VMI Turnouts A VMI ALUMNI AGENCIES DIGITAL NEWSLETTER
July 2018
2018 Volunteer Leadership Conference VMI was buzzing with activity June 15-16, 2018, as alumni leaders from around the country gathered for the Volunteer Leadership Conference. Held at the Institute’s Center for Leadership and Ethics, the conference offered opportunities to network, connect with old friends, learn from best practices and explore strategies on how to better inform, engage and inspire the VMI alumni base and the broader VMI family. For the first time, the Agencies combined volunteer leader groups. “At our very core, we must first endeavor to inform our alumni about the advances of VMI. We must seek to engage all alumni through the class and chapter programs, leading to strengthened bonds of VMI brotherhood,” said Stephen Maconi, VMI Alumni Agencies chief executive officer. “Then we must work to inspire support for the health and sustained excellence of the VMI
mission. This joint conference was an important step to advance the conversation of how to best reach our objectives.” The conference united chapter leaders, regional directors, directors at large, class agents and Alumni Association board members, providing them the chance to learn from each other and to take advantage of a broader spectrum of ideas, strategies and shared purpose. “The main benefit of attending the annual leadership gatherings is spending time with other class agents and trading thoughts and ideas,” said Mike Ogden ’79, class agent for the Class of 1979. “From my perspective, being a class agent is all about keeping the class connected with each other and with VMI. Having a chance to meet with other class agents has over the years proven to be most interesting and valuable in making
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July 2018
and keeping those connections.” The combined conference allowed the Alumni Agencies to “offer an enhanced opportunity for our volunteer leaders to learn and grow,” said Thom Brashears ’95, Alumni Association chief operating officer. Not only did the sessions enable learning from each other, but volunteer leaders had the opportunity to meet with the professional Agencies staff that supports alumni engagement and Institute advancement, said Asa Page, Alumni Association president. Max Hopkins ’97, San Diego chapter president, found value in talking with other alumni about “how we can assist each other, and discuss different ideas for events.” Hopkins, who has previously served as an alumni chapter president, said this was his first time attending a volunteer conference. Although he is experienced in chapter leadership, he sees particular benefits for volunteers who are new in their roles to learn about the valuable support provided by the Agencies and how the different arms of the Agencies work together in support of VMI. The conference covered two days, plus a reception for early arrivals Thursday evening. Friday was packed full of events to help volunteer leaders. The morning began with a breakfast to give time to connect with old friends, then each member of the combined Agencies’ senior leadership team addressed the group. Maconi was the first to speak, thanking the volunteer leaders for their service and challenging them to continue their good work. The group of more than 90 people broke up into four round robin sessions which lasted through the afternoon, with a break for lunch and networking. Charlie Ramsburg ’66 found the conference an improvement from past years in many areas, praising the content and the way the sessions were moderated. “[The conference] showed the evolution of the three agencies working together. The establishment of the CEO position ... there are concrete signs of that having a positive impact now,” said Ramsburg, who has served in numerous roles within the Alumni Association, including chapter president and regional director. Ramsburg also noted that the conference was well-scheduled, and participants did not feel rushed between sessions. “The networking that takes place in between as people move from session to session is so important,” Ramsburg noted, also remembering good counsel given by Brashears before the sessions began: “Thom Brashears said, ‘Increase your network while you’re here. Talk to someone you’ve never talked to before.’ And that’s really good advice.” Volunteer leaders had the opportunity to rotate through all four sessions: Guidance for using social media and the Alumni Association to engage chapters and classes; how to get involved with admissions and career networking; reunion planning and communications; and iModules updates. “The agenda of the four breakout areas were spot-on,” Page said. “I think they were perfect topics.” Through the sessions, Hopkins said he learned “how much support is really there for a chapter president,” and that when it comes to getting help from the Alumni Association, “really, the sky is the limit.”
The reunion planning session was “tremendously helpful,” said Walt Judd ’69, who serves as class agent for his class. Judd is in the midst of planning for his class’ 50th Reunion in April 2019. In the sessions, participants learned lessons from alumni who had just completed reunions and heard from people who were in thick of planning for upcoming fall reunions. Following the sessions, participants came together for a group panel moderated by Ramsburg. Woody Woodward ’92 and Judd represented class agents on the panel, while Walt Chalkley ’72, P.X. English ’73 and Hopkins were able to speak about chapter leadership. Chalkley recently came off his term as regional director for Florida, and English is the president of the Upstate South Carolina/Pigsah, North Carolina Chapter. The first day was topped off with a dinner in the CLE Hall of Valor. The event was highlighted by speaker Jerry Acuff ’71, who spoke about his love for the Institute, goal setting and plans for VMI’s future through the Alumni Agencies. Former Alumni Association president Bob Louthan ’82 and his wife, Kathy, were presented with tokens of appreciation for their service to the Agencies and VMI. Karen Page, wife of retired Capt. Asa Page ’79, incoming Association president, was also honored with flowers. Saturday morning following breakfast, Col. William Wanovich ’87, commandant of cadets, gave a riveting, comprehensive presentation on the state of the institute. Class agents were treated to an interactive session with Amy Goetz, Agencies chief communications officer. Goetz spent a few minutes talking about her vision for the communications team and then shared some updates of the Alumni Review’s organization and content. Following Goetz’s presentation, 1968 class agent Tom Hickey ’68 shared some of his experiences as a long-serving class agent. Hickey has served as class agent since December 1999 and has helped usher his class through four reunions, including their 50th in April. Ogden called Hickey’s presentation “the most helpful” of the conference, partially since 1968 had just finished their 50th Reunion. “Tom’s perspective, priorities and the resources and tools he uses along with the questions and conversations that followed were invaluable,” he said. “It was a great exchange of ideas, methods and comparing and contrasting how each of us deal with aspects of being a class agent.” The focus of Hickey’s presentation was how he harnesses various resources and uses numerous tools to accomplish his priorities as a class agent – which include building and maintaining the bonds within his class and supporting fundraising in support of VMI. Hickey advised the other class agents to make full use of the Alumni Review as a means of communication, to embrace regular mail, email and social media and to devote substantial attention to the organization and execution of reunions. “Alumni take a lot of time and put in a lot of miles to participate in this event. It speaks volumes about their commitment to serve their brother rats, fellow alumni and the Institute. I hope that, next year, we have even more of our leaders partake of this always excellent experience,” concluded John Wranek ’85, VMI Foundation vice president of alumni and reunion giving.
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July 2018
Smith ’43, Kruse ’65: Lasting Friendship by Molly Rolon, Assistant Editor, VMI Alumni Agencies
In early 1970s Chicago, two former Keydets met each other in the depths of Chicago’s famed Merchandise Mart. Joe Kruse ’65, a new young salesman with Lees Carpet company, was being introduced to the who’s who in the carpet world. Gordon “Gordy” Smith ’43, was one of those “who’s who.” Kruse’s co-worker grabbed his hand to show Smith the VMI ring, while noting that Kruse had played basketball at VMI. Jokingly, Smith – a former VMI basketball player and avid sports fan – said, “There’s no Joe Kruse who played basketball at VMI.” Kruse explained that he had changed his name from Kruszewski to Kruse, prompting a still-joking Smith to reply, “I heard of Kruszewski: when he dribbled
off his foot and sent the ball out-ofbounds.” That meeting of two Keydet hoops greats – Smith as center on the 1943 state championship team and Kruse as a guard for the 1964 SoCon championship team – was the beginning of a life-long friendship. Aside from their common profession in the carpet industry and the obvious Institute connection, the two men soon found additional shared interests: Both loved travel and golf. The friends traveled for business – often ending up back in Lexington, since Lees Carpet had a factory in nearby Glasgow, Virginia. They loved to travel for both golf, and simply for pleasure. They made their way throughout the country and internationally, including
traveling to Ireland, Scotland and even China, along with regular trips to Hawaii. In their travels, they played some of the world’s best golf courses. “We added it up one time – we probably went on 60 trips together,” Kruse recalled. “I probably spent more time with Gordon Smith than anybody.” The relationship surpassed the bounds of friendship, traveling and even golf: The two became like family. “He was sort of like my second dad, and I was sort of like his son,” Kruse said. Smith, who never married or had children, was an outgoing man with many friends, Kruse remembered, relating that Smith had over 100 people attend his 90th and 95th birthday parties, and friends and neighbors would often stop by to visit Smith or bake him a pie.
During their decades-long friendship, Joe Kruse ’65 and Gordon Smith ’43 traveled extensively, including a stop at the World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C. Smith was in the Army’s signal corps during the war, and had a hand in interpreting coded messages between President Franklin D. Roosevelt and Winston Churchill.
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July 2018
As time went on, Kruse was able to help Smith during various health-related events. Kruse provided support when Smith decided to get a double knee replacement 18 years ago. Smith’s knees were hurting him, and he had decided to get both replaced at the same time. The two men shopped all around Chicago for a doctor who would perform a double knee replacement. Most doctors wanted to replace one knee, then the other, since the recovery process was lengthy, but Smith decided to get both done at once, figuring the pain plus the recovery process would deter him from ever getting the second knee replaced. “He wound up staying six to eight weeks with me at my house, because he had no family to take care of him,” Kruse recalled. “So every day, we would get him up in the morning. It was like he was in the Rat line all over again: We would work him out. His discipline probably produced another 18 years of his life. He was diligent, so that was a big plus for him.” Kruse also helped Smith invest in stocks and real estate, and later with his estate planning, eventually becoming executor of Smith’s estate and trustee of Smith’s charitable foundation. Through his lifetime and estate gift planning, Smith gave well over $1 million in support of VMI athletics, earning him a spot on the Keydet Club’s Wall of Honor. He funded both the 1943 State Championship Team Basketball Scholarship in 2006 and the Gordon A. Smith ’43 Basketball Scholarship through gift planning. “Gordon Smith truly was a wonderful character,” noted Greg Cavallaro
Smith, left, and Kruse, who met each other through the carpet business, formed a friendship that lasted decades, often traveling together throughout the world, including to Hawaii.
’84, former VMI Keydet Club chief operating officer, who got to know Smith well over the past 30 years while working for the VMI Foundation and Keydet Club. “He loved VMI and was extremely generous to the Institute both during his lifetime and through his estate planning.” He was unstinting in his giving in other areas, leaving thousands of dollars to his regular taxi driver, a woman who cleaned his house and even beginning college savings plans for his neighbor’s children. Although he was well situated financially and generous to others, Smith was “very, very frugal. He was 97 years old and didn’t have a clothes dryer,” Kruse related. “He called it solar heat; he hung his clothes out to dry.” Smith’s frugality was also apparent in his appearance, Kruse said. “He was very eccentric in the way he dressed. His tie would be tied 3 inches too short and nothing ever matched. He would chew a cigar all the time. He
would not smoke it, he would just eat it,” Kruse said, going on to say that to those who met Smith, his appearance was left in the dust by his personality. “He was very genuine. Everybody who ever met him remembered him. He made people feel unique, special.” For Smith’s 95th birthday, Kruse brought in a Frank Sinatra impersonator, and Kruse’s wife, Kristin, rewrote a version of “My Way,” incorporating Smith’s unconventional habits. The song included lyrics like, “I never married, but I chew a cigar,” Kruse said, remembering his friend: A true character, who indeed did things his own way and made an impact on each person he met through his unpretentious personality. Kruse is still working on projects to carry on Smith’s legacy, including making several acres of Smith’s Mundelein, Illinois, lakeside property, into the Gordon Smith Memorial Gardens. The project is adding flowers, trees, herbs and benches, and is meant “for his friends and people in the area” to remember Smith, who “always loved flowers and trees.” Smith matriculated from Grayslake, Illinois, and earned a Bachelor of Science in electrical engineering from VMI. After graduating, he served in the U.S. Army signal corps, and decoded messages between President Franklin D. Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill that included details of D-Day’s Normandy invasion. Following his military service, Smith worked as a radio engineer civilian, and helped wire the Pacific island of Guam for electricity. He returned to the Chicago area to take over his uncle’s carpet business, and spent the rest of his life successfully selling high-end carpets.
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July 2018
Pita ’19 Named Third Team All-American; Three Keydets Selected in MLB Draft Cadet Josh Winder ’19, right-handed pitcher, was selected by the Minnesota Twins in the seventh round of the 2018 MLB Draft, held by conference call Tuesday afternoon. Winder becomes the third-highest draft pick in VMI baseball history, trailing just Andy Beasley (4th, 1990) and Ryan Glynn (4th, 1995). After a year that saw Winder be named Second Team All-Southern Conference, he sits second in school history in both strikeouts and walks per nine innings, fourth in games started, and as the school’s all-time leader in strikeouts per nine innings. “It’s an honor to be selected by the Minnesota Twins,” said Winder. “Playing professional baseball has been my dream since I was a little kid, and for that to come true is unbelievable. Thank you to my family, friends, teammates and coaches for helping me to get where I am today.” Winder is the first player to be drafted out of VMI by the Twins, and only the third Keydet selected by an AL Central team. Cadet Matt Pita ’19, outfielder, was selected by the New York Yankees in the 12th round of the 2018 MLB Draft. Pita wrapped up a 2nd Class year season that saw him finish in the top-five in the SoCon in 10 different categories, including leading the league in slugging percentage and total bases and finishing second in batting average. He also was named First Team All-SoCon and First Team AllECAC, becoming the first player in VMI history to accomplish the ECAC feat. Pita set a new school record in total bases, hit the first inside the park home run by a VMI player since 2008 and broke the single-game VMI record with six stolen bases in an April game against Longwood University.
“I’m happy and excited to be a part of such a great organization,” said Pita. “Putting on the pinstripes as a New York Yankee has always been a dream of mine, but I couldn’t have gotten to where I am without all the support I’ve received from my family, coaches and friends. I can’t wait to get started and be a Yankee.” With the selection, Pita becomes the first VMI player to ever be drafted by the Yankees. Pita was also named Third Team All-American by the American Baseball Coaches Association in June 2018. Pita was one of only two SoCon players on the three team listing and was the only player from the state of Virginia honored. He is only the third player in VMI history to earn All-American honors, joining Rob Dickinson ’13 (Honorable Mention) and Matt Winn ’14 (Third Team), who were honored by the Louisville Slugger All-American Teams in 2013 and 2015, respectively. Cadet Nathan Eaton ’19, infielder/
pitcher, was selected by the Kansas City Royals in the 21st round of the 2018 MLB Draft. Eaton joins Winder and Pita as VMI draft selections, marking the first time since 2008 and only the third time in school history that VMI has had that many draft picks in a single season. Eaton, who played in all but one game in 2018, hit .287 as a redshirt 3rd Class cadet. He led off in all 52 of his games played and tallied 51 runs scored, eight homers and most impressively of all, a school record 36 stolen bases. Eaton ranked as high as second in Division I in that statistic at various points during the year, and he earned Second Team All-SoCon (Coaches’ Team) for his efforts, which also included making 17 appearances on the mound. He went 2-1 with a 4.44 ERA and held opponents to a .212 batting average. With the selection of Eaton, VMI has had three players drafted before the 25th round for the first time in school history.
Cadet Matt Pita ’19 at bat. Photo courtesy Carlos Morales.
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July 2018
Navy Ensign Perseveres, Gets Ship Assignment of Choice by Mary Price, VMI Communications & Marketing For U.S. Navy Ensign Angeleah Haseltine ’18, the path to VMI, and to the Navy as a surface warfare officer, was anything but smooth. Adopted with her two younger siblings out of an unstable family situation when she was 4 years old, Haseltine learned from an early age that perseverance is the key to overcoming adversity. During her rat year at VMI, Haseltine struggled with her grades and with a succession of health issues. There were days when the obstacles seemed overwhelming, but Haseltine refused to quit. “It hit me very hard that my high school didn’t prepare me well for the academics here,” she said. “Going through all that, and still getting through it, has just told me, ‘If I can get through that, and if I can make it through this school in four years, I can get through almost anything.’” During those days, Haseltine also remembered that during the Rat Line, a member of the cadre had asked her and others why they’d come to VMI and had pushed for a bedrock answer. Haseltine knew hers right away: “Ultimately, I wanted to be better than the life I was born into.” Haseltine also stuck it out with Navy ROTC, where she’d come in with a four-year scholarship. Last summer, her post-VMI future was sealed when she performed admirably during her 1st Class cruise, a requirement for Navy commissioning. On her first trip outside of the United States, Haseltine flew to Crete where she and other midshipmen were picked up by the USS Carney, an Arleigh Burkeclass destroyer. As the ship journeyed through the Mediterranean Sea en route to its home port of Rota, Spain, supplies were running low, so it was time for an underway replenishment – a procedure in which a cargo ship comes alongside the Navy vessel and goods are transferred from one ship to another via ropes. Haseltine and another midshipman were each assigned to take a turn giving orders to the enlisted personnel steering the ship – a mission fraught with peril because an error could result in damage to potentially hazardous cargo. Haseltine grew increasingly nervous
watching the other midshipman struggle with this task. When her turn arrived, she tried to remember all she’d learned using the ship simulator in Norfolk, Virginia. “After about three to five minutes [the executive officer] says, ‘OK, you got it,’ and leaves,” Haseltine recalled. At first, Haseltine wasn’t sure how well she’d done. Later in the day, though, she found out she’d been assigned to the same task for two shifts each day. After coming back to VMI, she found out right before Christmas that the ship’s commander had selected her as a permanent member of the Carney’s crew. Of her time at VMI, Haseltine said, “It’s been a hard process but it’s been the most fulfilling thing I’ve ever done in my life.”
Haseltine ’18
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July 2018
Moreschi Named Dean of the Faculty by Mary Price, VMI Communications & Marketing
Moreschi Brig. Gen. Robert “Bob” Moreschi, a 16-year veteran of the VMI faculty and chair of the Department of Economics and Business since 2013, was chosen to succeed Brig. Gen. Jeffrey Smith Jr. ’79 as deputy superintendent for academics and dean of the faculty. He is VMI’s 11th dean. “Moreschi has a strong background in teaching, scholarship and academic leadership and is highly respected and admired by the VMI family,” said Gen. J.H. Binford Peay III ’62, superintendent. “He is a seasoned department head and is prepared to lead our academic program as VMI enters its 179th year.” In his time at VMI, Moreschi has taught hundreds of cadets and has overseen a department of
13 full-time faculty, seven part-time faculty and 225 majors. In 2014, Moreschi led his department’s successful bid for reaccreditation from the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB). He has served as the John and Jane Roberts Institute Professor in Free Enterprise Business since 2016. Since 2002, he has served as an adviser to the Cadet Investment Group, and for the past two years was the faculty representative to the VMI Foundation Board of Trustees. “To be selected as deputy superintendent for academics and dean of the faculty is a distinct honor, made more so because of the support I have received from faculty and staff across the post,” Moreschi said. “I believe I can use my VMI experience, coupled with management capabilities honed in the business world, to reinforce a sense of mutual respect to this academic community, and can build a team in which all stakeholder voices are important and heard.” Before coming to VMI, Moreschi worked in the financial services industry for 14 years as an equity analyst and a senior manager. He is currently serving as the president of the Academy of Financial Services and is an associate editor of the Journal of Personal Finance. He is a past associate editor of the Journal of Economics and Finance. His community activities include serving as a member of the audit and oversight committee of Kendal at Lexington and since 2012 and as treasurer of Lexington Presbyterian Church. He is a ruling elder of Lexington Presbyterian Church, was a board member of the United Way of Lexington/Rockbridge, and a longtime member of the Lexington Kiwanis Club. Moreschi holds a master’s degree and doctorate in economics from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He received his undergraduate degree from Augustana College. He assumed his new duties July 1 and was promoted to brigadier general in the Virginia Militia. Smith, who has served as deputy superintendent for academics and dean of the faculty since 2014, plans to join the VMI faculty after a brief leave.
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Cadets Partner With Community to Create Memoirs Three Generations Look Back at Their Formative Years by Kelly Nye, VMI Communications & Marketing The English, rhetoric and humanistic studies 411 fieldwork class took a more creative approach to service learning this semester by hosting the Rockbridge Community Memoir Project. The project is designed to represent the perspectives of three generations currently living in the area: Lylburn Downing Middle School students, VMI cadets and residents from Kendal at Lexington. This is the third fieldwork class taught by Maj. Stephanie Hodde, assistant professor of English, rhetoric and humanistic studies. The first two classes assisted two organizations, Friends of the Chessie Trail and the Rockbridge Historical Society. This time, Hodde wanted cadets to participate with individuals more creatively. “I was interested in creating a fieldwork class that had a creative component because most of the work thus far – the two years that I’ve been here – was more research-based in terms of the service learning and providing some sort of need for the community,” she said. Hodde wants cadets to help individuals to record their unique contributions to the community, especially at a time when social media sites such as Facebook and Instagram make it easier than ever to record memories and share them. “We’re in that kind of golden age where everything is about public display,” Hodde explained. “Yet memoir is a little bit trickier because there is a little more at stake and you’re really defining not only yourself but a period of time, and a family and a generation, or an institution.” Hodde began the class by making sure the cadets understood the weight of writing in the creative memoir form. They read different models of contemporary memoirs and reflected on them. The next step was preparing workshops for the middle schoolers and Kendal residents before leading them in their writing. “There have been three prongs of the class,” explained Hodde – studying, leading and participating. Cadet Lee Adams ’19 is in the class and in Maj. Mary Atwell’s creative writing class that assisted the fieldwork class in the beginning of the semester. “I knew that the genre was something special and also sometimes intimate,” he said. “I imagined that – approaching these two generations and asking them to tell me about their past – there would be some walls, and with some there are, but all in all it is a very rewarding experience, for both reader and writer.” There were also some surprises once the workshops got started. “At first I thought, ‘This will be a project about learning the local lore,’ but it’s absolutely not that,” said Hodde. With the Lexington community drawing people in from a multitude of backgrounds all over the country, Hodde and the cadets began to realize the scope of these stories would expand beyond Lexington. Furthermore, the intentions of each writer were as unique as the individual writing them. The stories range from relationships between siblings, to childhood encounters in Brooklyn with adults from the South, to one-room
school houses in the 1920s, to the integration of African-Americans and then women at VMI. All of them reveal the sentiment of the times on a national level. “I think there are some personal journeys going on in the class, for both the Kendal writers and the cadets. Most of the cadets are recognizing that this is a meaningful thing to be doing,” said Hodde. Childhood is a recurring theme throughout most of the stories – it is the experience all three generations have in common. The sixth-graders add a nice juxtaposition to the Kendal residents’ experiences. “For a child everything is so immediate,” said Hodde. “They’re having to think about it very differently in terms of what’s unique about that childhood lens – that lens that a young person would bring instead of someone who has all of that behind them.” The cadets, too, are writing about what they know. “My memoir is focusing on my neighborhood and its community events,” explained Adams. His writing project covers the same day – the fourth of July – over a six-year period. “I think looking back in the community that we grew up in can tell us a lot about ourselves.” Sharing personal stories with each other accomplishes more than just the civic engagement the class was designed for. The cadets are making personal connections with the middle schoolers and the Kendal residents. “The production of stories creates a springboard of conversation. That’s really what’s happening,” said Hodde. “I think cadets more than anyone know how much those personal connections count,” she continued. “Just here in barracks, here in the Rat Line, they know what those personal connections get you through. I think in this class they’ve been able to appreciate that on a different level in their short time together.” Editor’s Note: This article first appeared in the May 2018 VMI Institute Report.
Kendal resident John South discusses ideas for writing memoirs with Cadet Lee Adams ’19 in Scott Shipp Hall March 5. VMI photo by Kelly Nye.
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VMI, W&L Partnership Develops Ultra-Strong Concrete by Mary Price, VMI Communications & Marketing
In VMI’s civil and environmental engineering lab, three cadets are working alongside students from Washington and Lee University to build a better bridge beam. The ongoing collaboration had its roots years ago, when Lt. Col. Matt Swenty, associate professor of civil and environmental engineering, was earning his doctorate at Virginia Tech and met Dr. Kacie D’Alessandro. The two remained in touch after leaving graduate school and both later took jobs in Lexington, where D’Alessandro is now assistant professor of physics and engineering at W&L. Now, D’Alessandro is bringing her expertise in high-performance concrete and 3D imaging to VMI’s laboratory, where the two groups of students are working together to test a way of strengthening concrete beams with an extra layer of higher-strength concrete with both a steel rebar and steel fibers embedded in it. “The idea is that [D’Alessandro is] doing some of the material characterizations and we’re doing some of the larger beam tests,” said Swenty. Swenty explained that while there is an ultra-high-performance concrete on the market, it’s not commonly used for highway and bridge construction in the United States because it’s a very expensive, proprietary product that has to be imported from Canada. Seeking a way around this problem, Alexander Alvarado ’17 worked in the lab last year to replicate this product – and he created a viable mix that could be applied as a laminate to regular concrete beams. Graduation, though, ended Alvarado’s experiment just as he was getting to the point of having something to test. This year, Cadets Jon Kaiser ’18, Devon Zappolo ’18 and Paul Essigman ’18 have picked up the work where Alvarado left off. “What we’re trying to do is reinforce [a normal concrete beam] by casting higher-strength concrete on the outside of it,” explained Kaiser. “Within this higher-strength concrete is steel fibers and there’s also a piece of [iron] rebar on the side that runs down the center.” Tests currently underway in the lab, Kaiser and Swenty explained, include comparing the concrete beam that’s been reinforced with a higher strength concrete to one that merely has a steel rebar inside it, and using 3D imaging from W&L’s lab to see if the smoothness or roughness of the concrete affects its ability to bond well. Going forward, bonding capacity will be key. Most concretes do not bond well, Swenty noted, but Alvarado’s creation does.
Devon Zappolo ’18 and Jon Kaiser ’18 prepare to test a concrete beam in a civil and environmental engineering lab. VMI photo by Mary Price.
“This newer mix has steel fibers inside, and a much different matrix – the crystalline structure has a different matrix,” he commented. “It’s been shown to bond better, but we’re not sure how good ‘better’ is.” Testing the reinforced beams means, of course, putting pressure on them. The three cadets, all of whom are doing an independent study with Swenty, use a hydraulic press to apply varying degrees of force, and the results are sent to a computer which displays them in a tabular form. “The pressure kind of varies,” said Zappolo. It starts off around 5,000 [pounds per square inch]. “We’re trying to find out if there’s a way to use this in the real world.” Swenty noted that if one problem can be overcome, there’s a good likelihood that their product could be used in the real world. “Can we bond two concretes together?” he asked. “If so, there are possibilities to use this for either retrofitting or just building beams in a different manner with new materials.” Also this spring, a group of civil and environmental engineering cadets has been surveying and creating a topographic map for a new pavilion at the recently rebuilt Waddell Elementary School in Lexington. This site work is necessary before VMI’s chapter of the Timber Framers can construct the pavilion next spring. Editor’s Note: This article first appeared in the May 2018 VMI Institute Report.
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July 2018
NCBC Gulfport Sailor earns U.S. Navy Distinguished Pistol Shot by Ryan Labadens, Public Affairs Officer, Naval Construction Battalion Center Gulfport Naval Construction Battalion Center Gulfport has earned some bragging rights when it comes to shooting competitions this year. Earlier in May, NCBC Gulfport’s security forces took Top Team in a shooting competition held at neighboring Keesler Air Force Base, Mississippi, and just recently one of NCBC’s own Public Works officers earned the title of U.S. Navy Distinguished Pistol Shot at the 57th Annual Atlantic Fleet and All Navy (East) Rifle and Pistol Championship held at Marine Corps Base Quantico, Virginia, May 6-16. Lt. Cmdr. James Shambley [’05], Facilities Engineering and Acquisition Division director for Naval Facilities Engineering Command Southeast, Public Works Department Gulfport, earned a distinction that only 391 other Sailors in the entire Navy have obtained since 1925. Distinguished badges are the highest individual awards authorized by the U.S. government for excellence in marksmanship competition. “I felt very honored to join their ranks,” said Shambley about becoming a U.S. Navy Distinguished Pistol Shot. The championship competition consists of various matches that follow the Civilian Marksmanship Program for service rifle and pistol, said Shambley. He participated in this competition with the Navy twice before, once in 2008 and again in 2017. Shambley said
Lt. Cmdr. James Shambley ’05, Facilities Engineering and Acquisition Division director for Naval Facilities Engineering Command Southeast, Public Works Department Gulfport, with his teammates from the All Navy Blue pistol team, which earned the highest scoring for All Navy team across the East and West coasts at the 57th Annual Atlantic Fleet and All Navy (East) Rifle and Pistol Championship held at Marine Corps Base Quantico, Virginia, May 6-16, 2018. From left were Shambley, Gunner’s Mate Senior Chief Jason Stout, Lt. Cmdr. Richard Ray and Lt. Jafar Ali. (U.S. Navy courtesy photo/Released)
Shambley fires his pistol during the 57th Annual Atlantic Fleet and All Navy (East) Rifle and Pistol Championship held at Marine Corps Base Quantico, Virginia, May 6-16, 2018. Shambley earned the title of U.S. Navy Distinguished Pistol Shot at the competition as well as several other high scores in various categories. (U.S. Navy courtesy photo/Released)
that the combined points he scored from shooting over the last two years were used to determine his eligibility for becoming a U.S. Navy Distinguished Pistol Shot. As if that distinction wasn’t enough, Shambley was also the highest scoring Active or Reserve Navy pistol shooter in the All Navy President’s 100 Pistol Match and the Long Range Pistol Match, and he was the highest scoring Active or Reserve Navy competitor for the All Navy Individual Pistol Aggregate. During the All Navy Pistol Championships, he was awarded a Gold Navy Pistol Excellence in Competition Badge for being the highest scoring Navy Non-Distinguished competitor in the All Navy Excellence in Competition Pistol Match. Earning this badge is what gave him enough points to qualify for the U.S. Navy Distinguished Pistol Shot. He also competed on the All Navy Blue pistol team, which earned the highest scoring for All Navy team across the East and West Coasts. “This is an incredible accomplishment and display of marksmanship by one of NCBC’s own. Shambley did an excellent job representing NCBC Gulfport to the rest of team Navy,” said Cmdr. Ron Jenkins, NCBC Gulfport executive officer. Shambley said one of the main reasons he enjoys competitive marksmanship to begin with is that he’s able to take what he learned over the years and teach it to other military personnel. When he was going through Expeditionary Combat Skills training at NCBC Gulfport back in 2008, Shambley was able to take some of his shooting knowledge and use that to help other Seabees and sailors enhance their own marksmanship skills. “That’s one of the most gratifying things, to be able to come back to my parent command and have the opportunity to teach good fundamentals of marksmanship. To me that’s really the big thing, especially as Seabees and being a part of an expeditionary force – you need to be able to use a weapon and employ it effectively. So it’s very rewarding to be able to contribute in that way,” said Shambley.
VMI Turnouts A VMI ALUMNI AGENCIES DIGITAL NEWSLETTER
July 2018
Latsha ’77: A Dedicated Commitment to Serve On July 1, Kimber L. Latsha ’77 became a its office near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. full-fledged member of the VMI Foundation His professional and civic service has been Board of Trustees. He served from July 1, considerable. He has been involved with the 2017, to June 30, 2018, as an alternate memHarrisburg Christian School and the Evanber. gelical Free Church of Hershey, as well as the Originally from Dornsife, Pennsylvania, LatAmerican Health Lawyers Association and sha was a history major at VMI. He excelled the LeadingAge Legal Committee. academically and graduated with distincHis service to VMI and the VMI Alumni tion with honors, received the Second JackAgencies includes being one of the leaders son-Hope Medal at the end of his 1st Class of the effort to establish the Central Keystone year, and was presented with the Randolph T. Chapter of the VMI Alumni Association. He Townsend Award, which is presented annualserved as one of the chairmen of the Class of ly to the first standing graduate in the history 1977 25th Reunion Committee, which raised curriculum. A top ROTC cadet, he received more than $7.7 million in gifts and committhe Superior Cadet Decoration Award, prements. sented to the outstanding cadet in each year of From 2009-17, he was a member of the VMI Military Science at each ROTC unit, and The Board of Visitors. While on the board, he was Latsha ’77 Legion of Valor Bronze Cross for Achievea member of numerous committees, includment ROTC Award, a national award given annually by the ing the External Relations and Cadet Affairs and Military Legion of Valor of the United States to Army ROTC cadets Committees for three years and the Nominating and Govwho demonstrate scholastic excellence in military and acaernance Committee and the Athletics Committee for a year demic subjects. In his 3rd and 2nd Class years, he was a coreach. He served on two committees throughout his time on poral and a sergeant, respectively, and, during his 1st Class the board: the Academic Affairs Committee and the Appeals year, he was the S-1 for 2nd Battalion. He also received the Committee. Latsha was the chairman of the latter committee William Brent Bell ’67 Outstanding Cadet Award. He was from 2012-17, and under his leadership, the committee rethe president of his class and wrestled at the NCAA level all viewed and reformed the Honor Court’s standard operating four years at VMI. He was the co-captain of the wrestling procedures. Latsha also advised those who served as the suteam as a 2nd and 1st Class cadet. perintendent’s representatives to the Honor Court and acted After graduation, he attended the University of Pittsburgh as a mentor to numerous members of the Honor Court. In Law School. After graduating from law school, Latsha 2012, the BOV recognized Latsha’s many contributions to its served on active duty with the Judge Advocate General’s work by selecting him as a member of its Executive CommitCorps from 1981-84. Assigned to the staff judge advocate of tee and one of its vice presidents. He served in those roles for Fort Gordon, Georgia, he served primarily as a prosecutor, the remainder of his time on the board. and because the post was exclusive federal jurisdiction, also “It’s a pleasure to welcome Kimber as a voting member a special assistant United States attorney. For his service, the of the Foundation board,” said T. Bryan Barton ’68, VMI Army awarded him its Meritorious Service Medal. After acFoundation president. “He has an impressive professional tive duty, Latsha served for five years in the U.S. Army Rebackground, extensive knowledge of the Institute’s current serve. needs and equally extensive experience with its leaders, and In private practice, Latsha has gained a national reputation a demonstrated commitment to serving the Institute and the as a leader in the field of health care law and has been recogVMI Alumni Agencies. I am sure he’ll make many signifinized as one of the most accomplished attorneys in the field cant contributions to the work of the VMI Foundation.” by the prestigious publication, The Best Lawyers in AmerLatsha’s brother, Kirk, is a 1979 graduate of the Institute. ica. He is currently an attorney with and managing shareLatsha and his wife, Deborah, have three children and six holder of Latsha Davis & McKenna, P.C., and works out of grandchildren, and they reside in Middletown, Pennsylvania.
VMI Turnouts A VMI ALUMNI AGENCIES DIGITAL NEWSLETTER
July 2018
Horney ’18 and Whitehurst ’17 Members of U.S. Armed Forces Women’s Soccer Team by Chris Floyd, VMI Communications & Marketing
It’s not the World Cup, but another global soccer tournament is taking place right now, and two former cadets are part of it. Amy Horney ’18 and Kristen Whitehurst ’17 are members of the United States Armed Forces women’s soccer team, which competed in the CISM World Military Women’s Football Championship at Fort Bliss, Texas. Teams from nine countries, including the United States Squad, began play June 22. The tournament wrapped up July 3. “Being a member of this team has been the highest honor I have ever received,” said Horney, who commissioned in the U.S. Marine Corps after completing her tenure at VMI. “Representing the United States while playing the game I love is the pinnacle of my soccer career, and I would have never imagined I would be in this position.” The U.S. squad lost its first two games in pool play, falling to South Korea 1-0 in the tournament opener June 22 and dropping a 3-0 decision to China two days later. The host team evened their record with two victories: 1-0 over Canada June 26 and 3-0 over the Netherlands June 30. Horney, who ranks first on VMI’s all-time list with 78 games played, said earning a spot on this team was one of the hardest things she’s ever done. After learning about the team, Horney submitted an application and was invited to the tryouts with 50 other players. Enduring elevations of over 4,000 feet and temperatures that soared above 100 degrees, Horney endured through three cuts before being added to the 21-person roster. “The days were long, and the climate change might have been the hardest part,” Horney said. “Every part of our day was filled with three practices, a yoga or swimming session, and a classroom session. It might have been the hardest tryout process my body has been through. “I think my time at VMI developed me so much as a player that I was more prepared than I realized going into camp,” she added. “Of course, playing soccer with a [VMI] program that has developed so much from my freshman to senior year helped, but all of the qualities that VMI teaches you as a whole came into play. Having the resiliency and mental fortitude to push through the long days and mental games pushed me past the walls standing in front of me.” At tournament’s end, Horney will return to the Officer Selection
U.S. Navy Ens. Kristen Whitehurst ’17, right, and U.S. Marine Corps 2nd. Lt. Amy Horney ’18, center, with U.S. Navy Lt. Anastasia Abid, former VMI naval science instructor, in Texas competing for a spot of the Armed Forces women’s soccer team.
Station in Newark, Delaware, where she will work until being summoned to the Basic School for the Marine Corps in September. She spoke of tryouts for next year’s tournament in China, but regardless if she makes that team, Horney has already won something. “I was honored to be a part of [this team],” Horney said. “The women here are inspiring.”