navy game Oct 6 around Ralph and Darlene LALIME’s Tioga minihome give Ralph a call at (703) 569-7187. When Army comes to the Academy Nov 3 rd we’ve arranged a Mini-Reunion, with a $72/night rate at the Radisson Inn Thursday thru Sunday (call Scott Hoover at 719-598-5770 and tell him you’re in the “‘60 Party”). The agenda includes a Friday night party at the hotel, GLAZA’s tailgate —

—

Saturday at 9a.m. (featuringTerre-haute cuisine, and booze), routofArmy, dinner at the Radisson Saturday eve for classmates and families, Sunday brunch, and an afternoon social. Call GLAZA at 1-800-670-8745 for tickets, and Rosie to sign up for the weekend. Then there’s the game in Honolulu Thanksgiving Saturday, a vacation and football the same trip.

Remembrance of Things Past. Ran across this note from the Dodo of 1960 Class Pin w/Sapphire Guard. Need $ for early 1960: “For Sale th Roaring ‘20s Blast. See FRIES— 12 Squadron.” So much for sentiment. —

‘

Bye from the Rose. Earl N. “Nelson” O’Rear 50582 Stonington Drive

Granger, IN 46530-8243 Home: (219) 273-2597

E-mail: ENOandTJO@worldnet.att.net Class Web Site: http://www.usafa61.org/ Percent members: 87

for the Sponsors and Players Dinner (six courses accompanied by four different wines) held under the stars at the Grand Terrace of the SonomaCutrer Vineyards, and then dancing the night away. Saturday included a world-class luncheon, a very interesting world championship final match, and a frenzied charity auction, in which the 1,100 attendees donated more than $1,051,000 to Magic Moments, Make a Wish Foundation, and the Polly Klaas Foundation; charities that support children with life threatening illnesses. That evening we partied until way past midnight. Sunday included Brice’s annual boat tour of the San Francisco Bay and a grilled sea bass luncheon at Angel Island (with postluncheon officer fitness activities), as well as more dining and drinking that evening for several hardcore cases. The 17 th Annual World Croquet Championship is to be held at the Sonoma-Cutrer Vineyards 1719 May 2002 (the dates may change). If interested, call Donna Bernheim at 707-528-1181 (ext. 226), ask her to put you on the list, and mark your calendar. If you have never attended, call one of us for details. Once you attend, you will kick yourself for having missed them all these years. The party-going Gray Tags from the D.C. area welcomed spring with a fling at Bill and Theda FOSTER’S and, shortly thereafter, welcomed summer at Chuck DIXON’s. For the spring fling, Vic BOUQUET with wife, Diane (from California), and Nelson O’REAR with wife, Teri (from Indiana), joined the Washington group. The crowd topped off the meal with Theda’s sinful Death by Chocolate dessert. Other revelers included Chuck DIXON and Dottie, Steve HO and Lynn, Lowell and Sandy JONES, Darrell KOERNER, John and Joan KOHOUT, Ron and Cathy MULLER, Jim and Linda ROGERS, Bill and Rhoda STACKHOUSE, Charlie and Sarah STEBBINS, John and Ellen SULLIVAN, Karl WHITAKER, Mev BUCICLEY (Pat was in England we don’t know which), and Barbara working, skiing, or snorkeling CAMPBELL. Darrell did not recognize his Air Force graduation hat that is on display at the Foster’s. Bill’s aunt and uncle had saved it from graduation and had recently passed it on to Bill, who displays it with one from his son’s ‘89 graduation. No, Darrell, you can’t have it back. —

Chuck DIXON invited everyone to his home in Fairfax Station, VA, to celebrate our 40th anniversary on the exact day. All recalled stories of that “good day” that they so fondly remember today. Sarah STEBBINS wore Charlie’s Graytag bathrobe, but they had to treat it gentiy as it is starting to show its age. Despite the warm weather, Charlie wore his “picnic” uniform—gray trousers and white shirt. (Does anyone besides Charlie remember the picnic uniforms?) Charlie also wore his squadron jacket and cap. No one collected on Chuck Dixon’s offer of reduced fare to the reunion if he can fit into his graduation uniform. (Could be that no one even had one to try on for size. Good excuse.) To conclude the evening, they reread the base newspaper accounts of our graduation events and watched 8mm-converted-to-VCR movies taken by Charlie Stebbins’ parents from Academy years. Somehow, the academic buildings at Lowry were smaller than remembered, as were the dirt roads leading to the new Air Force Academy. Some things do change, even if we do not. Art KERR reports that in observance of Earl and Lillie SAUNDERS’ first-ever visit to the Pacific Northwest, the Puget Sound Gray Tags assembled for food, drink, and a premier showing of “Twelve O’clock High,” starring Major Stovall, General Savage, et al. Nobody showed up at first call; at the call for reports, only HINTON, PD; HOPP, EG and TAYLOR, JC were reported absent. TAYLOR and HOPP had puny ex—

Class of 1961

40th Reunion

USAFA vs. Utah

Hopefully, you have all made arrangements to attend our 40 If not, make sure you get to it soon. (If this gets published after our Septemher reunion, I hope that you all made it and had a great time.) As far as .

12-16 September 2001

cuses so

10.

they were off the hook, but HINTON was written up on a Form

In formation were COCHRANE, CJ and Pat; KERR, AD and Holly;

KOMARNITSKY, OR and Betsy; McMONIGAL, RC; and SAUNDERS, EF and Lillie. COCHRANE, CJ impressed all in attendance by reciting verbatim every key line of dialogue in the movie just before it was uttered onscreen! He must have seen the flick before; I don’t know. He was

ing. Clear your calendar for Oct 9-13, 2002. We have reserved the Wyndham Resorts Hotel (formerly Marriott) for the festivities, lies, and doughnuts. Our Falcons will battle Navy that weekend, always a good game! Mailings for the reunion will start early in 2002. If you have any questions in the meantime, give me a call @ (719) 488-9522 or Blue4mack@msn.com. Be there. Aloha!” Thanks for the reunion news, th

also actually wearing this vaguely familiar-looking gray nametag. Erik (formerly known to many of us as Cedric) BECKJORD said that

Jim. I’m really looking forward to the 40 While our topic is reunions, I want to plant a seed for discussion. I think

he recently worked as a boom-lift operator on a motion picture film set as part of the crew. He spent three nights, 7 to 7, on a 120-feet-high better you than I, Erik boom-lift in the basket lighting up some

should have reunions more frequently. Our numbers will be dwindling more rapidly and waiting five years to visit with each other will be too long a period. During the off years between reunions at USAFA, we could meet in other parts of the country to give members who can’t make reunions because of distance a better opportunity. Also, we can plan reunions at good vacation cities so that those who want to can stay around a few days for a vacation. Think about it. Let me know what you think. Got this interesting email from Otis DINNING. “We went Space-A from Norfolk NAS to Bahrain and commercial from Bahrain to Kuwait City. A long trip, but the price is right and it was definitely worth it to get to spend two weeks with Deanna my daughter, her husband, and our three grandkids. This was our first time in the Middle East and we had a great time seeing the sights in Kuwait City with our family. Deanna is a physician’s assistant and works part time at Camp Doha, an Army Base donated to us by the Kuwaitis after the Gulf War. Kuwait City and

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streets in North Beach, San Francisco so the production (Sony Pictures)

could film scenes with Christina Applegate and Cameron Diaz in the film “Sweet Thing”. Bill and Linda GRIFFIS have completed their move (all of two miles) from Palm Beach Gardens to North Palm Beach in Florida. After 30 years of two-story homes, they finally made the switch to a one-story, near the Intercoastal Waterway. Bill insists that their move had noth-

ing to do with Florida’s infamous “butterfly ballot” which encouraged multiple candidate voting in the recent Presidential election. Bill is a senior vice president with Aspen Capital Group, and Linda is marketing program manager with a financial planning firm. Wayne and Mary JONES just moved into their new home in Ramona, CA, about 30 miles northeast of San Diego. After spending about 10 months building this retirement home, they occupied it in June. Since Wayne is now fully retired, he spent most of the past year planning, organizing, supervising, and performing the unskilled grunt labor on the project. (Maybe you can rent yourself out to Bill STACKHOUSE since he’s going through the same things now, Wayne.) Wayne reports that it came in way behind schedule and over budget, but he says the workmanship is pretty good, particularly considering that the building site is high on a ridge with lots of big rocks. The 200-degree view of the mountains and golf course should make it worthwhile. They said that they have plenty of room for visitors, so they hope classmates will stop by when they’re out that way. Bob KELLOCK reports that the X-40A successfully completed its flight test program on 19 May. Aviation Week and Space Technology’s June 11 th issue depicted the final flight (right after release from the helicopter) on its cover. The unmanned glider hurled itself at the ground in a dive as steep as 60 degrees, tracked a glide slope of minus 27 degrees,

Manama, Bahrain, are very modern cities with great restaurants and

large malls. Things are more expensive there. If you’re looking for gold, Kuwait City has it. Take Care. Otis Dinning (a.k.a Buckshot & Double O).” Thanks, Otis. Enjoyed the info about Kuwait. Keep in touch. If you have some photos, please send me one for the column. Got a letter from Logan BABIN with a picture. His letter said: “Last year Anne and I took our daughter Kara, her new husband Hunter, our son Logan III (Hank), and his wife, Carrie, to Lanai, Hawaii, for the Jan 1, 2000 celebration. Nine months later Carrie presented us with our first grandchild, Logan Elisabeth Babin. See accompanying picture. Logan Elisabeth is already a Mardi Gras lady, enjoying the parades and catching beads and stuffed animals from her father and papa. She should be Queen of Houma’s (Mardi Gras parade) in another 19 to 20 years. Boy, will I be old then although I still intend to be riding a float th class reunion next on Mardi Gras Day. Hope to see everyone at the 40 it will cost him a trip to knows that It looks like Logan year. Logan.” Hawaii for every grandchild. Ha. -

flared to touch down at 165 knots, and braked to a stop on centerline all by itself. Bob said that the nose camera video confirmed that it would have been quite a wild ride! John PAYNE said that he, Jimmy POOLE, and Neal WESTBROOK had a

brief, enjoyable visit in Montgomery, AL on June 1st. John was in town

for his nephew’s wedding. Doug CAIRNS couldn’t attend their Friday morning brunch since he was out of town with Dee attending her 40th college reunion. John Payne, Jr. (Capt, USMC) was in town for the same wedding and was their guest. They were not able to catch up on all the news in one morning, but they still had a great visit. As a side note, Neal and Gwen were scheduled to leave the next morning for France on a Methodist missionary trip. John said that he hopes to report many more visits with

the Montgomery settlers.

Ed ZOMPA reports that the high school (Bob Jones High School named for a congressman of great stature) in the school system on whose board Ed serves currently has four graduates at USAFA, and —

—

One of them is just completing her third-class year and has been named to Cadet Wing Staff as a second classman. Ed is already working on having lunch with all six of those th graduates during our 40 reunion. His local board of education must like Ed’s work since they unanimously elected him vice president in two more will enter this month.

Congratulations, Ed! That’s it for another quarter. Thanks to all who contributed. If you haven’t contributed lately, please prepare something in September particularly if you will not be attending our reunion. We are all inter-

June.

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Now this from Don and Joan HUTCHINSON: “My uncle, my son, and I took that B-17 ride and it was great. Got to sit in the bombardier’s

position in the nose and play with the Norden Bombsight. They have really restored it as closely as possible to its 1945 condition. You get a lot more respect for the 10 guys that had to go into combat in it. It’s noisy and loud with windows wide open, and not a hell of a lot of room to move around. I highly recommend it if you ever get a chance. Just wanted to give you the update I promised and let you know that Joan (my wife of 35 years as of yesterday) and I will be going to England for two weeks in September and visiting some old English friends at RAF

Lakenheath. It was our first assignment after Luke and F-100 school. We are really looking forward to it. Hope all is well with you and that you have plenty of news for this issue of Checkpoints. Don.” Thanks

ested in you and what you are doing.

John W. “Jack” Jamba 4 Judy Court

for your help with the news, Don. Now an email from Bill HAUGEN: “Hope all is well with you. Sue and I finally got to Italy a couple of years ago Rome, all over Tuscany, Florence and Venice absolutely wonderful! It brought back memories of our cadet ramble from Rome back to Rhine-Mein, on leave after the Northern European field trip John CARROLL, Pete Flynn, you and I. John’s cheeks turning red every night after one glass of wine; three out of four of us had motor scooter accidents on the Riviera; the very young Italian waitress in Florence that we sent post cards to for years afterward; eating day-old items from a bakery to cut costs; a top-floor no-view room way back from the beach on the Riviera, with a triple bed and a single bed for four of us because that was all we could afford; —

Satellite Beach, FL 32937

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Home: (407) 777-5520

Office: (407) 861-3519 E-Mail: jwjamba@aol.com Percent members: 74

fllf?

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Hi Redtags! First of all, I asked Jim MACK for the latest word on the 40

Reunion.

He sent me this reply: “Heads up Redtags for our next reunion gather

traveling by train at night so we could save another room fee; in the morning, in the waiting room, the station master waking us up by hitting our shoe soles with a rail spike; etc. ‘Our son Mike graduated with top honors from the MBA program at Wharton two years ago, and his wife graduated this May from the Veterinary School at the U of Penn, so we now have three doctors among our three kids and their three spouses. Linda’s husband is a PhD in the Air Force, Cindy’s hubby is a neurosurgeon in residency at U of Pitt, and now Mike’s

wife is a veterinarian. As Sue wryly observed, we ‘really planned well’ because we didn’t have to pay for any of the doctoral training! In December, I had the pleasure of pinning Lt. Col. leaves on Linda’s husband in Washington, DC. I wore my uniform, with only one inch of ‘assistance’ needed in the waistband not bad after almost 12 years of retirement. ‘Walt’s graduation hat story reminded me that I had to fight off a Catholie Father for my hat. I wanted to keep it so I only tossed it about 15-20 feet straight up. I was on the left edge of our graduation formation and by the time my hat came back down, a young priest had launched him—

self through the air and the result was that we both caught it. Significant

and I was going to convincing was required that it was indeed my hat leave with it before he would let go! Best Regards, Bill.” Thanks for all that news. Funny hat story. By the way, I went back to Europe with my mom and brother in 1965 and we found that cute litde waitress in Florence. She was hoping to come to the states for college. And got this from Jack SWONSON. “Seven of the eight Red Tags and their wives located here in Phoenix got together for dinner. The group —

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moved in February. He had very litde post-operative discomfort and is

almost fully recovered with no negative side effects. The cancer was caught early and had not spread to any other area. Judy says that wives should insist on their husbands having a PSA test annually. Judy busies herself with quilting, sewing and babysitting. Thanks for the update. Please let us know how Deke is doing. I got a long letter from Kirk VAUGHAN, from Muscat, Oman. He’s teaching for the state-sponsored university in Oman. Most of Oman is

uninhabitable desert. Muscat is modern with nice restaurants and

malls. Kirk teaches three sections of business communications classes per semester. The students are required to wear traditional garments. The men and women enter the classrooms from different doors and sit on their own side of the rooms. Classes are in English. The Sultan shares the oil wealth with the populace so there is not a lot of poverty evident. The Omanis love their cars and roads are being built fast. Some villages in remote areas have housing that has probably existed since the days of Mohammed but they have electricity and TV I have more of Kirk’s letter, which I will save for future issues of Checkpoints. Thanks, Kirk, for the news. And have fun in Muscat. Please send a photo of you and Rosemary on some of your travels in Oman. When I went to Adanta recently, Steve and Kathy METTLER were kind enough to host a small Redtag gathering with Gary BAUGHMAN and me. Accompanying picture shows me with Kathy and Steve Metder and Gary Baughman. We had a great evening, reliving old times and solving the world’s problems. Both the Metders and Baughmans are doing well.

included Bob and Ginnie MCNAUGHTON, Larry and Sandra JENSEN, Rudy and Betty BOW, Dick and Patricia SELL, Frank and Judy URBAN, Jack and Malinda ANDERSON, and Jack and Polly Ann SWONSON. See accompanying photo. The only couple unable to attend was Fred and Barbara FIEDLER, who vowed to make the next one. It was great catching up on everyone’s activities over the past few years, hearing about children and grandchildren, reliving the past, etc. On a personal note, I moved to Phoenix on 1 April (living in an apartment) and Polly Ann will join me as soon as our house sells in San Antonio. Yesterday, our USAA team occupied the first of our two new buildings on our large site (575 acres) here in northwest Phoenix. We will begin taking calls from members before the end of July. The master plan for the total complex (25-30 year timeframe) is being developed for 30,000 employees. San Antonio will top out at 20,000 and hold that level; it will also remain the corporate headquarters. Kids are fine. Son Jack switched

from the active Air Force to the Texas ANG and is flying F-16s out of Ellington AFB in Houston. He recently remarried a beautiful lady whose son turns five this month. Daughter Heidi, her husband Bill (USAF urologist) and their four children will spend one more year in Ramstein before returning stateside. All for now. Thanks for all you do for our class! Cheers! Jack Swonson.” Thanks for the update and the picture. See you at the 40 th .

Shortly after returning home, I discovered that some of the world’s problems had cropped up again. I quickly assembled another distinguished group of Redtag problem-solvers in secrecy in Melbourne to have another try at those pesky world problems. The accompanying photo shows Helen and Fred HENDRYX in the front row, having escaped from Cincinnati’s harsh winter for a few months. In the back row are Willie and Nancy GRAY, Caroline and Jack JAMBA, and Bunky and Connie REEVES. The only couples missing were Mike and Kay BUTCHKO and Colin and Marge RICHARDSON. If you notice that the world is a calmer place now, we take full credit.

Got an email from Niels JENSEN. “Our pilot training class had a rein San Antonio. John FER, Rick PERLOTTO, John LUEBBERMANN, Gary LENTZ and I enjoyed sharing memories from

union

Laredo circa 1962-3. Of the living graduates, all but one attended. Our class was rather unique in that 100% graduated from 64A Pilot Training Class at Laredo AFB.” Thanks Niels. How about someone in the group

sending me a photo. Got

late Christmas newsletter from John (Deke) and Judy

DINSMORE. They had another grandchild, John Robert, last Novem-

ber. He was two months premature and had to stay in the hospital for a while. But then he moved into a new house with Mom and Dad, and

close to Deke and Judy. Judy occasionally drives from San Antonio to Houston to babysit with Jackie’s two children. Deke completely retired last September. He was busy with honey-dos around the house. He was diagnosed with prostate cancer in October and had his prostate re 92

That’s it for now. Keep the emails coming. I’ll put out another call for updates in three months. I’m actually getting this column finished one week early. That’s a record for this wait-until-the-last-possible-minute class scribe. Go Redtags! See you at the 40 th !

JOIN THE SABRE SOCIETY! YOUR MONEY HELPS FUND CADET WING PROGRAMS THAT WOULD OTHERWISE GO UNFUNDED. CALL THE AOG FOR INFO.

John is vice president for Business Development of Alenia Marconi Systerns Inc., a small precision-guided weapon skunk works that designs

Norman I. Lee III

17532 N.E. 38th Court

Redmond, WA 98052 W: (425)237-6004 H: (425)882-0968

E-mail:54wrs@msn.com Work e-mail: norman.i.lee@boeing.com Fax: (425) 237-5775 Percent members: 70 Got a package late in March from Larry THACKER that included a

“French Harding Civil War Memoirs.” copy of his latest publication Now, I gotta tell ya’ a real classmate sends me a copy of his latest book! Check out the Web page: www.FrenchHarding.com. The book is full of —

great Civil War stories. Larry also included a couple of pictures of some very cold Falcon fans. This is just a reminder that we aren’t completely safe when planning the next reunion for October. Larry didn’t identify each person, but I recognize almost everyone in the picture because it appears to be, for the most part, our Colorado contingent.

TV and IR guided, rocket boosted precision weapons, data link pods and wing kits for GPS guided weapons. They have been heavily involved in flight demonstrating Diamond Back, a diamond shape extendable wing that fits on rotary launchers and is capable of internal carriage on new low-observable aircraft. John conceived of the new wing while sketching concepts on his kitchen table after weeks at work of discarding conventional ways to create range extension packages for a variety of weapons. Today, all five flights on 250 lb to 2000 lb GPS-guided bombs have been successful. Lea is now a working artist in watercolors and does an occasional commission and exhibition. John tows gliders in California City and occasionally grabs one of the gliders for his personal pleasure. ‘Cal City,” just north of Edwards is in what John describes as the middle of the best soaring conditions in the U.S. with many world records being set there in the Mojave Desert and Sierras. Marti, Lloyd HARMON’S wife, sent email in March after the last class news was already on press: Marti reported Lloyd is flying around the world in his Mooney (that really makes all us old AF Rescue types wince just a little). Part of the journey includes the London to Sydney Air Race. Lloyd and a friend left Maine on March 4 th and 36 planes started from London on March 11 th When Marti sent her note, Lloyd was in Calcutta. She also reported that Lloyd seems to be winning in the “precision flying” category of the race. Two websites that can tell you more .

about the whole adventure: www.airrace.com.au/ and www.ellsworthamerican.com (click on the picture of “Lloyd and Bill” in the upper left of the page). I clicked on the web sites and found that

Lloyd and his friend made it back safely. The web sites are worth looking into. Thanks to Marti! A really new input for this time from Mike DAVIS who wrote the following: “As an associate member of the AOG and a 2 Vis-year member of the Class of ‘63” (until, according to Mike, a triple-F semester sent him back to Indiana in early 1962). The item in the Winter issue of Checkand the mention of Ken points about Jim MARTIN’S retirement rd HABEDANK, a fellow 3 Squadron member—prompted Mike to write. —

He has been an Air Force Reservist since 1974, and wound up his caA cold and rowdy group.

Some short notes to start. Mickey ROTH retired after 23 years of service with USAA. When he retired, Mick was President and CEO of USAA Investment Management Company.

Bob DALEY (‘68) wrote the following about our classmate David WAX: a square in the town of Brookline, MA is being named for 1LT David J. Wax, Class of ‘63, killed in SEA, 20 Dec 1965. Bob said the square at the intersection of Washington St. and Beacon St. in Brookline, MA, near where the family lived was to be named in his honor on Memorial Day. Isn’t that great! Thanks to Bob and the AOG Staff (Lani) for the information. Turns out I sent along the wrong new email address for Gene MUSSELWHITE last time. Gene’s new email addresses for your use are (H) genejoanmw@rjsonline.net and (W) gmusselwhite@vnet.net. Bill

EBERT also provided a new address.

Says he entered the 21st Century starting 3/29/01 with a new high speed Internet address at home: webert@cox.rr.com. Jim WEAVER is a virtual wellspring of interesting information. His latest are interesting statistics from MPC about what the USAF looks like these days. Jim remembers when Verne Orr as SecAF announced his goal to make 21 percent of the force female (along with some other goals regarding the number of non-rated general officers, etc). They’re not yet up to 21 percent females (currently 19 percent), but they sure have made progress. Jim’s report offered a snapshot of the service’s active-duty and civilian employees, providing a more descriptive look at the service. This demographic information is also available on the center’s World Wide Web home page in the public affairs area. The following is a taste of what Jim sent: approximately 348,415 individuals are on active duty including 67,798 officers and 280,617 enlisted personnel. The Air Force has 12,162 pilots—about 18 percent. The Air Force magazine says about 40 percent of the officer corps was comprised of pilots in the 1950s. Commissioning sources is another interesting statistic: 19.4 percent of the officers were commissioned through the Air Force Academy, 42.4 percent through Reserve Officer Training Corps and 20.1 percent through Officer Training School. The remaining 18.1 percent were commissioned from other sources (direct appointment, etc.). In another email, Jim shared George Will’s address to the Naval Academy earlier this year. I found it very entertaining and particularly thought provoking, but due to its length it cannot be republished here in full or in part. If you want a copy just let Jim or me know. I am sure you will find it worth the effort. John and Lea SHMOLDAS have settled well in Thousand Oaks, CA.

16th, the day before his 60 birthday. From ‘74 to ‘99 he first assigned to Grissom AFB, later Grissom Air Reserve Base with the 434 th Tactical Fighter Wing, then 930 th TFG, and eventually 434 th ARW. In January ‘99 Mike became the Historian at Fourth Air Force a big commute headquarters at March Air Reserve Base, California between Indianapolis and Riverside (but with the only E-8 billet for historians in the AF Reserve). In all, counting a few years inactive reserve time and two years, eight months at the Academy, Mike served just a little less than 35 years’ total service. In his day job Mike worked and now as a copy editor and columnist for the Indianapolis News the Indianapolis Star for 23 years. The Otto K. HABEDANK connection is best described by Mike: “Last summer I was assigned to what wound up to be a 3 Vz month active duty tour as historian at the Balkans Combined Air Operations Center at Aeroporto Dal Molin in Vicenza, Italy. I shared an office with the protocol staff and one afternoon when they were out, a handsome young pilot came in to see if he could get some help in finding a hotel room for the night, having conveyed his VIPs safely from Ramstein, I believe. I glanced at his nametag Otto K. Habedank and figured there had reer this June

was

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to be a connection with the Otto K. Habedank I remembered.

Sure

enough, I was looking at Ken’s son. He gave me his dad’s email address, and Ken promptly responded, acknowledging that he was, in fact, quite proud of his son. It truly is a small world.” Also a small Air Force. Jimmie BUTLER sent a note and review of Ralph WETTERHAHN’s new book “The Last Battle: The Mayaguez Incident and the End of the Vietnam War.” The book is now in stores. Due to limited space, there

isn’t enough room for all the information that Jimmie sent. Below are some excerpts from a very well written review. ‘With great anticipation, I finally had the opportunity to read Ralph Wetterhahn’s, ‘The Last Battle.’ The book is all I hoped it would be, and more. The ‘Last Battle’ reads like a novel, but the plot of this thriller was written in American blood on a fierce battlefield and in a lonely killing field in Cambodia. He has unearthed a story that had remained buried in unmarked graves for more than 20 years. ‘Ralph’s fluency in the Thai language had helped him discover the last battle’s most troubling aspect a sad secret known only to very few for these 20 years. While U.S. Air Force helicopters returned under heavy fire to rescue the ill-fated American force from the darkened beach, three of those 18 Americans were inadvertently left behind. Even in the mid-1990s, Ralph was convinced that these three U.S. Marines were critical in holding the right flank and keeping the Cambodians off the beach. “The ‘Last Battle’ provides the long-overdue full accounting of events. —

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The ‘Last Battle’ is a well-integrated and highly comprehensive account. Reading of the valiant attempts to put Marines on the beaches of Koh Tang, one can’t help wondering how any of these brave Americans survived the murderous fire. Most of the USAF helicopters that flew again and again into the withering fire included at least one graduate of the USAFA classes of 1971 and 1972 among the pilots and copilots. “The ‘Last Battle’ makes a powerful argument that just because realtime tactical information can rise to the halls of power in Washington,

Bob Hovde

cial sunrise.” The last minute mail included a nice note and photograph from Lucky EKMAN. Lucky let us know there is another Ekman out there flying Wild Weasels, as the photograph demonstrates. He says son Ken (‘91) was about to be joined in the Wild Weasel mission by daughter Katie (‘96) using F-15Es but the plan to use the F-15E got put on the shelf. Lucky went on to say that the young people he worked with and flew with towards the end of his career and who are now running things in the Wings where his son and daughter fly are impressive. He also commented that the “unclassified tactics, techniques, and technologies” discussed with him are light years advanced from those he knew just 12 years ago.

Lucky and Ken Back in May Bob (Doc) MAZET sent a photo of himself, Ed REISDORF, th Roger ZOELLER and Bill WECKER at Ed’s 60 birthday party in Cabo San Lucas. The reunion and celebration was held at Ed and Terri’s resort development project down there.

Not a bad looking group. Zoeller is the one with the flowered shirt. Bob says Tom DERIEG has taken a management position at the headquarters for the national Waste Management Company in Houston, TX. Those guys come to my house once every week! That means Tom will be leaving hot and dusty Arizona for hot and wet Houston. That’s it for this time. We have again used more than our allotment of

words—a crime I commit almost daily just ask the people who work with me. Hope you find this article both informative and entertaining. One final comment for all those who took the time to inquire if we were headed for Chicago due to the Boeing HQ move thank goodness, no! A bazillion thanks to all the contributors. Looks like many of us will or have turned 60 this year. If you haven’t th already had the opportunity, enjoy those 60 birthdays. The next 60 should really be interesting. —

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Visit the AOG Web Site

Merchandise, Gone But

Not Forgotten and More!

www.aog-usafa.org 94

„„

Huntsville, AL 35801 H: (256) 532-3923

O: (256) 895-2807/ Fax: (256) 895-9222 H: rjslhovde@telocity.com

0: bhovde@space.hsv.usra.edu Percent Members: 75

D.C., our national leaders shouldn’t usurp tactical decision-making from those in the field who know such things as daylight comes before offi-

206 Walker Ave.

fPliSs tfrTjTA : 3 AT

Note: Please note that I have moved my base of operations back to Huntsville. My old Texas phone numbers will not work any longer. My old Earthlink address will not work either. (The old USRA email address will still get to me, but I’ve changed it to the local address, also.) Bad News: More ’64 classmates have died recently. The last issue of Checkpoints listed George BRANCH’S death from cancer in January. People are still trying to find Pam to offer condolences. On May 3, 2001, Larry WILLIS passed away at his home in Henryville, PA. The obituary in Idaho (courtesy of Frank BARTLETT) said that after leaving the Air Force, Larry worked for Cessna, Rockwell, Bendix and Falcon Jet. He and Kathy took their family to Bolivia and Brazil before settling in Pennsylvania. He eventually started his own business, WorldNet of Pennsylvania, Inc, providing Internet and associated services. Brett DULA sent out the following email in June. “Our classmate, Rip THOMAS, former Playboy Sq and 24th Sq, died (Saturday, 9 Jun) at his home in Cleburne, TX. Rip left the AF due to weight problems but after med school, he joined the Navy and served a full career with the Fleet. He had been a radiologist in Cleburne (little town south of Ft Worth) for some time.” The AOG notified us that Rip died from a clot from a broken leg (see Rip’s letter, below). As a tribute to Rip’s humor, I am including his last message to us, sent about two weeks before his death. ‘Something about Matt FEIERTAG’s picture in Checkpoints seems to compel me to write. Or maybe it was my old roomie, HERMANSON and the still good-looking Barb. Wonder if Matt rode the bike to Colorado. “Anyway, I am sending what amounts to a pre-emptive strike of mine after busting my ass yet again on the Harley. Anticipating the ragging I would get, I placed this notice on the bulletin board in the doctor’s lounge soon after the accident. Didn’t do any good. I am still getting razzed for poor judgement and clumsiness. Oh, well.”

HARLEY MAN’S LAST RIDE

(Acute exacerbation of road rash in a 58-year-old fat man) “As part of my ongoing efforts to amuse and entertain my friends and neighbors, I submit this account of my latest motorcycle mishap. ‘Harley Man was riding the bike he had named ‘Thunder’ south on HW 171 in Weatherford last Saturday around noon, when he took his

eyes off the vehicle in front of him for a second. The vehicle in front slowed suddenly, and when Harley Man looked back, the closure rate was such that brain stem reflexes overrode training and logic, and Harley Man squeezed the front brake too hard, locking the front wheel. Thunder turned on Harley Man and bit him like a rattlesnake. ‘In the blink of an eye, Harley Man’s ample posterior was on the pavement. Thunder proceeded on down the road for a few yards into the right door of a small pickup, doing considerable damage to the door. ‘Harley Man stood up quickly and said, ‘I meant to do that,’ but nobody believed him. “After conversations with the Weatherford police and the driver of the pickup, Harley Man and Thunder established an uneasy truce and proceeded on to Cleburne. Not too much damage to the bike. Increasing pain in Harley Man’s left knee resulted in a visit to Walls, where interpretation of radiographs by an expert radiologist diagnosed a minimally depressed lateral tibial plateau fracture. Harley Man will be on crutches until early summer. He has spectacular bruises in places he can only reveal to his most intimate acquaintances or to a proctologist. ‘Harley Man is too old for two broken legs in a year and for one-legged squats and pressing out of chairs with arms and one leg. Mrs. Harley Man and the insurance company are not amused. She has to perform services that she did not realize were in the fine print of the marriage vows. Harley Man can take a hint. He is either too old, stupid, and uncoordinated or too unlucky to ride a motorcycle... maybe all of the above. Thunder will have to go, and will be on the sale block after repair. “As I have previously noted, it has been fun except for the pain part. I am looking into parachuting and bungee jumping for stout individuals.” Signed: “Big Daddy Crash Thomas” Class Get-Togethers: Fred and Barbara GREGORY hosted their annual ’64 gathering. As John GRAVES said, “Fred and Barbara should be on

the ’64 short list for the outstanding hosts in the class.” Actually,

John, although everyone in the class goes out of their way to be hospitable, Fred and Barbara are on a list of their own. (Of course, when Fred

talked Barbara into that first party years ago, they had no idea that it would continue this long!)

Another Vietnam Memory: Ron BLISS wrote: “I just thought I’d let you know that last October Charlene and I took our two sons to Hanoi where Charlene and I stayed with Pete Peterson

our then ambassador to Vietand then in the Metropole. Our team of men with Vietnam Tourism located the man who found me unconscious in a rice paddy just north of Hanoi after I ejected from my Thud in September of 1966. He nam

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16 then. He explained how he pulled me out, stripped me to my underwear and then cleaned the blood and mud off me. Another fellow

was

and he carried me about two kilometers down a dirt road where I woke up about three hours later. He showed me that location too. “When we met him, his entire (very small) village was celebrating the

The Gregorys’ Annual Reunion As you can see, there is always a great turnout for a party at the

Gregorys’. Ron GROWDEN even brought his hot red Corvette and an earring! I suppose that a professional actor needs those accoutrements. (Look THAT one up in your Funk & Wagnall’s.) Later, I got an email from Ron that said “I was fortunate enough to spend the night with the Gregorys [after the party], and remember talking about Rip with Fred as the sun set nothing special, just wondering how he was. Maybe our short discussion helped to tell Rip we are all in this together. Don’t sweat the small stuff, guys. Get out there and DANCE! As Joseph Campbell put it, “Participate joyfully in the sorrows of life.” Fredo: The AOG received the following picture of Fred OLMSTED with President Arroyo of the Philippines. Fred was a VIP guest of the Governor of Bataan Province at a ceremony honoring Filipinos and Americans who fought in Bataan. Fredo was there because of his Vietnam combat. Funny, the Fredo I shared a couple of hours with at Cam Rahn except for the hair. It was a Bay many years ago looked just the same —

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lot shorter then.

anniversary of the death of his father, a big occurrence in rural Vietnam. We had a grand time, but realized that most of them had been on something stronger than tea for the entire morning before our arrival. They are still dirt-poor economically, but rich in heritage. ‘We were later taken to the Hoa Lo prison, the famous Hanoi Hilton, where we were able to revel in the restored remains of that place. Memories were hard and vivid. I had one of our sons snap a photo of me sitting on the elevated floor in permanent leg irons in one of the “initial welcoming cells.” I was giving the international salute. It turned out rather well, especially when I placed a color copy of it on my office door with the caption underneath reading, ‘ATTITUDE MATTERS.’ All the lawyers here got it without too much inquiry. ‘We spent about a week and a half in the south island of New Zealand before returning to the states. What a beautiful place to be. It’s too bad it’s so distant from virtually everywhere. (Scribe’s note: not if you happen to be from New Zealand!) Distinguished Graduate Award: The AOG has established this award, to be bestowed annually, to recognize the contributions of USAFA graduates to our society and nation. The first recipients are Gen. Ron FOGLEMAN (‘63) and our own Harry PEARCE. Harry is the chairman of Hughes Electronics Corporation and the current chairman of the Academy Board ofVisitors. His lifetime commitment to improving education, increasing minority opportunities, encouraging local economic development, developing environmentally sound business practices, and ending the trauma of life-threatening diseases are the key reasons why he won this prestigious award. The award will be presented at the Founders’ Day celebration next April. Congratulations, Harry! Sign Off: Based on the run of bad news in the last couple of articles, everyone needs to start thinking about our next reunion. In fact, everyone needs to start thinking about having mini-reunions more often. You can’t tell someone you were proud to serve with him if he isn’t with us anymore. If I haven’t said it lately, I was proud to be just a small part of the Class of ’64 and to have served, both in the Air Force and in life, with such an outstanding group. Rick Zurbrugg Box 22615

Hilton Head Island, SC 29925

(843) 689-5321 Fred Olmsted and President Arroyo of the Philippines. News from the Northwest: Sometimes it takes a new generation... We actually heard from Bill and Jeanne WITTRESS! Actually, Jeanne. She wrote that they have a new grandson and are totally doing the baby thing every weekend and any other free time they have. She also reports that the dining room is now a nursery! The baby is doing great, and has Billy and Bill wrapped around his little finger. As you can see in the picture, the baby looks just like both of them! Meanwhile, Jeanne is still at Boeing, working too much. (Boeing is changing the 737 line to a “moving line,” causing everyone to learn new processes.) —

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IllglJI

FAX: (843) 689-5403

E-mail: ezurb@mindspring.com Percent members: 74

Hello ’65. Best Alive! Please take a minute to remember George BONDS who died suddenly and unexpectedly from a heart attack in Nashville, Apr 17. If you have fond memories of George and John, please consider sending a note to

George’s wife, Sandra, at 4639 Mountain View Dr, Nashville, TN 37215. Also please call his brother, John BONDS (wife Mary), at 404-351-9483. John says that he has taken great comfort in speaking with each of the classmates who have called. Hank BONDARUK, JR: “I am medically retired from Ford now and trying to recover. A PET scan revealed ‘no evidence of tumor recurrence.’ Now we wait and watch for after-effects and/or return of the Lymphoma. It’s been one year and I’m still here! Classmates have been a tremendous boost to Tillie and I through all of this. I’ve received numerous emails, cards, letters, phone calls, and visits with prayers of support. Heartwarming. Dick CZARNOTAhas visited a few times. We just finished a ‘trial’ trip to see how I do traveling. Over Easter, we visited our daughter Kim in Dayton, OH, then continued to Neosho, MO to spend Easter with my folks and sister. Then on to Denver to visit Tillie’s mom and brothers. Finally, down to C.

Springs to see daughter Kelly and the grandkids. Finally got home in early May... a 3,500-mile trip and 2 V2 weeks on the road was quite an advenBill, Jeanne, Billy and “The Baby" Wittress. One with hair. One with a slim chance of getting some.

ture, especially for me. I’m not allowed to drive and Tillie did all of it (except maybe an hour or so). She did great in spite of my ‘critiques.’ Sorry we missed the 35th reunion, but we will try to make the rest. God Bless the Class of ‘65.” Thanks Hank and it is so great to hear you well again. 95

Bill KENNEDY: “We had a terrific time on May 12 when we went to Napa Valley Wine Country for a day outing with CS13 pals Dick and Kathy SCHLOSBERG, who live in Palo Alto, which is about an hour drive away from us in Concord. Dick is president of the Packard Foundation, the mega-billion dollar philanthropic organization supporting scientific, people, and environmental issues worldwide. ‘Dr.’ Kathy is fully dispensing higher education at San Jose State University. engaged My Cathy and I very much treasure time spent with such an urbane couple, especially in such a setting as California’s Napa Valley! In May I also linked up telephonically with Bill KEMP, another of 13th’s finest. He and Marydel still reside in Oakton, VA, though Bill has left PRC for another position. Bill and Marydel have a niece, Erin, who aspires to be a ‘Zoomie.’ She is a most worthy candidate who is ready to uphold the traditions we started and we are going to do all we can to help her —

get into the Class of 2006. ‘On May 20th, Cathy and I joined about 45,000 other participants in the world’s largest foot race, the famed 7 V^-mile ‘Bay to Breakers’ run through the streets of San Francisco, an annual event for us. (Finished even managed to keep #2866 and 2906, of which we’re quite proud the winners in sight for the first minute or so!) Oh, and the flying whenever we can get away, Cathy and I can be found boring holes in —

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the sky on the way to some fun spot in our Cessna 210, an opportunity that is more readily available to us since Cathy ‘retired’ from her art gallery in March. Most points from Denver west are just one refueling stop away from Stockton, CA where we hangar the bird, so it gives us great travel flexibility! Most of our flights of late have been to Van Nuys, CA, where I have been in discussions with Gruber Systems, Inc., (cast polymer industry) to take the position of vice president, National Sales. Just yesterday, I concluded an agreement in principle with them and, if the lawyers don’t get overly creative in converting the agreement to an employment contract, I will start the new position on the 11th of June! They have offices in California, Texas, and Florida, so I am hoping for even more cross country time in the 210!” Thanks Bill. Dick ZUCKER: “... as our scribe, why have you not learned to touch up the photos used in the class news so we can look more like we did back in the good old days of hard bodies, steel-trap minds, and hair on the head? The Zucker clan keeps growing as my oldest daughter added our fourth grandson to the family last January. Unlike his handsome

grandfather, Avery weighed in at a puny 31bs, 3oz. Told my daughter, Wendi, I have consumed hamburgers which were bigger. My youngest, Julie, graduated Texas A&M and is gainfully employed in Austin with CBS affiliate radio stations as account exec selling airtime advertising and partying on the side. Son Brian still a good man at Dell Computer where he is working on next-generation PCs and notebooks while raising three hyper boys under age seven. Maxine loves the peace and quiet of the house and the time to enjoy friends and her mom, who we moved to San Antonio. I only work part-time now so Maxine also must put up with me under foot during the week and on weekends. Fortunately, she is a master at finding just the right amount of chores and doling them out so as not to overwhelm a particular day. Our new venture is Hatha yoga, which we have been doing for almost one year. Not only can I see my toes, but with a few grunts I can now touch them without bending the knees. The days of going to the health club to fake working out while watching the young, supple females go through their routines are long gone. Now a few stretches and an occasional bend and twist are enough for the day. But life is good and the future is too. A picture taken during a recent family trip to Maui to celebrate both daughters completing degrees; masters for older, bachelors for younger.

building an insulated concrete form house, which is foreign to all the subs, so that slows us down too. That said, Bill and Kay CATHY visited Bill teaches AF ROTC to high school kids in us about a month ago. Harlingen, TX. Kay teaches them English (I think). Bill helped me lay out the ICF walls on the slab. You can get his picture off our website: http://www.personalcomputer.net/RCBuilders/Friends.htm. Joe and Denny (sp?) BRITAN visited Memorial Day from San Antonio. I’ll send you a picture of them and wife, Corina, after I download it from my digicam. It’s a year and a half now since my cystoprostatectomy and neo-bladder surgery. I’m getting along pretty well with the modified plumbing but as you would suspect, it sure isn’t as good as the original, but it sure beats having bladder cancer.” Great to hear from you Roy, thanks and really glad that you are doing well. Bob LAMBERT: “Just finished my 8th year as director of Track & Field, head Men’s and Women’s Cross Country coach at Troy State University, in beautiful downtown Troy, AL. It’s great living in the 1950s. My commute consists of a 1.9 mile, one stop light, two stop signs journey from our home

(six years to fix this monster up!) in the historic district to the

campus. On a bad day it takes me five minutes, on a good day about three and a half minutes. My team managed to win the Men’s Trans America Athletic Conference Track Championships for the 3rd time in 4 years this past spring. I keep stifling the urge to pick up one of my

athlete’s javelins and really blast it out there, but my back convinces me otherwise. It has been fun coaching kids in my old event however. Incidentally the conference records are held by Troy State Trojans, both men and women’s, so I guess I’m doing something right. (Teach a little Political Science as an adjunct professor when the department gets hard up also). My nine-year-old granddaughter flies out from Los Angeles each June to spend the month with ‘Grandma and Grandpa,’ titles Sandee and I both claim with great pride. This year (spending) a week on Dauphin Island, (just off the coast, south of Mobile) with my mom (83 years old and flying in from Seattle), both daughters, granddaughter and a nephew (all who live in the land of ‘rolling blackouts’). Fond memories of the 35th last fall, had to be the best reunion ever.” Thanks

Bob, it sounds like the Good Life. Harold RUST: “Well, it’s not earth-shattering, but I just completed our Lake Oswego run with my 23-year-old son this last weekend. It was a race that is repeated in thousands of places throughout the U.S., but somehow it seemed pretty special to me as I breathed heavily and realized a lot had transpired since those distant days at USAFA. Later that week my son proposed to a beautiful young girl and it reminded me of how much we now depend on that next generation to carry on those dreams we had. This is number four out of five for our children begin-

ning families of their own. I welcome any who want to see the best oceanfront scenery in the nation to come out here to Portland and join the few grads who have been smart enough to pick Oregon as a place to prepare the next generation.” Thank you, Harold, remember 3 rd Lt at Wiesbaden? Tony MRAS: “- Not a fun thing but maybe worth a comment. My wife Mary was diagnosed with leukemia in July 1998 and had a bone marrow transplant in December 1998. Other than the annoying complications of graft versus host disease (the new marrow attempting to reject

her body), she has done well since then until this year. Since Christmas, she has seemed to pick up every little bug around, and has been hospitalized on separate occasions for RSV, fungal pneumonia, back spasms and pain, and now bacterial pneumonia. She has been in the ICU at UCSF since May 22 and is now showing some positive signs. Prayers are always welcome. On a similar note, I just heard that our

classmate Jack FERGUSON recently had a quadruple bypass; no status available. There are positive things going on, but we’ll save those ‘til next time.” We’re all pulling for you, Mary and Tony. -

Ken KRAUSE: “Carol and I are coming to the end of our first year of a two year cruise aboard our 44' Gulfstar MY, Serendipity, and are on our

way to Canada. We have cruised the Chesapeake Bay, the ICW to St. Petersburg and back staying in the Keys during April. Next winter, we’ll

check out the Bahamas. Have had Tom and Diane PLANK and Chuck and Mary COLEMAN aboard for short cruises. Hope this makes your deadline.” Thanks Ken, where do I sign up? Wendell HARKLEROAD: “I was recently tapped to head up a new profit center at IMC Chemicals Inc., namely, electricity. My staff manages two

JOIN THE SABRE SOCIETY! YOUR MONEY HELPS FUND Dick Zucker (the fish is on the righ t) and Mr Opakaka Figh ting Fish at 61 lbs, Kaanapali Beach, Maui. May 2001.

Roy KILGORE: “...we continue to slowly build our retirement house in Kerrville, TX. As owner builders in a local building boom, we’re continually at the bottom of the list when it comes to getting subs. We’re 96

CADET WING PROGRAMS THAT WOULD OTHERWISE GO UNFUNDED. CALL THE AOG FOR INFO.

co-generation facilities in the California high desert region at Trona, CA. We produce about 72 megawatts of electricity and sell about 25 mega-

grid. This is enough power to planning to build a 400 MW coal-fired

watts into the Southern California Edison run about 25,000 homes. We are

plant on our site at Trona. I would like to know if there are any ’65ers in the electric power generation business, or if there is anyone who would like to network with me on the current California power situation. Email:

wharkleroad@yahoo.com or harklero@imcchemicals.com.” Way to go, Hark and thanks.

Larry STONE: “George Young is organizing a reunion of 7th Sq guys in recognition of the 40 years since we first met upon entering USAFA. We’ll be meeting in Santa Fe, NM on 29 June, staying at the Courtyard by Marriott for two nights. Those signed up to attend include: Paul DICKEY,

man.” He says that Paul is living in Virginia, is the CEO of computing/ software company, flies around in his corporate jet, and probably does not need any coaching from JO. Harry ICKE sent a great note and an even better picture of a vacation that he, Ron DASKEVICH, and their wives took to Maui and Oahu. Ron and wife, Marsha, live in Monument, CO. Ron is flying for Continental and successfully making the transition from Western Pacific after their demise. John FAL was in St Louis a little while ago, teaching an ANG Tactical Air Control Group how to use a new program that his company, BAE, had just fielded. After a long weekend of explaining software, John was ready to party in the streets of St Louis. Instead, he called me and we had a nice quiet dinner, talked about old times, and were back home th

by 9:30. Just like when we were roomies back in 13 Squadron.

Bill McDERMOTT, John METZ, Bob PENRY, Bill ROBERTS, Mike SHORT, Larry STONE, A1 SWEENY, Jude TERHALL, George YOUNG, and Dick Nethers (who didn’t graduate). Activities are yet to be finalized, but I’m sure we’ll have a great time.” Thanks Larry, and we will look for your after-action report. My apologies to all of you who sent messages and I didn’t get in this time (out of space). I will try to be more of an “editor” next time or try to

Many of you are doing such fun and interesting things. Be well, do good work and stay in touch... use a website.

Ryan Denny 1635 Mary Todd Lane

Harry and Betsy Icke and Marsha and Ron Daskevich enjoy the beach with Diamondhead in the background.

O’Fallon, IL 62269 Home: (618) 624-4255

Duane TWAY writes that he is finally getting the chance to go to Air Command and Staff College in person. Well, actually, Duane’s wife, Conni, is going to ACSC as a civilian, and Duane gets to go along as the spouse. He gets to play golf and go to social functions without having his fun inter-

Work: (314) 232-4180 E-mail: ryanden@aol.com Percent members: 75

rupted by attending classes. (I think some of us did that, too.) Greetings, Redtags! By the time you read this, it should be just about th time to start packing for our 35 Reunion. The planning committee has put together another great party with a minimum of “social functions.” I think they’ve replaced the “Run to the Rock” event with a “Let’s Match Guts” contest; other than that, it should be the same great times with the same great people that you get to see every five years or so. J.O. MCFALLS called a few weeks ago to tell me about the wedding of his daughter to Paul STEIN’s son. Actually, what JO said was that his and Paul’s “kids” were getting married.

He promised to send me pic-

tures and words, so I was a little lax about taking notes.

The pictures

and words did not arrive until just before press time, so I was going to take a wild guess and say that it must have been Paul’s daughter, because JO wasn’t complaining about how much the wedding cost. It’s a good thing that the real story and the pictures showed up, I would have

th A bunch of drunken Irishmen showed up at my house on March 17 like they do most years. Someone was able to get a few of us to stand still long enough to pose for a picture. (I know that I didn’t take it because I’m in it.) Ron MOREY is retired, retired, lives in O’Fallon, IL, and spends a lot of time traveling around the country. Jim MURPHY is working for ARINC, lives in O’Fallon and spends a lot of time bicycling around the neighborhood. His knees aren’t up to the 15-mile per day runs of his youth, but his heart still beats only about 10 times a minute. Dennie WATSON drove in from Kansas City to join the fun. He is a business manager for a very successful doctor, and still drives an 18wheeler once in while —just to show the young kids how it’s done. ,

had a lot of explaining to do at the Reunion.

Jim Murphy, Dennie Watson, Ryan Denny, and Ron Morey trying to look Irish at a St Patrick’s Day party. Tim BROWN emails that he is still enjoying life in Austin. He is the VP of Operations for most of the Taco Bells in Central Texas, rides his

Paul Stein, Kiersten (McFalls) Stein, John, and Carol Stein laugh about how much JO is paying for the best party of their lives.

Along with the picture, JO sent a note that said that he was just paying off the last of the wedding bills so much for not complaining! Other ‘66ers at the wedding were Dick BETHUREM and Bill MANNING (Carol

Harley when he can, teaches adult Bible studies, and visits his three grandchildren as often as possible. Now, there is a varied lifestyle. It sounds like a great life (except for the VP part). That’s all the news that is fit to print and some of it that’s not. We’ll th see you all at the 35 Reunion. Until then... Happy Landings! —

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Stein’s brother). I think that means that JO and Bill are now in-laws. This is getting creepy. As for the happy Dads, JO tells me that he is living in Phoenix and works for a firm that provides coaching and advice to CEOs. JO says he “works for the firm,” but his business card says “Chair-

Class of 1966

35th Reunion

USAFA vs. SDSU (away)

26-30 September 2001

Larry Wilson 13100 Pinehurst Ave. NE

Albuquerque, NM 87111 Home: (505) 291-8949

Work: (505) 816-2092/DSN: 246-2404 E-mail: Lwilsn628@aol.com Percent members: 67

(■rlfwiPi

Hola, amigos. As I compose this, the Albuquerque skies are clear blue, vegetation is turning brown, and temperatures are running 90+... Ah, summer in New Mexico.

Not many news inputs this quarter, but what I have has quality as well as quantity. Hal HUDSON continues his ophthalmology career in Albuquerque. In fact, a church friend of mine is a member of Hal’s fan club, for restoring his failing vision a few years back. From Hal, explaining his (lack of) hairline: “...the hair never really grew back after basic summer. A tour in Saudi during Desert Storm finished it off. You don’t think I qualify for some sort of compensation do you? My story isn’t any different than the majority of classmates. My last of three children graduates this May from college, both dogs have died, and Carolyn, my wife of 33 years, continues to put up with me. Life is beautiful!” A1LUNDBERG, who I last saw in beautiful downtown Nha Trang, RVN, in 71, came out of the woodwork after all these many years. That’s a long time between updates. Here’s Al’s message: “... I’m still trying to work a deal here at Ball to see if I stay or retire. My email address is alundber@ball.com. A bunch of the local 17th Sq. get together quarterly. The last get-together was at Steve and Eileen McCULLOCH’s. Skip and Diane PUMFREY, Chuck and Carolyn DENHAM, Hank and Paula ARNOLD and Walt EDGERLY were there. The BIG news: Pat and I were married 15 July. We had a beautiful ceremony in the front yard with about 40 people attending. Pat’s two boys gave her away and Allen Jr. was my best man. In

looking on the Internet for a place to honeymoon,

Pat came across an auction for a trip to China in May. She bid and won

14-day trip. Saw all the things to see in Beijing, (Great Wall, Forbidden City, Ming Tombs, shopping), Xian (terracotta Warriors, Walled City, a

shopping) and Shanghai (China Museum, shopping). For our honeymoon we took a Renaissance Cruise Line trip around Greece and Turkey. Three days on shore in Athens then on the ship for five days. We had the owner's suite 900+ sq. ft. plus the deck. Ports were Santorini (beautiful), Rhodes and Lindros (Temple of Athena and swam in the Mediterranean), Kudashi (Ephesus, museums, and Turkish rugs) then three days on land in Istanbul. Pat’s partner’s mother-in-law lives there, so we were guided (Grand Bazaar, boat up the Bhosporus for lunch on the Black Sea, Blue Mosque, shopping). Wonderful, wonderful time. As ever I have been able to get out fishing and hunting. Was successful on all accounts. In July, my boss eliminated my position so have been doing ‘special projects.’ Not sure what I’ll be doing in 2001, but Pat —

supports whatever it is. Pat continues to do well as a consultant and

professor. Not only does she work locally, but also she goes to Seattle to consult for the V.A. cemetery people. Pat’s boys Peter, 16, and are doing well in school and outside activities (wrestling Kelby, 14 for Peter and band for Kelby). It’s a learning experience for all of us. My kids are all fine. Tena graduated from Western State in May and she and Allen bought a home and live here. Both are happily working for different recruiting companies. Charlie stays busy with his company, building decks. Suzanne still models and works part-time at a new beauty salon. She is pregnant, due in May 2001. Levi is growing tall and slender like his father. Even though he is in 1 grade, he is in 3 rd grade math. He’s such a smart kid. He played soccer again this year; scored goals as forward and played goalie. Suzanne and Charlie coached his team. Had a family reunion with my sisters and parents in —

—

Cincinnati. Combined it with Dad’s WWII, 95 th Inf. Div reunion and a

surprise party for my baby sister’s 50th birthday. It was a fun time. Dad and Mom are both well, living in Florida. No, they weren’t part of the cause of the election issues!” A1 thanks for your info, and happy first anniversary to you and Pat! From Ray LEOPOLD, a bit delayed from an earlier message: “...Bruce —

and Pam McFADZEAN retired and moved from Lincolnshire, IL to Green ’

Lake, WI ‘to play golf. Actually, they are planning to live in Naples Nov-

May.

Their eldest daughter, Shelby, just graduated cum laude from

college; their second daughter, Allie, is a sophomore at the U. of Illinois, and their youngest daughter, Ashley, is about to graduate high school and may go to the U of MT in Missoula! Roy and Mary MILLER and their three daughters (Rachel, Allison, and KT) live here in Phoenix, and their holiday photo had Roy in a tux surrounded by his four beautiful young ladies! Don and Janet HICKMAN are still in Manassas, VA and Don looked exceptionally fit when we saw them this past summer in D.C.

He works hard and hits the gym hard at the Nuclear Regu-

Their eldest, Wendy, just became engaged. Son Robert is in San Francisco; son Joseph is in college in Indiana; they didn’t

latory Commission.

mention daughter Angie; and daughter Mary is in high school.

Neal and Carol DUGGAN are still in Connecticut where Neal does training in the insurance industry, and their daughter Meredith, and son Tim, are close by in New England. Skip and Diana PUMFREY met me in Kalispell and Whitefish in late September they look great! So did their holiday photo with their daughters Lori and Sandy, and their four all girls in their family! young granddaughters ‘Bob and Amber DRABANT mentioned many classmates in their holiday letter... Bob’s the technical advisor for the 53rd Test and Evaluation Group at Nellis. His ‘brood’ includes Sean (30), Ryan (28), Ashley —

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(17), Landon (14), and Shelby (12), but he had the audacity to write me,

‘

Say, what are you trying to do, repopulate the entire planet yourself?’ ‘Well, that’s where we come in.... the Drabants drop off at age 12, and that’s where we start.... I got a late start, but my much-younger wife, Linda, got a normal start. I was almost 43 when our oldest, Clelia, was born 12 years ago she now has a basketball team of younger brothers. Anthony (10), Jeremy (8), Christopher (6), Gabriel (4), and Nicholas (born Dec 28,2000) are a blessing of joy from heaven, for anol’ 55-year-old like me! I don’t know how Linda puts up with me, let alone the six kids! Well, I think I already had ‘67’s youngest, but I just reinforced it! ‘We had a pleasant journey across the country this past summer in our Ford Excursion (any more kids and we’ll need a bus!). As I mentioned, I needed to get the kids to the Smithsonian’s National Air & Space Museum to see me mentioned in two exhibits. (That’s never going to happen again; I find it hard to believe it happened even once!) My lab notebook is on display in the commercial space communications exhibit in the ‘Above and Beyond’ section on the second floor, and on the post in front of Amelia Earhart’s plane you can se the Aviation Week & —

Space Technology Hall of Fame plaque, where my name is inscribed as a Laureate for Space in 1996...” Ray— good info, and congratulations on your singular accomplishments in air & space! That’s about it for the class input. Luckily (?) I also have some vignettes to share, from a June visit to Colorado and the AFA, with a bonus of a

too-short visit with Jim and Cindy SHAW, who look remarkably like they did in ’67. Jim, of course, is Pres & CEO of the AOG, where he daily gets to interact with members of the 43 classes of graduates, each of which has a series of different opinions about how the place should be run, and why it is going/ has gone/ will go to hell in a hand basket, unless that class’ ideas are followed... to the letter. So Jim keeps fit and trim by tap dancing... a lot. And, I might add, very successfully, in terms of action and esprit and progress and accomplishments for the AOG. About Colorado much of the once-pristine Front Range seems to have sold out to fast food chains, motels, used car dealerships, etc., from Pueblo to about Ft. Collins. About Colorado Springs it has sprawled in all directions since we threw our hats in the air. One golden opportunity awaits some lucky person, or group: The Navaho Hogan, watering hole on North Nevada, well-known to some of our number, is available for purchase; offered by John OLIVE’s real estate group. Maybe we could buy it as a class investment, use it whenever we have the op—

—

portunity, and rent it out to other classes who may be looking for a classy reunion site. And about today’s weenie zoomies: remember our survival experience the rain-soaked Saylor Park adventure and map-and-compass —

trek out, with reward at the end of the trail of breakfast “at ease?” Get this: the basic cadet trek now is a day trip, a hike from one end of the AFA grounds to the other, then a bus ride back to the start point. Oooooooohh. What WHIT tales they will one day have to tell. Enough of my old-fart grousing. It is summer time, and the living is easy. I hope each of you has a chance to enjoy the season, trim a few strokes off your handicap, see a few other grads, and generally enjoy la dolceVita. Meanwhile, checkoutwww.aog-usafa.org/1967/ orviaVictoria LENNE at digidezl@home.com. Shoot me a note via email or hard copy or... however. Include a photo of yourself, family, other grads, etc. Best wishes to you all until next quarter—Vaya con Dios! —

Tim Davidson 9712 Hidden Valley Road

Vienna, VA 22181-6094 (703) 255-5313/Work: (301) 299-1610 Fax: (703) 255-5377 E-mail: timd@erols.com Percent members: 68 ‘

m o

/p§§^

iSlf'

HELLO ’68! Tis a great year to be a ‘68er. Call the heralds back in for another round of Ruffles and Flourishes, pop the cork on the champagne bottle, and give Bill and Jody BEGERT a rousing cheer as Bill becomes the fourth member of our class to pin on four stars. Bill’s promotion makes the Class of ‘68 the most “general-laden” class in the history of the Air Force Academy. Bill left his post as Assistant Vice Chief of Staff of the Air Force and is now serving as Commander of our Pacific Air Forces. For you history buffs, Bill was put in charge just in time to send the first reconnaissance flight back to the coast of China since a Chinese fighter jet rammed a Navy P-3 earlier in the year. Way to go Bill, and our most sincere congratulations! CLOSE CALL DEPT: Our intrepid NASA test pilot, Dick EWERS, is counting his blessings these days. Yes, his assignment is awesome, but no, he would rather have missed an opportunity like the one captured in the L.A. Times this past June where he was photographed talking on

a cell phone next to a crumpled aircraft. Many thanks to Dale FRANZ for his on the spot reporting and to Dick, the adage of “any landing you can walk away from” seems to apply here. Glad you were able to make it through your harrowing ordeal. E-MAIL UPDATES DEPT: It appears that your scribe’s analytical skills were sorely challenged in reporting on Mike CRYER’s letter and photos in the last column. The children in the photos either belonged to Mike and Linda or were significant others of their older children. Also, both Mike and Steve MISH reminded me that Russ VORIS was Steve’s wingman in A-37s when he was shot down in the northeastern part of

Cambodia. Sorry for the mix-up guys. Carl JANNSEN sent a quick note telling me about happenings in the C-Springs environs. He said that Bill WOOD was in the area doing some soccer refereeing at the Cadet-Alumni Match this past spring. He also wrote of Bill and Sue ECKERT’s impact on the culture scene, with Bill becoming quite a local historian, while daughter Katie works her way through her second class year at the Academy. He then passed along a holiday newsletter from Hugh BURGESS, who is now building a new home on Kehena Beach on the big island of Hawaii located on the coast south of Hilo, in an area known as Puna. Finally, he passed along distressing news that Paul STEIN (‘66) had contracted Lou Gehrig’s disNeal STARKEY is attempting to put together a reunion on 3 Nov of the Academy football team that beat Army in Chicago. Neal is hoping that Paul will be able to make the trip so that they can honor him at the event. Our hearts and prayers go out to Paul and his family. ease.

IT’S NEVER TOO LATE DEPT: Dale ODERMAN wrote his first corre-

spondence to your class scribe and found the experience to be truly liberating and conscience salving. More of you in Checkpoints Land should give it a try! The reason for Dale’s initiative is tied to his claim of being ‘68’s oldest PhD graduate. In fact, Dale believes he may also have the record for the longest time to complete a degree at nine and a half years. Dale owes his grit and determination to the “never say quit” attitude developed during Doolie Year, his supportive wife, Vera, three grown children, and an outstanding atmosphere for learning at Purdue University, where he continues to teach. In addition to his professorship duties on campus, Dale “stays young” by leading the college fellowship group at his church. HOLIDAY SPIRIT CONTINUED DEPT: As you are all aware, if it were correspondence and photos sent to your humble

not for the bounty of

scribe during the end-of-year holidays, class news would be pretty sparse during the remainder of the year. This year is no different and the mailbag is now open for all to share. Du MROSLA is still flying for Southwest Airlines and is living in Colorado. Margie and he had a good year with visits to Margie’s family in st California, Margie’s job as a 1 grade teacher at Parr Elementary School in Arvada, CO; Mandy’s senior year at Arizona State University major-

ing in Broadcasting and Communications; and Brad’s freshman year at University of Northern Colorado at Greeley. Bill and Arlene RADASKY are alive and well in California. Bill is on the road quite a bit to Europe and Asia with his company Metatech that studies the effects of geomagnetic storms on power systems and is

involved in making space weather predictions for power utilities. He also keeps his schoolboy figure with rousing matches of tennis and golf. as Arlene does volunteer work with CASA in Santa Barbara County an advocate for children who are living under court-ordered supervision due mainly to serious family problems. Daughter Christi and husband, Bill Papworth, have purchased their first house in the northern part of San Diego, while other daughter, Kendy, has returned to Goleta and is working several part-time jobs associated with preserving wild—

life.

‘68

“Graduation Day from CU-Boulder in Molecular Biology” From left are Neal

Starkey, Laura Hendley (Mitch’s fiance), Mitch and Sharon

Starkey, Trade and Travis. Glenn GILLETTE sent me a note on 5 June to let the class know he is now

officially working on his third career. Following five years in the Air Force in signals intelligence and 20-plus years in the computer industry, mosdy with Digital Equipment Corporation, Glenn is now embarked on publishing his science fiction novel tided Seeds ofDisaster. You can check out his work at www.glgwrites.com. Glenn’s wife, Jeanne, is a web-site designer and programmer for www.eAutoTrac.com. His stepson Scott is in a marine expeditionary unit stationed in Okinawa, his stepdaughter Barb graduated from Bowdoin College in 2000 and now works for Arthur Anderson in

SPOTLIGHT

The ‘68 Spotlight for our fall 2001 column shines on Jim THOMPSON. Following graduation, Jim went to pilot training at Williams AFB, AZ. and flew B-52s on more than 100 combat missions in Southeast Asia. In 1973, he left active duty and entered law school at the University of Florida. After graduating in 1975, he became a law clerk to the Honorth able Paul Roney on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5 Circuit in Denver. In 1977, Jim transferred from the inactive Reserves and was appointed a JAG. He also began a law career in Denver, working with two law firms between 1977 and 1984, and then starting his own firm in 1984. In 1989, he left his practice in Denver to accept a position as an associate professor of Law at the University of Tennessee. In 1990, he was appointed a JAG in the Air National Guard and served as the base legal officer at McGhee-Tyson ANG Base in Knoxville. In 1992, the Uni-

versity of Tennessee offered him the opportunity to serve in a Title 10

Denver, his daughter Diana graduated from Western Washington Univer-

status for the Air National Guard Bureau, where he served as an envi-

sity in 1999 and works in Public Relations for Men’s Wearhouse in San Francisco, and his daughter Tanya graduated from the Theater Conservatory at Webster University and now hires out as a theatrical stage manager, most recendy assisting Disney with their road show of Aida. Tanya is married

ronmental attorney and as chief of Training for the NGB/JA. He was promoted to colonel and served in several capacities including deputy counsel of the National Guard Bureau. st Jim was then selected as the commander of the 201 Mission Support Squadron and the vice commander of the Air National Guard Readiness Center at Andrews AFB, MD. Upon completion of his com-

and lives with her husband in Connecticut. Bob PAVELKO checked in with kudos for our very own Steve POLK, who briefed the Dallas-Fort Worth Daedalian Flight in June. Steve’s presentation was titled “Stockholder’s Report on U.S. AF Pilot Training.” Bob

said the briefing was so interesting and smooth that it did not seem nearly as long as the hour Steve took to discuss the topic.

mand assignment in 2001, he returned to the Pentagon and serves once again as the deputy counsel for the NGB. Jim’s credentials include

membership to: the Bar of the U.S. Supreme Court; Bars of the Supreme th Courts for Colorado and Florida; the U.S. Courts of Appeals for the 5 and 10 th Circuits; and the U.S. Court of Military Appeals. Jim is married to wife, Brinda, and has three children: Daphnie, Karla, and Joshua. When asked what the Academy meant to him, Jim indicated, “My reaction to this question is very emotional and complicated. It was the difference between being a poor Black kid remaining in the ghetto, and a fully-educated and vested citizen able to serve his country and family in a myriad of capacities.” So, in response “the Academy was a rite of passage from very limited, to unlimited opportunity to serve my country and to make a difference.” In terms of life’s lessons learned to pass on to the class, Jim said, “if we had to listen to what we say, we would hear the limits we place on ourselves.” Jim, thanks for your

thoughts and your service. THAT’S A WRAP: Please check the June 2001 edition of Airman MagaMy daughter Melissa (‘96), and son-in-law, Fred

zine, page 10.

Major General Steve Polk wows Daedalian Aviators in Dallas Maj. Gen (Ret) Ed Rafalko is seated in the audience.

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Yes,

Cunningham (’94) are featured for the Air Force Internship Program. In the meantime, mind the flak; keep 'em flying; and send in those cards, letters, and photos. Ciao for now. Tim 99

mmmi

Lindsey Parris 616 King’s Cloister Circle Alexandria, VA 22302 Home: (703) 914-5608

E-mail: 102177.1033@compuserve.com Percent members: 67

jjj

Greetings, my good lieges. Top of the fabulous fall to you all. Arriba Falcones!

Having just lost my first hard drive (few things in life are more disappointing than this, more catastrophic, and many of those that are may have had to do with dating during our cadet years) and paying the price, I follow in the good footsteps of some of you! Because I lost a good bit of the newsletter in the crash, I’ve had to recreate some of it. If you sent

along juicy tidbits and fail to read them below, then please resend for inclusion in the next Checkpoints. And, backup your hard drives— regularly. What a pain. Steve HOPKINS writes following a fabulous sailing celebration in the Caribbean. He and Karin, celebrating their 25 th wedding anniversary, th alongwith John and Patty YOUNG (20 ) andVince and Angie SANTILLO, cruised the British Virgin Islands for eight days on a 45' Cat with Skipper and chef. No surprise that the beer was cold, the diving and snorkeling superb, and then more cold beer. The picture is on the northend of Virgin Gorda, where there was an ashore sortie for th sightseeing and yes, beer. Steve looks forward to the 35 and highly recommends sailing charters from Tortola. east

down from all classes’ rings and used subsequently as stock for the rings of future classes, thus perpetuating our Class through to other generations of airmen and women. In the middle of deliberations regarding this matter, Mike and Steve convened an executive staff meeting in Scottsdale. Part of the meeting included an excursion in Mike’s ’67 Austin Healey 3000, with license

plate AFA1969. Meanwhile, earlier during these deliberations, Les DYER and I hunkered down over darts and Guinnesses in Atlanta, Les hosting me to two days of rehab after a knee procedure I had in Birmingham. Les is still flying Delta’s friendlies, and working among other things on his golf game, trying to be sure Roy COPPINGER doesn’t steal too grand a march on him (Mike BEEZLEY and Jeff GRIME are already way out there, as are most of our active-duty general officers). Roy headed down the Middle Fork of the Salmon without the rest of our crew of ‘69ers this year, selecting a May date when it was cold and the water was as high as it was going to be in this water-deprived year. For those of you who raft and adventure outdoors, his report is of interest: great solitude and more wildlife viewing than available during trips at “normal” times. He says the river was more beautiful with its green spring blanket and the yellow balsamroot flowers on the bank (yes, these prosaic observations were indeed made by none other than

Roy C). The trip was not without its raft flips, however. But, unlike Steve HOPKINs’ Caribbean adventure, there was no threat of warm beer (but the same threat of no beer). H. OWNBY sent along a great shot of the annual dining-in of the North Texas Association of Air Force Academy Graduates, which featured Superintendent John DALLAGER as the guest of honor. The ’69 contingent was the largest of any class’ presence at the event, as the accom-

panying photo and H’s vignettes attest.

May sunning in one ofUSAFA’s beautiful quadrangles, in preparation for a month’s summer leave. See text for explanation! Which serves as lead-in for Jeff MEECE’s letter to the class regarding sailing excursion. Jeff runs a large travel operation in Lexington (KY), and can arrange a “good deal for cadets,” depending on how many are interested. Location, duration, timing, activities ashore (sightseeing, golf, etc) are all issues his questionnaire raises, so if you interested, return the letter and we’ll see what develops. This idea comes from the sentiment oft voiced at reunions that there is woefully insufficient time to visit with classmates over the course of a three-day weekend. If you have a subgroup (ruggers, perhaps, or squadron-mates, or UPT buddies, or math clubbers) that enjoys getting together, let Jeff know and see what he might come up with. I wrote an issue ago about our serendipity in locating Jim SCOTT’s due to the good efforts of officers Les DYER, Mike ring. The Class GOODE, Terry BRADY, and Steve EDELMAN, along with the indispensable helping hand from the AOG’s Rich Downing (’70) as well as our own Gary HOWE has expended a nominal amount of funds to acquire the ring. Jim’s stepmother was elated and appreciative, and she supported the idea of using his ring as 69 s entry to the Class Ring Tree a

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‘

’

(a display from all classes). Ultimately, again with Mrs. Scott’s full support and blessing, we plan to use the ring as part of the stock melted

Rick Grandjean, Flip Keck, Dave Bauer, Bill McGrath, John Dallager, Marty Page, Blair Stephenson, and H. Ownby. Between the banner and John, nothing more need be said. John D, superintendent by day and night, is actually living out his second childhood he gets to sky dive, attend parades, fly gliders, and hang out with the wild and crazy 20-year-olds in a town that is only better now than the one we remember. Rick GRANDJEAN owns a family physician practice in Dallas; he and Kathleen are building a new home in Dallas’ “doctor district.” Flip KECK, a captain for American Airlines, is a DC-10 fleet supervisor and proud dad of Derek (’96), now anF-15jock. Flip and Jan are building in the Rockies. Dave BAUER is a program manager for Northrop-Grumman’s Commercial Military Integration Program. Bill MCGRATH, most recently in London as the executive director of Air Transport Products and Services-Raytheon Training, Inc, is now driving the family taxi for the youngest two of their six kids, enjoys close supervision by wife, Renie, and loves his new work garb (shorts, tees, and no shave.) Marty PAGE is a living icon for Southwest Airlines, and according to H., is the primary reason Herb Kelleher chain-smokes and pulls his hair out. He and Gayle live in Plano. Blair —

STEPHENSON, who owns MarketLink in Dallas, is one of the Class’ computer gurus. Blair and Charlene live on one of the top 10 golf courses in North America. H. his own self father of John (’03), is —

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one of the few

remaining propeller-qualified aviators and continues to raise the Class and Raven profiles at events far and wide. Clearly winning the prize for most get-togethers, the North Texas crowd rallied again during the past quarter, at Los Colinas in Dallas, this time for a celebration of the founding of the Air Force Academy. (See phogo on next page.) Attendees included Ed and Carol GARRARD, Rick and Kathleen GRANDJEAN, Rod and Joan WOOD, and H. OWNBY with Kathy Berger. Had dinner with Chip WOOD and A1 HUNT in May. Chip was in town

Mike Goode and Steve Edelman with AFA1969. Classics all. 100

consulting for Freddie Mac and the City of Frederick (MD). He and Barb are nearing completion of their home in Punta Gorda, FL, and hope to take advantage of better water and favorable winds to launch the SweetPea more frequently this year than last. Al, who owns his own company in Santa Barbara, was here at a trade show. He is developing some spiffy technology that lets police see through walls and map houses and identify armed bad-guys.

Christopher York ’04 attending the Doolittle Raider Reunion in May. Joe’s dad was one of the Raiders. Forgot to mention in the last issue that at the Academy’s Founders’ Day celebration in April, we had the

youngest cadet in the Wing cut a cake with the oldest grad. That youngest cadet was John and Marilyn DEEILIPPO’s son David, who just com-

pleted his doolie year. Speaking of doolies who just completed their four-degree year, check out the pix of Bill and Connie BENEDICT with son Connor ‘04 at our Reunion.

Saw Joe and Missy MCCLELLAND in June.

They were dropping son

Brian off for a week at the Academy’s lacrosse camp. Hopefully, Brian will join the cadet wing in a year or two. Joe managed a few rounds at

Celebrating thefounding of USAFA are Ed and Carol Garrard, Kathleen and Rick Grandjean, Joan and Rod Wood, Kathy Berger and H. Ownby.

Jeff TRENTON is teaching night courses at Old Dominion University,

working diligently on his tennis game, battling shoulders and in the thick of parenting with wife, Karen, their two young’uns (the youngest of which just turned two. Two? Yes, two (2). Match that if you can!). Bar is always open in the Virginia Beach area for those of you there on business or pleasure. Darrel WHITCOMB is gearing-up to write a second factual book on rescue, this one to center on Desert Storm. Here’s hoping Darrel produces the seminal work on the subject! If your portfolio hasn’t recovered yet, it will. So says Steve KIRBY, among other class wise men. ‘

the links and came away muttering to himself after putting the famous

Eisenhower greens. Now he knows how I feel every weekend! Ken GREENE made a quick touch-and-go here for graduation. We missed each other, but caught up on old times through the email net. Ken dodged a few tornadoes on his trip out here and then went to Florida to visit his son Kevin and dodged a few more there. Seems Patti has told Ken to get a job so he is volunteering at a local golf course as a marshal so he can play for free. Ken says it is in preparation for his joining the Senior Tour, where he will win the big bucks. Patti was jetsounds like a good deal ting off to Sweden for her job for two weeks better than dodging tornadoes and living with Ken! —

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Finally tracked down Chuck and Pam GRAY, who were conspicuously absent from the last reunion. Found Chuck dodging alligators down in Louisiana he was on the Animal Channel one evening they were using him as bait. He and Pam are doing a bang-up job running their own medical supply business. Actually, Pam is doing all the work and Chuck is usually found fishing in the bayous around Shreveport. They promised not to miss the next reunion. Pat COLLINS dropped me a note. Seems a bunch of ‘70 men with a fondness for horses got together at a gathering called “Thunder over Louisville” the kickoff event for a two-week round of parties prior to the Kentucky Derby. Bob HILB, Charlie BOBBISH, George RAYL, and Bob BASKETT joined Pat at the festivities. Here is a small rundown on the gang. Bob and Barbara Hilb have been with UPS since‘88. Bob is a manager in the Advanced Flight Dept and a management captain. Bob Bob is a 757 captain. and Kathy Baskett are also long time UPSers Pat (Carol) has hitched his wagon to UPS and is a Flight Standards suclaims he gets to France on occasion rough pervisor on the A-300 life! Charlie and Karen Bobbish live near Boston where he runs a very successful consulting business. Charlie recently got his pilot license and he flew from Louisville to Owensborough to pick up some BBQ for the party. Unfortunately, he got way too much guidance from Rayl and Baskett during the flight. My old BCT roommate George (Mary) Rayl is still a check airman with Continental. Here is a great picture of the usual suspects captures best what I remember about George during BCT. This was his usual position while I was buffing the floor. Pat promises a similar gathering next year and wants more ‘70 men to make the trek. Looks like a good time! —

Til next time. Cheers to all.

Lindsey

Dick Rauschkolb 14640 River Oaks Drive Colorado Springs, CO 80921 Home: (719)487-0887

Work: (719) 472-0300/DSN: 333-2067 E-mail: Dick.Rauschkolb@usafa.af.mil Percent members: 69

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Are you ready for some football! By the time you read this, football season.will be here. Can’t believe we are opening up with Oklahoma.

let’s hope we Fisher has a way of getting the team up for big games pull off the big upset. As for the rest of the season, I am going with an —

8-4 prediction

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play 12 games this year. We will win the CIC tro-

phy again and hopeliilly go to a decent bowl game. Everybody is toutwhich is sort of scary— ing our defense and our returning lettermen because I didn’t think we had a very good defense last year! Especially after watching mighty Fresno State rip us for 24 second-half points at 34-31. the Silicon Valley Bowl. We were lucky to win that game Chance Harridge may be the QB of the future. He is only a sophomore and he looked good in spring practice. John and Linda DISOSWAY are flying in for the Oklahoma game. John he specifically asked called and asked me to line up some golf for him to play with some good players, which leaves me out! I quit smoking a few months ago, after 35 years. It really is great. I have gained 12 pounds had to buy a new wardrobe. I have had two kidney stones (and let me just say men, that one of those gives new meaning to describing pain!). Missed more work in the last month than I did in 28 years in the Air Force. And my golf game has taken a nosedive handicap is climbit is higher than it has been in the ing faster than the space shuttle last 10 years! So if you are thinking about quitting, just consider this positive testimonial to all the benefits. —

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The Class of 2005 showed up on 28 June. Carroll HUNEYCUTT’s son Tim spent the night before entry at our house with one of his high school buddies. I saw Doug and Susan CARLSON at in-processing they had just dropped off their son Michael. It is always good to be around young people and see the great potential they have to be super cadets. Joanne York dropped me a line and some pictures (see pages 28 and 29) of C4C —

George Rayl assumes the “Back Leaning Rest Position” he perfected at USAFA. On lookers from left are Bob Hilb, Bob Baskett, Charlie Bobbish,

and Pat Collins. Founders’ Day in April allowed several ‘70 men and their brides to enjoy a great time at Doolittle Hall. Roger and Sharon HILL, Rich and Nanci DOWNING, Bill and Donna PORTER, and Jack and Margie MUELLER joined Marilyn and me at the festivities. We toasted Jay BERRY (Chris) he was pinning his second star on the same night. Jack NORMAN said it was a great ceremony for Jay. The AOG hosted a reception for the graduating flrsties in April—Bill and Donna PORTER, Tooey and Carol EMERY, and Collie NORMAN (Vicki) helped welcome the class of ‘01 into the graduate ranks. It was great to see Collie after a long number of years. He is a lawyer in Greenwood Village, CO and heading up a consulting firm called Consensus Builders Inc. Should be a piece of cake job ‘70 was always great at —

Happiness is being a recognized fourth classman!

101

achieving a consensus—just ask the members of the last three reunion committees!

Paul D. Knott

Kudos to Tom WASKOW and former roommate Tim KIN NAN for getting their third stars! Tom did a superb job as the PACAF Director of Air and Space Operations while lowering his handicap to six. Tom and Sheila will be moving to Japan where he will be the Commander of US

5565 Lantana Drive

Colorado Springs, CO 80915

Home:(719) 570-9162 Work (719) 594-0100 E-mail: pknott@acninc.net Percent members: 55

Forces, Japan and 5th Air Force. Tim must have wowed them in the Joint Staff where he had a tough job as the number two guy in Plans and Programs. Lots of long hours and stress. He and Sue are being rewarded with a nice tour to Belgium. This is an assignment that should

get your handicap into single digits Tim! Heard from some former Prep School buds and got visits from Chuck WFIR and Wild Bill STEALEY and Denise. Seems Mike KELLEY (Caryn) is moving back to Andover, MA to be the vice president and general manager for sales and marketing at Dynamics Research Corporation.

By the time you get this column in your hot little hands, Reunion will be just weeks away. As AOG members, if you have email, you should have received several shotgun messages about this important event in our shared

history. According to the little graphic that Checkpoints in-

serts at the beginning of every column, 51

Wild Bill is also on his “A" game. Just come to Colorado and take ad-

percent of the class has at least an annual membership; about 350. The last all-call reached 186 of you! Some of you don’t have email, I’m sure, and some of you don’t want your e-dress to be stolen by the aliens. OK. Where are the rest of you? The easiest way to get into the database is to log onto the AOG Website www.aog-usafa.org and update your biographical information. Speaking of Websites, as of right now we have a shared Class of 1971

vantage of a classmate

intranet. 186 were invited, and 67 entered.

Actually, he is taking this position to see his beloved Red Sox and his golfing buds in D.C. figured they had taken him for all his net worth. Congrats Mike—well-deserved promotion! WC Weir has one of those I don’t think he missed big Ping ISI drivers and he hits it pretty good a fairway in 36 holes. We had a great dinner with Wild Bill and Denise. —

I am easy pickings these days! Where are those Marlboros when you really need them! Glenn and Sharleen LEIMBACH must be proud parents their daughter Nicole just won the Colorado State Tennis Championship and from all the press reports she is one of the best players in country. Pretty good for a freshman in high school! When I think of Glenn, I always see him limping onto the gridiron with his bum knee and giving it his all for the Falcons. He was one tough and dedicated classmate! Paid my respects to our classmates at the cemetery on Memorial Day always a moving experience when one walks the rows and sees the names of people we shared so much with. Tim SHARKEY, Harry SANDS, Jim SHIRLEY, Fran TOWNSEND, Dick CHRISTY to name just a few. And Dick HAINES an old squadron mate who died of an illness in ‘75. Hardly seems fair to pass away so young. I am sure you all do some reflection on this special day. Here is a picture of Tom WASKOW paying tribute to the Doolittle Raiders at a ceremony at the Punchbowl Cemetery in Hawaii. Tom is shown presenting a wreath with MGen (Ret) David Jones, a Raider and pilot. Disney also honored the Raiders —

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by having a premiere showing of the film “Pearl Harbor” aboard the USS Stennis. The festivities resembled a Hollywood premiere and the Raiders received several standing ovations. Tom and Sheila had a oncein-a-lifetime experience being able to share in such a moving tribute.

Tom Waskow pays tribute to Doolittle Raiders. TRIVIA: Gary BAXTER dropped me a line and asked a good question

about the photo from two issues ago that showed Tim KINNAN, Duane SCHULKE, and Gordy KING on the hills above USAFA. Who took the picture? Nobody even tried to answer the last issue's question John —

DISOSWAY beat Steve Melnick in a match at USAFA.

CLASS GIFT: Well, nobody stepped up and donated that first million for our heritage project; as a matter of fact, donations are languishing around $300K. Another mill should do the class nicely and preserve our legacy. When I hit the lottery sometime in the next six months the class gets half how is that for a pledge! All right folks, time to close this overly long missive and ask that you send in your pictures and info on all the great things you did over the summer. Have a super Fall! Arriba Falcones! —

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JOIN THE SABRE SOCIETY! YOUR MONEY HELPS FUND CADET WING PROGRAMS THAT

WOULD OTHERWISE GO UNFUNDED. CALL THE AOG FOR INFO.

102

On to better things. Richard REYNOLDS has earned his third star, and is moving from Edwards to Wright-Patterson.

If there are any active-duty colonels left, let me know about it! The O6 ranks on the active side are pretty much depleted. Dave PORTER and

Harry DAVIS both held their ceremonies at USAFA in late May. Harry’s contained a mix of solemnity and humor. Andy CERONI, John TIMMER, Steve MOTT, and I were there to make sure that both the ceremony and the food were up to the class’ high standards they were. In his re—

marks, Harry thanked the Academy and three very important women in his life for making him the steely-eyed killer of the skies, bon vivant, and all-around great guy that he is today. Due to his Academy training, his response to the challenges of his career was “Hey, I can do that.” The three women in his life: his mother, his mother-in-law, and his

bride, Cindy. Cindy and his family had collected photos showing his career and then put them together in a video. (Check Harry’s Website

Mystic Music for availability of copies.) After Lt. Gen. Dallager presented him all the official retirement plaques and gifts, and after we devoured mass quantities of lunch, we stepped outside to see a yellow or

1970 Corvette coupe owned by the honoree sitting in the parking lot.

Gordy KAGE and Bob MANNING were nice enough to send me invitations to their ceremonies at the Pentagon. For you guys, and for everyone whose ceremonies happened this year, let me offer my sincerest congratulations. You have contributed much to your nation by your efforts, and we’re proud of you. Now to the correspondence: Steve MOTT fired off a note after Harry’s big day. “I’ve decided I’ve been way too remiss in not staying more in-touch and involved with my classmates and the AOG, so I want to fix that. I called Harry this morning to let him know I’ll be happy to be the 28th Squadron rep for the reunion and am anxious to start rounding up the ‘Blackbirds.’” Thank you, Steve, for your aid with your squadron mates. Bob MANNING was at Rod BOATRIGHT and Gordy KAGE’s retirements: “I attended Rod’s and Gordy’s ceremonies. They were definitely high-quality affairs. Bob PETERMAN, Jerry O’SULLIVAN, Rusty SCHAEFFER and Rich FISHER were at one and/or the other. Unfortunately we didn’t get any class photos. Rich FISHER is with the Reserves and will have his ceremony in Ft Collins, also on 8 Jun. I have applied for a job with FEMA as a federal coordinating officer during major disasters. It will take a while to hear back on that one. Otherwise, I am working to contact local contractors and sell my skills on the street. That will keep me busy for a little while.” By Reunion, Bob, I am sure that you will be gainfully (and handsomely) employed. As an aside, I think that Bob’s retirement ceremony wins the pool for “closest to the

exactly 30 years” competition. Dan WACKER included this quick history: “I left active duty as a JAG in ‘80 and retired from the Reserves in ‘99. Worked for Mobil in New

York, Tokyo, London, and Fairfax for 19 years, ending with work on our merger into Exxon after which I took a golden parachute and retired last year. Hope to see you at the reunion.” Bob DENARO was kind enough to send his recent history. “Short form: After 17 years in high-tech in Silicon Valley I found myself here in the suburbs of Chicago in ’93. Seven years as VP of Motorola, now Sr. VP of I’m a sucker for a challenge Rand McNally so I took on the task of turning this 146-year old company (!) in the direction (pun intended) of modern technology and electronic distribution of maps Internet, Palm top, wireless, kiosk, etc. USAFA-related news... I have two of my kids at USAFA (is that a sort of dubious record for our class?). Actually, my oldest, Brian, graduated ’00 and is an electrical engineer at Yokota —

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Class of 1971

30th Reunion

USAFA vs. Army

31 October -4 November 2001 AFB, Japan

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and loving it! He was also a French exchange student and

MINNEGERODE recently at Bolling AFB, while attending the Executive Transition Seminar for impending retirement prospects. Yes, these two careerists are coming to terms with the inevitable need to retire

and move on to other (bigger and better?) things. If there ever was such a thing as a trophy for longest-serving agent in the OSI, Steve has to be holding it, just beating out Bob (Leigh) DOERR who retired last September. Steve was based in the D.C. area and looks forward to making the transition to the civilian sector, (i.e. needs a job)

Wings of Bluer while at USAFA. My daughter Tracy is about to become a two-degree. She’s a bio-chem major and a runner (X-country, track). So let me understand this... both my kids exceeded my GPA, my military

according to Brian! But he, too, claims to be in search of one and heartily recommends the ETAPS (that retirement seminar) to any retiring grads who have an available week on the calendar.

achievements, and my athletic prowess. Not that that was too hard to do, mind you, but I’ll buy a drink at the Wyndham bar at the reunion for

now

anyone who will join me in a discussion of how soft our Alma Mater must be today to explain my inferior performance to that of my kids! I have one more at home and I’m working on poetry or cooking for him to break this cycle (it’s not taking...). At any rate, I’m looking forward to seeing everyone this fall and comparing the attributes of rocking chairs or at least warm weather vacation spots!" The most recent post came from Mike UECKER. “My wife suffered a terrible horseback riding accident in February and her recovery will prevent us from attending the Homecoming and Reunion this fall, but I have a nephew in the Class of ’02 and hope to attend his graduation next June Week. Just to bring you up to speed on what I am doing, I am now the manager for Proposal Development for Modern Technologies Corporation, a small (1200+ and growing fast) technical and engineering services company serving primarily the DoD and NASA. Dayton is a great place for retirees. I see Hank LAUGHLIN at the base chapel almost every Sunday and hope to say ‘Hi’ to Rick REYNOLDS when he shows up to head ASC.” I had hoped to include a photo of Jim LAKE’S wedding in this issue, but space doesn’t let me. Go to the Class Intranet for a look at the newest bridegroom in the class. Jim, if I knew a good Greek blessing for you and your bride, I would end the column with it. If you attend Reunion,

Brian wraps up a “fun-filled” career in the Mobility Air Forces and is

trying to figure out how to translate vice commander of the Air Mobility Warfare Center into execu-speak so it can be properly presented on a resume. The AMWC is a collection of education, R & D, test and evaluation, and field exercise agencies resembling a university (of air mobility, perhaps?), and an interesting place to work. He enjoyed the challenge of preparing the next generation of mobility leaders for

the next war should it come, even including cadets from time to time, a group of which recently have been role-playing bad guys and refugees during a bare-base deployment training exercise called Phoenix Readiness (shades of Jack’s Valley?). Keeping all options open in this time of imminent change, Brian looks ahead while floating his resume in the halls of corporate America. (He half seriously is also getting fitted for his K-Mart vest....) Life is good! Thanks for the timely update, Brian! The only other thing I have to mention is that our class is at 49 percent AOG membership right now, so with just a bit of recruiting on the members’ part, we could possibly top the halfway mark before the next reunion. That would be great if we can do it, so get the word out to any missing classmates you may know of and shoot for this milestone. In the meantime, have a great summer and we’ll be in touch next fall again. Fortitudo Per Aspera.

I’ll learn one. Later. Dan O’ Hollaren 19803 Derby St

Bob Bell 13 Pacific Ave.

West Linn, OR 97068

Sinking Spring, PA 19608

Work: (503) 667-8554

Home: (503) 657-0299

(610) 678-3182/Fax: 678-4513 E-mail: rabell767@aol.com Percent members: 50

how are things going out there in the busy Hey Classmates of ’72 world of your lives? Know this sounds like a broken record, but I just need to hear from a few more of you to make this column longer, OK! —

The two emails I received just the other day come from Larry (Nancy) SOLHEIM and Brian (Karenn) VOORHEES, so without further delay, here goes. First to arrive from Port Townsend, WA was the message from Larry, where he relates the fact that he is now “retired,” having sold his half of his business (J & S Fabrication, Inc.) to his partner who wants to build it even bigger. Now time can be spent with Nancy prepping their house for sale, finishing the restoration of a ‘64 Amphicar and getting used to all that free time to fill up with things they like to do. There will be a new grandchild in February, making this # 2 for them, as daughter Kim and her husband wait out the inevitable along with fouryear-old Eli. Second daughter Trisha continues in her third year working as a National Park Ranger in the backcountry at Lake Ozette near the ocean, having graduated from the University ofWashington in 1998. Larry and Nancy plan to use the cabin at Lake McMurray as a home base when the primary home is sold, and then take the motorhome with a ‘66 Amphicar in tow around the country visiting lakes, rivers, etc., including anyone who is interested in no-notice hospitality checks. (I had to add that, Larry.. .you’re always welcome to drop in!) Now about this Amphicar thing it seems that Larry got involved in something unique here, and may have available to any interested buyer a “primo boat-car” which was German designed, but uses the British Standard motor and has many Lucas electrical components. Along with finishing any “honey-do” list items, this has to be keeping him busy. The one report he has of a classmate is on Stan (Carol) CLARKE, who is noted as a wine-maker (vintner) for a major vineyard near Yakima in Eastern Washington... unfortunately Larry and Nancy had to miss Stan’s tasting party/dinner. That is all at this time from the great Northwest. Thanks Larry! A few days after that report, Brian VOORHEES’ note came across the wire from McGuire AFB, NJ, so here goes. He ran into Steve (Ann) —

E-mail: danoh73@home.com Percent members: 41

My, how the time flies! Weren’t we just talking about summer in the city? Now we’re digging through the attic looking for sweaters and football pennants. The mail gods were good to me this past few months so I have pictures and news from some not-so-familiar faces for this column. So, sit down, strap in and light your burners! Since rank does have its privileges, I’ll start out with a letter from Maj Gen Bruce WRIGHT, currently commander of the Air Intelligence Agency plus the Joint Information Operations Center. Despite through his own admission flunking Comp Sci, he was on his way to a “cyberwar” meeting in the D.C. area. He credits the bright young talent coming up in the ranks for keeping the “bad guys” on their heels and making us “old guys” look good. He and his bride, Kerri, are the proud parents of daughter Jaina, a third degree and a member of an exceptionally capable and optimistic group comprising the Cadet Wing, —

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per Bruce’s observations. He ran into a few others on his travels... John REGNI is 2AF commander at Keesler; John BARRY is at AF/XPX; Joe SOVEY at SAF/AQ; “Mitch” MITCHELL at AFSPACE as the DO; Nordy

(or is it Norty, I can never remember!) SCHWARTZ, 11AF commander; and Jeff KOHLER at AF/XO; Bill RAKE with SW in LSV (not sure which

floor of the Pentagon that department is in!). Bruce says he can’t tell me what he does, exactly, but that we should be grateful for it and that he knows what each of us is doing right now! John NOSS wrote with some updates on a few classmates. John is currently a senior military scientist for Simulation Technologies, Inc., supporting HQ USAF/XOCW. For those of you who have been out for a while, that translates into Wargaming and Experimentation. (Say, isn’t that what we used to do during finals week at the Zoo?) He gave me a lead on Gene OGILVIE. If I were a betting man, from Gene’s email address, I would say he is basking in the warmth ofWaikiki while stationed at Hickam. Working with John is Charlie CLATTERBAUGH and Drew SMITH. Two floors down, but no less important, is John PRETZ, gain-

fully employed by Scitor. Mike NISHIMUTA wrote as well and included photographic evidence of Larry BALASH’s retirement ceremony in Tucson, AZ, on May 14th. Don MCMILLAN, a B757 F/O for USAir in Florida, also flew in for the festivities at a full-scale CS-40 reunion. An interesting irony in the cer103

emony was the attendance of their first AOC, Brig Gen (ret) James M. Johnston III, who presided over the event. He was there at the begin-

ning of Larry’s career and returned for the swan song. Larry and his beautiful spouse, Janie, will move to Johnstown PA and continue working in the reconnaissance field. Mike reports Larry’s seven children and two grandchildren were well represented. A little known fact at least to Mike and I was that Larry once recovered an inverted KC-135. Now that might be a good one to hear about over a couple of good Northwest microbrews! Thanks, Mike! —

—

ances. From the sound of their

quit their day jobs.

golf scores, I would advise them not to

But a good time was had by all. Ernie was looking

forward to a C-130 reunion at Dyess in July.

John ZWIEBEL wrote to say he had jumped the Cisco ship and landed with Procket. John’s still in the Silicon Valley crowd the ONLY place to be if you’re going to succeed in the network business, according to —

John. To prepare himself for the “plunge back into IP multicast,” John drove up Highway 1 around Big Sur to the Ventana Inn. Spent some restful time there and is now back to his old self. When he’s not busy networking, John can be found responding to offensive newspaper artides in the local San Jose rag. Received a note from Pat and Joyce ROONEY, still at home in San Antonio. Pat is commanding a many-motor for Delta (I think) out of

Don McMillan, Janie Balash, Larry Balash, Sallie Johnston, Brig Gen (Ret) Johnston, Catherine Nishimuta, and Mike Nishimuta at Larry's re-

tirement. Mike ARNETT brought me up to date on the Rampart Chapter of the AOG. Apparently a major gig on Space Operations, sponsored by the Air Force Association, was held at the Broadmoor in May. From the

agenda of featured speakers, I’d say the Class of‘73 rules! Doug ‘Spider’ RICHARDSON, CC of the Space Warfare Center at Schriever, in addition to the aforementioned distinguished list of astral zone classmates, graced the dais with their eloquence and loquaciousness. Mike was impressed with our class representation in the space business. Now we just need an astronaut. Rob MITCHELL is still watching the sun rise and set from northeastern Wyoming. He retired from the AFRES in 1997 when the demands of a Reservist became more than he could give (sound familiar, all of us in the Guard/Reserves?). He is still working for the State ofWyoming, running their computer network, and finds supervising computers beats people any day! As we have heard before with other classmates, Rob is amazed at what he is doing when he looks back at his struggles in Comp Sci! On a more serious note, Rob went in for a routine prostate check

and ended up having a c-section to remove a way too large pelvic tumor. Although it looked like Rob dodged a benign bullet, it reminds all of us at or beyond the half-century mark to keep an eye on certain parts of our anatomy that may be heading south. Michael HAY wrote from a layover in Tokyo. A B747 captain with Northwest, Michael calls Mission Viejo, CA home. He and his bride, April, recently celebrated 26 years together. Twenty-four-year-old son Steve is at RPI in New York, excelling in Comp Sci/EE, while writing philosophy papers. Geesh, since when did kids get so smart? Two younger sons, Mikie and Mark, are budding artists still at home. If you’re in the neighborhood, watch out for a white, restored ‘84 Corvette pushing 600 bhp, burning rubber and trying to avoid Mission Viejo’s finest! Michael still holds a soft spot in his heart for “Zoomies” and looks forward to our next gathering in 2003. A potpourri of updates also came my way. Dennis RENSEL graduated from the Catholic University Columbus School of Law, and can be found sitting on a park bench reading the want ads. When he’s not doing that, he will be in Hawaii with the family relaxing after taking the bar exam. John and Suzy WIGINGTON have put themselves into mort—

gage debt in Madison AL near Huntsville, where he is the director of Intelligence Programs for Colsa. Don SEILER, Gennaro AWENTO and Paul GUTTMAN also felt compelled to let me know their new email

addresses, but nothing more. Okay, guys, I think you’re spending too much time on the computer. Addresses available on request. Paul was

looking for a current email address for Dave GESSERT. Can anyone help? From the Rebeleven camp, received a nice email from Ernie and Kathy MARAVILLA. They have set up residence in Houston, where Ernie is working as a network security engineer for Omitron and Kathy is with Lockheed-Martin, both supporting the Consolidated Space Operations Contract. Sounds like they survived the Houston floods through the foresight to buy a new home on “high ground”... that’s some fete in Houston! Son Jon and daughter Lindsay are both in the area now. Lindsay is a student at Sam Houston State majoring in elementary education. Ernie played in the Ben Martin GolfTournament with ‘73er (James) Mike SMITH. Mike is a federal account manager for Network Appli 104

Orlando. Joyce continues her busy schedule with travel, kids and teachth ing 10 grade English. Son Sean with bride Ann and little granddaughter Abby are nearby in Katy, TX. A new addition is on the way in June, so we’ll be anxious to hear the grand news. Daughter Heather is reading want ads in Dallas. If you can help out with an interview, she’s very motivated. Rumor has it she’s saving for a Camaro Z28 convertible. Watch out, guys! Son Matt finished his third semester at A&M and is looking for an internship in the Empire State. The welcome mat is out for anyone traveling through! As for me, had a great two weeks at Andersen AFB, Guam, in April with the medical squadron. Spent time both at Andersen, plus the Naval Hospital at the other end of the island. Got a tour of the USS Kitty Hawk while in port, and although it is an amazing machine, I’ll take the Air Force way of life any day! Way too many ladders and way too little space! I was there to see the P3 crew returning from an all-expenses-paid vacation to Hainan Island, PRC. It was moving to experience the patriotic turnout at Andersen for the naval aviators. Spoke with the vice commander of 13 Ih AF, classmate Jack JACZINSKI, in between the many demands of his position. I think he had just returned from Bangkok, poor guy. And in speaking with the base golf pro, Jack doesn’t miss many tee times, either. The weather there is around 88 during the day and then plunges to around 78 at night... everyday. Jack is there with his bride, Wendy. Their 21-year-old daughter is at SouthIllinois and their 18-year-old son is at St. Louis University. Jack is making tee times until Nov 2002, so give him a call if you’re passing through. Lots of ramp space for your jet. Well, let’s hope for a great football season. Autumn is in the air and the tailgates are coming down. Thanks for the responses this past few ern

months. See you in the fall! AMF & Check Six!

Joe Brezovic 1209 Bayou Oaks Drive

Friendswood, TX 77546 Phone: (281) 482-6860 Office: (281) 244-8325/Fax: (281) 244-8909 E-mail: jbrezl@prodigy.net or

joseph.brezovicl@jsc.nasa.gov Percent members: 45

Welcome, classmates, to this part of Checkpoints.

I hope all continand yours. I have several interesting emails to pass on to you all! Mike and Susan MALIZOLA wrote in from Franklin, ME. If you don’t know where Franklin is, it’s about five miles as the crow flies from the site of the new stadium for the New England Patriots (which they really need). The kids: Carolyn is finishing 6th grade, and turned 12 in June (going on 18, of course); Julie’s six (first grade in the fall); and Jeremy turned four in March (we call him the “fiscal year ues well with you

child”). [Howcome, Mike?) Carolyn’s in gymnastics and hip-hop dance; Julie’s in ballet, tap, and gymnastics; and Jeremy is signed up for an

“entry-level” hip-hop dance class in the fall. Jeremy dislikes toys; he only likes CDs and playing them on his boom box. His favorite artist right now is Samantha Mumba. Carolyn has taken piano (Yamaha school) trombone, clarinet, and now is begging for guitar lessons (which I cannot give her!). [As some of you may remember, Mike is a ‘keyboardman’!] Sometime I envy you guys with your almost-grown-up kids. My wife and I both go through the mental exercise: “how old will we be when the last one’s gone to college?” (We don’t want to know the answer) [Mike, some of us would say to you “enjoy them while you can cuz they grow toooo fast.” I just had a short vacation. The amazing California Sequoias, the beaches and beach-volleyball in Santa Cruz, and the Grand Canyon visit I had with the family helped put life in perspective until another “refocus.”] A second letter from Dave DALEY; he had a busy spring. We had a mini-reunion in Alexandria, VA, of six classmates and their families the

Tuesday before Easter. It was on the occasion of my varsity cross-country teammate Dave HOGLUND visiting from Seattle (where he works

at Boeing integrating avionics for the F-22 after flying the F-15). Hoggie, Charlene, Melissa (16), and 13-year-old twins April and Sarah spent two nights with us and brought typical Seattle weather with them (in other words, it rained). Hoggie’s USAFA roommate, Brig Gen Rod BISHOP

(deputy chief of Air Force Operations in the Pentagon), also came to Two of my 12th Squadron classmates, Steve and Beth STERNE (flying for Southwest Airlines out of Baltimore) and Craig and Rite ANDERSON (a lawyer in Fairfax) brought their kids: Steven (15) and Marianna Sterne (10); and BJ(17),Ben(15), and Mary Carol Anderson (11). Our new neighbor Blair BOZEK (defense consultant) who was with me as an attache in Bonn brought some good German beer and his friend Kimberly, a former SAIC V-P who runs a wildlife refuge out of her home. Since Tai-Lee came back the week before from visiting her our barbecue.

sister in San Francisco voiceless and with a cold, I “catered” the BBQ. Tai-Lee still managed to fry some egg rolls and make a fruit salad. Beth

Sterne brought three platters of desserts and appetizers. I grilled hamburgers for the 19 people who all fit on our deck and the rain held off until 10 p.m. —just as we were moving inside. The eight kids all went

downstairs for karaoke and listened to Steven Sterne play his guitar, while we adults told war stories upstairs. [Ahhhh, kinda inspires one to have cook outs, too. Maybe, by the time you get this, the weather is still great to have gatherings... or maybe it’s time for tailgates!] This is from Andy SCROGGS: Yes I’m still at Scott. Holding down a “three-digit” job in LG. Will have been here going on two years in May. Kim is a GS-12 environmental specialist on the CE Staff at AMC. Drew, my oldest, is at Georgia Tech. Will Graduate in Bio-Chemical Engineering next year. Not even ROTC, no interest in the AF, (I failed). [Don’t feel bad, some of us share that burden, too.] Michael has one more year in high school, has two letters in golf already and I still have hopes he’ll go to USAFA. Anyway, about the reunion, if I calculate correctly this will also be the 50 th anniversary of USAFA. Should be a big deal. I think we should try to piggyback the 50th in some way with our 30th. Don’t know what's being planned but think it would be a good way to draw people in. Again, Kim and I are in St. Louis and have plenty of room so if you get near please call, we’d love to see you. Passed on from Ken and Maureen MCKEAN: I am now flying for Southwest Airlines and meet friends almost everyday on the job. My domicile is in Baltimore (BWI) where I run into Chuck HAND almost every week while checking in. Chuck is thinking about upgrading to captain, but likes his first officer schedule! I saw Doug FROST just before Christmas while working out during one of my overnights. Doug looks like he just graduated yesterday! Sam SCHUTT was in the new-hire class just before me in Jan ‘99 in Dallas, where I also ran into Lance BESHARA, who is one of our senior captains. Frank BREWER is the Southwest we raced for many years in the Air Airlines skiing race coordinator Force Invitational Ski Meet at Hill AFB until I retired in ‘96 (with Mark LEOPARDI who is now retired in Salt Lake City). I skied with Frank at Steamboat during the North American Airlines Ski Federation (NAASF) Ski Meet the second week of February. Frank helps keep Southwest at the top in the NAASF ski competition. He is also busy racing bicycles and working with our pilot union on our contract negotiations. Other Southwest Airline pilots who I have not yet seen include: Allen Edward ANDERSON, Steve BOZARTH, Glen CHINN, Ed FEENEY, Bob —

FINNEGAN, Jeff JACOBS, Ken KLIMES, Terry LEYSATH, Orv LINDSTROM, Scott MEFFORD, Jim NEMETZ, Mike SACRIDER, Jim SEYDEWITZ, John VEREB, and John VOSS. I am sure there are aJso others that I don’t know about.

It was not an easy transition to civilian flying after I retired. I had a four-year staff job at HQ ACC and none of the airlines would talk to me since I wasn’t current. Consequently, I trained with Great Lakes Airlines (United Express), then trained and was furloughed from Valujet (along with Merrill BEYER) after their accident. Merrill helped me get hired there and he was subsequently furloughed three more times at other airlines within a year before he finally was hired at United. We get together (he, his wife, Karen, my wife, Maureen, and myself) for visits and skiing at his time-share condo in Massanutten. The last time I talked to him, he was en route to President Bush’s inauguration. After Valujet, I flew with Trans States Airlines (TSA/Trans World Express) out

of St. Louis. While there in 1998,1 ran into Brian BADGER who was also training with TSA. He quit a month later to fly with FedEx. While staying in St. Louis, I had a crash pad at Sam Hollins’ house (Class of 1975 in 16th squadron) for over a year. Sam has worked for Northwest Airlines for some time and flies B-747s to the Pacific Rim. While on one of my trips out of St. Louis, I ran into Pat CORRIGAN (FedEx) who jump seated with me. Finally, in 1999 Southwest Airlines hired me. I still live in Hampton, VA near Langley AFB where I retired in 1996. Here I get together with Gary SAMBUCHI (and Kathy) who also retired here in 1996 and now is a contractor at HQ ACC working Red Flag issues. Dave RUSK also lives

here in Yorktown—he now works for FedEx. Bob WILLIAMS lives across the James River from me in Virginia Beach and works for CBN. John ‘Moon” Rivers was the ISptGp and 1FW commander here at Langley AFB and was known to bend a few elbows at the O’Club before he moved back to the Academy where he now serves as the vice commandant. While on the road, I have opportunities to visit a few other friends: Frank and Chris MURRAY in San Antonio, and Spike MURPHREE in Las Vegas (he works for AGOS at Nellis). I also try to keep in touch with a few others from our class: Andy and Kim SCROGGS are at Scott AFB where he spends his time golfing (he says he is the chief of Logistics Readiness); Terry GILBERT just retired and is contract flying the B-737 in Dallas (I hope to get him on at Southwest); Fred STONE flies with US Air (or is it United?) and lives in Coraopolis with his wife, Rita; and Pat CARLTON tried to get me hired (unsuccessfully) by American Airlines. We hope to move out to the Las Vegas area later this year where I am sure I will see lots more of our classmates. Unfortunately, we missed the 25th reunion, but hope to make it to the 30th. If anyone is in the Hampton Roads area, give us a call we’ll go to Harpoon Larry’s, have an adult beverage and eat some terrific seafood with a few of the other bros! Dave DALEY had an interesting date with Angela Perez Baraquio, the reigning Miss America from Hawaii. “We met in the Pentagon.. .Well, after three tries at Miss Hawaii, she finally made it to the national contest this year. And in the months before nationals, she prayed hard that she would win, not for herself, but to have the opportunity to deliver her message. Now she’s traveling about 20,000 miles a month (just about one trip around the world), delivering her message of promoting basic values in school. Like me, she’s appalled at the senseless violence in our public schools and feels that teaching respect, responsibility, and discipline can prevent it. Although I had hoped we could be together longer, my date with Miss America was cut short by another commitment (hers not mine—she’s obviously busier than I am). You’re probably thinking that my date with Miss America was rather unusual. —

I agree. Even though I had to share her with some 300 other people in the Pentagon auditorium for the 50th Annual National Day of Prayer, I still feel that I was the one she was talking to...” That sums all I’ve heard or received. If you find a moment, send in a

business card. This edition lists some of the classmates within a company. Perhaps there are more groups out there. I know that manda-

tory retirement is coming up for some of us July 4, 2002, so perhaps this listing may be helpful?

May you and yours continue to live long

prosper.

Jeff Hackett 2610 E. Stottler Drive

Gilbert, AZ 85296 Home: (480) 558-8703 E-mail: jhackett75@home.com Percent members: 50

THINK OF IT AS BEING AT THE CUTTING EDGE OF TECHNOLOGY.

Although the editorial staff has done everything humanly possible to it just isn’t give me a break on getting the normal column in here going to happen this quarter... too much non-stop fun with AT&T and USAFR over the past/next 40 days. If my “masters” let up soon, I’ll put the whole thing together in typical style from here at home or if they don’t, I’ll author it from my place of incarceration (they couldn’t possibly know how close I am to going “postal”). In either case, by the time you read these words, the fruits of our efforts will be posted on the class website (http://www.tc.umn.edu/~carlsonj/). For those of you who don’t have access to the Internet my apologies and... geez, get a life! For you, it truly is later than you think! —

—

Ernie Woollard 216 E. Goettler St.

Scott AFB, IL 62225-1710 Home: (618) 744-1044 / Work: (618) 256-7948 E-mail: evw76@aol.com Work e-mail: Ernest.Woollard@scott.af.mil

Class Website:http:/ /www.AFAcademy.com/76 Percent members: 45

Hello Fellow ‘76ers, I sure hope you all had a wonderful summer and are now preparing for the BIG EVENT... our 25 th reunion! The writing of my normal artide has been overcome by events: the high school graduation for daughter number two and her subsequent send-off to Lackland AFB for basic training, the planning of deployments to Turkey and South-

105

Class of 1976 25th Reunion USAFA vs. Army -

31 October

4 November 2001

the writing of personnel reports and decorations, never ending PowerPoint presentations for senior leaders... and all at 55 percent of authorized manning (no, the family was manned just fine for the graduation). However, don’t be distressed... I’ll have all those updates and more in our fall ‘01 publication.

west Asia,

I do want to make sure that you all have received the information for

Silver Anniversary Reunion. Dan BEATTY has done a “bang-up” job putting together a fun-filled weekend’s worth of activities. Of course, our headquarters is the Antlers Adam’s Mark once again, with activities beginning at check-in on Wednesday, Oct 31 (costumes/masks optional). Scheduled events thus far include a golf tournament, heavy hors d’oeuvres social, USAFA tours and briefings, memorial ceremony, class dinner, and of course the AF vs. Army football game Saturday. This will probably be another whirlwind, non-stop affair, so... catch your breath early! If you have questions, or this article is the first correspondence you have seen concerning the reunion, please give Dan a our

call at: DSN 692-6160, COMM (719) 554-6160 or (719) 488-1962 (H), or email: whrlybrd76@aol.com or daniel.beatty@peterson.af.mil. Once again I apologize for the brevity of this update. Please also reference our class news at www.afacademy.com/76/. The site continues to provide great updates on our classmates’ activities across the globe. Hopefully we will have a great caravan moving westward from southth th western Illinois on/about the 29 or 30 of October... all parties ready for the BIG 25 th ! Hope to see you all there! Fly Safe, Ernie.

John J “Lou” Michels, Jr. 5107 Juglan Court

Centreville, VA 22020 H: (703) 802-6611 W: (703) 712-5350 Fax: (703) 712-5050

E-Mail: jjmichel@mwbb.com

PERRAUT (Joann) who handles the “engine room” in XPP. Rick is also a former Hurlburt alumnus. I had dinner with him and several others down there about a year ago. Looks like the beach party is over for now. Thanks for the help, Ken. Beth McNULTY wrote from Glasgow, MT (there used to be an Air Force base there, SAC of course) where she works for the National Weather Service and as a Reserve forecaster for the blue-suiters. She and Jack have one son heading to Japan in the Marines and a high school senior daughter looking into one of the service academies. Jack apparently has it made, doing the househusband thing and enjoying the great outdoors. I know the scenery is better there than here, for sure. Rex WILLIAMS (Linda) has, by the time we read this, moved from Kunsan to Eglin. Just beating Rex out the door from Korea was John FOUSER (Debi) who was the Support Group CC there. John also left for beach world, headed for Hickam in civil engineering. Rex almost 11 years, takes the prize for the longest service break in our class between 1982 and 1993. He is now a chaplain, but reports that Jim —

GLASS (Susan) came back as a chaplain after a 16-year break in 1998. Rex commented that he is almost certain Jim is the most junior ‘77 guy on active duty since he is still a captain and probably will remain one for several more years. Do we still have any 1st Lts on active duty? I know there has been some talk of retrograding my promotions back to Basic Cadet, but I haven’t seen anything on paper yet. Thanks a million for the heads up, Rex and I hope to see you next time I’m in the

panhandle. Steve BAUMGARTNER (Lisa) dropped me a line to report that he re-

tired in June 2000 out of the Ops group at Charleston and now lives up in the mountains in North Carolina. Steve notes that he is “doing some

property management, soccer refereeing and firefighting in a small town called Murphy.” Sounds ideal to me... nice to hear from you after all

these years. COFFEE TABLE BOOK I: Rob SHAW (Kathy) called me on his way through the D.C. area, but we ended up missing each other and I didn’t catch up with him until he was actually on an airplane leaving to go back to Denver. Rob’s company has an office located about eight minutes from my house, so we will see each other in the future, for sure. Rob works as a systems engineer for a government contract outfit with his offices in Denver. He bumps into John BURKE (Cathy) frequently and enclosed this photo:

Percent members: 42

Greetings from Northern Virginia where the traffic is bad, gasoline prices are high and the hot air rolls in across the river from the District. At least we still have electricity, which is more than I can say for those of you out on the West Coast. By the time you read this, summer will be over, but I hope everyone had plenty of time off and returned to gainful employment; tanned, rested and ready to pay the electric bills. THE ELECTRONIC MAILBAG: Thank heavens for email is all I can

say and many thanks to those of you who wrote in response to my whining in the last column (it seems the whining was not unnoticed by many

of you...). Here are some of the updates, courtesy of AOL and the other infinite number of ISPs out there. Sue RATCHFORD dropped a line through the class website to update Ratch’s email address and the news as well. Ratch retired in ‘97 and has worked through GE, UUNET and now for Nortel in Northern Virginia. Sue’s comment of the quarter: “I think it’s worse than the military; he comes home on Friday nights and leaves again on Monday mornings long enough to say ‘hi’ but not long enough to drop off his own dry cleaning.” This explains Sue’s other comment that Ratch has good intentions, but never seems to be able to find time to write. All is forgiven, Sue, and we will need to plan a Northern Virginia group meeting this fall. Dog CARMICHAEL (Maria) wrote to advise me that he is still doing ..

tax law and corporate workouts (what are those, anyway

—

repeated

lifting of audit books?) in Naples, FL and staying on a “short leash” when he gets up to Tysons Corner for legal work. Irrespective of the leash, Dog, give me a yell and I’ll see if I can lengthen my leash enough so that we can hook up. Ken PAGE (Joni) just finished up 18 months as the ABW CC at Hill and has returned to, as Ken so eloquently puts it, the “penalty box” at the Pentagon. He’s now the deputy director of C 2 at Headquarters Air Force. Ken bumped into a ton of people lately, including Rick NEWTON (Kathy), Jim WELSHANS (Kathi) and Jay FAWCETT (Susan) when he attended school at Hurlburt. All of these gents are supporting the Special Ops School as civilian contractors, as am I in my Reserve capacity when I teach a course on Russian Culture down there. Dave SCOTT (Leslie) missed the reunion dinner in Florida because, as wing commander of the Special Ops wing, he had to make a

night flight. Around the Pentagon, Ken runs into Joe FERRARA (Molly),

TC JONES (Lisabeth) where TC works as the Deputy XPP, and Rick 106

This shot was taken in the aftermath of a trip to the BVI with John’s and Rob’s families. The picture is actually taken outside of John’s house in Atlanta where John works in a training department for Delta (more on that later). Rob’s family is on the left and John’s is on the right, in-

eluding John’s son Patrick, with the broken ankle. Other than the injury, Rob reports it was a great way for them to celebrate their 20th wedding anniversaries. Rob reports that Scott SCHOFIELD (Beverly) also works in a training department, but at United, and commands the Guard C-21 outfit at Pete Field. Gary HAMOR (Ellen) is up in Loveland where he works in the hi-tech world as the cofounder of his own company. Tom LOGAN (Rochelle) flies for United and Dave BOYARSKI (Jane) is still working for Lockheed Martin. Both Tom and Dave recently retired as ALOs. However, Rob continues on along with Earl ENIX (Candy) in between his flights for United. Rob chats frequently with Jim STAVA (Holly) who lives out in Park City, mainly to compare notes about their graduating high school seniors, along with the Burkes. Thanks a million for the updates, Rob. I hope the Lake Powell vacation went off without a hitch. COFFEE TABLE BOOK II: Stan HILL (Cindy) wrote me a massive missive updating the Delta pilots’ group in detail. Stan is a second officer instructor on the 727 and has recently moved from lovely Fort Walton Beach to Atlanta to cut down on the commute hassles. Having flown

from Atlanta to Fort Walton Beach on many occasions (and been delayed on almost everyone of them) I can empathize. Bob RUDOLPH

and talk with the satellites (i.e., command and control of them

(Jan) is now in Tucson after giving up instructing on the 757 for North-

Biola University in La Mirada, CA to major in broadcast journalism. The other daughter, Jocelyn, just finished her freshman year in high

west and moving to the captain’s slot on the DC-9.

While they were at

the beach, Stan and Cindy bumped into Bruce and Gina BELSER; Bruce also flies for Northwest as a captain. Tony BENEVENTO (Kristi) has

moved to Pensacola where Tony attended divinity school. Stan occasionally bumps into Matt COATSWORTH (Liz) as Matt cycles back and forth between Hurlburt and anywhere else. Stan notes that Dave PODOLNY (Cec) is pushing metal for Southwest and Tom DOLLAHITE (Holly) is with American and headed back to Texas after a particularly

—

a.k.a.

He reports that one daughter, Alexis, is headed to

Doctor Doolittle).

school. At a recent Wing King (WK) Conference, Larry reports that Roger BURG, who’s finishing up as WK at F.E. Warren AFB, is headed to STRATCOM (that’s SAC, boys). In other news, Roger WORLEY will take

brutal winter in Kansas City.

command of the 30 th Space Wing at Vandyland, CA. In a moment of delusion, Larry says “Beat Oklahoma.” More Acronyms Than You Can Shake A Stick At: I firmly admit that an email from IMA (yes, another one) Larry KRAUSER has me baffled. He’s been an assistant project officer (APO) for Roving Sands 2000 (Feb-

Rich HOUCK (Teri) and Stan had the occasion to fly together when Rich was working as a captain instructor in the 727. Stan also got to play softball with big Jack CASEY (Lori) and noted that Jack, when he has to, can still pound the ball deep. Jack is now working as a 737 captain flying out of New York, but still lives in Peach Tree City outside of

Jul 00) at Suffolk, VA; a member of the JPG for Operation TOPOFF (fill her up, but actually meaning Top Officials); an Antiterrorist/Force Protection Officer (A/FPO) on the JFCOM J3 staff at Norfolk, VA; a member of the 953 rd AFJSU; and finally got a real job as 17 TRW/XPO at Goodfellow AFB, TX. Whew, I’m exhausted. But, he wasn’t done while

Atlanta. Stan noted that many of Delta’s recently-hired from the class owe a big thanks to John BURKE who, while working at the headquarters for Delta, threw in a few good words when ever he saw a classmate’s application go by. Stan closed with a comment about my unsmiling humorless visage in the Winter Checkpoints asking “when was the last time someone was executed for testifying before Congress? Was it really that bad?” Actually, the laughing part occurred when I started talking, Stan. Thanks for the great letter; I’m going to use more of it in the next column. SIGN OFF: As for the rest of you, who I know see people frequently, send me a message. I look forward to seeing a bunch of you for the Navy game here on Oct 6. Please let me know if you are going to be in town, my firm will have a box at the stadium and we can use that as a rally point. In the meantime, be seeing you.

reporting that Bert WOHL is trying to decide whether or not to become a beltway bandit in D.C. or New Mexico or get out. Also, Ric GRISET is J4 at JFCOM in JFC’s JTF-Civil Support. Anyone for KFC? Please, No More Acronyms: Just send a picture, so I don’t have to write, please. So here goes:

T. J. “Bahaska” Whitehair 1205 South view Drive

O’Fallon, IL 62269 (618) 632-1423 E-mail: Bahaska@intertek.net Percent members: 41

y§|s#

Here’s a picture of the old guys from the parachute team attending

Jim HALSELL’s fifth space shuttle mission (STS-101). They are from left, Bob CONTI, Jess HAMILTON, Ray KING, Deon GIEG, and Ron ROSEPINK. For three days they waited for launch with no results... it

DOG DAZE OF SUMMER It’s from Monty: By now, Air War College

should have three new

gradu-

ates in Dave COX, Moses STEWART, and Bo MARLIN, all Colonels, One

Each, Issue. CS-04’s Dave COX reports that he’s the IMA (that’s Individual Mobilization Augmentee) or in his words, “token Reservist” to the vice commander at Patrick AFB, FL. and has been full-time Reserve for the past seven years.

Where? Well, I’ve been taken to task yet again by some Monday morning quarterback concerning my lack of knowing what the hell’s going on. Nothing new here. But, I’m supposed to know what’s happening at some podunk, hole-in-the-wall, tiny, no name Air Force Base in, of all places, Columbus, MS. Well, Dean MATCHECK, you now have your name in lights. Just don’t freeze like some deer in its tracks. Dean is flying as a part-time Reserve T-38 IP (i.e., In Practice) and part-time Delta pilot. He reports that Bert “Nerd” CONROY just retired and is well into his next career as a Delta panel pilot. In addition, Greg KAISER finally retired and got picked up at FEDEX. Their hero, Russ FRASZ, is the OG despite his background as an airlift puke (you know, the guys who get there first with the most), but in spite of that shows no interest in the airline thing. There you go Dean, THE REST OF THE STORY. Memorial: Well, he made it. Don HASKELL was tracked down by the AOG for Vincent J. Gratch. Vincent’s brother, Charlie GRATCH, as some

of you may recall, perished on May 6, 1981 along with 20 other individuals of the 4950 th ARIA stationed at Wright-Patterson AFB some 20 years ago when their EC-135 (#328) went down in Maryland. With the AOG’s last-minute help, Don HASKELL was located and could attend the big memorial/dedication of that awful, tragic day. Don remains close to the parents of Charlie and had remained in touch for many years, but unfortunately had lost contact over the last year or so. But, he made it. So, in special dedication in the memory of Charles Edward “Charlie G” GRATCH, CS-07, Rome New York, this column is hereby dediccited. Dog-Robber: The best way to get ahead in the AF is to be an executive officer for some general. So goes the way of Larry JAMES who reth cently took over as 50 Space Wing King at Schriever AFB in April after a stint as the head dog-robber for Gen EBERHART (‘68), CINCSPACE and Commander of AF Space Command. Larry’s new job is to walk

did launch, nearly a month later. In a 23-year update (with picture courtesy of him), Deon still flies for Delta and just recently retired for the Louisiana Air National Guard as the 159 th Fighter Wing OG/CC. He lives near New Orleans known for Cajuns, swamps, gators, bead-throw—

ing drunks (don’t ask me what the hell that means), breast-baring babes, and some of the best fishing in the world. You Might Be a ‘78er If: You still hitchhike from Bijou Street. Quote of the Day: “What we do in life echoes for an eternity,” Russel Crowe said in “Gladiator.” Or, feed them to the lions. Maybe a thumbs up. Weren’t the Carthaginians supposed to lose? Sign Off: Well, gotta run. Party on, dudes. Brian Koechel 12819 102nd Ave. NE

Kirkland, WA 98034 (425) 821-8895 E-mail: Bkoechel@aol.com Percent members: 42

Greetings to all from the Pacific Northwest! As you are reading this, the Mariners should just about have their World Series berth all but in the bag. And since the input from all of you has been so outstanding, it’s about all I have to talk about. Seriously, writing these updates are difficult when there’s no information. Alan JOHNSON wrote me and said "nothing new” here. So I take that to mean all of you ‘79ers in the Hotlanta area are alive and doing well. Bob SWAIN dropped me a quick voice-mail. All is well with him and he’s still flying for US Airways. Believe he’s a captain now. Also, he’s pinned on colonel and is vice commanding an A-10 Wing in Louisiana. He is on the list for a Wing. Bob ran into Guy WALSH who’s now moved to Fairchild (he thinks) commanding a Wing up there. Bobby Edmonds dropped the following note and pix: “Here’s a picture of my family and one of the owners of the St Louis Cardinals on 131FW Day at the Cards vs. Reds game 2 June. We recognized the three Airmen of the Year and the Officer of the Year for 2000 on the field before the game and I threw out the first pitch! From the 107

position. This is a new organizational culture, so I am still learning. I closed on the [house] purchase in New Hampshire over two weeks before the sale in Texas I was sweating bullets ‘til all the papers were complete for both. I knew I couldn’t afford two house payments!” At the Airport. As I was finishing my paperwork and heading out of the plane, I turned and saw Jared ASTIN. His card says he’s a PhD, PE., as —

mound, fastball strike (in the new MLB high strike zone!). Also, for the as curnews: my two years in command are up after a fantastic tour —

rently the only active duty guy commanding an ANG wing, this F-15 wing commander assignment has been perfect. We’re heading back to D.C. where I will be the AF’s point man in the U.S. Senate starting 25 June. My office will be on Capitol Hill, in the Russell Senate Office building, so I hope many classmates will visit me when they are in town for a special Capitol tour. Should be an interesting assignment as the Senate just changed leadership! Pretty humbling to be asked to do such a visible job.” Way to go Bob. I think many of us are envious of your recent foray into MLB! That’s it for now. Keep those cards and letters coming! Mike Ashley’s up next. Email him at trash79@earthlink.net Don Myers 401 Chambray Hill

Peachtree City, GA 30269-6916

(770) 631-1429 E-mail: DMyers80@hotmail.com Class Home Page: http://usafa80.tripod.com Percent members: 64

well as a Lt. Col. Jared is chief, Environmental Restoration Division at HQ AF Center for Environmental Excellence, Brooks AFB. I asked what he was up to and got something like, “Just waiting for the 0-6 Board.” I happened to be waiting to start a trip in the pilot lounge (with a gaggle of other folks) when I spotted the ever-friendly face of Pat (Eileen) YOUNGS. I had thought he was based in Dallas (closer to Houston’s space happenings), but he can command a better schedule by basing out of Atlanta, so there he was. Pat’s holding onto a senior B-727 right seat so he can be where he wants, when he wants. This is important when you are juggling kids, golf, and an astronaut wife. Pat went on the pro circuit for a while and is currently back on the amateur side of

golf. I don’t know much about the ins and outs of the game, but enough to know that when someone doesn’t have a handicap on the links that means he knows how to put the ball in the hole “real good.” Pat even represented the state of Texas in a recent tournament. I suppose we could say he’s staying busy. Sighting Report: Once again, Peggy (DENNIS) (Bob) CARNAHAN came through with some class info. She’s getting around much more in AA’s planes than in the T-37, so she’s seeing some different faces. “Just am VERY finished my first bout of recurrent training in the MD-80 glad that is over! Saw Jeff STURMTHAL at the AA Flight Academy. He’s training for the first officer seat in the 757/767 out of Miami; still doing the Reserve thing at Homestead, but contemplating retirement. (He really threw me when he walked up and called me ‘Peggy Dennis!’) World Airways contracted with United for their DC-10 sim. training, hence my hubby is out in Denver for several weeks. He saw Tom SPICER yesterday. Tom has been with UAL for just over a year (off probation a few months ago). He is working in their Test Office (not sure what that is) at their flight academy, and flying the 737. More info as I find it, although it’s been pretty quiet out here.” Tim “TJ” JOHNSON must have allowed ol’ Cupid in the door. By the —

time you read this he will be hitched to a schoolteacher, Alice, from Tennessee and

transplanted to Hampton Roads, VA.

She’s a great gal, and

As I peck out these words, it’s a day before Kathy and I leave to attend

since I’ve been married to an educator for the last 20 years, I can’t find

plus asmy family’s reunion. Yep, Mom, Dad, and all six of us kids sorted offspring. I’m sure the stories of our youth will be slightly exaggerated, given the years that have gone by. We haven’t done this for ages, which is a lot longer than it should be. Kind of how I feel about

any fault there. Kathy and I popped in after we heard about the engagement, met them at the O’ Club at Langley, and chatted over a bunch of free, greasy-but-tasty eats during Happy Hour (still celebrated at ACC

—

getting together with some of you, but at least I get this chance to share to pass along updates on some of our with you in this humble way classmates’ comings and goings. First, I want to shed light on a statement the AOG Board Chair made in the last Checkpoints. The context was getting more grads involved in theAOGand he mentioned, “In classes ‘72-‘92 over half of our graduates are non-members.” The class box at the beginning of my last ar—

tide showed we have 58 percent ahead of the curve, but I’ll concur there’s room for improvement. (If you look for your friends in the annual Register of Graduates, you can see who’s missing out on all this but they fun.) By the way, I get no commission from any increase promise to look the other way concerning a Form 10 they recently found —

—

in my misplaced dictionary!

OK, enough small talk. Diane JUHAS sent a short, informative update over the wire that needs little of my

meddling: “I recently moved to Bos-

ton and am working for a small, young (but well funded) company called

GoldPocket Interactive. We do interactive events for up to four million Currently, we’re doing an interactive event in conjunction with TBS’s Dinner and a Movie, which airs on Friday nights, and HBO’s On the Record with Bob Costas, which airs Wednesday nights. I’m director of Quality Assurance and Event Operations gleaned lots of relevant experience in the AF as an aircraft maintenance supervisor. It’s nice to know

Headquarters). We then drove out to see their new house before heading back south. If I remember correctly, we’re not supposed to enter a bunch of life “stressors” in close proximity: Let’s see, marriage, a new home... at least he’s putting off the retirement ceremony for a while. More ’80 Success: Seems Tony ARETZ, deputy department head for Behavioral Science at the Zoo, was recently named a fellow for the 2001-02 American Council on Education. The award will allow Tony to spend time at a university in Denver or Boulder while studying conflict resolution. As you hopefully know, I try to get a cross-spectrum of news in these updates to you. Lately, I feel like it’s been a little lopsided. I need your help to solve that please send me a brief email telling me what’s happening in your life. It only takes a couple of minutes. Also, I offered to let any of you be a “guest scribe” in any future issues; that offer stands. Finally, as you get this in the mail, it’ll be around that time of year on the Hill when textbooks are being issued and a bunch of Two Degrees gather around the clock to watch it tick-off to their commitment, if they still do that sort of thing. Do you remember when we got —

two shots at that? Beat the Dean! Don

users.

—

the civilian world actually values this type of experience and skill. I made it to Cocoa Beach, FL for Susan HELMS’ last launch—a spectacular dawn launch. It was also nice to escape New England’s blizzard of 2001. Did everyone see Susan introduce the Academy Awards from the International Space Station? It’s nice to have friends in high places!” Sue KOHUT let us know that Civil Service workers do occasionally PCS. She’s at Hanscom AFB, MA from San Antonio. “I won’t miss 110 I did this move as a civilian PCS for degrees this summer. Let’s see the follow-on assignment from my excellent two-year ICAP (Intel Community Assignment Program) with the JIOC (Joint Information Operations Center). It was a wonderful opportunity that was limited to two —

years. It provided joint/coalition environment operational experience and new skills that can only benefit for this Foreign Disclosure Policy 108

Dennis Ward 8300 Greentree Manor Lane

m&s.ii

ilSf

Fairfax Station, VA 22039-3214

(703)690-2741 E-mail: warddennis@earthlink.net Percent members: 45

Dave Gladman, R.I.P. We were very sorry to learn of the death of our classmate, Dave GLADMAN, in Ohio on June 5. Details were unavail-

able as this column went to press, but we express our deepest sympathies to Dave’s family. Bill Gates Ate My Homework. A couple columns ago I made an illthat was a considered crack about the Microsoft Corporation. Hoo mistake, which 1 found out when, not long ago, the long arm of Mr. Gates reached out to trash my email directory and the four or five pieces —

of correspondence I had received from classmates. So if this column is a little shorter than most, and if you sent me news that does not appear here, that’s why. It’s my fault; let me apologize not only for not maintaining adequate backup but also for the madness that drove me to

challenge the mighty and benevolent Microsoft Corporation. Thank goodness for Vance GILSTRAP, whose email proved impendous to the Wrath of Bill and contained numerous updates. Vance works for ESC but avoids that Boston traffic because he’s at their detachment at Pete field, managing the Shared Early Warning program, which is where we tell the Russians, “Trust us, comrades, none of our missiles are incoming, as far as you know.” Vance’s organization built the joint U.S.-Russian Y2K center that got us into the millennium without a thermonuclear war (that’s gotta count for something on a PRF) and is working on a joint early warning center to be built in Moscow, which will be

the first permanent U.S. military mission on Russian soil. Alas, Vance is giving all that up this summer when he heads to my old stomping grounds, BMDO, an organization whose work the Russians are less enthusiastic about. Vance and Karin stay young while keeping up with

Joshua (seven) and Alea (four). Vance also reports that Jon WICKLUND, at Pete in SPACECOM J-3, has accompanied him on several vodka-and-caviar runs to Russia and also helped save the world in the Y2K center. Jon’s got his retirement papers in and is looking to stay in the Springs. Vance was there when Larry DARBONNE retired from the back of a rolling flatbed truck (wait, let me check my notes well, Vance says it was “a moving ceremony”). Larry was also working for ESC at Pete, in the program office for Mobile Consolidated Command Centers, which Vance explains is “C2 for the counter strike if we’re ever annihilated in a nuclear meltdown.” Hey, someone has to ensure there’s no mineshaft gap... Vance, thanks for —

the update! No news from Dave STUDEBAKER, but his email inquiry did include a photo of someone Dave described as a “poster child from a bald con-

vention.” I don’t know what you mean, Stu; Diane’s hair is lovely.

A poster child from a bald convention and his lovely wife.

Kurt “Nubes” NEUBAUER wrote from National War College, where Warren “Wardog” HENDERSON and Andy GERNER are classmates.

‘81ers at ICAF include Craig “Jason” FRANKLIN and Mike “Decoy" Kurt says there’s lots of time for family relaxation when

SPENCER.

they’re not learning “strategery.” Kurt’s headed to Japan, Jason to Nellis, Decoy to the Joint Staff, and Wardog to the Air Staff. Heard from a confidential source that Bruce STARK retired out of the Pentagon in June and is moving back to the paradise of Ft. Walton Beach. He says the cane he’s been issued in acknowledgement of his advanced age comes in handy for sweeping the non-retired whippersnappers out of the way at the commissary. No word on what Bruce will be doing, but if you find out, let his wife Diane know; she’s already desperate to get him out of the house. Eugene O’NALE wrote from Korea, where he’s finishing up three-anda-half years split between Osan and Camp Red Cloud. Hammer and family are on their way to a hardship tour in Rome at the NATO Defense College, where classmate Terry DICKENSHEET will be a classmate. The course finishes in mid-February and the personnel people have assured Eugene he’ll get his assignment not a minute later than early February. Is that support or what? John Boy HART is hoping to get to the reunion but will cut it close, as

Class of 1981 20th Reunion/Homecoming

Does that say “Ostfriesland”? John, it’s already sunk!

he and the other MAKOs of the USAF Reserves’ 93 FS will be in their Vipers, keeping the world safe for something at El Jaber in the Persian

Gulf until just a few days before our class gathering. John’s the fulltime ops officer and Keith BEAM flies there part-time when he’s not in the skies with FedEx. John says they’ll try to bring back some laserguided bomb video for us to enjoy. In the meantime, he sends this photo of one of his Vipers, attacking this threatening vessel on the bottom of the sea. Still More Apologies. Terry LUST took the time to send me a “steenking letter” in January, which I could claim I was holding in reserve but actually just cleverly misplaced, which is why it wasn’t in last issue. Terry writes the scribe a minimum of twice a career, and this being the second time, he caught me up on a number of Mother Blue’s jolly ideas for him over the years. Terry went from intermediate service school at Quantico back to flying as an F- 15E WSO at Seymour Johnson, where he spent 19 of 36 months deployed. But hey, you pay your dues and you get your rewards, which in this case was “Involuntary Assigned to Jump Air Liaison Officer at Ft. Bragg.” Note the word “jump.” Turns out those jump wings you earn as a strapping 19-year-old can obligate you at any time in your career to... well, to jump, or separate. So Terry nd logged two years and lots of field exercises with the 82 Airborne, became a jumpmaster, and had logged 69 of those extravehicular excursions when he stopped counting... another typical assignment for your typical USAFA grad. Terry’s new reward is the Joint Warfare Analysis Center down the Potomac at Dahlgren, VA where he does things his scribe is not cleared to hear about. The biggest news is that another Lust has taken his first walk up the ramp; Terry and Sherry’s son Matthew is a member of the Class of 2005 (what kind of father lets his kid go to a school like that?). Finally, Terry reports impending retirement for three of our classmates: Marty WAUGH, out of Andrews for the airlines, Dennis “Moose” NORTHCUTT, at Seymour Johnson in F-15Es and also headed for the airlines, and Cliff UEHLIN, who’s at Omaha. Another new retiree is Eric O’CONNELL, who finished out his command of an F-15C squadron at Mountain Home and started with Delta in May. Eric sounded a familiar theme among the retirees I hear from: “Life has been great in the Air Force. But after many long hours, and with four young kids, it’s time for me to get back in touch with the family.” Finally, I received a confidential dossier on International Man of Mystery Tom FERGUSON, who’s flying for Northwest in Minnesota, where he and Roxanne (GOETZ, ‘82) are raising three daughters. Tom’s been with Northwest since ’89, when he thought he got out of the Air Force, only to be reactivated for that little dust-up with Saddam. Tom claims to have retired as a captain in some sort of weird post-war good deal, but my suspicions are strong enough to have the General Accounting Office look into this, even if Tom’s right when he claims the main benefit is getting company-grade rates at base golf courses. send me a note, and I'll do my Don’t make me sic the GAO on you best not to lose it. Hope to see lots of you at the reunion, which should be just a few weeks after you read this. If our Checkpoints editor is like Ebenezer Scrooge (and I didn’t say she was) post-reunion is like Christmas, where we’re given an extra-special helping of column inches in which to report all the reunion fellowship, jollity, and debauchery. So —

forget the National Enquirer

send those photos my way instead!

Jim Ratti 6329 Pheasant Valley Road

Dayton, OH 45424-7100 Home: (937) 236-9306/DSN: 785-9660 X281

rattijm@mindspring.com http://usafa82.org Percent members: 45

USAFA vs. Wyoming 10-14 October 2001

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|liv

i!|ffrcdpl|r

Hello Redtags! I recently had the pleasure of a short TDY to the Academy to attend a

business meeting for my program office. We used the AOG boardroom 109

in Doolittle Hall for our conference, and it was great. The AOG staff took superb care of us, the fee for using the facility was very reasonable, and the surroundings were magnificent. And I must say, the boardroom table that our class bought for the AOG on the occasion of our 10-year reunion is absolutely beautiful! Speaking of reunions, by the time this article makes it to print, we’ll be almost exactly one year from th our 20 ! Man, I can hardly believe it’s been that long. As I was commenting on this, Jim Shaw (’67, and AOG President) informed me that the Class of ’84 is now the median class! Of course, we’ve all aged well... There’s a ton of news this go-round. I guess the summer move cycle has heated up the old mailbag, so let’s jump right in. First off, our resident astronaut Steve LINDSEY sent me a note saying he was scheduled to pilot the shuttle on mission STS-104 in June. As it turns out, the liftoff was delayed due to problems with the space station’s robotic arm. th Steve genAs of this writing, Steve should be in orbit around July 12 erously offered to fly a memento for our class, and I sent out email to everyone with an address on file with the AOG soliciting ideas. Most of

and has been to Korea, Singapore, Australia, and Kwajalein. plans include Thailand and China.

Future

John AMRINE wrote to tell me that he, Pete LIVINGSTON, Dave PISTILLI, and Tony LAZARSKI all graduated from Air War College this June. John took over as the (I believe this is right...) deputy commander of the 30 th Ops Group at Vandenberg. No word on the others’ assignJohn and Pete both went to Turkey, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan on their AWC field trip, and had a great time snow skiing in Kazakhstan.

ments.

the responses I got suggested something having to do with the class crest or logo, so I offered up a piece of cross-stitch (depicting our ring

crest) that my mother made for me right after graduation. You can see all the idea submissions, and a picture of the needlework I chose, by going to the website (http://usafa82.org) and clicking on the “Special

Interest” button, then clicking on “What Can Steve Lindsey Take Into Orbit?” I’ll have the memento framed alongside one of Steve’s mission patches and a picture of him aboard the shuttle, and then he’ll present it to the AOG during our reunion next year. Kate SMITH is the proud mom of Aquinnah Hollis Smith, effective 5 Jan 01. The baby was seven weeks early, born by emergency C-section, and weighed just three and a half pounds at birth. Kate and the baby are fine now, and Kate’s pretty sure she’s the oldest first-time parent in the class. Any counters? You can see pictures of her baby by going to the website and clicking on the “Updates” button, then choosing the Apr-Jun 2001 button. Scroll down to Kate’s news and click the link. Here are some “quick bursts” of info I’ve gleaned. I learned from his wife that Steve PEARSON retired on April 6 th and is working for a company called Vector in Shalimar FL. Brian KORB is a financial planner here in Dayton, and has lived here since 1994. He separated in 1990, but spent the first four years in San Diego. He and his wife have three kids (13, 12, and 9). Phil BOSSERT is the commander of the 821 st Air Mobility Squadron at McGuire. Tom SYLVESTER is living in Raleigh and is a software guru as well as a published author. He’s written a program that allows you to plot the orbits of various space objects (like the shuttle!), and then use that data to locate them in the night sky. You can try it out by surfing to http://www.tomsyl.com. Fred DARLING is a DC-9 captain for Northwest, and is living in C-Springs. Doc KIMMINAU and his wife, Trish, (‘83) are all settled in at Offutt, where Doc is the commander of the 97 th Intelligence Squadron. Doc successfully defended his doctoral dissertation in May, and has finally earned the nickname that he’s had since our cadet days. Gary and Robin PLUMB emailed with what I’m fairly certain is a first for our class. It’s also a true milestone, as we can no longer claim we’re youngsters! Gary and Robin’s daughter Jackie entered USAFA with the class of2005 this June! Gary was the commander of the 411 th Flight Test Squadron at Edwards, and headed off to the Industrial College of the Armed Forces (ICAF) in August. Jim PI T TA R sent a note from Holloman to tell me that he and his wife just had their fourth child, and he included some pictures of a small reunion of Redtags. The occasion was a visit to the base by New Mexico Representative Heather WILSON. She was there as part of her in-brief as a member of the House Armed Services Committee. You can see the pictures in the Apr-Jun 2001 update section of the website. Jim told me that Matt (“Leif’) and Paula (DOREMUS) ERICHSEN (and their six kids\) have headed off for Air War College at Maxwell after leaving Holloman th as commander of the 49 Ops Support Squadron. Rick INGALSBE is the deputy commander of the 46 th Test Group there, but will have moved on to another assignment by the time you read this. George KRAMLINGER took the reigns of the 9 th Fighter Sq, one of the two combat-coded F-117 squadrons at Holloman. Jim PILLAR replaced George as the DO of the Ops Support Squadron. John JOZWICKI has the unenviable task of working out the F-117 air showTDY schedule for the Wing. Jim tells me it makes the Thunderbirds’ schedule look tame by it’s the rare USAF air show that doesn’t include at least a comparison —

static display F-117! Harry LEACH dropped a short note from Yokota, where he’s the commander of the 459 th Airlift Squadron. His squadron flies C-21s all over

the Pacific, as well as H-ls a little closer to home. Harry says the highlight of his week is sitting next to Eddie McALLISTER at the Wednesday staff meetings (Eddie commands the Ops Support Squadron there). Harry’s family (Dawn and the boys) caught the travel bug in a big way 110

Brian Canino and his bride, Ellen, on the big day. Brian CANINO sent an email and a couple pictures from San Diego,

and passed along the news that he finally got married! He said all his friends had given up hope; he says he just needed to meet the right woman.

That woman would be Ellen Roberts, a Navy commander and

1986 USNA grad whom Brian met while pursuing his master's in EE at

the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey. Ellen and he both graduated there in 1999, and her degree is in Information Technology Management. Brian is working at the Space and Naval Warfare (SPAWAR) Systems Center in San Diego, playing with lots of C4ISR stuff in a lab environment.

Brian and Ellen’s sophisticated and understated vanity plates.

Col Tony MAUER sent email right before deadline to tell me he left the Pentagon (AF/XPPE) and is headed to Mildenhall to be the commander of the 100 th Operations Group there. He’ll pass through Altus to get requalified in the KC-135, and will be in place by 1 Sept. He invited me to stop by for a pint the next time I’m over there and I’m sure that invite extends to all members of our class, right Tony! I got one snail mail letter this period, and it was from Steve HILL. Steve’s in C-Springs, working at AF Space Command and doing plans & th requirements work. He had been the DO for the 320 Missile Squadron at FE Warren, and wound up deploying to Ali A1 Salem Air Base in Kuwait in Dec of ‘99. That base has the distinction of being the most austere and most forward deployed in the theater (only 38 miles from th

Iraq!). While deployed, Steve commanded the 9 Expeditionary Support Squadron and was responsible for communications, personnel, civil engineering, and services. When he left to go back to Warren three months later, he passed the reigns to Marc “Dunk” DUNCAN, a C-130 nav at Davis-Monthan. Steve said that although he missed his family, the tour and the cultural experience were extremely rewarding, particularly for a missileer who virtually never deploys! Steve ran into a few classmates in the past year. Steve BRAGADO is

working in the MILSATCOM branch of the Force Enhancement Requirements Division at AFSPC. Mike HONSINGER lives near Houston, where

he flies helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft for the Customs Service. Roberta EWART is on the Tech Planning Integrated Product Team (TPIPT) at SMC/XRD (Los Angeles?), and JeffVANCE just left his job as the Sq/CC at Clear AFS Alaska to join Steve's shop at AFSPC/XPX. And, that’s about all the news I have for this time. Keep the electrons flowing and let me know what’s new! Until next time, Be Safe!

Stu Pope 520 Ramona Ave.

Sierra Madre, CA 91024

boss wanted to start a dot-com and a consultant tells him that “The VC are sick of B-to-B,” which he interprets as the Viet Cong being fed up with bed & breakfasts or something. Hey, I thought it was funny. Mark and Sherry ABBOTT are now well established in the Pacific Northwest, where they’ve furnished their house on Vashon Island with all kinds of funky stuff from their adventures in Southeast Asia, including a full-sized ox cart and the cockpit and nose section of a DC-3, which Mark plans to somehow integrate into his living room. I might have to

US!

stu_pope@yahoo.com Percent members: 44

Here’s a question for you: If there had been a soundtrack to USAFA, who would have performed it? In other words, whose music best refleets the whole zoombag experience? Despite the torturous post-SAMI Carpenters-fests periodically inflicted upon Starship 19 by a certain ‘82er, I would submit that the 1979-1983 timeframe of our collective Neil Young. life was best summed up by one legendary axe-wielder Yeah, I know he’s Canadian, but he’s just got this intense Colorado vibe. ‘Hey, hey, my, my...” Consider it, discuss it, and get back to me on it. That was the intro. There’s not much else. Either overwork or laziness has gotten me into the position of not having been in contact with many classmates over the past year, and the grads I do run into (hey, —

Frenchy, we are hitting the brewpub soon, man!) tend to be nonBohicans. So the news is kind of slim pickins’, but here it is. The ever-reliable John “Spinal Shak” ANDRESHAK reports he spent last fall in Kuwait with a surgical team that went over to, um, surgerize the troops stationed there. Shak and his comrades lived in the Kuwait Armed Forces Hospital (a.k.a. “Al-Kafh”), practiced scalpel manual, and even got in a one-day “vacation” to Yemen. You know, I continue to hear stories like this from lots of grads, and it’s got me thinking. If we had just done Desert Storm in a place like French Polynesia (it could’ve been called “Island Storm,” or “Monsoon,” or whatever) a lot of us could have been spending the past decade doing our summer TDYs to places like Moorea and Bora Bora instead of Dubai and Abu Dhabi. Seems like poor planning on somebody’s part, if you ask me. th My old 40 squadron roommate, Rob HUGULEY, stopped by a couple of months ago during a layover in L.A. Rob's flying for American out of D.C., but maintains his adrenaline level by doing F-15s with the Louisiana ANG one week out of the month. In fact, he and John WISNIEWSKI just got back from what sounds like a fair dinkum TDY at the somewhat racily named “Tandem Thrust” exercise in Townsville, Australia. (Hey, isn’t that where the Powerpuff Girls are from?) In July (future as I write; past as you read) Rob and John will be up at Elmendorf for Cope Thunder, the big war game exercise and group th therapy session for storm-related phobias. On the way back (July 29 2001, to be exact) Rob, John and six other guys will set a potentially unbeatable record: an eight-ship with over 20,000 Eagle hours among ,

the pilots. Right on. Heard a rumor that Mark “Hage” HAGEMAN is branching out from his lawyerly pursuits in London to start a European hotel chain called what else? Hotel Hage. Here’s a photo of one in the Netherlands. Stay there if you get a chance. The bar’s open all night.

—

make a special trip up there to see that, man. Speaking of trips, Noelle and I are taking the Volvo “cross-country” on a road trip to visit Colin and Sophie MOFFAT in Utah next week. The

Mof Man recently joined me in the blow-out-your-knee club and is tak-

ing it easy, so we may not get to terrorize Deer Valley on mountain bikes like we did last year. Mof was able to get in just over 100 days of skiing before he did the knee thing, though, so the timing wasn’t all that bad. The Moffish One also reports that his neighbor Chris HAERTER is still doing lots of soaring and is enjoying the company of his one-yearold daughter. Don MARBACH has also entered the world of parenthood with the birth of his baby girl. I haven’t taken an official tally, but there seem to be a lot more girls than boys cropping up these days. Don’s flying for Southwest and lives in Phoenix. Kevin KRINER is reportedly the Wizard of Warthogs, serving as the Fighter Weapons School’s division commander for A-10s. Incidentally, we may have a cool photo of some radical Warthog nose art in next summer’s Checkpoints if the planets get in proper alignment by then.

Steve Benz and Stu Pope don their anachronistic “winter blues,

”

c. 1981.

Okay, time again for the annual “blast from the past” feature, where I put in a photo from 20 years ago. Witness Steve “Ex- ‘83” Benz and me, circa sophomore year, wearing a uniform combo we weren’t even issued! What was up with that? Probably thought we were cleverly breaking some obscure reg or something. And just in case anyone has been riveted to Checkpoints this whole past year, waiting for the answer to whether Bill “Ex-‘83” ANONSEN flies for Delta or United, well, here’s a clue: it’s United. Bill is sort of a an American with a distinctly Canadian vibe. Neil Young in reverse And I suppose that’s as good a way as any to come full circle in this —

article. All right, let’s nip it in the bud. Send your letters, email messages, and cryptic, Cyrillic newspaper clippings to Dave RUFFLEY, 15774 Candle Creek

Dr., Monument, CO 80132, or email him at dlrwy@ CompuServe .com. He’s got his Russian-English dictionary out and he’s not afraid to use it.

Mike Jensen 12035 Milam Road Colorado Springs, CO 80908

(719) 338-3570 E-mail: jens@omnisky.net Home page: www.usafa.net/1984 Percent members: 36

Hotel Hage: Check in, check out, check six! I’m happy to report that Craig PROPST is alive and well. Regular readwondering about his whereabouts for a couple of years now, and I finally received email from him a few months back. The Propster got out of the AF in ‘92, got dual MBAs in the U.S. and ers may recall I’ve been

Germany, then went to work at GM’s European division, Opel. He came back to the U.S. in ‘99 and now works in Dallas for a software firm called st i2 Technologies (a B-to-B e-commerce provider). He’s such a 21 centhe me of a cartoon where kind of reminds Dilbert which guy... tury

Hazards of the dot.com world: Note the email change. Could no longer count on getting quality service from the “free email forwarding for the rest of your life” provider. Although I was told that I would “never have to change my email address for the rest of my natural life,” I am. I guess I don’t have to change my address, but since I need to receive some emails, I guess I better. Two lessons learned: (1-you get what you pay for, and (2-never trust a West Point grad running a usafa.com website! Sorry for the inconvenience. So if any of you sent updates in the past two months, I did not get them and will update my aogmail.com address. Ill

Oklahoma! By the time you get this, USAFA will be preparing to play, just played the national champions, the Oklahoma Sooners in Falcon Stadium. Already a sellout. Should be a great season! Especially since we have the best kicking coach in the nation, Jeff HAYS, and the best offensive coordinator, Chuck PETERSON. So now we know the secrets of Fisher DeBerry’s success! Also the Class of 2005 has just in-processed, and I will be looking forward to reports of our classmates or will have

sending their kids to the zoo! Who will be first? Short and Sweet: Due to the email glitch, this episode will be a bit shorter than most. But I am glad to have some reports! Julia PHIFER again delivered some good info. (Thanks!) Max THOM and his wife, Sheryl, along with their three children (Rashida, Niara, and Kamili) PCSed from Fort Meade, MD to Tucson, AZ. Max pinned on Lt Col after arriving in AZ. Melody BELL received a promotion and now manages contracts for the Department of Energy. Melody and her husband, Lou ANDERSON, live in Las Vegas, NV with their son Kendall. Caroll Elliott (ROSADO) stopped by with her father, Victor. Caroll and her husband, Grady ELLIOTT, live with their three children (Eric, Arman, and Kristan) in Evansville, IN. Mike “Grip” GOLDFEIN separated Sep 00 (after 16 yrs) and joined the AF Reserves at Luke AFB as an F-16 IP. Flying for American Airlines as His wife, Carole, and he have a FO on the Super 80 out of Chicago.

Attention in the Area: Garrett and Melissa THOMPSON have added another addition to the family Michael Carl on 13 Mar 01, 6 lbs 13.5 -

oz.

Congrats!

Keith HEIEN received a DC-8 right seat for UPS. Jim HARTLE delivered some updates: He is still at Misawa flying FI6s and doing the high opstempo thing; he is PCSing to Randolph to check out as a T-38 PIT instructor (should be there now). Keith SANDERS is at Sheppard AFB he’s flying T-38s. Charles GUTIERREZ is at Luke flying F16s transitioning to the Reserves to stay there. Gary MIDDLEBROOKS has been with the South Dakota Guard for two years now; he flies F-16s at Joe Foss Field, Sioux Falls. Bob JERONIMUS is at Vance flying T-38s. Joe STANKO checked in again after the last picture. His wife, Lynn, and their five children—Devon (14), Cheryl (12), Cara (9), Cayleigh (7) and Dylan (5) and he are at Maxwell. They are headed to HQ NATO in Brussels. Thanks, Joe! Thanks again... for the updates. When you read this, do the following: send off some new info to me; look up some of your friends from —

—

the class of 84 and have them send in some updates; and break open

that piggy bank to join the AOG. Jens

Quintel Williams

been married 12 years and have two kids, Scotty (7), and Hanna (4). They have stayed in touch with Jay CHARAMELLA (777 FO DFW),

6410 Katherine Ann Lane

OTif

Springfield, VA 22150

Tommy HUGGINS (MD-11 FO DFW), Dillon MCFARLAND (767 FO

E-mail: USAFA1985@aol.com Percent members: 43

SFO) and Eric OVERTURF (F-100 FO DFW). They helped him make the transition to the “real world.” Eric BLAKE sent an update... Always on the learning trail, he has beif the coolness factor of a job is rated as come addicted to cool jobs

Ijlfir

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high or odd. He was an Explosive Ordnance Disposal officer when he left the AF in ‘95. He began working for companies that clear military ordnance from old military sites. You would be amazed at how many like college campuses are built on old neighborhoods and places bombing/artillery ranges and munitions burial sites (the nurses’ college was a prime job). The jobs led to Bosnia and landmine work. Afterayear (‘96-‘97) of working for a USAID (US Agency for International Development) contractor, he went independent. Sister (Sandra Vega, USAFA ’83), another person, and he started a nonprofit organization his sister for humanitarian demining called Safe Path International as president and he as the operations representative in Bosnia. To pay his rent in Bosnia, he started a small Bosnian computer company. They closed down operations just after the new millennium, due to the depth of Bosnian bureaucracy. He returned to the states to regroup. He passes his time now as an art student. He has recently made contact with Renato MARANON. He is doing well and is involved in a startup called —

—

Maranti Networks (www.marantinetworks.com). Chris DORCHAK is also out in California—working the Berkley circuit. He is highly ener-

gized to provide the world with access to alternative medicine. Patrick tailor SIMMONS (aka SNOWWIS simmons spelled upside down shop sewed his field jacket name tag on upside down, but since his name still looks like a name when it is upside down, no one noticed) is MIA. He visited him. He was working in Aberdeen, SD in ’96 as an engineer for the Bureau of Indian Affairs. No one can find him now. Anyone see him around? —

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Chris “C-Din” DINENNA was stationed at Nellis, an F-15E IP in the

Weapons School until 1997. They then moved to Seymour Johnson AFB, NC where he was assigned to the 335FS Chiefs. Then on to Langley AFB, VA onto the HQ ACC staff in the Directorate of Requirements. The staff is quite a departure from the cockpit and after nearly 16 years of just flying jets it has been quite an experience over the last year or so. Oddly, they report they are happy there and the job is simultaneously exciting, rewarding, and very frustrating. Chris reports Mike “PC” DUVALL is getting ready to become the division commander of the F-15E Weapons School Division at Nellis this spring. Chris “Mort” BOWMAN relinquishes command of the division to Mike and departs for PME at the Naval War College in Newport, RI. Mike BRENNAN and he are still suffering through Air War College in seminar here at Langley. Alan EWING moved back to Ohio and is some sort of MFWIC with General Electric... something about jet engines. Mark “Chairman” MOUW is still flying the F-15E and is once again at Seymour-Johnson after a one-year remote to Saudi Arabia and what some would loosely call a staff tour for him. He is now the chief of Wing Safety. Tom EANNARINO is a Strike Eagle aviator as well, is also at Shady J, and he became the 4 OSS flight commander for the current operations flight. Troy “Tiny” DIXON recently finished a tour at the “house of pain” (Pentagon) and is once again flying Eagles. He is on his way to Kadena. Kyle “Skitch” SLALISKY also finished a “gon” tour, requalified in the Eagle, and is stationed at Elmendorf. Chris saw Charlie HEATH a couple of years ago, right after he separated from active duty and started flying with Southwest Airlines. 112

Hi everyone! I hope you all had a great summer. Renee and I did.

It’s hard to get info out in timely manner due to blocks of info I get and try to keep together. So let me pass on some info that I couldn’t use in previous Checkpoints due to size limits on articles. Some info sent in February and March won’t appear in Checkpoints until the fall.

I got a couple of emails from Kevin GRILL in January (forwarded mes-

sage from Jerome OLIVAREZ appears first) ‘Dear Kevin, Jill and children, thank you for your letter. It just seems like yesterday that we visited you in Waco. Much has changed in your life since then, yet I detected a resounding note of familiarity in your Christmas letter. God is still providing and leading the way! I am 38, a youngster in the business world I’m told. Tammy and I have no delusions of grandeur for this life, but are attempting to store up treasures where they truly count (Mt 6:20). We do receive showers of blessing, usually at times we least expect them. ‘We home school Jeremiah, Andrew, Rachel and Abigail. They are in the 6th, 5th, 4th and 1st grade respectively. Andrew and Rachel enjoy playing piano. We have had them in lessons for three years. The children are in the AWANA program at a large church by our house. Vince and I still own a business in Auburn, WA. We primarily do auto body and paint work for insurance companies and private customers. We desire to do industrial work for Boeing and government sources, thus the next step in our business. ‘Kevin, I did hear from Steve GAUTHIER in L.A. and Kevin WALLACE at McChord AFB, WA. Steve is a commodities stockbroker, and doing well. Kevin is finishing out his 20-year career as a Reserve officer, and is applying for pilot work at SeaTac Inf 1. At the University of Washington season opening football game last year, Vince, the boys and I went to support Air Force. We won that game, and I got to see mutual friends. I ran into Kevin Wallace for the first time in 10 years! I talked to Nate WILSON ’86 who is a commercial pilot out of Seattle and Carlos MATEOS, who used to be a kicker on the football team. He currently works for an airline company out of Atlanta. Other than those three at the game, I recognized some faces and made new acquaintances. Now that we have your email address, and the computer to do all this, we will stay in touch more often. Hope to hear from you soon. Love in

Christ, Tammy, Jerome and family.” Kevin GRILL wrote: “Hello Jerome and Family, great to hear from you and the folks you have run into. Sounded like a Checkpoints entry so I am sending a copy of this to Quintel Williams, our classes scribe (I hope what you sent me stays attached). I really have not run into anybody in our class that we hung out with. Yes we'll keep in touch now. For now

give your family our love. God Bless, Kevin.”

In February Danny TOPP passed along some info. “Subject: Alan

MACKEY, Class of ‘85. I don’t know Alan MacKey, but he is a grad and I have just gotten word from a friend of his that Alan has had some serious medical

problems. There maybe some of his classmates who know

more of the details.

From what I am told he had a hole in his sinus, and

when he had a sinus infection, the infection crossed to his brain through the hole. As result, he lost his sight, lost many brain functions, and

after being in ICU for some time, began his recovery. His wife and children are supporting him in Texas. I don’t know if they need financial support or not. Would, or has anyone from ‘85 in Colorado Springs been in contact with his family? Is there anything we (Chapter/AOG) can do to help?” The info below is from Kathy, his wife. ‘In late Jan/early Feb ‘01, Alan moved to a long-term rehab facility called Brinlee Creek Ranch. It is 13 miles north of McKinney, TX. He will be there for several months, maybe as long as a year. You can send mail to him directly: Alan Mackey, c/o Brinlee Creek Ranch, 10057 County Road 472, Anna, TX 75409. It will be important for Alan to have regular encouragement over the next 3-12 months. Also, Alan has his own email address at the rehab ranch: Alan_Mackeyl@hotmail.com. Please try to visit or send him a note, card, or cassette on a regular basis. Visitors are welcome to come. Please call the shift supervisor (972-838-2602) and make arrangements with him or her so that Alan does not have too many people there at one time. He has therapy and planned activities, weekdays from 7 a.m. to noon and from 1 p.m. to 4:30. The best times to plan on seeing him are weekdays: from 12 noon to 1 p.m. and then again 4:30 to 8 p.m. Weekends: any time, just call to let them know when you would like to come. For people who are interested in coming from out of town to see Alan, there is a Holiday Inn (972-542-9471), Days Inn (972-548888) and Amerihost Inn (972-547-4500) in McKinney. The easiest way to find the “Ranch” is go north out of the DFW area on State Highway 121. 121 runs concurrentiy with US 75 for some miles. Just south of the town of Melissa, TX, Highway 121 splits off US75. Follow 121 North past the town of Melissa and on out into the country. Look for County Road 455. Where 455 intersects 121, you will turn right onto County Road 475 it quickly turns into white gravel rock. Go until it makes a right turn (the first right turn) onto County Road 472. Drive on 472, cross a small creek, drive on until you see a barn and trailer on the left side, a brown house on the right side of the road up on a hill, and then another house down a bit farther on the left. The house on the left side of the road is where Alan lives. If you have any questions call 972-838-2602 and they can give you directions or assistance. This drive takes about 50 minutes from I-35E and 121 in Lewisville.” Pete READ sent email in March as well. Personal stuff excluded, it Quintel, I was moved by Digger WELLS’ Herculean effort in goes the Checkpoints that arrived today, to give you a column inch or two you won’t have to worry about filling next time around. Editors can be demanding, if not cruel, about blinding white space. I’ve spent nearly four years here at Langley, first as intel flight commander for the 1st Ops Support Squadron/1st Fighter Wing, then as ops officer for the “other” Langley 27th Squadron, the Intel one in the 480th Intelligence Group. Even as I type, we’re preparing to move up the road to D.C. in April, where I’ll join Air Staff XOIIF-M doing info ops officer force development or something like that. The “we” in that last paragraph is myself and my wife of just one year, Navy LCDR Cathy McAuley Read, and my two children from a previous marriage: Mary, 13, and Stephen, 5. Cathy is the ship’s intel officer on the amphibious assault ship LHD3 USS KEARSARGE, and will be joining us in D.C. at the Defense Intelligence Agency when she gets off the ship in July. We’ve already bought a house in Annandale and are looking forward to the move. Thanks for taking on the arduous secretary/recorder task, and keep up the good work. Pete Read, former Grim Reaper (CS-31). —

“

...

Pete and Cathy Read

Well, that’s all for now. Until the next time, take care. Quintel.

Visit the AOG Web Site

Merchandise,

Gone But Not Forgotten and More!

www.aog-usafa.org

Gary L. “Ice” Burg 1740 11th St.

Langley AFB, VA 23665-1730 E-mail: Beaker90FS@aol.com

(757) 865-4681 Percent members: 41

Greetings from the hot and humid East Coast. This will be my final class column from Langley AFB as I PCS to jolly olde England (RAF Lakenheath) in November. This go-around I did get enough to fill the column, some from first-time writers to the column and some from old faithfuls. I hope everyone had a great summer and wili have a better fall. Let’s get right to the letters (emails). E. Lee HUTCHINS was one of the first to drop me email. He writes, “I’m not sure I’ve done this before, but I thought since I was updating my AOG info this morning, I’d do it all. I’m a civilian (actually even better I’m a dependant as my wife (Bronwyn “Brownie” WISE ’87) is now the major (Brownie Hutchins) as opposed to me. She’s a flight commander for the 367TRSS Combat Camera Flight, Hill AFB. I, on the other hand, am the site manager for Anteon Corp (big beltway bandit) and am having a ball. When my-AF career came to an end at the

major’s board after assignments at Maxwell, Gunter, Bolling, the Pentagon and finally Kelly AFB I was somewhat disappointed... but I’m having more fun now than I ever was on active duty. Stress is considerably less also! And for all my classmates who thought I didn’t know anything beyond computers, I’m now a manager and business developer. I haven’t touched a computer (for work), except to fill out paper-

work, in several years. ‘We have two daughters, Sarah (11) and Robin (9). Sarah is going to be a world traveler this summer as a student ambassador. Working as a site manager for Anteon is great. I get to manage things out of my house and I report to an office back east, in Newport RI. (I’ll put in my shameless plug here.) For all you grads who are looking for a life post AF check out www.Anteon.com or send me email and include your resume. We are a great, privately held, growing company that is looking for quality people (especially USAFA grads). I’ve got some great opportunities right here at Hill, as a matter of fact. I even have a Naval Academy grad working for me. ‘Utah was not where we thought we’d end up for this assignment, as Brownie really needs an overseas tour. AFPC keeps promising (threatof those who are hot to go overseas, she’s supening) us with one posed to be #28 on the major’s list but sent us to Hill instead. We try to go to USAFA football whenever possible. Granted the USAFA-Utah game last year was a bit cold for my taste. I still fit into my parka (barely). We’ll go to the BYU game this year to keep up the cheering. Well that’s about it for now from Sunny Ogden UT." Old dependable Kirk LEAR was the next to drop me email: “Here’s a current update for ya. Just did my fourth and final ring dinner (ours, —

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plus three here as an associate and no-kidding AOC), and five of us ’86ers in the TRW took a last group picture—Janet AUGUSTINE (nee KISNER), George FULLER, Ty ALEXANDER, John BODE, and me. Ty just finished two years as CS-21 AOC and his wife couldn’t make the dinner because

the movers ran late at the house (that’s not a bad excuse to use to avoid being seen with Ty in public; gotta give her credit). He’s headed back to fire control officer duties in AC-130Us at Hurlburt and is more than ready to leave. George is finishing up two years as Mach One’s AOC, and will do a year as the Training Group’s stan/eval guy that, among other things, involves running Military Review Committees (read: heaving substandard cadets). John was CS-25’s AOC last year, and is about to begin his second year as deputy for Third Group... I think he has a dream of returning to the KC-135 often, like George, but isn’t saying. Janet was the TRW’s sole early-to-light-colonel nod (we are so proud), and is still teaching and serving as ops officer in the 34th Ed Squadron (one of two in the 34 th Education Group, what is essentially the Military & Strategic Studies department [PMS to us, back then]). “As for other TRW ’86ers, Larry WALKER’S finishing a teaching stint in the 34th ES and preparing to depart. After a career in helos and a move to the Reserves a few years back, he’s getting ready to accompany wife think he said he’ll be pissing off folks at HQ/AETC. Dan MILLER’s still at the Center for Character Development in the TRW, and he and Dianna have two gorgeous girls (favor their

Julie (’87) to San Antonio

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mom, thanks be to God). He and I have done a little kids’ soccer coach-

ing together these past few years. Tish WODETZKI (was MOONEY, my ole’ Barnstormer pal) is also in the TRW, as 34th Ops Spt Sqdn ops officer at the airfield, and moonlights as an associate AOC; she and John have three kids. 113

‘Tish, myself, and Ed TOMME (’85 Barnstormer) just spent a few moments at Frank Velduizen’s (’86 Barnstormer, C2C) USAFA gravesite on

20 April, thel6th anniversary of his death

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have to hunt. Keith ROSS is going into his third year in Civil Engineering, and he and I are coaching baseball together this summer. He’s been my associate AOC for academics (advisor to undeclared foursmokes) all year. Think Steve KUENNEN is still here in CE too, but not sure. I know Paul NOWOTNY is leaving his assistant soccer coach duties in AH soon, and I think his wife, Teresa, mentioned “Canada” to someone as their next destination.

mmm

Sharon Giletti 1116 Kaumoki St.

the memories came

flooding back, and most brought smiles. Anyway, I owe you a scanned photo once I get the pics developed. “I’m pretty sure there are a few other ‘86 grads around in DF, but I’d

^fj

Honolulu, HI 96825 (808) 394-6397 E-mail: Sharongiletti@aol.com Percent members: 36

Hey there, everyone! Hope you had a good summer. I got a few updates in spite of your busy schedules. I’m sure many of you have been dealing with moves this summer. Let us know where you are! Scott HAVERKATE has officially joined the civilian AF United. He started training 2 July and will also be with the Milwaukee Reserves. He, Erin, and children can be reached at the following address until they’re settled in the Chicago area: 17 S. Roberts, N. Aurora, IL 60542. —

‘Oh, also just saw my Barnstormer- ’85-stop-out-to-Seagram’s-Seven’86 bud Steve SUTHERLAND, who left the Academy weather shop when it went to a civilian contract a year or so ago. Steve landed at Peterson’s USSPACECOM doing bigger-picture weather stuff there; he and Heidi

have homesteaded in Black Forest and have two good-looking (again, very much the mom factor) in their pre-teens, speaking German at home and English in front of Steve (so he’s out of the loop on a lot of family issues). I’m sure I’m forgetting other ’86ers here, but I can’t remember who! Gump.” For those of you who don’t know, Kirk is PCSing to Elmendorf AFB (lucky dog) this winter to the 517 AS. I could think of a better time of the year to show up at

Elmendorf, but not a better as-

signment. That is about it for the full-up emails, but I have others I will consolidate for your viewing. I received a short note that Matt SHEPARDSON is living in Colorado Springs these days and flying as first officer on the A319/320 with United Airlines out of Denver. I talked to Jay “Spaulding” HUMMELBAUGH at the practice tees at Langley in early June and he

Phone: (630) 897-7159. Email: haverkates@yahoo.com The WARACKS, Mark, Karen, and boys (four of them!) are still at Little Rock AFB and sent the following update: “Not much going on here. Karen and I are busy running four boys to every imaginable sporting event. As for grad stuff, Don REDFORD is leaving the 53d AS here at Little Rock to go live on the outside flying for the Reserves at Hill in Utah. Bret BERG is making do here as an IP, like me, and adjusting to life with the twins (about a year old) and the expectation of another baby shortly. Bret CRENWEDGE, 62d AS, is getting ready to PCS to Scott AFB. Sean MOULTON is moving and shaking. He is chief of OGV for the school house.” Dale HOLLAND sent a great photo of his wife and two gorgeous daughters. —

mentioned that he was probably going back to the F-15E cockpit this fall with a potential follow-on assignment to RAF Lakenheath. Sure would be cool to have a fellow ‘86er at the Heath. Jay and I went through the F-15E FTU in the early ‘90s, so it would be like an old-time reunion. Bob COLELLA sent me one of two photos for the column. His caption is, “What is up with all these airline geeks? Make sure you say: Former cadet wing commander Mike Logrande,’ ha! Mr. Stract...” ‘

Teri ALESCH says hi and has now relocated to Montgomery, AL to

She’ll be an SRO so she has a busy year ahead. She’ll have Good luck to you all at school this year! Here are our May 01 ACSC graduates. Congratulastart ACSC.

to be my mole on what’s going on at Maxwell!

tions to you!

The other photo was of a joyous occasion I experienced in early June I finally filled another square, the all-important master’s degree from.... you guessed it: Embry Riddle AU. as

Brad BURCHETT writes: “Wanted to let you know that I’ve accepted assistant professorship at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology in Terre Haute, IN and will start this fall. I will teach undergraduate Mechanical Engineering. Rose-Hulman is set up very much like the service academies, with small class size and the very best instructors. The total student body is about 1,600. Also, this Oct 12-14,1 will ride my bike from State College to Chaddsford, PA to benefit Focus on the Family. That's about 240 miles in three days. I need to raise $3,000 by Sept 1. I know many grads probably support Focus and many more know about it, since it is now headquartered in Colorado Springs. Here’s a link to a picture of me all dressed up for the occasion:(http:// an

128.193.44.60/bikeride.html). On a sad note, I received a short email from Bob COLELLA, who received word from Summer BARTCZAK, that John BURATOWSKI passed away the first weekend in June. He died from a massive heart attack. I hate to end on a sad note but that’s sometimes how life goes. Please send Bob your inputs for the fall column. Ice out! 114

‘Finally, I had a short visit with Jeff SLADKO here in Corvallis at his grandmother-in-law’s. Jeff is currently an MD-80 FO with Continental stationed in Houston. He’s also still doing the Guard KC-135 thing in Fairbanks, AK. Jeff and Lynda were on their way to Honolulu for a second honeymoon, and are looking into moving to Hawaii since Jeff could move both jobs there and not spend so much time commuting. They

have two kids now, Jonathan who’s three, and a five-month-old girl Katerina.” Well, that’s it for now and thanks for keeping the updates and photos coming in. Until next time-S.

Mark Peters

Department, McSally says, does not want to offend its host. “It is a customary Muslim outfit for women,” she says, “but I’m not Muslim and I’m not Saudi. I am a Christian.” The Pentagon sees the dress code as a necessity. Officials say it respects cultural and religious customs, avoids conflict with the Saudi public and helps the military complete its mission. To McSally, the Pentagon is abandoning American values by imposing such a dress code on its

835 East Lamar Blvd., #151

women, while allowing men to dress in casual Western clothes when

Arlington, TX 76011

off base. She says she’s not arguing for unrestricted dress but believes women should be allowed to “cover up in American clothes.”

(817) 937-9696/Fax: (801) 327-0953

vHpSsi / 1

E-mail: pylt@home.com Percent members: 40

Hi 88! Not all that much in the AOG In Basket this time around, so I’ll give some space back to the

editor, which, of course, I’m sure I’ll get back

for some really long column in the future.. As many of you know, I’ve been in regular contact with Frank SCHMUCK regarding GulfWar Syndrome, a catchall name for the host of medical conditions affecting many who spent time in the Gulf. It’s with pleasure that I report that Frank’s circumstances have changed for the better. Here’s his note: “Wednesday, May 9, 2001, was a memorable day for our family. On that day, two doors were opened. The first, to attend the prestigious 21-month Executive Masters in International Management program with foreign language study at the American Graduate School of International Management, more commonly known as the Thunderbird Graduate School; and, the second, to return to flying as a professional airline pilot. The Federal Aviation Administration acknowledged that my health is now fully restored from the mercury poisoning and granted a First Class Medical License with no limitations.

I learned a great deal from this very challenging expe-

rience and I am thankful to many

—

God, this country, my wife, family,

friends, the church, fellow Air Force Academy graduates, military vetSouthwest Airlines employees and you for believing and supporting the concerns and issues brought forward concerning the “danger of cumulative effects” from mercury exposure. Thank you for all of your prayers and support, Frank C. Schmuck, Captain (USAFR).” Frank can be contacted at LivingBlessed@compuserve.com and he welcomes any requests for additional information on what’s been going on. In the last issue, I mentioned that Frank had suggested I read a book by Maj (Ret) Michael Donnelly, an F-16 pilot during the GulfWar: ‘Falcon’s Cry: A Desert Storm Memoir. I finished it last month and highly recommend it. Donnelly’s very moving story details his fight against erans,

”

what some think is ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease), possibly (probably?) brought about from exposure to various toxins from the GulfWar. If it’s not at your local bookstore, you’ll find it at www.amazon.com. Martha McSALLY’s principled fight against the required wear of the abaya by our female military personnel in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has been in the news, particularly in USA Today (front page story in April). The Air Force Times has also been covering this issue as well. Personally, during my multiple tours to the area, I found it staggering that a female pilot could be assigned a multimillion-dollar aircraft to help defend the Kingdom, yet that same pilot could not even sit in the front seat of a car, let alone drive it. The abaya issue just poured salt in the wound. Not to turn this into “Mark’s Book Club,” but another book that expands on the human rights issues in the Kingdom, to include the plight of women, is “Princess: A True Story of Life Behind the Veil in Saudi Arabia.” It’s ghostwritten by a member of the Saudi Royal Family and will certainly increase your awareness of the many issues in-

volved. A USA Today reviewer wrote, “Must reading for anyone interested in human rights...” As Air Force officers, we swore to uphold and defend the Constitution a fundamental document that upholds our rights. Hopefully Martha’s efforts will allow some of the thinking that is inherent in that document to permeate the Kingdom. Here are Sally’s comments as written in Edward Pound’s article in USA Today, “Saudi rules anger top Air Force pilot: Female officer speaks out against Muslim dress code for Americans.” —

McSally has quietly tried to persuade the Pentagon to modify the policy for the past six years. She discussed the issue with then-Defense Secretary William Perry in 1995. She lobbied then-Air Force Secretary Whit Peters last year, and she has written memos and met with top generals in the Air Force. She says she got nowhere. Now, she says, it is time to speak publicly and she hopes her candor will not damage her career. "I’ve fought and spoken and been patient and worked within the system for so long to try and effect some change in this policy, so the fact that I would just be truthful I would hope wouldn’t hurt me and, if it does, then so be it,” she says. McSally says the Air Force has given her great opportunities. “In general, the leadership has been very supportive of women in the military,” she says. But the dress policy is “ridiculous and unnecessary.” The actual article is much longer but I’ve cut it down due to space limitations. As of today (mid-June) the issue is under review by the new senior military commander of U.S. Forces in Saudi Arabia, Air Force Gen. Gary Dylewski. Lastly, a friend from my KC-10 days at Travis, Kip TURAIN, has finished at ACSC and reports the following: “We will be departing Montgomery, AL on 20 June and heading towards Scott Air Force Base, IL. —

Our new address will be 1214 Welles Court, O’Fallon, IL 62269. Home

Phone: (618) 628-8341. E-mail: ruftrain@aol.com. Air Command and Staff College at Maxwell Air Force Base was fun time with family

—

spent a lot of quality

and my golf slice is not as wicked as it used to be, so

it is time to buy a snow shovel and head north!

I should be working Sealift Issues (yea, an Air Force guy) in U.S. Transportation Command rd st (USTRANSCOM). Cristian will start 1 grade and Cayla will begin 3 Maria will a lid on all of us and has some resumes grade. keep teaching out in the local area. We are not quite one-half hour east of St. Louis and would be very disappointed if we hear you drove past on 1-65 and didn’t stop by for at least a glass of something to drink! Please keep in touch and I hope all is well with everyone!” Ditto from me and for all of you that promised to write last time, well, you’re in luck as I’m sure to be staring at another deadline just a few days after you read this! Write, call, or email me soon! —

Paul W. Tibbets, IV 102 Chennault Ave.

ygmp

Barksdale AFB, LA 71110 Home: (318) 746-3853 / DSN: 781-4528

E-mail: patibb@earthlink.net Home page: http://www.usafa89.com Percent members: 43

iSpif ■

Hello classmates and avid Class of‘89 column readers! I bet you ‘89ers out there didn’t know we had a fan club... well, maybe a couple folks

read this who are not in our class OK, I heard through the grapevine there might be one person.... Big news for the Tibbets family—we are pregnant! Avery has a brother or sister due in Feb ’02. We’re not sure she understands that yet, but figure it will hit home when some of her “attention” is devoted to her sibling! Our first letter comes from Joe MATCHETTE, who is requaling in the ...

WASHINGTON—Maj. Martha McSALLY [now Lt. Col.] is the highest-ranking female fighter pilot in the U.S. Air Force, the first woman in that service to fly a combat aircraft into enemy territory. And she does not like the way she and other American military women are treated in Saudi Arabia, the male-run oil kingdom they are risking their lives to protect. In Saudi Arabia, McSally says, she is “treated like a Muslim piece of property.” Whenever she and other women leave their military installations, their commanders require them to wear a black headscarf and a black neck-to-toe robe, known as an abaya, to satisfy the Saudis’ strict interpretation of Islamic religion. They also must sit in the back seat of cars. The Defense

The Matchette family at Luke, where Michelle took her first steps! 115

F-16 and flying 737s out of L.A. for United. Joe, his wife, Gen, and daughter Michelle are moving to Miami this fall. Currently, Joe is commuting to one coast for United and the other for

the Reserves, but with the move, life will be “pretty good” everything in one place. Joe says he and his wife recently had the honor to be the godparents for Miles and Lynn DEMAYO’s third son, Sebastian Isaac. —

Space Wing. That’s about it. (Two major life changes in a three-month period is enough!)” “John, Christine, and especially Hannah, would like to announce the arrival of the newest BERNHART: Grace Alexandra Bernharf

Thanks for writing Joe! Bob “Cactus” COLELLA (‘86) sent this photo of our classmates at ACSC.

Christine, John, Hannah, and Grace Bernhart Brad NORRIS wrote: “Here are a few pics of Annalise at 13 V2 months! (NOTE: The pictures were too small to print—sorry Brad!) She’s a lot of fun, almost walking and already knows exactly what she shouldn’t be

‘89ers enjoy Maxwell. Pictured are Stephen WHITING, John SHAPLAND, and Jeff WIEGAND. Two other classmates who were in ACSC but didn’t make the photo are Kevin ANDERSON and Will REESE. Dave“Pellethead” PELLETIER dropped a note to say hello. He is keeping busy at McChord with his wife Anne and three daughters Jessica (9), Bailey (4), and Julia (2). Other than the "occasional” night with little

sleep, things are going well!!

getting into, which is why she's into it. Hope to hear from you all soon!” Jon COOPER wrote: “I just got back from the annual Flight Test Safety Workshop sponsored by the Society of Experimental Test Pilots. This year it was hosted by Lockheed Martin at the Worthington Hotel in Ft Worth, TX. We enjoyed wonderful BBQ at Billy Bob's (the world’s largest honky-tonk). One of the presenters was Capt. Scott Wallace (he would have been a smack in CS-21 or CS-29 when we were firsties). There were reps from Edwards Flight Test Center, Pax River (Naval Flight Test), Army, USMC, and all of the civilian industry. Another test pilot from Cessna and several engineers joined me. Next year’s meeting will be held May 7-9 either at Palmdale, Edwards AFB, or Los Angeles. I encourage you to attend if flight-testing is in your blood (or mentioned Braeden turns two in June. in your OER). As for my family, and me I’m smoking pulled pork, brisket, and ribs for over 300 people June 30th for a fund-raiser for a children’s home in Wichita, KS. I guess the “Fly—

The Pelletier Family Angelle and I took a few days in April and visited the old stomping grounds —Whiteman AFB and Warrensburg, MO. We dropped in on a few ‘89ers during our stay. John, Holly, and Ashley WARDEN are doing well. John still enjoys flying the B-2 and studying his father’s five Rings in ACSC! We also bumped into Ed and Amanda REDMAN, who are enjoying their new home. Gil PETRINA is still without his wife, Carolyn, who is flying with the Navy in Pensacola. They hope to be united soon. Thanks for the letters! Take care and God bless.

James Sanchez 8301 Emerald Circle

North Richland Hills, TX 76180 Home: (817) 946-1802

E-Mail:

james.sanchez@usafa90.com

WEB: USAFA90.COM

Percent members: 46

\151§f '

Hello there. Here is the latest and greatest three-month-old class (We have space limitations, so unless you had a kid recently I

news:

probably cut your story.) Marlena (VENTRESCA) and Boyd PARKER wrote: “Boyd and I are proud parents. Our daughter, Isabel Maddalena, arrived on Feb 26. We are all feeling great and very happy. Take care and we’ll be in touch.” Kristi (ALFORD) BARTO wrote: “My tour at USAFA has come to an end. I’m currently on maternity leave after giving birth to my first child, a wonderful son named Michael Emerson Barto. He’s definitely the most wonderful thing I’ve accomplished! Then, in May, my husband and I will PCS th to Vandenberg AFB. I’ll be assigned to the 30 Range Squadron in the 30th 116

ing Pigs” pork roasts of UPT stuck with me. My wife, Cathy, is teaching part-time to balance professional life with motherhood. I’m in the middle of certifying the Citation Encore business jet in Germany and testing the UC-35B Army variant.” Lou DEFELICE wrote: “I quit CIGNA last September to launch a company (we are a healthcare ASP streamlining the credentialing process)... great time to try and raise money... kinda like trying to get a flying slot out of UPT in ’91. Anyways, stuff is going well, we managed to survive the dot.coms fallout and should have revenue flowing through the door any day (my wife will be happy that I can actually feed all four kids). If you know any zoomies out there with a development background (Oracle, Java, and /or web design) that are looking, send them my way. 1 am trying to bring my development team in-house. (Tim Kane quit working for free since he decided to run for Congress in San Diego.) I may even move it to Denver, if Joel Daly’s company will give me a startup discount. Hi to everyone in blue, keep the faith and shoot down some PRC boys...” Carla (WALLER) Harper wrote: “This is my first update ever, so it may take a while. My husband (Chuck) and I moved from Atlanta to Nashville in December and now live out in the country on six acres. It’s so peaceful and beautiful! And we’re anxiously awaiting my cousin (Gerald “Slug” Waller, ‘88 grad) and his family to move here in late May so that we’ll have family in the area! I was able to stay with my company and now do the same job but out of my home. The commute to work every morning is, needless to say, pretty short. The biggest reason for my update is to announce the birth of our baby girl, Chloe Waller Harper. While Chloe wasn’t due until April 15th, she came way early. I was diagnosed with severe pregnancy induced hypertension (PIH, also known as toxemia) in the middle of January, and Chloe was born via C-section January 25,2001. Sheweighed 2 pounds 6 ounces at birth and was 14 5/8 inches long. Since Chloe was 12 weeks early, she was placed in the Vanderbilt University Neonatal ICU until she was strong enough to come home on March 21st. Vanderbilt’s NICU is world-renowned and we were very fortunate to be so close. It was really hard commuting back and forth from the hospital everyday, but we knew she was in good hands. For being so premature, she was very healthy

and had no serious complications. Some of the other babies in the NICU sick, it was heartbreaking. She’s been home now for a month and a half and now weighs eight pounds! I’m still on maternity leave enjoying

were so

my time with her.

TC HASSEL wrote: “I’ve got lots of great news: first... my wife, Wendy, gave birth to our third son, Joshua Timothy on 22 April (brothers: Jared, 5 V2 and Zachary, 3 V2 ). Second... I’m separating in two months and

going to the Jersey Guard as a full-timer. Really enjoyed the reunion, hope it’s not another 10 years before I see so many old friends again.” Chris SOSINSKI wrote: “Just a little update. Victoria Rose Sosinski was born at 1930 on 28Feb01. Everyone is happy and healthy. If anyone gets near Southern Michigan, stop by!” Eric OLSON wrote: “Big news here is that my wife, Kristen, just gave birth to our third child, Lily Anna, on 26 May. Her big brother Alex (8) and big sister Hannah (5) are thrilled to have her home for the first time today. We’ll get to enjoy her here for just a few weeks before we

prepare to PCS to Peterson next month! Never a dull moment!” Derek ABEYTA wrote: “Just thought I’d drop a line and tell you that Tim KANE is running for Congress in 2002 out of San Diego, CA. He just sent me a letter telling me about it. It sounds like he has a great chance at winning and becoming the first of the Mighty Class of 1990 to get into national politics. He has to raise $100,000 by 30 Jun to be seen as a viable candidate and qualify to receive party funds. I’m sure he would appreciate any help that you could afford him and tell everyone out there what he is up to. Thanks! I was in Virginia back in April for Bob BRANKLEY’s wedding. I saw Kenny KEMPER (stationed in Pensacola, FL as an exchange instructor pilot with the Navy) there as well. Mark BROWN (flying for the President’s support team) got hit for a last-minute TDY and couldn’t make it. The wedding was great. Bob really hooked up with a great girl.” Brian SMITH (CS-20) wrote: “Karen and I were blessed by the healthy birth of our second child, Brayden Riley Smith, on 24 May 2001. Both mom and baby are doing great. Big sister Mackenzie is 23 months old and trying to get used to sharing Mommy and Daddy’s attention.” Kurt KUNTZELMAN wrote: “My wife, Jayme, and our son Hank just got back from a great weekend at Troy MOLENDYKE’s wedding. Troy will PCS from Geilenkirchen and join his wife, Shaye, at Ramstein this summer after their honeymoon in the Moldives. We were able to catch up with a bunch of old USAFA buddies and their families: John ULM, Chris WHEELER, Stu SPANGLER, Rob RYSAVY, Joel DALY, Dale WINGER, Liz ORIE, Brent VANDERPOL, Troy CALHOUN, and Chris HAMM. Congrats to Troy! Tidbits: I’m still in group stan/eval for satellites... I’ve been extended for another year... looking for an ISS slot next summer... Jayme is due with our 2nd child on Sept 10th... AFA vs. defending National Champs Oklahoma on Sept 1 st look Dan MULLINS or me ...

up if you want to join our tailgate.” Adam MORTENSEN wrote: “Picked up for major w/ the rest of the class. Pinned on 1 June. No school, but no biggie, I really don’t want to

go to ‘mungumry’ for 10 months. Correspondence is much easier! My second son was born on 19 March 01. That makes three with Aydan, who turned four in April, Arianna, who turned two in March and then Little Adam Logan (goes by Logan). Family is doing great. Working at USSPACECOM in the J2 doing Information Operations and C4ISR stuff.”

Carson Tavenner 4414C Bighorn Drive USAF Academy, CO 80840

(719) 472-5942 E-mail: carson.tavenner@usafa.af.mil Percent members: 43

Quick! Look at your watch or a calendar! Is it 24 Sept yet? Good, there’s still time! Put this magazine down right now, get

No?

on the Internet, go to the reunion section ofwww.usafa91.com and click the “Official Registration” link. It will send you to the AOG site, where

you’ll print off the registration form. Then either mail it in (postmarked by 24 Sept!) or fax it. Quick! Now! Oh, no! You say it’s already 24 Sept or later? Well, you can still register! You will only incur some late fees, which are not as costly as missing this opportunity. So don’t despair. Please come! As of 20 June 2001, over 325 grads have already said they’re coming. I am sure that numher is even larger now. It’s going to be a great time! The reunion activities begin on Wednesday, 10 Oct. The first few grads will have already started arriving. During Wednesday, there will simply be registration and check-in at the Sheraton, but in the early evening (before going out for a late dinner with friends?) there will be a social time with refreshments at the Sheraton. That’s the Sheraton on the south end of town, where Circle joins 1-25. You might not want to make dinner plans ahead of time until you find out at the social what’s going

on/where groups are going.

Thursday morning you will experience the joy of one of our reunion

Class of 199110th Reunion/Homecoming USAFA vs. Wyoming 10-14 October 2000 planning fundamentals: nothing gets scheduled before 9 a.m.! Isn't that nice? Thursday is full of opportunities to join in with those who’re already in the area, doing various “small group” activities like shopping the malls, hiking Garden of the Gods, seeing the zoo together (they did let Rick LESAN out of the monkey cage eventually), or Seven Falls or the Cave of the Winds, etc. Many, I’m sure, will end up enjoying the day in Old Colorado City licking Colorado Creamery ice cream cones while strolling past the beautiful shops (if the weather is cooperating!). Finally, there are three special activities on the registration form (at this point the events might be filled up, so check with us soon if you’re interested!). Those three events are: paintball with Brian BANKS, horseback riding on USAFA’s southern spaces with Max (TORRENS) DESPAIN, and a special teatime w/tour at the Navigators’ Castle, Glen Eyrie. After a full day of whatever you did, there will be another social time with refreshments at the Sheraton, but this time we’re planning for a few hundred to be there, not just several dozen or more! Again, Friday morning, we won’t get started until after 9 a.m. Hey, I don’t know about you, but this is gonna work for me! The first thing is a game of volleyball in memory of Bill GRACE, at the memorial court built in his name inside the westernmost quadrangle of Vandenberg. We’re probably going to have to bring in bleachers for this one! Contact me if you want to play. That morning and afternoon, the Cadet Area will be open for touring and visiting. This is when you’ll want to see your old squadron, or the Fairchild Annex, the Gym and Fieldhouse, etc. The day continues with lunch at the location of your choice, which could be Mitchell Hall w/ cadets, or at Doolittle Hall w/ the Class of ‘81, or at any other place you choose. Starting at 1 p.m., we’ll get some briefings from USAFA staff, have our class photo, and review the Memorial Ceremony (hopefully with a classmate fly-by). After the ceremony, you’ll be free to go get ready for our dinner. The dinner is going to be a great time. It represents, if you will, the culmination of the official gatherings during the reunion. After the dinner, the remainder of the reunion time just gets more and more infermal. We have several surprises in store for the dinner that I don’t want to reveal (and given that it’s only June right now, ought not to, since plans never survive contact with the enemy). But trust me, memories will flow back faster than you can imagine, and most everyone will want to just hang around and chat into the wee hours of the night. Which is why... We’re not going to get up early on Saturday and have a pre-game tailgate! The tailgate will come after the game. Check the web site for details on when the game is scheduled to start, if you’re interested for some reason, but I can guarantee it won’t be before 9 a.m.! Our tailgate is mostly going to serve as the central point from which to start an entire Saturday of small-group get-togethers in various places all around the Springs. Imagine this: from the hotel(s), get driven around by private van from place to place, where your classmates will be mingling, gathering, and generally laughing it up! We have the members of a fecal rugby team providing the vehicles and the driving for a great afternoon, evening, and night! If your squadron (or other group) wants to get together, this is the time to do it! We have a large chart available on the web for you to see what groups are planning to meet, and the place and the time as well. Was the wrestling team particularly tight, or does the Scuba Club want to gather one more time? It’s more than just possible it’s easy! Just submit the club/group name to the website with a selected place and time, and you’re in! Multiple entries may appear; it’s up to your group, not us, to figure out which one (or both?) to go to. We’re just providing the locations, the vehicles, and the transportation schedule. You decide how to use it. This is centralized control, decentralized execution, people! Efforts are also underway to get our class to help sponsor/administer/assist the Cadet Chapel services on Sunday morning. I am looking forward to the opportunity to worship with many of you. I trust the necessary coordination has been covered by the time you read this; check out the reunion info packet at the event for final information. The Chapel services will mark the final reunion event, and put us in the right mode for departing again. How long before we meet again? Too long. Sound good? I hope so! See you next month. Tav. —

Send us your new address now. Get a friend to join the AOG. 117

p,™

James S. Mehta Box 5363

Carmel, CA 93921-5363 (831) 622-0752 E-mail: jamesmehta@usafa.com Percent members: 36

%slfPiff V -h|pj^7 ;

flying RC-135s. This was probably his best assignment as he met his future wife, Nicole, there. Brent spent three years in the Rivet Joint and Combat Sent doing TDYs all over the world. He then went to the Pentagon with AFIP for a few years. He and Nicole got married in Sept ‘98 and their daughter Elena Marie was born in Sept ‘00. Brent has kept in touch with a few other classmates: Brent’s zoomie roommate, Mike KELLY, is at Offutt with his wife, Ally, and is flying RC135s. Chris ANTHONY and his wife, Maria (‘93), are at RAF Lakenheath and are searching for a joint-spouse assignment. Chris is an F-15 WSO.

Greetings, 1992! I hope this finds you all well. I’m feeling pretty relieved today as I just completed my third quarter of my master’s degree yesterday. I turned in three papers and dropped off all the library books I used for research, making my book bag much lighter. Actually, everything feels lighter including my brain. Now starts summer break.. .1 don’t know if there is any other feeling like getting out of school for vacation. Anyway, I heard from a lot of you this time, so I’ll stop wasting space. Whoops! My first letter is from Norm BERTKE. Norm actually wrote me a letter by snail mail way back in January, but I put it aside because I had just sent in the column the day before. So, when it was time to write again in March, of course I forgot it. My apologies to Norm, and I give him first billing in this column. Norm got out of the AF in June ’97 and is living in the Dallas area with his wife, Tiffany, and his son Gabe. He is currently working as a commercial real estate manager for Tricon, but has only been with them for about a year and a half. —

Brent’s nav school roommate, Darrell LOCKHART, and his wife, Denise, are at Elmendorf where he is flying E-3s. James “Jeb” BUCK sent me email with a photo attached. While Jeb was TDY to Mississippi in April, he spent a few days with Keith REEVES and his family at Barksdale. Keith was recently selected to fly the B-2 and is dying to get started. They took out Keith’s Citabria to a small flyin in Texas where Jeb “showed [Keith] the proper way to land a taildragger.” Jeb also passed along that Phil CLINTON is at MacDill flying KC- 135s and that we should all keep TJ THOMPSON in our prayers and thoughts as his medical condition persists. Jeb will soon be separating from the AF and moving to Huntsville, AL but won’t quite let the AF out of his life he will stay in the Reserves. Thanks for the info, Jeb. —

”

Jeb and the Reeves. Jeb Buck and Tess, Keith, and Jessica Reeves, Apr ‘01. Good things come in bunches!

Rob and Jenn ATKINS recently got good news. Rob got a new position with BurlingtonNorthern Railroad allowing them to move from busy, crowded L.A. to the much quieter city of Turlock, CA. Three days after moving into a two deliveries of

“Thanksgiving at Norm’s.” Norm Bertke, Tom McWeeney, Rob Kiebler, and Troy Brashear, Nov ‘00. Tom McWEENEY is an FBI agent in New York City, probably chasing spies or bank robbers. Troy BRASHEAR is at Minot AFB working for Space Command. Troy recently spent some time with a UN Observation Force in Ethiopia/Eritrea. Rob KIEBLER is still flying the A-10 at Davis-Monthan and is an A-10 demonstration pilot. Thanks for the update Norm and I promise not to make you wait almost a year next time until I print your letter. Timing is everything. It seems that the most popular time for you to send me email and letters is the day after I send in the column to the AOG (see Norm’s story above). It happens almost every time. This time, Steve WHYTE was the one to time it right. Steve emailed me from Montgomery, AL where he and his wife, Stephanie, are living with their three kids. He got out and is a project manager for an Internet startup. Don’t go back to the previous sentence to confirm that you read Montgomery not San Jose —yes, it is Montgomery. Steve assured me they have Internet startups there, too. Thanks for the update Steve and I hope the industry is good to you. The next email came to me from Brent GRIFFIN at Randolph AFB. Brent is currently an instructor with the 562d Flying Training Squadron, teaching student navigators. Originally Brent was a maintenance officer, but went through nav school in 1994, followed by an assignment at Offutt

new

house, the Atkins welcomed a wonderful new addition to their fam-

ily. Evan Joseph Atkins arrived at 0004 hrs on May 18, 2001. Jenn says that Evan awes his older brother, Peyton. Glad things are going well, and Michelle and I will have to visit soon. Alisha and Jeff STAMP always keep me well informed. Actually, I think it’s really just Alisha. Anyway, she and Jeff are returning to the “nest” in C Springs where Jeff will teach Military History, starting Fall ‘01. They will spend some leave visiting friends and relatives all along the drive from the beltway. I guess you guys can now be volunteers to help plan our class reunion next year! Thanks for the info. Another frequent writer, Nicole (GREENWOOD) FOSTER sent some exciting news. She and Jeff are expecting their first baby in Sept ‘01. They found out they are having a boy and are having a blast preparing for his arrival. Also, Nicole may be the first ‘92er promoted to major. She was promoted on 20 Apr 01 and pinned on that same day. Nicole is the IMA for the chief of Public Affairs at Travis (if I remember correctly). Congratulations! And if anyone else in our class has an earlier promotion date to major than Nicole’s, we’d all like to hear from you. The last of the inbox entries is from Tim and Elissa STONG. Actually, I think this was from Elissa. It’s sure great that all you ‘92 guys got married or else I would never have any info and you would have to hear all about me for the whole column! Anyway, Tim and Elissa started the New Year in Germany where Tim was deployed. They had a wonderful time and Tim continued his deployment to Oman. There Tim had an all-expenses-paid vacation to the desert where he “did a ton of flying and played beach volleyball every chance he got... also found time to do some SCUBA diving and even bring home some beautiful carpets.” The Stongs are also expecting a delivery from the stork this year in December. Tim has decided to separate in Jan 2002 and is hoping to get on with the Michigan ANG. They will head to the cold state of Michigan in January. Good luck and don’t freeze up there. Well, my inbox shows all the little envelope icons as opened envelopes, so that means I have read them all and included them in the column. Actually, I do have one more. Steve and Kaye WOLF wrote notice the trend) to say that Steve has finished (actually, Kaye wrote his Olmstead Program in Berlin and they have set sail for Kaneohe Marine Corp Base in Hawaii. Remember, Steve cross-commissioned into the Marines. Steve was stationed in Hawaii for his first assignment and I lived in Kaneohe before moving here. Let me say that Michelle and I are jealous because we loved Hawaii. —

“The Grijfins. 118

”

Brent, Nicole, and Elena Marie.

Well, that wraps up another edition of what’s going on with True Blue Yesterday, three other USAFA grads here at NPS (Josh KUTRIEB, ‘92; Marty DeSTAZIO, ‘93; and Bret SEILING, ‘94) and I were invited to the Admiral’s house to give a new USAFA appointee a nice send-off re‘92.

ception. We did our best to scare the hell out of him and his parents... really, we just gave him some sage advice. If I calculated correctly, he will be the Class of 2005! That scared the hell out of us! Until next time, look out for one another and keep in touch. Later,

James. Michael D. Sundsted

4530 East Castle Drive

McGuire AFB, NJ 08641

(609) 724-0866 DSN: 650-6852

E-mail: Bravecwboy@aol.com Class Website: www.highflight.com Percent members: 88

What a great summer! Looks like the Fightin’ Football Falcons will look at the showdown with the reigning NCAA have a rough start National Champions at the home opener! What happened to the good ole days with Dee Dowis scoring seven touchdowns against Weber State? Weren’t we taught to set high, but achievable goals? Nevertheless, the Falcons will be ready for another banner year! Things are great here at McGuire—Collin and Lori are enjoying a visit in Texas with family and —

friends. On to the news... First, from snail mail (U.S. Post Office): Ali (WARD) TREVINO checks in from Hanscom AFB. She had a beautiful wedding ceremony on 2 Nov 00 when she married a USMA graduate, Ray Trevino. They met while stationed in Izmir, Turkey working at the NATO HQ. They are working for a joint assignment, but at the moment, Ray is stationed in Madrid, Spain. Ali also updates us on Anne TRUITT. She is well into her fourth year of medical school in D.C. and will declare her major (hopefully surgery) in Nov 01. Thanks for the update Ali, and congratulations on the wedding.

is Bruce YBARRA. Bruce has also become quite the entrepreneur. He owns his own ice cream shop in Davis, CA—The Marble Slab Creamery! Look out Ben and Jerry—Bruce is in the market! Bruce and Wispy can be seen yearly at the Illinois Inaugural Ball taking on Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert’s softball team in a charity event. On a more serious note, Bruce and Wispy have been doing a great job in the community service arena. Wispy and Bruce started the Windbreak Foundation in 1995. They have an annual event during Halloween that

raises thousands of dollars for Veterans Affairs. Rob DAM and Jason HARRISON (‘94) are hosts as well. The next Halloween masquerade will be this October in Arlington, VA. If anyone is interested, let me know and I’ll get in touch with Wispy. Count me in, Wispy! Send me the info! There we have it

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excellence from our class president. Thanks Wispy.

I was waiting in the lobby of one fine Air Force establishment and felt

obligated to leaf through the Airlift/Tanker Quarterly magazine. I closely examined the cover and, low and behold, stumbled on a familiar face from our class Capt. John PRICE. He seems to be in direct competition with Aaron “Robo” KERKMAN for Air Force poster child. John is one of the 2000 Young Leadership Award winners. He has compiled a very respectable list of accomplishments. Our heartiest congratulations to you, John, from all of your classmates! The good man, Aaron “World Be” FREED, is up-and-coming in our Air Force. He recently finished the AF Intern program, working per—

sonnel issues in OSD. He transferred to a different office to work for the Secretary of the Air Force. The aforementioned ATA Young Leader John PRICE and his wife, Stephanie (PARSONS, ‘94) PRICE, are there with their new baby, Maggie. John just finished a 100-mile race through the Shenendoah valley in 23 hours and 4 minutes. These skills will be great for you when some general needs some coffee (tee hee, just kidding!). Aaron also updates us on Liesl (RADERER) CARTER who has recently gotten married. She is also at the Pentagon and getting an additional degree at George Washington Univ. Also in the area are Mike McNEILL and Mara (SKIRMANTS) McNEILL. They have recently departed the AF. Mike is working in the FAA as a GS-54.8359 or some high-ranking job and Mara is going through Georgetown Law School. Both enjoy spending lots of time with their baby, Caleb. Mike PHAN is also out in the “real world” (not on MTV) working for Applied Materials in San Jose, CA. He practically spent his entire AF career homesteading in Colorado Springs. Trina (MAYHILL) DIETER is also out and working in C Springs for some satellite technology company. She has a son named Justin. Thanks for the awesome updates, Aaron! Aaron # 2 checks in from the Pentagon as well. (Aaron #2, a.k.a Aaron TALIAFERRO.) In one of my previous articles, I purported that Larry RILEY had a hand in setting Aaron up with his spouse. Aaron confirms I don’t know this with a great deal of accuracy. “I’m telling you what where my career will lead: AF, airlines, politics or journalism. Any which way, you heard it hear first folks!” Aaron is the executive support officer to the Secretary of Defense. His main job is routing and receiving messages from the deputy and secretary and routing them through —

various government channels and foreign governments. Sometimes he gets to do the most important job for Secretary Rumsfeld get his —

Ali and Ray Trevino enjoying the wedding pose. Our class president, Wispy SPEROS, reports from his home in D.C.

Wispy is flying the C-5 at Dover AFB and has almost a two-hour commute, except when he is at his beach house on the Delaware coast, which has a much shorter commute! Jim MARTIN is also there enjoying the life of an airlift junkie and hitting all of the world’s hotspots. Wispy flew C-21s in D.C. prior to his C-5 with several of our classmates. Dan OOSTERHOUS, his wife (Allison) and their three children are at Travis AFB. Dan is a C-5 instructor. Julia ANDERSON is still in the KC135/executive officer world at Fairchild AFB. Rob DAM is at Pope AFB. Another one of our classmates, Wispy reports, is the youngest and first-ever captain to pilot Air Force 2. That fine outstanding U.S. citizen

coffee. Aaron—you are going to help me in politics with all your connections! Aaron and his wife, Amy, are enjoying quality time with their daughter Olivia. They are expecting another child soon. Congratulations to your family, Aaron. Aaron has heard from Susan HEALY. She teaches French at USAFA and is currently planning a Labor Day wedding. Sorry about the Steve Avery rookie cards. Glad I kept Tom Glavine’s though. Hee, hee. Terri HOEFT has been very busy down at Langley AFB, VA. I should have checked in with her on my brief visit last week, but it was 0400 when I landed. Didn’t think you wanted the early wake-up call! Terri updates us on Tina (RETTA) and Chad COLLINS. They will be moving to New Jersey shortly.

Tina has joined the Reserves.

Andrea LIEBL

(MILLER) has recently left the AF for the Reserves and will join her husband, John, at Dover AFB. Heidi (CARTER) HEINLEIN and her hus-

band, Steve (‘92) had their third baby in March. Congrats on the new bundle of joy! Tonya (KOBBERDAHL) KUBENIC just finished up the intern program in D.C. and is headed to Hill AFB with her husband, John. “Paco” Dwayne LEHAYE is at Robins as a J-Stars controller. Kristin GOODWIN is going to the B-2 as she finishes her intern job at the Pen-

tagon. You are awesome, Terri, and thanks for the outstanding update! Dave POPE writes fresh from the High Flight conference at HQ AMC. Jay AYRES is at Scott AFB as an executive officer in FM. Jay, my man, what’s going on? Jeff RUSSELL is at Scott working somewhere in TACC. Mo BARRET is a TALCE operations officer and occasional C-5 pilot at

Travis AFB. Scott CALLIHAN is flying the KC-135 at Robins, but is on his way to Moody to fly the T-6. Hey Scott, write me an email about

Wispy and Bruce at the Illinois Inaugural Ball.

your Pacific Trip! Aaron #3, Aaron GITNER, is stationed at Altus in the 55 th ARS. Pete GBELIA is going through C-9 academics. Glad your tour 119

in UAVs is over? Us too! Pat HUDSON came through Altus to fly the KC135 on his way to McConnell. Mike PRUCE and Jon TAMBLYN were in

the same class at Altus. Derek LEVINE recently arrived at Altus as an IP in the 54 th Darren “Duffy” HAT.I. is still at Robins, but is working his way to Oklahoma as well. Randy TORIS is keeping an eye on our money at HQ AETC/FM. Thanks Dave and give my best to Lynnay, Taryn and Haley! Kevin and Kelly KOSEFESKI entertained me at Eglin in March as I waited for a new battery to arrive. They gave me a great picture, but I failed to include it in the spring update. They will visit me next week.. .

we’ll try not to get too rowdy.

pick back up with the next column, so send your newsy Christmas letters this way! Maria and Matt aren’t alone in San Diego also there is Kelly HEALY, who just graduated from USD Law School with many grads in attendance. They included her sister Susan (‘93, French instructor at USAFA—separating and getting married to a great guy named John); Dr. Adelle BELISLE (Ortho resident at UCONN); Bill ALLEN (leaving USMC to attend busi—

school in Boston); and Stu EBERHARDT (L.A. AFB exec for his SPO). As usual, Kelly keeps in touch with several grads, including Drs. Sarah (O’DANIEL) and Jerry FORTUNA, who live in Florida with daughter Haleigh—Sarah is a family practice resident; Jerry, a flight doc. Other “couple” friends: Courtney (MINER) and Ed CASTANEDA (finally living ness

in the same state

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North Carolina

—

and Ed is flying fighters; I think

Courtney is still in Services); Atlanta has gifted ministers Rebecca (CURRIE) and Chris GRAY (‘93); and new parents Dr. Rachel (CALL) and Wes HIGHT (Jared Luke was born 20 Feb). Kelly tracks Marines Jack EAST

(recruiter in Portland, but moving to Quantico) and Kurt GORDON (Japan) and keeps up with fellow Californians Jim SIKRA (Onizuka), Jerry LOEFFLER (L.A.), and Danny and Elbe PIPER (Hermosa Beach out of AF). She also reports that Andy OUIMET (business school, U of Michigan); Marshal ANDERSON (NYC financial whiz); Rebecca SONKISS (Predator pilot, Nellis); and Titi SOO (just selected for Education with Industry) are doing great as well and that Chris CALLAGHAN is still a favorite IP at Sheppard! Thanks, Kelly and congrats!! —

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Kevin, Kelly and Matthew enjoying the Christmas season. Some ‘93ers from my UPT class had an email check this month. Brian BURNS updates us on his career. He is currently in Arizona flying the F-16 as an NVG/FAC instructor. He says, “City bean coffee is as hot as

the places that it comes from.” He is currently pursuing a career in singing/lounge lizard and hopes to some day be featured in VH-l’s

stop by or call when you come to the family in New Jersey. Norm “Chowmi” JOHNSEN is leaving Cannon AFB for Kunsan. He is desperately seeking a band so he can be I suggest you rejuvenate your home brew while a drummer. Norm you are there. Thanks for the impetus to brew! Jason MILLS reports from Columbus and things seem to be looking pretty serious. I’ll let Millsy spill the beans on his great news to come. He is an instructor in AETC and reports that Mike BORYS recently got hitched last year at the Zoo. He married a C-130 navigator. Mike and his wife are navigators in the RC-135 at Offutt. It would be nice if we had a letter, Mike! Thanks for the updates everyone! “Where are they now?” Burnsie

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see

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Another great resource for classmate info is SOS instructor Lee MITCHELL (at Maxwell with his bride, Terri, and young sons Will and John), who prods ‘94 folks for updates as they rotate through. He’s seen Larry MITCHELL (McGuire, KC-lOs); Eric WRIGHT (Hurlburt, AC-130s); A1 EDWARDS (Seymour Johnson, F-15Es); Jim BOWEN (Comm-Computers at Schriever heading to Riyadh to work Foreign Military Sales); Rebecca SONKISS; Marc SANDS (Patrick, nuclear physicist, PCSing to —

CIA in D.C.); Jim FRANCIS (Mildenhall, MC-130Ps).

Matt GLOVER

(Hurlburt, MH-53s) didn’t like being away from his bride, Jamie (DAHLGREN, ‘95, finishing medical residency at Eglin), for SOS, but was thrilled to see Ed

CASTANEDA, Dustin CORDIER, Brannon KERR,

Rob LISCH, and Jared PAVLICH from his four-degree year in CS-23. Others who wrote were Eric TUCKER (Elmendorf, PCSing to Little Rock to be a C-130 FTU IP); Ryan OSTEROOS (Seymour Johnson, F-15E); Mike, Tammi, and Michael BOSILJEVAC (E-3 IP in Geilenkirchen, expecting in Sept); and Mike and Lisa ERICKSON (NAS Fallon, NV—USN Weapons School Instructor). Jim DeREUS (Charleston, C-17); newlyweds Felix and Kristine MONTERO (Kadena); and Michelle “Xena” VESTAL (A-10s; PCSing from Osan to Spang) also gave Lee updates, as did Mark, Jennifer, and baby Madison Taylor PARROT (Ghedi, Italy, Weapons Safety Officer). Thanks, Lee keep the SOS updates coming! Even though he went in the spring of ‘99, Les HIMEBROOK (Kadena) won’t forget SOS anytime soon at least not the return trip through Dallas, when he met his bride, Andrea, on a blind date to Six Flags! A whirlwind (or roller coaster!) romance ensued they were engaged at Spring Canyon, NM on Easter Sunday 2000 and were married in Albuquerque amidst tons of well-wishing grads. Check out their picture! —

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Mike, Collin and Drew enjoying the snow! I had to exclude some of you this time, but that’s a great thing when I

have too much to write. Oh here’s another picture of son, my nephew, and me! Asta, my friends. Mike C. C. Masotti 7608 Southern Oak Drive

Springfield, VA 22153 Home: (703) 644-4332 Work: (703) 697-1383 or DSN 227-1383 Fax: (703) 695-8884 or DSN 225-8884 E-mail: bowhead94@hotmail.com Percent members: 76

■

Yep, it’s Checkpoints time again! You’ve all been fantastic about sending inputs—it’s so nice not to have to beg for material, so thanks! SpeakMaria ing of inputs, for our next column we’ll have a special treat DONOVAN (soon to become Mrs. Matt BROGDON!) is going to guest—

star as our class columnist for the winter issue.

I will send her any in-

puts I get, but you can also contact her directly at 1105 Reed Ave, San Diego CA 92109; (858) 274-4312; Maria.Donovan@xcellsis-usa.com. I’ll 120

Grads gather at the Himebrook wedding: Bill Dobbs, Isie (Schwarz, ‘8 7) Kenyon; TC Judd (‘96); Les and Andrea Himebrook; Dale Holland (‘84); Kave Kirby; Kathy Cleveland; Dean Boerrigter (‘92); Scotty Nowlin (‘92); John Hennings; and Joelyn Nowlin (’92). I also heard from newlyweds/USAFA instructors Jen (ALLEN) and Kyle GRESHAM (‘91), who just celebrated their first anniversary and are about to move to the D.C. area. Jen was selected for a PhD slot by the Chem Department and will be attending the University of Maryland; Kyle will be at the Defense Thread Reduction Agency (DTRA). With Jen in the Chem Department are Tim RITTENHOUSE (going for PhD at U of Illinois) and Mark REIMANN (about to have baby #3!). She’s also in

touch with Deb HOIUM (separating, moving to Minnesota to get teaching certificate in math, dating Chad LINDSTROM, ‘96) and Jennifer (BALL) PICCERELLO (out of AF, working for Raytheon in D.C.). Jen and Kyle were kind enough to include a great photo.

in Japanese, while Rachel mastered Korean. It was great to catch up with both of them! I went to Colorado Springs for Easter and got to see Jane (DECKER) and Jeff GIBSON (‘95) and their beautiful kids Reagan, Sarah, and young Jason Michael. I missed them when I passed through again in May for a very brief TDY with the Omani Air Chief, but Jane was kind enough to take a break from her mid shift to give me a much-appreciated 0400 wake-up call! That trip took me to Elmendorf next, where I got a great helicopter tour of Alaska’s wildlife, glaciers, and incredible scenery— and got to say a quick hello to Daymen TIFFANY. The next day, we were off to Mt. Home, where I ran into Viper pilot Paul KIRMIS, who loves the area, the flying, and his girlfriend. It’s a shame I don’t have more time to catch up with folks on these trips, but they keep me pretty busy. I have another trip in July with the Brazilian

Air Chief—we’ll have a three-day whirlwind trip to Hill, Nellis, Edwards,

and LA I’ve done some leisure traveling in addition to my TDYs: I visited friends and family in North and South Carolina for Memorial Day, flew to Niagara Falls in June, just returned from visiting a dear friend in Alaska, am heading to Myrtle Beach in a few days, and am going to Ireland in August! I hope to see many of you while I’m out and about! As always, please keep me updated on your news and let me know if you’ll be in the area—whether it’s for the AF-Navy game, Marine Corps Marathon, house hunting, or just a vacation... I’d be honored to show

Mr. & Mrs. Kyle D. Gresham

Weddings seem to be the theme this column, as Mike GRUNWALD (Eielson, Intel weapons officer) wrote with news of his 8 June marriage to Army Captain Heidi Merrell (Army Intel at Ft Gordon, GA). The two found love in the desert (they met during a deployment to Eskan Village) and were married among the glaciers, mountains and tundra in Alaska now they’re just hoping for a joint-spouse assignment so they can enjoy the great outdoor activities in Alaska!

any of you around D.C.! Take care & God Bless! C.C.

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Becky (Mason) Fox 247 Rutan

Wichita, KS 67218 Home: (316) 685-6544

Cell phone: (316) 806-4319 Home e-mail: bmas0801@aol.com Percent members: 71

(Editor’s note: Becky is lookingfor a new class scribe. ested should contact her directly.)

Anyone inter-

Melissa S. Cunningham 9712 Hidden Valley Road

Newlyweds Mike and Heidi Grunwald Mike and Heidi aren’t the only big fans of Alaska... Dave and Erin HAM liked Elmendorf and the Anchorage area so much they decided to stay there when he separated in Feb. He’s a pilot for Peninsula Airways, an Anchorage-based commuter airline, flying an older twin turboprop to ferry passengers and cargo to some of the more remote places in Alaska. Because he didn’t have a UPT commitment (he was MX), I think he’s the first ‘94 grad to fly for the airlines! His strangest assignment to date was to deliver a couple of Pizza Hut pizzas to someone on St Paul Island in the Bearing Sea! Of course, Dave couldn’t leave Air Force life entirely. He keeps up his maintenance officer skills in the Air National Guard and highly recommends the Guard to those who are separating.

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Whether in the Air Force or out, we have so many classmates out there

making a difference, making life better for so many by sharing their gifts through time, talent, treasure, and ministry. One such blessed soul is seminary student Bill SABOL, who’s wrapping up another year of seminary in Ft. Wayne and preparing to enter a year of vicarage under a pastor at Mt. Calvary Lutheran Church in Brookings, SD. Bill will be involved in campus ministry at SDSL! and will assist the pastor in his weekly duties. After his year there, he’ll return to Ft. Wayne for his fourth and final year of school where he’ll get to fulfill his duties as the newly elected class president! Kathy CLEVELAND (Kirtland) devotes her off-duty time to her church, discipling to Sunday school kids, Bible Study groups, and all she meets. She reports that Steve and Jessica OTTO welcomed Shelby Grace to the world 19 Feb; Trace and Kristin THURLBY rejoiced at the birth of Hannah in May; and Kurt and Kristina WENDT celebrated Robert Gunnar’s May arrival. She also relayed that Mary HARTMAN just arrived at Kirtland; Brad and Krista McDONALD (Hanscom) are PCSing to Malmstrom, while Mark SHIDELER is heading to another Korea tour as a flight surgeon. Paula THORSON continues to share her gift of music and is moving to a new ad-

Vienna, VA 22181 (703) 319-4048/(703) 200-6155 E-mail: Melissa.amninghfim@pentagon.af.mil or

fmcunningham@aol.com

Percent members: 62

We just made it to D.C. and we’re still going through boxes and adjusting to life in the big city. It’s just a tad bit faster paced than Del Rio, but so far so good. Because we’ve been in flux for the last month (waiting for mail to be forwarded and cut off until we can get the computer set up) my info for this article is a little sketchy and sparse. I’ll get it together better next time around... The following pictures were taken at Justin SANDER’s memorial. As stated in the last issue, his death in the aircraft accident was a tragic loss for his family and friends. I know I was really touched by the large turnout at both Vance AFB and USAFA. We remembered a lot of good

times and toasted our friend.

—

dress in Wisconsin. Also on the move are David and Sarah SHOEMAKER,

PCSing (for the third time in two yrs) from Luke to Aviano. They’ve offered their home to any ‘94 folks passing through! WOW! I don’t know how I fit all that in! I haven’t even mentioned the folks I’ve actually seenl After months of reading his intel reports, I saw Chris

OUELLETTE (OSI) in the Pentagon and was able to join him and his wife,

Rachel (RABENI, ‘96), for lunch in April. They’re both OSI, both Naval Postgraduate School and Defense Language Institute graduates, and both in D.C. as force protection/anti-terrorism analysts Chris is now an expert —

All Stars reunited: Gavin Marks, Melissa Baumann, and Mark De Gironimo. Both Gavin and Melissa began the Air Force Intern Program this past June at the Pentagon. Mark was actually on his way to McChord AFB

fly the C-141, but at the last minute (the movers were en route to his house) his assignment was changed. He’ll be staying at McGuire and to

cross

flowing into the KC-10. 121

Other 38 folks: Glen REINHEART is now at Altus for KC-135 training and then it’s off to the Forks. Jason TONE and Chris KLINE are also in the internship program.

Kadena. Dale RIEDEL is back in school with the Law School Program. His wife, Jen (KORNACKER), is separating to attend veterinary school. Tom LIVINGSTON is completing a six-month rotation with the UN

Peacekeeping forces in the Western Sahara. He plans to take up camel racing and marry a Bedouin princess. Paul DZUBNAR is separating from the Air Force this summer. He and his wife plan to stay in the Philly area. Dzub passes along “I’ll always be Tango Alpha Bravo ‘96!” Brad DOWNS, Chris MITCHELL, and Chris “Disco” Dougherty are all extending for one more year at Yokota to fly the Mighty Here and to party down in Roppongi (bar district of Tokyo). Sorry this column was so short. Please send your updates and pictures to the new address above and I’ll work them in. I’ve got some pictures and news from folks I bumped into at SOS and of course, the “highly famed” Blair KAISER photos for the next article. Just to peak your interest, Blair and Kurt KREMSER sort of have a French Open/70s theme to the pics. Hard to imagine, I know. But trust me they are hilarious. Take care..Mel.

Mike and Missy Conley Mike and Missy CONLEY spent about two weeks with Justin's family

Melvin E. Maxwell, Jr.

and with Carrie, Justin’s wife. They are now on their way to Kirtland AFB for continued helicopter training. Mike’s not sure where he’ll be sent next,

but Hurlburt or England would be nice.

PSC #80, Box 17707 APO AP 96367-7707

Missy is going to try to wrap up

Wfork: melvin.maxwell@kadena.af.mil

her graduate degree in Albuquerque while Mike completes his training.

Home: mel_maxwell97@hotmail.com

DSN: 315-634-1067 Commercial: 011-81-6117-33-5646 Percent members: 68

What’s going on, everyone? I’ve got a number of lengthy inputs this

month, so let’s get to the news. Max ZERBA sent some news back in March.

He reported the C-21

himself, Dave HAMMER, Jeff QUEEN, Chris DOTUR, Matt BLAND (‘98), and Jannell (ZICARELLI) McCAULEY (‘98) is slowly disbanding with Jeff going E-3s at Tinker. Corrine CANCEL, Mark CHAGARIS (‘96), Meghan McCANN (‘96), and Brandon STADEL (‘96) are at Stuttgart. Mark is going C-17s and Meghan got an clan at Ramstein

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RC-135 to Offutt. He saw Denver COLLINS the other day at Mildenhall (KC-135 Pilot). Also at Ramstein are Heather LAWS (Intel), Phil BORN and Eric SPRINGER (cops), Mike SOVITSKY and Brian NOWINSKY (C9 pilots). I haven’t seen much of the fighter types since a run-in I had Dax Cornelius, Jeremy Potvin, and Kerre Scarborough

with Norm VETUICHICH (‘96) in Dublin, Ireland a year and a half ago. He always seemed like a nice guy, but this time he used the words F-

Dax is still logging combat hours in F-16s over the European theater.

15E or Strike Eagle about 30 times in a two-minute span. That’s a little

As I mentioned in the last issue, he left his gear at the duty desk when

excessive, even by my standards. Dave PAGE is up at Spangdahlem as

he heard about Justin and hopped on a plane back to the U.S. Jeremy POTVIN is a T-37 IP at Vance AFB. Kerre SCARBOROUGH (Ellis) is fi-

a maintenance guy, but is

nally completing her four+-year sentence at Laughlin. She began IFF

MILLER is here doing Finance.

over the

summer, and then it’s off to Luke in the fall. Her husband,

Damon (‘91), was just hired by United (hence the grin on her face).

Mike Felona and Tim Morris Mike FELONA is still flying C-130s. He was stateside upgrading recently, but I think he’s extended his assignment at Ramstein. Dan BEGIN will soon join him after he finishes his training at Little Rock. Tim MORRIS has a few more months left in the Army. Last time we spoke he was toying with getting out and staying in the Washington state area. He said he’d keep us posted if he made the big career change. PCS updates: Paul and Amanda (MYERS) BIRCH just arrived at Elmendorf. Paul is working with the F-15Es and Amanda is in CE. Jeff Dill just extended for a year in C-130s at Elmendorf. Josh NIELSON (C130s) just left Dyess for Little Rock. A1 HORSENS took a C-12 to Osan. Steve HILLIARD is at Randolph for T-37 PIT before moving down the road to Laughlin. I just heard a rumor that Lori (EDINGER) and Reid RASSMUSSEN may be going to Columbus AFB to teach UPT in Sept. Brian GRASKY is a F-16 RTU IP at Luke. Frank HOWARD is a Weapons School grad (Intel) at Kunsan. Parks HUGHS is a combat controller at 122

currently suffering through an Exec job. Sean

BRADLEY, USMC, has been reassigned to Whidbey Island NAS. Wendy

Becky NEEL (‘99) is also flying the mighty Lear at Ramstein, and so is Beau NEAL (‘96). Kevin TEMPLIN brought news after a trip to Saudi Arabia for AEF 2. “It all started when I deployed with my F-15C squadron, the 58th Fighter Squadron, ‘Gorillas’ back in Nov 00. Tom BLADEN is also a pilot in the squadron. Within minutes of landing in Saudi Arabia, I ran into both Maiya (ANDERSON) KRAUSS and Art LOCKLEAR. I’m not sure what Maiya is doing, but Art is in Services at Dyess AFB. Over the next couple of days, I ran into Mike DAVIS, AJ PELK3NGTON, Jared JOHNSON, Dan RONNEBERG, and Mark TAKAMIYA. Mike and Mark are flying KC-135S, while both AJ and Jared are flying F-16CJs out of Spangdahlem with the 22FS. Dan is flying AWACS out of Tinker. I also ran into John HARDY, who is doing Comm with the ALA at Kelly AFB. Later on, I ran into more people... Carrie WORTH is flying C-21s at Wright-Pat, while Greg NITA and John BAYCURA are flying RC-135s at Offutt. Laura (BECK) TAYLOR and Donavan KANAK are flying KC-135s at Grand Forks and Adam CURTIS is a maintenance officer with them. Toward the end of my threemonth-stay I ran into Jerry REYES, who is flying C-21s at Scott AFB; Luke

JOHNSON, who is flying F-16CJs with the 23FS at Spang; and Greg KOZBINSKI and Korey WATKINS, who are flying KC-135s. MattZAMISKA, Jeff PERCY (both 60FS F-15C pilots, Eglin AFB), Mark WOLFE, and Todd GIGGY (both 493FS F- 15C pilots, Lakenheath AB) were among those who came to

replace our squadron over there.

After flying back across the

ocean, we diverted into Langley and Eric HASSINGER and Samantha

GLINKSI were there to meet us at the jets with our first beer back in the states after being gone for 115 days. Eric and Samantha both fly F-15Cs in the 94 th along with Brian LAIDLAW, Derek SAWSER, Gil ACOSTA, and ,

Chad SPELLMAN. We flew back to Eglin the next day and one of the new pilots in the squadron welcoming us back was Matt SIMMONS who had joined the Gorillas while we were gone. In addition to the ‘97 grads, I ran into too many other people from different Academy classes to mention.” Tannia KUSTKA dropped me email from Maxwell AFB, where she is helping get the latest and greatest software tools out to the Air Force. Other folks roaming the halls at Gunter or Maxwell include Rusty COOK,

Clay KOSCHNICK (‘98), and Kevin FRASIER. Tannia passed on that Jen CARTER got married back in October to Tanner Underwood in Macon, Ga. Tannia sent some pictures of the bridesmaids, but I forgot about the attachments and lost them. Some of the Academy types present at

the wedding included Tannia, Corrine CANCEL, Kallie QUINN (‘98), Jiffy SETO (In his last year of med school at Georgetown), Jen CLIFTON (actually married last year with a new name), and Dionne ROLAND

(‘95, also married in 2000). Jen (CARTER) UNDERWOOD PCSed to Goodfellow AFB, TX, but will likely separate from the Air Force and move back to Georgia in the not-too-distant future. Heath FRYE plans on leaving also, but will remain in Montgomery until his wife, Alex, finishes her residency at the hospital.

first Parent’s Weekend? And, has anyone been as excited to see their parents since? We have certainly come a long way and the updates are

full of new families and new adventures... I received email from Dawn, the wife of Shawn ORBAN. Shawn is currentiy working with the RSA program for launches at Vandenberg AFB, CA and at Patrick AFB, FL. They are stationed at Vandenberg and have two sons, Shawn Jr., who is five and Shane AJexander who is six months old. Dawn also had the following information on other ‘98ers: Mark SUNDLOV went through Space and Missile school at Vandenberg and is now stationed in Minot ND. He is married to Tonia, the girl he dated his senior year at the Academy. They recently bought a house and have two dogs. Mike CONNERS is flying C-130s in North Carolina, and Adam

It also looks like Tannia could be the next rising star. She and Chris

COOPER is stationed at Dyess AFB, TX. Adam married a girl he met while

POWERS starred as “Erma” and “Billy” in the musical Anything Goes

in San Antonio and they have one child. Juan PENA is in the same squad-

that ran for five weeks. The roles required them to act, sing, and tap dance into the wee hours of the night to prepare for their performances, which received fantastic reviews. Since then, Tannia has done a commercial and was in a restaurant scene in the yet-to-be released film ‘World Traveler” starring Julianne Moore (Hannibal) and Billy Crudel (Almost Famous). Tannia is keeping her fingers crossed that the casting director for a new Mel Gibson movie being filmed in Georgia will

ron at

call on her group to do some acting. Chris KAY let me know that he and his wife, Kimberly, had a little one, Camden Michael Kay, back in September. Camden is already hitting 28-foot jumpers. Chris and his family left Boston this summer as he took over as an ROTC instructor at the University of Georgia. Fellow four degree Reaper Jason PUCKETT and his wife, Cathy, are also parents of a beautifiil baby boy. Jason remains at Fort Dix, NJ. Rob PRYOR dropped me a quick note from Langley and informed me that he is a happily married man since August 2000. In addition to the love of his life, he has his Academy security blanket in Bo LUZEY and Chuck LANEY. Chuck was on his way out to Randolph AFB, TX this summer, but Omar VELASCO has arrived to keep Rob company. Speaking of marriages, Kim (REED) CAMPBELL sent some news and a photo from Scott and Wendy (PALATINUS) DEVENISH’s wedding.

From left are Tim Huddleston, Shannon Faber, Tara Shamhart, Scott Devenish, Wendy (Palatinus) Deuenish, Kim (Reed) Campbell, Megan Kuzmich, Ian Larive (‘98), Jessica Lederman, and John Clune C95).

Kim reported Shannon just graduated from Med school and is on her way to Wilford Hall in San Antonio. Tara is in law school in Tempe, AZ while Kim is on her way to Tucson for A-10 RTU before moving on to Pope AFB. Also, Beth BENSON finished up a tour in Kunsan and is at

Nellis for Intel Weapons School before going to Shaw in December. Finally, an unidentified contributor had this to report about one of our beloved former commandants. “I’m walking out of the [Ramstein] post office (mailroom in geek speak) and I see this guy about 100 yards away in full-blown Academy PC gear. I’m not talking about a USAFA Tee. I mean USAFA Tee, issue shorts, white cross-trainers (might be Asics, couldn’t tell for sure). I think to myself, ‘What a [stud], who is this [spirited fellow]?’ As he gets closer it looks like an older gentleman. Then I see the name on the shirt, Lorenz!” [Scribe’s note: some words of the unidentified contributor were changed to keep the scribe from getting fired.] Until next time...Mel.

Karin (Klein) McWhorter 118 Summerglen Ridge

Newport News, VA 23602 Home: (757) 249-3211 / DSN: 574-7989

Work: Karin.McWhorter@Langley.af.mil Home: kleinmcwhorter@aol.com Percent members: 62

WOW, thanks for the amazing response to the last call for informaI think the fact that the last column was only two paragraphs motivated everyone to send me updates, and I even had five people send pictures! By the time this is printed it will be September and the Class of 2005 will be enjoying their first Parent’s Weekend. Can anyone believe it has been seven years since the fall of 1994 when we had our

tion.

Dyess and is married to his childhood sweetheart. John KUO has been in Japan for the past couple of years. He went to pilot training after the Academy, but kept getting sick, so he opted to move into the Intelligence career field and is PCSing to Hawaii this summer. They also keep in touch with Rich HEMMINGS, who is stationed overseas. I also heard from John BEURER, who is upgrading to aircraft commander in UH-1 Helicopters. He recently got his first “save” when his crew hoisted an injured climber off of a cliff. The climber had fallen about 100 feet and landed on a two-foot ledge. John’s helicopter hovered up against a huge rock wall 300 feet above the ground and pulled him to safety. They flew him to the hospital and found out he had a fractured skull, broken back, arm and hand, severely bruised kidneys, and a lacerated liver. But, at least he is alive thanks to the efforts of the helicopter crew! The next update is from Jay MEIER who married Amy (FISCHER, ’00) last December. —

From left are Kevin “Ozzie” Osborne, Chris Olsen, Clay Koschnick, Susan Olsen

(Canady), Matt Edwards, Amy Meier (Fischer, ‘00), Jay Meier,

Damian Schlussel, Max Pearson, and Chris Haws, at Jay and Amy’s wed-

ding last December. Jay also sent the following information: Chris OLSEN and Susan OLSEN (CANADY) recently PCSed to Hill AFB where Chris is flying F16s and Susan is doing engineering work. They are finally stationed together after three years apart! Chris HAWS has PCSed to Shaw AFB and is flying F-16s. Kevin “Ozzie” OSBORNE is in Montana doing RED HORSE CE stuff. As a side note, I recently ran into Kevin at the “Relay for Life” here in Norfolk. He was TDY and visiting with a cousin at the relay. It was great to see him and just showed me once again that you will meet classmates in the strangest places! Damian SCHLUSSEL is in Italy at Aviano and Melissa YOUDERIAN is also stationed there. They are both cops. Damian is enjoying all of the outdoor activities and Jay doesn’t think he is really working very much over there. Max PEARSON is now in Korea doing Intel and recently got engaged to a French girl (Julie) he met while in grad school in Paris. Clay KOSCHNICK is getting ready to leave Gunter/Maxwell AFB and head to Los Angeles AFB for acquisitions. Jay was at the Academy for graduation in May and saw Josh ANDERSON, who was there to commission his little brother, and Karsten ANDERSON (no relation) did the KC-10 flyby for the graduation parade. Jay and Amy just PCSed to Texas where she will go to pilot training at Laughlin AFB and he will work at Lackland AFB. The next update is courtesy of Mike CURRY, who is flying the MC-130 at Duke Field near Eglin AFB. He wrote that Nick LYNCH is still doing CE at Maxwell, but left in August to go to AFIT for his master’s in Engineering Management. Liz WICKMAN just PCSed to McGuire and is working in a TALCE. She got to spend 30 days in Denmark this summer from 7 June thru 3 July. Chris PETERS is a T-38 FAIP at Columbus with a fighter follow-on. Aaron JUHL is flying the B-l at Ellsworth. The next update is unique and is the first time I have received something from an NCO about their “LT”. MSgt Freeman, the first sergeant for the 5th Reconnaissance Squadron at Osan AB, Korea, sent in this 123

A group of ‘98ers get together at Chris Peters’ May wedding in St Paul,

Minn. From left are Nick Lynch, Liz Wickman,

Gayle Peters, Corey Simmons, Chris Peters, Bryan Christopher Peters (Chris’son), Mike Curry, Christine Laubsch, Aaron Juhl, and Danielle Vogelgesang.

picture of Matt REYNOLDS, the sortie generation flight commander for the U-2s squadron in Korea. He wrote that Matt was taking pies in the face as part of a fundraiser during the squadron picnic. Votes on who you would most like to see get “pied” were collected at 25 cents a piece and Matt had between 400 and 500 votes with “feverish bidding” to keep him in the top three. He ended up in second place and thus got two pies in the face. MSgt Freeman was quick to point out that Matt is well liked by his troops and was a great sport about the whole affair!

Shay Warakomski and an ‘89 grad with the Commander-In-Chiefs trophy in front of the White House. School and will be assigned to a Special Tactics Squadron in the relard tively near future. Ron LOBATO is an infantry officer with 3 Battalion, 2nd Marines in Camp Lejeune, NC and just finished Winter Mountain Leader's School. Scott CHANDLER also sent an email with a lot of updates: Jim GRAHAM and Frank FARRELLY are stationed with Scott Barksdale.

Frank and his wife are doing well and he’s enjoying life as a copilot in the 96th. His wife, Carrie, is a nurse at one of the 150 hospitals in Shreveport. Jim GRAHAM, on the other hand, is confounded by small town life and being a finance officer. Scott has also either heard from or visited Roy RECKER and Felicia RECKER (THOMPSON), Gerard DIMANNA and his

wife, Angela; and Ron SLOMA and his wife, Cori. Roy and Felicia just got

Matt Reynolds takes two pies in the face as part of a unit fundraiser!

Moving right along, Alex ACKERMAN sent an update from RAF Mildenhall. He got married in August to a girl named Rebecca he met in Cambridge at church. Alex is in the 488th and has gotten to travel quite a bit. This past summer he went to Turkey and Germany as well as back to the states and then to Souda Bay, Crete! In his free time, he is starting up a martial arts school on base. Tim “Shoe” SCHUMACHER also noticed that this column keeps getting shorter and shorter and sent an email update with this info: Tim is married to Sara, who he met at Karl FALK’S March ‘99 wedding. Tim and Sara got hitched at the Chapel on 15 July 2000. Chuck PARKS got married the same day in Kansas, which obviously made it hard for friends to attend both! Tim is in charge of POL for Davis-Monthan. He has run into Conan KENNEDY, who is down here flying 130s, but that’s about all of the flyers he knows of stationed there. Mike FREEMAN is in CE, Steve BEREIT is in LSS, Rick VASQUEZ is Intel, Mike LYLE got stuck in the command post, Suzie ROURKE has some sort of aide job and Marshall MCMULLEN is the LG exec. Tim also mentioned that a group of grads from the southern California bases and Nellis are trying to meet up for the AFA vs. San Diego football game in California and/ or the AFA vs. New Mexico football game in Albuquerque. Speaking of football, Tim is also the defensive line coach for a local high school in addition to completing his Masters of Arts and certification in secondary education for future employment pursuits. The next email I got was from Shay WARAKOMSKJ, who is still at the Pentagon and is enjoying his tour. He gets to work with the Capital Chapter of the AOG in the region and got the opportunity to help present the Commander-In-Chiefs Trophy to President Bush while the team was out in D.C. He got to meet the President and talk to him briefly! Calvin POWELL’S wife, Lori, sent a quick email to say that she and Calvin arrived at Langley in January and he is a member of the 94 th Fighter Squadron. Other grads she knows here at Langley include Phil MALLORY, whose wife, Jen, just had their second child, and Mike JACOBSON. Mike is married to Lorrie, and they have two kids, Samantha and Zachary. Scott TOMLINSON, a Marine, sent me the information that he is currd rently assigned to 3 Recon Battalion in Okinawa and recently returned from Colombian Counter-guerrilla/Counter-narcotics Ranger School. He also said that Mason DULA is almost finished with Combat Control 124

back from a European vacation to Ireland and London and are both stationed at Edwards. Felicia is still working on the F-22 and Roy is a maintenance officer and just got CGOQ or some award like that out there a couple months ago. Gerard DIMANNA is still at Los Angeles and is working in the GPS program office as a fellow contracting guy. His wife works with a local headhunter firm and he said she enjoys her work. Ron and Cori SLOMA are at Hill AFB in Utah and seem to be making the best of the weather. They’ve settled in pretty well and Ron is flying the F-16 between trips out to ski. They are expecting their first child. Speaking of children, Scott is also a new dad to Samuel Alexander, who was born th April 25 His wife, Amy, is also in the Air Force and is a navigator in the B-52 and has been denied separation, but they are working on it. He says they are very happy with their little family, and although they aren’t getting a lot of sleep, it’s worth it! And lasdy, Scott’s litde sister just got recognized with the Class of ‘04! Time really does fly... .

Scott Chandler and his son Samuel Alexander.

The last update is from me! I continue to run into grads on the flight line: During a Civic Leader visit, Ian LARIVE flew the DVs to Langley in a KC-10. It was great to see him, but it was also humbling as I was only out there to get their luggage! Oh, the joys of protocol. While at Columbus recently I got to see Keith ANDERSON, who leaves soon for law school at Ohio State on the FLEP program. His wife, Jamie ANDERSON (MELTON), got a job at the Defense Supply Squadron in Columbus. I also got to visit with Jamie and hear about the joys of parenting as they have a 2 Vz -year-old little girl named Abigail. They are blissfully happy and could be the poster children for the Joint Spouse Program! I also saw Beth MAKROS (CRIMMEL) who recently got a B-l from pilot training at Columbus. She will finally get to live with her husband, Rob MAKROS, who flies F-15E at Mountain Home. Tara VICE was here at Langley for a services conference in June and it was great to hang out with her again. She is still stationed in Hawaii and likes it much better than Louisiana! Joy BOSTON is still up at Eielson and has

started working on her private pilots license. I also got a short note from Leigh-Alyson Zingaro, wife of Joe ZINGARO. She wrote to say that she and Joe has a baby girl on May 7th. Her name is Emma-Katelyn. She and Joe are stationed at Laughlin AFB where Joe is a FAIP. Lastly, I talked to Kerrie DUNKER and she and Matt DUNKER are expecting their first child in January. You may remember that Tara and I predicted that once they got to North Dakota it wouldn’t be long before she was pregnant! I think we have to let Kerrie win this one as our bet was within the first year. Kerrie also told me that Candace MCBRAER and Steve PIPES got married in Korea and they are going to be stationed at Barksdale. As for me, I graduated with my master’s of science in Education from Old Dominion University this past August

and I hope to get stationed with my husband in January once he finally gets an assignment from UPT. I am still working in ACC Protocol and will really like getting back into PA when my time is up here. Thanks again for all the updates and pictures and keep the information coming. Hope to hear from you all again soon! Karin

James W. Busch 220B Polaris St.

XgpIJilf

Sheppard AFB, TX 76311 (940) 851-7994 E-mail: jbusch99@msn.com Percent members: 65

***

Greetings to all my fellow shiners! This is Travis WALTERS filling in for this issue. Hope everyone is enjoying the big promotion pay raise and tax refund from Uncle Sam. We have tremendous news from ENJJPT. our fearless class president is back in pilot training James BUSCH after a guy named Mike RYAN signed a waiver fax for him. Congrats, my friend. Right after getting this great news, I had another sinus block in the Tweet. I’m down for a while again, but they are giving me one last chance to make it. Ain’t that crazy? For anyone who would like to dog me about being a completely unproductive member of the Air Force, please send your emails to: traviswalters@email.msn .com. In other Sheppard news, here’s some recent assignment drops. For the F-15C: David BRUCE, Dave CHRISTENSEN, and Dave SOLOMON. For the Viper world: Dave DEVEMARK, Jorma HUHTALA, Chad MARTIN, Eric PAULS, Eric PUELS (just married!), Brian HEALY, Brian SHERRY, Todd KREUTZER, Quaid QUADRI, Mike HARMON, and Jason OHRENBERGER. A few people picked up B-ls: Tim REZAC, Ben COX, and Dan DORSON. Dave BERGIN and Ryan SAWYER got A-10s, and the recently married Ken CATES picked up a Buff. Craig BROWN scored —

—

Tim Stevens and his wife, Desiree, along with classmates Jeff Simmons, Doug Dickson, Will Reynolds, Eric Haas, Brian Sherry, Travis Walters, Kevin Pritz, Shawn Hatch, Mark Jones, and Dave Kern.

SCHLACHTER-KC-135, Mountain Home AFB; Jason BROWN-KC-135, McConnell AFB; Chuck POLOMSKY-C-17, Charleston AFB; Garrett ZINDEL-KC-135, McConnell AFB; Dave BUCHANAN-T-38 FAIR Vance AFB; Jake PANTER-C-21, Wright-Patterson; Chad HOLESKO-F-16; John IVES-C-9, Yokota, Japan; Kevin WEBSTER-RC-135, Offutt, Nebraska (hope you are doing great, bro); and Rick HOSS and Dave SHELLER-T44s.

Matthew WATSON is doing Comm at McGuire along with Tyler

Bobby BOLL and Jeff HAUGH are in the pipeline for combat control. Nick MOSSING is in Florida doing Comm with a joint force unit. Travis Keenan’s finger is on the pulse of 1999, Vance AFB. Thanks for the update Trav. Angela ARREDONDO and Jason SMITH are engaged to marry in November. Angela is doing Public Affairs at the zoo, and Jason finishes TIs in July. Quaid QUADRI, Jen DOLAN, and Chrissy DEIBEL will be in the ceremony. Good luck getting a good joint spouse assignment! Tim KLINE is also going to the altar with a wonderful girl named Elizabeth in July. Ryan TRUEMAN is flying all the way from Japan to make this one (sorry I couldn’t make it, dude). We also heard from Tim PIERCE who is in navigator school. He says Navy training moves along pretty slowly. It seems that Tim has run into a number of ‘99ers while out on the town, including Nick EVANS, Paul BROWN, and Mike EDMONSTON; all going through water survival. Ryan VONEIDA, who Tim bumped into at a wild bar in Panama City, is looking forward to flying MH-60s for the rescue squadron. Kristi HANSON passed along some great Laughlin info from the most MILLER.

recent drops: Brett RURKA, F-16; Jason KIRKLAND, C-21; Jenny RABAT,

B-52; Kevin ORMSBY, Tweet (fighter); Heidi TRIGGS, KC-135; Matt PARODA, C-5; Scott SIGFRE1D, F-16; and Craig FISHER, Tweet (C-130). Thanks a bunch Kristi!

a Strike Eagle while Clint KLIETHERMES got a T-38. Of Ben GRIFFITH will stay around as well to fly the '37.

Cory Frazier (Gadus) and Kinz Schlutz (Rohl) taking time offfrom intel and maintenance (respectively) in Las Vegas. Here’s a little news from Nellis AFB. It seems that Luke OSBORNE is

Three shiners now at F-15C RTU at Tyndall: Jeremy Weihrich, Eric

Schmidt, and Kevin Janasiewicz. I had the privilege of seeing both Tim STEVENS and Eric HAAS get

married to some beautiful young ladies they met here in Texas. Kevin PRITZ is getting married to an Oklahoma girl in August. I pray the Lord blesses y’alls marriages. Travis KEENAN, who is about to get married, noticed that Vance AFB

“poorly represented” in our last issue. Here’s his attempt to fill in the gaps: Ben L5SHER-C-17, Charleston AFB; Travis KEENAN-T-38 FAIP,

heading up that Cadet Ops AF program. Hope they get some fam rides! Matt JACKSON is also at Nellis doing that Viper Intel stuff and loving it. Sean TUCKER just got back from Turkey with his maintenance squadron. I can’t wait until I get to start deploying (NOT!). To all you champs that are out there getting the mission done in grand shiner fashion: my warmest appreciation for your awesome work.

As I conclude this article, it is with sadness in my heart that I pass

along this final bit of news. JJ MCCONNELL (in CS-10 first, then in CS18) was recently killed in a boating accident. The accident occurred in Arizona while he was stationed at Luke to undergo F-16 training. We’ll miss you ol’ buddy. Here’s a toast...

was

Vance AFB; Ryan DEKOK-F-16; Jason DAVIS-A-10; Aaron REDFERN, Tom GUSTIN, Craig SWEIRZBIN-T-37 FAIPs, Vance AFB; Dave HALE,

Josh PARVIN, John FLYNN-currently in T-38s; Kathy MAJAUSKAS-C21, Andrews AFB; Pat ELDRIDGE-C-5, Travis AFB; Tammer MAHDYRC-135, Mildenhall, England; Ben BARTLETT-F-16; Jeremy LUSHNATF-15C—and marrying G-Lo’s

Visit the AOG Web Site

Merchandise,

Gone But Not Forgotten and More!

www.aog-usafa.org

daughter this year (Tracy); Chris 125

Jason “JW” Simmons 110 Mara Court

Prattville, AL 36066 E-mail: Simmons@usafa.com Percent members: 60

Hey Gang, How is everyone?

I have heard back from many of our classmates, and it is great to be the one who gets to stay in contact with so many of you. It has been a year, so if you have lost touch with a USAFA friend, now is a good time to get back in touch with him or her. Congratula-

tions to those of you graduating from various programs and those classmates who have gotten married or have plans for this summer/fall. Here are the classmates that I have heard from...

Chuck ALONZO finally left USAFA this July. His first assignment was working in the Cadet Counseling Center. He just joined the Class of 2001 for his next assignment: Intel school at Goodfellow AFB, Texas. Jeffrey JOHNSTON moved into his new home at Kunsan AB, South Korea, where he’ll be for a year. He just finished up Intel school in June and now is an INA intel analysis geek at the 8th OSS. Carolyn WALKOTTE is back in Colorado Springs, stationed at Schriever AFB. She is flying satellites and loving every minute of it. Ellen KOWALCHUK (LEVAUGHN) is leaving Hawaii in July and moving to Wright-Pat AFB,

medical school at Loyola Chicago. He is living with Brock MILLER and Ryan FINNAN (’01) who are beginning their first year med school. PJ SEIPEL, another one of our brothers in the Marine Corp, has finished training in Athens, GA as an aviation supply officer, and is now stationed at MCAS Yuma, AZ. I’ll be sure to get a hold of him and the other crosscommissioners for a report on life in their service. Jeremy EGGERS, our class president, is at Fort Meade, MD right now for tech school, which is actually going pretty well. He’ll be there until the end of July, and is then off for a vacation in London and Paris. Alex LOPEZ just finished up his time at University of Arizona as the assistant regional director of Admissions. On 27 July, he reported to Intel School at Goodfellow AFB. Rob ELLIS is graduating Intel school at the end of June. He’ll take a couple weeks off before heading to Osan AB, S. Korea. A few 2000ers are already there, such as Reed WANGERUD and Stephanie OLDHAM. Rob ran into Ray DANIEL in San Antonio. He is in UPT at Del Rio. John KIRKWOOD went TDY to Canada recently and no news on how that went just yet, eh. it is rumored he can be John’s permanent duty station is Nellis and found in the casinos. Jonathan COMTOIS is in Combat Comm at Robins —

—

and will go to the desert after this summer.

...

Ohio to be on AFIT staff. Theresa WEIHRICH (VICK) received her second assignment after being a Gold Bar at the University of Kansas. She and husband, Jeremy WEIHRICH (’99), will be going to Mountain Home AFB. She’ll be at the Comm Squadron and he’ll fly Eagles. Also at Mountain Home AFB, Jason HOFFMAN says he is finally done with AMOC and is happy to be back as he heads up the Munitions Flight there. In marriage news... I traveled back to USAFA to be in Matt MEDLEY’S wedding. He and Janette were married in the Cadet Chapel on May 12 th Alex HAM and Maggie, who were married the following weekend, were also in attendance. It was great to be a part of his wedding. Here is a picture of the grads at the reception, in a not-so-sober state. .

Beau Jones, Kevin Lord, Kristen Bakotic, and Randolph Witt III.

Lastly, Beau JONES, Kevin LORD, Kristen BAKOTIC, and Randolph WITT III are having a great time at Hickam AFB, Hawaii as seen in the photograph. Beau Jones wanted to share the following update with everyone: “Let’s see... out here from our class is Kristen BAKOTIC, myself, Kevin LORD (who is finishing up his master’s at UH), Randy WITT, and Julie TURNER. Kristen, Randy, Kevin and I all have gotten pretty close over the past year sharing some pretty crazy adventures and experiences. Kristen and I are roommates and she is out here working on the MAJCOM level (unheard of for a 2Lt) for PACAF CE. She went to CE school at Wright Pat in March. She and Greg FAULK are still together and holding strong. Kevin is at UH living the cool college life we all dreamed about. He’s doing extremely well and had straight A’s last semester. He heads to Sheppard for UPT in July and has spent his free time here learning to surf, scuba dive, and keeping his pilot’s license current. Randy WITT is out here for Comm and partying it up, too. Looking back, I think the decision to push back my start date was the best thing I could have done. I am working at a DV Airlift Sq (65th) and have enjoyed learning about the Ops side of the house first hand. I went to ABC in Feb and had a great time... really. I know that I will forever be labeled as a dork, striver, tool, or whatever, but it was a great time... and it was the people there that made it that way. The only grad in my flight was Kelly BAKER (MARSHALL) who is now working Personnel at Laughlin. I am scheduled for UPT at Laughlin in mid-June, so my time in paradise is winding down. I too have spent some time learning to master wave riding, and have flown a little here and there. Kevin and I definitely plan to visit afterwe leave., .can’t let Kris and Randy have all the fun. I have left out a lot out... the partying, trips to other islands, the beaches, the partying, but I’m sure we all have great stories stemming from our first year as officers.” —

Alex Ham, Matt Medley, and Jason Simmons WILKERSON and James Foster (Texas Tech) were mar“Chip” Tracy ried on June 16 th at the Academy Chapel. Tracy is currently the support group exec at Kadena AB, Japan and James is a comm officer at Lakenheath RAF, England. Erin CREAN married Jeremy Ferguson on 10 June 2001 after his Academy graduation, and they are headed to Cannon AFB, NM. She is having a blast as an intelligence officer at the 27 OSS. Kelly STROM informed me that she and Ben GEORGE are getting married on Aug 18, and they will be sure to get some good pictures. Konnie SNYDER married Ronnie Young (ROTC University of Florida) in a small ceremony on May 26th, but the big ceremony will be next year. She just PCSed from Goodfellow AFB, TX to Patrick AFB, FL where she’ll be working at AFTAC for the next couple years. She’s excited to be -

a beach bum and can’t wait for you all to come and visit!

From those off at flying training, I have heard the following: David MERRITT says that he survived “The Basic School,” is finishing up

Amphibious Warfare School part 1, and is now down in Pensacola awaitingAPI. From Pensacola, he will head to Vance AFB for Primary. Dave WITT left Dover AFB after a year of casual status to finally go to UPT at Columbus.

He started 11 June.

Matt RUSSELL and Matt CORRIGAN

wrapping up their casual world tour and leave Okinawa for UPT at Columbus that starts 2 July. Matt reports that they were upset they couldn’t find the Karate Kid anywhere... but found a few cute ladies. Jason GOLDBERG is having a blast at UPT, but just picturing him flying scares me. John BENSON and Kristen DI SCALA and have finally managed to get to UPT in the 02-11 class at Laughlin AFB in Texas. They’re excited to get started but are already missing the pasta and vino back in Italy where they were stationed for casual status. From universities and colleges to tech schools, a lot of the class is working on education. Matt SCHMITZ is beginning his second year of are

126

Holly Adams Box 416

Franklin, TN 37065 (615) 794-7491 E-mail: Fire_It_Up_40@hotmail.com Percent members: 60

Hello, funk nasty punk smellies! Fire It Up (yes, I will continue to be a geek until we are at least captains)! I sincerely hope everyone enjoyed a memorable graduation celebration with family and friends. Please email me updates on yourself, ‘Olers that you are stationed with, or anything else to the email address above (It’s like sending a C01_A11 for

those who just can’t let go...). I’ll get it posted in these quarterly updates along with any pictures you send (I’ll scan it and mail it right back to you). This issue will be brief, but they’ll get more interesting as folks send in some juicy gossip. The following philosophy of the Biology Department on term papers will apply to these articles: “The text should be just like a woman’s skirt... long enough to cover the subject but short enough to be interesting.”

Kendra MARKS and Patrick LOWE were married in their hometown three weeks after Grad. Camille CHIGI is “gettin’ Chigi with it” in Europe for a few weeks before she heads to the Southeast to hopefully pursue a rated AF career (good luck, Camille!). The four stooges —

Tim SPAULDING, Tom MCCALEB, Zach HICKMAN, and Luke TEEL

planning to hitchhike from the four corners of the United States whoever gets there first gets to pick where they go from there. Psychos. That’s what the four thick bars will do to ya! Broc STARRETT married Katie from home she’s got expert dipKart skills. Chauncy “Lou” KROL and Melanie “Smelly” BATES got leid in Hawaii (twice), but they’re still not engaged! They’ll be attending UPT a few hours from each other, though Mel at Vance and Chauncy at Sheppard, so look out!! Other future-Vancers that got hitched this summer include Chris STEPHENS, Bryan BAILEY, and Jason ZUMWALT. Kurt BRUGGEMAN is planning to snap on the ball and chain with his woman right after he gets some looser-fitting parade pants for those parades as a LT! Yeah, baby! John GATELY and Makia EPIE are spending 60 days being good-looking men before they both head to Moody for UPT to extend the longest-running roommate streak in the Mitchell Class: five years! Cody STIVERSON, also ridiculously handsome, spent some time with his OSIinvented family in Denver before he goes to Europe to fight off runway models who don’t shave their pits! Lindsay PAYNE and Travis LOGSDON got married Sunday after Grad in C Springs. Lindsay’s maid of honor, Erin VAN OOSTEN, is traveling and spending some of the summer with beau Chris JESSOP before they both return to C Springs for an IFT stint. Erin and I will be roomies in C Springs for IFT in the same apartments —are

in a race to Kansas City

Jimmy MUIR, Walker PEARCE-PERCY, and Ben ORTON began by backpacking Peru on some insanely long trail up to kiss the tiki statue and dance around in grass skirts while chanting. Following the Peruvian excursion, Jimmy and Walker will meet Garrett FISHER, Jason WILLEY, and myself for a month in Europe running with the bulls, catching a lipper in Copenhagen, good beer in Frankfurt, serenades on the gondolas in Venice, and all that good stuff. Eric HENDRICKSON married his high school sweetheart, and I’m certain they are going to start expanding their family soon. Kyle JOHNSTON is engaged to marry his Colorado Springs babe, and Justin LONGMIRE already tied the knot with a girl from home. Faith HITCHCOCK spent most of 60 days in Virginia excepting her visit to Iowa (Hi...(dramatic pause) we’re in Iowa...) to see Ricky Rudd fan Mike DUNN, who is enjoying being lazy and attending a few oldschool Wolfpack weddings. Ward Burton fan Givey KOCHANOWSKI planned a few road trips on his bike between the weekly Sunday morning Winston Cup races (stopping through Nashville with Teague BODLEY to stay with my folks and see the Grand Old Opry). Andrew IGNASH is getting married in Alabama in July (she has a mullet and dips Cope regularly, but she’s still got all of her teeth, don’t worry). Raul OCHOA and Angela FELDMANN got hitched in Kentucky with many old Wolfpackers in attendance, including Mike DUNN, Jesse GOOLSBY, Barry WEAVER, Jordan COLLINS, Brent GREER, Tony MARIAPAIN, Givey KOCHANOWSKI, and Kylene GROVE. Brent GREER and I hit up Disney in Orlando and Key West for an awesome vacation before Brent heads down to N’awlins to visit Paul CRISTINA and get some good Cajun cooking courtesy of Mrs. Cristina! Melissa HORVATH married ‘01USNA grad Eric Olendorf in a beautiful Briarhurst wedding during Grad week that included Seward

—

as roomies Alex WHITE and Jason MORRIS as well as Chris JESSOP and

Scotty MCKAY. This is just a sampling of what everyone’s got on his or her plate through the summer. Lots of overseas travel, weddings, spending time with family and friends, scoping out new bases, and relaxation and being lazy! Please remember to write the above address with info and and pictures! Best of luck as we all enter our new careers and bases remember now, the linchpin of LDM is mutual respect and mullets don’t

MATWICK, David THAWLEY, Camille CHIGI, and Kendra MARKS. Also married the same day at the Briarhurst were Scotty JENKINS to a Colorado

—

Springs beauty and Steve MANLEY to Amy HESKETT.

(Chapters: Continued from page 47.) working breakfast is still alive and kicking in Seattle. The function is a good opportunity for grads looking for a new occupation to mix with other grads that have hiring authority. If you are interested, contact Daucey Brewington, ‘70, at 425-888-2426 for more details. The chapter’s

bite... HARD. SMELL! Until next time... Fire it up, YLLOH.

graduate John Bellotte, to two fourthclassmen enjoyed the event. It was a relaxed evening of camaraderie and a home for spring break

—

wonderful welcome to the Air Force for our

youngest cadets and graduates.

We look for-

ward to getting together again this summer

when USAFE hosts cadets on their summer pro-

future activities include a Sea Fair party in Au-

grams. If you would like to be on the Red Baron

gust and the annual Joint Services Academy

mailing list, contact our secretary, Lt. Chris Dotur, at DSN 480-2066, or e-mail: Christopher

Dinner in the fall. Look out for mailers in the near future.

Don’t forget to check out our web

site at http://www.talon.com/pugetsound/. If

you’re interested in joining us, please contact Brian DeLuca at 206-527-2218 or Joe Cavazzini,

‘82, at 425-742-7630. We have members from as far away as

Oregon and Eastern Washington, as well as the Puget Sound locals, so come on out and join us. (Joe Cavazzini, ‘82)

RED BARON CHAPTER The Red Baron Chapter at Ramstein Air Base,

.dotur@ramstein.af.mil.

SPACE CHAPTER Now that the Air Force has begun to implement the recommendations of the

“Space Com-

mission” chaired by now-Sec. Def. Rumsfeld, we

anticipate even greater focus at the Academy on space-related topics and activities. And that’s why this chapter was created—to help USAFA’s faculty and cadets better appreciate the opportunities to use space systems and space opera-

Germany, had its second annual Founders’ Day

tions to strengthen national security.

Dinner on 31 Mar 01 at the Ramstein Officer’s

Several grads have asked where the Space Chapter is located. Although many of our members live in the Springs, the chapter itself exists in “virtual space,” on the web. That’s where most of our communication and planning takes place and projects are coordinated through email. Every once in a while we have a face-toface meeting to say hello to each other (usually in Colorado Springs). The Chapter's activities have continued to grow with increasing participation by grads and cadets. One of our latest initiatives is the development of a list on our site of chapter members who

Club. We began the evening with a wine-tast-

ing by a well-known vintner from the Mosel and later offered several of his specialties (that were labeled with a fine view of the chapel) for purchase after the meal. Col. Daniel W. Litwhiler, head of the math department and currently

serving a sabbatical at EUCOM, spoke to us after dinner about the Academy’s role in the Air Force mission.

Over 80 attendees

—

ranging from a 1962

Don’t miss a magazine.

Send us your new address now.

—

have volunteered to serve as advisors for cadets and USAFA faculty that want to get other per-

‘

Several of our members, led by Tom Mahr, 71, are exploring ways to tell the story of grads

who have been involved in Air Force space-related jobs. To get a better insight into what we’re doing, please check out our new web site, at http:// usafaspace.tripod.com/. This site was put together and is managed by Tina Visco, ‘92, who has been a strong supporter of the Space Chapter. This new web site provides a much better way for members of the chapter to communicate and to share our progress and accomplishments with other interested grads. Of course, we’re looking for even better ideas for meeting the chapter’s goals, so please feel

free to contact any of our members (identified

site) and let us know what you think. Or if you’re interested in getting on our distribuon our

tion, please contact Stan Rosen, ‘69 at srosen6@aol.com, or call him at 310-364-5746 (w) or 310-216-1077 (home).

Support Your Local AOG Chapter/Society Do you want to know what is happening with graduates in your area? Are you interested in establishing ties with the local graduate community and with the Academy? In addition to social activities, many chapters/societies provide mentor services, job-search information, and business networking. For current infermation on all AOG Chapters, go to www.aog-usafa.org, click on “Links to Af-

filiates” on the left side of the page, then click on “AOG Chapters and Societies.”

spectives on space-related jobs or careers. 127

Your United States Air Force Academy Gift Ring

gift ring is excfusive and unmistakable. Designedespeciallyfor those women whoprovide supportfor the Academy and its cadets mothers, wives of afumni, andothers the ring easihy andquickly identifies the wearer as ajriendof USAFA. We trust that this ring, andthe mensgift ring still in production, will become a touchstone of common ground Wearing the USAFA gift ring is way to carry the value andpride of the Academy everywhereyou go. Your new

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