Checkpoints December 2008

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Holiday Request Don't let cadets go it alone. The time to give is now.

National economic trends are threatening the broad range of programs, funding and services provided by the Association of Graduates to our graduates, cadets and their families.

We greatly appreciate your commitment to our mission as a private, not-for-profit

organization funded by

private donations, dues and service fees. Please consider making an "extra" gift to the Air Force Academy Fund during this season of giving. Your "extra" year end, tax deductible gift will help ensure that the programs and support you rely on continue.

Your support is urgently needed. The time to give is now!

Giving is easy Please complete the information on the envelope enclosed with this magazine. You may also make your "extra" gift online at www.usafa.org by selecting "Give Now!" Call us at 719.472.0300 for additional information.

You can double or triple the value ofyour gift ifyour employer offers a

matching gifi program.

The Air Force Academy Fund

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DECEMBER 2008

COLUMNS LETTERS

4

CEO UPDATE

6

FROM THE BOARD ROOM CALENDAR

16

8

FEATURES 30

TACKLING MISSILE DEFENSE AT THE SPEED OF LIGHT

Dr. Geoff Andersen sheds new light on the Academy's

prestigious Laser Optics Research Center.

10

2020VISION

Lt. Gen. John Regni, '73, lays the preliminary

foundations for the future of the Academy.

38

LION SIZED HEARTS

Cadets go above and beyond the call of "service

before self" to help make a difference at the Blue Lion Animal Rescue.

60

AIR AGE GOTHIC

Maintaining and preserving the Academy's most iconic buildings is no easy task. Find out what it

takes to keep our heritage standing strong.

ON THE COVER

The Cadet Chapel is the Academy's most memorable structure.

Keeping it that way presents new challenges for the future. Photo by Lewis Carlyle

2

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NEWS OF NOTE

24

LONG BLUE LINE

80

BOOK REVIEW

36

AUTHOR'S CORNER

46

WALDO DUMBSQUAT

52

WHEN SLIDE RULES RULED THE ROCKIES

66

MENTORS HELP AIRMAN

70

F16 PILOT FLIES 100TH COMBAT SORTIE

20

94th FLIGHT TRAINING SQUADRON MISSION

18

BRIG. GEN. SUSAN DESJARDINS, '80, TAKES NEW POST

48

REMEMBERING THE FORWARD AIR CONTROLLERS

74

WORTH 1000 WORDS

72

AOC MASTER'S PROGRAM

44

ONCE UPON A TIME

25

CUTTING EDGE

26

COLLEGE RANKINGS FROM THE DEAN

56

SURVIVAL TRAINING

47

AOG POLICY GOVERNANCE

|

PHOTO ESSAY

SPORTS 82

FALCON HOCKEY SKATES TOWARDS A RECORD SEASON

83

2008-09 MEN'S BASKETBALL PREVIEW

84

MEN'S GYMNASTICS RECEIVES BEST RANKING EVER

BACK OF THE BOOK 85

CHAPTER NEWS

90

GONE BUT NOT FORGOTTEN

94

CLASS NEWS

Terry Joe Tiemann, who I considered an outstanding cadet and role model, was working with us on what I would describe as the “herding cats” exercise, at least with regard to my personal performance. Seems like I just couldn't distinguish my right oblique from my left. Anyway, after a period of time I was quite frustrated with the entire marching and standing in formation experience.

At some point we were standing in formation near the top of the ramp when word was passed that the Commandant was on the terrazzo. Soon enough I could see this “giant” making his way toward the ramp. Well, this was my chance to make up for my earlier transgressions and I stood up and “made chins” like there was no tomorrow.

Reading the Prescriptive Future

I thought that would square me with the firstie,

showing him that I really did care about all of this standing in

In the September 2008 Checkpoints Texas A&M grad Jonathan

formation business. To my surprise, and I think that of everyone

Davis noted the disproportionate representation of minorities

in the area, the General suddenly stopped directly in front of me,

in a montage of the USAFA Class of2008 and proceeded to

looked at me with a quizzical expression, and asked what I was

imply it represents a lapse of integrity by the AOG. He jumped to the wrong conclusion.

The photo was not intended to be a descriptive reflection

doing. I wasn’t sure how to answer that question, but it didn’t matter because before I could muster a reply he instructed me that

,

we were not at

West Point, and we didn’t do “that” here at Air

of the current situation. Rather, it is an accurate and honest

Force. He went on to instruct me on the proper way to stand at

prescriptive reflection of an Air Force objective to achieve

attention and once the corrections were made he went on his way.

what some call the “Americanization” of the military—

Needless to say, the experience was a memorable one, being

service composition reflecting a truly representative cross-

recalled now 38 years later. The encounter was very brief, and the

section of our country’s citizenry.

message was simple yet somewhat profound. The lesson I took back to Vandenberg Hall that day from the West Point grad and fighter

Huntington’s classic analysis of military professionalism (The Soldier and the State) explored the potentially dysfunctional psychic gap between the traditional elite warrior class and American society at large. Air Force leadership made a conscious decision some time ago to close that gap through sustained affirmation and opportunity for under-represented elements of the populace. High visibility for women and racial minorities in leadership positions and public relations is requisite to progress toward the objective.

appreciate that “chance” encounter all the more.

Check out the composition of the Thunderbird show team

I was saddened to read of the passing of John Nehring, ’63.

lately—not representative of the demographics of the current fighter force, but a strong and clear signal to the general public that the Air Force is moving beyond traditional

Then Capt. Nehring was one of my more memorable econom-

white male dominance in prestigious roles.

The montage of the Class of 2008 in Checkpoints does

pilot was that there should be a reason why we train the way we do.

Having read Colonel Boyne’s article specifically regarding General Olds’ efforts to improve air combat training in the 1960’s, I now

Dr. Dominick Paparella, Class of 1974

Remembering Professor Nehring

ics instructors at the Academy. He was tough, but fair, very

enthusiastic, and he tried to bring out the best in each of us. He

always available for extra help and truly wanted students to master the subject matter. Before each class he wrote a quotation

was

represent a literal and accurate snapshot of the present.

Instead, it represents a symbolic preview of the leadership

from a famous economist on the board. When I had the

echelon of the Air Force of the future.

I borrowed his technique to good effect.

not

opportunity to teach economics at University of New Hampshire,

May this good man rest in peace.

Rex Jones, Class of 1970

Gregory Woodhead, Ph.D., Class of 1970 Chance Encounter I really appreciated Colonel Walter Boyne's article on

General Olds in the September issue of Checkpoints. What a

truly unique leader he was. A visionary of sorts regarding air combat. The fighter pilot's fighter pilot. That large photo

your submission to 250 words. For your letter to be consid-

of him on the title page of the article reminded me of a

ered, you must include your name and graduating year, if

“chance” encounter I had with the good General during the

you are an Academy graduate.

Letters should be e-mailed to

early days of Basic Cadet Training in 1970.

As I recall I was assigned to G squadron and we were busy working on our close order drill on the terrazzo. C1C

Checkpoints welcomes letters from its readers. Please limit

editor@aogusafa.org.

Checkpoints reserves the right to edit all submissions.

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AOG CEO UPDATE

By William T Thompson, ’73

o

be honest with you, I never expected to be here. Eight

months ago I would never have considered leaving Atlanta to return to Colorado

Springs. I was a happily retired airline

pilot, attorney, and businessman. I was active in the Atlanta community and spending my time giving back; doing what I chose to do and just enjoying life. I’ll have to admit though; it’s great to be back in Colorado and even better to be back at the Academy.

So, why did I decide to make the move? What was the motivation to become CEO of the AOG? Again, I’ll have to be candid. I had seen the ad for the CEO job in both Checkpoints and ZoomiEnews, but the AOG was literally and figuratively over a thousand miles from my thoughts. I was comfortably enjoying my lifestyle and didn’t give the job posting a second thought. Then two things happened to change my mind.

The first was a call from an earlier grad who, knowing my background, strongly encouraged me to pursue the job. I was, quite frankly, unmoved, and countered with a plethora of reasons to refute his suggestion. But he said something that gave me pause; “Since you are in a giving back phase of your life, why don’t you go give back to the institution that’s been the foundation for your success?” The logic was unassailable and caused me to rethink my earlier protestations.

And then the second thing happened. I went to the AOG Web site and began to click around. I was both

pleasantly surprised and

somewhat discouraged by what I found.

On the positive side, I was in awe of all of the

things that the

pect I am like most grads, and was uninformed about the myriad of services our Association provides. I was disappointed, however,

facing difficult issues as a result of governance matters and fund raising challenges.

I have quickly come to appreciate how valuable the AOG is to the broader Academy community. Our mission of supporting the Academy, serving the grads, and promoting the Academy’s heritage is executed by a talented and dedicated staff. When compared to Army and Navy, we do considerably more for our institution 6

graduate, “When is the AOG going to do more for the grads?” I was

moved to research the data. I looked at 74 different categories

of service to the Academies and their alumni. I discovered that your AOG was providing service in 69 of the categories, compared to 41

for Navy and 38 for Army.

For example, when I was a basic cadet, I was

in-processed at

Vandenberg Hall by military personnel and civilians on Academy staff. In-processing is now done at the AOG’s Doolittle Hall where our staff provides a tremendous amount of support. The Parent Handbook is published by the Association, and Contrails is provided by the AOG through class gifts. And I’m only talking about services to the basic cadets! We also support cadet clubs,

AOG does for the Academy and the graduate community. I sus-

to discover that the AOG is

and alumni than they do. After recently being asked by a 60’s era

manage the class ring program, sponsor summer travel, and fund character and leadership programs, just to mention a few.

For the grads, the AOG provides

Checkpoints career counseling, the web site, reunions, ring repair and graduate contact information. The list of services literally goes on and on. Now here’s the rub. Though we do much more than our sister service academies, and for considerably less, they are supported by their graduate communities in a substantially greater way. Our annual budget is less than half of theirs, yet they raise approximately 10 to 12 times the dollars we do annually. Before the stock market crash, their assets were in the $200-$230 million range compared to our $45 ,

million. We are not only in 3 rd place when it comes to fundrais-

the Superintendent also recognizes the importance of the issue

ing, but I think it’s fair to say that they are in a different class.

and, to initiate dialogue, has put forth a long term vision of where

Admittedly, there is additional information to glean from their superior leadership position but, clearly, there are donor issues we, as graduates, need to address.

Our governance process has contributed to the challenges we

fundraising might evolve. While he is not a direct participant, he is the representative of the Academy, the beneficiary of our efforts, and clearly has a keen interest. The problem, as indicated above, is that the graduate donor community can’t wait. The longer this

face. A difference of opinion about the proper structure for the

issue goes unresolved, the greater the negative impact on both the

AOG Board of Directors led to a very divisive political campaign.

organizations involved and the broader Academy community. You will read about General Regni s vision for our Academy later in this

This resulted in a different governance construct for the organiza-

tion, a split in the graduate community and the formation of yet another fund raising entity, the USAFA Endowment. I should note that there are

currently seven non-profits raising money under the umbrella of the Air Force Academy, with another, a 501(c)3 for the Athletics Department, soon to come on line.

To say that our fund raising model at the Academy is perplexing and inefficient is a gross understatement. To have seven non-profits competing for the benefit of the Academy, particularly in this challenging economic environment, only serves to crowd, clutter and confuse the relatively small graduate community market place. In fact, it is a frequent complaint I receive from grad donors.

In conjunction with the West Point football game, I took the op-

issue. Though I am generally regarded as a “can do” guy, I’ll predict,

that the Donor Opportunities portion of the 2020Vision will be

practically unattainable with our current fundraising structure.

Foster a Unified Effort in Support of the Academy and the Graduate Community

There is a broad and deep desire among graduates for the leadership

of our various non-profit organizations to come together and move

forward in a positive way. I’ve had the privilege of speaking to seven reunion classes, and chapters and donors across the country, from

Seattle to New York. “Fix It,” is by far the most common and recurrent comment I receive when

“We’re happy to have you.” I have, however, been fortunate to

talking about the challenges within the graduate community. They are, in the words of one grad, “tired of all the bickering,” and, in the words of another, they want us to “put their egos aside and work together for the good of the Academy.” I’ll add that the Superintendent gets the same message from the graduate community. I’m confident that progress made in One and Two will move us substantially forward in achieving this goal.

The issues we face at the AOG and in the Academy community are significant, but the opportunities are great. The question becomes, how will we respond? Few would argue that our country faces formidable challenges today. We are in two wars and the economy is on the ropes. Yet in response to those challenges, a young, relatively inexperienced African-American Senator with a strange sounding name, raised close to $700 million in two years,

have learned much about some of the issues we’re facing through

and will be the next President of the United States. This is not an

my non-profit associations over the years. Non-profit governance has been a particular strong interest of mine, (some would say, ex-

endorsement or political view. It is merely a statement of fact. As

portunity to visit several of our grad donors in the New York City area. As I sat in

the office of one of our very successful Wall Street

alumni, he informed me that a representative of the USAFA Endowment would be his next

appointment, a fact of which I was aware.

His very succinct statement was, “This is insane,” in reference to fund

raising competition among Academy graduate organizations. I certainly could not and would not have wanted to argue the point. He then made, what I believe to be, a very profound statement; “Great institutions are not dysfunctional.” I would suggest that our current

fund raising model fits that definition, which is a good segue into

answering the question I’ve raised in the title of this article.

I’m reminded of that old Air Force joke; “I’m here to help” and

pertise) for over fifteen years. Additionally, I’ve been very involved with fund raising and have dealt with some of the most respected professionals and consultants in leading three capital campaigns.

My purpose in being here, therefore, is threefold:

is often the case, success depends on your response to the situation. We have an obligation to be just as audacious, bold and vi-

sionary, and to move forward with all deliberate speed for the benefit of the Academy, the cadets and our graduate community. 74

Tackle the AOG’s Internal Governance Issues

Your Board, to its credit, has moved quickly to adopt the Carver

model of Policy Governance. The challenge will now be to oper-

compliance with it. Dr. John Carver’s model of strategic governance is universally recognized as the standard of excellence for non-profit organizations and has been adopted by the Ameriate in

can Cancer

Society, the American Red Cross and the United Way,

among many others. There is more information on this subject in the “From the Boardroom” article and a separate article co-

authored by Terry Storm, a member of our Board.

Address the Balkanized Fundraising Structure at USAFA Not an easy task because of the multiplicity of organizations,

opinions, ideas, and to be honest, egos, involved. To his credit, C H E C K P OIN T S

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INTEGRITY Annual gifts to the Air Force Academy Fund at the Sabre Society level

provide support to many character programs like Respect & Responsibility. These programs promote value-based leadership principles essential to leading in today's Air Force.

For more infor

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of the Sabre S(

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( 719) 472-0300

agina.clark@aogusafa.org

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Vision

By Lt. Gen. John F. Regni, 73

F

the majority of our

graduates each year who head to pilot and operator training to chase their personal dreams and serve our nation’s Air Force, vision—acuity, depth, color—remains an important ingredient for their future. or

From our institution’s

perspective, vision is also paramount to our collective planning and programming efforts—to keep the Academy sharply focused on our important mission, to maintain a future heading that ensures

enduring mission success, and for building upon and continuing the proud legacy of the Academy and what makes it so great—our cadets’ and graduates’ accomplishments across the Air Force and into the private sector.

I am now in my fourth

year as the Supt. While my own eyes remain

stuck in the reality of bifocals and

someday soon trifocals, let me

take this opportunity to oudine what we have been

concentrating on these past few years and, in the process, offer the vision path on which we have placed the Academy. In short, we are halfway through a six-year period of program stability after infusing 79 significant and

major refinements in 2005/6; we have restored hall USAF funding of our Program Objective Memorandum (the infamous POM for you Pentagon veterans out there); and we are moving the Academy to a

higher level of excellence through increased involvement with the

seven

10

foundations that support you and us. We have also launched a

series of major initiatives to fix the

decaying infrastructure, to build (in the Cadet Area) the Center for Character & Leadership Development as the focal point of what this Academy is all about, to heighten cadet

morale and recreation programs, and to be a

magnet for 1,000,000 tourists a year to see and hear the Academy story. Lasdy, we have built the plans for making the Air Force Academy a “net-zero” energy consumer leading with “green” energy. In the I’ll offer insights into our

ensuing paragraphs,

thinking and planning on this overarching vision for our future.

Hopefully, you’ll be as excited as we are as we turn this vision into reality.

Our Leadership Team

Our Academy has enjoyed an

exceptional leadership and support team who are fully focused, engaged and involved in developing our cadets. The leadership team from the early years of my tenure has served you proudly: Commandant of Cadets Brig. Gen. Sue Desjardins, ’80, Dean Brig. Gen. Dana Born, ’83, Athletic Director Dr. Brig. Gen. (Ret.) Hans Mueh, '66, Vice Supt. Col. Paul Ackerman, ’82, and our Air Base Wing commander Col. Mac McMillian (NC A&T) have nurtured an integrated approach to the running Academy—where each understands and recognizes

the valuable contributions and

inter-relationships of their

programs, and the needs of the institution take precedence over individual turf. As often happens in our Air Force, we can’t keep our team intact

forever—we just broke up that initial exceptional

by moving the Comm to her next important assignment leading the planning efforts of the Air Mobility Command. On 15 October, we brought in the new Commandant—Brig. Gen. Sam Cox, '84—who stepped into this key leadership role with gusto.

To be sure, new faces bring the inevitable opportunity for change, but we are firmly committed to maintaining the refinements we put in motion three years ago, thus providing our cadets needed program continuity and stability. Those philosophies and priorities must remain intact through 2012’s graduation—then we will have team

institutionalized our positive programs and traditions.

Area to most other areas of “USAFA Air Force Base” including

Jacks Valley, our Service and Support area, both security access gates, our housing area and the Academy Community Center. The Air Force leadership agrees with us that the Air Force’s Academy infrastructure needs to be corrected and we have already secured an impressive $464M for these projects. Our commitment is to infuse leading edge engineering into each design.. .and an important cornerstone of each facility project we undertake is renewable and clean energy—I’ll touch on that later.

MOVING TO A HIGHER LEVEL OF EXCELLENCE In addition to these Appropriated Fund “Fix USAFA” projects, we

have an expanded vision for our Academy and we are extremely

excited about it. We have rolled these projects into three major FUNDING THE ACADEMY

categories: first and foremost is a dedicated Character and Leadership

A key to the successful operation of any major institution is a

Development Center; next are plans to greatly enhance cadet morale and recreation; and finally, expanded opportunities to tell our story to the public. These involve major construction of new facilities and monuments, as well as substantial upgrades to several of our existing, original structures. Further, we envision funding for these projects to come from both congressionally appropriated sources as well as funds donated directly to the Academy, through the non-profit foundations supporting the Academy and from individual, class and organizational donor gifts.

consistent and stable funding stream. It is difficult to plan from

year to the next when we don’t know how much money we’ll have. Despite the very challenging budgets and economy, we have one

successfully worked closely with the Air Staff programming and budget pros in the Pentagon to stabilize our annual funding, and to have sufficient Appropriated Funds (APF) for our cadet programs. I am happy to report that the Academy has no “broken programs” and we are now fully funded for excellence through 2015 across character, leadership, military training, aviation, fitness and athletic programs.

We also gained approval and funding for new training, like our revamped Combat Survival Training program (aka SERE), and we are well on our way to replacing the former Academy Flight Screening for pilot and navigator bound cadets with Powered Flight for 2-degrees and Firsties. Full funding didn’t happen by accident; instead it is the firm commitment from the senior leadership of the Air Force to have an Academy that maximizes success and to have an Academy the entire Air Force can take pride in.

“FIX USAFA”

Hands down, our largest and most ambitious fiscal undertaking is the nearly $ 1 billion, multi-year effort through 2020 that we

call “Fix USAFA.” Yes, as pretty as it still is on the outside—

DEDICATED CENTER FOR

CHARACTER & LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT (CCLD) As the Air Force’s premier institution for developing leaders of

character, it is fitting we have a world-class facility dedicated to our

professional efforts in the character and leadership development arenas.

While we have solid character, leadership and honor programs, the staffs and facilities that make them happen are scattered across several buildings in the Cadet Area; some of our character programs are even conducted off base in rented conference facilities. Our goal is to bring all these programs (as well as make our programs more robust with nationally-recognized scholarly research) into one state-of-theart “iconic” structure expected to complement the Cadet Chapel in uniqueness and grandeur.

unfortunately, on the inside and underground—our proud Academy is hurting. Designed on a 40-year life cycle, our 54-year-

day and night. On the 17

old institution has been in dire need of a major overhaul.

competitive process to select the architectural firm that will design the

“Fix USAFA” touches every facility in the Cadet Area (and the

itself) except “the new dorm” (Sijan Hall) which opened

The new CCLD will be built in the Cadet Area accessible to cadets th

of November, we opened the formal

CCLD, and our team is on track to have the final design selection in February, 2009. We have turned to and

in 1968. Harmon Hall is complete; Vandenberg, Fairchild and

challenged the original architects and builders of our Academy—Skidmore, Owings and

Mitchell Halls, McDermott Library/research center, the Cadet

Merrill (SOM)—for this important task. Their San Francisco, New

Field House and Gymnasium are now entering multi-phased

York and Chicago offices are in keen competition with each other, and

repairs. These include, for example, replacement of water and steam pipes, new energy efficient windows that actually keep the wind and Dark Age temperatures outside of Vandenberg,

I can assure you each wants to win this big time—we stand ready to be

upgraded electrical distributions that crisscross the campus via

the forefront of today’s architectural profession. Following this donor-

the off-limit tunnels that each of us, no doubt, avoided as cadets;

funded design stage and construction drawings phase, we will turn to

roads, bridges, dams and the airfield pavements. There are

the Air Force with a major construction program project beginning in

terrazzo

to

even

millions in the project to finally fix the leaks in the Cadet

Chapel roof that began shortly after that iconic structure was dedicated in 1963, and to repair the literally crumbling terrazzo.

Additionally, “Fix USAFA” projects extend beyond the Cadet

“wowed” in February. Each widely published partner leading the team from the three SOM offices is highly regarded internationally and is at

October 2010. The last phases of this new facility will be funded via

donor funds, bringing for example the Honor Boardroom and Honor Chair’s offices up to a level of furnishings that might approach what

you’d expect to find in the US Supreme Court. We also have a stretch

C H E C K P OIN T S, D E C E M B E R 2 0 0 8

11

goal for this new building, achieving Platinum Level certification by the U.S. Green Building Council, the highest achievement for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED). The Center for Character and Leadership Development is our number one priority, and one that directly supports our first of seven strategic goals: focusing on character and leadership development.

CADET MORALE & RECREATION

Arnold Hall, our “student union,” will be the focal point of this '

morale and recreation effort. Our goal is to refurbish “Arnies” so the cadets will once again want to use it during their off-duty time.

Quite frankly, today it falls woefully short of its potential. Our vision includes offering free recently released motion pictures in the theater on weekends (and upgrade the theater with DLP and Dolby systems); inviting first class brands (for example a Starbucks, a Panera Bread, a Chipotles) and transforming our food court into an

inviting destination. We intend to open a cyber cafe for this wireless generation, providing a digitized electronic gaming area and equipping our last ambitious piece of a sports-themed restaurant (e.g., ESPN Zone) with walls of flat screen monitors with NFL, NBA and college sports packages—and fries to die for! For you more senior grads who fondly remember “Mrs. Mac,” after a decade or so of absence, we

established and filled the position of Cadet Wing Social Director— Mrs. Donna Rosa will operate out ofArnold and Fairchild Halls and

lead cadet programs involving decorum, dancing, cooking, social graces and much more. Rest assured, our cadets have been involved and consulted as we conceived this plan for Arnold Hall. Our Firsties

and 2-degrees are excited but a bit disappointed they wont see these

before they graduate; but, our Doolies, and hopefully our 3-degrees, are in

for a treat.

TELLING THE ACADEMY STORY TO THE PUBLIC

While the numbers have dropped over the years, the Academy still remains a major tourist stop with more than 420,000 visitors passing

through our Visitor Center annually. The Cadet Chapel is still the No. 1 man-made tourist attraction in Colorado. With added attraction,

however, we feel we can double or triple that number—and in the process have more of the public appreciate what important work and service goes on here. To do this, we intend to expand well beyond the

somewhat automatic draw of the Chapel and build an even greater attraction involving the Chapel-Planetarium-Museum-Air Force

Memorial-Visitor Center-Arnold Hall complex in the already dramatic

have a museum; we have much in storage today we need to display

18,500 acre Academy we treat like a national forest preserve.

about our “university” and our history—if we had the space to do

Our Academy Planetarium has been closed since 2004. We want to reopen using multimedia hi-tech visuals (a 40-minute recurring show on

the hour) that does several things: tells the history of the Academy,

explains the mission of the Air Force (air, space, cyberspace), launches into a traditional planetarium space show with liftoff from Patrick AFB/Cape Canaveral into the deep reaches of space, then come screaming back via Google Earth into the Academy for a virtual tour of areas tourists cannot access today—the Cadet Area to show dorms, Mitch’s, our faculty labs, the gym, etc. We are now exploring state-ofthe-art projection and Planetarium systems to breathe life back into our

first-class fashion. We envision a stand-alone, state-of-the-art

museum

that would be constructed just west of the Planetarium.

The Planetarium, Museum and Arnold Hall would all be tied

together by a large, welcoming pedestrian plaza, the centerpiece of which will be a 65-foot-tall replica of the new Air Force Memorial in Washington, D.C. Note: the initial artist renditions Eve included are by no means final. The entire project will create an enhanced visitor experience and result in a large visitor ring that spans the Visitor Center, Admissions Welcome Center, the Cadet Chapel, the Honor Court, the Planetarium, the Heritage Center

and Museum, Arnold Hall—and potentially the new CCLD.

venerable Planetarium.

After enjoying the Planetarium, visitors can walk next door to the

Academy Heritage Center and Museum. We are now old enough to 12

so in a

Certainly, this should be quite the venue for Americans as well as foreign tourists to take in this great place.

CHECKPOINTS, DECEMBER 2008

GOING GREEN TO ACHIEVE “NET ZERO"

Ensuring new construction like the CCLD is as energy “green” as possible is not our only energy endeavor at USAFA. We spend a whopping $12M a year on utilities—electric, natural gas, propane, water—and according to Colorado Springs Utilities that’s projected to increase to $19M a year by 2015. Given our natural resources and expanses of our 18,500 acres, the Academy has significant opportunities to reduce its energy-consumption footprint. In fact, our goal is to become a “net zero” energy consumer; that is, through new technology, innovation and conservation, we produce all the energy we need to support our operations. Our Air Base Wing and our Faculty have teamed to build our Energy Plan. Here are some features: Biomass A $10M USAFA initiative to build a plant for the

gasification of waste wood—for example, the hundreds of thousands of beetle-infested trees that the State of Colorado must remove and

destroy—to fuel our Hi-Temp Hot Water facility (the HTHW is tucked away on Interior Drive within a really bad slice off the #10 tee

Prepared By The 10TH Air Sase Wirs§ and USAFA Bmmn of Faculty Hmtiqu&rters / USAFA

box of Eisenhower (Silver) Golf Course). »o ar Power A

USAP Academy, CO

$20M joint USAFA-Colorado Springs Utilities

November 2008

effort. We would construct a “solar farm” on the Academy to generate 2MW of electricity, in addition to installing thin-film photovoltaic glass in our buildings and photovoltaic membranes

for Colorado Springs flows through the Academy—from the heights

roofs. We are planning a second solar farm on the

of the Ramparts, purified today on our installation, then piped to the

on our

installation potentially along the 1-25 corridor.

lower elevations of the Springs. Lots of potential energy here

A $5M USAFA-Colorado Springs Utilities joint-use

endeavor constructed on the Academy to harness the power of the water

rushing down the mountains from CSUs reservoirs to the

faucets of families in the city. A bit of trivia: 70 percent of the water

Waste-to-Energy A USAFA initiative to use the refuse and waste created on campus to generate power. An example would be re-

processing the tens of thousands of gallons of used vegetable oil generated by Mitchell Hall frying operations each year.

Geothermal Ground-Source Heat Pumps Expand

^ *

Solar Array Site

.‘V*vv

...

technology

already installed at the Academy to heat and cool our major buildings. Harmon Hall is in our sights for a project.

Decentralization A $3M USAFA initiative to remove the

Academy Community Center-area facilities from the central heating plant.

I (GSHP)

We are still studying whether wind is feasible as an energy source. You

“Waste-to-Energy

* .

fessafem

*

J

Decentralization

L

technologies can reliably handle 80 knot blasts, the associated bird all need exploring first. hazards, the cost efficiencies ...

Wherever feasible, we will incorporate “green” yCsAf a

Northfield Hydro Site

know we have lots of it—but whether the current

technology into the massive upgrade projects on all the facilities included in the Fix USAFA program.

1

W ■T'

-rfe/

ROLLING OUT THE VISION

*&«***>'*« w.

*

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tft

Key senior leaders across the USAF (including the Civil Engineer), our staff and certain segments of the Cadet Wing have been read in on these plans. All seven reunion classes this year have seen this. Last August, I convened the second annual meeting of the Chairmen of the Boards for the seven foundations that exist to support our cadets. The purpose of this day-long

meeting was, among other topics, to unveil our thinking on where

-

the Academy should move, and to inform, engage, involve and

-

prioritize Foundation efforts as they work philanthropy and gifts.

-

Enclosed courtyard roof/glass ($TBD) Mall including cyber cafe ($100K)

Courtyard (nodes with seating) ($25K each)

Our Foundations are: General Public Awareness -

-

-

-

Air Force Academy Foundation (the original foundation

Goal: Link Chapel, Planetarium, Museum, Visitor Center, Admissions

from the 1950s) put together by the Colorado Springs city

Welcome Center, Cadet Area vistas, and Arnold Hall concessions

fathers as our Academy was established.

■

65-foot replica of the Air Force Memorial ($10M)

Falcon Foundation

■

Air Force Academy Heritage Center and Museum ($8M)

Friends of the Library

-

Academy Research and Development Institute

-

-

Athletic Association

-

-

Association of Graduates

-

-

USAFA Endowment

-

-

During the meeting, each Foundation chairman and CEO was shown the following charts of more specific opportunities they might be interested in supporting. This list is also a good starting point for Class gifts, should you be so inclined. While a bit

-

-

-

■

lengthy, I’ve included for your better understanding.

-

Sculpture court ($2M) Additional sculptures ($250K-$1M) Interactive video capability ($100K) Curator and operating budget ($200K annually) Art specialist ($ 100K annually) ($3M)

Interior dome and Digital projection equipment ($2M)

Show: History of the Air Force Academy ($50K) Show: Air Force of the 21

st

-

Character & Leadership

-

Character & Leadership Ctr ($35M) (10 percent funded with donor monies we have already secured, building financed with APF/ MILCON dollars, donor funds to elevate the interior to first class)

■

Senior Scholar in Residence ($25OK annually; $5M to endow)

■

Research center ($500K)

■

Grand foyer—lecture hall ($2M)

■

Honor Board room ($1M)

■

Honor offices (e.g., art, statues, upgrade walls, furniture, rugs,

-

-

-

-

-

etc.) ($50K)

-

-

■

Honor library ($ 100K)

■

Vector, R&R, LIFT, ACES Rooms ($250K Each)

■

Large conference room ($500K) ■ Small conference room ($100K) ■ Upscale speaker’s ante room ($100K)

■

Handicap electric vehicles

NCAA Sports ■

Falcon Stadium ($80M)

■

War campaigns bronze plaques with players’ names who

■

Student lounge/break-out room ($ 100K)

■

Polaris Star ($500K)

■

Decorative Calder-type mobile representing air & space ($100K)

■

Boxes ($10K)

■

Outdoor park ($1M)

■

Working press box ($500K)

■

Outdoor circle drive and statue ($ 1M)

■

Blue/Silver social area ($1.5M)

■

Parking lots ($500K)

■

Baseball Stadium ($12M)

participated ($5OK) ■ Locker room upgrade, home and visiting ($500K)

Cadet Morale ■

Cadet Wing Social Director and operating budget ($250K annually)

■

Arnold Hall -

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

14

Entry plaza ($1M)

Century ($50K) Show: Space Adventure ($5OK) Show: Virtual Tour of the Cadet Area ($50K) Ring of Art ($5 OK) Manager and budget ($200K annually) ■ Visitor Center upgrade ($2M) Theater ($1M) Central exhibit area ($ 1M) Individual exhibits ($25K) ■ Admissions Welcome Center ($3M) Lobby ($200K) Conference room ($5 OK) -

■

Alcoves for exhibits ($250K)

Planetarium

-

DONOR OPPORTUNITIES

“Early Years” room ($250K) Open area for main exhibit ($1M)

-

-

Ballroom ($500K)

-

“First-run” movies (AAFES)

-

Lobby outside theater ($250K)

■

Games arcade area ($500K)

Sports theme restaurant—e.g., ESPN Zone franchise (AAFES)

-

-

■

Locker room ($25K)

Dugout ($25K) Coaches area ($25K)

Soccer Stadium ($12M) -

Upgraded food court franchising—e.g., Starbucks, Panera Bread, Subway, Pizza, Chipotle (AAFES) Teaching kitchen ($50K) “Haps” upper class bar ($100K)

Field ($2M)

Field ($2M) Locker Rooms ($25K)

Coaches Area ($25K)

Rugby Field ($12M) -

-

Field ($2M) Locker rooms ($25K)

CHECKPOINTS, DECKS

-

-

-

DV area/press box ($5OK)

Varsity locker room ($25K) Batting cages ($10K)

-

■

Coaches area ($25K)

Lacrosse Field ($2M) -

-

■

Vertical wind tunnel for parachute team ($8M)

■

Transonic wind tunnel ($38M)

Locker rooms ($25K) Coaches area ($25K)

THE FOUNDATIONS AND NON-PROFITS

■

Outdoor track & field ($5M)

Another discussion topic at the 2007 and 2008 meetings with the

■

Indoor practice facility ($10M)

seven

■

Practice facility for volleyball, basketball ($8M)

As far as we can tell, we are the only academic institution with seven

foundations’ leadership was a basic roles and mission review.

existing foundations. Most universities have two or three. While Miscellaneous ■

we

Restoration of Air Gardens ($2M) -Air Garden trees ($75K) -

Plaque to recognize donors ($5K)

have had a history of great work by these seven, there also exists

overlap, redundancy and “tripping over” potential donors. The initial discussions focused on the Academy Vision—and how and where each foundation can fit and be of assistance. The subsequent discussions included “lanes in the road” for each Foundation—to

Net-Zero (energy) Initiative—Various Funding Sources ■

Biomass plant ($10M)

■

Waste-to-energy ($TBD)

respect each other and ideally not encroach on actual or perceived turf. That led to several models of transition and consolidation

■

Solar array ($20M)

■

Geothermal ($2M)

from seven to a smaller, more manageable number. There is more

■

Hydro generation ($5M)

■Decentralization ($3M)

Projects seeking Appropriated Funds first, Donor

discussion in order here, as the future business models need added

thought and not all are in favor of evolving toward a larger, all encompassing cooperative philanthropic effort.

Funds if Needed ■

“Dot-EDU” computer system for academics and research

IN CONCLUSION

■

SERE field training complex ($4M)

In these few pages I’ve rolled out a refined vision for our Academy and

■

Fast-tracking 2m telescope ($16M, including military

laid out, albeit briefly, the exciting new projects we have undertaken.

construction costs)

No question, executing this vision requires continuing support from

SARC (Sexual Assault Response Coordinator) office upgrade

our

■

($500K) ■ Jacks Valley storage facility ($700K) ■ Library of the 21 Century ($TBD) ■ Clune Arena security screening ($1.5M) ■ Prep School fitness center ($25M) ■ Community Center gym addition ($10M) st

USAF leadership, consistent and continuing articulation by the

Academy leadership, an informed graduate community, a supporting professional philanthropic network, and a keen eye on remembering why we at the Academy exist—it’s all for the cadets and for our collective efforts to lead, train and prepare them for the real challenges facing them as they graduate. We’re confident we’ll get there—and our Academy and cadets will be far better off once we arrive. 9

FALL, IT SEEMS, is always accompanied by cooler temperatures, football games and an overcrowded schedule. This year we got to mix in the Presidential Election campaign and the largest global economic

crisis of modern times. Needless to say, the AOG Board has not been immune to any of these factors and there’s a lot of news “From the

Boardroom

’

report in this issue. As you read through Checkpoints please take time to review the other Board related articles dealing with to

,

the “Carver Governance Model” and an update from our CEO.

The Quarterly AOG Board Meeting at USAFA on 24-25 October very busy and produced several Board actions of note. As is the case with all corporate Boards in our current stressed economic environment, was

your Board spent a great deal of time dealing with financial impacts

and budget implications as we navigate through this difficult economic

period. We also assessed current issues encompassed in the CEO’s quarterly update, reviewed 2009 Election preparations, spent time on Board Training related to the adoption of the Carver Governance Model, addressed lingering issues related to the Comprehensive Capital Campaign, evaluated action alternatives and strategic options for the rest of FY09, received an update from the President of the Class Advisory Senate (CAS), and met with the Superintendent in closed session.

The Board is always interested in interacting with the Superintendent on matters related to the Academy. His visit this time was very informative for the Board and presented an opportunity for a candid

exchange of perspectives between the Board and General Regni on development planning for USAFA as we look to the future. The Superintendent understands the value of a healthy AOG to the success of the Academy, and the Board welcomes his support.

After much deliberation, the Board formally adopted a new AOG Board ofDirectors Governance Policies Manual. This document establishes the guidelines for the transition earlier approved by the Board to a Carver Policy Governance Model.

Under this model, the primary job of the Board is to establish the goals (ends) to be accomplished by the AOG. The Chief Executive Officer's job is to determine and manage the means to achieve the Board's ends. The practical impact is that the Board moves into a strategic planning and policy setting role and is removed from

evaluating various modifications and refinements in the AOG Development Program to meet current and projected needs for

direct involvement in ongoing AOG operations. If you’re not

unrestricted funds to support ongoing AOG requirements. It

familiar with the Carver Model, I suggest you check it out online

has become a fiscal reality that increased direct member financial

www.carvergovernance.com. I think you’ll quickly see why this change makes sense for our AOG.

support is going to be needed if the AOG is to continue to provide the multiple services the members enjoy and still support

at

In April 2009, the membership will elect seven members

join the Board for the 2009-2011 term. At the October meeting, the Nominating Committee reported that the 2009 to

Ballot is taking shape and a milestone schedule is in place to assure

that all required events leading up to the April voting will

be accomplished in a timely manner. The ballot will identify Candidates for two 2-year slots and for five 4-year positions, and the 2009 Election will be accomplished through electronic voting.

Checkpoints will have detailed information on the election and members need to be alert for postings by Candidates that will be made on a dedicated Election section of the AOG Web site.

After investigating the topic extensively over several months,

consequence was that the time spent trying to find a collaborative arrangement with the UE has diverted Board attention and resources

from other important tasks. So, in the interest of

seeking a satisfactory solution to this issue and to free Board time for other business, it was decided that the AOG Board will

suspend its participation in the AOG-UE Joint Working Group.

In keeping with the Carver Model, the Board adopted a policy directing the CEO to negotiate with his UE counterpart to seek a mutually beneficial working relationship that can be presented to both corporate Boards for appropriate action.

Also related to AOG fund raising, the CEO and Staff are

Academy and cadet needs not funded with appropriated money.

There was no more pressing issue on the Board Agenda at the recent gathering than the financial upheaval that we are all experiencing professionally and personally. The Finance and Investment Committee, working with the CFO, presented a fiscally conservative revised FY09 Budget proposal—projecting both lower revenues and reduced spending—to reflect current economic realities. The good news is that the AOG Investment Subcommittee has taken prudent steps to protect AOG assets; the bad news is that, in the current downturn, we must budget and operate with extreme caution to protect the AOG from future unknowns. After lengthy discussions, the Board directed the

the Board voted not to provide reimbursement for travel by

CEO to prepare a multi-year budget that preserves sufficient cash

Directors to Board meetings. Although input from the Class

reserves

Advisory Senate supported reimbursement, the Board decided that incurring additional expense during a time of budget belttightening by the AOG would be inappropriate. There are solid

CEO will balance support for the three elements of the AOG

through the end of 2011.

Consistent with the Carver approach to governance, the

Mission to craft a working budget that the Board can adopt.

arguments on both sides of the question. In a different economic environment, a future Board may decide to revisit this decision.

The AOG has long been the primary source of private financial

Active contingency planning will continue and the Staff will be

support for the Academy for projects to enhance the Academy and the Cadet experience. Several years ago a major capital

services or programs are anticipated at this point, but the Board is

campaign was launched with the goal to raise $ 100 million.

Phase I of the campaign ended successfully when the Academy Cemetery Memorial Pavilion was dedicated in May, 2007. Phase II was never officially launched; and, after evaluating a number

of options, the Board decided to officially end the solicitation of

prepared to offer the Board budget and planning options for further consideration and action as necessary. No dramatic cuts in

prepared to act in concert with the CEO to take necessary steps to minimize any negative impacts on the AOG.

Over the sixteen month tenure of this Board there have been many unforeseen challenges that have emerged. My personal assessment is that your Directors are doing a good job as they work

intentions and several action initiatives, getting this matter

keep the AOG viable and forward looking. Many issues currently being assessed have populated the AOG agenda for a long time; others are directly traceable to the current economic situation; all are being addressed in a calculated, responsible manner. The Board approaches each issue with an open mind and with the realization that we must at all times focus on doing what is in the best long term interests of the AOG. The pundits tell us that there will be some rough times ahead as we all adjust to unforeseen global economic problems, but the AOG membership can be assured that the AOG Board and the AOG Staff are fully engaged and will keep the members informed of developments and actions taken.

Best wishes to everyone for a happy and safe ffoliday Season

resolved has proven to be an elusive goal. An unintended

from all of us in the Boardroom. IS

funds for the Comprehensive Campaign on December 31, 2008.

A final accounting will be accomplished, and a full report will be

issued no later than June 30, 2009. It is important to note that there are pledges made under the Capital Campaign that will be

completed after the campaign is officially closed.

While touching on fund raising and private support for the Academy, it is appropriate to mention that the interconnected topics of AOG fund raising and collaboration with the USAFA Endowment [UE] were discussed in depth at the October Board Meeting. It was concluded with regret that, despite good

to

17

B

rig. Gen. Susan Y. Desjardins was the first woman to serve as the Air Force Academy’s Commandant.

That’s not her only legacy.

She’ll be remembered as the Commandant who did push-ups with cadets on

the sidelines of football games and ran alongside the doolies at basic

training. She’ll be credited with helping prepare thousands of cadets for war and for restoring the Academy’s reputation after a series of scandals which

plagued her two predecessors.

“Of all the Commandants I’ve seen, she’s the best,” said Gary Howe, Vice President of the Association of Graduates and 1969 Academy graduate. Howe has watched 40 years worth of leaders hold the Commandant title. Howe said he’s never heard Desjardins’ gender come up in conversations about the Academy.

Instead, the talk is about her low-key, effective leadership style.

Being the first woman to do something ceased to be a big deal for Desjardins decades ago. A member of the Academy’s class of 1980—the first to include women—Desjardins will also likely be the first woman in her new job as a planning director at Air Mobility Command in Illinois. “I think the male cadets, just like the female cadets, need a leader,” she said.

“You don’t just mentor people who look like you.”

A career pilot who has logged nearly 4,000 hours in massive refueling planes and transports, Desjardins wasn’t enthused two years ago when she was moved to the Academy from command of a wing in South Carolina. “We were in the war, there was a lot of excitement,” said Desjardins. “The focus was to the east and when I got the phone call I can’t tell you I was excited.”

The Academy, however, was in a war of its own, fighting internal struggles

against sexual assault in the ranks, religious intolerance and concerns over the school’s honor code. The general, who had been back to the Academy only once since her graduation, warmed to the challenge. “I started getting excited when the

phone calls started coming in,” she said of the congratulations she received.

At the Academy, she met 4,000 youthful cadets, whose trust, she realized, would be the key to success. “They’re a tough crowd,” Desjardins said. “They’ll dismiss you if you’re not with the program.” She decided that rather than more direction and paperwork, cadets needed more leadership, which meant giving them more opportunities to lead. “I’ve never treated

>

them like children,” Desjardins said. “I treated them like my 18 or 19 -year-old airmen.”

During her tenure, Desjardins has stiffened military training at the school.

Her focus was to make sure

newcomers on what is

expected of them at the Academy. “I will never be able to give them enough responsibility,” the general said. “We give them a lot of rope. We give them just enough rope so they don’t hurt themselves.”

cadets had skills that would help

As the cadets took on more

them survive war after graduation.

leading roles, Desjardins says she saw a change. “Today cadets will look you in the eye,” she said.

“They will smile at you. The pride

Physical fitness and flight training programs were expanded. She used field training exercises to bring home lessons of Iraq and Afghanistan.

Under her guidance, junior cadets were

given the opportunity to

travel to wartime headquarters each

is back.”

That doesn’t mean she was

always nice.

Cadets who broke the school’s

summer to see what life is like in

strict policies against drunkenness

Qatar and Kuwait.

and underage drinking found

Desjardins also endeavored to lead by example rather than edict.

A lifelong runner, she could be

themselves marching tours

found most summer mornings

with rifles on the campus. She wasn’t known for tolerance of

Remember all the great stories your class-

for each point the Falcons scored,

wrongdoing, cadets said.

“The discipline system we had before wasn’t working,” said senior cadet Jacob Schonig, who holds the highest cadet rank. “Since then

with her star-bedecked shoulders

our

bobbing up and down alongside the

been cut in half.”

urging cadets along Academy trails at a trot. At football games, she led

the tradition of doing a push-up

cadet shoulder boards with every

touchdown.

Cadets, under her guidance, led the return to a tradition called

“recognition,” which puts freshmen through academic and physical challenges each year before they are recognized as full-fledged members of the Cadet Wing. Desjardins also returned cadets to the leading role in Basic Cadet Training, which

alcohol violation numbers have

reunion? Share some of the most important memories of your life with the readers of

Checkpoints magazine.

Checkpoints wants to publish your cadet experiences and stones of how your four years

But even when she’s angry,

Desjardins retains her cool. “I have never seen her yell,” Schonig said. “It’s more helping you realize what you have done wrong.” For the general, what she’s given to the Academy doesn’t match what she has received during nearly three years of duty. “It renewed my faith in a lot of things,” Desjardins said fondly.

“Especially in our future.”

has juniors and seniors training

Ifggj

msm

mates shared with one another at your last

at the Academy affected your career and life.

Submit story between 500-2,000 words. Photos must be in “jpg” format, 300 dpi at 7 inches wide. E-mail to

edi tor@aogusafa. org.

If mailed, include a digital copy (photos will be scanned and returned), mail to: 3116 Academy Dr., USAF Academy, CO 80840.

Inspire and develop tomorrow’s war-fighting

leadership through the dynamic experiences of soaring.

Courtesy of the 94th FTS many ways, the soaring operation at the USAFA airfield n

is conducted just like any

other Air Force flight training

operation. The flight commander guides the instructors’

meeting to set forth priorities, discuss problems, and handle

upcoming events. The students then arrive for the mass briefing which covers the weather,

NOTAMs, aircraft lineup, a standup emergency procedure, and a little general knowledge. Afterwards, the students pair up with

their instructors for the preflight briefing,

flight, debriefing, and the requisite recording of maneuvers and overall grades. The biggest difference from other Air Force flying training is that 94 percent of the sorties are flown

by cadet instructor pilots and the students are the youngest in the Air Force.

Leadership, education and communication The soaring program is essentially a leadership program that uses flying operations as its playing field. Cadet soaring instructor pilots run the program, led by a cadet squadron commander who selects a staff complete with every position normally found in an operational squadron.

Leadership training follows the Academy’s PITO (personal, interpersonal, team, organization) model. Basic Soaring concentrates on the personal and interpersonal aspects of leadership.

The Cadet Soaring Instructor Pilot upgrade program focuses on the team element. Finally, 20

550 students in Basic Soaring, upgrading 80 cadet instructor pilots, and competing in both cross country and aerobatics events across

the nation.

Instructors are chosen from Basic

Soaring graduates who show the aptitude and attitude necessary for success in the

upgrade program. During their 3-degree (sophomore) year, they go through a semester-long course which includes 20 hours of classroom instruction and 80 sorties. At the end of the course, they are

given a standard Air Force checkride flown

by a rated officer flight examiner who completes an Air Force Form 8 Certification of Aircrew Qualification just like any other Air Force checkride. After certification as instructors, cadets are qualified to teach Basic

Soaring and the beginning ph ase of the instructor upgrade program.

They then serve as instructors for the next two years until graduation.

Each year, five or six instructors are chosen to

fly on the aerobatic and cross country

teams. Cadets chosen for those teams then

complete additional upgrades preparing them for the competition season. The aerobatic team flies

theTG-lOC, a +5.5g to -4.0g

rated two-seat aircraft. They compete in the

Sportsman and Intermediate classes at International Aerobatic Club sanctioned events in Colorado, Texas, and Arizona, including

the Aerobatic National Championships at

Dennison, Texas. Rated instructors teach the cadets how to safely fly loops, aileron rolls, hammerhead stalls, competition spins, and

soaring instructor pilots, the cadets are challenged to run the organization. as

a

variety of other maneuvers which prepare

knowing that the student’s life is in his or her hands. The instructor is deciding

them to fly solo or with a safety observer in

great deal of responsibility on their shoulders. On an individual level, they

that the training he or she has given will

of the last two years as both the cadets and

be enough for the student to successfully

officers have honed their aerobatic skill sets.

teach basic flying skills to students who

complete the entire sortie without harm-

Cadets selected for the cross country team

often have never before held the controls of an aircraft. In Basic Soaring, they

ing the student or the aircraft.

The soaring program today consists of

upgrade in the TG-15A and TG-15B aircraft.

The glide ratio and instrumentation of the

lead students through a 14-ride program

130 cadet instructor pilots, 39 upgraders,

TG-15s allow the cadets to compete on even

in 10 class days with the goal of get-

and 50 rated officer instructor pilots. The

ting the students to fly solo. During the

squadron has 22 gliders of four types: twelve TG-10B (Blanik L-23) basic gliders, five TG-10C (Blanik L-13 AC) aerobatic gliders, twoTG-15A (Schempp Hirth Duo Discus)

footing with the best civilian competitors. As a comparison, the glide ratio of the TG-10B

Cadet instructors learn to lead with a

first block of the fall semester, 13 of 39 students completed their solo flight in an average of just under 12 sorties. While learning to fly is a wonderful method of

developing both personal and interpersonal leadership, teaching someone to fly reinforces that learning. Cadet instructors 22

determine if a student is ready to fly solo

two-seat cross country trainers, and three

TG-15B (Schempp Hirth Discus 2b) singleseat cross country aircraft. The

squadron flies over 15,000 sorties per year, teaching

CHECKPOINTS, DECEMBER 2008

the competitions. Scores have improved each

is about 28:1, while it is 45:1 for theTG-15A

(and 6:1 for aT-37). After aircraft qualification, the cadets follow a syllabus that teaches them the basics of cross country soaring,

including thermalling, spot landings, off-field landings, navigation, and contest rules and strategies. Their training incorporates lessons

learned from both military and civilian

competition flying and provides them a great foundation in the art of keeping a motorless aircraft in the air for hours at a time. This summer, cadets flew sorties over five hours

long, covering over 270 miles. One dual crew flew 329 miles in 5.5 hours, shattering the previous USAFA distance record.

The soaring program also actively recruits and promotes USAFA activities at airshows and sporting events throughout the country.

The aerobatic team has participated in demonstrations in Massachusetts, Texas, Colo-

rado and a variety of locations in between.

£

£

They organize static displays at most home

£

football games and this year went to the AirVenture airshow at Oshkosh, Wisconsin.

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Throughout the country, the gliders draw a crowd and the cadet instructor pilots serve as phenomenal ambassadors for the Academy and the Air Force. may seem to be just about flying, but it

Fight, and Win.” Yet, more importantly, it teaches them leadership qualities that they will use every day as officers of character in

is much more. Hundreds of cadets each

the Long Blue Line.

On the surface, the soaring program

year learn not only about flying, but about

themselves. They will take the leadership

cadets who participated in soaring at the

principles they learned through soaring with them throughout their careers,

Academy, the 94 Flying Training Squad-

whether or not that career leads them into

stories about your memories of the soaring

cockpit. The soaring program gives them their first taste of the Air Force’s “Fly,

program to 94FTS.CC@usafa.af.mil. We are developing a Soaring Wall of Fame and

th

a

on

their foundation of soaring to become

leaders in the Air Force. Your stories will serve to

If you are one of the thousands of former

ron

would like to know how people have built

would love to hear from you. Send any

involved in our program, as we continue to

inspire and develop tomorrow’s warfighting leadership through the dynamic experiences of soaring. 9

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Raul E. Cisneros has been selected to serve New York City based jews for Racial and

as

Economic Justice (JFREJ) will present the

Branch at the U.S. Census Bureau. He will

Rabbi Marshall T Meyer Risk-Taker Award

be responsible for public affairs and media

military religious freedom activist Mikey

relations activities supporting the upcoming

to

Weinstien on November 20, 2008.

chief of the Decennial Media Relations

confidentiality laws protect the personal information provided. trie

«person, b/, becomes inspector General of U.S. Dc 3 cl 1 4 *

>

2010 Census. Prior to joining the Census

“I’m honored JFREJ has recognized my

Bureau, Cisneros served in a number

The Honorable Eric M. Thorson, ’67, Cadet

constitutional political activism, generally,

of capacities at the U.S. Small Business

and my commitment to the Jewish

Administration between 2001 and 2008.

Squadron 20, was nominated by President Bush, confirmed by the Senate and officially

community, specifically” said Mikey

Most recendy, he was deputy associate

Weinstein, president and founder of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation

administrator in the Office of Field

(MRFF; www.militaryreligiousfreedom.

2001 to 2006, he served in the SBA's

org). “I’m fortunate that MRFF and

Office of Communications and Public

JFREJ are at the forefront to combat racial

Liaison and headed that office from 2004

civil rights intolerance.”

to 2006. Cisneros has extensive

MRFF, which just recorded its 10,000th active duty military client, is a nonprofit

in public relations at the federal, state and

charity dedicated to the protection of thousands of U.S. military personnel from unconstitutional religious practices forced on them by military superiors against their will.

Weinstein is an honor graduate of the

Operations and deputy chief of staff. From

experience

local level in addition to working with public

and private sector partners. He has also

sworn in as IG on

August 12, 2008. As IG, Eric oversees independent oversight of the Treasury by keeping the Secretary and Congress informed through audits, investigations and reviews to help the department accomplish its mission. These objectives are to improve programs and operations, promote efficiency and prevent fraud and abuse.

Eric has been serving our country with

been a commentator for print, radio and

great distinction for many years. Prior to taking on these responsibilities in the Treasury,

television and has written guest commentary

he served in a wide variety of positions such

for La Opinion, the nation's largest Spanish

as

language daily newspaper.

Born and raised in the Republic of

tion, the senior advisor to the Director for Investigative Operations in the Office of Personnel Management and as the Chief Inves-

Fie was Assistant General Counsel in the

Panama, Cisneros earned his Bachelor of Science degree from the USAFA in Colorado

Reagan White House and served as General

where he graduated with military distinction.

Counsel to Texas billionaire and two-time

The census is a count of everyone living

United States Air Force Academy and a former USAF Judge Advocate General.

the IG for the Small Business Administra-

Presidential candidate H. Ross Perot.

in the United States every 10 years and is

tigator for the Senate Finance Committee.

Earlier in his career, he served as the Acting Assistant Secretary of the Air Force and twice as the Deputy Assistant Secretary.

JFREJ is a renowned social justice organization committed to engaging Jews

mandated by the U.S. Constitution. 2010

After graduating from the Academy, Eric

Census data will be used to distribute

served our country as an Air Force pilot. He

pursue racial and economic justice with the support of people of color, low-

congressional seats to states, make decisions

remains involved with his alma mater and

at every level of

was

to

24

of the shortest in history, will take

one

$ «

income communities, and immigrant

government, and distribute $300 billion in federal funds to communities

communities in New York City.

each year. The 2010 Census questionnaire,

the Chairman of the Board of the As-

sociation of Graduates from 1989 to 1991.

(Courtesy ofJohn Wingfield) S

LIFTING THE VEIL ON RESEARCH AT THE UNITED STATES AIR FORCE ACADEMY COL ROBERT FREDELL, CHIEF SCIENTIST, USAFA

he times they are a-changin” as

green technologies. Research projects

Inc., and Raytheon, one of the nation’s

Bob Dylan once sang, and they

incorporating new bio-fuel, electric, hydro,

leading defense contractors. All our partners find the Air Force Academy a great place to do business.

Our appeal and expertise is not limited to the quality and quantity of our civilian and military workforce. Of critical

are

changing for the better with

research efforts at the United

wave, wind, and solar energy sources are

underway. These multidisciplinary projects include contributions from aeronautics,

States Air Force Academy.

Research at the Academy supports three

chemistry, biology, physics, management,

key elements: cadet learning, Air Force needs, and faculty development. The research program at the Academy has grown ten-fold in external funding over the past decade. Cutting-edge research in lasers, aeronautics, green chemistry, aging aircraft, space sciences, cyberspace, and

consortium in green energy research, the

currently valued at more than $45 million.

Academy will set an example for the Air

We owe it to the taxpayers and our external

unmanned aerial systems are just some of

Force and the nation. This green energy

research sponsors to make the best use of

the areas where the Academy contributes

research will support the Academy’s mission

every dollar.

to our nation’s science and

and may spin off economic benefits to the

technology

development. External recognition of what our cadets and faculty have accomplished, however, remains one of the nation’s rarely

engineering mechanics, economics, and civil engineering. Their benefits extend

beyond the Academy to the Air Force, the

professionalism and transparency in our

local community, and the nation.

research-related financial transactions.

By joining an already active Front Range

positively impacting the local economy.

Through a concentrated effort to promote what our cadets and researchers do best—

cadets, but also for the local economy and

top notch research—the public’s awareness of our efforts is growing as the programs

community. Our combined research segues to cooperative work with private industry

at the

and other universities. Brigadier General

research efforts at a national level while also

Academy approach $50 million in annual funding.

For example, the Academy is taking proactive steps to become energy

independent by 2015 by taking a leadership role in the development of

The research program at the Academy is

H

local community as well.

Today, in addition to involving hundreds of cadets and faculty, our research centers and institutes employ nearly 100 highly qualified contract researchers and support professionals. These contractors are a brain trust, not only for the Academy and

told stories. USAFA programs contribute to

importance to our research program is

For a copy of the 2008 annual Research

Report or more information about the research program at the Academy, contact the Research Publicist at 719-333-3273.

Dana Born, ’83, Dean of the Faculty, has

signed more than 50 Cooperative Research and Development Agreements with private, local and national companies such as Monument’s American Electric Vehicle,

C H E C K P OIN 7 8

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SEP T E M B E R 2 0 0 8

25

“A student's success in acquiring an education depends much less on consum

ratings of the product being offered than on the effort, dedication and ereati enerev a student invests

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and Sciences at the University of Penneyi

College Rankings

and Realistic Assessment FALL IS AN EXCITING TIME at the Air Force Academy, in

part, because many of our graduates return to “the Hill” for their class reunions. At each reunion, the senior leaders on the base host a panel where we answer questions from our returning graduates.

One of the questions I often answer regards the rankings

of the Air Force Academy on the various lists of top colleges and universities. I recognize that the academic reputation of the Air

Force Academy is important to our graduates, not only as a matter of

pride, but also as an indication of the general public’s per-

ceived “market value” of the academic experiences we offer and the degrees that cadets earn. As someone who is both a graduate of USAFA and the senior leader in charge of our academic mission, you can imagine my interest in these rankings.

Overall, our graduates should be very proud of the rankings that For instance, consider the following:

we receive.

#1 for “Most Accessible Professors”—4 th year in a row;

USMA #5, USNA #9, Princeton Review, www.princetonre-

view.com/Schoollist.aspx?type=r&id=740) #3 for “Leadership Development” (Gov/Mil); USMA #4, USNA #6, Leadership Excellence, http://www.eep.com/MerBY BRIGADIER GENERAL DANA H. BORN, '83

chant/newsite/best_ranking.html)

DEAN OF THE FACULTY

#16 in America’s Best Colleges; USMA #6, USNA #36,

Forbes, www.forbes.eom/lists/2008/94/opinions_college08_

Americas-Best-Colleges_Rank.html Perhaps the most widely recognized rankings are those done

by US News and World Report, USN&WR; colleges.usnews. rankingsandreviews. com/college): Best Baccalaureate Colleges in the Nation: #1 in the West

(2

nd

Consecutive Year)

Best Undergraduate Engineering Programs: #8 (tied with

Bucknell University) -

26

Aerospace/Aeronautical/Astronautical: #2 (behind Embry Riddle, FL)

C H E C K P OIN T S, D E C £ M B E R 2 0 0 8

-

Electrical/Electronic/Communications: #8 (tied with

points), in which I introduced the new USAFA outcomes. These

Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering)

outcomes describe the

responsibilities, skills, and knowledge required of newly commissioned officers. Our new USAFA Strategic Plan establishes them as our “benchmarks or quality standards

Undergraduate Business Programs (Management): #1 undergraduate only, #8 among schools that do not offer PhDs (#52 all Management programs, tied with 12 other universities)

against which we evaluate our cadets and programs.

1

Since that

article, we’ve established “outcome teams” which include members from each mission element. These teams are identifying ways to

Note that I have not included USMA and USNA for comparison on

assess

the USN&WR rankings. The reasons is that US News and World

cadets’ accomplishment of each outcome. The work they are

doing will not only help us know the extent to which our cadets are achieving high-quality learning, but it will also help us identify places where we can get even better as an institution.

Report classifies USAFA differently than it classifies our sister service academies. They consider USAFA a “baccalaureate” college because we award more than half of our degrees in professional/technical fields (in our case, engineering and management). This is in contrast to USMA and USNA, which award more than half of their degrees in liberal arts majors (defined as arts and sciences). So, despite our obvious similarities to USMA and USNA, we are not placed in the same category for the purpose of the USN&WR rankings. We are very comfortable with being categorized as a baccalaureate college.

Of course, many of our graduates are curious about how USAFA would stack up with USMA and USNA if we were to be placed in

Our creation of institutional outcomes and our efforts to assess

them are very consistent with what is happening elsewhere in

higher education. For instance, our USAFA outcomes are closely aligned with those espoused by the Association of American Colleges and Universities and our assessment processes have received 2

,

positive reviews at their national conferences. Furthermore, in preparing for our 10-year accreditation visit by the North Central Association in April of 2009, we’ve seen how the entire educational

evaluation process is moving towards assessment of student learn-

the same category. So, we asked Mr. Bob Morse, Director of Data

ing and development. We’re moving in the right direction and

Research at USN&WR, to summarize their data for USAFA, USMA,

we’re looking forward to the arrival of our institutional accredita-

and USNA. The magazine gets its data from the Integrated Postsec-

tion team next April so we can showcase the USAFA culture of

ondary Education Data System (IPEDS) of the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). Peer assessment rankings would not apply, since USAFA is in a different category than the other service academies, so we have different “peers.” But a summary of comparable data used by USN&WR is shown below, which illustrates that USAFA remains very competitive with the other military service academies.

learning. I am confident that they will be especially impressed with how our cadets are actively involved in their development.

We will continue to keep an eye on the various rankings, and I imagine that I will continue answering ranking-related questions at class reunions. However, it is my hope that all of us (i.e., gradu-

(NOTE: Some of the data shown below may be dated from what is currently in IPEDS. IPEDS currently shows data for the Fall of2007)

taxpayers at large) will ask even more questions about the quality of student learning and development. If that happens, I am confident

ates, educators, administrators, prospective students, parents, and

I

|

USAFA

USMA

USNA

Freshman Retention

91%

92%

96%

Graduation Rate

78%

83%

82%

% of Classes <20

66%

96%

61%

Student-to-Faculty Ratio SAT 25th-75th percentile

8:1

7:1

9:1

1220-1350

1100-1360

1160-1350

Acceptance Rate

17%

15%

12%

Alumni Giving Rate

15%

that USAFA will rank even higher, as we have been providing such

cutting-edge experiences for cadets for years —and it is only getting better. The service academies are unique undergraduate institutions, which the current ranking systems only begin to recognize. When you drill down into what goes on every day, you see that we invest in our cadets, because tomorrow they become our wingmen with whom we will fly, fight, and win in air, space, and cyberspace.

We are proud of our legacy and heritage of excellence, and the graduates, faculty, and staff who have built the Air Force Academy into a national treasure. Today’s cadet is entering a 21 Century world with unprecedented challenges; we must transform our institution to prepare our graduates to lead in this new environment. We are encouraging cadets to take full advantage of the incredible opportunities provided by four years of officer development at the Air Force Academy. We will all stay focused on learnst

34%

23% |

I

While our national rankings are indeed a source of pride, it is

important for our graduate community to know that the rankings are not really the best measure of our success. The reason is

simply that these rankings fail to measure the one thing that matters most—the quality of cadet learning. Statistics such as average

ing, measuring, assessing, and improving in a way that best develops leaders of character to serve our Air Force and our nation. SI

SAT scores or acceptance rates, no matter how impressive, do not

capture what our cadets learn or what they are able to do as graduates. Put simply, if cadet learning is our ultimate concern, then

1

USAFA Strategic Plan, 2008-2013, p. 25

cadet learning needs to be the measure of our success.

2

AAC&U

Fortunately, we are working hard to embed processes at USAFA that can inform us about the quality of our cadets’ learning and their capabilities as graduates. For example, readers may recall an article I wrote last year (in the September 2007 issue of Check-

Available on-line at www.aacu.org/leap/documents/GlobalCen-

(2005). College learning for the new global century.

tury_fmal.pdf.

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Let us do the walking for you!

Job searches designed exclusively

for service academy alumni SACC A Service Academy Career Conference hosted four times annually and designed to match our alumni with

employers interested in hiring service academy alumni.

JSAJE JSAJE for Alumni

-

Joint Service Academy Jobs Electronically is an Web site designed to al-

low you to browse through job listings and contact employers. It contains a resume repository

for graduates who are in an active transition mode, and a job retriever for those who prefer to remain in a passive mode. JSAJE For the Employers

-

JSAJE is also an exclusive job Web

site designed for companies in corporate America to advertise their career opportunities

directly to service academy alumni. Companies may also purchase access to a repository of resumes of graduates in an active transition mode. iSABRD An online Service Academy Business Resource Directory with over 35,750 active profiles

from USAFA, USCGA, USMA, USMMA, and USNA. An excellent resource for advertising, career

networking, and building business connections.

Visit www.usafa.org for more information

Need a Job? iSABRD is the one stop directory for Service

Academy grads looking to find professional careers with grad-friendly companies ...

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Deep within the confines of Fairchild Hall, behind the locked doors of the darkened physics lab, a laser-generated bolt of lightning blasts

through the sheet of aluminum foil in the hands of C1C Ryan Cwynar.

The machinegun-like thunderclaps produced by the lightning fills

the lab with a deafening chorus as the plasma chews the sheet of foil into Swiss cheese. In an instant, the noise stops, the

lights come on, and the smoldering metal crumples to the floor. Safety glasses are removed as the scientists close in to inspect the damage. Hundreds of tiny holes riddle the surface of the aluminum, each created by a laser powerful enough to focus a beam onto the surface of tty moon Dr. Geoff Andersen has been interested in lasers for the majority of his

physicist. “What we re doing here,” he explains, “is focusin light down to a very small spot. When you get enough laser powe small enough space you can actually make air turn into a plasma; youre essentially ripping electrons off of the air molecules and that’s what makes lightning. You can see that it’s a pretty powerful beam because it can punch its way through metal.”

As a leading researcher in the Laser and Optics Research Center here at the Academy, Andersen is looking to the future when it comes to cutting edge technology; and with all of the new projects on the horizon, these are exciting times in the physics department. [> career as a

Slated for development over the next decade are an array of high-tech applications,

including a lidar system which can provide instantaneous weather updates, an orbital optical array to replace conventional spy satellites, a fast tracking telescope and the Air Forces Airborne Laser System.

Dr. Andersen holds up the destroyed piece

of aluminum foil. “The plasma that’s being

generated by this laser is capable of blasting through metal,” he says casually, “so one could easily use it for machining metal.” Yet

despite the lasers potential as a cutting tool, Andersen and his colleagues have set their sights on a more celestial application.

“This laser will ultimately be shot into the sky as part of a lidar, which is a laser radar,” explains Andersen. “Lidar can tell you all kinds of things that normal radar can’t. We’ve built a lidar system here that

allows us to measure temperature through the atmosphere. So, just by pointing the laser somewhere, you can measure the temperature in a column from where you are all the way into space.”

The process is somewhat similar to the concept of taking glacial core samples in

polar regions. Extracting a long cylinder of ice allows scientists to study the various strata which provide a historical cross section of weather patterns over a number

of generations. Lidar, on the other hand,

provides somewhat of an optical core sample of the atmosphere.

“What you’re actually doing,” Andersen explains, “is catching the reflection of the laser off of the air molecules overhead.

And you need a big telescope down on the ground to collect all of this light. It’s a very bright laser going up but only a weak

signal coming back down.”

Though the returning signal may be weak, the information it carries is essential

determining a real-time weather analysis.

Andersen has high expectations for this technology, especially considering the conventional methods it will be replacing. “The to

way you get temperature now,” describes

It can allow you to shoot this laser up and

making two measurements per day. It would

get an instantaneous measurement of what the atmosphere is doing; and better weather

be so much nicer if you could make the

instantaneously, because the balloons take a while to get up.” measurement

Andersen, “is by weather balloon. There are

Lasers, on the otherhand, can take

about 300 sites throughout the U.S. where

readings all day long, providing constant updates to the data pools which are used to predict what the weather will do next.

they release weather balloons two times a day. As these balloons go up they tell us what the atmosphere is doing at various levels.

“The more measurements you can make

prediction saves a lot of money.”

Andersen, like many physicists, is optimistic about the implementation of lidar systems all across the nation. Replacing weather balloons is the first of many steps that this country can take towards building the most accurate weather prediction system

And all that data is collected and shoved

now,” Andersen explains, “the better your

on

into a computer program which then makes

predictions will be for what’s going to happen later. That’s what the lidar can do.

however, comes with a myriad of safety

predictions on what’s going to happen next.

32

Well, that’s all well and good, but you’re only

C H E C K P OIN T S, D E C E M B E R 2 0 0 8

the planet. Technology this powerful,

concerns.

“With a laser like this you could

pretty much blind anyone on the planet if you could point to him or her,” Andersen

of the balloon clear and the other side metal;

that’s being planned for a next generation

says. “You could certainly blind astronauts if

they were to pass overhead, and you also have to worry about pilots or anything that might be over your laser. We have a radar system in place that automatically turns off the laser in case anything passes overhead. Lasers

don’t interact with air very well, so most of the beam actually goes off into space. You’ve got to be very careful in how you operate a system like this.”

telescope. But it’s very tricky because you can’t just put these pieces anywhere, you’ve got to make them fit into a perfect paraboloid. Fitting separate pieces of glass together perfectly is very difficult, especially while in outer space.”

Glass is very heavy. It doesn’t fold up well and it’s expensive to produce (even before you launch it into space). “Some of the ideas that the Air Force is looking into are big

you blow up this balloon and get a curved

so

shape which can focus light. But you’re trying for a perfect surface, which means you can’t so much as have a bump the size of a human hair, or your image won’t resolve. It’s an

expensive proposition and it’s something

we

still don’t know how to do.”

The problem of getting refracting sur-

faces into outer space is filled with limita-

balloons,” says Andersen. “You make one side

tions, many of which have lead scientists like Anderson to seek an alternative to

As far as the USAFA physics lab is con-

cerned, lasers aren’t the only things venturing into outer space. While the lidar system is

making an impact from the ground, a different technology is making a name for itself from high above. Scientists, meteorologists, and most recently, military intelligence officials, have been searching for better ways of resolving satellite images of the earth. Since the early days of the space program, this has proven a difficult problem.

“The bigger the telescope, the smaller the details you see on the ground,” Andersen explains as the discussion shifts to satellite imaging. “At the moment, you’re limited to the size of your launch vehicle. You have to make one big solid mirror, which would fill up your entire payload (for a Titan 4, that’s

about 4.5 meters wide).”

Obviously, getting a gigantic lens into outer space is no small task.

Considering that it takes more than $20,000 per pound to launch something into space, heaving a 1600 pound mirror into orbit comes at a price. Yet scientists are exploring alternatives to the single lens satellite telescope.

“The alternative,” says Andersen, “is to make

something that’s made up of pieces of glass, with some mechanism that unfolds and fits them together, and The photon sieve is a thin sheet filled with tiny holes which focus light, forming the basis of a future satel lite surveillance technology.

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33

the traditional curved lens. This is where

and apertures across the demonstration

things get interesting. “Instead of using curved surfaces,” Andersen explains, “I’m using something that’s flat. It’s very easy to pull something flat in space. With a

table. Perhaps one of the more exciting

flat sheet, you don’t have to worry about surface ripples. The idea is a photon sieve.’

of how long it’s going to last up there.”

In addition to inspecting the satellites

projects involving satellites is the

of other nations, this technology can be

fast-tracking telescope, recently secured

by USAFA for a cool $7.5 million. Able to lock onto satellites as they pass over in high orbit, the telescope represents a mile-

used to insure the security of our own

new

orbital vehicles. “Another thing you have to

worry about is having our own satellites

is a flat sheet of porous material. Its mil l ions

space situational awareness.

Andersen is quick to present a scenario

of tiny holes are each designed with a specific

that U.S. intelligence has been wrestling

size and location. Light passing through the

with since the beginning of the space age.

being spied upon,” Andersen recounts.

“We have the technology today to sneak up on somebody else’s satellite and take a look at it. Naturally, you don’t want that happening to your own satellites.”

photon sieve is redirected, or focused, down to a single point, just like a curved lens. The

“Let’s say China launches a new satelite and

With the issue of national security on

tells us it’s a weather satellite,” he explains.

everyone’s radar these days, it’s clear that technology is playing an ever increasing role in modern military defense. Perhaps

A relatively new concept, the photon sieve

stone in

the most exciting project to come out of

optical defense research is the Air Force’s Airborne Laser.

“This is essentially a multi-megawatt laser

shooting out of the nose cone of a 747,” Andersen explains with a smile. “It’s designed to shoot down missiles in boost phase up to 300 miles away. The problem is, you’ve got this really high class laser which you’re shooting through 300 miles of turbulence (in addition to the turbulance created by the 747) which presents an extraordinarily difficult problem. If you just send out the laser and hope that it blows up the missile, it probably wouldn’t work.”

The problem stems from turbulence in the atmosphere. Three hundred miles of weather patterns present a lot of air molecules moving in a lot of different directions. These conditions can play havoc on a

laser, causing the beam to dissipate and

lose striking power. But there are methods material used to create the photon sieve is

“Well, you can either take their word for it

practically weightless and can be rolled up, making it ideal for launch payloads.

“A one meter mirror weighs about 400 pounds,” Andersen describes, “whereas a photon sieve of the same size comes in at

you can have a telescope take a look at it.

You need a very big telescope for that, and

And it can be made a lot

a mere 8 ounces.

cheaper. You don’t have to grind mirrors to perfection and then worry about transporting them safely. The one tradeoff is that it only works as a perfect focusing element for one specific wavelength of light, which means you’re going to have to limit yourself to looking at images in green or red or blue.”

Tradeoff or not, the photon sieve is sure to

34

or

being developed to combat these issues.

At the leading edge is a new system which involves fast wave front sensors. “This

it needs to move very quickly because the

work involves correcting atmospheric

satellite is going to pass over very quickly. So,

turbulence effects on light,” says Andersen.

if the satellite has a long tube on the side with

“When projecting laser beams through

fins and a radiation symbol, it’s probably not

the atmosphere, turbulence distorts the

a

weather satellite.”

beam so you can’t get good focusing.

One of the best features of the new fast

Adaptive optics is a method by which we

tracking telescope is that it can be used in

can sense

the effects of the turbulence and

conjunction with the lidar system. Bouncing lasers off of passing satellites can pro-

correct them very

vide all kinds of useful information. “You

with a whole bunch of fingers on the back

get an idea of what kinds of metals they’re made up of,” says Andersen, “or

which are constantly pushing and pulling

can

make a name for itself in satellite surveillance.

whether they’re leaking any particular type

Back in the physics lab, Dr. Andersen’s laser array glows in a rich emerald as

of fuel. Furthermore, if you know how big the fuel canisers are and what kinds of

the beam is redirected through mirrors

motions it’s making, you can get an idea

CHECKPOINTS, DECEMBER 2008

quickly using a “rubber”

corrective mirror. It’s like a piece of foil

to

change the shape of the surface.”

That constant pushing and pulling oc-

curs on a

microscopic scale, all at a frac-

tion of a second, making even the most

volatile environmental conditions all

but disappear with regard to the target-

the laser center is teach cadets how to do

Andersen knows the value of practical

ing system. “If I make this mirror have a

research,” reflects Andersen. “There are a

training and continues to push for it at the

certain inverse shape,” says Andersen, “the

lot of things they need to learn on how to

distorted wave can bounce off of it and be

conduct experiments; if things don’t go

Academy. “The better educated they are in these fields, the better purchaces they’ll be

perfect shape. It’s kind of like the idea of having corrective lenses for your glasses, only the lenses are changed and updated a hundred times a second.”

Andersen has been contributing to the

right, how to figure out what went wrong

able to make for the government. There

and how to fix it. Some of these cadets

are two

will be working in Air Force facilities

the Air Force, one in Albuquerque and

physics, they can work for places like the

work we re doing here. These cadets can

Airborne Laser program for some time

NRO (National Reconaissance Office),

go to those places and run those systems

now, and has made great strides towards

which operates satellites for the Air Force.

accelerating the targeting system’s ability to adapt to atmospheric conditions. This improves the laser’s success rate of killing

perhaps more important than the science itself is how it’s applied, especially when

They’ll understand the physical limitations of taking photos from space; they’ll have the practical knowledge it takes to solve problems and become program managers.”

Applying a hands-on approach to learning is essential when it comes to physics, especially given the amount of experimentation that takes place in the lab. Understanding theory is certainly important, but being able to work on problems in the real

straight out of college. There’s nothing wrong with having cadets who are better educated in physics. Getting better officers who understand the problems we’re facing today is in the Air Force’s best interest.” S

it comes to cadets. “What we do here in

world is what builds better officers.

a nice

an

enemy missile.

With an arsenal of technology at its

disposal, USAFA has become a major player in developing the next generation of weather and air defense tools. Yet

across

the world. If they understand the

one

very big telescope sites owned by

in Hawaii, that are doing the kind of

Northwestern Preparatory School Located in Southern California +

Post High School Service Academy Preparation Exclusively

+

Appointments to the U.S. Air Force Academy and other Service Academies have been received by over 90 percent of our students.

+

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“Northwestern Prep provided me with an academic foundation that raised my SAT scores by 200 points, as well as an ability to

focus on the essential preparation to succeed at the Academy.

As a result of the self-confidence I gained there, I became Outstanding Student in CST, Outstanding 2nd Class Cadet in 3rd Group, Team Captain of Women s Fencing, and Outstanding Squadron Commander of the #1 ranked squadron of the wingl ”

2002 USAFA Graduate

Suzanne Durbeck, Executive Director 1-800-367-8839 / www.northwesternprep.com / E-mail:

C H E C K P OIN T S, I) E C E M B E FI 2 0 0 8

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Bob Davey, ’62, an aerospace-engineering professor and former Air Force pilot, captures

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fewer than two years to get there. At stake is control of the worlds energy supply. But he has no spacecraft, no crew, and a President vehemently opposed to his mission.

The Moon War follows Strickland through the triumphs and tragedies of his incredible

odyssey. The story volleys between America and Russia as the countries scramble to launch. Greed, corruption and deception, even at the very highest levels, cause the plot

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With extraordinary technical accuracy, Daveys story assembles a cast of astronauts,

politicians and engineers drawn from real life who react to the unending trials with uncanny realism. Reflecting Daveys experiences as an Air Force officer, an engineer, and cosmonauts,

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educator, The Moon War tells a tale that may well fill the pages of tomorrows newspapers.

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What The SACC is the Service Academy Career Conference supported 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. Previous conferences have been attended by hundreds of companies and thousands of alumni. Go to www.sacc-jobfair.com for a list of companies attending, the complete schedule, and the online registration form Where will the SACC be held?

The next SACC will be held at the Hyatt Regency Savannah, Two West Bay Street, Savannah, Ga. Call (912) 238-1234 for reservations and ask for the SACC rate.

Thursday, February 26 Interview Prep Seminar

6:30 p.m.

8:15 p.m.

Registration

9:30 a.m.

All day

SACC

9:30 a.m.

12:30 p.m

Lunch

12:30 p.m.

1:45 p.m.

SACC

1:45 p.m.

5:30 p.m.

Friday, February 27

Saturday, February 28 Interviews only if directly scheduled between company recruiters and candidates; Companies will contact you directly regarding any on-site interviews during the SACC.

The SACC candidate registration fee is $35. To register, submit a one-page resume (for the recruiter's book) and pay online at www.sacc-jobfair.com. This limited resume is designed to give the recruiters an indication of your capabilities. It is NOT the resume you should bring to hand out to the recruiters at the conference. Registration deadline for inclusion in

the recruiter's book is February 13.

Walk-in registrations will also be accepted on the day of the conference. Walk-in registration fee is $40 and may be paid by

check or cash.

Next Scheduled SACC

Washington D.C., May 7-8, 2009 For more information, contact Wayne Taylor at (719) 472-0300 or go online at www.sacc-jobfair.com.

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AS ONE OF THE ACADEMY'S CORE VALUES, THE COMMITMENT TO "SEF

VICE BEFORE SELF" CAN BE SEEN IN ALL OF THE COMMUNITY OUTREAC PROGRAMS CADETS UNDERTAKE EVERY YEAR. BUT WHAT OF THOSE WF GO ABOVE AND BEYOND? FOR MANY, THE DESIRE TO GIVE BACK IS MO THAN JUST A CHECKBOX ON THE ACADEMIC ROSTER. THIS FALL THE FURRY TENANTS OF THE BLUE LION ANIMAL RESCUE GOT A TASTE OF

ACADEMY CORE VALUES WHEN MORE THAN 50 CADETS VOLUNTEERED BREATH NEW LIFE INTO A SHELTER IN NEED.

By Kyle Davidson Photos by Lewis Carlyle

Cadets lend a helping hand at the animal shelter.

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hen you think of all of the qualities you desire in a good friend, chances are, without

realizing it, you’re describing your dog. There’s a reason why they’re called man’s bestfriend.

A good friend is honest and loyal. A good friend makes it clear he cares about you. A good friend sticks with you through good times and bad.

I know of no better way to describe my own canine companions.

It’s a safe bet that most pet owners feel enriched and uplifted by

their animals

...

at least most of the time.

Personally, I was not so

enriched when my six-month-old puppy chewed the foot board

of my brand new bed. Yet, for as mad as I was, my dog taught me one

of life’s lessons. I’ve since learned in most cases, the mate-

rial items are immaterial, and it’s the relationships one forms in life that really matter. Both of my puppies have since grown up

and I’m grateful to have learned these lessons from the two furry friends who have been my teachers. That’s why it is hard for me to understand how some pet owners can simply throw their pets to the wayside without as much as a second thought.

It’s no real secret that pets are a challenge, and that dogs in par-

ticular require a lot of attention and care. Still, many people get them without comprehension for the responsibility they are un-

dertaking. Perhaps this is why animal shelters are so full. But what happens to those animals even the shelters won’t take? What path awaits the animals who have personality disorders? What becomes of those who have lost their trust in humanity due to abuse and neglect? Sadly, many of these dogs pay the ultimate price for their master’s irresponsibility: they’re put down.

Fortunately, there are alternatives.

For the lucky ones, there are specialty no-kill shelters, sanctuaries which have opened their doors to the misfits who no longer have a place in society. Earlier this fall, the Air Force Academy crossed paths with one such sanctuary when a group of nearly 50 cadets volunteered their services to help those in need.

Blue Lion Animal Rescue is a no-kill shelter located in Yoder,

Colorado. Specializing in large breed dogs such as Mastiffs, Saint 40

Blue Lion Rescue Director.

Lisa Kavanaugh

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Bernards and Great Danes, the animal compound sits isolated on

dusty plain beneath the vast desert sky.

The shelters director, Lisa Kavanaugh, cares for nearly 200 dogs on her 35-acre ranch almost entirely by herself. So when she got the news that the cadets were coming to help with much-needed repairs and a

maintenance in preparation for winter, she was overcome with relief.

“When I got the email saying 50 people have volunteered— that’s so exciting because I’m just used to doing

everything by myself; so learning that all these people want to come out and help is just a miracle for me,” she rejoiced.

With good reason. Lisa’s is a labor of love. Her typical day starts very early and includes hauling hundreds of pounds of dog food and gallons of water to each pen, a process which consumes hours.

After the dogs have been cared for, she turns to her administrative tasks of applying for grants and donations. Once the emails have been sent, it’s time to feed and water all over again.

With her days devoured by the entire minutia of running the rescue, it’s easy to see how the maintenance tasks

begin to add up.

For the lone guardian of giants, the weekend help was a Godsend.

For the cadets, it was simply the right thing to do.

Community service and volunteering align with the Academy’s first core value of “service before self.” So, even though most of the cadets had already fulfilled their respective squadron’s community service learning project, they were happy to help where they could.

“We chose Blue Lion Rescue because we got to work with and

help out animals,” said ClC Erin Wallace, who helped organize the 42

volunteer effort. “It is a good change of scenery from all the people at the

Academy; and these dogs genuinely needed the help.”

“I think it’s a really good organization,” explained C4C Aaron Zadalis. “A bunch of the dogs they have here are either hurt or they have issues with aggression so, I mean, you can tell the ones that really need help. It’s good that we’re helping them out.” Even though Zadalis revealed himself to be “more of a cat person,” he still held the canine giants of Blue Lion in high regard (though some must have smelled his feline affinity, as the cadet received stern looks and a few good, strong barks). “One of them was a

little bit all over me, but, you know, I showed him who was

boss—taught him a lesson,” Zadalis joked of the Mastiff happily panting at his side.

While there is still a lot of work to be done, Lisa was

impressed with how much the cadets were able to accomplish. She explained that now she will have more time to spend with each dog—attempting to rehabilitate and train them—instead of performing the maintenance she would have otherwise had to complete on her own.

Lisa also admits that it is extremely difficult running the shelter alone, and it often brings her to tears; yet her hope is that her work will help many of these dogs find their forever homes.

Even though it proves to be a great challenge, Lisa says she couldn’t be more fulfilled.

“Most of these dogs were on death row,” she

explained. “They

had to come here or they would die. So, I love them. Some of them are a little too cranky for anybody else. But,

you know, peo-

pie say, ‘well why do you do it?’ and I say, ‘some people jump out of airplanes.’ I like taking these big bad dogs and turning them into something wonderful.”

The love and kindness shown to the tenants of Blue Lion will resonate within them.

Some day, with luck, they will be able to

give that love back to their newly adopted families. Here’s to hoping their next owners realize just how special and wonderful a new friend can be. S Editor’s note: For many animal lovers, the images depicted in this article can be hard to take in. The preliminary release of this story received mixed reviews, with many readers reporting that the dogs ’

‘looked as though they were living in a concentration camp. While many of the images paint the portrait ofa harsh environment, it is imperative that our readers understand that these animals are very

well caredfor. They have all been given the second chance they deserve,

and therefore lead very fulfilling lives under the loving stewardship of Lisa Kavanaugh. The fences which house these dogs are but aformali-

ty, and do nothing to contain their joy when set upon by visitors. Paws prancing, tongues dangling and tails wagging, their spirits are free.

To view video of the cadets helping at Blue Lion Animal Rescue, visit

the videos section ofour Web site at www.usafa.org/AOG-movies.

Once Upon a Time

...

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Playboy Squadron leaves their legacy

*Pushing the envelope” is popular a

term these

days. All grads probably remember some instances in which they did just that during their cadet days. Several come to

mind which, I believe, had a sig-

nificant impact on my later life.

As Doolies in 19 th squadron, 1965-66

Jump to our year as Firsties. Having violated the rules prohibiting driving one’s own car to

Third Lieutenant at Chanute

(then known as Playboy squadron), we per-

AFB, Illinois, classmate Brian Nelson and

formed a couple of night missions during

I experienced punishments—mine the

our time at

the Academy. In the first of these

By John Miller, ’69

more severe

because my new AOC, Maj.

Academy grounds the day before gradua-

missions, we fashioned a ten-foot-tall Playboy bunny out of brown wrapping paper, “req-

Wells, decided to make an example of me.

I lost my car for the entire first semester

tion, had my picture taken in full lieutenant’s uniform just outside the dorm the

uisitioned” some scaffolding from a nearby

(in addition to marching my first-ever “tours” and being on confinement). This all, of course, required of me some “atti-

day, and triumphantly drove it out the north gate after graduation. What an unforgettable sense of freedom!

construction project, and placed the bunny on

the east wall ofArnold Hall for all cadets

and visitors to marvel at the next day.

Following up on that experience, sometime later a large dollar sign appeared on

that same east wall of Arnold Hall, as

next

tude adjustment,” shall we say.

Then there was our AFA football game

against West Point, held at Philadelphia, I believe. Blackjack Squadron Commander

And, of course, under the cover of dark-

again, several other members of our class cut down the “Exit 69” sign from ness

nearby Interstate 25 and erected it on the Parade Grounds for our final graduation

though the place were Uncle Scrooge’s famous money bin from the venerable days of comic book history. Again, people may

thing: After marching onto the field, as we approached the West Point cadets we

exercises. A little more destructive than

have wondered: Who had done it? A small

removed our hats and covered our chests

enjoyed immensely by many ’69 grads as

Playboy bunny in the center of the dollar

with them in a gesture of mock mourning.

we

sign gave away the answer.

Oh, what fun!

Tom Boon arranged to have us do a gutsy

the other ventures, true, but it likely was

“exited” for the final time.

But it cost Tom his com-

Then there was the dunking ceremony

mandership. (After all that, did we win the

after graduation when several of us threw

game? I can’t recall.) *Editor’s note: 1967.

Air Force 7. Army 10.

each other into the Air Garden pool. I

...

As the year wore on, I decided to break

suppose that involved some minor reg vio-

lation as well.

the rules again and purchased a Honda

I don’t highlight these incidents in order

350 scrambler-style motorcycle. I knew

fly in the face of rules and regulations.

Regs do have their place in developing the knowledge, character, and qualities of leadership essential to cadets. However,

family in the Springs that was willing to house it for me. Immature though my decision may have been at the time, riding the Honda did provide the sense of individual freedom that I craved those days as a

I cruised the canyon back roads and even

took it on a spring camping/fly fishing trip with classmate Don Dawson. The deepest

pleasure, though, came as I snuck it onto

to

I believe that involvement in such deeds as

those I noted helped cultivate a kind

of enthusiasm for life.

Perhaps they even inspired us to look beyond the immediate limitations imposed on particular situations in life; in other words, a pushing of the envelope. I do know that often, when faced with challenges, I bring to mind my Academy experience and it instills confidence.

It easily could be argued that I’m in denial.

(I use those words a lot in my present profession as substance abuse counselor.) Yet, the

picture of my four years as a cadet would be

incomplete without the special memories and lessons from those events.

CHECKPOINTS, DECEMBER 2008

45

Secret Life of

by Don Hall, ’76

I love the smell of Call to

Quarters in the evening. It smells like homework.”

CMC Waldo F. Dumbsquat sat at his colorful metal desk.

“You doolies better have Wing Staff memorized by

tomorrow!”

Knock, knock.

“Military order of merit forms are due by Tattoo.”

Knock, knock.

The uncomfortable chair kept him from sleeping,

“Did you guys serve any WACQs this weekend?”

despite the Econ book open in front of him. His roommates, Warren Heels and “Regs” Buch, also enjoyed the sanctuary of the evening academic hours.

For a short time each night the freshmen could avoid exposure to upper-class training. The Dean’s force field

Knock, knock.

surrounded them.

Suddenly there was a loud knock at the door and in stormed the element sergeant. The doolies jumped to attention and generated many chins.

“You smacks want to buy spirit buttons, don’t you?”

A parade of visitors continued through the evening.

“The CAS clerk needs a count for breakfast.”

During a lull in the action, Warren looked at the smoke rising from his checkbook.

“I don’t think I can afford to go home for

Christmas now!”

Regs held his wallet upside down to indicate it as empty. “No mas.”

Waldo acknowledged the situation with a frown.

He had hoped to buy batteries and cotton balls at the

Cadet Store in the morning. Stepping into the alcove,

Knock, knock.

Waldo whispered the magic words “3.2 beer” and

“The squadron needs donations for the new

transformed into Colonel Waldo F. Dumbsquat, a man

foosball table.”

who had a Roth IRA. He strode with massive strides to

Knock, knock.

the CQ desk. The thirdclassman sprang to attention.

“Combined Federal Campaign. Give your fair share.

The squadron keys jingled wildly on his belt.

We haven’t made our goal.”

Knock, knock.

“Mister, advise all upperclassmen to balance their magic money accounts by Taps,” boomed the colonel. “Carry on.”

“Need 3 more sandwich orders to get a delivery.”

“Yes, Sir!”

Knock, knock.

As the CQ hurried down the hallway, the officer

“Get those shoes shined!”

mutated back to his puny doolie form. He returned

Knock, knock.

to his room and chortled.

“Trunkroom is open if you need to get in.”

money

Knock, knock.

of the evening on the project. The silence was broken

“Taking up a collection for the AOC’s going away gift.”

by a sound that chilled Waldo’s blood.

...

No one understood magic

least of all firsties. They would spend the rest

Knock, knock.

Knock, knock.

“Taking orders for squadron mugs.”

“Time to sign up for your AOG lifetime membership!”

Knock, knock.

Waldo sighed. S

;

By Director Terry Storm and CEO William “T” Thompson

YOUR BOARD OF DIRECTORS has adopted and imple-

mented the John Carver model of modern, strategic Policy Governance.

This evolution marks a substantial change in the way the

Board functions. Policy Governance is a basic set of principles that provide the framework for carrying out the tasks of an or-

ganization in an efficient, focused and productive manner. This innovative and proven model of governance will greatly benefit

the AOG-and ultimately our membership-by clearly defining and separating the role of the Board from the AOG organization

itself. The exact roles and responsibilities of the Board and its Chairman (directional) and the CEO and his staff (operational),

explicitly defined, resulting in clearly delineated objectives.

The AOG mission statement focuses on working with the Academy to produce graduates of the highest caliber, support the graduate community, promote our heritage, and raise private funds.

The new Policy Governance model will facilitate this mission by defining the “Ends” necessary to accomplish these tasks. Ends, in are

Fabulous views mountains and :

the Carver model, are defined as what an organization is meant to

accomplish. The Ends will require that the Board focus on what worthwhile results the AOG should achieve, whom they should

mque setti

benefit and at what cost to the organization.

The Board Governance Policies define limits and practices for

the CEO, which provide the AOG staff maximum freedom to use

their creativity and ingenuity to accomplish the Ends without

Board interference and micro-managing. The Board will monitor CEO and staff performance against their adherence to stated policies and on how well they accomplish the Ends. This becomes

the measure of CEO performance.

Policy Governance determines not only how the Board governs the organization, but determines how it links to the members.

The policies also provide guidance for the Board’s own behavior.

The Board will be externally focused, and devoted to addressing Ends with a long term perspective aimed at creating the future.

The Board will speak with one voice or not at all. Furthermore, the

Board will limit its official committees to those needed to help it do its job. Committees will not be focused on staff functions, but

instead, will prepare policy options, focus on implications and recommended actions for Board deliberation and decision.

For more information on the Carver model, the AOG Web site has

links to Director Storms presentation, entided Introduction to Policy Governance. Included are Dr. Carvers oral explanation of his model,

and the newly approved Board of Directors’ Governance Policies.

Our CEO, William “T” Thompson, has longtime experience with

the model in his substantial prior non-profit board involvement.

Terry Storm is a consultant to many non-profits on the model.

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where to aim, these brave pilots and their bravos (navigator/

observer) faced gunfire, anti-aircraft rounds and surface-to-air missiles on a daily basis.

And 35 years after the end of that war, most of them still recall the dangerous missions with a fondness.

“We loved it,” said Greg Wilson of Arizona, a member of the

Forward Air Controllers Association and Vietnam veteran who came to

Colorado Springs to see the monument to comrades

who died in the war. In the days since those hellish missions over

the jungles of Southeast Asia, the forward air controller’s

job has been filled by robotic drones piloted remotely by airmen on the ground.

“To have a low and slow (air controller) on duty today doesn’t make sense,” said retired Air Force Col. Jay Barnes, who flew a Cessna over Vietnam battlefields.

But in Vietnam and neighboring nations in the 1960s and

early '70s, they were a lifeline for troops who could use them to direct devastating firepower against enemy forces.

Because the air controllers could call down bombers on enemy positions, they were prime targets for communist forces.

The airmen in these small planes often faced thick fire, and too

frequently were shot down. Surface-to-air resistance worsened as the war went on, forcing the Air Force to upgrade air controllers to fast-moving F-100 jets.

The F-lOOs, despite their speed and aerial dexterity, got shot down too. “We didn’t think about it,” said Barnes of

Pittsburgh. “We thought we were immortal.” They weren’t.

During the conflict, 288 forward air controllers, observers and support crewmen died.

“They were the cream of America’s youth,” said retired Air Force Col. George “Bud” Day, a forward air controller from Florida who won the nation’s highest medal for valor for his conduct after his F-100 was shot down over North Vietnam in

1967. Day, who was tortured during a long imprisonment in North Vietnam, paused to honor the heroism and sacrifice of

his enemies, the Viet Cong.

“All of them have mothers, brothers, sisters and children,”

Day said, delivering an eloquent message of respect for the men and women of the North Vietnamese fighting forces.

The air controllers said they hope people in Colorado

Springs will visit the monument and look at the 288 names of fallen comrades etched in stone. “Those names on that wall are

the price of freedom,” said forward air controller Darrel

Whitcomb of Virginia as he thought about friends who never made it home.

9

Top: a member of the Colorado Patriot Guard Riders stations his flag at the memorial. Center: Metal of Honor recipient Col. Bud Day delivers the keynote speech. Bottom: visitors explore the FAC memorial.

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UNITED STATES AIR FORCE ACADEMY

t’s no joke. Today’s cadets fortunate enough to have seen a

I

slide rule even bother to ask, “Whazzat?” If

anyone asks you this unlikely question, then you

might reply it was the gizmo which allowed us to build the Empire State Building, the Hoover Dam, the R100 rigid airship, the V-2 rocket, the Boeing 707 (mostly), the atomic bomb, and, of course, the U.S. Air Force Academy. From 1955 until 1974 all incoming cadets were issued either a Post or a K+E slide rule along with a rifle and a haircut. Anyone who dealt with complex calculations quickly found the slide rule a survival necessity.

Here was an amazing gadget immune to electrical power failures which could not only multiply and divide, but call up and calculate sines, tangents (hyperbolic ones, too), square roots, cube roots, n th roots, fractional powers, logarithms (common or natural) and phasors (the pre-Star Trek variety). I even knew of a practically-minded colleague who found a shortcut to compute compound interest tables. And, for those who liked to do it the hard way, there was an algorithm which allowed the user to perform simple addition and subtraction. Believe it or not, here is a Mech 361 quiz which Curt Andrus, ’69, aced without the

assistance of an electronic calculator!

Some Slide Rule Fun Facts

il

About 1614, the Scottish polymath John Napier invented both

the logarithm and, most, notably, the decimal point. Napier had

likewise invented a calculator now referred to as Napier’s Bones a ,

rather clumsv calculating device reminiscent of a

nonperforated Scrabble kit. It was an nspiration to other practical mathematicians who doesn’t?) doing long division. It’s generally agreed that shortly thereafter around 1621, the Anglican cleric William Oughtred improved upon Napier’s Bones when he hit upon the idea of plotting out Napier’s logarithmic tables onto two pieces of sliding wood, thus allowing him to add and subtract N

these tedious quantities. Presto, he had invented the “slide ruler,” and he quickly improved his invention into the circular slide rule.

Over the next two centuries, the slide rule was adapted and

specialized hundreds of times. Its wartime applications allowed artillery officers to compute trajectories. Astron

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Left: Curt Andrus, ’69, solved this one with just a slide rule!

Above:One version of the venerable E-6B circular slide rule.

the finest bamboo, pearwood, and mahogany. Their rules were marked off with ingenious Ramsden-type dividing machines, etched by various lithographic and photochemical processes. Their

improved devices took off like the Kentucky Derby, and by 1900 practically every engineer and scientist in the United States owned at least one.

compute celestial movements and navigators to plot winds and drift. It was frequently decorated with specialized magnifiers and cursors.

In 1921, the English engineer Otis King devised a one-

foot long cylindrical rule which wrapped its scales like a caduceus around a rolling pin, thereby increasing its virtual length to a

whopping 83 feet. This presented the user with an unprecedented mathematical precision of up to seven digits.

And so did cadets. Both the Post and K+E slide rules issued to USAFA cadets in the

1960s and 70s were mostly the quality bamboo-celluloid laminates good for just about anything

(except of course drawing a straight line). In fact, USAFA once had perhaps 30 or more wall-sized K+E instructional duplex slide rules which hung in classrooms. Today, just two of these monsters remain at USAFA as historical nostalgia. Col. Gregory A. Seely, ’76, still displays one of them in his office.

And a Few USAFA Fun Facts

Regrettably, we USAFA cadets were restricted to the traditional 12-inch double-sided (duplex) linear slide rule in the stitched leather case. Backpacks were forbidden, so we doolies were left to doubletime it with an armload of loose textbooks and no practical way to anchor down that slippery slide rule. Traditional engineer decor was to hang the slide rule case from the belt. I actually carried mine this way for several months, as I found I could conceal it easily beneath the flap of my blouse. Our usual classroom attire was the Class A blouse. However, when my element leader finally caught me dressed in this manner, he got his shorts into a wad (as though I were packing a concealed weapon). And so, alas, in those prehistoric days, we cadets were always publicly recognizable as those fashionable nerds who sported external celluloid pocket protectors and slide rule cases, our belts cinched just below our ribcages.

Although the slide rule had been around Europe for over 150

A Dazzling Variety of Slide Rules

My limited research into the universal usefulness of this device gives one an appreciation of the ingenuity of our ancestor-scientists. Slide rules were transmogrified into mind-numbing shapes

such as the pocket-watch calculator, the four-sided block calculator, the tubular calculator, and the rotating

As many as 30 dazzling scales were inscribed on some of these monstrosities. The scales were modified again and again for an

almost infinite number of practical specialties. From distillers who measured alcohol strength to cattle breeders who measured fat on

animals, the slide rule was there. Our very own USAF doomsday

specialists who wished to calculate the strength and survivability probabilities from nuclear blasts were armed with slide rules.

Those of us who went on to flight training were well-familiar with our faithful loadmaster’s slipstick and the navigator’s E-6B

years, in the 1880s it wasn’t much in use in America, even at West Point. Then, around 1880, two German immigrants, William

circular calculator. I show one of many variations of the venerable

J. D. Keuffel and Herman Esser (K&E) began manufacturing

largely replaced by the hand-held electronic version, although the name “E6B” seems to have stuck to this day.

their own slide rules in New York. Precision and quality were

E-6B which made its first appearance in the 1930s. It too has been

of primary importance to K&E, so the men experimented with

54

grid-iron calculator.

CHECKPOINTS, DECEMBER 2008

Left: Cadet Douglas Jenkins, ’64, well on his way to maxing another graded review.

Above:The actor Peter Sellers can be seen

sardonically twirling his circular slide rule in the 1964 black comedy film Dr. Strangelove. Image

courtesy of Columbia Pictures.

And The Speedy Death of the Slide Rule Since around 1995 the USAFA Mathematics Department has

with a slide rule any more than they were interested in telling

maintained a fascinating but oft-overlooked wall display of the

time with an astrolabe. In 1970, the Post Company was bought

progression of calculating instruments issued to incoming cadets.

by Teledyne, and in 1973 the company sold its last Post Versalog.

K+E hung on a while longer and desperately tried a few slide rule innovations, but they eventually filed for bankruptcy in 1982.

Yet there are still a few reminders around. In 2005, the original 1892 eight-story Keuffel and Esser Co. building at 127 Fulton Street, downtown Manhattan was registered as a historical landmark and was promptly scheduled for conversion into luxury con-

As noted in this photo, the classes of’59-66 and ’70-78 were

issued the Post, whereas ’67-69 were issued the K+E. However, it was

evident that by 1972 K+E’s manufacturing quality standards

sliding (no pun intended) away. The reliable stitched leather case was substituted with an el cheapo composite which cracked and tore. Quality standards notwithstanding, the winds were shifting noticeably from analog to digital.

Slide rules may have been mandatory issue to cadets prior to

were

dominiums. And for those still interested in the more cerebral side of calculating, slide rule historians and enthusiasts in 1991 formed

1975, but in 1972 it was understood the de rigueur USAFA engi-

The Oughtred Society (www.Oughtred.org). This internationally

neering major would purchase his own electronic calculator (HP with Reverse Polish Notation, of course!) for the then-princely sum of $375. By 1973, the price declined to $275, and so on.

(In 1975,1 too gave in and bought my first statistics-friendly TI for a still painful $99.) So, in 1975 the shift became official, and

recognized society maintains an online museum of calculating instruments and publishes a semiannual journal. If you’re a lover of the history of science as I am, it’s well worth looking into. H

the Dean took the Academy from analog to digital in an irrevers-

Fred Malmstrom is a Visiting Scholar at USAFA. He can he reached

ibly big way. A USAFA faculty colleague related to me the Texas Instruments representative groused about the USAFA calculator purchase order for the then-revolutionary TI SR-51 for the incoming cadets tying up an entire two-weeks’ production run at their Dallas plant. In only four years, the venerable slide rule became obsolete at USAFA. It was that quick.

atfred. malmstrom @usafa. edu.

Selected References: Hopp, Peter M. (1999). Slide rules: Their history, models, and makers. Mendham, NJ: Astragal Press.

The Oughtred Society, www.oughtred.org.

And so too did the paradigm shift become worldwide. Within

Seely, Gregory A. (2008). [Permanent Professor and Head, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, U.S. Air Force Academy] Personal communication.

Stoll, Cliff (May 2006). When slide rules ruled. Scientific

five short years the slide rule succumbed to the economic rule of

American, p. 81-87

the Better Mouse Trap. Cadets had no more reason to fret about

Jezierski, Dieter (2000). Slide rules: A journey through three centuries (tr. Roger Shepherd). Mendham, NJ: Astragal Press.

But Amidst the Agony, A Few Fond Memories

significant figures or the physical representation of the logarithm.

From that point on, no engineers were interested in calculating

von

CHECKPOINTS, DECEMBER 2008

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By Butch Wehry, Academy Spirit

bat Survival Training started June

jjid ended Aug. 2, but it’s far from being just a memory. CST planning and preparation for next year continues

throughout the year. Conducted at Saylor Park at more than 9,000 feet elevation, it comes with safety risks like steep slopes, drop-offs, cliffs and vertical rock faces.

“Our cadets, who are acclimated to

roughly 7,000 feet elevation, definitely felt the altitude,” said Tech. Sgt. Jarod Savage, of Lucasville, Ohio. “We had multiple medical issues, including heat exhaustion, anaphylactic shock, cellulitis, insect bites, 56

blisters and rolled ankles. The terrain was

said. “With PMA, anything is possible.

interesting to say the least.”

Without it, we’re of no use. It’s also neat

Tent living was seldom a challenge.

to see

“We have wall tents for individual

run

instructors and Alaskan tents for all cadet

junior and senior cadets step up and

the show. We put the responsibility on

Evasion, Resistance and Escape specialist

key staff and trust their decisions.

The permanent party’s job is to allow a CST learning outcome like no other.

with 12 years in the Air Force. “There are

The capstone event of the importance

poncho tents for cadets going through as students.”

Sergeant Savage admits to a personal satisfaction that goes with conducting CST. “Watching cadets go through a physically and emotionally

of bringing back CST this summer was

conducted July 2 in Saylor Park. “I tell

taxing situation and seeing the power of positive mental attitude is satisfying,” he

Sergeant Savage. “I’ll even allow someone to walk over a cliff, as long as safety is

cadre and key staff,” said the Survival,

our

the real-world search and rescue mission

cadets that I’ll let them run the show, make mistakes, fail at some things,” said

experience. “Night navigation was

with our packs on, hiking through foggy

intense, especially leading it. You really had to trust your instincts and training,”

swamps and groves of aspen trees trying to make progress to our point and avoid

said Cadet Olson. “CST removed any

the SERE specialists trying to find us. We

physical advantages people may have had and forced everybody to dig deep.”

were

The mental barriers that had to be overcome were

significant. “The best

warmth that came with it.”

may never have to use it, we will all face times in our lives that will test our

arrived in time to attend the 2004 CST.

CST forces you to figure out

level of training was definitely higher in

what really motivates you.”

2008, because of the great number of SERE professionals available,” said Cadet

then returned weeks later as an

Rodgers, a Colorado Springs native. “All the basics were still the same, with killing, cleaning and cooking your meals, hiking

instructor. “The most important

around the woods.”

CS-35 member, first went

through CST as a student,

thing I took from CST is the professionalism that my instructors inspired me to live up to,” the Paola, Kan., native said.

“That standard was tested when, just a few short weeks later, I had the opportunity to instruct survival for the Class of 2011.”

the four checkpoints. “In 2004, we had

checkpoints a day, both day and night,” he said. “We ended up doing about seven or eight checkpoints, which translates to a lot of hiking.”

To Cadet Rodgers, CST made a to make two

leadership experience and a

the outdoors; able to move freely. I loved

testament to the trust our

it from the moment I started in 2004 until

leadership has in cadets,” Cadet Pfau said. He was paired with

I got to command in 2008. I felt safe in

me, it is paramount to allow our future

ranging from shelter craft and knots to aircraft signaling and land navigation. “We

Air Force leaders the chance to make

were

decisions, sometimes bad ones, in order to

mistakes, but also learn from those and advance to success,” he said. “CST gave

there to see our students make some

the desire to have my students succeed

is the program for that.” Next summer,

me

CST will include evasion and conduct

and the tools to teach them how.”

The early snow and gusts of winter have

diminished Cadet Pfau’s memory of

CST. “When I was a student during the evasion portion, my element woke up while it was still dark and we were moving to our next

that the cadets only got to do three of

difference. “It made me more confident in

11 students on survival skills

not

One major difference this year was

“This was an amazing

another cadet and instructed

graduation requirement for the Class of 2012 and beyond.

In retrospect, Cadet Squadron 7 meteorology major, Cadet 3rd Class Taylor Olson said being pushed mentally and physically made CST a worthwhile

This summer, the CS-15 military strategic

studies major was CST commander. “The

a

after capture training. It is a mandatory

Cadet 1st Class Jonathan Rodgers had

determination to continue.

Cadet 2nd Class Neil Pfau,

be better prepared for the Air Force. CST

hiking for hours because the only thing keeping us warm was our body movement.

Eventually, we saw the sunrise and the

part of it was that the training was real,” Cadet Olson said. “Although many of us

maintained and they can continue. To

tired and we were hungry, but we kept

point,” Cadet Pfau said. “We were

the woods, and more able to take care of

wide-range of problems. It was training that was real, applicable, and important.

a

And I learned what rabbit tastes like.”

Time hasn’t dimmed the memory of when

Cadet Rodgers and other students got to

Checkpoint Charlie at the top of the hill and, because of lightning, they were made to sleep on the hillside. “They told us to sleep by a tree that was on a 30-40 degree slope,” said Cadet Rodgers. “We ended up tying all of our sleeping bags to this tree and the four of us all slept with our heads tilting inwards, falling to the bottom of our sleeping bags.

That was a very cold, wet night, but fun to look back on.” 5

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Advertising Opportunities Advertising with the Association of Graduates is your opportunity to align your business with the name recognition of the Air Force Academy and its graduate community. The Air Force Academy is one of our nation's most valued and visited national treasures, attracting countless tourists, parents and locals each year. Capitalize on this affinity and advertise today!

For more information, contact: Paige Buoye, Advertising

719.472.0300 or paige.buoye@aogusafa.org

Association of Graduates UNITED STATES AIR FORCE ACADEMY

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^ As cadets and

graduates of the Academy, you hold integrity

in the highest regard. Your official ring is created with that

same

integrity by Jostens, your partner in expressing pride

in the United States Air Force Academy.

Air Age Gothic The U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado

features an unparalleled collection of modernist

buildings. But the challenges of preserving them can seem

daunting.

By David Hill Photos by Lewis Carlyle

more

than $30 million, a hard sell even for the Academy’s most

historically significant building.

Boyle, who has worked full-time at the academy since 1983 and knows the Academy’s sprawling 18,000-acre campus intimately, realizes that even if the funds were to magically appear, $30 milli spent on the chapel means $30 million less for the maintenance and preservation of the Academy’s other buildings. And that’s the challenge: most of the core buildings of the Air Force Academy were designed by Netsch and, taken together, form one of the most striking collections of midcentury modern architecture and design in America.

Boyle must oversee all of this and address the particular preservation challenges that these classics present—challenges that many modernist landmarks across the country increasingly face as they age. Boyle’s job is rewarding but difficult, with obstacles arising all the time, he has learned to pick his battles.

At the chapel, for now, caulk will have to suffice.

In 1955, when Netsch unveiled his initial design for the structure, critical reaction was brutal. Some members of Congress, which controlled the construction funds, were outraged by the chapel’s unorthodox architecture. Sen. A. Willis Robertson of Virginia said the plan looked like “an assembly of wigwams.”

A few years later, Rep. George R Miller of California likened Netsch’s revamped design to an accordion and called it “a travesty on religion.” Rep. Errett Scrivner of Kansas called it an “aluminum monstrosity” that “will look like a row of polished on

blustery midwinter afternoon, I’m standing inside the Cadet Chapel at the U.S. Air Force Academy, near Colorado Springs, gazing up at the pinnacled ceiling which rises to a height of 100 n a

□

feet. I am 7,000 feet above sea level, but it isn’t the

altitude that has me breathless. Rather, it is this

soaring, cavernous structure, with its ribbons of stained glass and 17 aluminum-clad spires, which pierce the Colorado sky. In the chapel’s choir loft, a technician is tuning the massive pipe organ, and between musical notes, I hear the building creaking from the powerful winds

blowing outside. “This is nothing,” says Duane Boyle, the Air Force Academy’s resident architect and preservationist, who has joined me inside. “When it’s really windy, it sounds like Rice Krispies.”

Designed by architect Walter Netsch—of the midcentury modern powerhouse firm Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM)—and completed in 1963, the chapel has an expressionist quality often described as “air age Gothic.” Netsch took inspiration from several

including the Basilica of San Francesco d’Assisi in Italy, SainteChapelle and Notre Dame in Paris, and the Cathedral of Chartres.

“I made an enclosure that embodies the concept of light and space,” he once said, “endowed with lofty grandeur.” In 1996, the American Institute ofArchitects gave the chapel its prestigious Twenty-five Year Award, which recognizes American buildings of “enduring significance.” The same organization recently conducted a public poll of the country’s 150 favorite works of architecture, in which the chapel ranked 51 (top honors went to the Empire State Building).

The chapel has one significant problem, however. Netsch originally specified sheet-metal flashing to prevent rainwater from entering the interior, but the Air Force Academy Construction Agency deemed it too costly and opted instead for caulk. Thirtysources,

teepees upon the side of the mountains.”

Despite the public attacks, Congress came through with the money for the chapel—just over $3 million—in 1957. From the start, Air Force officials wanted the entire U.S. Air Force Academy

symbolize American optimism. Secretary of the Air Force Harold Talbott said at the time, “We want the Academy to be a living embodiment of the modernity of flying and to represent in its architectural concepts the national character of the Academy to

We want our structures to be as efficient and as flexible in their

...

design as the most modern projected aircraft.” Congressional misgivings over the Academy’s architectural style aside—what, no

brick? no red Colorado sandstone? no barrel-vaulted nave?—-

four miles of caulk, to be exact. Trouble is, the caulk doesn’t

Talbott got what he wanted. On Aug. 29, 1958, 1,145 cadets

hold—the strong winds that rock the chapel and shift the

moved from their temporary quarters at Lowry Air Force Base in

aluminum panels cause it to fail—and the building has leaked for

Denver to their new campus near Colorado Springs.

most of its

45-year existence.

Boyle’s maintenance staff spends anywhere from $200,000 to $400,000 each year to recaulk the chapel. And still the building leaks during rainstorms, causing damage to pews, the organ, and Bibles.

The chapel has been caulked and recaulked so many times that the anodized aluminum surface has become scratched and pitted. “It’s just like painting the Golden Gate Bridge,” Boyle says. “You start at one end, and by the time you finish, you have to start all over again.”

A few years ago, Boyle hired Skidmore, Owings & Merrill to look into the problem. The firm recommended disassembling the aluminum panels and sealing the interior spaces with a silicone membrane. Doing so would stop the leakage and allow Boyle to remove what he calls the chapel’s “shower-door glass,” which was placed over portions of the stained glass many years ago in an attempt to keep water out. Trouble is, the plan would cost CHECKPOINTS

To be sure, some detractors consider Netsch’s Cadet Area

(the central portion of the campus, with its severe geometry and windswept plazas) downright alienating, a kind of Rocky Mountain Brasilia. In 2002, James Howard Kunstler, author of

The Geography ofNowhere and a longtime critic of modernist

architecture, presented the Academy with his Hermann Goering Lifetime Award for Despotic Grandiosity. Nonetheless, the Cadet Area was designated a National Historic Landmark in 2004.

Unlike many modernist works, the Air Force Academy has never

been threatened with outright destruction. But even if

most of the

original buildings in the Cadet Area look more or less the same as they did when completed in 1958, deterioration (primarily due to deferred maintenance) is an issue, and some inevitable additions and design alterations have caused concern.

In the 1960s, a new dormitory, Sijan Hall, arose on the south D E CEM BE ?

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side of the Cadet Area. Architecturally, it mimics SOM’s original

shakes his head in disgust as he looks up at the narrow overhead

buildings, but it occupies a site intended to be left open. A massive athletic fieldhouse, complete with aqua columns (since painted over), was also built. In 1981, a truss-roofed extension of the library covered a graceful courtyard.

Landscape architect Dan Kiley’s 700-foot-long Air Garden—a series of fountains, pools, and walkways—was filled in with dirt and grass. Pitched roofs were added to modernist-style faculty housing. According to Boyle, lobby furniture by Charles Eames and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe was shipped off to the salvage yard, replaced by generic pieces. Original dormitory desks and beds designed expressly for the Academy were replaced by cheap particle-board versions. New buildings began to rise on other parts of the campus, many having little or nothing to do with SOM’s sleek, horizontal international style.

In the early 1980s, there was talk of adding a new building right in the middle of the Cadet Area quadrangle, known as the

trusses, which have no

design relationship to the rest of the library.

The ceiling is covered with sprayed-on fireproofing material, the kind you might see in a cheap motel. “In my opinion, it’s a disaster,” he says. “A simple glass box would have worked much better.” He shrugs, as if to say, “Not much I can do about it now.”

Not 50 feet away, however, in one of the original sections of the library, a spectacular, four-story circular staircase appears to float in space. “It’s pure art,” Boyle gushes. As Boyle tells it, Netsch designed the staircase in response to a complaint by Lt. Gen. Hubert Harmon, the Academy’s first superintendent, that the Cadet Area had too many right angles. “Can’t you give me something round?” he demanded. Harmon also wanted Netsch to use some gold Murano glass tiles someplace—anyplace—instead of the red, yellow, and blue tiles used elsewhere. Netsch complied by using gold tiles on a wall next to the staircase.

We proceed to the Terrazzo, the Academy’s outdoor plaza. While

Terrazzo (derived from terrazza, the Italian word for «terrace»).

scores

Such an addition would have gone against SOM's original plans

classes. Fourth-degree cadets, or freshmen, confine themselves to the

for the site, but no guidelines existed to prevent its construction.

straight lines formed by white strips of marble. Boyle stops in front of a fountain, one of two that were part of Dan Kiley’s Air Garden.

When Boyle first began working at the academy, the fountains—and the pools located in the large space in between—had long since been drained. Lt. Gen. Bradley Hosmer, superintendent at the time, wondered if the fountains could be restored. Boyle and his crew brought in a front-end loader and started digging around. The fountains, down to the nozzles and underwater lights, were indeed still there, buried under several feet of dirt. Boyle got them up and

So academy officials brought in SOM to develop a master plan for

future expansion projects. Duane Boyle, who was working at the time in SOM's Denver office, was part of the team.

It was a homecoming of sorts. Now 51, Boyle grew up in a

Colorado Springs neighborhood just outside the Academy’s south entrance. He attended Air

Academy High, a public school located

Academy grounds. “We were in the Cadet Area all the time,” he says, “mostly to use the sports facilities.” The architecture spoke to him, even as a 16-year-old kid. “It was just such a huge, inspiring set of buildings,” Boyle says. Before he even graduated from high school, Boyle had made up his mind: He was going to become an architect.

Not only did he realize his dream, but he also ended up working for the very firm whose work inspired him in the first place.

Master plans have a tendency to gather dust. Not so at the Academy. In 1983, after SOM completed its master plan, Boyle was hired to oversee the implementation of design and planning standards on campus. Based in the civil engineering department, Boyle and his small staff wrote up detailed design guidelines for new construction and started a restoration program for existing buildings and interiors.

For many years, Boyle would call Netsch in Chicago at least once a week to pick his brain about new projects.

Under Boyle’s watch, the Academy has spent millions of dollars on major renovations of some of its oldest buildings, such as Vandenberg Hall. Boyle has fought hard to make sure that new buildings—including what he calls “the only International Style Burger King in the world,” built in the early 1990s—blend seamlessly with SOM’s original designs. Now, he says, when a new building is proposed, the first question people at the Academy ask on

is, “What does Duane think?”

Boyle laughs. “That’s progress.”

Boyle parks his green Dodge Dakota outside Fairchild Hall, a massive academic building (equivalent to a 53-story high-rise side, with six miles of corridors). We walk past it to the 1981 library addition, built over a courtyard that had been set on its

planted with grass and trees—’’negative space,” in the words of Netsch. Boyle, who keeps his opinions to himself unless prodded, 64

of cadets, in their crisp blue uniforms, cross to and from

running. He’d love to restore the entire Air Garden, but that will take money, not to mention political will from his military superiors, who come

and go with great frequency.

For Boyle, a more pressing concern is the concrete that forms most of the Terrazzo

itself. “That’s 40 acres of exposed aggregate

concrete,” he says. He points to large chunks that have crumbled away from the constant cycle of freezing and thawing. “Exposed aggregate concrete in Colorado doesn’t hold up. It was originally

supposed to be granite, but that was too expensive. Every year, we spend hundreds of thousands of dollars replacing it. In some areas, it starts deteriorating in as soon as five years.”

Boyle is exploring the possibility of precasting the slabs in a factory rather than pouring them on-site. The idea is that by controlling the conditions under which they are fabricated, the concrete slabs will last longer. “Some people would say, ‘Why don’t you just replace the concrete with asphalt?’ But that’s not going to happen,” he says, insisting on the integrity of the original design.

On the west end of the campus, on the elevated plaza known as the Honor Court, sits elegant Harmon Hall, the Academy’s main administration building—a simple, three-story modernist gem made of glass, aluminum, and marble. The building is set on columns and seems to hover above the ground. Only the top two

floors are office spaces; the first level is open to the elements

but for two elevator lobbies, whimsically clad in red glass tiles.

(Who says modernist buildings can’t have a little color?) Over the years, various Academy officials have proposed enclosing Harmon

Hall’s open first floor, and though that has never happened, by the

1990s, the building badly needed a renovation.

CHECKPOINTS, DECEMBER 2008

Back in the Dodge Dakota, I ask Boyle to name his favorite

Starting in 2004, Harmon Hall was completely gutted so that it could be modernized with new mechanical systems, double-paned glass windows, and reconfigured interior spaces. During the twoand-a-half-year renovation, workers discovered that some of the steel support columns—covered by aluminum sleeves—had rusted away at the base. “That was pretty scary,” Boyle says. “At some point, that building probably would have failed if we hadn’t found

original SOM buildings, is a four-story box with black columns and

that.” The columns were reinforced with carbon fiber strips, thin

tinted blue windows. Set amid pine and spruce trees, it has the kind

enough that the original aluminum covers could be reused.

“If you look at that building today,” Boyle says proudly, “it doesn’t

of perfect geometry found in the best modernist architecture. Yet

and it isn’t Harmon Hall, with its Miesian proportions.

“It’s the heating plant,” he says.

Located not far from the Cadet Area, the plant, one of the

very few people outside the Academy have ever seen it.

“At night,” Boyle says, “it just glows. You can see the silhouettes

look any different from the way it did when it was built in 1958.”

Elsewhere on the Honor Court, Academy officials are considering

of the equipment inside. Pure ‘form follows function.’

adding a new building to house the Center for Character Development, created in 1993 in the wake of a cadet cheating scandal.

It would be placed underground, but a new courtyard would be added to the Honor Court. Boyle isn’t thrilled with the idea, and he s suggested alternative sites outside the Cadet Area. Ultimately, it’s not his

building at the academy. His answer surprises me. It isn’t the chapel, although he believes it to be an architectural masterpiece,

call, even with the Cadet Area’s National Historic Landmark

status. “The

Academy is an important place,” he says, “and it needs to be preserved. It’s not a place where you should make rash decisions without thinking them through, but there’s nothing to really prevent

“

When Boyle talks about the heating plant or his friendship with Walter Netsch, all the frustrations of his job—the never-

ending maintenance issues, the constant pursuit of funding, the bureaucratic turf battles, the leaky chapel—seem to disappear.

Twenty-five years after he began working full-time at the Academy, he still seems amazed that his job is to preserve the very buildings that inspired his career path.

“I think,” he says, “I have the best job in architecture.” Em

that from happening. If I can act as a buffer for that, then that’s

Courtesy ofPreservation Magazine. David Hill is a freelance writer

probably the best I can do.”

based in Denver.

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CHECKPOINTS, DECEM

00 8

65

Mentors and

The LEAD program delegates authority to unit

and wing commanders to nominate highly talented

persistence help

Airmen to compete for admission to the Academy

airman achieve

It was in Minneapolis where Nordby would

without a congressional appointment. also work with and meet another mentor and USAFA alum, Colonel James J. Muscatell, Jr.,

the 934th Air Lift Wing Commander. After the colonel settled into command at the unit, he got to know Nordby and learned of his desire to attend the Air Force Academy.

A irman

“He grilled me for an hour,” said Nordby, “it

almost sounded like he was convincing me not go, especially seeing I was three-fourths of the way through college. Later, I realized he was just to

checking if I wanted to go and if I still believed in SINCE HIS CHILDHOOD, Lieutenant Nathan

it.” Colonel Muscatell was convinced and drafted a

Nordby wanted to fly. As he grew up, he realized flying and graduating from the United States Air Force Academy would be both the dream of a lifetime and,

letter of recommendation for the airman's LEAD

even

better, an opportunity to serve his country as an

officer in the United States Air Force.

By Ann Skarban 302nd Airlift Wing

Achieving this goal would prove to be one of the most difficult but rewarding and life-changing events he would experience. During this journey he met mentors (by chance) and from them, learned the true meaning of leadership. Now, as a USAFA graduate and a second lieutenant, he hopes to become a mentor to others, helping them achieve their goals and dreams.

After three of his applications were denied, Nordby quit trying. “I decided to move forward, putting the

Academy on hold to become a volunteer firefighter in my hometown. I wanted to serve my community,” said Nordby. “Then, after the events of 9-11 I wanted to serve (my country). I talked to a recruiter with

application package.

Discussing the role of a mentor, Colonel Muscatell said, “It is the responsibility of enlisted, officers and senior leaders to help people find their voice and their passion. Mentoring doesn’t mean telling people what they want to hear, it is about what they need to hear.”

Finally, the dream was a reality.

“It was incredible how all of the right doors opened at the right time,” said Nordby.

The four years at the Academy were extremely challenging. By chance, Colonel Muscatell th was reassigned from the 934 Airlift Wing in Minneapolis to command the 302nd Airlift Wing, located in Colorado Springs during Nordby’s junior year. Muscatell and his wife, Nancy, became mentors and extended

when he had questions or just needed support.

intentions to enlist in the Active Duty Air Force.

“There were many times ‘Colonel M’ and Nancy

The recruiter talked with me and took the time to

helped me out,” said Nordby.

Discussing what he learned from this experience, Nordby shared, “We have to take care of each

find out what my true desires were, which included

attending college full-time. The recruiter pointed me to the Air Force Reserve.”

Lieutenant Nordby became an enlisted reserve

command post controller and was assigned as a traditional reservist with the 934th Airlift Wing,

Minneapolis, International Airport, Minn. He was also attending Bethel College in Minnesota full-time.

Nordby found a mentor in the command post Officer in Charge, Lt. Col. Carl Lindberg, and shared his dream of attending the USAFA. “I started looking into the Academy again and with the encouragement of my Reserve boss, I decided to look into getting

other. Those who are going to make an impact will be the legacy—the people we have supported.

Anyone can manage with the right tools and training, but growing people for the rest of their career is important,” added Nordby, who hopes this experience and his Academy education will help him help others as he now begins his career as a United States Air Force officer.

To learn more about LEAD program, log on to

http:// www. academyadmissions, com.

into the Academy as an Airman,” said Nordby.

The reservist decided to give it one last shot

through the Leaders Encouraging Airman Development program. “I knew I only had one more shot (for admission) due to my age.”

66

family helping Nordby

CHECKPOINTS, D E€EMBER

1008

“SBfgSS

v\V;

The most meaningful frien ,

and shared accomplishments

because your Academy friendships

Log on to www.usafa.org and click on the ZoomieNation banner to learn more

ammnm

New leader of cadets gets a warm welcome

Freedom. He holds a master’s degrees in human resources and

Brig. Gen. Samuel D. Cox, ’84, was welcomed to USAFA October 15, 2008, with a ground-shaking B-52 flyover, a serenade by the Drum and Bugle Corps and 4,000 cadets standing in

national security strategy. where he was Director of the Air Force General Officer Management

formation to greet their new leader.

Office, responsible for developing and positioning officers across

Cox is coming to the Air Force Academy from the Pentagon,

The new Commandant of Cadets took a moment on the podium to

the Air Force. He was promoted to the rank of brigadier general on

survey the students before he spoke. “It’s never been more important than now to graduate ready to lead and win our nations wars,”

Wednesday morning before assuming his new command.

Cox said. “Were going to do this together as a team, were going to

positive influence on these men and women,” Cox said. “This

accomplish the mission, and were going to have fun.”

The change-of-command ceremony saw Brig. Gen. Susan Y. Desjardins relinquish the post after nearly three years. She is widely regarded as one of the Academy’s most effective commandants, helping to heal the institution after its internal struggles against sexual assault in the ranks, charges of religious

is the absolute best we have in the United States of America.”

intolerance and concerns over the school’s honor code.

Monday, October 27, 2008, at the Hospice of Dayton. He is survived by his loving wife, Ruby; son, Adolphus (Koreen Rene); daughter, Dawn; grandchildren, Blake, Tiana, Cheyann and Ava; brothers, Willie Tee, Theadore and Melvin (Carolyn); and sister, Cherylynn. He was preceded in death by his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Willie Lee Andrews Sr. Adolphus received his undergraduate degree from Howard University, Master’s degree from Southern Illinois and Doctorate degree from Ohio State University. His 26-year military career culminated with his last assignment as Air Force Academy Preparatory School Commander, and he completed his college executive career as the Vice President of

“What I look forward to most is the opportunity to have a

(Courtesy of Bill Reed, The Gazette) Former Air Force Academy Prep School Commander passes away Colonel Adolphus Andrews, of Beavercreek, Ohio, passed away

In leaving, she called it one of her most challenging and fulfilling

assignments, and “perhaps the most rewarding of my career.”

Cox said he hopes to continue the work of his predecessor and

he emphasized producing “officers of character.”

A 1984 Academy graduate, Cox is a command pilot with more

than 4,600 flying hours. His missions include airdropping the initial troops who deposed Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega in 1989, and airlift missions in operations Desert Storm and Iraqi

Administration and Finance at Central State University in 2004.

Andrews will be buried at Arlington National Cemetery, Va.

(Courtesy of the Dayton Daily News)

Your Association of Graduates is always looking for

a

ways to improve service while saving time and money.

The AOG is sending electronic receipts for all credit

1

Daily Tech Offers Interesting Report On SatPower Generated Lightbulb That's correct—power from space! According to DailyTech's online website, there's a new project that hopes to gather and then send enough power from space to light one lightbulb. As the article indicates, the concept of an orbiting satellite gathering power from space and beaming it down to the ground to power devices on

card donations. Sending these receipts electronically

will save the AOG a great deal of time and money!

If you made a donation to the AOG by credit card you

I

should find your receipt in your e-mail account. If your e-mail account is blocking e-mail from the AOG or the

|

Earth may sound like science fiction, but that is exactly what the

AOG does not have an e-mail address you will be sent a

receipt by mail. Please take a few moments to ensure the AOG has your most current e-mail address by going to www.usafa.org, logging in and then selecting “Update My Profile” on the left side of the screen. It is also important to ensure “aogusafa.org” is not included in your spam

i

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If 7

iSSswiSSS

filters. If you need assistance with your donation or

One Lightbulb project hopes to accomplish.

1

The project will start in December when the Eisenhower Center

for Space and Defense Studies at the U.S. Air Force Academy starts construction of two satellites for the task.

| I ^

electronic receipt please contact Sandy Luckhurst at

I

sandy.luckhurst@aogusafa.org or call 719-472-0300.

!

The satellites

being built at the same time, one called Light and the other Heavy. Two satellites help ensure the project doesn’t die if financial or legal troubles plague one satellite. LiveScience Blog reports each satellite would weigh 400 pounds or less and the planned launch date is in 2010. (Courtesy ofSatNews.com) are

Air Force Chief of Staff? v-V^v

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Any one of them C3V1 b© an Air Force Chief of Staff. Thanks to graduates

like you they have that chance.

Leave a Legacy, include the Association of Graduates in your will or estate planning,

The Air Force Academy Fund

For more information visit our Web site at www.usafa.org, click on “Giving” and then “Planned Giving," or contact Joe

Swaty atjoe.swaty@aogusafa.org or (719) 472-0300.

Lt. Col. David Serage's accomplishment a

highlights

19-year Air Force and Air National Guard career that

began as a childhood dream. “I've always wanted to be a pilot,” Serage said. “My Mom said, when I was about 5 or 6,1 started talking about flying.” Fie kept his vision in mind, even though he didn’t know quite how to fulfill it until he got into high school.

When I was in my sophomore year, my brother told me about a little wayward school in Colorado Springs,” Serage said. The “little wayward school” was the U.S. Air Force Academy, and the Grove, Okla., native set his sights on attending.

He spoke with an Academy liaison in Tulsa who helped him put together a nomination package. His Congressman endorsed the nomination and he then competed against candidates from other states for a slot in the prestigious institution.

“I was 18, and the Air Force Academy was a far a

cry from Grove High School,” Serage said. “It was

huge culture shock coming in, but it was a good experience and a great education. I made lifelong

friends there and got a real appreciation for the Air Force.

After graduating from pilot training at Vance Air Force Base, Okla.,

Serage flew B-52 Stratofortress bombers and T-38 Talons. It was while flying a T-38 cross-country flight that he met his wife in Toledo, Ohio. They married in 1995 and immediately moved to Naval Air Station Whidbey Island, Wash.

“The Air Force had retired the F-l 11 (Aardvark), and the EF-111 (Raven) was in the

process of retiring, and that left a dent in the Air Force’s air defense suppression capability,” Serage said. “So Air

CHECKPOINTS, DECEMBER 2008

achieving this mark reminds me of our proud Air Force heritage. The airmen who flew, fought and won in previous conflicts have brought us the freedoms that make country the greatest in the world.”

He attributes his own success in his sorties

our

Lt. Cols. David 'Surge' Serage and Todd 'Pig'

Higgs pose for a photograph in front of Serage's USAF F-16C. [USAF photo by SSgt. Don Branum]

changed significantly in that year, he said.

“Fast year, it seemed like we were dropping ordnance quite a bit,” he said. “This year, that portion of our mission has scaled back.

I attribute that to a successful military and

Force pilots flew EA-6B Prowlers jointly

with the Navy.”

diplomatic operation. Still, our strength and troop support are projected through continuous armed air presence.”

Reaching 100 sorties doesn’t mean what

Serage was deployed for about 2 Vi

it used to. During World War II, bomber

years out of the four years he flew with the Navy. He still vividly recalls his first

pilots were lucky to reach 50 combat sorties without being shot down. During the Vietnam War, pilots had to fly 100 sorties before they could return home from their tour. Today, reaching such a milestone means something different.

combat mission, in which he flew an EA-6B over northern Iraq in support of

Operation Northern Watch.

“I remember crossing the Turkish border

and going into Iraq for the first time,” he said. “It was almost surreal—there were active

missile sites and anti-aircraft

‘

“When I hear the words, 100 combat

ground who work tirelessly to ensure he can get his fighter off the ground and to the mission area.

“I returned to Balad the other night when weather had brought visibility to approach minimums and received the best radar-conducted approach I’ve ever had in my life,” Serage said. “By today’s standards, the Precision Approach Radar is a pretty antiquated system, and I haven’t flown a PAR approach in six or seven years, but the controller with the 727th Expeditionary Air Control Squadron was phenomenal.

“I have great pride in all the support that goes into making this mission happen,” he said. “I know the airmen here to the airmen on the

work countless hours, and I thank them and their families for that.”

Courtesy of332nd Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs

sorties,’ I think of the great airmen of earlier wars,” Serage said. “To me,

artillery. It wasn’t uncommon to see AAA detonations in the air as we were flying, and the Iraqi air force flew MiGs over their

airspace (between) the no-fly zones.”

Serage moved to Tulsa in 1999 when he joined the Air National Guard. He flew his

Advertise in

magazine Checkpoints

first F-16 missions with the Tulsa ANG’s

138th Fighter Wing, conducting missions in support of Operation Southern Watch.

“It was a little tricky, adjusting from

support the

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B-52s and EA-6Bs to F-16s,” said Serage, who has flown a total of 4,700 hours. “But

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I had some good instructors—some very

patient instructor pilots.”

Serage first met Lt. Col. Todd Higgs, his wingman for his 100th combat sortie,

shortly after joining the Tulsa ANG, and the two formed a close friendship. “He’s hilarious,” said Higgs, an F-16 pilot with the 332nd EFS. “He’s a funny dude. He’s very serious about what he does, though.

He’s a family man and a God-fearing, outstanding individual. I’m proud to be

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his wingman and to be his friend.”

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Serage also deployed to Joint Base Balad in 2007 to support Operation

Iraqi Freedom. The tempo of combat had

paige

CHECKPOINTS, DECEMBER 2008

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71

■■Hi

2003, the Air Force Academy, under the Secretary of the Air Force’s Agenda for Change, instituted the requirement n

I

for all Air Officer’s Commanding to complete a one-year master’s degree program in counseling and leadership.

This Agenda for Change directive clearly recognized the value of

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specific preparation to enhance AOC readiness and to support cadet squadron success. Thus, the AOC master’s program, an Intermediate Development Education program, was designed to offer academic and skills training in both leadership and fundamentals of counseling/coaching. The objective was to transform these leaders from “good to great” with increased selfawareness and expertise with various leadership frameworks.

Focusing on intrapersonal, interpersonal, team, and organizational skills will help these officers cultivate the responsibilities needed to provide exceptional Air Force leadership for years to come.

The AOC Master’s program provides a unique opportunity for these top-tier, hand-picked officers to continue their education as exemplary leaders. The AOC Master’s program provides a rigorous experience that roughly parallels the paths taken by cadets. They are required to undergo a very revealing assessment process, participate in a demanding academic curriculum, immerse themselves in field work that shadows cadets and sitting AOCs, and articulate their own leadership philosophy. The program also

includes results-oriented outcomes. The AOC master’s program

learning principles that are substantive, cognitive, and inquiry-based, thereby allowing leader development to be useful across multiple assignments beyond the Academy. uses

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MASTER'S PROGRAM

This program is consistent with both the Air Force’s Leadership

and Force Development Doctrine, AFDD1-1 and the Academy’s

Officer Development System. It embraces the notion that

leadership is a life-long process.

The AOC Master’s program framework takes students through a

one-year exploration of personal discovery in order to forge their

abilities as mentors towards cadets. This further enhances the

effectiveness of the squadron, group, and wing. Social interaction

is also strongly emphasized, allowing AOCs to network across the

institution and leverage opportunities among their peers from the terrazzo, to the gym, to the airfield and

beyond. Consequendy, this

program encourages the AOCs in training to immerse themselves in cross-mission element experiences by challenging them with

assignments outside of their comfort zones. Addi tionally, feedback and support are steadily provided to facilitate growth and evaluation,

enabling these officers to have crystal clear insight into their strengths and weaknesses. The use of hands-on mentorship, internships, and active learning exercises provides regular challenges to test the officers knowledge and ability. These techniques are used to help make issues more colorful, personal, and realistic.

The AOC Master’s program maintains a strong theoretical

foundation while also applying these course concepts in the

leadership laboratory that is the Air Force Academy. These courses focus on leader development applied at the personal, interpersonal, team, and organizational level. The program requires 45 semester hours to complete, one-third of which are application-oriented (either leadership courses or field experience hours). The students are required to perform at least 400 field experience hours in which they are involved in some type of counseling and leadership activity that relates to their future responsibilities as an AOC. In the first semester, the students start exploring self, to include personality, in the context of leadership philosophy, core values, and ethical decision making. In addition, they take a required laboratory course for counseling/coaching application. The second semester highlights a heavy emphasis on interpersonal and team leadership. Team dynamics and group

typical for many AOCs to say that they encountered a situation that surprised them shortly after taking command. Instead of reflexively making a “command and control’ decision, they usually describe a process where they caught themselves, listened, reflected (quickly), and were decisive in ways that considered immediate and long-term consequences. Their decisions also involved a systemic assessment of the situation which was ultimately better for all parties involved.

The data reflect this, as 92% reported important increases in their confidence to be a leader of a cadet squadron and 95% reported increased ski ll s in dealing with others. In fact, the following comments are

representative of what the AOCs say:

Wow! The master’s program has really prepared me for

this challenging job. I do not believe I would have been as

ready as I am now. I would have probably led my squadron more transactionally and may not have considered my major responsibility of cadet development. (Major Michael Drowley, Cadet Squadron 15, USAFA Class of 1996) “I regard each cadet as a unique person with unique needs. I have learned to respond to each cadet with a style consistent with their developmental needs. I think about leading. I think about

developing. This is not how I led in the past. I have to thank this program for providing me with an appreciation for counseling and development as an important part of leadership.” —Major Jimmy Dobbs, Cadet Squadron 20.

“There is not a day that goes by where I don’t use something I learned in the master’s program, particularly the counseling skills.”—Major David Stanfield, Cadet Squadron 34.

“The fact of the matter is that this degree program not only

Inspiring the next generation of Air Force leaders.

By Dr. (Major) Anthony M. Hassan and Dr. Robert J. Jackson processes are supported by team building courses and a laboratory for experiential learning. In the final semester, students explore courses

related to cadet development and diversity.

benefits the cadets that I lead here at the academy but also those that I will lead in the operational Air Force.”—Major Paul Wood,

’95, Cadet Squadron 30.

Further, the majority of graduates feel a high degree of

WHAT THE LEADERS SAY

motivation and self-efficacy regarding their upcoming leadership

Nearly 85 percent of the graduates in the past five years report the program has been very helpful in preparing them for their new leadership roles. This preparation is quite important, since it is

assignment. To some degree this can be attributed to the program meeting their expectations. Among AOCs surveyed, 78 percent agreed or strongly agreed that the scientist-practitioner education model linked coursework and fieldwork to the competencies needed to be effective. In the last two years almost every AOC has indicated that their fieldwork met the stated objectives, and that the coursework was related to the nature of their duties. It is

critically important that this program inspire these future leaders, since this is exactly their charge to inspire our cadets, the next generation of Air Force leaders. S For information related to the AOC Master’s Program contact Dr. ^6

(Major) Hassan at 719-333-0075 or Dr. JeffJackson at 333-9015.

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evil character named Arno Becker, a sadist every bit as lacking in conscience as Javier Bardem’s chilling portrayal of a psychopath in

the recent film No Country for Old Men. ow

here is a mystery thriller written by an

Academy grad which, refreshingly, has nothing whatever to do with flying. Kaleidoscope by Darryl Wimberley, ’71, is great film noir genre. As I read it, I kept saying to myself, “This would make a great film script!” And indeed, Kaleidoscope was originally written as an award-winning ,

film script.

The story begins in 1929 Cincinnati and moves to the

fictional community of Kaleidoscope, Florida, a winter base for a carnival freak show. Our antihero is one Jack Romaine, a

dissipated, slightly alcoholic World War I veteran who is (to

use a

1920s expression) on the lam from his gambling debts

to the

Chicago mob. As might be expected, his troubles keep multiplying until he finds himself forced by the Cincinnati mob into playing the private eye role of tracking down missing mob money. His leads bring him to central Florida where he meets up with a truly bizarre crowd of carnival freaks.

It is here that Jack Romaine, a physically normal person, becomes the bizarre standout amongst the community of Siamese

What makes Kaleidoscope even more intriguing is the way

Wimberley has painted his word pictures of the era. He has laboriously researched the local history, the clothing, the landscape, the buildings, the dialogue, the habits, and even the smells of that generation. It’s evident the author has visited the geographical settings of his novel. For example, the book gave me flashbacks to my own familiarity with the 1950s Cincinnati street cars, hills, and peddlers’ pushcarts. (This detailed attention to historical accuracy is a nice touch which I always admired in Louis L’Amour’s novels.) As for his characters’ dialogues, I noted Wimberley avoids the universal Americanism okay ,” for as late as the 1920s that slang term had not yet come into common usage. His characters “

are

copasetic. (Look that one up in The Dictionary of American

Slang.) Everybody cusses. Everybody sweats. Everybody smokes.

(Chesterfield, anyone?)

Kaleidoscope’s plot is never boring. In the tradition of classic film noir, Wimberley serves up a plentiful diet of cigarettes, gin, passion, and knuckle-sandwiches. And it all climaxes with a few twists-withintwists. Naturally, I wouldn’t want to spoil the ending for you.

IS

twins, fat ladies, dwarfs, alligator men, blue-skinned women, and you-name-its. And yes, such curios of nature as within this closeknit community of freaks did and do exist. Kaleidoscope leaves you with the realization that these misfits do, after all, possess the basic

human qualities of love, loyalty, revenge, despair, greed, and altruism as the rest of us. This is the world of the carneys who have their

special dialect and their own unofficial code of ethics.

This book has plenty of good guys and bad guys, only—as with any decent mystery—Wimberley keeps us guessing who is on which side right to the end. Guessing, that is, except for one own

80

Darryl Wimberley is an accomplished mystery writer with eight novels to his credit, including the critically acclaimed The King of Colored Town and the popular Barrett Raines mystery series. This year he is a visiting professor at USAFA. Find him at darryl.wimberley@usafa.edu.

Frederick Malmstrom is a long-time visiting scholar at USAFA. Fie can be found atfred.malmstrom@usafa.edu.

Wimberley, Darryl (2008). Kaleidoscope. Toby Press: New Milford, CT. 267pages. $24.95

CHECKPOINTS, DECEMBER 2008

Air Force Men’s Basketball 2008-09 Home Game Schedule Nov. 14

Western State

1

Nov. 16

Cal State-Bakersfield

3

Reggie Minton Air Force Classic Nov. 22

Texas Pan-Am vs. Wofford

2:30 PM

Air Force vs. UCCS

Nov. 23

Texas Pan-Am vs. UCCS

2:30 PM

Air Force vs. Wofford

Nov. 30

Norfolk State

Dec. 3

Northern Illinois

Dec. 13

Texas Pan-American

Dec. 22

Texas Southern

Dec. 31

Stony Brook (Mtn.) San Diego State* Utah* (Mtn.) TCU* (CBS C) UNLV* (VERSUS) BYU* (Mtn.) New Mexico* (CBS C) Colorado State* (Mtn.) Wyoming* (Mtn.)

Jan. 3 Jan. 14 Jan. 17 Jan. 31 Feb. 3 Feb. 11

Feb. 21 Feb. 28 *

Mountain West Conference opponent

Purchase Tickets online at

www.G or call 719.472.1895 or 800.666.USAF

Ac

Falcon Pride Club

THE FALCON PRIDE CLUB For more information please visit

www.FalconPrideBoosterClubs.com or can 719.333.2626

jjlg

C

oming off of back-to-back Atlantic Hockey Associa-

both major national polls (USCHO/CBS College Sports

tion championships and NCAA Tournament berths,

and USA Today/ USA Magazine) the highest ranking ever

the Air Force hockey team could not have gotten off

for Air Force in both polls.

,

to a better start in 2008-09.

Air Force opened the season with a pair of league games

The Falcons had a bye week in mid-November and, at the

against a strong opponent at a difficult venue. Sacred Heart

time, were the highest scoring team in the nation, averaging more than five goals per game. Jacques Lamoureux, Josh

has finished in the top four of the league each of the last two

Frider and Brent Olson made up the highest scoring line in the

years and has been especially good at home. However, on opening weekend, Air Force picked up a pair of victories, 4-1

nation through the first eight games. Lamoureux was leading

and 4-3 in overtime. Senior Josh Frider scored in overtime of

four game-winners. Olson was second in the nation in scor-

the second game to complete the series sweep.

State. The Beavers, who were conference members with Air

ing with 17 points and was leading the nation with 14 assists.

Frider was fourth in the nation in points (12) and third in the nation in goals (seven). Lamoureux was named the national

Force in the College Hockey America league from 2000-

player of the month and was twice named the AHA Player of

2006, came to Cadet Ice Arena having won 18 of the last 20

the Week in October.

Tbe next weekend, Air Force hosted a familiar foe, Bemidji

the nation with 19 points, 11 goals, seven power-play goals and

meetings between the two teams. However, it was Air Force that swept the series as the Falcons defeated the Beavers 6-2 and 6-0. Falcon sophomore Jacques Lamoureux had six

points in the series.

Air Force then went on the road and swept American

International College, 5-2 and 3-1, as the Falcons

improved to 6-0 on the season. With the sweep, Air Force cracked into the USCHO/CBS College Sports national poll at No. 17. Air Force came back home and swept AHA foe Bentley College, 5-1 and 8-2, to stay perfect at 8-0 on the season. After the wins, Air Force jumped to No. 14 in 82

“We have a pretty good team and lady luck is favoring us

too,” head coach Frank Serratore said. “If we were in Las

Vegas, we would be rolling all sevens. Never in my wildest dreams would I have thought we’d be 8-0. I’m happy, but I’m wary as well. I know adversity can come at any time. I am very proud of our guys and of our team. We are just a quarter of the way through the season and I know there is a lot of hockey still to be played.” SI Editor’s Note: Air Force Hockey is 13-1 as ofDec 1, 2008 USAFA defeated Colorado College for the first time in 25 years

Mens Basketball

C

oming off its fifth consecutive winning season, the Air Force men’s basketball program looks to improve on

its 16-14 record from a year ago. Second-year

head coach Jeff Reynolds enters the 2008-09 campaign with three seniors, an impressive incoming class and a year of experience for all of his players.

Someone on this year’s roster will have to replace Tim

Anderson, who graduated as one of Air Force’s best players.

Anderson was named the Mountain West Conference Defensive Player of the Year last season after leading the conference

and finishing 22nd in the nation in steals with 2.2 per game.

Anderson, who finished his career ranked second on AFA’s career

list for games played (124) and steals (175), was also a

second-team all-conference selection in 2007-08.

The three seniors on this year’s team are Andrew Henke, Matt Holland and Anwar Johnson. Henke, a 6’-6” guard/

forward, did not start a single game last season, but led the team in rebounding (4.5 rebounds/game) and was second in scoring (11.3 points/game). He posted a career-high 21 points on

6-8 shooting from three-point range against TCU and had

AFA’s only double-double last season, notching 14 points and a

career-high 10 rebounds in a 61-59 victory at Colorado State.

Henke was named to two all-tournament teams in 07-08, the Air Force Classic and the Cougar Hispanic College Fund

Classic, hosted by Washington State. He enters the 2008-09

campaign ranked No. 3 on the school’s career three-point percentage list at 41.5 percent (100-241) after shooting 42 percent last season, making a team-high 60 of his 143 attempts.

A 6’-6” forward, Holland averaged five points and two

rebounds per game last season and started all but one of the team’s 30 games. He scored a career-high 11 points twice last year, at home against Prairie View A&M and at Wyoming.

Air Force, coming off a 16-14 record and fifth-place

He shot a very respectable 45 percent (54-120) from the field

finish in the Mountain West Conference last season,

and 39 percent (30-77) from three-point range. In addition,

19 points against Montana at the Cougar Hispanic College Fund

opened the regular season on Nov. 14 as the Falcons hosted Western State College, followed by a game against Cal State Bakersfield on Sunday, Nov. 16. The Air Force Classic, which gained the name of former Falcon head coach Reggie Minton this year, followed on Nov. 22 and 23. The two-day event featured UCCS, Wofford and Texas Pan-American. The Falcons, who captured the title in last year’s inaugural tournament, played UCCS (Nov. 22) and Wofford (Nov. 23) in this year’s Classic.

Classic, had career-bests of seven rebounds at TCU and six assists

The Falcons’ 15 scheduled appearances on national TV are

he pulled down a career-high five rebounds at Northern Illinois and dished out a personal-best three assists twice, against

Washington State and Norfolk State.

Johnson, who plays both the guard and forward positions, started all 30 games in ’07-08 and finished second on the team with 72 assists and third with 25 steals. He averaged 7.5 points and 3.6 rebounds per game. Johnson, who scored a career-high

against the Horned Frogs at Clune Arena. Despite shooting just 60.7 percent from the free-throw line last season, Johnson was a perfect l6-for-l6 from the charity stripe in Air Force’s two

more

than any other season. Air Force will appear 10 times

on

The Mtn., Mountain West Sports Network, four times

on

CBS College Sports Network and once on VERSUS. The

victories over MWC rival Colorado State, including a 10-for-10

2009 Conoco Mountain West Conference Championships,

performance in AFA’s 75-59 win at home.

once

again in Las Vegas, Nev., runs from March 11-14.

C H E C K P OIN T S, D E C E M B E R

> 0 0 8

83

Football ir Force concluded the regular season with an

Bowl in 1997 and the O’ahu Bowl the following year.

8-4 overall mark and finished fourth in the

Head coach Troy Calhoun is just the second coach

Mountain West Conference with a 5-3 mark.

in school history to take the Falcons to bowl games

Air Force will be going to a post-season bowl game

in each of his first two seasons. Fisher DeBerry is the

for the second straight season. The team played in the

other, as he led Air Force to the Independence Bowl

2007 Armed Forces Bowl last year. This season marks

in 1984 and the Bluebonnet Bowl in 1985.

H

the first back-to-back seasons with bowl appearances since 1997-98. The Falcons played in the Las Vegas

MEN’S GYM NASTICS

W

ith a placement at No. 13, the Air Force men’s gymnastics team collected their best

ranking ever in the Gymlnfo Men’s PreSeason Coaches Poll. Not only is it the Falcons best preseason ranking ever, it is the first time since the 2004 season that they have received a mention in the annual October poll.

Air Force was last ranked in the Gymlnfo Preseason

mander during the 2008 fall season, is the defending USAG still rings champion. In addition, Air Force

junior Brennan Wolford has claimed three USAG AllAmerica honors during his first two seasons.

Despite the youth, the Falcons have a tremendous amount of talent in their rotation.

Five sophomores

Coaches’ Poll prior to the 2004 season, when it was

significant action last year, while the freshman class brings some stellar credentials to the Falcons’ lineup.

ranked 15th. That placement, which had been the

Mountain Pacific Sports Federation foes Stanford

saw

best until this year, also happened in 2001 and 2003.

and Oklahoma are ranked first and second, respec-

The Falcons have also entered a season ranked 17th

tively, in the preseason poll, while the Big Ten pro-

(2002) and 19th (1998, 1999).

The Falcons are led by fourth-year head coach Kip

grams of Ohio State, Illinois and Penn State round out the top-five. Stanford received 10 of 14 first-place

Simons and will feature an impressive rotation of vet-

votes, while Oklahoma earned a pair. Ohio State and

gymnasts, as well as a talented class of newcomers.

“It’s awesome to know that people out there believe

eran

Cal (seventh) each tallied a single first-place vote.

Air Force has the highest ranking of all three ser-

in our program,” Simons said. “Taking a team to the

vice academies, leading 15th-ranked Navy and Army,

NCAAs would be a dream come true for us. It is a

which was not ranked. The Falcons, which will face

great honor to be recognized like this, now it’s up to us to make it happen.”

both programs at the All-Academy Championships

Senior co-captains Josiah Loeser and Jake Schonig

Army during the course of the upcoming season.

The Falcons officially open the season on Jan. 10, when they host the annual Rocky Mountain Open at the Academy. 9

will guide a young squad that features just four juniors and seniors, compared to 14 freshmen and sophomores.

Schonig, the Academy’s Cadet Wing Com-

in February, will also travel to Navy and play host to

CHECKPOINTS, DECEMBER 2008

Link to

www.usafa.org Arizona Chapter Jim and Chirl Sienicki, 74, will again host

holiday party at their house on Sat., Dec. 6 from 4:00 8:00 p.m. A flyer and map will be sent out. We hope we have a big turnout and can spread some holiday cheer. The Arizona Chapter 2009 Super Bowl party will be hosted by Tim and Janet Furst, 78, a

—

at their home in Phoenix. The

party will begin half an hour before kickoff to enjoy all the pre-game hype and to allow folks plenty of time for pre-game eating and drinking

rituals. A flyer and map will be sent out. This annually is a “super” event. Please RSVP

directly to Tim at 602.432.4176.

Middle Tennessee Chapter There will be an All-Academy and ROTC Ball on Dec. 27 at 6pm at the Loews

Butlo€$k AFA Society of North Carolina We meet, informally, on the third Wed. of each month at Players Retreat, 105 Oberlin Road in Raleigh. No RSVP is required.

Vanderbilt Plaza on West End in Nashville.

This is for graduates from all Academies as well as current cadets, midshipmen and all friends and family of the military. This years speaker will be Brig. Gen. (Ret.) Harold B. “Buck” Adams, who in 1974 set a world speed record in the SR-71 Blackbird. Information can be had at www.

tennesseemilitaryball.org or by calling

New York Metropolitan Area

Chapter The Chapter Web site is up and running at www.nyaog.com. Visit the Web site for all of the latest information on chapter events

including chapter meetings, and other local social/sporting events.

Northern California AOG NCAOG celebrates ( Tmstmas early this year on Mount Tamalpais! Our annual Dec. celebration is at the Mountain Home Inn on the weekend of Dec. 6 with hiking, cocktails, and a gourmet meal. Thank you to Ed and Susan Cunningham for coordinating! On Sat., Apr. 18, 2009, join your fellow alumni, families and friends on a bike ride through Napa Valley. We will participate in honor of the veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, www.thepathwayhome.org. Ihe ride will be fun for all levels since you can sign up for the 50, 25, or 15 mile ride. At the end, there will be a wine tasting, food, live music and an auction. To sign up, visit the Web site: www.cycle4sight.com. Please contact Susan at oisusan@yahoo.com if you are not a member of the Northern California AOG and would like to be included in updates.

Stewart Anderson at 615-498-3537.

project currently is the deployment of the B-787 Dreamliner training as the new aircraft is rolled out next year.”

GOAL 4 Provide Graduates Networking

Opportunities Carroll Huneycutt, 70, Asia/Pacific Regional Director of Flight Training for Boeing/Alteon.

GOAL 2 Keep abreast ofAir Force and USAFA

topics Piedmont Chapter

Trip Ashe, ’86, met Carroll Huneycutt, 70, in Singapore where he and his wife now live. Trip was attending the Asian Patent Attorney Conference (APAA) in Singapore.

Carroll is based in Singapore, and responsible for China, India, Australia, Japan, and Korea flight instructor operations. Carroll

summarizes, “We have about 25 flight simulators, and over one hundred instructors, providing flight training for Boeing Airline Customers in the APAC region. One major

CH EC K POIN T S,

DECE M B E R 2 0 0 3

Arizona Chapter We are looking for input from our members regarding any other events or activities that the Arizona Chapter should sponsor. If you have any winning ideas, please send an e-mail to Jim Sienicki, 74, at the e-mail address below. We need a volunteer to recruit newer graduates to get involved with our Arizona Chapter and to be the Chapters liaison with Luke AEB and the graduates stationed there.

If you are interested, please contact Jim at jsienicki@swlaw.com. If you have recently moved to Arizona or have not received our

mailings, please also contact Jim, (602) 382-6351, jsienicki@swlaw.com at Snell & Wilmer to be added to the mailing list.

Southern Arizona Chapter The Southern Arizona Chapter held its first

85

meeting on Aug. 23. Bylaws were adopted

GOAL 7

Silver Falcons

and officers elected. There are currently 40

Support the Needs and Objectives ofthe Academy

For the first time in many years, the 2008

members.

GOA1 XJ.xJr% L. *5

Interact with other Service Academy

Graduates Aloha Chapter We hosted several football socials including USAFA and USNA grads with families at the sad loss to Navy. A special thanks to our extremely proactive and helpful board this year: Brig. Gen. Sam Angelella, ’81, Vice

Pres; Maj. Joe Torres, ’94, Secretary; Mr. Mike Walsh, ’76, Treasurer; Mr. Mike Fricano, ’76, Advisor

Aloha Chapter We have had a fantastic year. We have hosted cadets on leave from the Academy with their families during the holidays. Our biggest success of all was a forum for each of the three periods of OPS AIR FORCE that included Senior Leaders from all over Hawaii, including General Officers from PACAF and PACOM headquarters. Some VERY senior officers also took time out of their busy schedules to share with visiting cadets their thoughts on the future careers of graduates in this rapidly changing environment.

Silver Falcon was cancelled due to injuries

and ill health. Robert and Hilda Dodge cancelled due to Bob injuring his knees. Stan Keck and Delene could not be attending due to Delene

being hospitalized with irregular

heart beat and a mild heart attack, but is doing well. Chuck Foster developed a foot problem, preventing Carol and himself from

attending. That just left Gordon and Gaye Palmer, Ruth Whitaker, Kirk and Jill for the convention. With so few folks able to attend,the convention was cancelled. Other

potential attendees already had plans; Bob Canfield had Parents Weekend at Champlain College, and Ozzie Purdy was convalescing from radiation treatments, and is doing well.

Gordon Palmer passed on the following information on his and Gaye’s Danube River cruise. We left LAX for Vienna, Austria for a

leisurely 21 day cruise down the Danube

River to the Black Sea. However it was not to be. After 3

AcademyWomen The Academy Women Career Workshop and

Aloha Chapter football social

Southern Arizona Chapter Six graduates including three chapter members attended a football party at the invitation of the USNA Alumni on Oct. 4.

The Chapter and all local graduates have also been invited by the West Point Society to attend a football party on Nov. 1.

Heartland-Lemay Chapter The chapter enjoyed a gathering to watch Air Force Beat Army!

5 th Annii,:ii ,.Lc AC.lership Symposium: Stories of Our Sisters, were held October 17-19, 2008 in Arlington, VA at the Women in Military Service for America Memorial. Over 30 distinguished speakers and 200 participants from the military, public and private sectors were in attendance from around the globe.

The theme, Stories of Our Sisters, honored the role of women in the military and in bu ilding our nation throughout the course of history.

We were privileged to be joined by women from all branches of the military with service eras ranging from WWIl to the present.

T his convergence of wisdom and experience reminded us, yet again, that we are forever bound by our common histories.

Visit our Web site, www.academywomen. org for more details and to sign up for a free v

membership.

days touring Vienna, the River cruise, the Captain told us one of the huge locks on the Danube was broken and it

would take a week to repair. That of course prevented river traffic up and down. Our travel agent elected to bus us to Budapest, Hungary and fly us home, and try for a future trip. With the locks repaired after 10 days, we subsequently left on a repeat trip in

Sept., successfully!

John Riffle was the recipient of an Honorary Alumni Award from the University of Missouri-Columbia College of Agriculture, Food & National Resources

during the 2008 Celebration of Excellence in Columbia, MO. The honorary alumni award is presented to people who are not former students or graduates of UMC but have taken an exemplary interest in the university’s College of Agriculture and deserve recognition. John was also

reappointed as a member of the Missouri Land Reclamation Commission. Any time you have news to share, please e-mail Kirk Brown at ltckirkbrown@juno.com. Hope

everybody had a Happy Thanksgiving and Happy Holidays to all.

Space CSroup Cyndee, Pat, Dave, Ruth, Larry, TAD, '68

Graduates interested in learning more

South Florida Chapter

about the Space Group can check out the web site usafaspace.tripod.com or

The October meeting was held jointly with the Ft. Lauderdale Chapter Navy Alumni.

The Navy contingent consisted of about 10 very happy Navy winners. Our USNA contact is Scott

contact Stan

Gary Bagliebter, 70, John Rosser, 73, Jim Parker, 73, Glen Spears, 78.

4653. ZoomieNation has expanded as a communication

forum for the Space

Group. Anyone interested in learning more about our activities should check that site

Slater, Col. USMC (Ret.),

'80, President Fort Lauderdale Chapter Naval

or our

Academy Alumni.

86

Rosen, '69, at 310-642-

South Florida Chapter. From Lto R: Larry Colvin, '64,

CHECKPOINTS, DECEMBER 2008

Web site usafaspace.tripod.com. SSI

A- 2012 T-Shirt

Displays the names of the incoming 2012 class. Limited quantity of previous years available, see Web site.

S-XL $15.00 XXL-$17.00 B- 2012 Tote bag

Displays the names of the in 2012 class. Limited qu years available,

C- Air Force Hat

Adjustable cloth strap with metal clasp $13.00 D- USAFA Stadium Lap Blanket

Choose from Royal Blue, Pink, Dark Blue or Gray. $24.00

E-Walnut Plaque Laser engraved plaque displays the

USAFA Terrazzo. Available with or without metal engraving plate. $ 102.00 F- Spirit & Flight

Coffee table book with pictures from around the Academy. $ 8.50 G-License Plate Frame Choose from Alumni, Falcons or Parents. $8.50 H- 2007 Ornament

Silver prop & wing design atop 24kt

gold plated background. $17.00 I- 2008 Ornament

Diamond shaped gold frame with dangling silver colored medallion displaying the Academy Crest. $22.50 J- Laser Engraved Pen Set

Personalize this gift. Allow 2-3 weeks for

delivery. $29.75 K- Prop & Wing Necklace

$10.00

View all merchandise and closeout items online 24 hours a day

87

academy

;

A- Ladies' Pullover Hoodie **New Item.**

This stylish Pullover Hoodie warms you all year round. Cotton/Polyester. Machine wash. Pink. Sizes S-XXL $38.25 D- Ladies' Golf Po\o**New Item**

B- Chill-Out Zip Up Sweater **New Item

Blue AF embroidered logo on ladies' style

Fashionable and comfortable cardigan style sweatshirt. Ribbed knit collar,

polo shirt. This E-Dry Function Wear Series moves moisture away from the

sleeve, waist, & pockets. Cotton/Polyester. Vanilla or Antique Pink.

Sizes S-XL $40.75

body to the outer fabric surface for quick evaporation, allowing you to stay cool, dry, and comfortable. Polyester. Lime Sherbet or White. Sizes XS-XXL $28.00

C- Long Sleeve Collar Shirt **New Item**

Classic designed pinstripe button down

E- Ladies' AF Polo **New Item**

shirt. Front and back darts for a feminine resistant. Powder BlueA/Vhite or Powder

Superior quality polo style shirt. Two button placket. 100% ring spun combed cotton.

Official AF logo embroidered on left chest.

Pink/White. Sizes S-XXL $28.00

White or Pink. Sizes S-XXL $21.25

silhouette. Cotton/Polyester. Wrinkle

88

Member prices shown. Prices, tyies

in

i colors t

t

ml kci

'h ngt

A- Men's AF Polo **New Item** Superior

quality. Three button placket.100% ring spun combed cotton. Official AF embroi-

dered logo. White or Royal Blue.

Sizes S-XXL $21.25 B- Men's Golf Polo **NewItem**

AF embroidered logo. E-Dry Function

Wear Series. Polyester. Ceramic Blue or

Sand. Sizes S-XXL $28.00 C- Long Sleeve Collar Shirt **New Item**

Button-down collar. Left chest pocket.

Back yoke with Pleats. Cotton/Polyester.

Powder BlueA/Vhite. Sizes S-XXL $28.00 D- Hooded Nylon Jacket **New Item**

'Weatherproof' performance jacket. Embroidered "Air Force Academy" on the left chest and "Air Force" on middle back.

E- Pullover Hoodie Sweatshirt

Also available as a Hooded Zip Sweatshirt. MV Sport. Cotton/Polyester.

Blue or Gray. Sizes S-XXL $38.25

Youth Pullover Hoodie F- Cotton/Polyester. "Air Force" applique

chest & "Academy" embroidered beneath. Choose from pink, dark blue or gra across

Youth Sizes S-XL $29.75

Drawstring hood, 3 zip pockets. Nylon shell. Body lining. Polyester/Cotton.

Sizes S-XL $60.50 XXL 8c XXXL $64.00

View all merchandise and closeout items online

24 hours a day at

shop.USafa.org

89

DavidD. Anderson, ’59

other classmates who cared deeply about him notwithstanding the

David Dean Anderson died unexpectedly on May 19, 2008 at the to age of 71 in Provo, Utah. Dave suffered a cardiac arrest after biking and working out at a local gym. Dave had a cheerful disposition in the

face of great difficulties and chronic pain. One of his greatest legacies was the example of living life to the fullest. After surviving corneal

passages of time and distance. a man with those driving So vignettes to tell the tale of a man’s life force passions that would shape a lifetime. Proud of Wisconsin roots, this bigger than life guy loved football and all sports for that matter.

—

He was a ferocious left guard and line backer with a never-quit atti-

transplants, quadruple bypass surgery, three back surgeries, two hip replacements, a near fatal E-Coli infection, and prostate cancer, Dave paraglided from the Point of the Mountain for his 70th birthday.

tude and a recognized leader on

Since age 70, he has summited Mount Timpanogas (11,749 feet),

who violated ‘the rules’ and talked

snow-shoed through the Wasatch Mountains, flown an ultra-light

Vonne called a cab and came back

over

the family farm in St. Johns, Mich., hiked with his two younger

great and lifetime love of snow ski-

brothers through Zions and Bryce

ing would be determinant in life style and location choices though

<W,vil

iJl|y

and off the field.

Jazz Lover: A

Ramsey Lewis night at the Band Box on Colfax and he had a chatty date

during the music till the break when single ship to enjoy the evening.

A

all learned on wooden boards over Christmas in 1959 when spec-

National Parks, and ridden a toboggan towed behind his son’s pickup

we

truck in Sedalia, Colo.

tacular crashes were recorded at

Dave was born May 6, 1937 to

Dale and Caroline Anderson in St. Johns, Mich., the oldest of five chil-

Stu Fenske

Loveland and Winter Park. As a first classman, he had a water ski boat and the chill of Monument Lake was

dren. He graduated from St. Johns

offset by a campfire on the shore and Grants Scotch (a brand not a

High School, was in the first graduating class (1959) of the United States Air Force Academy, received a Master’s Degree in Political Science from Boston University, was a fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University, and retired from the Air Force as a colonel after 22 years of distinguished service. During those years, he served in Vietnam flying 223 combat missions in the Ranch Hand Special Operations Squadron. Dave was serving as the commander of the Air Force’s largest intelligence wing when he retired. Following his retirement, Dave was a program manager for Fockheed Missiles and Space Company, and was later a real estate broker in Colorado for 25 years.

Dave was president of the Denver Falcon Quarterback Club and a

squadron mate).

After graduation, Webb AFB and pilot training followed in short order by a strenuous combat tour in AC-47s in Southeast Asia. Routinely ‘shot up,’ his crew used Ubon, Thailand as their fix-up and R & R base. It took good courage to go out mission after mission in the AC and do gunship work at altitudes and in places where it was certain that heavy combat damage would result.

At Ubon, we renewed ties and from there he poured a bottle of whiskey out over the Ho Chi Minh trail in memoriam (almost) for his

die-hard Air Force fan.

me

Dave Anderson

He was a convert to The Church of Jesus Christ of Fatter-Day Saints,

and served faithfully in many callings including as a bishop (four times), high councilor, and Gospel Doctrine instructor. Dave and his family were sealed for time and eternity in the Salt Lake Temple. He and his wife of nearly 49 years, Robin Tracy, served an 18-month proselyting mission for the Church in the Houston, Texas mission from 20052006, after which they moved to Provo, Utah. After the move, Dave

old roommate. After the Vietnam war, with his career in transports (flying the line and high level staff) well established and serving at Scott AFB Ill., he and Sue and the kids Tanya and Todd welcomed —

—

and others home.

Retiring as a Lt. Colonel, Stu began an extended career in business with Rockwell and then Northrop-Grumman. He was instrumental in creating/improving operational capabilities of the B1 and B2 until again hanging up his ‘g suit’ for the go fast slopes of Wyoming where he spent most of his latter years. A yearly ski trip was always a big hit with the entire family.

Stu passed away of natural causes in Kentucky in August of this His cup was turned at our 45th class reunion in October with family members in attendance at the Chapel. In accordance with his

had season tickets to both Air Force and BYU football games and quickly became a BYU fan (but never at the expense of his beloved Air Force).

year.

He is survived by his wife, Robin, and their nine children: daughMadsen (Barnard), Carrie Athay (William), Dana ters

desires, the annual family ski trip will begin at the Air Force Academy with a Memorial Service and Interment on Dec. 29,2008 at 1000 hours.

Contributions are suggested to the Vietnam Veterans of America, 8605 Cameron St., Suite 400, Silver Spring, Md. 20910

Cynthia

Simonelli (Gabriel), and Lorelle Hauger (Brent); sons Gregory (Gerry), Peter (Stephanie), Dale (Mardie), Bruce, and Gabriel (Brooke); 12 grandsons, nine granddaughters, and a great-granddaughter.

Above all, Dave loved his family. (Dale Anderson, Dave’s son; and

ishment and rewards that life brings to us all, your aggressiveness and zest for life will continue to bear witness to friends, family and

Barnard Madsen, Dave’s son-in-law)

Stuart V. Fenske, ’63 Stuart Vonne Fenske (Class of 1963): Competition and Intensity.

future generations of cadets. Thanks roommate.

(John Borling, 1963)

In

that’s Vonne (later Stu) Fenske. As a cadet, an officer, a businessman, a husband and father, those personal qualities, those passions, ruled the man and all those about him. He was best man at two words,

my wedding and I write this testimony as a former roommate with the help and remembrances of Roger Graham and Grant Bornzin and 90

Stu: We’ll miss your quick smile and energy and meaningful contributions of a lifetime. With the sure knowledge that, despite the pun-

For more current information about

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

if|§||

Robert graduated from Thomas Jefferson High School in Richmond

Donald L. Gordon, ’63

and attended Hampden-Sydney College in Virginia from 1958 to 1959.

Donald Lee Gordon, 68, passed away on Aug. 24, 2008. Donald had

He graduated from the U.S. Air Force Academy, receiving his diploma

degree from the University of Arizona and graduated from the Air Force Academy in 1963. He was a Top Gun Pilot and instructor

from President John F. Kennedy, in

and flew the F-4 aircraft in the Vietnam War. He retired as a lieutenant

His Air Force assignments included

a master’s

1963.

colonel after 31 years.

two years as intelligence briefer and

After retirement Donald was a

special security officer for the Commanding General at Udorn, Thailand, followed by one year as intelligence briefer to the Commanding

math professor for 15 years, eight of those as head of the math department at Manatee Community Col-

lege in Bradenton, Fla. Donald was also an avid sailor and enjoyed traveling. He leaves his wife, Gail; his

many. After leaving the Air Force in 1969, he worked in Vietnam as Op-

children

erations Manager for Air America

Gordon, Denise Ymiolek and Eric Gordon; sister Darla Selden, brother Kenneth Gordon, and six grandchildren. His wife, Gail, sent in the following:

General at Ramstein Air Base, Ger-

Scott

until 1971.

Robert then returned to the U.S. and obtained his JD degree from the

time later I returned to my beach towel and put down the shells I had

University of Maryland School of Law in 1973. Most of his legal career Robert Macfarlane was spent with the U.S. Army, where he concentrated on acquisition law. His legal work was formally recognized on several occasions, including in 1996 by the Secretary of the Army and the President.

After retirement he learned the electrical trade, becoming a master electrician and electrical contractor in Virginia and North Carolina.

Robert is survived by his wife, Dorothy Kushlis Macfarlane, MD; his son Andrew Macfarlane and wife, Yertty, of Vienna, Va.; his daughter Anne Macfarlane, and his sister Mary Parke Dillard and husband, Alexander F. Dillare, Jr., of Tappahannock, Va. (Dorothy Macfarlane,

collected. And there was this kid asking me, “Did you find anything worth

his wife)

I met Donald Gordon on Sept. 23,

2000, one Sunday afternoon at the beach.

I had recently lost my hus-

band after a long illness. I was griev-

ing, but more than that, I was terri-

Don Gordon

fied about my financial situation.

I

had the day off from work and I walked to the beach for a swim. There

goofy teenager in a small sailboat wildly tacking in my swim I wondered if this kid was going to run me over.

was some area.

I decided to be the adult and get out of the way and go for a walk. Some-

keeping?” I looked up and realized that this was no kid... the teenager on the sailboat was a man!

I mumbled my name and collected my stuff

Kevin J. McManus, ’64

and left. Several weeks later I received a very perfectly written and amaz-

ingly innocent note with an invitation to try out the small sailboat for myself. Well, it took several months and a lot of coaxing, but I finally went on that cruise one that would last eight exquisite years.

In May of 2005 Don finally retired. It was time to devote ourselves to our favorite things... travel and sailing. After a trip to South America, Don had a checkup which included a colonoscopy. We both sat in ...

disbelief as the voices said... tumor... cancer... surgery... chemo.

Google search Kevin McManus and you’ll find a photographer, a trombone player and teacher, a poor vocalist, and even a Star Wars movie model maker. Our Kevin Joseph McManus was unique. From the 1964 Polaris, “Mac blew into Colorado on a big wind from THE city, swearing by New York as the beginning, end and most of the middle of everything. He knows more ways

He got through a difficult surgery.

to get out of class, how to get on more

We lived like there was no tomorrow. We toured China, Egypt, Jordon,

no work), trips (pure boondoggles sleep through more formations and yet make people think he’s doing a better job than a dozen others combined.” He was a Wing Weenie with grades good enough to keep him on the Superintendent’s list.

Flying the F-4C, Kevin joined several ’64 grads in the UK before volunteering for Vietnam. Kevin and I were soon joined as a crew; he to keep this --

Thailand, Central America, Cambodia, Tibet and the Galapagos Islands. We and five of our dear friends sailed the British Virgin Islands several times. But this was not to be easy.

In January of 2008, after a remission, Don was told that the cancer

had returned and it had spread into his liver and lungs. He refused to take “no hope” as a prognosis.

He fought so hard.

But this time the

chemo was devastating. He was going to die from the treatments if he continued.

journey.

So in June he stopped all treatment and we took one last

He captained a 51-foot sailing vessel along with our five sail

buddies and we toured St. Lucia and The Grenadines. This was an

waii to marry his high school sweetheart. ’Twas a Shamrock marriage

Gordon, Don’s wife)

wee

Robert B. Macfarlane, ’63 Robert Bruce Macfarlane, 68, of Pittsboro, N.C. died Aug. 4, 2008.

He was born in Richmond, Va. in 1940, the second child of Robert Bruce Macfarlane and Rebecca Williams Fitzhugh Macfarlane.

new Aircraft

Commander alive and

aggressive trip by any standard. And by the grace of God, we did it.

Don’s remains were escorted by a flotilla of his friends and family on Oct. 26, our one-year wedding anniversary. His ashes were dispersed into the waters he so loved to sail, while a ’60s one-hit-wonder played in the background... “Spirit In The Sky.” These were his wishes. (Gail

out of trouble. We flew over 110 com-

Kevin McManus over North Vietnam.

bat sorties together including 79.5

Oh yes, somewhere in there was an R&R to Ha-

Leprechauns made in Heaven...a McCahill and a McManus tying the knot on St Patrick’s Day. Well, they jumped the gun and married a couple of days early so he could get back to DaNang and Mary Jane home to Long Island. The reception would be held when Kevin finished his tour.

Few can identify a specific person to whom they literally owe their

life. I am one. On 14 June 1967, flak hit the airplane 30 miles from Hanoi 91

and caught fire. I was trying to wrestle the Phantom to the Gulf of Tonkin,

Readiness Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, and the Viet-

when this wonderful gentleman six feet behind me made a startlingly

nam Service Medal.

simple observation. “Ed, I don’t think we’re going to make it.’’ He said it twice. I replied, “Bail Out, Kevin, Bail Out.” I always told him if he heard the second “Bail Out” he would be second out. He paused to say, “Sayonara Ed” and we ejected from the orange fireball together.

The next nearly six years have little to commend them, but Kevin truly served with distinction and honor “under difficult circumstances.” He was a French teacher, a New York geography coach and, when he made playing cards, a bridge player extraordinaire.

You learn a lot spending four years, 24 hours a day with one person in a 9x9 cell. I can’t begin to tell all the funny and sad tales, but Kevin lived the USAF Core Values, (Integrity First, Service before Self, Excellence in All We Do) long before they were codified. He never waivered from the Code of Conduct and never shirked doing what was asked of him in the threat of torture. He always had a confidence that said,

in 1988 with over 20 years of continuous service.

He retired at the rank of Major from the Air Force

His love of flying and military service paved the way for a second career with

Delta Airlines as a commercial pilot. Captain Davies flew

for Delta Airlines until his retirement in September 2005.

Jim, a resident of Azle, Texas for 25 years, was inspired by Lance

Armstrong and embraced the "Live Strong" philosophy. He shared his love of cycling with his pastor and many of his friends. He enjoyed classical music, classic rock and was an avid reader and collector of

first-edition books. From his childhood, he was a fan of Hopalong

Cassidy and collected memorabilia.

He was a member of United States Air Force Academy Association of

Graduates Class of 1967, and was a member of First United Methodist Church of Azle.

Survivors include his wife, E. Carol Davies; daughters Marisa Dyan

“This is temporary, I’ll survive.” He also knew this world was tempo-

Davies of Atlanta, Ga., and Caron Renee Davies of Ft. Worth, Texas;

rary and real life is in Heaven.

He was a success in his marriage and family life as well.

and his father, James Davies of LaCrescenta, Calif.

He and

Jim’s daughter)

Mary Jane raised seven wonderful children, though somehow falling short of the 16 they intended. Kevin knew success as a military officer

John M. Lambert, '<68

and senior business executive as well.

Pictures of Kevin Joseph Patrick McManus invariably show a cheery,

confident, happy man. When I last visited with him a few weeks before his passing, he was smiling, though the morphine drip did little to ease the constant pain. The epitome of a people person, he always asked

about others and tried to be helpful in so many ways. He was an accom-

plished gardener and carpenter. He was a man into life, but not into himself. This Kevin McManus longer in our world, remains in our hearts and lives every day. As we tapped in the POW camps, 2-2, 3-3, 2-2, 1-2, 4-5. Good Night Kevin, God Bless You. (Ed Mechenbier, ’64)

(Caron Davies,

John M. Lambert, proud graduate of the Class of ’68, passed away

April 29, 2008 and was laid to rest in Georgia War Veteran’s Cemetery in Milledgeville, Ga. After graduation from Lunenburg, Mass. High School in 1964, he was honored with a nomination to the Air Force Academy which he accepted with pride. His dream of becoming a pilot was not to be, as the dreaded spectacles took precedence. Undaunted, he attended Navigator Training and flew C-130s at Clark, Mather, Westover, Niagara Falls, Homestead and Robins Air Force Bases. on

In 1976, he received his MBA from

James D. Davies II, 67

Western New England College where

Major James Donald Davies II, United States Air Force (Retired), passed away July 2, 2008, at his home. Memorial services were held on July 7 at First United Methodist Church of Azle, Texas; with his committal service Aug. 15 at the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colo.

Major Davies was born in Glendale, Calif., graduated from the United States Air Force Academy and entered

returning to the Air Force as a full time Reservist, retiring as a Lieutenant Colonel. In 1992, he began his Civil Service career as Command Air Space Manager until his retirement on Dec.

love of music and his very low bass

the Air Force where he served as a

voice, first with his classmates in

fighter pilot, including service in Vietnam. Jim not only earned the loyalty and respect of his fellow pilots but he taught them many things through his invaluable “golden hand” flying skills learned during his mastery of various aircraft, including F-100s, F-4s, and his

Lunenburg, then with the Cadet

f

best love, the F-16.

During this time, he was awarded decorations, medals, citations and campaign ribbons, includnumerous

Jim Davies

ing the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Purple Heart earned in the

service of his country during the Vietnam War. He was also awarded

the Meritorious Service Medal, the Air Medal with 7 Oak Leaf Clusters, the AF Outstanding Unit Award with Valor Device, the Combat

he was Bursar for three years before

6, 2006.

Throughout his life, John shared his

Chorale

John Lambert

(remember

Channing?) and Catholic Choir, and finally with every church he was a member of along the way. He had a way of doing things with intensity, from his music to his “beloved

blasted” TR7s to golf and to woodworking. His garage was his workshop, where many beautiful items were lovingly crafted.

Survivors are his wife of almost 40 years, Marty; his daughter Jenni-

fer, his son Ethan, granddaughter Alana, mother Claire, and brother Dave. John also has two more beautiful granddaughters born shortly after his death, Mackenzie and Hailey. And I really can’t leave out Biscotti the Basset Hound, who felt his loss as much as any human.

The mixed quartet at Trinity UMC, with whom he sang for many years, offered this unusual but very appropriate musical tribute to his life at the funeral.

For more current information about

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

92

Carol

“SOME BRIGHT MORNING WHEN THIS LIFE IS OVER I’LL FLYAWAY TO THAT HOME ON GOD’S CELESTIAL SHORE I’LL FLYAWAY”

(Marty Lambert, his wife)

Stephen W. Thomson, ‘68 Stephen W. Thomson, attorney at law, passed away on Nov. 10, 2006 at the age of 60 after a battle with pancreatic cancer. A loving father and husband, he is survived by his children Matt, Jeff, and Claire, and his wife, Diane. Known for his honor and integrity, Steve practiced law in Edwardsville, Ill. for 30 years and served in the Air Force from 1964

-

1968. He is deeply missed. A private family memorial will

dude,” but it was when my friend turned serious that he would end up providing great advice about my family, career or whatever really mattered to me.

I miss Greg terribly, but am fortunate to have had a small part in his

life and blessed that he was here to play a huge role in mine.

learned that when people like Greg enter your life, you need to grab hold and savor every moment...life is too short not to.

Now that he

has left us, we must always remember that our lives are richer be-

be held. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to The Pancreatic

cause

Cancer Action Network (PanCAN). (His family)

(Tim Lynch, ’87, one ofmany friends)

GregoryP. Giletti, ’86

I’ve

of him and the way he lived his life.

His was a life well lived!

Thomas A. Bouley, ’88

On Sept. 13, 2008, Lt. Col. Greg Giletti lost his three-year battle with

Lieutenant Colonel Tom “Moses” Bouley, 42, died in an F-15D air-

These last years were difficult, but through this struggle Greg

craft accident during a Red Flag exercise at Nellis AFB, Nev. on July 30,

showed us true strength and perseverance. He also taught us how to

2008. At the time of his death, he was the Commander of the 65th

cancer.

Greg never gave up because

Aggressor Squadron at Nellis. Tom

play the hand that we are dealt”.. .and

will forever be remembered for his

cherish those around us without regret. as he would say, “all we can do is

dedication to family and friends, his

he played his hand very well!

enduring work ethic, and his great

Most people would consider their

life full if they could count two or

sense

of humor.

three REAL friends during their life-

Tom is survived by his wife of 16

Though Greg’s time here

years, Toni, and their two sons: Thomas Jr., 14; and Bailey, 12.

He was

time.

ended too soon, he touched so many people, so deeply, that an in-

preceded in death by his father, CMSgtWifrid A. Bouley, USAF (Ret); and is also survived by his mother, Minori “Terry” (Naraki) of Portland,

credible number of us consider him a

“great friend.”

Why? Certainly his loyalty is a big

reason.

Ore.; three brothers and their wives, Joe and Sara of North Salt Lake, Utah; Ed and Lisa of Mansfield, Texas; Charlie and Denise of Parker, Colo.; and two sisters and their husbands,

Was there ever a time when

“G” didn’t find a way to help change the oil in a friend’s car or refinish a

piece of furniture or offer great advice, but only when asked? His payment, of course, was only a Budweiser and a chance to hang out with family and friends. Greg was Giletti Greg caring and considerate, interested and dependable, fun and always, always entertaining. What more could any of us ask for in a REAL friend?

In addition to his intense love of family (in particular his wife, Susan, and children Joe, Andrew, Grace and Jack)

and friends, Greg also

loved the sea. From the Jersey shore as a boy, to the California coast with his brother, and to his final days in Hawaii, Greg found peace in the sea. At the core he was a “surfer dude” who used the water to, in

his own words, “recharge my batteries.”

Surfing helped ground him

and fueled the youthful energy and enthusiasm that defined him.

Tom Bouley

Jeanne and Larry Phenow of Maple

Grove, Minn.; and Barb and Jeff Nichols of Portland, Ore. Tom was born on Oct. 17,1965 atChateaurouxAB, France, the youngest and largest of six children.

He was a 1984 graduate of Eldorado

High School in Las Vegas and a 1988 graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy.

He was a command pilot with over 4,200 flying hours in the T-38, F15C/D, and F3 Tornado, including 265 combat hours in Operations Iraqi Freedom, Southern Watch, and Northern Watch. His assignments included UPT/FAIP, Laughlin AFB, Texas; F-15 RTU, Tyndall AFB, Fla.; 19FS, Elmendorf AFB, Alaska; 12FS & 180SS, Kadena AB, Japan; 43FS, RAF Leuchars, Scotland; 493FS & 480G, RAF Lakenheath, United Kingdom; and Nellis AFB, Nev. (Continued on last page.)

Unlike the typical “surfer dude,” Greg was intensely demanding of himself in everything he did. He was a perfectionist with a thirst for

knowledge and serious about his role as a father, husband, brother and son. Colonel Giletti was a gifted and decorated officer; gaining recognition for extraordinary performance with every Air Force assignment, including Company Grade Officer of the Year at Hanscom AFB, Outstanding Air Force Academy Educator, Distinguished Graduate at Air Command & Staff College, “Excellent” ratings while Chief of the United Nations Training Unit and as Comptroller Squadron Commander at Langley and Elmendorf AFBs. He was also twice selected Finance Officer of the Year at US-PACOM, and recently the Air Force Academy’s Political Science Department named their annual “Outstanding Contributor” award in his honor.

The awesome thing about G is that he never had the same expectahe just embraced othtions of others that he demanded of himself His inner strength was asers for what they brought to the table. tounding and this influenced many of us to emulate him and strive to do our very best...of course he was always there to support us when we fell short. I certainly had more fun over the years with the “surfer —

At press time we had learned of the deaths of the fol-

lowing graduates: Lt. Col. (Ret) Wendell M. Adams, Class of 1962, who

died on Sept 26, 2008 in Springdale, Ark. Mr. Daniel G. Robinson, Class of 1967, who died on

Sept. 19, 2008 in Middleton, Idaho.

Mr. John P. Kostiuk, Class of 1968, who died on May 10, 2008 in Pitman, N.J. Mr. Charles E. Smith III, Class of 1973, who died on

March 16, 2006 in Leesburg, Va. Lt. Col. (Ret) Charles W. Nystrom, Class of 1975, who

died on Aug. 14, 2008 in Tucson, Ariz.

Maj. Rodolfo I. Rodriguez, Class of 1998, who died on

Sept. 20, 2008 in Islamabad, Pakistan.

Our sincere condolences to the family and friends of these graduates.

93

est grandson. I suspect that many of our classmates have made this

trip at one

time or another. What made this trip somewhat unique is that there were two

Class

other grads making the trip: Curt Osterheld, Class of ’75, and his wife, Lisa

Linden-Osterheld, Class of ’83. It was about the third day of the trip before we realized we were all grads. During the trip, we enjoyed comparing notes and ”

my grandson became friends with their teenage daughter and pre-teen son.

Bob apologized for not including a picture with his account. He described a curious

(and increasingly frequent) camera malfunction that creates the

illusion that the subject has stuck a beach ball under his shirt just before the

picture was taken. Research is under way in Switzerland, Japan and the US to de-termine the cause of this anomaly.

Back in June, Jack Howell provided this summary ofhis most recent adventure: “In February, one of our IEEE members called and said, ‘Guess what is happening the Saturday before our conference in Beijing? There's a marathon, a 10k, and a 5k at the Great Wall! What do you think?’

“I investigated and asked my running partner, who said, ‘Wow, go for it; just do it!’ So I signed up for the ‘required’ four-day tour package and added the Stairmaster to my workouts.

“The event was on 17 May and I did better than I expected. My time for the 5Kwas 1:09:35 (a normal 5K for me is 24-25 minutes) and it was rough and (almost) tumble every ‘step’ of the way. Turns out that 1:09 was good enough to place 8th overall in the 5K men's division and first overall in my age bracket and a new course record for age-advantaged 5K types. Actually, I am now the course re-cord holder for the Great Wall 5K for runners over 60. (This year, there were 1600+ runners total from 48 countries. In the 5K there were about 28 men and 81 women.)

“Factors in my doing better were several: Most of the good runners were doing the longer races; weather was ideal, overcast and no rain; and the marathon, half-marathon and 10k started an hour be-fore the 5Krace. Therefore, the faster runners were beyond the part of their race that was on the wall and the slower ones were on the wall when we got to the no-passing zones. This kept the overall pace within my range. (That said, after running up and down some 3000 steps, waiting in the queue at the top of each climb was a blessing!)

—

Jack Howell gratefully waiting in the queue.

This “Holiday Column” contains a bit of old news, not because the correspondents were in anyway careless or tardy, but because Dick Carr’s excellent travelogue last quarter claimed all available space. Here’s the “make-up.”

First, a news release, courtesy of Jo Anne Murphy-Grafflin: “Eighty revelers—family members, friends and classmates —gathered at the Marietta Conference Center and Resort in Marietta, GA on the weekend of February 23rd and 24th to help President-for-Life Joe DeSantis celebrate his 70th birthday.

“Joe (the Class of'59's second youngest) and Jo welcomed the generations of DeSantises led by his mother, who flew in from New Jersey, his sisters, his children and grandchildren, Sabre Society Donors Air Force and busi-ness colleagues and friends from all stages of his life. Don and Rowena Livingston, Doug and Jo Anne Grafflin and JackHundemer joined the festivities, which began with a reception and dinner at the gracious ante-bellum mansion, Brumby Hall and Gardens, site of the old Georgia Military Insti-tute. The evening continued at the Conference Center Pub, where said birthday boy showed the young folks a thing or two on the dance floor, doing the Electric Slide and the Twist! Not bad for a guy who went through the Nosebleed from Hell over the Holidays. The party concluded with Sunday Brunch and warmest wishes to Joe, as well as memories of a very special occasion.

Scribe’s note: Now that all three of the 1938 babies” (Todd, DeSantis and Zaleski) have attained the biblical three score and ten, the entire Class of 1959 has officially and entirely entered Geezerdom. Sip thee an Ovaltine and raise high thy cane!

Backin May, Bob Lowe reported, “I just returned from an eight-day whitewater rafting trip down the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon with my young Si & :

“This was the hardest physically I have ever run (climbed actually); I was walking funny for 3-4 days. The only way to pass during the race was to work as hard as you could on the wider stair climbing parts. In sum: Big Frog the fastest time ever for age 60 and older in the 5k on the Great Wall is held by a ’59er Small pond: The 5K has only been run since 2004. From 2004-2008, only 27 people age 60 and over finished the 5K. Most of those over 60 who make the trip run the longer races. This year alone, of the total 1,604 mnners, there were 26 people over 60 that finished the half-marathon and six that finished the full.

As I told our daughter, ‘Not many people my age are running this race,’ to which she replied, ‘Duh, Ya think? I wonder why!’"

—

“

”

“

94

Not your average 5Krun!

Finally, in September Bill Telford reported, “A small reunion was held at the Jefferson's beautiful home in Wintergreen, VA. Following our normal custom at such events, the men played golf on the first day and the ladies had a delightful lunch at a local restaurant. The golf match was kind of unique, in that we started offwith a ‘fivesome’ playing best ball, until a member couple behind us complained and we split up. Oh well, it was fun nonetheless.

“That night, I told Wayne that between the infamous ‘formation tee-off’ (choreographed by Hank Canterbury on the last reunion at Wayne’s club) and this incident, they might just cancel his mem-bership. It always seems that, wherever the ’59ers get together, there's some commotion.

“That first night, we all traveled to a local winery (Veritas) for a ‘Night under the Stars.’ We ate and drank and listened to a great band on the veranda of the winery. Lots of fun. The rest of the stay was spent catching up on news of the

gang and talk about the 50th reunion.

”

Ed Leonard wrote: "Suzanne and I just got back this evening from a weekend (September 26-27,2008) in San Diego where 'Segs4Vets' gave away 17 Segways to veterans from Iraq who lost one or both legs. Segs4Vets is a program run by Disability Rights Advocates for Technology, a501(c) (3) charitywhich has been awarded the Independent Charities Seal of Approval. It was an incredible ex-

perience, although I was somewhat concerned by the way they took to the machines and raced and, I mean raced around our training track, until a VA therapist pointed out that only a few -

-

-

-

months earlier they had been driving Hummers through mine fields. Segs4Vets plans on presenting an additional 40y Segways and carriers on Veterans Day at the Alamo and more in December (08) in Washington D.C.” Paul Sullivan attended his FAC reunion in Colorado Springs the first weekend of October ’08, and said “The convention hotel was the Crown Plaza, and 480 registered, including wives, sweethearts, kids, and Tom McGrain, ’69. The association meets every two years, and the next will be Dallas-Fort Worth 2010, and Tucson 2012. The dedication on Friday was superbly done. The memorial itself is lovely to look at and steeped in memories, camaraderie and history.

Colonel “Bud” Day, Medal of Honor winner for his leadership and courage while in captivity in North Vietnam, was principal speaker and gave his usual uplifting message. He was the first commander of the Misty Fast-FAC outfit, flying F- lOOFs when the mission got too hairy for the slow FACs in O-1 s, 0-2s and OV-lOs. (Don Shepherd (’62) co-wrote ‘Bury Us Upside Down’ and it's an excellent book).”

Attendees at the “Wintergreen Follies": Ann and Lou Kingsland, Linda and HTJohnson, Bonnie and Wayne Jefferson, Karen and Joe Morgan, Anna and Bill Telford, and Dennie and Trudy See.

Wendy and I wish you and yours a j oyous holiday seasonanda healthy, happy New Year. We hope to see EVERYONE at the 50th Reunion in April.

Thought for the Quarter: Aircraft limits exist only in case there is to be another flight by that particular aircraft. If subsequent flights do not appear likely, there are no limits.

AJ. (Rosie) Cler, Jr.

5423 Myrtle Wood

Sarasota, FL 34235-4624 Phone: (941) 371-4843 E-mail: RCtherose@aol.com

Class Web Site: www.usafa.ne1/l960

Bill Leninger's daughter, Dorene, married Marco DiNaro on August 1 st, 2008, in Albuquerque, NM. "It was a very nice affair, with the groom wearing black

and white shoes and a vest that had Mickey Mouse images in black and white.

His bow tie matched,” wrote Bill. “My son Tony, who performed the ceremony, also had a tie which matched the groom's. Dorene was absolutely beautiful, and it was a shame my late wife Ellen wasn't there, but Dorene's friends filled the void." (R: Bill’s wife, Ellen, died June 13,2004).

Ted Stumm died May25,2008 in Jacksonville, FL; and at 1430 hours on October3,2008,26xmembers of’60 joined Ted’s family for Interment at the Academy Cemetery: Bruce Mosier, Andi & Carole Biancur, Les Hobgood, Jim Glaza, George and Carolyn Luck, Ron & Connie Yates, Ed & Suzanne Leonard, Jon McClure, Bill Goodyear, George Fries, Dean Bristow, Les Querry, Wayne Kendall, Denis Walsh, Earl & PatVan Inwegen, George & Janet Collier, Dick Sexton, JockSchwank, Jim Waddle, Vic Yoakum and friend Suzanne Katsilas, Tom Seebode, Brian Kaley, Walt & Elaine Futch, Fred Porter, Paul Sullivan and Jim & Judy Bujalski. Ted’s former wife, Dona, sons Randy and James, their wives and Ted’s three grandchildren heard several members ofthe class relate short stories about their recollections of Ted, and the ceremony concluded with a rifle volley and Taps.

“This picture was taken in Washington, DC when Sally and I were there for a VFWfunction. Just so you know, the old and very distinguished looking gentleman in a suit and tie is Tony, and I—Deke Johnson—am the young, good looking sex symbol. Sally is not doing very well with the after-effects ofher chemotherapy and radiation. Her balance is poor and she uses a walker or a wheelchair. We still manage to travel a little, and went around Cape Horn in South America on a cruise last March and just got back from her high school class reunion in Waterloo, Iowa. I am headed back to the Academy for a Cotton Bowl Team reunion in November.”

“I have been holed up in Paxico, Kansas since May,” wrote Phil Meinhardt.

“I’m writing the memoirs of my deceased wife, Elizabeth, and just passed the 750-page mark, while living on a farm near my hometown of Paxico. Her first husband was shot down and missing in Vietnam for 11 years. Elizabeth wrote lots of letters, a journal each year and collected pertinent material, and I use ‘Dragon Naturally Speaking’ voice recognition software to dictate her letters and journals into my computer. Still, it takes me a week of 10 -12 hour days to finish one year of data; I just finished 1983, so I have 13 journals to go, and expect to complete the remainder in California. As I see it, the story is a very interesting and sad love story of Elizabeth and her husband, Colonel Don Singer (no relation to our classmate, Donald Edward Singer). At the same time, it is a review of about 50 years of history pertinent to our lifetime and has an anti-war tone. This will be my last major effort in life and my contribution to her four children and grandchildren. We are going to publish it and, of course, expect a Pulitzer Prize book and an Academy Award winning movie.” (R: In October, 2008, Phil moved with friend and realtor, Veronica Cocca, to Mill Valley, CA, close to San Quentin and Alcatraz Prisons, while Phil Roberts lives nearby in San Rafael, Charlie Liggett’s in Cupertino, Greg Boyington in Alameda and Lew Price in Garden Valley.)

Pete King, of Valparaiso, FL (north of Ft. Walton Beach), wrote that “Jon McClure stopped by and spent the night in late July. We had a great time drinking Jack Daniels and reminiscing about the old 12th squadron days, especially the antics of Brian Deem, Jim Mills and Mike Buchen. Jon’s recovering well from his prostate cancer surgery—Jon went to Detroit for some specialized surgery, post-op complications developed and he spent an extra couple of ”

weeks in the hospital.

Bill Zersen sent this photo of our "Northwest Passage Group" those in Washington State having another of their frequent get-togethers. This one observes the group as they assemble lemming-like along the dock on Septem--

—

95

ber 10th near the Tides Tavern restaurant in Gig Harbor, WA where they lunched.

Nels took everyone on a boat ride before departing for his condo in Tacoma, with the Lucks and Divers on board. (Left to Right: Bill Zersen, Nels Delisanti, Carolyn & George Luck, Ed & Suzanne Leonard, Charlie & Edie Diver, Vic Yoakum and friend Suzanne.)

the service great. Most of the time was spent in Eastern Europe since they had never been there

before, mainly because of the restrictions on Bmce from his previous occupations. They also spent time in Bavaria and the Alps. One of the

highlights was a visit to the old family brewery in Lichtenau that has been in continuous operation since 1489. They returned to Evergreen, CO, for a little elk hunting, fishing and getting ready for the ski season.

Henry and Peggy Howe enjoyed a five-day cruise in the Gulf, out of Houston in mid-October. He had spent almost a week in Houston after Hurricane Ike

“We sold our house in June and went out to Burbank, took a week at Lake Tahoe, and sat in the hospital while daughter Karen had her baby,’’ writes Bill Carnegie. “After a stop back home in Montville, NJ we went to Guatemala for a month to see our other granddaughter. Meanwhile, Karen brought the newest granddaughter, Cole, back to be baptized October 4th.We close on our new house in Frederick County, VA before Thanksgiving the view rivals the vista from Falcon Stadium; there is more expanse in Colorado, but there are mountains and trees in a 180-degree arc over 40-60 miles with a view of four states which is hard to beat.”

Regarding Bill Carnegie’s pitting ofVirginia’s views against those in Colorado, my friend and last-section E.E. cellmate George Pupich once told me: “It’s pretty hard to beat Colorado Rose.”

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Earl N. “Nelson” O’Rear 50582 Stonington Drive

Granger, IN 46530-8243 H: (574) 273-2597 E-mail: enoandtjo@gmail.com Class Web Site: www.usafal961.org Bob Best said that after more than two years of construction, Cathy and he are finally in their "last" new home. They had to move before Cathy's school year started, so they are still doing the finishing touches around them, as well as completing the landscaping. Bob thinks they have the most beautiful view in Arkansas. The welcome mat is out. He suggests going to visit them soon, before the economy forces them to convert to a Bed and Breakfast.

George Buchner and Doug McConnell rendezvoused for a trip to Oshkosh, WI, forthe annual July/August ExperimentalAircraftAssociation (EAA) fly-in.

Doug is a former President of the International Aerobatic Club, which is a division ofthe EAA These two former test pilots spent four days viewing and commiserating about the props and jets. The trip was capped off with Chardonnay and steak on Doug's deck overlooking the lake. George enjoyed seeing a B-25 since he flewffomWurtsmith AFB to Lowry AFB in aB-25 on July3,1957.

Jim Damauer observed a 50th anniversary for the Class of ’61 when he attended the wedding of his son Joel on Mount Tamalpias on June 8th. As he recalls, most of us visited the Nike site there in the summer of ’58. It was a nice site for a wedding and a happy occasion. While he is still working full time as an engineer on Bradley vehicles for BAE systems, Joy and he have been doing quite abit of traveling. In the last ten years, they have made eight trips overseas, and November ofthis year they are going around the world including the final voyage of the QE2 from England to Dubai. Jim doesn’t have any plans to retire yet, but he thinks about it.

Paul Dean had the privilege of singing with the fathers and sons of choir students at Trinity High School of Euless, TX, on October 20th. Since his son, Mike Dean, is the choir director, Paul was also invited Singing with a choir of 200 men reminded him of singing with the Academy choir. Trinity High School is noted for its diverse student population. Watching the Tongan students leading the football team in a Maori pre-game war chant (The Haka) is the highlight of the games. Trinity was the Division V state champion in football last year and is the top ranked team in Texas at the present. Paul just completed his 300th round of golf with the Twin Wells senior golf association in Irving and plans to stick around for several hundred more.

In September, Lou and Kate Hablas traveled to Rapid City, SD, to attend the 40th reunion ofthe 28th Wing Association. While there, they toured Ellsworth .

AFB, climbed into a B-1 bomber, and listened to a comprehensive briefing by the present wing commander. Five ofthe six-member B-52 crew Lou first flew with as a young copilot attended, due to the yeoman work of their former aircraft commander, Colonel Bennie Jew. It was a trip full of positive memories.

Pat and Bruce Hinds spent September and October in Europe. It was a good time to visit, with the improvement ofthedollarandthe lack of tourists making 96

running the CAP communications station while air crews completed the largest civilian photo mapping exercise ever for the State of Texas. The ground teams were busy shutting off the Emergency Locator Transmitters and the equivalent transmitters for boats in the area.

Lowell and Sandy Jones left Myrtle Beach, SC (after six weeks there) to head home, as they usually do, via the North Carolina and Virginia Blue Ridge Mountains, to enjoy the great foliage. Earlier, when they were at the Peachtree MiniReunion at Lake Lanier, GA, in April of this year, they found out from Frank and Patsy Kiszely that they have a "log cabin" in Blowing Rock, NC—only a few miles from where Lowell and Sandy would be camping. Since the Kiszelys were going to be there when the Joneses arrived on October 13th, they made plans and spent nearly two full days eating-out, shopping, and having a gourmet meal at the Kiszelys’. Bythewaythe "little log cabin" is a beautiful palace with an absolutely stunning view of the mountains and the Blue Ridge Parkway. Frank and Patsy were perfect hosts, and the Joneses now know why they spend a good part of every year there.

Jerry and Jo (Sucherman) Mason send along news ofjo's son, Todd, who is featured on the cover of both major drum magazines, Classic Drummer and Modern Drummer. Todd is the drummer

for the rock band Styx and for Brian Wilson, and has just released an instructional DVD that is garnering rave reviews.

PB O’Connor is proud of his little town of Caswell Beach, "Best Little Beach Town in America," as they hosted the riders of the Wounded Warrior Project. The riders finished their North Carolina "ride" at a Bar-B-Q sponsored by their community on October 25th. Mer and PB had the privilege of retiring their son Kevin and his wife, Cathie, from the USAF in August after 23 years of dedicated service.

Mary and J ohn Payne are still living a quiet life on the Eastern Shore of Mobile Bay at Daphne, AL. Mary still works, and John stays busy running errands, doing chores, working on the lawn, etc. They managed to dodge two more hurricanes this summer. However, due to Katrina in 2005, the home insurance rates have risen considerably. Some people a littie farther south of them have a problem even getting any insurance. For this and other reasons, they are considering moving a little farther north. John’s son, John, Jr, Major, USMC, is on a short tour in Iraq and hopes to be back in January. This is his fourth time in the area since 2003.

Jimmy Poole spent four days hiking the Appalachian Trail in late October.

After seeing “The Bucket List, he has begun to check off some ofthe things he intends to do before “old age” catches up.

After his recent appointment and participation, Terry Storm has been asked by many graduates and others to run for a ftill term on the AOG Board of Directors. After his key role in hiring T. Thompson, the new AOG CEO, he is needed to help T fully implement the Carver model of Modern Policy Governance that Terry introduced to the AOG, which definitely needs it. Please review the candidate information as you receive it and vote in the election after the first of the year; he requests you please vote for him and advise your graduate friends to do so. He asks that anyone who wants to discuss the Board and/or the candidates to call (719-476-8111) or email him at tstorm@ppar.org. He also requests thatyou contribute to the AOG’s Saber Society and Annual Fund. Both the AOG and USAFA need our support. ”

Jack Taylor reports that the Evergreen "Escadrille", i.e., Det. 1, USAFA61, in

Washington, gathered at the Taylors’ house in October for some "Pro Nobis" before everyone scattered and became occupied with the upcoming holiday and winter season.

The Hopps will go to Arizona for the winter in early December, while the rest of them rust and grow moss. So they had a nice dinner to send them off. Normally, maximum attendance for a detachment event would number 11, in-

eluding wives; however, they could muster only eight since Oly and Betsy Komamitsky were in Utah, and Holly Kerr was checking on the daughter now residing and working in NYC. Attendingwere Art Kerr, Gene and Annette Hopp, Corky and Pat Cochrane, Dick McMonigal, and Jack and Linda Taylor. In addition to a delicious dinner, they swapped updates on the families, and watched a DVD of Gene and Annette' s recent Viking Cruise / Volga / Russia river cruise, produced by a Russian tour leader on their summer trip to the Gulag. Annette retired as a flight attendant from Delta at the end of October, with more flying time than Gene. They also discussed the idea of joining everyone next year at the mini reunion in the other Washington and hope to do that. Everyone else is fine and keeping busy.

Bob and Winnie Wagner took a 16-day river cruise in July/August from St Petersburg to Moscow. Four days each in St Petersburg and Moscow and a nice time down the Volga waterway. Great sights. One highlight was standing in Red

Square facing the Lenin tomb, with a brightly painted St. Basil's to their left and the Gum store (now with religious icons on the facade) to their rear. Their tour guides stated that 80 percent of the country's wealth is concentrated in Moscow and lOn percent in St. Petersburg. In October they joined friends in San Francisco for birthday celebrations, and spent two days on the floor ofYosemite Valley and three at Lake Tahoe. They were blessed with beautiful weather on both trips.

Nelson andTeri O’Rear enjoyed their Rhine River cruise in August/September. The 16-day cruise originated in Switzerland and ended in Belgium, also visiting cities in France, Germany, and The Netherlands along the way. Visiting Anne Frank’s house in Amsterdam and hearing stories of how the Nazis decimated the Jewish population in that town from 125,000 before the war to about 4,000 afterwards refreshed their memories of the brutality. They also saw the area where Audie Murphy won his Medal of Honor during a winter—not summer, as the movie depicted—battle and visited Arnhem, of A Bridge Too Far fame. Two fellow passengers had lived in Holland during that war. One day, two German soldiers went to the home of the uncle of one and shot him to

death for being part ofthe underground then. Nelson and Teri had anticipated the beautiful sights, but not the history lessons, that came with their trip.

Thanks to all who shared. It is always nice to catch up.

John W. “Jack” Jamba 4 Judy Court

Satellite Beach, FL 32937 H: (321) 777-5520 0: (321) 861-6279

Cell: (321) 432-1370 E-Mail: jwjamba@aol.com

Here’s an interesting item. Got a call and email from Stew Lingley, USNA ’62.

“Hi Jack, We (USNA 62) had 137 NAPSters, Naval Academy Prep School, students start with us, 103 of whom graduated. Earlier this year, they had a 50th reunion oftheir graduation from NAPS in 58.1 am the list keeper for the USNA 62, so I was helping them with contact information. According to the list keeper for NAPS 58, there were about 27 of their classmates who attended USAFA. Do you know who they are, and can you a share their contact information with the NAPS coordinator?

Tom Moore is the brother of my sister's husband. He gave me your contact information. Stew Lingley, USNA 62,703-5560144, McLean VA.” I sent this information to the Redtag Net. So far, Carl Bolster has admitted graduating from NAPS. Any one else interested in fessin’ up? Don’t worry, it won’t hurt Sabre Society Donors your promotion chances... I think.

Speaking about the Redtag Net, I want to thank Owen Hawkins on behalf ofthe Redtags for sponsoring the Redtag Net for us. His time and effort are greatiy appreciated. It makes communicating with classmates infinitely better. Well Done Owen!!

On August 3 1 George Thompson and Chuck Cheeseman, with George’s sonin-law whose name I didn’t catch with all the noise around, met up with Colin Richardson and me in a local blues bar & grill. After a while, a blues band started playing and I didn’t catch very much ofthe ensuing conversation. The accompanying picture shows the waitress depicting the length or width of something that I also didn’t catch. But with Colin, George and Chuck contrib uting, I probably couldn’t print most of the conversation anyway.

A1 Sigman dropped me an email. He read in my last column that some Redtags

visited the old Academy at Lowry: “Jack, I noted in Checkpoints that several Red Tags visited Lowry on the 50th anniversary of our arrival there. I wish I had known about their plans. I am in my 5 th year as Director of Real Estate for the

Lowry Redevelopmen t Authority. I handle all of the sales of Lowry property to residential and commercial builders. It is a real treat to be involved in the transformation of the base to a civilian community. The changes are quite dramatic and we have been fortunate to be considered one of the real success stories of base redevelopment.

“Not many of the buildings are left on the old Academy site. The Commandant’s Building is still there and was designated a Historical Building last year. About a dozen Grads from the first four classes attended the ceremony. The Quadrangle is still there but the dorms are gone. The Chapel has been moved to the west part of Lowry adjacent to the Town Center. It is now used for public meetings. A few of the academic buildings are still standing.

There is a "Lowry Room" in the Wings Museum that is full of items from the early Academy years such as copies of Contrails and the original uniforms.

There are class pictures of the first four classes hanging on the wall.

“Both ’59 and ’61 had gatherings here to commemorate the 50th anniversaries of their arrivals at Lowry. I got to see quite a few of the" old guys" and they were glad to have another opportunity to chew out an" RTB." “I know we put this in the class news several years ago but I would like to renew the invitation to visit Lowry to anyone in or passing through the area. I expect I will be working at Lowry until late in 2009. Thanks again for all of the work you have done for the RTBs. A1 Sigman” Three Redtag couples spent time at Marble, CO in the summer. Enjoying the waterfall from left are Jim and Penny Mack, Carol Staples, Rose and Don Shepperd, and Jon Staples.

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Got this from Ed Martinelli this summer. “Hey. Has anyone heard how Lo-

gan Babin and his family have made out? His hometown Houma was right on Gustav's path. And how did Tom Young weather the storm?” Mike Quinton heard from Logan and put the email on the Redtag Net. To wit: “Anne and I are -

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back in Houma now. We still do not have electricity at our home though we have a generator that supplies our power needs. Our office is up and running with minimal damage (one window blown in). Thank you for your thoughts and prayers. It could have been a lot worse.”

I can sympathize with Logan. Our town of Satellite Beach got over 24 inches

of rain when Tropical Storm Fay wandered through. Luckily my street is not in a low point so we had no flooding in the area. I’m sure Colin Richardson heard a lot of

Let’s just assume it was a fish story. Besides that, we had a good time together.

George was on a whirlwind tour of the country trying to visit as many friends and family as possible before heading back to Russia.

On the 50th anniversary of our entrance into U SAFA, a contingent of Redtags drove down to Lowry to take some pictures of the remnants of the USAFA site there. Here’s Jim Mack’s report: “Hi Jack, We had seven guys trundle up to Lowry and the remains of our world of 50 years ago for the picture seen.

The steely-eyed vets from left are Bob McNaughton, Huck Spory, KB Clark, Bo Ohman, PK Robinson, Rip Blaisdell and Jim Mack. Wish you all could have been there. The manager/caretaker of the Lowry Aviation Museum gave us a special tour. Fun day w/lots of stories, some true. Jim”

people blaming it all on Global Warming which probably raised the hair on his head, all 200 strands of it. Just kidding with you, Colin.

I have a picture from a gathering in Southern California. I lost the verbiage but I think it was hosted by Mike Quinton in San Diego. (See photo at top of next column.

John Flanagan writes: “Marijo and I are once again, 7th year, hosting the pre

Army-Air Force game dinner in New York City. We welcome the Superintendent, his staff, and the CEO of the AOG to the Union League Club. Air Force ”

should win.

From ChuckAllport: “ChuckAllport has left the academic world and is sup-

porting the Air Force at WPAFB in their aggressive effort to get a substantial proportion of required aviation fuel from domestic synthetic sources CTL, coal-to-liquid.”

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ceremony for the Forward Air Controller (FAC) Memorial. We were there to honor those FACs who made the ultimate sacrifice and most poignant to us were the names of our classmates chiseled into the memorial: Park Bunker, Bob Rex and Doug Butterfield. Members of Doug Butterfield’s family were at the dedication and participated as well in our reunion events. Lou Matjasko reported Doug's family was thrilled by all the classmates they met and the stories shared about Doug. It far exceeded their expectations and they were so glad they came.

Cammie Harris (USAFA ’88), Doug's daughter, was there with her husband Rob

(USAFA ’93), son of our Rufus (Waltzing Matilda) Harris, and their children Drew and Abby. Doug's sister, Lynn Maras, and his aunt, Mary Douglas Mullins (Auntie Doug), were also there. Auntie Doug loved it so much she has committed to be at our 50th. Shewillbe95then. Theywere graciously hosted by Jimmie

From left are Dave Bockelman, Willie Holbrow, Russ Goodenough, Charlie

Hale, Roger Smith and Mike Quinton.

That about wraps it up. It should be Christmas or later by the time you read this. So a Merry Christmas and Happy NewYear to you all. Please drop me a card and/or note. Go Redtags! Jack

Norman I.

Butler and the FAC Committee. They also were hosted by 11th Squadron at an informal get together and remembrance. The final highlight of their visit was their introduction by Bob Hayes to the class at our Friday banquet and the subsequentvisits and stories from more classmates ofDoug. “Fantastic job classmates for making Doug's family feel most welcome, and Cammie hearing for the first time about her father from his friends.”

(Skip) Lee

63119 E. Cat Claw Lane

Tucson, AZ 85739-2058 Home: (520) 825-7980 Cell: (520) 241-3498 E-mail: 54wrs@msn.com

The Reunion is over and it was a super event—except for the football game.

Every time we gather I look forward to spending quality time having a nice long chat with everyone catching up and hearing what you think about things. Al-

though that doesn’t seem to happen it was indeed a great pleasure to have at least said hello, to have exchanged a few words and to shake hands. The Class of 1963 is made up of one great group of guys.

During the Memorial Ceremony we honored two of our classmates whose deaths were not known to us when the last version ofthis column was written.

In late September the AOG notified us of Stu Fenske’s passing on the 28th of

August. A service will be held for Stu at the USAFA Protestant Chapel on 29 Dec 2008. The service will begin at 1000 hrs. At about the same time we learned of the death of Don Gordon who passed away on the 24th ofAugust in Bradenton, FT. Don’s Family has asked that, in lieu of flowers, donations be made to the Manatee Sailing Association, In Memory of Don Gordon, PO Box 14482, Bradenton. FL34280. Condolences maybe sentto his family in care of his wife, Gail: Mrs. Gail Gordon, 510919th AveW,

Bradenton, FT 34209-5039 A note from Diff on the Reunion: “Greetings Gents: If you

missed the 45th, you missed another good one. 219 of413 remaining attended; that's a nice turnout. I don't suppose we'll ever see 90+%, but maybe for the 50th we can all get after our classmates who have not attended a reunion. The high-

light for me was, as always, the Memorial Service. There's something about the cup ceremony that really strikes a high note in the weekend. I am convinced that ceremony must endure as long as we are able to make it

happen; and, I knowthose who attended agree; many of you told me so. I will not repeat my "thank-yous" in this column having done so during the class meeting; however, I will again single out one individual for his continued effort on behalf of’63; Bob Hayes has made it happen. Speakingfor the class, Bob THANKYOU! Randy Reynolds briefed the class on progress made by the Cup Committee; the options have been narrowed and soon you will be asked to vote on the remaining options as to the final disposition of the class cups. There was good feedback from those attending the class meeting.

It's possible the final disposition of the cups can be tied into a class gifting project aimed at the 50th. Drue DeBerry has been working on the gifting issue for some time now. He gave a most informative briefing on ideas for such a gift.

I will be organizing a Committee to work this issue. My intent is to have the Cups and Gifting Committees working together to reach an acceptable and lasting gift from the class. Please stay tuned.

A recent exchange of e-mails between Bill Wecker, Art Johnson, and Drue DeBerry followed up on the Class Gift discussion. What may be especially helpful to us is to understand how our funds for a gift would be managed by the AOG or the USAFA Endowment, Inc. Maybe we can go into some detail at a later date. If you want to get in on the dialogue and Drue encourages all of us who have anything to add please do so. The best place to start is with Drue who is reachable via e-mail at drue.deberry@comcast.net.

Reunion events started very early on Thursday with the Golf Tournament and I heard the winners were announced by J erry McClellan Thursday evening.

Winning or losing didn’t matter that much after our team was forced off the course while on the 17th hole, because of a late morning thunderstorm. What was important was we had fun!

Friday morning found many of us from the Class attending the dedication

Lunch after theFACMemorial Dedication. Clockwise from the front are George Frederick, Sharon Frederick, Karen Matjasko, Lou Matjasko, Mary Douglas Mullins (Doug’s Aunt), Lynn Maras (Doug’s Sister), Ralph Bacue, and Mike

Foley.

Friday was a very eventful day. The FAC Memorial Dedication was followed right after lunch by the USAFA Leadership Team briefing that left us with a very positive outlook for the Academy’s future. One subject that came up in their briefing also came up later in our Class Business Meeting: the Center for Character Development—you should hear more of this item in later columns. At the Class Briefing a decision was made to hold th e 50th Reunion earlier in the football season rather than chance the cold that many times accompanies the Army Football Game in November. After the meeting was adjourned we all trooped across the Terrazzo to the Chapel in quickening darkness amidst gusty winds, lightning and thunder to attend the Class Memorial Ceremony. This Ceremony always makes the entire trip for me. Fully understanding that the numbers are greater every time we gather I still wish that we could find a way to mention each classmate who has gone before and not just those who left us in the past five years. I know it is not practical but it just seems right. The gala Class Social and Dinner capped a very busy and emotional day.

While wandering around the various reunion venues I was able to snap a number of photographs.

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Dietz, McCollum, Anway and Neff; look at all thathair.

,11If ©4 W *

|| ifcf

Bob Hovde 206 Walker Ave.

Huntsville, AL 35801

(H) (256) 532-3923 (M) (256) 348-9794 bob@hovde.us

Reunion Information (November 4-7,2009) The first planning meeting for the 45 th Reunion took place in August. The Colorado contingent of the -

Class of ’64 (classmates and spouses) got together for dinner and the first planning meeting for the 45th reunion at the home of Jay and Marty Kelley in Colorado Springs. The reunion is scheduled for November 4-7,2009. Great progress was made and the schedule is

pretty well set. The reunion

will wrap around the Army game, set for November 7,2009.

Attending the meeting was Howie Cohen, Dave Samuel, Sam Schulz, Tom Jobin, Thad Wolfe, Tom Morris, John Sowers, Jerry Butler, Rick Walsh, Bob Beverly, John Boles, Doug Jenkins, DJ Alberts, Pete luPresti, Bob Thomas, Bruce Fister, John Iurber, Wally Wolniewicz, Rod Wells, Jay Kelley and all the spouses. Some came from as far away as Longmont, Boulder andWestcliff. (As usual, a couple of people didn’t make the picture.) A second meeting will take place in midDecember at the Antlers Hotel.

Drue and Jim W; which one is telling the story?

The rest of my pictures (about 50 or so) will get organized and then sent to Gil Merkle for inclusion in the Class Web Site. I really encourage all of you to put together your photographs of the events and your stories/observations and send them to Gil. He has a spot on the Web Site reserved for the 45th reunion.

Gil’s e-mail is merkleg@texas.net.

Ifyou haven’t already heard it, the story of finding and returning Pat Wynne’s Class Ring is fascinating and is certainly worth telling and preserving. TJnfortunately, it could never fit in this column but thanks to Joe Lee Burns and Gil it can be found on the Class Web Site http: / / www.usafa63.org.

Non-reunion note: Fred Malmstrom (’64) asked that I send this to all ofyou who may have attended the United States Military Academy Prep School (USMAPS) and were members of the 1959 Class. He will be happy to either email or mail a CD copy of the Challenge. Reach Fred at fred.malmstrom@ usafa.edu if you are interested.

Reunion Planning: Feed them and they will come

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even fora

planning

meeting!

The USAFA AOG provides many services for reunions and the committee will take full advantage of the help. We’ll probably have a reunion website on the USAFA.ORG site for information, registration, etc. The Class of 64 headquarters for the reunion will again be the Antlers Hotel in Colorado Springs.

Tentative plans include an informal social at Jack Quinn’s Wednesday night, golf/ shopping on Thursday followed by a Class dinner Thursday night at the Garden of the Gods Club, a prayer breakfast Friday morning, a memorial service (perhaps at the Mall of Heroes), Class banquet, tailgate (sponsored by the Athletic Department), and the Army game. The venues and schedules are pretty much the same as at for the 40th, which was a great reunion. Mainly, there’s plenty of time for getting reacquainted “It was 1969. There I was.... After the December planning meeting, we should all be getting more complete (accurate?) information. If anyone needs more information now, contact Rod Wells He’s looking for volunteers to work on committees.

DC Group: Fred Gregory sent in the picture of his annual DC-area minireunion just to prove they’re all still there. He also reported that he’s the proud grandpa to two grandkids at USAFA Scott Gregory 11 and his sister Caitlin Gregory 12. One more, Taylor Skeens could be in T7. ”

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Bob confirms the Healy really is his cadet car.

Bob Hall sent the above photo back in late August. He and Shirley hosted a “mini-reunion” for all Golden Boys in the DC area on June 7,2008 (Bob and Shirley’s 45th wedding anniversary). Pictured in front of their 19 th century Victorian home, the “Hall House”, and behind Bob’s original 1962Austin-Healey (cadet car), are the attendees. From left are Devere Henderson, Barry Walrath, Jim Johnston, Joe Hicks, Gerry Westerbeck, Dick Guild, Jim Hannam, Gene Rosendahl, Pete Ognibene, Dean Hess, Larry Eastman, and Bob Hall.

Once again I sincerely thank all of you for your kind words about this Class News column. It has been for these 38 years a labor of love and will continue so. The comments and support are truly appreciated. I would also like to thank all ofyou who have submitted inputs to me over these many years. They make the column what it is so please, keep them coming.

In summary, it was a greatreunion and Bob, Denny and the Committee deserve our heartfelt thanks for a job well done.

OK, we are done for now and remember it is not too soon to start talking up the 50th!

How did those old guys get such pretty wives?

Travels: Don and Marilyn Graham took a two-week trip to Los Angeles to visit Marilyn’s sister and family. On the way, he arranged a layover in Denver to visit with Howie and Penny Cohen. Although Don doesn’t mind visiting Colo rado during the summer, he would like to point out that November 7th is WIN-

TER in Colorado.

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I am telling you gents, if you haven’t been to a game recently, it will get those

passions up and juices moving and you be twenty years old all over again.

Take a kid with you.

Mark Johnson: “On the third weekend in October the Dirty Thirty from Sixth Squadron gathered in Nashville, TN. As usual the stories of daring do abounded and they seemed to be even more so since the last gathering. We were all extremely indebted to our wives for once again indulging us. The first

Dirty Thirty "Corn Hole" tournament was won by the southern California team of Big Wood and Big Al. The protestations of irregularities from the Pacific Northwest team ofMike Chorvat and Bob Hanley were quickly "fixed" and then dismissed by an unnamed judge from Chicago. Showing our up to date technological abilities we were able to pull of a live video conference call via Skype with Neil Jacobs and to prove there was still a bit of mischief left in our souls there was a post gathering raid on the home of John Tankersley by Joe Britan and Rick Shuey. Well received I was told. A great time was had by ever

Grahams and Cohens in Denver. Note: Outdoors, short sleeves, SUMMER.

Working Part-Time Denny Madl wrote that he’s still working part time at IDA-partlyin Virginia and partly athome in Denton, TX. Denny said, “Itwas beginning to get a little old, but the last year from a 403 (b) perspective has -

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all.” Thanks Mark!

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made it seem a bit less so. Plus, I like the folks I work with more so than the actual work. By the way, Lynn and I were in Seattle for a reunion of Lynn's dietetic internship class in July. We stopped by and spent an evening/morningwith Jeanne Wittress. All things considered, she's doing pretty well. Back working as a contractor to Boeing. Bill was my roommate for several years, and I was one of just a couple of folks at their wedding.

After I told Denny I was now retired and we were travelling some, he replied, “You didn't really have to stop working to travel. I am working about 36-40 weeks a year, 2/3 here in Texas at home. The rest of the time, we've been traipsing around a bit but no Europe since June 2000 (when the Euro was listed on prices, but not in use at the retail level and was worth $0.85). We spend two weeks a year in Mexico, and the rest varies one-week trips to Colorado, Missouri, Ohio, Wisconsin, Orlando, etc. Lynn wants to do a week or two in Tuscany, so we'll probably fit that in-and I want to getbackto central Europe (Czech, Germany and Austria) during the Christmas Markets season sometime soonother than the cold weather, I think that is Europe at its best.”

Retired Now that I’m fully retired, I’ve discovered I still don’t have time to play golf. I’m not sure how I even found time to work, before. Sandy and I just ”

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returned from a river cruise on the Danube (Hungary, Austria, Germany and Czech Republic) with several friends and we’re going to Colorado Springs and Albuquerque over Thanksgiving. (Denny, the Euro isn’t $0.85 anymore. It’s more like $1.35!) Anyway, in between trips, I’m getting some time in the shop-turning bowls and pens for Christmas presents.

Remember! 4-7 Nov 09; 45th Reunion; Colorado Springs; Be there!

Standing left are Loren Pool, Mike Chorvat, Bob Tindall, Bob Hanley, Bob Zepecki, Al Pfeltz, Bob McCollough, Larry Casey, and Max Creamer. Sitting: RickShuey, Joe Britan, ChuckWood, RoyKilgore, BillCathey, andMarkJohnson.

Went to West Point this past weekend to savor the Fall color of New England,

the majesty ofthe Hudson River Valley and the ancient grandeur of our sister Academy. The Black Knights played hard, but were dominated by a determined Falcon team. Looked hard but could not recognize a single classmate among the many geezers in the crowd.

Whoever was responsible atWooPoo had simply NOT prepared for the45,000+ fans who showed up. The facilities were overwhelmed and folks who had arrived in the vicinity hours before kickoff were unable to get through the chokepoints to the stadium until well after the game had started. After the contest was over, it was several hours before many could reach their cars, parked by necessity outside the gate along the highway. Some Army people noted that accessibility for big crowds was the reason that the Army-Navy game is played in Philadelphia. It must be time for future Air

Rick Zurbrugg 2929 Gavin Place

Duluth, GA 30096

(770) 476-4437 E-mail: ezurb@bellsouth.net

Hey ’65, Well, the best part of this column is no “transitions to eternity” that are known to me as of the date ofthis writing October 31 st. Anytime a quarter passes and one of us doesn’t, it is a blessing indeed. Which brings me to “places to see” before you croak. The Goodwife and I decided that we didn’t want to be the only folks left who hadn’t been to Yellowstone. So, we drove to Wyoming via Colorado Springs and caught the season opener against Southern Utah. As we were taking seats for the game, who should be introduced as Honorary Team Captain for the game—Class President Bart Holaday (Remember those last-second field goals he made to beat U. ofWashington two years in a row?) .

Force-Army games to be played at AFA or in a neutral location—remember Soldier Field in Chicago in 1965?

Parting Shots: Took some heat over the “personal dating biography” that appeared in the last column, but a widower classmate was interested and connected with the lady. They had a lovely dinner together but did not become an item. One cannot help but feel good about bringing together two people we care about who have lost their life partners prematurely.

Had a chance to talk to one time classmate Anthony Zinnanti, 23rd Sqdn, now a highly successful serial entrepreneur in Florida. Tony made it to the 35th reunion, had a great time, and retains that terrific sense of humor that

made him such a memorable character as a cadet. An excellent picture of Tony and his wife appears at marinamedical.com (under “company”).

A ’63er from good ol’ 21st Sqdn paid your humble scribe a huge favor re-

cently by sharing his memoir written for his grandchildren. Without lapsing into psychobabble and certainly acknowledging his fine writing skills, my reading of these reminiscences were in equal measure entertaining and sort of therapeutic. Just imagine reading the memoirs of an upper classman whom you respected (and admired) as a cadet. The point is that we are probably at the memoir stage and while your grandchildren may only think of you as a really funny guy, but sometimes a controlling and crotchety grouch, your greatgrandchildren (and maybe some of your contemporaries) maybe totally mesmerized by your life memories. Consider writing a memoir for them.

Feel a need for some drama in your life? May we suggest “Take the A’ Train” downtown from Lincoln Center on a Halloween about 2330 when the party-

AFA football great Steve Amdor, D-S, Honorary Team Captain 2008 Bart

Holaday (Aug30,2008).

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hardy crowd is out in full costume. Never been in orbit or in combat, but this could be a distant third. Ain’t nothin’ like the Big Apple.

Be well, walk a mile or more with someone you love every day, and keep in touch. And as the Roc would say, “Cheers”. Rick

count towards the aging process—it’s a “freebie”. Of course, if that were com-

Ryan Denny 1635 Mary Todd Lane O’Fallon, IL 62269 H: (618) 624-4255 W: (314) 232-5117 E-mail: ryanden@aol.com

pletely true, he wouldn't have aged a day since he retired.

Greetings, Redtags! By the time you read this, we will have elected a new president and congress, and maybe we’ll have started to climb out of the economic hole we’ve been in. Remember Change is good! (I know, you’re still —

mad at all those classes who got to go home for Christmas, doolie year.) Even if you don’t like the outcome of the elecdons, at least we won’t have to listen to all those campaign ads for another four years. OK, I might have to keep on working for a few extra years until my 401k grows up again, but I was probably looking for an excuse to do that anyway.

(You can always find a pony, if you look hard enough.)

Speaking of looking hard enough, Ross Detwiler saw the picture of Dan Cecil’s family in the last edition of Checkpoints and searched through his personal archives to find this vintage picture of Dan and his “other” family. Ross thought that Dan was leaning in towards him a little more than necessary, but didn’t say anything at the time because he attributed Dan’s unbalance to his missing little finger.

Redtags in Yellowstone, using their survival skills. DickBorowski (fisherman), MartyDaack (fly-tier andjoke teller), VicAndrews (newguy), and Rusty Gideon (tour guide).

Larry Bagley called the other day and graciously volunteered to help with this quarterly newsletter. Larry is now semi-retired (OK, maybe 90% retired) and living in the Colorado Springs area—which is where a lot of our class lives.

So, if you can’t remember my e-mail, or you see Larry at some event, give him an update on what you are doing. Gary Palmer has been providing the same kind of help from the DC area, and Kenny Boone must never leave his house without a camera. Without the regular help from these folks, and the irregular updates from many others, this newsletter would be mostly fiction and crayon drawings from my grandkids. So keep those cards and letters coming! Until next time... Happy Landings!

Larry Wilson 13100 Pinehurst Ave. NE

Albuquerque, NM 87111 H: (505) 291-8949 E-mail: Lwilsn628@aol.com

Greetings one and all

-

as I write

this, it is fall, and I am experiencing more of

the fall stuff than I have in some years, as I have been in Minnesota and North

Dakota for a few weeks. To my great pleasure the weather has been absolutely glorious: temps in the 50-60 range, clear skies, little wind. The colors have been spectacular, especially when contrasted to the muted colors of autumn in the desert southwest. But a range of input this -

Classof’66was themajorityin this F-100 Class at Luke in 1967. Standing: Art Suro, three instructors, TomMeschko (65), LacyVeach, instructor. Kneeling: Tom Reiser, Wendell Cook, instructor, Dale Fowler, “Wheels” Fornal, Ross Detwiler, Dan Cecil.

Jean Brost, whose husband, Bob, passed away earlier this year, attended this year’s USAFAHomecomingandMemorial Service, accompanied by Hans Mueh and Rick Parsons. Jean said, “The AOG and Academy did a super job of making me feel welcome and

special because of one very-special guy, Bob. Since I started dating Bob while he was a first classman, I felt it was my homecoming, too. I continue to hear from Bob’s classmates with lots oflove and caring—and mostofall, manymemoriesofgreatfriends. I visited the cemetery again and am impressed with what a big part of the new pavilion that '66 was—a wonderful contribution that will serve so many for years to come.” Thanks, Jean, for that great testimony to the real meaning of ’66, blood that sticks”. “

-

time

-

so away we go.

First of all as I write this, AF is pretty much fresh off its football win over Army. I understand it was not pretty, but -

-

as the

saying goes a kill’s a kill. The loss to Navy was so disappointing. How many teams have two two!! punts -

-

-

blocked, and run in for TDs. Oh well. As it turns out, there

joy in AF Mudville as the Air Force men's soccer team in Sept defeated Navy for the first time since 1984.

On the golf front—John Olive, five-time Colorado state golf champion, placed fifth this year and won the Super Senior title. Meanwhile, Roger Carleton is seeking to recapture his former game and is receiving lessons from Ralph

was some

Femrite.

Beau Crosby and wife, Kathy Endres, spent some time this past summer in a

small town in northern New Mexico on a sort of working/ volunteer vacation.

He spent two months working with the local fire department crews, on ambulance responses, transfers and other emergency response activities and also managed to squeeze in some trout fishing in the streams along the Colorado border. Well done Beau-forthevolunteerservice, andforreleasingyourlunkers -

maybe I will one day find one.

The CS-07 group gathered in San Antonio for one of their periodic squadron reunions, with much ofthe local setup by Rick and Carmen Rodriguez. A good time was had by all “.. .the margaritas, barbeques, and accompanying fare were great... As always, we sat around and shared memories of‘days gone by’ and hopes for days yet to come. No doubt the tales ofhow tough things used to be etc are getting better and better with each telling. (See photo at the top of so

—

”

the next column.)

Hans Mueh, Jean Brost, and Rick Parsons at the Memorial Service held dur-

Ken Sprout sent a nice note, to help us catch up on his activities since he left

ing the recent USAFA Homecoming.

Rusty Gideon organized the ’66 annual fishing trip to Yellowstone to try to outsmart the elusiveYellowstone Cutthroat Trout. Recently retired Vic Andrews was the newest addition to Rusty’s intrepid band of brothers, which included Marty Daack, and Dick Borowski. The group “had a great time introducing Vic to the manly art of fly fishing. Rusty claims that a day of fishing does not

Swaziland after contracting malaria in 2004. There he had been taking care of adults with AIDS and/or TB depressing realities in the ThirdWorld that ineludes much of Africa. He returned to Indiana where he engaged in family support, volunteer work in a free medical clinic, and adult education. He is now in his fourth term “.. .primarily teaching human physiology for pre-nursing students, students in nursing school, and a few other students hoping to get

”

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101

one

neighbor

-

if you’re looking for a place to spend eternity you can’t do

better than this! To most if not all of us this endeavor brought a sense of closure.

Not that something was over but that we did something we had to do.

In doing so we brought life and significance to a very special place...”

Bob Muldrow sent some notes following lim Davies' fimeral. At the service, two of jim’s old friends spoke about lim's life. “The first was a neighbor friend who had known the family for almost 40 years. They were both fighter pilots; but both were renaissance men in that they had a love of the arts, especially music. They would play anywhere: rock, jazz, classical. He relayed some

The CS-07 San Antonio Group. From left are Pete & Debbie Milne, Bruce &

Stormy McDonald, George & Pat Frushour, Len& Betty Vernamonti, Ven & Dianne Hammonds, Rick & Carmen Rodriguez, Bill & Jeanni Gerber. into a medical field of some sort. I absolutely LOVE teaching these young folks...” He has cut back some on his teaching and"... after so many years out in the world, I now get to help and watch my grandchildren grow up... Having said all that, he hopes to one day to return to Africa as he “.. .left a good bit of my heart and a lot of Ethiopian friends there when I had to return to the U.S. in 2004...” Thanks Ken, and God speed on your current and future journeys, ”

here and abroad.

From RP Miller: Eric Thorson continues to serve in challenging roles in the Federal Government on Sep 22 he was sworn in as Inspector General of the Department of Treasury, moving up from his previous position as IG of Small Business Administration. More likely to follow on Eric and his career.

Another quick input: for those of us who take (more) time for pleasure reading, there is a new book out about a climb of Mt McKinley where about five guys lost their lives. Paul Schlichter was on that climb and he is mentioned a fair amount.

Chuck Beattie and Paula have done a bit of traveling these past months, to garden spots including The Corner in Winslow, AZ (you know, “Standin’ on a corner in Winslow Arizona... ”). We too regularly stop there in our travels that direction. Here is documentary evidence of the Beatties at that landmark.

very nice stories oftheir times together. Al Pichon, who came in from Florida, was a roomy with Jim in "Tough Two." Al made the hardships our class encountered that first year to be what steeled those classmates together for life...

Jim flew F- 100s in Vietnam and was shot down and injured... Everyone who knew him was very flattering about his positive attitude toward life, even at the very end. His wife of almost 40 years and two daughters attended the service...” along with friends and squadron mates. Another nice tribute, to another of our fallen comrades.

It is likely no surprise that the AOG is having issues related to funding and investments, just like the rest of us. Thanks to our class reps for their fine job of keeping us apprised on these tough issues. I encourage all to communicate directly with the AOG, our class reps on the AOG and class senate, and classmates living in the Colorado Springs area who keep a pretty good finger on the pulse of the happenings.

I have more input, and alas no more space.

As I write this soon we will have a new President- elect, with promises of --

—

change. For the better, I hope. God bless the troops. God bless America.

-

Chuck and Paula Beattie, Standin’on the Corner.

There was a gathering recently, of CS-13 friends of Gary Lorenz. You may recall that he was missing at the time of our2007 reunion. What follows is some of the description of the memorial for Gary: About 25 neighbors and classmates and their wives traveled to the remote ridge where Gary’s body was found.

They hauled in equipment to attach the plaque (see below) to a rock face.

“Gary’s resting place was one of exceptional beauty. Perched in an Aspen grove with wonderful views of an extraordinary piece of Colorado. To paraphrase

Tim Davidson

9712 Hidden Valley Road

Vienna, VA 22181-6094

(703) 255-5313 Fax: (703) 255-5377 E-mail: timd@erols.com

HELLO ’68! Many thanks to Gene Rose and our 40th Reunion Committee

for producing a veritable five-star event! It was a profoundly wonderful gathering of USAFA’s greatest class!

”

“Proud Parents at White Coat Ceremony. From left are Maurice, Antonia, and Melanie Ecung with Marlee and Al Price.

IS THERE A DOCTOR IN THE HOUSE? Maurice Ecung sent a photo taken

during a proud-parent moment following his daughter Melanie’s “White Coat” ceremony. Melanie is a member of USAFA’s Class of2001 and is now in her second year at Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta. Maurice said he is comfortable in the knowledge that surrogate parents Al and Marlee Price will only be a few minutes away in case his lovely doctor-in-training needs a little TLC. Congrats to Mel and the Ecung family on this fantastic accomplishment!

CLASSMATE STRADDLES CITIES TO BLEND WORK AND HOME LIFE: Greg Varhall checked in with a few more >kci. frequent flyer miles than he would care to mention. With wife, Linda (USAFA ’84), still in the Air Force and subject to 32 Sabre Sociei changes of domicile, Greg is now doing the non-Air Force Donors spouse shuttle every couple of weeks between a humble Northern Virginia apartment, while he works for ANSER, to a home in San Antonio when Linda is not on the road as the Director of Intel.

CS-13’s memorial to fallen warrior Gary Lorenz.

102

m e.

ligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) Operations at the Air Force ISR Agency. Linda’s responsibility includes working with 14,000 people from Germany through the CONUS to Western Australia. As luck would have it, both ofthem were able to clear their work calendars long enough to attend our 40th Reunion in Colorado Springs.

and613 (60%) graduated in 1968. There were 13 general officers with four stars (most ever). 11 did not return from Vietnam. Four others were POWs. 353(57%) retired from active/reserve/ANG duty. Fortunatelyforme,onlylO% (58+)went to the airlines. There were approximately an equal number (15-20) of doctors, lawyers, and Indian chiefs (presidents /CEOs). I counted Eberhart twice! There were 377

Distinguished Flying Crosses and 2,319 Air Medals awarded. I know

Rhip Worrell has an Air Force Cross, but haven' t been able to find others or Silver Stars. We had two Thunderbirds, one Marine, one ace, and one astronaut. It was my bad luck to have to sit next to Dick Covey a few times and never beat him on an exam!” So, in brief summary, that gives you a statistical overview of Class

"English Channel Swim for Charity." From left are Steven Reiss, Jeff Bodenmann, RichAbramson (USAFA ’68), Steve Bookbinder, andDavid Moore. ’68ER DOES ENGLISH CHANNEL: Former USAFAA11 American

accomplishments. It doesn’t, however, begin to address the character of the Class much beyond our military achievements. To drill down on that topic, you need to go to reunions and discover what your classmates have been doing while you have been piecing together your own life’s quilt.

swimming

sensation, Richard “Abe” Abramson, distinguished himself, along with four other business executives from New York, by swimming the English Channel from Dover to Calais in 2008 to heighten awareness and raise thousands of dollars to find a cure for Alpha-1, “a rare disorder marked by a deficiency in a liver enzyme that protects the lungs. As the oldest member of the group, Abe skillfully navigated the cold, choppy waters prone to 7-foot swells and filled with tankers and jellyfish. When it was all over he said, “To swim the English Channel at my age is a dream come true.” Way to go, Abe! You do us all proud!

BUMPED INTO AT AFAAIR & SPACE CONFERENCE: While attending the Air Force Association’s annual Air & Space Conference in Washington, D.C. in September, I ran into Charlie Holland, Jim Neu, Charlie Coolidge, Tony Robertson, Bill Begert, Bobby Floyd, and Wayne Shattuck. Charlie H. was there to support a project with BAE Systems and was preparing to head off to ”

Europe to participate in an international war game exercise. Jim was there to support Wyle Laboratories. Charlie C. was working with IADS and supporting their strategic tanker program. Tony was there with Boeing and supporting that company’s competing strategic tanker program. Bill supported operations for Pratt & Whitney. Bobby was working with IB Communications and is still living in a town called “Greenville,” but changed states from Texas to South Carolina to be in closer proximity to his brood. Bobby mentioned that he is trying to cut back to part-time work, but his schedule is not quite there yet. I had not seen Wayne for quite a while, so I cornered him long enough to get an update on what he has been doing for the past few decades. Wayne and wife, Mary Louise, live in Huntington Beach, CA. While in the Air Force, Wayne flew A-37sinSEAsia, served in acquisition for the B-l and the National Aerospace Plane, and was Program Director for the Peacekeeper Missile. Wayne hung up his Air Force blues in 1994 and has worked as a Program Area Director for Raytheon for the past 14years. Amonghis many projects, he has worked on the B-2, F-18, and B.A.T. His son Todd is Director of Marine Mammal Studies for the Los Angeles Unified School District. His son David is Associate Research Professor at UCLA where he is currentlyworking on “brain mapping.” It was great to be able to spend a few minutes catching up with all of these classmates!

“Friends Gather at First Night’s Soire. "From left are Pat McBride, Rhip Worrell, Lynn & JFerron, and Karin & Danny Flamilton.

SHORTTAKES ON THE REUNION: With initial registration on Wednesday (1 Oct) and some light hors d’oeuvres scheduled for that evening, I took full advantage of the Class-sponsored hospitality suite for beverages and initial meetings with classmates arriving from near and far. Although the evening beverage and snack session was only supposed to last until 9 p.m., many of us were still going strong until close to midnight.

Thursday was marked by a hike in the mountains; a funeral service forWally Curtiss at the USAFA Cemetery; lunch at Mitchell Hall with the cadets; a golf tournament where Mother Nature elected to play through with a full complement of rain, thunder, and lightening that caused the tournament to be suspended while everyone ducked for cover; and a more substantive buffet dinner back at the Embassy Suites that featured a heart-rendering DVD, video memory produced by Pat McBride with photos from past and present of classmates during their Academy years, in their military careers, and in more recent family times. Once, again, the conversation was non-stop as our ranks grew with more classmates and guests arriving throughout the day.

”

“East Coast Reunion. From left in the front row are Ken Stewart, Bob Pauli, Nick Nicholson, Charlie Seifert, Glenn Zauber, and Dennis Melvin; Back Rows: Scribe, Ed Eberhart, John Gonda, A1 Dunkerley, Karl Whittenberg, A1 Dyer, and Dave Prevost.

EAST COAST REUNION: With an uncooperative work and social schedule for the spring and summer, our D.C. -based gang slipped the annual East Coast Reunion at Ed and Karen Eberhart’s home to September. Despite the change in calendar, we thoroughly enjoyed that special brand of camaraderie that comes from these annual

get-togethers. It provided a great opportunity for us nearly senior citizens to hone our social, name- and face-recognition, and listening skills before our 40th Reunion in Colorado in October. Many thanks to Ed and Karen for their signature grace and hospitality!

40TH REUNION: With the passage of 40 years, our class seems to be aging like a fine wine—mellow in body with a definite kick still effusing from the bouquet. In terms of history, where do we stand? Mike Cryer helped me find an answer after a litde research. In Mike’s own words, “1,016 entered in 1964

Dedication ofFACMemorial. "From left are Steve McPhail, BobBeanblossom, Bob Durham, and Mike Cryer.

On Friday, many of us went to the morning dedication of the FAC Memorial

absolutely beautiful location within the City of Colorado Springs. The featured speaker was Medal of Honor recipient Colonel George E. “Bud” Day, at an

U SAF (Ret), who survived years of torture as a Prisoner ofWar in Vietnam after

his F-100 was shot down over North Vietnam. His inspirational words of gratitude to those who performed this heroic mission were most meaningful. Generals Ed Eberhart and Bill Begert served as wreath bearers from the Class. That

afternoon, we went Fairchild Hall to hear the Superintendent, Lt Gen John Regni; the Dean, Brig Gen Dana Born; and the Commandant, Brig Gen Sue

Desjardins speak to the reunion classes of 1963 and 1968 about what is going on at the Academy today. This was followed by a trip to the USAFA Cemetery to attend a memorial service for our Class organized by Steve McPhail and Carl Janssen. Ed Eberhart made remarks that addressed the next of kin and our Class and a roll call was taken for 59 members who are no longer with us.

103

Living classmates responded “Absent Sir” when each of the 59 deceased members’ names was called. On Friday evening, we went back to the Embassy Suites for a scrumptious banquet dinner and entertainment provided by our very own Greg Shuey on the piano and by the Cadet Chorale. Former Chorale members from the Class joined the cadets in singing “God Bless America.” It was a truly wonderful evening!

On Saturday we went from breakfast at the hotel to the barbeque at the Falcon Stadium tailgate. The game was memorable in that the Falcons gave up two blocked punts for touchdowns and fumbled at their own 10-yard line twice, once at the north side of the field and the other at the south. Despite spotting the Squids about 20 points, the team managed an honorable effort to finish the game only six points behind. Better luck next year and BEAT ARMY!

Kafka meets the Keystone Kops), Bombay Bugs has navigated streets reminiscent ofthose in Saigon and Bangkok of the war years, only more crowded and

jumbled, and is now qualified fully for a 7-on, 6-off schedule and to sing the Air India pilots’ theme song “Who’s Sari Now?” His bags have finally arrived, after a round-the-world trip (You ever been to Malabo, Equatorial Guinea?

No, but my bags have!), and responses from the same seamlessly studied and polite folks with the great accents you have encountered on the phone when confronted with a technical snafu on your computer.

Although we were unable to deconflict schedules to toss back martinis, Kirk Stewart sent along some news of a 3-day drift-boat fly fishing outing with Chuck Early on the tail waters ofthe Green River (below Flaming Gorge), with Mary and MaryEllen along. Kirk, an old hand at catching the elusive Cutthroats and Dolly Vardens, suggest that Brother Early has become quite the skilled aficionado. Reciprocal trip planned in Florida to test out Chuck’s new flats boat. Kirk also participated in the Estes Park Scottish Festival as a Clan Stewart Society state commissioner and member of the Northern Colorado Fife and Drum Corps. Space prohibits showing a great shot of Kirk, in Revolutionary War garb, firing a cannon.

Exuberance! Frank Palermo’s smile tells it all!

The best I could make of it, about a million photos were taken during the reunion. It is my fond hope that some ofyou will send them to Pat Russell and me with a brief description of who is in the photo and any Class news you

might have garnered from all of your conversations. The photo shown above of Frank Palermo does a great job putting our 40th into context. And as we fade into memory, echoes from the Rocky Mountains resound ’68 We’re Still Great!”

TFIAT’S AWRAP: Mind the flak; keep ’em flying, and keep those cards, letters, e-mails, and photos coming in to Pat Russell and me. Please go to the Class Website to see photos included in this column in color and in full size. Ciao for “

now.

Tim

Parris

Lindsey 616 King’s Cloister Circle Alexandria, VA 22302 Home: (703) 836-3604 E-mail:

102177.1033@compuserve.com

Top ofthe Season to you all. May the Falcons be bowling at a game near you!

On to the news.

Tommy-he of Park City-Love writes that the concluding weekend of Mike and Jean Martin’s 3-week cross-country odyssey was spent with him and Rebecca, exploring Utah’s equivalent of Mexico’s silver mines. Most of the mines have been renamed after Tommy, due to his continuing deep-diving hyperbaric work (well, almost), and depicted below are the four of them perched outside the entrance to one long-ago bustling piece ofAmerica’s past, named “The Shaft. He offers fine lodging and good times in Park City to any 69er interested in skiing, the Sundance Film Festival, or general carousing.

Complimentary NiCad caving helmets. ”

Fish Stories, with Chuck.

Jerry Ball sent a note reminding me of the amazing variety of interests and accomplishments of our still-smokin’ class. Lee Snapp, though now a NASA alumnus, has re-opened activities he began before retiring- developing engineering programs for the nation's tribal colleges and universities at Salish Kootenai College, Montana, on the Flathead Reservation. Lee is in Poison, MT for those of you who would like to connect or reconnect with him.

No edition of Checkpoints would be complete without reporting some new

golfing outing, and this installment runs true to form. Leaving behind all those whose swings resemble Ichabod Crane beating on a snake, a merry crew of nine navigated spectacular elevations and terrific weather at Mesquite, taking in USAFA’s one-point win over a tough UNLV squad as a concluding event.

Gathered were Flip Keck, Roy Coppinger, Mike Beezley, Craig Collins, Bruce Andersen, Steve Cherry, and John Buckner, along with two chaperones from ’63, JohnHaluska and the irrepressible Mike Christy (honorary ’69 Class member). Steve’s wry humor and encyclopedic knowledge of the rules kept the pot full and the drinks flowing before and after rounds at Wolf Creek and Falcon Ridge. [Picture to followin next Checkpoints.] Dennis Ryll came up to take in a bike ride with Flip, and the UNLV game. Denny, as always, looks ready to step back on the field. He also bikes a bit with Steve Kirby, who recently completed the inaugural CHaFE (Cycle Hard for Education) benefit ride, of 150 miles through Montana and Idaho.

150 miles in 10 hours. Not bad for a 40-year-old, who lives in Sandpoint, ID, for those who want to visit.

Buck, back in G with FedEx, spent a couple nights of layover with Jean and me, and Sam Travers called to announce his second grandfathering. By popular family tree vote, Sam is now known colloquially as “Jake, from the John Wayne movie most of us have seen, and Joann as “Nana.”

And, to segue back to the last Checkpoints, when the imposed space limitations and queued-up list of other photographs precluded showing a perfectly worthy shot of some Seagram’s Seveners at play in Steamboat Springs, we can see some of Seagram’s’ finest in party attire. This would be the two-Gerry combo of Brown and Schwartzel, Brian “iPod” Nelson, Roger Hartman, and Glenn “Hairs Cut $10, Hairs Split $10,000” Schlabs, modeling shirts from the collection of the still-hip Nino BaldacchiTerrazzo Collection. Better yet was the refrigerator our adventurers maintained, contents cleared for take-off, of seven fine therapeutic bottles-3 x Bombay Sapphire (did you have advance ”

-

The Loves and Martins spelunking for silver in Utah.

Bugs Forsythe, now a Father-in-Law and Judy a Mom-in-Law following daughter Summer’s spectacular October wedding in Leesburg, VA, is now back on the international flying circuit, having signed on with Air India to fly B-777s out of JFK for three years. After a training session he suggests is straight from a novel (Franz 104

intel about Forsythe?), 2 x Maker’s Mark, and 1-each Amsterdam Gin and Seagram’s 7. What thinkyou—with a single bottle of Seagram’s to two of Maker’s Mark and three of Bombay Sapphire, have our 7th squadron brethren gained wisdom late in life, or are they apostate to the very brand that made them what they purport to be? [Voting controlled by the same folks who conduct ballot counting for both American Idol and our national presidential election]

Rich and Nanci Downing hosted the mini-reunion of all mini-reunions at their home after the Navy game. We had a record turnout—80 people! I will try to list our classmates here—I’m sure I will leave someone out. Almost

everyone was accompanied by their wife or significant other. Despite the loss to the dreaded Middies a good time was had by: Larry Bush, Russ Carparelli, Mick Davey, Chris Dunbar, Curt Emery, MarkEwig, The Phantom, John Gallagher, GregGilles, Roger

Hill, Jake Holmes, Bill Kirkman, Mike Lambert, Mike Lyons, Speedy Martin, Don Mills, Henry Mitchell, Jack Mueller, Ray Oakeshott, Mike Pomphrey, Bill Porter, Gino Quist, Shawn Raintree, George Rayl, Tom Rayl, Gerry Shaw, Graham Smith, Brian Spitzer, Wild Bill Stealey, Larry Vaughn, Cookie (the camper) Villareal, and Phil Whitehead. We were also fortunate to have Barb Bang stop by and several cadets attend. The cadets kept asking about the dinosaurs that roamed

theTerrazzo back in the Sixties. It was good to see Brian O’Connor (2010) and Phil Whitehead (2009) there. Many thanks to Rich and Nanci for hosting this motley crew—dinner and adult beverages were GREAT!

Seagram’s at play in Steamboat: Gerry, Gerry, Brian, Roger, and Glenn.

Talked with Mike Thiessen for the first time in ages. He and Nancy remain in Kansas City, where Mike’s law practice prospers. By the time you read this, Mike and sons will have ventured out for the 30th straight year to open the Kansas pheasant season the first weekend in November. He sounds just like all of you remember.

Clark and Marilyn Bunton recently spent three weeks in Turkey and Greece,

taking some travel tips faves from the well-traveled Mike Wetterer.

For those of you who missed it in the last Checkpoin ts, you will be rewarded ifyou retrieve it and read Darryl Whitcomb’s intimate piece regarding his travels to East Germany to visit the bridge that he and his fellow aviators were charged with destroying had the balloon ever gone up before the USRR collapsed and the Berlin Wall fell. Darryl captures nicely the values that motivated many if not all us during our blue-suit lives, values that inhere to this day.

Dan Thomas, among others, commented on its excellence. The piece is definitely worth five minutes of your time.

You are receiving reunion information, and hopefully planning on spending the first weekend of November ’09 at USAFA for our 40th. For a variety of reasons, there have been some hiccups in the Class Gift, and we hope to sort them out to give you an update by the time you read this, or soon thereafter. ’Til next time. Lindsey Dick Rauschkolb 130 Luxury Lane

Colorado Springs, CO 80921 H: (719) 761-5764

Cell: (719) 310-6928

How about them Falcons! As I write this in late October, the Falcons are 7-2

coming off a trouncing of the Black knights of the Hudson. Looks like a bowl is in our future! After the disappointing Navy loss, we started using doolies at quarterback and halfback. These guys have some real speed. The future looks bright— we presently have 17 doolies and thirdclassman getting significant playing time.

Hope we can support the Academy like we did last year in buying tickets for the bowl game. Last year we sold 12,000 tickets to grads and that has a big impact on the type of bowl we will play in for years to come. Troy Calhoun and his staff deserve lots of praise for turning this rebuilding year into a big success.

Not sure what the basketball team will be like. We are very young, but have some

good recruits coming in who should see lots of action. Our hockey team

Email: AOG70@comcast.net

is ranked 20th in the nation and has had great success the last

Richard Rauschkolb@usafa.edu

few years by earning a slot in the NCAA Tournament. We should do the same this year.

Wild Bill Stealey won his club’s net championship with an 8 handicap. Way to go Wild Bill! I need strokes! Wild Bill also has his hands full trying to keep up with all the ups and downs on Wall Street as it relates to AOG investments. He is the right man for the job! Bob Chambers hooked up with Richie Gillespie at a church they had both been attending for years.

Seems Bob noticed a USAFAlicense plate holder and asked who owned the car. Richie is a retired neurosurgeon and Jean and Richie board horses on small farm in the Shenandoah Valley. Dana and Linda Arbaugh helped Chuck Reed celebrate his 60th birthday at their home in California. Paula was in Kansas supervising the birth of Chuck’s grandson, who now has the same birthday as Chuck (by 30 minutes). Pretty neat!

Don Mills indicated about 20 grads in the Portland area had lunch with coach Troy Calhoun. Coach wants a big AFA turnout for the game at Minnesota in 2009.

Don and Lendella are new grandparents. Joe Boyles sent me a great article about our classmates who died in SEA. It was very moving. Hopefully, he can post it on the 70 discussion group on the AOG web site—Usafa.org. Roy Long was “replumbed” with a new bladder. I think a lot of us could use that Roy—or maybe that’s a new liver we need! Saw Greg Gilles at the golf course yesterday. He heard I shot a 39 on the front and immediately whined about strokes. I shot 44 on the back Greg! Henry Mitchell went to Florida to pick up a new sports car—didn’t get all the details. He is off to ski country for a rough winter of giving ski lessons. Have seen Dave Gaw, Bob McKinney, Cook Villareal, Mick Davey, John Gallegher, Larry Bush, and others at home games this year. Larry and Marleen went to both the UNLV and San Diego State wins. Chuck and Barb Weir are proud parents as their twin boys are now serving the nation in the Army.

Tim Kimian sent me a nice note praising Wild Bill and Denise Stealey (mostly Denise) for hosting a mini-reunion at their beautiful home in Mountain Air, NC. Attendees included Tim and Sue Kinnan, Roger and Cheryl Riggs, Tom and Sheila Waskow, Ed and Linda Cole, and Yogi and Robbie Royce. Tim said there was a lot of eating, laughter and consumption of adult beverages. Yogi had CDs for everybody that included the great hits of the late Sixties (send me a copy Yogi). Almost made them feel like cadets again—until they looked in the mirror. Wild Bill planned the golf and rumor has it he won enough to finance

Abig salute to Joe Kupko! Joe was our last classmate on active duty and he retired in September at a very moving ceremony at Doolittle Hall. Joe presented his retirement flag to the Class President of 2010—our legacy class. It was great to see Brian O’Connor (2010) there and participating in part of the ceremony. Oker should be very proud of Brian and his other son at West Point.

Hopefully, 2010 will follow in the great tradition of the Class of Seventy. The end of an era men—thanks to all of you for your service to our great nation and its communities. Whether in or out of uniform, each of you represented our class and the Academy with dignity. Special recognition for those who made the ultimate sacrifice in combat and a kind thought or prayer to all of our classmates who are no longer with us.

Classmates honorJoe Kupko—the last Seventyman on active duty. From left in the back row are Vick Bradford, Doug Carlson, BJSpitzer, Brian O’Connor,

John Kupko, Jack Mueller, RickWalton, The Phantom, CJBohn, and Rich Downing. Front row: BillKirkman, John Gallegher, Larry Bush, Dave Gaw, and

GregGUles

Seventymen toast victory over Navy—in 2009!

105

his next company. Wild Bill is already planning next year’s event in August and wants more classmates to attend.

Mike (The Phantom) Huber couldn’t believe I was now an English teacher at USAFA. He sent me hounds tooth jacket, ascot, and pipe so I would look the role. Mike said he almost flunked out of USAFA due to doolie English, but he didn’t want to put up with all the drinking, women and personal freedoms at a civilian school so he got some El and made it through the Academy. Talk about the wrong type of an epiphany! That’s a word I learned at the Prep School, but have never been able to use.

Al Fahy retired from FEDEX after 27 years and is now a micro-manager of his retirement home in Germantown, TN. I was out of work for a year Al—Marilyn

learned after a week that it was not good deal having the “man of the house” around on a full-time basis! Finding a job at our age is no fun—age discrimination is alive and well! Looks like George and Patty Rayl will be retiring to Grand Junction, Co. That is great golf country George—hope to get down there and take a few of your sheckles roomie!

Mick Davey sent me this picture of a bunch of Seventy men and their wives at a Spurs game in Florida. Let’s hope Popo can continue his streak of winning NBA Championships in the odd years.

classmate. He was in another class. As I understand, this is where Bob and

Dusty met.

On a more somber note, Randy Leavitt sent a note after the last issue and my

mention of Mark Peterson and Dick Gray: “I was reminded that I was flying at

both scenes when Dick crashed and Mark was shot down. Dick and I roomed together the night before his death. We both took off in the morning from Uhon. We landed in Phnom Penh. I took off before Dick from Phnom Penh on the second part of my mission. After Dick crashed on take-off, I was called

give some kind of report on what happened. It was an eerie feeling.

Mark was flying on a mission the last day of the Vietnamese conflict. As I recall, it wasn't a mission he had to fly. The truce went into effect the next day. His plane was shot down close to the DMZ. I flew a search and rescue mission later on that night. There wasn't much hope of a recovery by the time I was up. I'll never forget those two days and night. I over to

don' t think I've ever talked about those two events with oth-

leaving Southeast Asia. I realized later that my memory with regard to Mark Petersen is probably a little foggy. Mark's last mission was flown out ofThailand. I think ers since

he was with the 23rd TASS there. I was with the 20th TASS in Da Nang at the time. I was more isolated from his situation.

Satire Society I do remember hearing of his mission when he was shot Donors down. What I understood was that he actually volunteered to go on the mission. He didn't have to go up. It was at the end of the Vietnam conflict. I'm not real sure of how close it was to the last day. It was real close.

I went up on my mission after he was shot down, but it was not immediately after his plane was shot down. When I went up, I remember intelligence told me to keep my ears open to hear if there was any sign of survival on the ground.

It wasn't a direct search and rescue mission. As far as I know, there had already

been other efforts to try and locate survivors.”

Thankyou for sharing, Randy. It’s never easy to dredge up memories offallen brothers, but many times those are triggers of more pleasant times. I recently attended the funeral of a friend of mine and fellow Phantom crew dog, and it struck me as I read Randy’s memories that how a friend or classmate died is never as important as how they lived. We are honored to have had people in our class that serve to remind us of that fact.

GO SPURS-Seventy men and spouses celebrate with Coach Pop.

Marilyn and I wish all of you a Happy Holiday Season and good health in the NewYear. A special prayer or thought to all our troops who are in harm’s way.

Paul D. Knott

GBA

Bob Bell

13 Pacific Ave.

Sinking Spring, PA 19608 (610) 678-3182/Fax: 678-4513 E-mail: rabell767@aol.com

5565 Lantana Drive Colorado Springs, CO 80920 H: (719) 570-9162

Hi Folks!! Here is just a quick note this time since we were a bit short ofthe usual

W: (719) 594-0100

input that I get from you all. Mike Verzola writes to advise that he retired from

E-mail:

Procter & Gamble after 30 years. The retirement celebration held in Cincinnati

pk71knott@gmail.com

The foundations of this column are being laid as a campaign winds down, the Broncos are laying down, the bowl-eligible Falcons are bearing down, and snow howls down the Peak in the first major fall storm we’re had this year.

When you read these words, you will attach your own significance to these

included classmates Bill Emmer, Mark McCarthy and Craig Ghelber along with two USMA grads with whom Mike worked at P & G over the years, George Cullen, '71 and John Featherstone, '72. In the photo, Mike stands third from the left with Bill and Mark on the left and Craig, George and John on the right.

events.

Martin Lebouitz and Don Bressett got together recently in Tampa, FL, for

lunch. “We are both doing well. Don is working with PWC and I am still doing my consulting to banks and technology companies in the payments area. Look forward to seeing you and the rest of the gang at the next reunion if not before. If any of the class is out Tampa way, please stop by and say hello. We are only 10 minutes from the airport.”

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Martin Lebouitz and Don Bressett

Andrea and some ofher classmates attended a reunion of her high school in Greenville, SC, in September. It turns out that Bob Bennett’s wife had been her 106

After the last Checkpoints, as is usually the case, I got a brief note of feedback, this time from Smokey Stover. I had mentioned his “possibly” having retired from American Airlines and he wanted to make it known “for sure” that he was definitely retired and loving it. Timing is everything and hopefully his was fine. (In light ofthe way the economy has been flailing lately, maybe I should have given that decision some thought as well, but I enjoy flying the 777 too much after only a few months out of training on it...)

During one of my many trips to London on the New York 777 for American, I had the occasion to enjoy some time in the pub for drinks and dinner with Tom Stone, also doing his London trip from the LAX crew base. Over the usual fare offish and chips with an adult beverage or two, we discussed a cross-section of topics ranging from fond Academy memories to the ongoing political saga,

airline things and finally including the fact of Tom’s impending marriage.

Congratulations and best wishes, Tom. Well guys, that is really all the news that I have this time any and all information will be used in future columns as it is received, so keep that in mind as you traverse the highways and byways oflife. It promises to be a new and interesting future shaping up for us all. All the best in this upcoming season of holiday cheer!

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Joe Kahoe 4140 Saddle Rock Road

Colorado Springs, CO 80918

CS-40 from Mike Nishimuta: Roger Winburg, who is a retired Air Force Chap-

lain in Dayton, OH, drove out, only to be called on Thursday that his motherin-law had passed away, so after greeting us Friday, he returned back to Dayton. On

Saturday, we had dinner with our AOC, General Jim Johnston III, and

Sally, at the Edelweiss Restaurant. Jim was our AOC for most of the four years we were in CS-40, and since we started and finished together, we have a great relationship. Tim and Steve are our medical school graduates, still working.

Don and Grace are still at USAirways, Jack at Northwest Airlines. John is at Lawrence Livermore Lab, Larry in defense work in Pennsylvania, Russell an attorney, and Mike is in San Antonio.

Cell: (719) 210-5568

joekahoe@gmail.com http://73.texascomputerhelp.com Class of’73, thank you for your great reunion inputs. I know there are hundreds of good pictures and stories to match from the reunion. Please continue to send all for the next three editions. We have very limited space in the hard copy Checkpoints, but most of your inputs will be included on our web version of the Checkpoints article at http: / /usafa73.org. Also, Mike Nishimuta reports that all links to photo albums, and individual photos, will be posted on

the website, so please send them to him also at mike@nishimuta.net.

I hope everyone had as much fun at our 35th reunion as I did. It just seemed to go too fast, especially considering the many months of planning and preparation. We had some very good feedback about how we might do it better for our 40th.

This reunion was especially meaningful with our Class of ’73 holding the reins of power in the AF... Norty as CSAF, John Corley as ACC Commander, Steve Lorenz as Commander AETC, John Regni at USAFA, Frank Klotz as Assistant to the Vice Chief of Staff at the Pentagon, Jack Hudson as Commander, Aeronautical Systems Center at Wright-Pat, Donny Wurster as Commander AF Special Operations Command, Mike Edwards as The Adjutant General of Colorado, and Dan O’Hallaren as the Commander ofthe Oregon Air National Guard. Many others are “generals of industry.” I believe our brotherhood as a class has grown over the years and many of us are at a point in our lives where we want to reach out and reconnect with our class and cadet squadron, as evidenced by the great turnout at the 35th reunion.

Speaking of reins of power, we elected new class officers: President Bob

CS-02: In the top row from left are Keith Hitzeman, Tom Swertfager, Bob Summers and Wayne Holum; Bottom Row: Chip Frazier, Clay Stewart, Randy

Sage, RockyAvento, Steve Dalrymple, and Brian Beard.

Munson, VP Ron Scott, Treasurer Trapper Carpenter, Secretary John Stefonik, Sgt At Arms BJ Stanton, Senator Mike Mosier, andWeb Master Mike NisFiimuta.

And “THANKYOU” to the past officers for your service to our class: Mitch Mitchell (President), Mike Turner, VP; Trapper Carpenter, Treasurer; John Stefonik, Secretary; BJ Stanton, Sgt At Arms; A1 Maurer, Minister w/o Portfolio; Kirk Samuelson, Morale. Bythe way, Mike Turner just became Chief of Legislative Affairs for the Wounded Warrior Project in the D.C. office. Congrats Mike!

CS-27: From left standing are Bill Fox, Kenneth Vargas, MickSchlabs, and Don Walker, Seated: Karen Fox, Hermila Vargas, and Jan Walker. (Mick’s wife,

Pattie, arrived following day.)

CS-13: Dennis Haugh, NickGatel (left for California after 3rd classyear),

Mike Chalifoux, Don Stewart Dave Schrupp, J.J. O 'Connerand Steve McDavid.

Check out CS-13 web page created by Dennis Haugh for more pics: http:// ,

s489photobucket.com/alhums/rr256/acad73/reunion35/.

CS-07: In the back row from left areAlNacke, Tom Grayson, Dick Ulmer, A1

Kinback, Jim Almeida, Adrian Moroles, and StalkerReed. Front Row: JimAmos, EdWhitt, Mike Davenport, Glen Johnston, Bill Patterson, George Doris, andJoe Kahoe.

Donna Felton (Charlie’s better half) invited General Clark, who lives here in

the Springs, to our dinner. He assured he would love to have been there, but his age (95) prevented him from doing so. He wanted to pass on that the class of 1973 was one of the best! Donna reports that the movie "The Great Escape" was filmed about his life.

He was one of the prisoners from the camp that made that

Ali Baba and the 40 Thieves represented by John and Michaela Crandley, Mike and Catherine Nishimuta, Jack and Norma Christensen, Larry andJanie Balash and daughter Katrina (notin pic), Tim andWasana Cooper, Don and Grace McMillan, Steven and Mindy Diehl (notin pic), and Russell Chapman.

daring escape.

Johnny Whitaker reports that he is no longer the Director of Communications at the Academy; last day was 10 Oct. He started a week later as the new Director of Marketing and International Communications for Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co. in Fort Worth, TX. Congrats Johnny!

Monnie Gore report: Frat Five had eight guys show up for the reunion. Pete 107

Cooper, Roy Hart, Larry Faber, Robert (Sandy) Marsh, Dave Thomas, Jeff Knight, Jack McCalmont, and Monnie Gore. Cooper tried to drive his original zoomie Porsche from Southern California and only made about 60 miles before callingthe towtruck. He did have free towing! Monnie Gore claims to nowbe taller than both Knight and Marsh but that is unconfirmed. The gang reunited at the General Palmer horse to re-enact the famous October 1972 horse painting incident. The horse didn't get painted this time, but no one got arrested either.

Larry Faber probably had the most hair with Thomas and Cooper at the hottom ofthe standings. The group had a great Mexican dinner Saturday night at Gore's house in Manitou Springs. Lots of margaritas and war stories, but a great time until the wee hours (which is about 9 p.m. for most of us). Hope to

building ties that hold 1974 together. Our stories are not all presented herein, some are still being written. Perhaps the word will get around to other Huskies (graduates of the Prep School) so they can let classmates know what’s happened to them. Here’s a picture from the last class reunion that Fve not posted.

see you all at the 40th!

In front ofC Squadron and out ofshape! Ifmemory serves, from left are Joe

Brezovic, Larry Strang, John Sweda, Kevin Casey, Carlton Hairston, Stu Lindner, andPhyllip (Brad) Huffman.

Richard Blanchet (Susie) spent time in the USAF flying the T-37, C-9, and C5 as well as a large gray desk. He retired from USAF in 1993 and hired on with

CS-05: Jack McCalmont, Larry Faber, Monnie Gore, RoyFIart, JeffKnight,

and Paul Cooper. Standing in back: Robert Marsh and Dave Thomas.

Correction to last Checkpoints: Doug Richter.

..

“I just got back from the re-

union and had I great time. I just opened up the Sep 2008 Checkpoints and found I was moving to Virginia! Actually we’re staying here in Fredericksburg, Texas. We just moved to a different neighborhood.” Sorry Doug.

Adas Air as a pilot on the B747. When not flying, Richard has served Belleville, IL, community as a Paramedic for the past 20 years. Frank Brewer (Stephanie) seems to still be a pilot for SouthwestAirlines. Not much to add. His short note was that he remembers skiing every weekend from Dec 2nd until May 1970, and getting box lunches from the chow hall for free. Amazing! I just learned he lives in Austin, TX. Tony Brozena (Cheryl) is suffering the cube-downsizing in his

office area in Albuquerque, NM, but he always seems to turn out OK and in good humor. It must be his music playing that he strums away pain! Jim Colotta is working his way through life as a CPA somewhere in Charlotte, NC. Francis (Mike) Eydenberg (Kathlyn) is a professor in

CS-18: Nancy, guest ofJay Beard, Erik Vogel and Patricia, Ted Kammire and Beaulah, Scott Parker and Janet, Bob Pasdak, and Mike Hay.

Alamogordo, NM where he’s been teaching Physics and CompSci at New Mexico State since retiring. Seems like most of his free time has been flying RC airplanes in the parking lot. Phyllip (Brad) Huffman is serving as a pilot, and lives out of Delaware, OH. Charles Lathan (Mary) spend their lives inVass, NC. Chuck summed up life with: Nav, C-130, Philippines, Korea, CA, OH, AR, NC. Retired ’97, Horse Farm for wife/daughter, tennis/ golf/ stock trader for me. Steve Lenzi (Suki) still live in Hawaii. Steve was in C130s, C-12s. Did real estate in Hawaii and since 2001 has been working on Airlift Plans as a contractor, plus has time to raise two boys. Ed Loskill (Kathryn), still living out of Lubbock, TX. Short sum is pilot training, T-38 Instructor, F-15 Instructor/FWIC, Pentagon, retired, Delta pilot and time for two children and five grandchildren.

CS 25 party on Saturdaynight. From left are Dave Hannan, Jack Hudson, Tom Kroessig, Steve Hoit, John Mann, Dave Stonehouse, John Flavin, Denny

Boyce, Matt Hannan (Dave's son, now a firstie), and Mike Griffith.

Joe Brezovic 1209

Bayou Oaks Drive

Friendswood, TX 77546 H: (281) 482-6860 E-mail:

jbrezovic@comcast.net

The one you may not recognize is Ed Loskill.

Franklin Murphy is living out of Pembroke Pines, FL. Robert Newman (Robin) is now into medical research, in the Chads Ford, PA area. Bob flew F4s then separated in ’80 to go to Johns Hopkins and Univ of Baltimore. I think

Bob likes the north seasons. One would think that medical research can be

Hello Classmates around the world. Inputs have been a bit sparse this quarter. Thankfully, James ‘Doc’ Holaday is working the USAFA Prep School 1970 webpage. Doc has enabled the page to take updates to profiles. This issue provides a thumbprint sketch of ’74 classmates who started one year earlier 108

done where there are hospitals, and there are large ones in better weather places! He must be dedicated! Or from that area and wants to be close to home.

Bob, I’d like to thank you ahead of time for whatever medicine you’re working on-chances are I’ll probably use one of them as I’m getting older!!

Bob Newman with hair in regulation!

Michael O’Connel (Loretta) gave this history: separated in 79, went to FAA as air traffic controller, tower, tracon, enroute center, central flow control,

training instructor, FAA Hdqtrs staff, supervisor, retired Jan 04 and moved to Grand Junction, CO. Along the way, Mike and Loretta raised two sons and now have a grandson.

Gordon (Hal) Quanbeck (Rae) live out of Key Largo, FL, which Hal uses as a home base for his career as a pilot. Dan Surber (Sara) are living in the Zionsville, IN area. They have been raising four children. Dan had been Army before AFA. After 74, he flewT-37 as IP then into F-111 flight commander, wing safety; then moved on to General Dynamics for cockpit design for YF-22A, AFTI / CAS F-16, VISTA F-16, and NSAP X-30. Dan had a short period with Case in the ag business and now with Raytheon. He’s been passing on the secrets of his trade, systems engineering, as an instructor at Indiana-Purdue. For fun, he’s applying his prep school lacrosse goalie lessons to the women’s lacrosse team. John Sweda (Victoria) was shorter. He retired in ’94 and has been test-

ing stuff for DoD since then. He hangs his hat in Shalimar, FL. John Voss (Barbara) live out of San Antonio, TX, when John isn’t piloting for Southwest Airlines. John retired out ofAF in ’94; and they were able to raise three daughters along the way of life. Joseph Traficanti (Kathi) is striving to resolve issues and portfolios. Since his shingle reads Senior Vice President, General Counsel, Chief Compliance Officer (for a food company) for his office in Richmond, VA, that Joe is busy may be an understatement!

Other news from classmates: Please don’t underestimate the impact your notes make to 74 classmates. Jim Tietjen wrote in that while reading the Mar 08 Checkpoints, he noticed that we have three classmates living and working in Singapore. Jim has been there eight years four as the Air Attache, then retired, and four more years as a consultant. So Jim is on the way to trying to get with these three for a mini-reunion. Then again, perhaps to build a support group! One doesn’t know who’s in the area till one sees it in the news!

Joe Brezovic learned that there are two AFA grads in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia: Steve Seroka ’84, a USAF colonel with the Saudi training there; and a former student of Joe’s PMS-110, Larry Brock ’89, a contractor in communications.

Grads help the living conditions of the neighborhood! Back in the USA, Nick Puzak is working out of C Springs, and is still with the Hubble mission plans which is now due to launch the first part of2009. Nick is as tenacious as always.

Thank you, 74 classmates, for holding onto your dreams and for doing your best whether still in the military, civilian career, or now striving to achieve your own personal goals. You’ve made life better for those around you, easier for those that knowyou, and safer for those that will never know ofyou. Proud to know you, and grateful you allow me to tell your stories. May each of you live long and prosper.

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Classmates. Ben Bosma has garnered some high interest from TSA with a consumer product that would make life easier for air travelers with laptops to get through airport security quickly. It works. Jim Carlson was asked by Ben to ops test his product. The security personnel remarked, “Oh, that’s one ofthose new laptop bags!

JC told her he had just met with the inventor (Bosma) the day before and was wondering if security personnel would recognize it. She said they all knew about the bag and thought it was clever and JC thought it was pretty cool to have been hanging out with one of our amazingly gifted classmates.

Again from Jim C: Here’s an illustration ofhow great you guys, my classmates, are: My departure flight out of Reagan National was delayed several times until canceled. I called a couple of classmates and eventually got hold of Marty Stytz.

He looked up another classmate, Jerry Manthei. Jerry immediately offered to pick me up and have me crash at his apartment. Not only that, but he drove me to the airport at 0500 the next ”

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morning. At Dayton for Dave Elirhart’s retirement ceremony, Dave and Chris hosted me at brunch at their house Saturday morning and Ben Bosma treated me to lunch that afternoon. Then Fred Whitican and Cheryl had me over for dinner. I think all these guys have mistaken me for somebody else! From Dave Clough to recently located non-grad Ray Marden: We're glad we found you.

From Brian Barnes: Russ (Bryon Russell) is having fun planning to launch a rocket into space: seehttp:/ /www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25629714/from/ET/ Denny Melton refused to become a GBNF, but it was close. Denny was riding his bike on a trail and suffered a very serious heart attack and it was quite an effort to revive him. The scribe had a memorable summer that a few of our classmates have participated in over the years. I had the privilege of experiencing Philmont Scout Ranch with my 14-year-old son. One gets renewed faith in youth with Scouts. The scribe was also proud that his 55-year-old body still could backpack 70 miles in 11 days at altitudes up to 12,000 feet. Upon return, the scribe had the honor of a dinner visit from Chris Glaeser and wife, Karen. Upon relating my Philmont story, Chris invited me on late-summer fantastic-weather- day hike to Snow Lake in the Alpine Lakes area ofWashington. Chris previously ran into Bobby Thompson in Seward, AK in late July.

Bobby had just returned from a fishing trip. Bobby is a 747 captain for NWA based in Anchorage still living in Frisco, CO.

Paul Kent

18166 S.E. 41st Place

Issaquah, WA 98027-9717 Mobile: (425) 785-3586 E-mail: zooscribe@mac.com

Minutemanlll Removed After 37 Years Of Academy Service. And this time it was not Charlie Beadling. Although he was contacted, he declined, stating

that his previous efforts (although self-initiated with enthusiastic support from others) were not appreciated at the time. In fact, the Public Affairs announcement quotes "...since its dedication ceremony Dec. 9,1971, the Minutemanlll ICBM display has inspired thousands of cadets over the years..." The article does not elaborate that the missile, while still on a flatbed trailer, "inspired" a small slightly deranged cadre of stealth-doolies from the Class of 1975 to "remove" it before it was even erected. As Jim Carlson observes: The MM III in front of the Field House started with us, and is joining us in retirement. Want to know the story from our beloved instigator himself? Check it out at our class page on ZoomieNation (look in class Posts).

Bill Murray and the Ryder Cup Captain PaulAzinger.

Admin. From Jim Carlson: A number of classmates have already sent Bill Estelle their original photos and slides for scanning. There's a reason I'm making a big deal about this we're all getting on in age, and at some point, you guys won't remember if you even have boxes in storage at all! So before the will and the memories go, I'd like us to focus on this in the next 12 months and complete this project a year before the next reunion. Keith Workman (USAFA class of 1975 POC Non-Grad) posted over 100 photos from induction through Parent's -

weekend at https: / /zoomienation.usafa.org/usafa/ albums/74293/pics.html.

109

Lastly, if you want to donate to the 75 Class Fund, send it to: USAFA 75 CLASS FUND, c/o Scott Hente, 2760 Brogans Bluff Drive, Colorado Springs, Colorado 80919 USAFA vs Navy. From Terry Young: Our own Larry Fariss (Falcon football co-captain during our senior year) was selected by the Academy football staff as one ofthe Honorary Co-Captains for the home game against Navy on Oct 08 at Falcon Stadium. This is a rare honor, intended to recognize former players

who epitomize leadership, determination and team spirit both on the fields of friendly strife as cadets and in the demanding rigors of real world missions after graduation. For icing on the cake, Larry's son JD (USAFA’01) didaC-17 flyover. As Larry said, "How cool is that?" From Jim Burling: A couple of

squadrons had mini reunions: CS-17 andCS-29 (Schwarz, Udall, Ashcraft, Berlan, Huffman, Fong, Wells, Davis, Barbera and AOC Hovastak). Other responses: Bill and Judy Murray, Mike Matte, Chappie Hargrove, Nark Narkiewicz’s wife, Faith, and friend (but not Nark!). Additionally, the normal Colorado crowd: Mickey Clemons, Dick & Denise Dye, Bruce Fritzsche, John & Becky Gaughan, Brian & Jan Duffy, Trayls & Carole Traylor, Pete & Cindy Krogh, too many to name, etc. But not Scott Hente, recovering from knee surgery. Honorary captain, classmate Larry Fariss, and football Team Officer Rep, Col Mark Wells (in uniform) were on the sidelines. From Chris Glaeser: Enjoy the photo from the Stalag 17 party after the Navy game. Mark Volcheff hosted this event at his house just south of the academy after the close loss to Navy (27-33). Spence [Roberts] flew in from Memphis, and Karen and I from Seattle. Everybody else lives in Colorado Springs except the Sprenkles, who are in south Denver. Back rows: Dave & Janice Sprenkle, Tim & Jan Murphy, Mark & Mary Volcheff, Bruce & Janice Mitchell, Chris & Karen Glaeser. Front row: Spence Roberts (his wife, Diana, was not able to make it, but he FedEX'd a big box offresh Alaskan king crabs... (Note T shirt!) A really great evening that --

General Class Stuff: I am still expanding/updating my Scribe database and appreciate any contact info you have for any ’76ers including email/snail mail addresses & phone numbers. I will not share info without your permission to protect your privacy. Please send any and all contact data you have. I will sort out any duplicates. If you are on some sort of “linked-in” site, send me an invite to join and I can get contact info you have for other’76ers.

Walt Heidmous wrote for first time in a long time. He’s headed to work for Scientific Research Corp at Kirtland AFB and appears to be leaving the education arena. Carrie will stay in Fort Walton Beach until the house sells. She and Walt were blessed w/lst grandkid, Emily, in Sept. Walt Washburn develops web applications for CVS/ Caremark in Dallas, also built and maintains a ‘public service’ website promoting open source tools for project management and collaboration. He and Mindy are first-time grandparents.

Tim Prater has two grandkids and also sent new updated contact info. Bob Johnson is a part time Veterans Service Officer in Groton, MA and also sent updated data. A1 Grijalva and Cara have gone completely landline-less; he is a limited

partner at work, Cara was promoted to lead agent, daughter Danielle is out on her own now, daughter Cari’s well in Jacksonville and has postponed wedding for a bit, daughter Michelle and son Mike both are doing well w/ their families and all grandkids are good. Larry Engleson works for Delta, got back in the Reserves Feb 06, got promoted to Lt Col USAFR and claims to be oldest Lt Col in USAFR, at least in our class. Russ Casella is a civilian anesthesiologist now. Sent family pic from this summer showing all four boys, two daughters-in-law, and grandkid.

ended way too soon.

Russ Casella and family

Stalag 17 after the Navy game.

From Jim Burling: Bruce Fritzsche’s wife, Nancy, passed away after a short

illness, with Bruce and their children at her side: Adrienne (27, a physical therapist), Annette (24, an instrumental music teacher), and Boyd (a brand new 2nd lieutenant who just left to begin his training as a hospital administrator). Larry

Bryant adds: The entire Monument community is in shock and mourning.

GBNF. From Collin Flynn: Charlie Nystrom was struck and killed by a truck in Tucson while riding home from work on his bike. Scott Hente noted on Augustl9th: Kind ofa lousy day for 75. Chuck's service as well as the funeral for Bruce Fritzche's wife, Nancy, are both this afternoon.

Dan

Beatty 12196 Stanley Canyon Road Colorado Springs, CO 80921 H: (719) 488-1962 E-Mail: whrlybrd76@aol.com Da n. Beatty@usafa .af. m i I http://www.AFAcademy.com/76 Fellow ’76ers, As you read this, the election is complete. Wonder who won and what direction our country is going? The Cadet Wing is eagerly anticipating Christmas break.

Moving up/moving on. Mark Welsh nominated for 3rd star w/ assignment to Associate Director ofCIAfor Military Support, Washington, DC. Congrats Mark!

Correction: My humble apologies to Marc Felman! Marc sent me info last cycle and I simply screwed up, didn’t place the info in my normal holding draft and, as a result, neglected to include Marc’s input in my last article (NO EXCUSE SIR!). Marc was featured in the August Air Force magazine story “White Knuckles to the Azores” (see http: / / www. airforce-magazine, com/ MagazineArchive / Pages /2008/Au-

gust%202008/0808azores.aspx). The story details Marc’s March 1986 McKay Trophy flight. Read the article; it’s a great account of aviation daring. Marc, I’m sincerely sorry about last cycle’s error. Please accept my apologies.

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Syd McPherson says all is fine in his household, son Matt (USAFA 07) got married recently to an Army brat; she wore a cammo garter w/ “GO ARMY” on it and they now reside at Minot. Daughter Lauren is a frosh at Virginia Tech. Syd and Janet took their first-ever cruise to celebrate their 25th. Jay Steinmetz and Luellen live in Virginia; he orchestrating homeland security & asymmetric warefare work, she teaching 2nd grade. Had first grandkid recently, son Alan w/ family just moved to the area, and sonTodd & family works w/ Jay at EWA/IIT. Don “Waldo F. Dumbsquat” Hall & Paula just moved to Pueblo, CO. Hope to linkup w/him soon. Tells me the Mission Inn (aka Spike’s Place) is closing for a bit while road work goes on. John Rivera reports he and Dave Arbutina will be at the Army game Nov 1 st. Says he’ll send pics for next article. Stef Eisen, Terry Williams, and Denny “Diller” Rea are w/Vertex in Montgomery, AL supporting Air University.

Stef is Director ofAF’s new Center of Excellence. Randy Schavrien’s son Scott soloed at Columbus on 17 Oct. Jeff Larsen sent a pic of him, Gary Montgomery, and ScottGoughattheUSAFA-USNA game. Monty & Scott fly for United. Jeff’s son Peter (USAFA 06) was home before starting Army counterinsurgency training followed by a year embedded with the Afghan Army.

J elTLarsen, GaryMontgomery and Scott Gough at the USAFA-USNAgame.

Bill Clifford traveled to China with daughter Frances (18) to teach eye surgery but ended up helping w/earthquake relief. Good job Cliff! Mike Dolan sent good article about KayakAngles Society of America and the ‘Heros on the Water’chapters helping wounded soldiers. Greg Lewis and Dave Berg report nothing to report. Mike “Yama Dog” Hoyes and Denny Damiens say howdy.

Ed Morley starts Diplomatic Courier class this month; will be sworn Foreign Service Officer in Dec headed for DC then probably Frankfurt. Mike Cunningham claims to be the oldest father in our class with birth of daughter

Emma on 4 Sep. Methinks his claim may be justified! Congrats on new kiddo

Mike! Dave Matthews running for County Commissioner in Floyd County, IN. Good luck Dave!

Doug Fry had first grandkid 06 Sep, born to son Matt (USAFA 05). Congrats Doug! Dan Price pinned USAF wings on son Doug (USAFA 06) at Ft Rucker (another REAL aviator!) on 17 Oct. Doug headed to Hueys at Fairchild. Lee Cuevas will wing son Alex on 21 Nov. Alex headed to C-130s. Mike Fricano sent pics from the Hawaii AOG chapter AFA-USN pre-football bash that includes Mike Walsh. Says Mike Gould was there in Aug as speaker at the local Airlift / Tanker Assoc luncheon. Mike Walsh wrote he saw Fric and that he and Jacky traveled to Vermont, then Japan. Brought daughter Clare back from Master’s program, and will fly daughter Michelle and family home for Christmas.

Joe Evans says son Joe is now mission qualified helo pilot at Great Falls; daughter Laura and family are now at Ft Meade. A1 Patriquin checked out in Delta Boeing 777 and has both kids in college now. Flew with Brad Jones; ran into Lauren ‘Trot’ Trottier, Mike Hauser, and John Armor. Ray Fortner flies Delta 757/767s; saw Maze Erickson and Rich Kohl, and keeps in touch with John Dunstan and Bill Kearns. Mike Eyolfson has private practice in Sacraments, works with four other grads in surgery and has son Dave at San Diego State. T.S. Kelso works with geostationary communications satellites and says he has been traveling a lot to include Rome. A real hardship location T.S! Jerry McFarlane sent a pic of him and John Hildebrandt making acquaintances with a 'hen' party in Dublin in May, says they had had their share of Guinness, and thinks his wife took the pic.

teaching urban escape and evasion, at least to the instructors. I won't divulge the details here, but it sounded like a very unpleasant four days and nights wandering through the streets of a major city. Sonia and I are now bouncing between Chicago and occasional trips to a house we have just outside of Cripple Creek. I will take requests for visits, but understand that I will not be able to give you much more than a week or two notice of when we will be there. Those of you in the Colorado Springs area should get on the waiting list now

now.

RATS IN VEGAS: John Visser (Ann) dropped me a line from his north Texas

abode. The Cellar Ratz from CS-33 got together in Vegas for the UNLV football game last fall. Tim and Mary Ann Hopper organized the get-together and the

pictures tell the rest of the story.

Tim retired from Nellis and is now working for a DOD contractor in Vegas.

John says “don’t ask the exact details ofhis job I’m not sure and probably don’t have the clearance to know anyway.” Whatever the clearance, Tim put together a pretty good program. Others joining the group, which John refers to as a mixed business / pleasure trip (more on this later), included Monty Mont-

gomery, who was there in his capacity as union chieffor the ALPA- Northwest airplane drivers, which is dealing with what Monty euphemistically refers to as “his Delta brothers”

following the merger. Monty allegedly had an ALPA business meeting on the strip. Jeez, you’d think these guys were fund managers, or something.

Getting out there sounded like an adventure. John didn’t know he was going until he noticed that he had a scheduled layover in Vegas the day of the game, a unique event in and of itself. As he’s sitting in the left seat pushing back from the gate at DFW, Jim Maskowitz (Rita) bursts into the cockpit to tell John he’s on the jet and deadheading to Vegas too. John tried to get Masko into the jump seat, but since Masko was already settled in first class nursing a drink, he passed and went back to where the seats recline. Masko, by the way, is headed to do international routes for American flying 767s. For some reason I thought all those aircraft had been retired and were about to be retrofitted with booms.

Anyway, these two guys get to Vegas where they meet Lee Bauer who is “on a perpetual state ofvacation” (according to John anyway) after retiring from the Guard. Lee, who was campaigning for the Chicago Phenom, then drives Masko and John over to Hopper’s place in a pickup truck jammed full of Obama campaign materials. Other Ratz who made it into the casinos and the stadium include Mike Weinstein (Bonnie), who was in town to visit his son Curtis over at Creech, Matt Coatsworth (Liz), who is working in Vegas as a consultant when he’s not doing his doctor thing, and, telephonically, Scott Harrod (Nita) who was recovering from hip surgery but wanted to be there at least in audio form. What Scott really needed was an avatar (see my earlier column re Grady

Booch).

Jerry McFarlane and John Hildebrandt in Dublin.

Craig Manson, Bill Nash, Drew Boyd, and Bob Johnson sent updated contact data.

Well classmates, again time to stick a fork in it. Send me your notes, inputs, address updates, suggestions, junk mail, etc and I will do my best to keep all of you in the loop. As always, if you are headed to the Springs, let me and the other locals know. Keep flying your flags and let our deployed troops know you have them in your thoughts and prayers.

The Spirit of 76 is STILL alive and well! Until next time... Beatty

Finally, to cap off what must have been a riotous weekend (Air Force even won the game), John drives back to his layover hotel to try to get some shuteye before his 4 a.m. wake-up call and realizes that his airline ID, along with his nifty pilot jacket, is locked in Hopper’s car, which John had driven back to the hotel to drop off. As John is breaking into the car using a coat hanger, a curious security guard wanders over and jacks him up. After assuring the guard that there is an ID in the truck, and that the ID is his, John is allowed to continue and manages to secure his release. Some photos from this “lost weekend” follow, the first shows Tim, Lee and Masko making chicken-infused beer.

John J “Lou” Michels, Jr.

4107

Harvey Western Springs, IL 60558 Voice: (312) 849-8150 Fax: (312) 849-8151 jmichels@mcguirewoods.com On November 4,2008,1 looked out my office window overlooking Grant

Park here in Chicago and watched history occur. Nothing like having 75,000

people show up outside your office to make you appreciate democracy. Since then, and probably up until the inauguration, this is going to be an exciting town.

As many of you know, I switched law firms this fall. I guess I just wasn’t facing enough of a crisis in my midlife crisis, so I

thought I would complicate matters further by struggling all over again with a new boss, new office and new set of professional challenges. For the curious, the move was at my choice and based on what I see as almost unlimited potential at my new firm, Baker & McKenzie. In truth, the important stuff hasn’t changed; I am still doing the same type of labor and employment litigation that I was before, only now I am supported by about 2,000 more lawyers.

Since I am confessing all here, and because I don’t have a lot of material this time around, I might as well bring you up to date on the Michels clan. My oldest son is now a SERE instructor at Fairchild, having weathered a tech school that I could only describe as “horrific.” If you can, imagine that three-week program we all went through in 1974 expanded to sixmonths with a five-month BCT put on in front of it. And you might also be interested to learn that we are

The next shot shows John and Monty and some unidentified crew dog relax-

ing, Vegas casual style.

Ill

Due to job requirements, Ellie and I weren’t able to get there until late Thurs-

Good Interviewfor a General: Ray Johns (Diana) popped up in the “Danger Room” blog atWired.com being interviewed by a fairly well-known defense reporter. Ray is the Deputy Chief of Staff for Strategic Plans and Programs and, according to the blog, “the guy who’s supposed to think about what the Air Force will need, decades in the future.” Ray’s got some good quotes in the article, butwins high praise for his realistic approach to what advanced equipment the Air Force really needs versus what it’s likely to have to do in the immediate future. It’s a good read and I encourage you to take a look at it if you have a chance.

That’s it from Campaign Celebration Central. Hope the holidays go well for everyone. Beseeingyou.

Bob

Kay

40411 Tesoro Lane

Palmdale, CA 93551

Home:(661) 274-2201 Work: (661) 824-6426 Email: Robert.kay@baesystems.com

Greetings 78ers...

The big deal of course was our incredible 30th reunion in September. For those of you who couldn’t be there I’ll do my best with the limited brain cells I have left to share the highlights.

First off, Bees Kellenbence (chairman), Kip Warton, Steve Dalbey, John Hicks,

and Ken Prusak went above and beyond to make it the first rate event that it was—it wouldn’t have happened without them. The Embassy Suites also did

great job hosting our class with excellent rooms at reasonable rates and superb meals. Finally, Jennifer Ganzler and the AOG staff did a solid job of supa

porting seemingly endless details.. .they truly know how to do their jobs and it showed.

112

day afternoon so I’m reporting third person on the events prior to that. Wednesday night there was a reception at the hotel that was fairly well attended from what I was told. If it was anything like the ones in the past, it probably took two hours to get from the front door to the bar due to seeing so many people for the first time in years! On Thursday, the 78 golf tournament was held on the Academy Silver course with a fairly strong turnout. I never received the results but was again told that severe fun was had by all.

Thursday night saw the informal buffet at the hotel which was superb. The food was excellent and plentiful with more than a few severe middle-aged sunburned guys running around (seems we forgot how the air is rare at 7250’ altitude).

Still, just about everyone I saw seems to be holding up fairly well under the laws of gravity and ageing.

On Friday, we all tried to look sophisticated in coats and ties as the Academy leadership showed off the Area with a great open house, lunch with the cadets in Mitch’s or (yet) another feast at Doolittie Hall. After lunch we made our way to the chapel steps with our better halves for the famous (or is it infamous?) class picture below.

Afterwards, we gathered with ’73 in F-l (the absolute sleep magnet 35 years ago I heard more than one person remark) for senior staff briefings. Key speakers along with their summaries: “T” Thompson, ’73 the newAOG CEO: •Emphasis on promoting the "Long Blue Line" as a legacy and to fix the image of the AOG among graduates (admitted that it was a bit of a hard sell on supporting the AOG but he’s committed to fixing that).

•Identified 74 categories of Member/Academy support an association can provide.

•Made the comparison of USAFA against the other academy associations: AOG currently provides 69 of these services with three more pending as compared to 41 by the Naval AOG and 38 by the Army AOG. •Segue into asking for more support for the AOG through contributions and membership. Presented a slide to emphasize what the AOG does: 1) Supports Academy and Cadets, 2) Serves Graduates, and 3) Promotes Institutional heritage.

•Presented several class stats, some highlights: 3 Jabara Award Winners, 982 graduated, 944 still living, 117 still on active duty and 407 are AOG members (less than half).

Lt Gen Regni, also ‘73, Supt: •As a grad, his goal is to bring back some of the USAFA past traditions.

•Emphasized setting a higher standard of discipline (which he said the cadets have fully embraced), putting the teeth back into the HONOR CODE. There has been a great deal of Congressional heat to keep the graduating numbers up and not kick so many out for Honor violations (spawned a great deal of questions from the audience, some fairly direct).

•Greater emphasis on physical fitness, 100th Night is back, and Recognition Week (we remember as “Hell Week”) is coming back (but will be no hazing).

•Retention is up.

•’78 reps asked if during the recmiting process there was an effort to get more information about the candidate to validate a history of Lying, Cheating, or stealing. The Supt and Dean took it for consideration.

The Comm, Dean, and cadet Honor Committee Chair were also on hand and each spoke briefly as well as being available for Q&A. They echoed what the Supt said and gave more details when possible. All in all it was a very informative presentation/ discussion with several important and busy people taking time out to talk to us.

Afterwards, just our class stayed for presentations from Kip Warton on the Class Senate and Jack Kucera on grad and class giving along with Yours Truly in a shameless for more class info the threat of putting (with plug ever-present Kay family news to fill up the space).

Afterwards, we assembled at the Chapel Wall for a truly solemn and moving Memorial Ceremony as we remembered all grads that had died this past year.

The mood was especially poignant as the names of our own Herb Crissman, Bob Dorr and Ken Rachocki were read.

Later that evening, we gathered for another knock-out meal at the Embassy

together on and thesecond was after. ..uh.. .a tough day at the office. Lots of pressure I guess to keep making money and everyone copes differently.

Thanks Tami and may you and Bob have many more happy years together.

were

Suites and continued to see folks not seen in many a year. On Saturday morning we rested a bit trying to recover from the previous three-day gastronomical

assault only to have at it again at the Golden Corral catered tailgate prior to the game. There we saw a recently rejuvenated AF team (as ofthis writing they beat Armyyesterday and are 5-2) give a real challenge to the then-nationally-ranked Utah team but lost anyway. Brian Livie did a class-act cheerleading job with cheers that most of us haven’t heard in decades (“Slash ’em with a Beak” bring back any memories?).

There were no formal activities that night so most squadrons got together.

One example below was submitted by Tom Koehane’s bride, Amy. Twelve CS23 Barnstormers get together at Mike Catlin’s place in the Springs. From left in the back row are Larry Ortega, Tom Keohane, Mike Catlin; Middle row: Chuck Brininstool, DougPaton, Gary Hughes, Chuck Greenwood, MikeSkolaut; Front row: Doug Hagedorn, Roger LaFrance, Kenny Baizer and Lou Christensen.

At the reunion, my bride and I had a great time Friday night having dinner

with Greg and Crystal Kennedy. Greg flies for FedEx; they live in Alaska and truly enjoy it. Crystal had the honor of being a delegate to the Republican convention (great to see your Governor selected as the VP candidate) and Greg got to tag along. They said it was truly the thrill of a life time.

Amy also mentioned that other Barnstormers who had planned on being there were forced to curtail or cancel. Sal and Carol Grande made the reunion for part ofthe week but had to blast back to their very successful business. Tom Czachor and Kevin Kregel had to unfortunately cancel at the last minute due to Hurricane Ike but Tom sent the banner in the picture background. Jim Grupp and Sam Therrien had to cancel for family commitments but are hop-

ing to definitely make the next one.

Another entry was from Ted Roush of the CS-13 Bulldawg gathering at Famous Dave’s. From left in the back row are J.B. Betz, Tom Lash, John Parrot, Vic Summers, Pete Shockey, Bill Chambers, and Steve Hocking; Front row, Roberto Ribay, RickAulcino, Ted, Scribe, Brent Bristow and Vic Lin.

Those of you who get Checkpoints saw the ad in the last edition run by our

Gordy Curphy. He dropped a line and mentioned that he heard from two ofhis CS-03 classmates, Mike Mitchell and Ivan Urrego. Mike is living in California and Ivan in Atlanta and has a daughter who is also in 3rd Squadron.

Gordy spent some time in Sacramento and had hoped to connect with another Thirsty Third alum and former roomie, Eric Clethen. Eric has been flying for United for about 20 years. Unfortunately they weren’t able to meet but had a great chat on the phone.

Was reading the Wall Street Journal last month and saw an article on pilot fatigue and they featured Pet Demitry as “a former test pilot and fatigue expert who consults for pilot groups.” (They kind of forgot to mention that he’s also own

If anyone has others, pleas send in and I’ll post in the next article.

Bob Heim’s bride, Tami, sent two pix of Bob and John Follman who are both Southwest pilots. Tami also mentioned that both are married to their high school sweethearts and Tom and Bob roomed together as cadets at the Zoo and attended the Prep School together. The first was on a recent SWA flight that they

an MD... one ofthe fewwho has gone to both Test Pilot School and Med

school!)

Anyway, Pete did a great job presenting the challenges many of you guys face on “the line.”

Mike McMillie as well as several other ’78ers were able to attend Don Alston’s two-star pin in September at the Pentagon.

Speaking of Don, he and a couple of other G.O.s are on the move: He (Don) is the new Assistant Chief of Staff, Strategic Deterrence and Nuclear Integration on the Air Staff. Bill Chambers gets to escape the Beltway and is going to Ramstein where he’ll be the USAFE A3 (DO) and Bob McMahon is the new Air Staff Director of Logistics.

Well Folks, my thanks to everyone who provided enough material to even fill up the post reunion expanded article.. .well done! It was an exceptional time— the 35th will be here before we know it. 78 is Great!

Visit the AOG Web Site.

Merchandise, Gone But Not Forgotten and more!

www.usafa.org Bob Heim and John Follman 113

Stardust and its subsequent replacement with the T-37!). Erv also crossed paths with Steve Hoog and Steve Mueller at a requirements conference hosted by “the Boss” (CSAF, not Springsteen) at Nellis. Mike Lientz is at Lockheed Martin in Ft Worth, Mark Muhlenberg is in Savannah, GA working for Gulfstream, Don Lustigjust retired at Scott AFB after a tour as the AMC/IG and John Salvador is still with the Civil Air Patrol at Maxwell AFB. Robin Rand passed through

Bud

Vazquez 25 Hayden Lane Bedford, MA 01730

budvazquez@msn.com

Far be it from me to tell you men about what it means to be a classmate. You

know it means a deep friendship, borne of facing adversity and challenge together. You know it means to go out of your way, even when extremely busy, to help a classmate out. It extends to classmates whether they are close friends or distant acquaintances. Such was the case with me this past July, when Bob Swain, the newly-arrived Wing Commander for the Air Force Reserve's 439th Airlift Wing, atWestover AFB, MA helped my son and me on a littie task a task that was well beneath that of a busy Wing Commander. What makes it all the more special, is... well...

I really don’t knowBob very well. Not in the same squadron, not the same bunch of friends at the Zoo, not sure if I have ever shaken his hand. Yes, I have heard ofthe famous Chopper Popper, and he no doubt knew my name as a scribe, but you woulda’ thought he and I were long lost friends. Yet, of course, in a way we are united by a common bond and common experience in a galaxy far, far away. It is a bond that is just impossible for most people to understand. But is a bond that we cherish -

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even more

today, in appreciation of that chapter of our lives. So I promised

Randolph back in July and Steve Schmidt recently pinned on his second star and will be staying in Europe for a second NATO tour following his AWACS Command tour in Germany. Thanks for a great rundown, sir!

I was also successful in sneaking up on Don Palandech, Colonel USAF at AFA. Don is the Commander of the AF ROTC Detachment at Arizona State

University, but rumored to be looking towards the “Big R.” Come on over, Donnie

-

it is not bad to have money at the end ofthe month

-

versus the active

duty opposite! When I accosted Don Palandech, he was with Bill Murphy’s younger brother, Ken also an AFA grad (’821 think). I have not been able to chase the stealthy Bill down, but he is rumored to be in theVirginia Tidewater area. Please report any sightings!!

For those of us in the East, we know that every Thursday or Friday, Brian Koechel is going to send us an email about running in DC... well, drinking disguised as running... Brian sent me this great picture, and wrote that they had a mini-reunion on 13 Sep 2008 in Alexandria. In the picture you will see -

Brian Koechel on the lower left, as well as Terry Tullia, Jim Mandziara, Mike

Ashley, Tim Plaehn, Greg Nemeth, Mike Rhodes, Dennis Hilley, and George Morgan. Others who attended, but left early were Rick Pfautz, Paul Besson, Neil McCasland, and Tom Griffith. A good time was had by all, much wine and beer consumed! A “Mighty Fine” looking bunch, if I don’t say so myself!

myself that I would lead offwith a little tribute to Bob this article, a little more serious than normal for me... but one that meant a heckuva a lot to me that summer week.

Thankyou, Bob, and best wishes to you and Diane for a superb tour in New England!

Well, I started this article in the aftermath of the ugly “should not have been a loss” to Navy ugh sometimes the breaks are just going the other guy’s way... It just costs me a little more than most as both myyounger brothers are USNA grads!! I feel a little better now that Coach Calhoun has the Fightin’ Falcons at 6-2 going into Army. OK, on to more happy thoughts.

I start with this great picture of Bill Gregory and his newest toy. The Pitts doesn’t have as much of a top end as some ofBill’s active duty rides, but it turns -

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a lot better.

Mini-reunion with ’79 flag.

Ken Mattern is in the area, now a high-powered corporate attorney for

Raytheon, and occasionally I get to see him and his lovely bride, Pam, at dinner with mutual friends. Ken lives in Duxbury, MA also known as Deluxe-bury!

Eddie “Zano” Zanowics is also in the area now and again flying his Southwest airline 737-800 in and out of Manchester, NH. What a great experience to run into him some time ago on board a flight although I was not able to send up a “Fast, Neat Average... message to the flight deck.

I run into Dale Swanson now and again... as Dale is a long-time MITRE-ite up here in New England. Dale is the Lead Engineer on the Joint Environmental Toolkit (JET) program for Electronic Systems Center. Fielding of the JET system is now underway to over200Air Force weather flights around the world.

Brandy is a paralegal assistant for Northeast Utilities, where her job often takes her out of the office and into the field researching properties for power generation and transmission in New England states. Joshua is the youngest of their three boys, although he is a high school senior, and the only one who has not moved out on his own. Jared, the oldest Swanson sibling, now lives near Richmond, VA, and Jeremy, the second oldest, lives near Boston. Dale and Brandy reside in Hudson, NH. My oldest son, Daniel, is now 18 and 6 ft 1 inch and applying to the Zoo. He -

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-

”

Bill Gregory and his Pitts Special.

After nine years with Honeywell Human Space, Bill moved from a company of 120,000 people to one of 120. He is nowtheVice President of Business Development of Micro-Tronics, Inc, located inTempe, Arizona, and says he is loving it. Micro-Tronics is an Aerospace Specialty Machining firm [EDM, Laser, Water Jet], which also works in molded rubber products. The company is veteran owned & managed, with the founder being a member ofthe very first

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USAF Test Pilot School Class.

I ran into several 79ers at the AF Association convention in DC in mid-Sep-

tember. My old 9th Squadron roomie, Maj Gen Bill Rew and I got to catch up and share some laughs. Bill later sent me a note sharing that he routinely sees Steve Mueller (A5R), Burt Field (Dep J-5), Robin Rand (OSD Policy) and Don Jurewicz (A5R-A) in the Pentagon. Bill also works closely with Steve Hoog (USAF Warfare Center Commander) at Nellis and Frank Gorenc (ACC A-3) at

Langley. I liked Bill’s parting line, “There's a few of us ’79ers who just don't know when to quit.” Aw shucks, Bill we need you guys to run the USAF it’s just that as you guys got smarter, you needed fewer of us!

I also ran into Maj Gen Erv Lessel at AFA, and had a great catch-up chat. Erv subsequently wrote me that he is enjoying life as the AETC A5/8/9 working on F-35 beddown, BRAC in San Antonio, the future of Air Force learning, and (surprise) playing golf. Erv said he saw John Nichols at the AETC Commander’s Conference at Randolph AFB. John is in the Texas ANG at Kelly and working Hurricane relief operations for the state ofTexas. Erv added that Randy Fullhart is back in DC working acquisition and that they get to discuss AETC acquisition programs, including the T-38 replacement (remember flying the T-33 during -

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Dan and Bud-Zurich Ranch.

may well be more in line to be a Preppie this summer, but we shall see. He and I got in a great Father-Son outing, hunting for Pronghorn antelope this summer in far eastern New Mexico (almost in Texas). What a great trip...

Thank you all for the many prayers and good wishes for my wife, Molly, who remains cancer-free from a dangerous sarcoma surgery last year. We just passed our most recent CT scans yesterday (27 Oct) with flying colors hearing our new favorite words “All Clear.” We are good to go until 26 Jan 2009 now-whew!

So finally, I finish this on 28 Oct 2008, right before we get to pound Army into -

-

oblivion

-

hope to see you there and... BEAT ARMY!

Andersen AFB that will hold four Global Hawks for routine ops and six in an emergency.” TJ’s been part of this project since its infancy and the work is coming to fruition (as you can see).

Like clockwork. The annual 80 ’s Ladies Luncheon in the DC area was hosted

by Dee (Mahaffey) (Bob ’78) Steel. Bob’s the CCoftheNat’l War College. The house was said to be beautiful; the food delicious. She took the group on a tour ofthe historic sites of Ft. McNair as part ofthe outing. The good-looking group in the photo shows: (standing) Allison (Hilsman) Hickey, Dee, Maureen Tritle,

Kathy (Bishop) Campbell, Sue Kohut, Karen Wilhelm, Deanne (Barnet) Mahoney, Margie (Clark) Varuska, (sitting) Lorrie (Roemish) Bejani, and Holly (Emrick) Svetz.

Don

Myers 401 Chambray Hill Peachtree City, GA 30269-4247 (770) 631-1429 E-mail: DMyers80@hotmail.com ZN=Zoo mieNation.usafa.org Slim Pickins. Nope, this has nothing to do with that colorful actor (remember Dr. Strangelove?)—but everything to do with how lonely I felt this quarter without much love (in the way of words) sentmywayfromyoufolks. Nordid I see even one ofyou at the AF-Navy game (another sad story). So, with that in mind, I will simply ask that, in your present guilt-ridden state, you send me your annual Christmas/holiday letter—and any letters (or other info) you may receive from or about a fellow classmate. In advance: Thank you!

In this same theme of communication: Please remember that Debbie (Dubbe) Gray continues to assemble the best possible email address list for our class at ddgray@embarqmail.com. In addition to your own address, ifyou have a list of others in our class, please send it her way.

Finally (except I’m not really done), spread the word among our classmates (even/particularly non-members of the AOG) about the usefulness of ZoomieNation.org (ZN) as a means for all of us to better connect with one another.

Summer, that time of year when... I got word and evidence, circuitously, that Jerry (Wendy) Corbett had a wedding for daughter, Whitney, before it got too cold in their somewhat-new locale, Sandpoint, ID. Dad writes, “I thought walking her down the aisle would be more like The Last Mile, but it was a joy.”

The new couple lives/works near Princeton, NJ, but are trying to head west.

Post-lunch smiles from ’80's Ladies.

Staying busy and moving on. Lt Gen (sel) Paul (Ricki Smith) Selva sponsored a tasking by the CSAF to develop a quick-look Capabilities Based Assessment for Irregular Warfare. Definitely important, given today’s environment.

As many of you already know, BG Sue Desjardins from USAFA Commandant to Deputy Director of Strategic Plans, Requirements, and Programs, AMC Headquarters, Scott AFB. Faraway trek. Dave and son, Sam, Prahst had the opportunity to travel to Bosnia-Herzegovina on a short-term mission trip. “This new church was in the process of getting ready to start its first public services. It was so exciting to be part of the final push, helping them get ready to open their doors to the public for the very first time! Some of our team did get involved with painting, installing light fixtures, and landscaping, but my primary task, with Sam’s help, was to build a playground! That may not seem important or critical to a church plant, but Zeljko (the man who is the new ...

pastor of the church), had a vision to attract families with young children through a nice, safe outdoor play area. Our

Jerrygiving a way his first/only da ugh ter.

Always warm. TJ Johnson has a rather large collection of Hawaiian shirts.

That’s because he travels to many wonderful locations—searching the globe for the best spots to bed down the Global Hawk. “I am in Guam now on the last

leg of our PACAF SATAF tour. I have included a picture of our hangar here at

TJ with a new home forhis babies.

job was to come alongside of him and his vision for the min■■■?&» i%& After with that first I realistry. speaking Zeljko very Monday, ized that what he envisioned was very similar to the play area 22 I had built in our yard in Pittsburgh back in 1991. (This was Sabre Society Donors clearly a “God-thing”!) So that night I called Cindy and she was able to find the original plans we used, scanned them into a file, and e-mailed them to me in Sarajevo that very night! (Another “Godthing”!) Though I modified them a good bit, those plans were incredibly helpful and saved much time! We were able to buy a nice blue slide locally and used all of the swings and other accessories we had brought along from the U.S. for the playground!” The hosts were impressed that Dave and crew were able to finish the project and noted, “Sometimes teams get about half done and then leave the rest for the church to finish up themselves.” Obviously, they don’t know Dave’s roots. (See ZN for photo.)

Gustav update. Is it a trend that we seem to only hear from Allen Baker after a major storm? “Janet and I are fine and so is our [Gulfport, MS] house. We got a lot of rain. Behind us the golf course fairway is flooded, but not our yard and not our house. The power went out yesterday about 9:30 am and came on today at about 3:30 pm. Our generator kept the refrigerators running, which kept the beer cold. That was nice. The water pressure dwindled but never stopped. Thatwas nice, too. All is back to normal this evening. That'sbestof all. We weren’t as fascinated at the return of electricity to our street as the Tom Hanks character in Castaway, but it was pretty cool to flip the light switches with effect after being without. Janet and I are fully aware how fortunate we are. We emerged unscathed from Gustav. Lots offolks to the west of us will not be so fortunate. We know how that feels. Today after lunch we visited our beachfront lot. Three years ago our home was destroyed and all of our belongings were scattered about in a 20' tall debris line that stretched for fifty miles. Thatwas a bad time. We miss living on the beach, but we are completely impressed with the importance of building survivable structures along the shoreline. We still don' t know if/when we might rebuild on the old beach lot.”

(Back to) flying the line. I reported that Cary (Susan) Davidson, after reretiring from the AF, walked across the street at Travis AFB and started working asaC-17 sim instructor with Boeing. He then moved to an opening at Altus, OK, for better family quality of life. Well, the tough decision was made to go back with Northwest (soon to be Delta) after his furlough-bypass expired, but to stay in Altus as home. Ah, the wonderful life of a commuter.

115

Finally (for real), as I prepare to send this to the editor and go out for my week of flying, I wish you all the best during this most special Christmas/holiday

Lions (ouch), Tigers, and Pistons fans. Dan and Jennifer had two of their three

season. Don

(along with his older brother, a 2007 AFA grad; the smart ones). All three sons at academies way to go Dan and Jennifer! I got an address update from Terry and Louise Szanto, now living in Roswell, GA. Randy Worrail emailed me following the tough loss to Utah. Utah is a great team and AF hung tough for most of the game. Randy has been busy working the pilot side integration of Delta and Northwest airlines, so he has been spending a lot of time in Washington, DC. I have been on the road a lot, too. I have been hopping between Menlo Park, CA; Helena, MT; and Ft Leavenworth, KS for six of the past eight weeks on my current software project. I am looking forward to my travels winding down a bit in December.

Sean Murphy sent a picture ofthe 81 golfgaggle at Hickam. Marc Luiken has left PACAF to be the Vice Commander of 11th AF in Alaska. Sammy Angelella is nowin Japan. Jim Long is on staff at PACOM and looking at retiring next year.

Gene O’Nale is retired and working in “Earth Friendly Technology”. Sean is the PACAF command surgeon having replaced Dan Wyman who is now at Keesler AFB. Jake Jakobi emailed that he is feeling great and playing old man lacrosse (why, because he is an old man!). He said he may come out to Colo-

sons with them.

One is a midshipman (the wayward son) and one is a cadet

-

Rich Trentman 11102 Asbee St.

Falcon, CO 80831-8170 Home: (719) 494-8438 Work: (719) 234-0754 E-mail: trentman@usafa81.com

Class Website: www.usafa81.com

Another highly successful Falcon football season is drawing to an end! Coach Calhoun has really fired up the program and recruited some great, young athletes for the future. Heck, the future is now. IjustwanttobreaktheNavy“jinx”.

That is the one game that eats at me and takes me awhile to get over every year.

Class News: Karen Blackford (80) emailed me about the USAFA women’s rugby reunion in Snowmass this past Summer. The picture has lots of 81 and 80 ladies with one 82er. She also sent a rafting picture that I posted on our Class section on ZoomieNation. Thanks, Karen! Annette Abraham, wife of our late classmate, Bob Abraham (CS-12), emailed that their daughter, Amy, is a4 degree at USAFA (2012). There is quite a group ofsecond generation 81 ers that are at AFA or already on active duty. I’ll have to check on that for you.

rado for a football game this Fall.

Jim Long, Marc Luiken, Sam Angelella, Gene O’Nale, Sean Murphy I close with a hearty thank you for all the pictures and emails. This was a

USAFA Women’s Rugby Reunion: Jamie Klemme, Kathie Durst, Julie Kay,

Kellie Timmons, MaryOrn, and Sandra Yope.

Sheldon Dennis dropped by Craig Jenkins 'house in Murphy, TX for a mini81 reunion on the 4th ofJuly with Craig, Tim Harris, and James Guess. Sheldon said Craig flies for Delta; James lives in Plano and is an orthopedic surgeon; Tim works out at Schriever AFB, CO (I see Tim a lot at AFA games); and Sheldon owns a window cleaning franchise and lives in Ft Worth. Sheldon scanned a photo for us and I posted it on ZoomieNation in our class photo album. They look good for a bunch of old men!

BGen Lenny Patrick sent that he hosted this year’s Senior Leader Orientation Class at Lackland AFB. (Len is the 37th Training Wing Commander.) In this class were: BGen Dan Wyman, BGen(S) KurtNeubauer, andBGen(S) BeefHaddad.

A well deserved “congratulations” is in order with a mix of “wow”, you guys turned out all right. I know that time is flying by, but I still at times have difficulty thinking of “us” as Generals, Presidents, VPs, retirees, etc... I can very vividly remember our class as they were many years ago going to Leon Gessi’s; writing checks at Norma’s Stop n Shop; eating at Arnie’s; Spike’s Place, Godfather’s Pizza; etc.

-

Beef Haddad, Len Patrick, Dan Wyman, and Kurt Neubauer

Speaking of a small world, I ran into Dan and Jennifer Bell after the AF-Navy game. Dan and Jennifer are settled in Virginia and still adjusting to their big move from Michigan. Dan and I have been long time (Detroit) Redwings, 116

tough quarter with my heavy travel schedule, but you always come through to make this a pretty, darn easy task every few months. Let me know when you tire of my now seven years as your scribe! Falcon basketball starts soon and I’ll see lots of81ersatthe games. Keep the emails and pictures coming! 81 second to none.

Jim Ratti

2860 Arbor Pointe Drive

Middletown, OH 45042

(937) 760-2333 rattijm@mindspring.com http://usafa82.org

Greetings Redtags!

Seems like every quarter I sit down to start writing this column and think I don’t have enough news to fill the space. Then I start going back over my emails and contacts for the past few months and find that I’ve got more than I

thought! That’s exactly what happened this time

--

lots of good stuff (and pic-

turestoo!). So, let’s hit it...

First up are a couple of retirements I heard about. Col Dave Silvia retired in

September in the DC area. No word yet on his post-AF plans. ColJonSutter retired at Langley on 7 November. Again, no word on his plans.

I’ve got a number of "short takes" on recent job/assignment changes. Ken Murphy is working for Raytheon, somewhere in California. Cynthia Mack is on the USAFA Diversity Advisory Panel, and passed along word that Dean Christian's son is playing football at USAFA as a member of the class of 2012. Ted Bale is leaving Tucson after 19 years there to take an AGR Colonel position at CENTCOM/J7 in Tampa. Col Larry Jones has been named the Deputy Director for Admissions at USAFA. BG Zan Vautrinot moved from Recruiting Service at Randolph to somewhere in NSA (Ft Meade?). Col Jan Rosko was named the Director of Staff for the provisional AF Cyber Command. Not clear yet what all the turmoil regarding whether or not AF Cyber will be a MAJCOM will mean for Jan. Stay tuned... Ray Phillips is leading a small telecom company in Colorado Springs. BG Bob Otto is the commander of the 9th Reconnaissance Wing at Beale and is busy getting steeped in all things Global Hawk and U-2. Last but not least, Gerry Sohan has retired but is still working somewhere in the AF District ofWashington.

We have a number of classmates whose offspring are attending service acad-

emies, and not all of the youngsters have chosen the Air Force! Daryl (Bones) and Martha Stevenson-Jones' son Phillip made it through his plebe summer at the N aval Academy and is now a proud member of the class of 2012. Martha

said they couldn't be more proud of him, and that she and Bones somehow squeezed into their uniforms for Phillip's swearing in. Judging from the picture below,

I'dsaytherewasn'tmuch "squeezing" at all (certainly less thanl'd

have to do!).

Mike Sinisi, BG Bob Ranck, andhis wife, Susan, at Bob's promotion ceremony. nance, port operations, and command/ control for transient military and com-

mercial airlifters as they pass through. She has units in 10 countries, all of which are tenants on USAFE and AFCENT bases. Kim says Mark Baker is the Group/CC of a similar unit in the Pacific.

Dan Harrier sent a pdf of an article which appeared in the October issue of

"5280.com", a Denver-area magazine. It featured a short article about his Bones, Phillip, and Martha at USNA. Bones and Martha stay very busy. Although they live in Yorktown, VA, they

travelled to various Asian countries this past summer serving churches from Cambodia to Malaysia. Bones was recently awarded a Doctorate in Ministry not bad for an old Eagle Driver!

Rick Burgess is at Bolling (at least for a little while longer) and sent this picture and update.

—

daughter Jacque who is a Falconer and a member ofthe class of 2010. The story was well-done, and she gives a short but thorough overview of the path to becoming a USAFA Falconer. She has some pretty good sound bites regarding training, tolerance, patience, and school pride. I tried to find a link to the article online at 5280.com, but there didn't seem to be one to the article itself.

I can e-mail you the .pdf if you're interested.

And now that election season is behind us (thank God!), I thought I'd include something that shows that our elected officials really can do something useful!

Tony" Fazer" Lazarski is a staffer for Senator Inhofe, and wrote to let us know that his boss inserted language in the FY08 and 09 National Defense Authorization Acts amending Title 4 and Title 36 of the US Code. Specifically, the provisions allow veterans and service members not in uniform to salute the flag during hoisting, lowering, or passing of the flag, as well as during the playing ofthe national anthem. So don' t be afraid to show your pride next time you hear the Anthem play!

That's about it for now. Keep the news flowing, and until next time, be safe!

Ratman

W.Wade Wheeler P.0. Box 30 Fort Belvoir, VA 22060

(703) 474-5032 Arden Dahl, Mike Burgess, and Mike Isherwood enjoying some food and

fellowship.

wwade83@verison.net

walter.wade.wheeler@us.army.mil

Arden and Marcia Dahl recently hosted a small ’82 get together in Spring-

field, VA, attended by Mike and Dawn Isherwood and Rick and Sandra Burgess. (Chris Haave planned to attend, but his boss, VP Dick Cheney had some

light business and was leaving for Georgia—the country—the next day.) Arden smoked some meat and fish on his cosmic grill/ smoker and the food and fellowship were outstanding! Arden and Marcia live in Springfield, VA, get no sleep due to the busy lives of their seven kids, and Arden serves at the Pentagon as the Joint Staff's Assistant Deputy Director (J-34, Anti-Terrorism and Homeland Defense). Mike and Dawn live in Woodbridge, VA, stay busy raising Koi (no, they' re not big goldfish!), experiencing all the joys of parenting their firstyear college daughter and son in high school. Mike is a Senior Analyst at Northrup Grumman's Analysis Center in Rosslyn, VA. Rick and Sandra recently completed attache training and are now grinding through Hebrew language training in preparation for a three-year tour in the US Embassy in Tel Aviv (to replace fellow Redtag Dave O'Meara). The Burgess' pray daily for their two sons who serve in the Army and Marines, both serving in Iraq, and scheduled to return in winter 2008. Great memories ofAF life and USAFA were flowing all evening and a great time was had by all at the" Dahl House."

Bob Ranck is the latest of our classmates to be promoted to BG. His ceremony was held in September in the Hall of Heroes at the Pentagon.' 77 grad Lt Gen Ray Johns presided over the ceremony and did a wonderful job recounting Bob's noteworthy career, much of it spent in Washington. Mike Sinisi sent this picture taken just after the ceremony. (See photo at the top of the next column.)

Dianna and Paul Ackerley are back in San Antonio where Paul is the Director of AEF Operations. Dianna says that the pace is much more manageable than when Paul was the Wing/CC at Andrews no more 2 AM phone calls! Dianna stays very busy with volunteer work, putting her Red Cross experience from Andrews to good use. She and Paul have two sons attending the University of Texas at San Antonio, and their daughter is settled in at Randolph High School.

I learned via Mike Sinisi that Col Kim Corcoran was selected to stand up a new AMC wing at Ramstein, the 521 st Air Mobility Operations Wing. It's a reorganization of an existing unit and is responsible for providing mainte —

The Class of 1983 Memorial Ceremony was dedicated to those members of our class who have gone before us. It was a time to embrace memories of our fallen classmates. In the ceremony, we recognized our departed classmates and celebrated as a community the experiences that made us the USAF Academy Class of 1983.

Class of ’83 Memorial Ceremony Members of the Class of 1983 who have gone before us: Stephen Penley, Vernon Neill Jr., William May, Timothy Kehler, Jeffrey Stevens, Jeffrey Giles, Cody Carr, Terry Grunden, Paul Ossowski, Kenneth Kuhr, Christopher Francino, Roberto Ravina, Grant Hudson, Carlisle Bradford, Fori (Plosa) Chestnut, and Fuis Arauz.

The first ceremony of this type occurred in 1964 with a memorial service in the Cadet Chapel. This year’s memorial ceremony was highlighted by a roll call of deceased classmates. As each deceased class member’s name and squadron were called out a classmate from that squadron responded “Absent”. The 117

roll call was followed by a moment of silence to honor the fallen.

Avery strong message was presented to all. Memories of Luis Arauz and Lori (Plosa) Chestnut brought to light how each and everyone of our class has touched others and had a life long impact on lives well outside the immediate circle ofthose we touch. “83 Best to Be” is that always a vision in our future oris it a legacy we have constantly been sculpting and molding from the day were arrived at USAFA until the last of our class has fallen. A special heartfelt thank you goes to Alan Arata who shared with each and every one of us attend-

ing.

A phenomenal time was had by all who attended our 25th reunion and braved the cold to watch the AF / CSU game. The first two series reminded us all ofthe old days as CSU stopped us cold and forced a punt; then marched down the field to score. The AF quarterback (true doolie) then got to work and a defense materialized too.. .ultimately time ran out before CSU could get in the lead again... Final Score: AF 38 CSU 17.

A special thanks to all who helped plan, organized, and execute our 25th reunion. All who attended owe you a debt of gratitude. Job well done!!!

I will provide updates on several of our classmates, I can’t catch or write all that was shared at the reunion.

Kim Brentler said it best “I wasn’t going to go to the 10th reunion; somehow I was talked into it. Our classmates helped me through some very trying times.. .1 will be at ALL our reunions! Reunions are the best part ofourAcademy experience together.1 Kim just finished a reserve deployment working with Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) at Creech AFB. Eric Strull is working for a packaging company in Dallas, TX. He has a lovely Texas bride (like me). His son is 17 and daughter is 14. Eric wants to have a Dallas/Ft Worth mini-reunion so everyone(even those outside Texas) should make sure your contact info is up to date at the AOG site. If you won’t share a phone number, please share your email or home address with us so we can reach you.

Remember our classmate who went to F-1 for a briefing 30 minutes early while all the rest of us just made it through the doors and into our seats on -

”

and Phyllis Chun from Colorado; First out of USAF (5/31/88) Stu Hixon and Mike Morgan; Most unlikely to become “Dean of Faculty” Dana Born

(Lindsley).

The golf tournament was a blast! Phil Austin met us all on a very cold Thursday morning and we played on the blue course. We took a weather delay to let all our old bones wait for the weather to warm up. Doug Huntley showed up in shorts while the rest of us layered up. Stu Hixon got robbed on the closest to the pin. How could a grad bring his son as a ringer and do that to a fellow classmate? Ask Chris Bogdan Ask Chris again in 10-15 years and he might get us access to the parents tent at the PGA Championship.

A few classmates were asking about availability of our class print. I spent some time with Rick Broome during reunion week. He is doing very well and ...

has built a studio with a retired United 727 first class to nose section in it. He has a wing section over his work area with lights mounted from the underside.

About 10 class prints are left at $750.00 each. Go to rickbroome.com to get info on how to order. Check out the section he calls starlights.

Don Lindberg sent me info while going through the Senior Officer checkout at Tyndall AFB, FL. Don ran into Robert “LeeBob” Hinkle and Darryl “OBD”

Roberson. LeeBob retired as an F-15 Operations Officer and nowteaches F22 academics for Lockheed-Martin; he tried for three weeks to impart knowl-

edge to an old fighter pilot and sent Don on to take F-22 flying lessons. OBD and Don crossed paths in academics as he is now checking out in the F-22 after taking the Wing at Tyndall and getting frocked as a 0-7. When Don is finished he will report to Holloman AFB as the incoming AFRC Fighter Group (FG) Commander. On a side note: OBD and Don started their trek to the F-22 over 30 years ago at Millard Prep School!

time? Roger Yeshnik was waiting for the AOG ladies to open the door so he could be first to register!

Brian Berry is finally engaged and invites us all to Wmter Park, FL in April 09.

He may be too busy to get us all a personal invite while flying international

(FO) for Delta. His fiance’ Jennifer is an operating room nurse. Brian is an IMA at Robbins AFB and Sqdn/CC for CAP in Atlanta.

Blanche (Godwin) Shelton shared the following: Loved the Reunion!

Brought my whole family this time, Tracy (husband), daughter Rachel (10) and son Brent (9). One of the highlights -the woman Grad’s breakfast. Tom Kasson was supposed to be here but is nursing a back/hip injury.

I found Ric Pohland. I drove to his parent’s house on the way from COS to Washington DC after reunion and they took me out to dinner and got me in touch withhim. Ric retired as ABW/CC at Eglin. He is now Center Operations Manager for Coastal Int’l Security directing all Fire, Security, and Emergency Services at Kennedy Space Center. He should be easy to spot, his wife Kristi is a ’95 grad. Yeah, 4th grade when we graduated. They have twin six-year-old daughters. I thought Chuck Murillo who got married this year had a younger wife; I asked... Jill was in 4th grade too.

Most surprising way to get an update on a classmate goes to Bret Rosane. The 1959 USAF Academy football team was having a reunion too. Bret’s mother and father (’59) saw me in the lobby and shared that he is a doctor in Anchorage,AK. He ran the Ironman triathlon in Hawaii lastyear. Impressed? His wife has him beat; she’s done two already; you go girl!

The class had a board out for all to share some interesting accomplishments.

Shared here are just the top of list... Most kids (7) and Beauty queen wife (Mrs -

Gary Hopper and Roger Aldinger Gary Hopper gave a talk in Paris at a UAS conference in June. While fighting offthe jet lag, he went for a walk near the hotel to check out the Arc deTriomphe.

He asked an American to take a picture for him and they started with the “you look familiar” drill. It was Roger Aldinger on vacation with his family. Roger is flying for American out of DFW. Cindy (Fujimoto) and Jim Norman invited Cherri and me over for dinner in September and we had a great time catching up on the years. Their two kids are as active as all of yours and keep mom and dad very busy!

Paul Vernoski; Most Grandkids (2) John and Momi Andreshak; Youngest child (6.5 mo) David and Stephanie Stine; Bun in Burner Mic and Heather Bryant (7 mo) and Chuck and Jill Murillo (2 mo); youngest child of female grad -Tami Smith (3yr); oldest child(25 /28?) Jon and Brenda Duresky; Oldest Grandchild (4yr) Evan Smith; kids at USAFA (2) Paul Stephenson and New Jersey!)

-

-

-

Kathryn Johnson (Strand); mostyrs assigned in COS (12) Billy Walker; Furthest distance traveled (Sydney Australia) Mike Meyer; Shortest distance Francis

Don Domkowski and Col Terry Featherston Don Domkowski (formerly "Polish Canon") out in Tucson, sent me an email

from the Univ ofArizona. Don was asked to substitute for a week at the AFROTC detachment, and guess who he ran into? Col Terry Featherston. Don couldn’t make the reunion due to a broken arm and pending surgery. He also has refused to cut his hair since he retired last year. Looks like a real liberal arts

college professor!

25th Reunion GolfTourney 118

Mike and Gisela Shanahan invited the Mach One grads over Thursday of the reunion. Both of their sons are at Nebraska. Mike is with the EPA and Gisela

Mike and Gisela Shanahan, Bob and Virginia Stambaugh, Chuck and Jill

Murillo, Wade and Cherri Wheeler is the financial officer for Colorado Springs Airport. They have a wonderful house in Monument.

I look forward to seeing everyone at our 30th reunion

for 2013!

Mark your calendars Ray Blust has the next checkpoints article. Reach him at -

rjmablust@comcast.net, (304) 242-7182.

After wearing my Army Dress blues all over the terrazzo for the reunion, all who attended know I will close with the words written boldly on my GOLD shirt Thursday night... Go Army beat Air Force! (Ed note: Didn’t happen! But thanks for the quick turnaround Wade.)

Rob Polumbo’s last High t.

William Decker started as President of Aquionics in July and relocated the family from Texas. The company is located just south of Cincinnati in Erlanger, KY. The company is part of the Halma PLC and sells ultraviolet water purification systems. During his first week, he traveled to the Netherlands and then to

Slough (west of London) to visit two sister companies. That was followed by the parent company's annual general meeting with the share holders and finally their CEO conference in London. He finally got back to Kentucky where they are still unpacking boxes in the new house. They were blessed with a quick contract and quick closing on their house in Texas (less than 30 days from listing to closing). Good job!

How crazy is this? First we get a classmate who is the Comm and now we

Mike Jensen

have to start talking about our 25-year reunion! I am hoping we can have another great weekend and have an illustrious golf tournament... how about the

12035 Milam Road Colorado Springs, CO 80908

Commandant’s Classic? Sounds like a winner to me. I’ll let you know when we get a date finalized. In the meantime, send me your updates now! Herman

l-(800)-G0-AFA-G0 michaeljensen@remax.net http://www.usafa84.com

Baker get your chin in, and Where’s Marty?

Have a great holiday season! jens

Remember the Commandant? Well nowyou do! It is our own Samuel D. Cox. Fresh on the one-star list, Sam “hit the ground running” on October 1 5th and was well received by LtGen Regni and staff. In attendance at the Change of Command, and shown below were Chris Troiano, Marv Jones, Victor Haynes, Gen Cox, Mike Jensen and Pete Hargrove. Congrats to Sam and good luck!

Frank “Q.” Williams 13209 Topsfield Court

Herndon, VA 20171

(703) 657-3227 USAFA1985@aol.com

Hi everybody!

I received a short but powerful letter via “snail mail” that was overflowing

with pride and information from George D. Pollard ’72, dated Sept 11,2008.

Updates: Tom Eannarino and his family are in North Carolina. Tom is working for Boeing as an F- 15E simulator instructor and of course taking in some golf and beer when able. Jack Forsythe just returned to the Pentagon for a third tour as the Global Persistent Attack Capabilities Division Chief. He and Amy now call Virginia home. For the previous two years he was the Operations Group Commander at Holloman AFB, NM. Best job he had in the Air Force!

They retired the F-117 Jack flew the very last mission and transitioned Holloman to the F-22 Raptor. Mark Drinkard, ’84, was Jack’s Deputy Group Commander. It was an honor to fly my last Air Force flight with him on June 28th. Of course no rules were broken, but they had a great sortie! He has seen Chris Cordes in the Pentagon and has talked to Jon Huss.

Monster Huss is the Vice Commander at Kunsan right now 11 and is working like a banshee to get ready for their OperaSabre Society tional Readiness Inspection.

Donors Joe Wiseman retired from active duty from Landstuhl Regional Medical Center on 1 Jul 08. The Air Force was kind enough to give him a two-year in grade waiver to retire. He started working at Kaiser Permanente as a staffhead & neck surgeon in San Diego. He has seen Ed Baca a couple of times since he’s been back in San Diego. Rob Polumbo flew his last flight in the F-16.

Sandy McFarland sent him McFly’s visor cover and flag to fly for the last flight (picture attached). He had some fellow 84 classmates join him for the final flight (Dave “Jig” Teal and Jeff “JC” Connors) He has been reassigned to be the Mobilization Assistant to the USAF Warfare Center at Nellis AFB, NV Commuting out there every month while still flying for American.

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George’s letter contained an enclosed biography from the Vance AFB web site for Colonel Mark C. Nowland. George, Chris’ AOC from CS-12, said Kristin had invited him to go to Chris’ change of command ceremony on July 11,2008.

George said Chris was his fall semester squadron commander during our senior year. George also pointed out that Chris was Kevin Fleming’s deputy commander (for operations) on 2nd Group staff during the spring semester of our senior year. Back to present day, George went on to say that the outgoing commander of the 71st FlyingTraining Wing was another one of our classmates, Rich Klump. George said he thinks Rich lives in Colorado Springs now. And George said Chris received his command flag from the 19 AF/CC, Irv Halter ’78. Additionally, George said he was aware of two other colonels from CS-12 and our class who are at Tyndall AFB. John Colombo is 1st AF/A-3 and Craig Hall is commander of the 325th Maintenance Group. Thank you George!

Kevin and Wendy Routhier sent an e-mail to their family and friends to notify them of some exciting news. They sent a video of their son Josiah jumping on the trampoline to the America's Funniest Videos television show back in June.

The show selected the video to air on Sunday night, 19 October 2008. The Routhiers said they were not invited to go to the studio, so they knew their video was not selected as one of the top three videos to compete for prize money. If you missed the show this fall, please look for it during reruns at the end of the television season. Congratulations Routhiers.

I spoke to George Weathersby on the telephone recently. George said he completed his military duty overseas and once he got home he took some well deserved time off from working. When I talked to George he was in San Antonio, TX participating in a friend’s wedding. By now, I think George is back from his vacation and has resumed civilian work in the Metro Washington, DC area.

As of this writing we had a few more inquires into our class website. Gil Cowell and Terry Seaman sent e-mails for access to the pass code. Gil’s e-mail was from a civilian account from home. But Terry’s was work. It looks like

things are working out for Terry as a civil servant at Headquarters Air Force Space Command. In order for anyone in our class to get access to the pass 119

code, Ray Harris and I must first verify that you are really who you say you are through a series of questions. This process is in place in order to help protect everyone’s privacy. Please don’t be put off by it; sign-up for the pass code to our web site. You’ll be able to post info and pictures to it. Otherwise, you can only

at the request of management here at USNA and am teaching

see what other classmates have

training ever materialized

content.

already posted and not contribute any new Thanks to Ray, our class web page is located at http://

www.softwrsolutions.com/usafa85/.

Stay in touch. Q

aerospace structures and materials classes. Without going into details, I don't believe AFPC could have screwed up my records and progression more in my 20 years not one 'worked' or requested assignment (even multistar 'by-names') otherthan —

literally had four sets of different records floating around and not one level of management could see or fix them all in eight years... and I still landed where life is great! Confused yet? Now I teach, research, consult, pay for my kids' college, and ski when I can... oh and then there is that Barbershop Quartet thing (started in High School) had a feature with the USAFA Chorale quartet... always have one together wherever I am... right nowits ‘Fourgetaboutit’. Last big audience 31,000+ at Camden Yard.”

Andy Hart wrote, Sorry I'm not ‘Facebook qualified’ but since you did find me, I thought I could at least update you a bit. I retired in 2006 and joined a small company called Stellar Solutions and am working for them in their Intel Sector as a systems engineer (sounds good but really means I have an engineering degree but squandered it in my 20-year AF career, so I'm a jack-of-all trades). I love my job and commute. My wife, Cindy (Staples, ’87), is looking at getting back into the reserves next summer possibly with the NY ANG. I recently ran into Gene Brown who is an 0-6 at the Pentagon as the NRO Pentagon Senior Field Rep (sorry if I screwed up your job title Gene). I think Bob Newberry and George Birsic are 0-6s running amok causing trouble in the NRO, but I would expect nothing less of NewBob! Too bad I'm on the road (actually finishing up two weeks on a short term mission with my daughter to LA's Union Rescue Mission and Yugo Mission's Grace Orphanage outside Tijuana) or I'd send you some great pics from our 20th reunion oh, I guess that was a fewyears ago. 'Thanks for finding me on Facebook!”

Steve Allen wrote, “Shelly and I are now officially Southerners. After 17 years 27 ifyou countthe 10 years we spent in Colorado Springs offreezingour tails off, we've recently relocated to Charlotte, NC. My company had an opening in the Carolinas, and they had enough confidence in me to let me relocate.

Shelly loves the area, and I know she' 11 love it even more this fall and winter I' m sure. We celebrated 21 years of blissful marriage this past May. Who would have guessed a group commander and a ‘kiss off jock’. God is good!

“Our kids Jake (18), Jessie (17) and John (13) are slowly making the transition, although it is very difficult for them as they've only known life in their world of Beverly Hills, MI. Jake starts his sophomore year at Belmont University in Nashville, and Jessie starts her senior year at a new school this fall. We 're hoping she'll start talking to us again by Christmas. John is in the eighth grade, and he' s making new friends quickly.

“I've recently been reacquainted with Don and Vanessa Carter, living near Greensboro NC. Don is practicing law, and Vanessa is in the reserves. I also had a beer with Eric Leidheiser in Charleston SC. He was flying out ofCharleston AFB, but I believe he was headed up to Michigan to try his hand at ortho pedic sales.

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Gary Burg 3511 Hollyberry Circle Anchorage, AK 99507 (907) 677-6050 lce492FS@yahoo.com

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To start off, I just wanted to make a correction to the last column Cactus (Bob

Colella) wrote. The award I received was FIELD grade Officer of the Quarter, not COMPANY grade Officer of the Quarter. Just a minor thing but one I feel

needed to be corrected. You can thank Cactus for coming through with this quarter’s input because I didn’t get any. Without you (my fellow classmates) sending Cactus and I inputs on a regular basis, this column doesn’t get filled or at least won’t get filled by me. Bob goes through Facebook to pull inputs but I don’t have the time or desire to do that. Enough of my surly attitude, on to Bob’s inputs.

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Photographic evidence that it was the FIELD grade officer of the quarter award!

Bob wrote, “I was in at Air War College doing an‘inspection’ of their PME program and ran into Frank Westhauser and Polly Padden. Both are on faculty teaching at AWC and Polly most recently was featured in a book titled" Band of it is a book about the combat experiences of women in our most Sisters" recent series of conflicts. Polly commanded a C-130 squadron in the Iraqi theater of operations and her story is told in the book. She gives a lot of credit in the book to the many Loadmasters who helped her find her way from her Ttail background into the world of turning props and short runways. I had to remind her that it was guys like me sitting at the end ofthe table in Mitchell Hall, playing loadmaster to her weak attempts at hot pilot on our right, who had to instruct her on the more important things in life such as the knowledge that the serrated serving utensil goes into the pan with the green beans and the non-serrated serving utensil goes into the pan with the mash potatoes for some reason, this story didn't make it into the book.

Frank was doing well as a new member of the faculty and was enjoying the quieter pace of life at Maxwell.

KennethNorriswrotebackinAugust, “Hey Bob, Notmuch to say for checkpoints. I keep in touch with my USAFA roomie Maurice McDonald. He just retired last year, and is working as a PM somewhere nearWright-Patterson. I am working at the Department of State as a PM myself. I have been in the Washington DC area since 1987, and a civilian since 1994. Aside from watching the kids get big (3) Krystan-14, Kenneth-12 and Kamal-10,1 just work day to day. I also ran into Tom Miller, USAFA 87 while at the State Department.

Joel Schubbe wrote, “Iwasadarkand stormy night-- 1 was in the 14th year of my career and completing a 14-week training TDY in DC as directed by the 2-star that had worked my next assignment as a test director at Eglin...sweet!

AFPC called and notified me I was non-volunteered to Annapolis huh?

Unexpected but a 7-day opt was not an option -1 still had years left from my PhD...so I went had a ball teaching midshipmen (and a few AF and USA cadets in the process), but then the infinite wisdom of the AFPC did their work again and eliminated my ‘must fill’ billet and my assignments guy found a job for my last tour as the Chiefof Operational Modeling and Sim, then the Deputy IPT Lead and Lead Engineer for Airframe Design on JSF, F-35, Lightning II. Upon retiring, I took up a tenure track civilian professor position back at USNA --

Well, that's all for now. If any of our USAFA friends are in the Charlotte area,

please give us a call.

”

Bob’s got the next column so PLEASE drop him a line and let him know what you are up too. His email is RKASColella@cox.net or Colella, Robert [ColellaR@ndu.edu]. Next time (maybe)!

Ezra Vance 7320 Brixham Circle Castle Rock, CO 80108 Home: (303) 6885431 Work: (303) 304-1287

ezravance@hotmail.com

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(Nine Sabre Society Donors) (Editor’s note: We did not receive an article Ifom Ezra for this issue as he said he did not have anyinputs from this classmates. Please contact him withyour info and photos for the next issue.)

Mark Peters

2437 Bedford Circle

Bedford, TX 76021-1823

(817) 937-9696 pylt@yahoo.com

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120

Greetings 88!

Alas, not much to report this time around—I guess everyone was getting

ready for the reunion! The good news is that this momentary lull in the incoming email allows me to finally use six items that I ve had trouble squeezing in.

For example, last month I had to remove a note from Jim and Christie Lee for space reasons: “Just wanted to let you know about our post-AF plans in case you want to include them in Checkpoints. I'll be retiring from the Air Force on 31 Dec after going on terminal leave in Oct. We are following the Lord'slead ’

to ‘serve those who serve’ at Offutt AFB as part ofthe Navigators

Military Min-

It's odd how20 years can pass so quickly. I'm not exactly sure how 20 years are

istry. If anyone is interested in joining our prayer and/or financial support team, they are welcome to contact me at home at (402) 505-4694, email (christieandjim@cox.net), or they can check out our web site at http://

supposed to ‘feel’, but it seems like a long work week interrupted by periodic coffee breaks and occasional heart attacks. Fortunately we have much for which we are thankful, and a load of memories that bring smiles far more often

www.navigators.org/us/staff/lee.

than frowns/'

Solo is a NASA Research Pilot and can be reached at

nebojsa.m.solunac@nasa.gov.

That’s it. Write your scribe and send me your reunion pictures too!

Paul W. Tibbets,

IV

PSC 80, Box 76 APO AE, 09702 Home: 011-32-2-251-2772

E-mail:

p2a2@skynet.be

Class web site: http://www.

usafaclasses.org/1989/ Hello 89ers! The good news

preparations and fundraising for our 20th reunion are proceeding fairly well. We now sit with approximately $ 130,000 in cash on hand ($70K) and pledges ($60K) for the class gift project. On behalf of the class, I can’t thank those of you enough who have generously donated to this great cause. With a goal of $150,000, we are over 85% there! The bad news $ 130K is just $5K over last quarter... this slow growth leaves us a little short and we still need your help sooner rather than later! As a reminder, the money raised will go towards our Heritage Trail plot where we will honor Kevin Shea, -

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The Jim and Christie Lee Family Item 2: iSABRD is the official Business Networking Directory of all five Fed-

eral Service Academies. Our class has only 126 active alumni so do please sign up at www.isabrd.com. With the potential for increased economic turmoil the site is probably of great use to your fellow grads. As stated on their site: “iSABRD is the online version of the Service Academy Business Resource

Directory. It contains information voluntarily supplied by alumni of the participating service academies.

pavers for all our fallen classmates and several cadet programs. If you have pledged, please send in your donations at your earliest convenience so the work can proceed in a timely manner and be completed before the reunion. Also, this would be a good time to contact other classmates you know and encourage them to give. Let’s spread the word!! More

Born from the belief that the alumni associations and asso-

information can be found at our class web site listed at the

ciations of graduates exist not only to serve their Academies but their membership, this online directory creates a busi-

beginning of this article, or you can contact our class gift POC, Alex “Gonzo” Gonzalez-Rojas atgonzo5insp@hotmail.com.

On other reunion developments, we are looking for volunteers who are interested in serving as squadron POCs. We only have a handful

leadership network. The information not only showcases Service Academy Alumni endeavors, it provides a way for those in need of certain services in a geographical area, and those hiring or seeking a job, an easy and efficient way to find one of their own. Following a long-standing policy of protecting the Alumni information as much as possible while still making it available to other Alumni, the iSABRD will be made available only to Service Academy alumni.

The iSABRD is not intended for solicitation.” One recent monthly update ness

advised that Jorge Lasso Vargas, our classmate from Panama, is now an aerospace engineer with COPA Airlines in Panama.

Item 3: As of February, 2008, our AOG does not have mailing addresses for the following 12 classmates. Please send any contact info to the AOG if you know how to reach any of the following missing classmates: Aiken, Mark Gregory, CS-23; Avila, Paul Mario; Briar, David Paul, CS-10; Correll, Robert Wesley,

CS-28; Fulkerson, Ramona Denise, CS- 11; Gizelbach, Anthony Leonard, CS23; Gladney, Amanda Olivia, CS-01; Nardi, Stacey Suzanne, CS-31; Packard, Anthony Michael, CS-39; Pollmiller, David Edward, CS-19; Regan, Christopher John, CS-06; and Sheriff, David Barclay, CS-31.

Item 4: There remains work to be done in the area of human rights. An

alumni site, www.blue-alliance.org, is attempting to reduce the stereotypes that harm some of our classmates, some of whom were born with the wrong

eye color, or are left-handed, or are otherwise unique. They’re looking for at least 200 people to sign up as Straight Allies. As stated on their web site, “The Straight Allies page is open to all members of the Air Force Academy commu“

”

nity including graduates, cadets, former cadets, faculty and staff (current and former) and immediate family members of cadets and alumni. Because there is strength in numbers, your name will be kept anonymous until at least 200 people have agreed to participate as allies. Please add your name to this important list. I have and I hope you will as well.

Item 5: Nebojsa "Solo" Solunac emailed in September, not long after Hurricane Ike passed through the Houston area. “We are in Houston, picking up after Ike and the mess it left in its wake. Thankfully, our home suffered little more than cosmetic damage—a few shingles here, a few branches there, really quite fortunate compared to many. Ellington Field (KEFD), where I work, was not so fortunate. We lost a hangar that houses the Super Guppy, and the roof off another, plus the shelters for our T-38 fleet. All in all, we were lucky based on some prudent planning as we evacuated all the aircraft last week in preparation for the storm. Friends and neighbors are all dealing with the full spectrum of damage and clean up, so the next few weeks will surely be busy trying to restore some semblance of normality to the temporary chaos. It never ceases to amaze me the panic a loss of cable and air conditioning causes.

“We planned on attending the AFA/Houston game, but that didn't quite work

to date. Some of the functions include:

•Help organize individual gatherings/functions for the respective squadron for our upcoming reunion; •Help gather additional help and support from squadron mates for overall planning and execution of reunion functions; •Assist in getting the word out and make contact with members from now through the reunion to ensure everyone is notified and informed of reunion scheduling, actions and requirements.

This is a great way to get involved and help spread the word. As mentioned previously, one of our biggest challenges right now is just getting in touch with everyone! Ifyou are interested, please drop me an e-mail and 1 will get you in touch with the right folks. Additionally, Larry McNeel, who passed away in a glider accident fall semester of our senior year, has been approved for the awarding of a posthu mous degree at the reunion. Many thanks to Gonzo and others who helped with obtaining this well-deserved recognition for Larry.

Lastly, assuming the funds come in as planned, construction on our Heritage Trail plot will begin in summer '09 and take approximately five weeks to complete. We are currently waiting on design recommendations and once approved I will share those with you. Also, our class president, Don Simpson will begin sending out e-mail reunion updates to all classmates later this year, including a

request for volunteers for reunion committees. Please ensure your e-mail

address on file with the AOG is current and check out the class web site for these and other reunion tidbits. I will keep you up to speed as well in Checkpoints each quarter. We look forward to a great reunion!

”

out. The game (as I'm sure you know) was moved to your neck of the woods.

We wound up evacuating to San Antonio and sipping margaritas on the River

Walkwhile Ike did it's thing. Seeing the words‘evacuate’ and‘San Antonio’ in the same sentence doesn't seem right; it fails to inspire sympathy at any level.

“We're looking forward to the reunion in November and plan on attending.

Happy holidays from the Tibbets family!

121

a command

tour/Bagram deployment in the 335th FS “Chiefs” at Seymour

That’s a wrap for this quarter. On a side note, we are trying to expand our class web site, so please send some photos and short comments on your activities to our web master, Scott Shinberg, at scott.shinberg@gmail.com. We will

Johnson (F-15E).

post these on the Class History section. Best wishes to you and your families.

rennbrittbaby.blogspot.com.

Renn Burling is having a baby! By the time you read this, she should be here:

Take care and God bless.

James Sanchez

8301 Emerald Circle North Richland Hills, TX 76180

Cell: (817) 881-6357 Web: WWW.USAFA90.COM

alohatiger@gmail.com Paul Sherman: This is our group of Academy grads working at Craig Joint Theater Hospital at Bagram Air Field, Afghanistan. Lt Col Paul Sherman (’90), Neuroradiologist; Major Lakeisha Henry, Otorhinolaryngologist (USMA ’92); Major Dave Steinhiser (’94), Anesthesiologist; Lt Col Stacey Shackleford (’89), General Surgeon; Major Chad Hamilton (’94), Gynecologic Oncologist; Lt Col Bob Kowalski (USNA ’89), Neurosurgeon; and Major MarkTopolski (’92),

Orthopedic Surgeon.

Brad Snelling: Sharilyn and I have four girls now living in Oklahoma City area. Test Pilot w/ FAA

Flight Inspection; still in AF Reserve doing Flight In-

spectionwork.

Eric Dalton (CS-09) and family PCSed from Africa toVandenberg AFB this summer. He is in the ISR Division ofthe

Joint Space Operations Center (14 AF).

He loved his job as the Defense Attache to Mali for two years, but the entire

family (wife Kelly and daughters Ashley age 15 and Morgan age 12) is happy to be back in the USA.

Lee Armstrong: Judd Fancher had us over to his casa at Osan. From left in the

photo are Quinn Gummel (5 RS/CC), Brian Hastings (51 OSS/CC), I ee Armstrong (5 FIS / CC), Andrew Dembosky (607ASOG/CD), Matt Mitchell (5 RS TDYer from Beale), and Judd Fancher (51FW/IG). It was noted that we had on our "field grader uniform" of polos and tan shorts; thanks to Judd for having the creativity to wear red shorts. Randy Redell (51OG/CD) is also at Osan but was busy. Dennis Ruiz is atYongsan Army Garrison in Seoul, working in USFK/J2.

Rod Peoples also recently PCSed to VAFB. James Walker: Currently at Laughlin AFB, TX (Del Rio by the sea), been here since April 07. Commander of434th Fighter Training Squadron (IFF). Tomorrow (23 OCT) we're doing flyby for Thursday night football game... I hope we don't screw it up!

Greg Nelson: I spent eight years at Hurlburt Field/Duke Field flying the MC- 130E Combat Talon, with the last three years also working at AFSOC HQ as Chief of Current Ops. I then moved to Laughlin AFB, TX to be a T-1A IP, where I have been for nearly three years. I spent a short tour as the DO of the 86th before moving to the wing to help run our ORI. Since then, I’ve been working as the XP at the wing, and am on the last few months at that job. As for family life, I’ve been married just short of 11 years to my wife, Brandelyn. We have three girls: Victorianna 5, Arwen 3, and Alexandrea 8 mos., and a fourth baby on the way, due in April. There are a few classmates here at Laughlin with me, including the current T-l commander, Cheryl (Loyer) Beineke.

Gary Foster: Colleen, Cailin, Ashlyn and I just returned to the states after three years at the US Embassy in Warsaw, Poland. We arrived our new duty station at the Missile Defense Agency in Huntsville, AL. I am working C2BMC which is the battle management system for MD. Although these two assignments present completely different cultural environments, we are adjusting quite well.

Terry Bradley: Moved from sunny Colorado Springs in July and is now living near Annapolis, MD. After seven great years in Colorado, Connie andldecided to move back east so I could take a new job with Booz Allen. We're enjoying the fall colors along with a gradual transition of the seasons, but really miss the mountains and good friends we left behind.

Randy Redell: Currently stationed at Osan AB as Deputy Ops Group Commander after tours as CC ofthe Wings ofBlue and Ops O forTBirds. Married with two kids who are in the Springs while I'm remote. Never thought I'd be -

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Anne (Parker) Krause: I'm going into my second year as chairman of a non-

profit organization here in San Antonio. We support numerous local, national, and international charities. Earlier this year we received a grant from Valero Energy to computerize our operation, which was very exciting. Other than that, PK and I stay mighty busy with our four children. We love visitors!

Tammi (Schandler) Moes: Currently working for AF Deputy Assistant Secretary, Force Management Integration at the Pentagon. My husband, John, and I had our first son on 23 Jan 08.1 submitted retirement paperwork for 1 Oct 09 date. Will be headed to Wentzville, MO (justWestofStLouis). I'mlooking forward to settling into the community to raise the kids and not move around for the next 20 years!!

James Jinnette: Meredith and I, with our nine-year-old Hannah are now

really enjoying a great family year at Army War College, having just completed

flyingVipers again.

Mike McNemey: heading to Iraq for365 soon and wanted to pass an update.

After a rewarding tour as DO at the SERE School, I volunteered to work as an Air Advisor to the Iraqi Air Force. It was a hard offer to pass on, after all how many chances does a guy get to get a combat command while qualified in a Russian aircraft (Mi-17)? It’s hard for my wife (Patti) and kids to give me up for a year, but I’ve been living the good life between school and staff for several years now and I figure I owe the others who’ve been paying their dues this whole time a break.

Dave Brien: I'm still in AWACS as anE-3 Instmctor Mission Crew Commander

and Assistant Director of Operations at Tinker. Spent the summer in SWA,

flying over Afghanistan and Iraq, controlling over 1600 aircraft and providing support to over 80 US and coalition troops-in-contact events the war is still being fought each and every day! Worked with Tim MacGregor and his KC-10 squadron over both OEF and OIF. Glad to be back with my wife and kids; we're doing well here in Oklahoma.

Mike Moye: In the graphic design industry and have some stuff to share with the crew. Trying to hook up with Ray James amongst others. Check me out at —

Visit the AOG Web Site

Merchandise, Gone But Not Forgotten and More!

www.usafa.org 122

cafepress.com/bnfaith Some designs commissioned by others, especially Heaven Depot and the Obama.

ron, Lackland AFB, TX. I live in Tampa, FL. When I'm not performing reserve

drill, I work for Northrop Grumman IT/TASC for USJFCOM on the DoD Infer-

Kraig Hanson: Hello from Carlisle Barracks, home of the Army War College.

A few ’90 grads here as students: me, J.J. Jinnette, and Blake Waller. My family (Jill, Blake (5), and Cole (3) are enjoying the East Coast and the academic schedule.

Carson Tavenner 6828 Raccoon Court MD 20603

Waldorf, (202) 231-2484 DSN: (312) 428-2484 Home: (301) 374-2752

Carson_wendy@comcast.net For those of you who might not have seen this, the Register (that big tome

published every year) is now electronic only. Hopefullyyou’ve recently updated your contact info; some of our classmates disappeared over the horizon long ago; their addresses are from UPT! But we’re well beyond UPT, aren’t we? Yessir! Just witness how far, with this letter from Jeff Davies. “A few of us Bold Golders got together recently at Luke AFB, AZ for a picture to send for the next installment of Checkpoints. Besides the four of us pictured [left to right] Dave McCune (3 10 FS / CC), Doyle Turner (56TRS/CC), Jim Sears (61 FS/CC), and Yours Truly (local full-time Reservist) ], we have had more than a handful of' 91 grads stop by Luke AFBinthelast few years.

”

mation Operations Range (10 Range).

And a nice, long letter from Dave Sivinski:

“

My first post-UPT assignment was C-2 Is at Andrews, and I remember the good times living in Alexandria. I still visit the area regularly along with occasional business trips to Crystal City.

I disappeared into the SOF world at Hurlburt flying MC- 130E from ’96 until ’03.

We had a bunch of us 91 ers in the 8th SOS back then. Myself, Mike Beck, CJ

Hemmer, Casey Britain, Mike Doyle. For a small unique squadron with about 20 pilots, it seemed like we were over-loaded with 91 grads.

“I came out here to Peterson in ’03 joining the Reserves and flying the C130H3. We were constantly being told we will get mobilized 'soon' so the flying

busy. After ayear, and no mobilization yet, I got a real job down the road at Schriever supporting the Missile Defense Agency as a Raytheon Contractor.

I design, test and execute large COCOM missile defense exercises. As you can imagine, we don't shoot ICBMs to exercise missile defense elements. So we have to make a coordinated illusion of missiles and interceptors flying everywhere so commanders and shooters can exercise their procedures accordingly. Keeping this grand illusion synchronized and realistic from the NMCC, to NORTHCOM, to Aegis Cruisers oceans away requires quite a bit of engineering work. So I essentially had a 'staff job in the exercise shop at Schriever, and was attached to fly 130s over here at Peterson.

“We finally did get mobilized from Aug ’05 until Jan ’07, which was great.

Flying 130s is a lot easier and a bit more fun than running missile defense exerwas

cises. Besides, we got to go to great beach locations like A1 Udeid and Balad! So now I' m back at the' staff

job', and attached to fly here at Pete. Hopefully I' 11

make the 20-year reunion this time. I had tickets and all for the 10-year, but as you can imagine I got deployed to an undisclosed location back then. Since I now live about three miles from the south gate, odds are a bit better this time.

Speaking of which, if you are looking forsome91 guys who are local to USAFA to run something around for the reunion let me know.”

Whew! Thankyou, Dave!

Steve Carney slipped us these words. “My family and I [Dave has three chil-

dren] moved to Jacksonville, FL almost a year ago. We absolutely love it here (we are very close to the beach). I work for Boston Scientific as a Regional

Manager in their Cardiac Rhythm Management division (pacemakers and defibrillators).”

Finally, Ben Kam (who I actually got to see on a few occasions living nearby while stationed atYokota AB, Japan) sent a sweet photo of the ’91 medical team now stationed at USAFA.

He, Eric Nelson and JT Tokish are in the photo below,

left to right. At far right is Bob Sullivan, an ’88 grad. Possibly, Ky Kobayashi has Dave Doyle, Jim and Jeffcan’t wait to slip the surly bonds and leave their ,

email behind.

been stationed there by now, which would make three ’91 grads at USAFA in the orthopaedics clinic. So... ifyou break anything, you could consider stopping by to get some bone therapy!

“Not pictured but stationed at Luke as a part-time Reservist is Brian Kilian.

Also doing touch and gos the last fewyears are Doug DeMaio (Shaw), Geoff Maki (Spangdahlem), Chris Gough (Nellis), and Jay Boyd (Kunsan, Korea).

Jim Sears and I had a big celebration recendy for our respective promotions.

A big congrats to Jim who got picked up for Colonel well-BTZ (part of the first group for our class). I got picked up on the Reserve Lt Col board (whew!). All in all it's been great to see Bold Gold representing the Air Force and Air Force Reserve well 17+ years later. Take care and thank you for carrying the torch for the rest of us slackers. We all look forward to seeing everyone in a fewyears at our 20 th reunion.”

Thanks, Jeff! Seeing these four smiling faces and reflecting on the names Jeff mentioned, reminds me how much fun I’ve had over the years getting to see some of you from time to time. As the years go on, I’ve learned to treasure the times

when I get reacquainted with some of you; some of us have met for the first time, despite those four years together in close proximity on the terrazzo! It turns out this month has a theme in this regard: many folks, who don’t normally write, maybe even for the first time have been recently motivated to send in some words. All the thanks for this go to Angie Cadwell, who’s been reminding some of you for not updating your data! Way to go, Angie, thank you! With no creative additional editing, I’ll now share with you the news and stories from several other folks.

Out here at PACOM (I’m TDY on Oahu right now; tough, huh!) I’ve been visiting with Chris Cortez, on the intelligence staff as an ISR planner. He and his family are enjoying life on the island and looking forward to the opportunities impending retirement may bring.

Recently, Craig Allton wrote, saying he is now assigned to the Pentagon.

Craig, I hope we’ll see you for lunch early in the year! I am sure there are several there who you’ve not seen in a long time.

Mike Wilburn writes “I'm an instructor pilot teaching Emirati pilots howto fly F-16s under a direct contract with Lockheed Martin and the United Arab Emirates. I'm active duty, and as such, fall under the authority of the US Embassy (USLO) while I'm here. It's a pretty good job. All just a fancy way of saying I'm a pilot.

Mike Wee wrote in with “I'm a reservist in the 33rd Network Warfare Squad

Our ’91 buddiesatthe USAFA hospital demonstrate the real meaning behind

“Uniform ofthe Day”.

I have just enough room to also slip you this photo of our current fellow

NDU students. Angie Cadwell managed to get her fellowfast-movers to stand

still long enough for a quick photo.

”

123

the Pentagon. Walt and Susan Allen are based in England; he works directly with the RAF on one of their bases (can’t remember which). Joe and Bridget

Baumgarte are flying HH-60s at Nellis. Barry (and wife, Judy, and two children) Blanchard flies C- 17s for the Mississippi ANG out of Jackson, MS and he also flies for FedEx. Matt and Sissy Rytting and their two children are based at Ft. Wainwright near Eielson. Frank and Stacie (Milinski) Schorzman are based atRamstein.

“Andy (and his wife, Tatiana, and son Nicholas) Ross flies for UPS and lives in Temecula, CA. Andy, Nicholas and I went on a fishing trip last year to Fairbanks AK.

Fromleftin the front row are Angie CadweU, Mattlsler, and Steve Bleymaier.

Second row: Chris Hill, Chris Craige, and Corey Martin.

My dear friends, this brings me to my word limit! 1991, we’ll see you in another quarter! Tav James S. Mehta

3802 Elbert Ave.

Alexandria, VA 22305

(703) 697-4511; DSN: 227-4511 james.mehta@ogn.af.mil jamesmehta@pentagon.af.mil jamesmehta@earthlink.net

Andy, Nicholas, and Steve “Andy, Tatiania (who also skydives), Roman Isayiw, and I also got together at Perris Valley, CA for a wind-tunnel dive.”

’

Greetings True Blue 92 ! I hope this column all finds you safe and prosperous even in this crazy economic time. DC is full tilt into pre-election hype and soon we will know who the next Commander-in-Chief will be. Anyway, I got a couple of long e-mails this time so I am excited to get to the news.

Happy Hour. Jean Twomey set up a ’92 happy hour at Sine’s Irish pub in Pentagon Row—basically the O-Club for the Pentagon. Unfortunately, we got a small showing.. .Michael Weiss, Ritchie Edge, Steve Broderick, Jean, and me. It was a good excuse to drink beer and we ended up having dinner together. Michael is here in the Pentagon on the Air Staff, Jean is a reservist at the Pentagon and flying C-5s at Stewart ANGB in NewYork, Ritchie is an IT contractor here in DC, and Steve is flying for Southwest. Steve later sent me a great update with lots of pictures from all of his travels.

Steve, Jean, and Melissa (Jones) Coburn attended Amy Aukema’s wedding in June 2008. Amy has two children; she and her new husband, Alan, are consultants in the Washington DC area. Melissa and her husband, Ryan, have two children, and she is an ART flying C- 17s at McGuire.

Steve, Andy, Nicholas, Tatiania, and Roman Thanks for all the great info Steve. You got all the pictures since you’re the

only one who sent me some.

Blue to Green. Anne Williams sent me an e-mail from "an undisclosed location in SWA" where she got the September2008 Checkpoints in a care package.

Here’s her update: “I'm a green-suiter now. Actually, I get a fair bit of ribbing about my AF

background, but most ofit's all in good fun. The Army folks are treating me just fine, and I love being an Army veterinarian. (And if I can still say that after this last week, which has been the most stressful one of the deployment so far, I might just be saying it for the rest of my life.)

“I graduated veterinary school (UF) in June 2007 and went

4R & ly fl WmMr'

from there to the 218th Med Det (Veterinary Service) at Fort

Steve Broderick, Melissa (Jones) Coburn, Amy Aukema, and Jean Twomey.

I’ll let Steve narrate the rest: “Other 92 grads that fly at Southwest with me are Jason Hopper, Rob Zerbe, Alec MacLeod, Roman Isajiw, Mark Deresky, Kyle Neaville, Jeff Handy, John Schoeppner, and so many others I can’t remember.

Roman and Bridget (’91) Isajiw live in Maryland with their two children. Rob and Michele Zerbe live in Tucson, AZ. Mark Deresky and I are fellow Academy Liaison Officers in the DC area. Kyle and Wendy (Cook) Neaville just moved to Utah with their two children.

“Michele (Meyer) Kilgore and her husband Bob (’88) live in Buffalo, NY and she flies F-16s at Syracuse ANGB. Kristine (Bergemann) Marlow and her husband, Garth, live near Houston TX, where he flies for Continental. My UPT roommate Rich (and wife, Kirsten) Brown flies for FedEx and lives in Michigan with their two sons. Rob (and wife, Lynn) Dittman also flies for FedEx, along with Jason (and wife, Vicki) White. My other UPT roommate Tim (and wife, Brenda) Martin and their three sons live in Portiand, OR where Tim is a civil engineer.

“Mark Mount is at Beale flying U-2s. Kim (McQuairre) Tebrugge and her two girls live in Olympia, WA. Kim works as a media consultant and is also a Public Affairs IMA; we had dinner together recently here in DC. Dave and Shannon Sutton and their children have returned from India, and Dave now works at 124

Lewis, Washington. We deployed to CENTCOM in July 2007.

The 218th is scattered all over CENTCOM, as they tend to do with veterinary detachments, but mostly in Kuwait. I'm on the road a fair bit, as I have Soldiers at several camps. This location actually has me co -located with an AF wing, which is occasionally odd/ familiar/confusing/just like old times. At three months into our deployment, we're starting to settle in for the long haul. (The 218th was among the last of the 15-month groups to leave CONUS.) “Anne Clark is at USAFA as Deputy Commander of Operations for the EE department. She says the C-Springs area is really built up and that cadets never

change.

“Brad and Chaundra (McCanna) Ward are back at Las Vegas, after an assignment in the DC area. Theyjust had another baby girl—just as cute (in pictures!) as the rest of them. Brad's new assignment isn't as stressful as the one in the Beltway, and they're both happy about that.”

Another great update—thanks for taking the time to write, Anne. Stay safe on your deployment.

Strolling the Pentagon hallways. I ran into Phil Hendrix in the Pentagon the other day. Phil started with 1992 and graduated with 1993 after going stop-out.

Phil is working on the Hill as a congressional liaison for AF / FM. He reminded me the 4° German class we had

together and mentioned Scott Urban who was also in the class. Phil gave me an update on Scott who separated as a Captain.

Scott and his wife, Jessica, live in Seattle with their son Owen and their new

baby girl, Sasha Christine Urban, born Oct 16,2008.

Well, that’s it for another quarter. Thanks to those who wrote. I look forward to hearing from the rest of you. Until then, be good. True Blue’92, James.

Michael D. Sundsted 1805 Macadams Place

Alexandria, VA 22308

(240) 338-9839 Michael.sundsted@afncr.af.mil Class Website:

www.highflight.com

Greetings to our most excellent class! The class that None Shall Surpass— Nonus Superato! Hope you are ail well and enjoyingthe nice fall/winter weather.

We are doing well nestled in Northern Virginia. I just finished running the 33rd Marine Corps Marathon yesterday. It was definitely a challenge, but well worth the training and LONG 26.2 run! I am reminded of the fact that one of our classmates finished numero uno back in the 27th MCM. Chris Juarez finished in 2:25:01—I was a little behind that mark at4:43:27! Chris you are still the man!

As you may have noticed from last quarter’s Checkpoints, our class did not have an article published. I want to encourage YOU, the classmate to update everyone on what is going on in your world. I know everyone has probably been extremely busy with summer/back to school/jobs/moves etc, but this article really runs on your inputs. Even if it’s just a quick word or update—zap me an email. We would all love to hear how you are doing! Spouses, please continue to feel free to provide inputs in the event you think your significant other should be honored in our periodical! On to our news...

I received a quick update from Andy Wolcott. Andy says he finished his hardship flying staff tour at HQ USAFE at Ramstein AB. He is now on to Spangdahlem AB where he will become the 23rd Fighter Squadron DO. His wife, Christy, and son Cole are very excited to be able to stay in Germany longer. Please enjoy a tasty beverage in Munich for me!

I had the honor of being able to attend Lance Orr and Curt Velasquez’ promotion to Lieutenant Colonel party at a very nice local restaurant in Kingstowne, VA. Lance Orr is currently working on the Air Staff as an Intel Assignment/Deployment Guru. He has been busy ensuring all his peeps in the intel world get a fair shake in the deployment process with all the other commands/divisions. Curt currently works as an action officer on the SECAFs Action Group. Curt has been a superb executive officer managing a lot of the SECAFs projects and initiatives. He recently had the opportunity to be the lead officer preparing his office and SECAF for a briefing to the President!

Congratulations are in order for Bruce Ybarra and family! Mr. and Mrs. Ybarra are now the proud parents of a healthy young boy, Karl Peter. Bruce has quite a story to tell on the birth—let’s just say he made it just in time! Added to this a little over a month later, Bruce pinned on his shiny new Lt Col rank.

Recently I was planning a mission to transit Holloman AFB, NM and in coordination electronically bumped in to one of our classmates. Alex Grynkewich is currently the 49 OSS/CC and loving life. He greeted me with a gracious “Proud to be, 93!” He was ready to provide support to our lovely Gulfstream V but alas my mission cancelled! Maybe next time Grynch!

While working in and around Andrews on various tasks I have bumped into Sean Solly, Tim Lee, Burke Beaumont and Kirt Fiesbeck. Sean is an Air Force One Navigator flying with the Presidential Airlift Group. Tim is the APS/ CC here at Andrews. Burke control’s the purse strings at Andrews. He is the base Comptroller. I can tell you he is doing one heck of a job as he keeps helping me with numerous issues. (Burke, your folks are awesome!) Kirt is in training to fly the Gulfstream III for the 99th Airlift Squadron. The 99th also recently hired Tyler Prevett to fly the Gulfstream III. One more 93 grad is here at Andrews and he is the 457 Sq/ CC—Leif Eckholm. He flies C-2 1 s and looks after the younguns in the OSA world. Looks like we have a majority of 93 graduates located here at Andrews!

Recently I was able to enjoy a great lunch at Chile’s with Lee Spechler and his mom and dad. We went down Academy and AF memory lane for an afternoon and I realized that we are about four years away from our 20-YEAR REUNION— scary! Lee is working A-10 requirements in the Pentagon and loving every minute of it!

Got a short note from Dave Leazer who is currently assigned to Sheppard AFB flying the mighty T-38. He is enjoying the Texas life after being at an embassy in Africa for too long! Dave said Pete Wilkie is also there at Sheppard.

Both are training instructors there. Dave is currently the 89 FTS DO. Congrats on your

C.C. M. Masotti

W

PSC 116, Box 215 APO AE 09777 W: +33-1-43-12-26-69 or

202-536-2780, 1 (for English) X2669 Cell: +33-1 6-25-74-69-13

cc.masotti@yahoo.com

C.C. M. Masotti wrote this article. New scribe information follows: Craig Allen 440Willow Ct

WarrensburgMO 64093 Home: 660-747-8088

Cell: 660-864-5374 E-mail: keggerallen@embarqmail.com Dear classmates, I’d like to offer my most sincere thanks to each of you for

your support these past 14 years—andyour patience as my “real” job has made it too difficult for me to complete articles and share your news on time. With the 90th anniversary of the Armistice this year, the 65th anniversary of D-Day next summer, the Paris Airshow the following week and a work schedule that

keeps me perpetually snowed under, I’ve been unable to serve you properly.

I’m excited to report that Craig “Kegger” Allen has graciously stepped up to ensure class news flows at a more appropriate pace. His contact information is above; please help him by adding him to your regular e-mail contacts and ensuring he has plenty of updates to share.

Those who are still on active duty know that our in-thezone board for promotions just wrapped up, so collective congratulations should be in order around the time this goes to print. (Since attache promotions sadly tend to hover below the 30% mark, please have a drink for me!) However, we have a few stand-out classmates who have earned below-the-zone promotions. Two of our new lieutenant colonels are Paul Murray (Pentagon) and

Steven Woods (USAFR, Lackland; Lawyer at Haynes Boone law firm), reported

by Chris Ouellette (Pentagon) and Bob Woods (’64, Steve’s dad), respectively.

Congrats to you both as well as to all our other BTZ folks!

Most of our news this column comes from the DC area, so I need those of you

living (or deployed) in other areas of the world to write Craig and help balance out the distribution of updates for his first column! Of course, since DC has been my home in between overseas assignments, I always love hearing from the gang there and appreciate being kept in the invitation loop by John JG” Gifft, who organizes semi-regular ’94 gatherings. In addition to being our party planner in DC, JG recently took a new position as the Director of Regulatory Affairs at Mobile Satellite Ventures (MSV) in Reston, VA. He’s not the only Washingtonian to get new employment, however. Cynthia Green recently took a job with the State Department and left in September for a year in Iraq. I have her mailing address if you’d like to send her a card. Almost as if they changed places, Ernesto “E” Hernandez just returned from a deployment to Iraq and is back at work in the State Department military office.

Maj Chris Ouellette (Air Staff OSI, SAF/IGX, Pentagon) and Maj Brian Frieburger (Aircraft MX, DTRA, Ft Belvoir VA) recently saw each other again after 14 years. Chris briefly lived with Brian and his wife during their Aircraft Maintenance and Munitions Officer Course (AMMOC) training at Sheppard “

AFB way back in the fall of ’94. Chris and his bride, Rachel (Rabeni, ’96, OSI

reservist), expected to welcome their second son to the world in August and shared a pre-baby picture from their summer visit to Gettysburg.

DO-ship Lazer!

That’s it for this time. I still have more space I can use! Please give me an update if you are able and as always if you are in the area look up one of the myriad of

grads that are in the area. Thanks and have a wonderful Holiday—mike.

The (Juliettes in Gettysburg.

Visit the AOG Web Site

www.usafa.org

Marc Sands wrote with his “5-year update” after completing DIAs National Defense Intelligence College with Kevin Murray, John LeClair, Rob Morrison,

and Rich Cimino at Bolling AFB. The five and their classmates worked hard 125

throughout the one-year program, finally earning MS degrees in Strategic Intelligence. Marc wasn’t sure where everyone was headed, but Kevin went to the White House Military Office, while Marc headed back to the AF Technical Applications Center at Patrick AFB, FL, where he worked several years ago.

overseas, I’ll be back in the US this year spending several days visiting friends

in DC and then goingto San Antonio to visit Mike Prochko (’ 91 ,

government contractor), his wife, Catherine, and their beautiful children Austin, Veronika,

Travis and my gorgeous godson Gabriel Thomas. I hope you are all fortunate to be surrounded by loved ones as the

holiday season approaches.

As I close my final column, I’m also in the midst of preparing the embassy for the 90th anniversary of the end ofWWI—an armistice that was signed not far from Paris. The commemoration will be celebrated throughout France (and the free world, I hope), including a ceremony with USAFA exchange cadets at the Lafayette Escadrille Memorial. With a heavy heart for those who have fallen in defense of our great nation and with great gratitude to each of you for your service as military officers, contractors, civilians, parents and citizens, I’d like to close with a quote from President Reagan’s 1985Veterans’ Day address at Arlington Cemetery: “It is, in a way, an odd thing to honor those who died in the defense of our country in wars far away. The imagination plays a

trick. We see these solders in our mind as old and wise. We see them as someA degree in Strategic Intelligence? What exactly does that mean?

(Congrats,

ofcourse!)

Jeff Spinnanger wrote during a weekend reserve tour at the Pentagon; his civilian job brings him across the pond pretty regularly to Belgium and Germany and he was scheduled to come to Paris in October. Unfortunately, since I didn’t get a chance to write him back, we were unable to link up when he came

through town.

However, I DID get a chance to see Paul (Computer Sciences Corporation) and Ginny Wagner back in July while they were doing a whirlwind European tour (France, Belgium and Germany) and family wedding. They were exhausted the day of their arrival from DC, but they rallied in order to celebrate Bastille Day at the base of the Eiffel Tower (with a concert featuring James Blunt and several others), then went to an international reception to watch the fireworks at my Finnish colleague’s apartment. After their trip here, Paul went to Sierra Leone for 2Vz weeks where he was teaching summer school to kids at the Child Rescue Centre, a program he and Ginny support very strongly with their time and talents. Paul also recently ran into Dave Fujimoto (’93) just before Dave’s promotion to Lt Col and reported that Bill Dobbs, John Hennings and Kirk Schultz had recently moved to DC.

The Wagners at the Eiffel Tower for a Bastille Daypicnic.

thing like the founding fathers, grave and gray-haired. But most of them were boys when they died. They gave up two lives: the one they were living and the one they would have lived. When they died, they gave up their chance to be husbands and fathers and grandfathers. They gave up the chance to be revered old men. They gave up everything for their country, for us. All we can do is remember.”

Now, we may not have been “recognized”, but each and every one of you shall be remembered... Thank you for helping me keep Red Hot ’94 in touch all these years; it has truly been an honor. I wish you and your families peace, love and happiness. Take care and God Bless!! Merciet adieu... C.C. R. Travis Koch

6207E Shallowford Ct.

Suffolk, VA 23435 Home: (757) 686-2607

Cell: (850) 499-8242

richard.koch@langley.af.mil traviskoch@yahoo.com

Update Peddler: Thanks to Rex Ballinger for writing the last issue. I think Jamie and Buck might be in for the next two articles but if you want to help, please drop me 1200 words and three pics. Rex is busy teaching Economics to many Seamen at the USNA in Annapolis these days while Nikki (Gumina) finishes her program and will most likely ship out with the boys next year (no idea where yet). Hopefully, Rex can still make the “Duff” golf tournament in July (18th). Start working your kitchen passes and we’ll see you then. Nikki spent a weekend in Vegas with the Golden Girls, look forward to seeing some of the pics soon. By the way, I’m TDY; this thing was due a week ago, and I have no yearbook to QC the names so please excuse the spelling...

Jocko’s Done: Stick a fork in Malloy and take him off the grill. Jake got hitched in Austin, TXthis summer and had a fantastic wedding. Great turnout from the gang: Jason Cockrum (moving to DC this Winter), Beau Bilek (still in San Fran, working for the DEA and supporting the CA amendment defining marriage), Mike Pugh (selling spine replacements to MDs in MN), Steve Gorowski (in sales with Pugh but has two great kids, Rocko and Lydia), John Nemecek (in Houston and out of the AF), Pete (Froggy) Sheridan(stunt double for Dirk Diggler), Millsys (both Big-Mike and LittleChris), Jeff Bottorff (still wearing his DILF shirt), Ty Little (with Sweet Melissa in hand), the Mathieus (both Miles and Audrey), Ben Glazer (on their way back to CT), Toby Loftin (married with children in Dallas), and more... many Too many updates to squeeze into this but all in all, everyone is doing well.

My only non-DC check-in was from Todd Stearns, hailing from fabulous Las Vegas, where he has been living for a little over a year. He’s a valet at the Rio Hotel and Casino, but he also professionally house sits (only in those fabulous huge homes you find around Vegas, of course!). He loves Vegas life and the freedom of being single with no kids and passed on an invite for those passing through to stop by for a visit.

Though I share the no kids/no spouse lifestyle Todd has, life is pretty much insane for me (hence my resignation). I have a fairly consistent flood of work in addition to the requisite “eating and drinking for our country” that’s piled on top ofthe job. Add to that the revolving door of guests “Chez Masotti” and I feel like I spend my life planning my next nap! Fortunately, I get bursts of sunshine like Sarah (Saxer, ’93) Marshall’s stop through town as she whizzed through on business. When she came through last time (in the spring), she brought baby Amelia along, but came solo this time, leaving Amelia, Adam and Caitlin home with dad. Her travel also took her through London, where she had a chance to catch up with our fellow swimming/ diving teammate Sarah (Kerwin) Strachan, her husband, Neil, toddler James and baby Abbie. Sarah Strachan is finishing up her PhD in London and will be heading back to the Academy to teach soon.

On my end, I did get a break this summer for a cruise to Italy, Turkey and the Greek isles and also had to make a trip back to the States to close on a house for my mom in the Myrtle Beach area. Though I normally spend my holidays 126

Disco Men: Clyde Jock, and Goro’s Brown Cow... ,

eyes on the horizon...

'

Skyraiders at Night: Got a great note from Steve Reny: Thought I d report in and give you an update on a few of us here at ACSC. We are graduating tomorwhat a blast! This year at ACSC was row and just had our graduation ball -

-

almost better than the 10-year reunion had many friends and classmates from the zoo who made time at Maxwell a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

Attached is a picture of five of us ’95ers from CS37 at our Grad Ball. From left --

Kodama, Steve Reny (me), Karla O'Conner (Rudert), Kevin Price, and Kevin is wearing an Army Ken Buder. Yes your eyes are not deceiving you are Tim

—

--

uniform. He is a Special Forces guy and has been fixing bayonets against the enemy in the Middle East for years. Kevin is headed back to Fort Bragg where he will be instructing Special Forces teams. Tim and I were in the same seminar here at ACSC and had a great time catching up on the last 13 years. He is headed off for his second command as the Wing's 'Chief Financial Officer' for Dover AFB. I'm headed down to MacDill to work at CENTCOM HQ. Ken is taking the dreaded trip to the Pentagon and Karla is moving out to an undisclosed location in the Middle East.

Air Combat”). AFHockeyis #14 in the nation. Giddy-up. Congrats to Eric

Seremet, AF LAX’s new head coach. We look forward to the program returning to its winning tradition.

Now for, the Jon Hamby section ofthe update. I’m going to a Caps game with

him tonight. After last issues’ “corn-hole is good for the soul” picture, the AOG has asked to put a temporary hold on further updates. We will let you know when that is lifted. Till then, Keep the Faith, T. Koch.

Melissa S.

Cunningham 5785 Ft. Wright Oval Fairchild AFB, WA 99011 W: (509) 247-2525/DSN: 657-2525 H: (509) 244-9775

Melissa.cunningham@fairchild.af.mil fchdrider@msn.com

So the Holidays are upon us and I have yet to unpack my moving boxes.

Hmmm somehow, that keeps getting kicked down the priority list and I’m start-

ing to think that we are as moved in as we are going to get in the next two years.

Oh well, such is life. Maybe I don’t need all of that stuff anyway. Well, I hope things are less hectic for all of you as you start to wind down for Thanksgiving and Christmas. We are tuning up for an ORI in March, so I don’t think we are going to have anytime to really relax” until we knock that inspection out the park—yes Santa, that is my Christmas wish. Onto our class updates... “

Steve and Friends: CS-37 celebra tes a year ofSun Tzu.

Thanks, Steve. There are a number of other guys we ran across in DC (at the Capitol Grill) who were up from Maxwell and their year of MOSS-MOUSE: Chad Balettie, Brian Schafes, Mike Simon, Trevor Benitone, George Hock, Steve Sanders, and more...

Guard WEPTAC: Sam Mann and I share an office at ACC. He bumped into a handful offellas out at ANGWEPTAC in Tucson in October (most ofwhom are flying the F-16 somewhere): Jim Collins is in CoS working at NORTHCOM; Chris Tumilowicz flies for the Vermont ANG, in Burlington; Don Kang is with the Texas ANG in SanAntonio; Dave Sundlovis in the AF Reserves at Home-

stead, FL; Greg Hopkins is flying in Springfield, Ohio and Chad Feucht is in the F-22 Reserves at Elmendorf AFB, AK. Matt Van Wieren and Jeff Edwards are both flying the F- 15C. Matt is in Jacksonville, FL and Jeff is at Klamath Falls,

"Stinky" MacLanahan is in the B-52 Reserves at Barksdale and Andy Ormiston is flying C- 17s for the Reserves at March AFB, CA. Sean Bemadini is not in the Guard or Reserve but has cashed in his Hedge Fund and is using his fortune to better the lives of Haitian citizens devastated by hurricane Ike. That guy always had the biggest heart. I also ran into John Wilcox at ACC. Johnis working for the IG staff and is flying the F-16. Also, Chris Austin and Tony Mulhare are both Thunderbirds. Congrats fellas and fly safe.

OR.

The Biebighauser Family I recently received an update and photo from Erik and Lisa Biebighauser.

They are doing great and enjoying life in Saint Michael, MN. Here’s a quick synopsis of life since graduation: After we tossed our hats, Erik headed to Intel school and then to Eglin where he met his wife, Lisa. In ’99, he managed to get a great assignment across town at Hurlburt in the special ops community and spent most ofhis time assigned to the 4th SOS (AC- 130Us). After 9/11, their unit immediately deployed for the invasion and Erik found himself in the middle of Special Forces operations that were continuously highlighted on TV In ’02, they moved to Pope to join the 427 SOS and then in ’04 moved to JSOC at Ft Bragg. Their unit had an incredible mission and with the opportunities for multiple deployments to Afghanistan, Iraq, and several “other” locations throughout the world.

In ’05, after several years of family life interruptions, months away from his two kids (Gunner, 10 and Morgan, 7) and feeling that they had limited control over their lives, Erik left the AF. He took the Cameron-Brooks route, which worked out

extremely well. He landed a marketing position at General Mills. Their family loves the Minneapolis area and he’s learned a lot about managing a business in the last few years, including stints with bread products, kid cereal (Cookie Crisp & Kix), soymilk (8th Continent) and now Hamburger Helper.

Life outside the military has been extremely rewarding and considerably more stable for Erik; he does miss his good friends and has nothing but fond memories of his nine years in the service. He is still incredibly proud of his friends, classmates and comrades who continue to wear the uniform.

I did have a chance to catch up with Nicole Malachowski (Ellingwood) She .

Chris Austin: Thunderbird CHECK... TWOOP! Random Updates: Dave Thompson is still speaking jive in Missouri. I heard from Dale Zelko who is retired and working at Hanscom with Wayne Floyd (’94). Got to carve some pumpkins with Kevin and Sue (Phillips) Magaletta the other day. They are both at JFCOM and have not changed a bit. They have a son (Marty-4) and Mags has him out on the ice already. Nick Capotosto has two boys, Zachary (41/2) and Jack (2) and Kristin (Mrs. Capo) is teaching.

Nick is still with the same law firm in Cleveland and ran into Nate Mill er (Blue Angel) at the Air Show in town. Paul Moga has also achieved rock star status and is rubbing elbows with the Hollywood elite. Keep an eye out for him on a few different shows on the Discovery Military channel (such as Showdown: “

is already knee-deep in the White House Fellowship Program. So far, she said the great part about starting the fellowship was the two-week Fellows Orientation for all USAF DC-based Fellows. She said there were so many ’96ers in

the crowd and it was a fabulous reunion. She said it was awesome to hear how everyone’s USAF careers have evolved, how their families have grown, and to reminisce about the good old days at Camp USAFA. Everyone picked up right where they left off... despite our 12.5 years that have flown by. She said it was fulfilling, inspiring and fun to be around all those “Tough as Bricks.”

Nicole is currently serving on the Presidential Transition Support team responsible for the settingup and supporting “The Office of the President-Elect.”

The next President and about 500+ of his closest friends will descend upon DC on Nov 5 th and the team has to be ready. It is their job to establish the support 127

Chris Ledford ’97 and Christy are living in Maryland while Chris is finishing his fourth year at USUHS and Christy works toward a PhD in Communications at GWU. Ian Morano and Shelly and their children Conner (5) and Gabriela (2) moved to the area from Edwards last January. Ian is now on the JSF in

working

Rosslyn.

Jeff also bumped into Rita (Perez) CareyworkinginSAF/IAas an AF intern.

She and her husband recently celebrated the birth of their

daughter Sophia He caught up with Matt Weaver who is flying for Southwest and living in York, PA with his wife, Kris, and son Owen. He met up with Mo and Teryn Calabrese. .

Mo finished his program with DIA and is nowthe exec for the Director ofA2R-

ISR Strategy Division. His wife, Teryn, just gave birth to their daughter Solana for USAA Joy in October. He recently spoke with Joe Hopkins who is

working (Morganson)

in San Antonio. Finally, he keeps in touch with Joe ’97 and Julie

Benardi. They are living the adventure out west with their kids Jessica and Jake in beautiful Bend, OR.

That’s all I have for now. Please make a note of my new address, email, etc and keep the updates and pictures coming. Have a Wonderful Holiday Season and God bless! Mel

Melvin E. Maxwell, Jr.

756 Granite Drive

Ofallon, IL 62269

mel_maxwell97@hotmail.com CS-15 Mighty War Eagles Reunite! Juan Alvarez (Legislative Fellow), Nicole

melvin.maxwell@ustranscom.mil

Malachowski (White House Fellow) and Brandon Wilkerson (DCIn tern Pro-

gram). necessary for the President-Elect to function for the 77 days between Election Day and Inauguration Day. What a thrill to have a front seat to history!

Hey all, Hope all is well. Let me start by saying my fascination with Facebook continues and has led to my first Facebook enabled reunion with a classmate.

Back in September, Scott AFB had an air show featuring an appearance

by th e

Thunderbirds. I sent a message to our own Samantha Weeks and we got to sit down and catch up and hear about her life perpetually on the road. I also got to see the show from the VIP tent.. .free beer, free food, and your classmate as the lead solo... it was sweet! Samantha was nearing the end of her tour with the Thunderbirds and was still waiting for definitive word on her next stop.

Samantha passed on Rick Goodman was taking her spot on the team. Congrats to Rick! Check out the United State Air Force c/o 97 Group page on Facebook started by Rob Gibbs. Only 92 members strong now but its growing.

--

The Booth Family: Jeff, Marianne, Anna, Emma and Tommy.

My last note came from Jeff Booth. His stint in the AE was cut short when he

medically retired in 2000. He and his wife, Marianne, moved back to Sacramento and embarked on civilian careers and soon afterward their family. are blessed with three children, Emma, Anna, and Tommy. Jeff worked They for the California Department of Justice and went to night school for his MBA from California State University in Sacramento. After graduating in 2005, his family moved to Northern Virginia. He is currently working for Bearing Point and his is supporting SAF/SO (the AFS021 program office in Rosslyn, VA) in developing and scheduling training across the AF. His office is full of grads including: Lt Col Joe Heilhecker ’92, Billy Bob Brown ’87, Col (S) Brou Gautier '87, and the director, Brig Gen John Posner '80. Marianne is forever busy being a mom of three ldds and picks up part-time work when the schedule permits.

They are enjoying DC and catching up with their AF family. was

Mel, Samantha and Louella at the ScottAFB Air Show.

I received an email from Julio Negron who is about half way through with a

year-long Expeditionary Contracting Squadron Command tour down range.

Julio seemed to be pumped about the job, saying he’s working with a great group of fellow squadron commanders who are getting things done, keeping coalition forces and supplies moving in and out of the AOR. Julio passed on that he ran into Jackie Percy and John Crowe who are both doctors with the Combat Aeromedical Staging Facility

(CASF). Jackie redeployed in Aug 08 and John just left in October. Julio also saw Matt Anderson who’s flyingC-17s

with the 5th Expeditionary Air Mobility Squadron. While Julio is deployed, Julio’s wife, Erica, is holding the Negron household down which now includes four kids: Tyler (6), Josh (5), Ella (3) and Eli (3).

While we are on the subject of deployed classmates, Chris

I

m

m

? wHHflHr

-ml

DC Crowd: Ian with Gabriela, Shelly, Marianne, Jeff with Emma, Chris and

Christy Ledford.

128

Kay deployed to Baghdad on a six-month-deployment supporting the Project and Contracting Office-Iraq (PCO-Iraq). That is the organization I deployed to in 2005. My wife and I went over to Chris' house in September to wish him well as he was shipping off to Ft Sill in preparation for the deployment. A month later, I found out I was joining Chris for my own sixmonth tour to Baghdad on aTransportation Planning Team supporting MultiNational Force-Iraq beginning in December. As I was getting geared up at base supply, I ran in Jimmy Fuller who was preparing to deploy to the Combined Air Operation Center in Kuwait.

Jay Martin wrote in with some news back in August. Jay separated from

Active Duty in May 07 at Pope AFB and had been working there as a Tra ditional Reservist as the 440AMXS Commander and a staff pastor at a local church. Jay

DVs on the C-40 at the 89th Airlift Wing. I liked Ian’s analogy about the reunion.

recently started as an Air Reserve Technician with the 916 ARW at Seymour

the future, Ian and Melissa recently purchased 35 acres of land outside Woodland Park, CO where they plan to build their dream home.

Johnson AFB. Jay and his wife, Veronica, have three kids (Madeline, Nathan, and Catherine).

In October, David Carlson wrote with news of the birth of his son, Micah. Dave

He said it was “like speed dating, but it was wonderful to see everyone!” As for

is finishing up a tour at HQ AFMC / A7 at Wright Patterson and will be going to ACSC in Alabama in July after a six-month deployment beginning in January.

Travis Lauritsen, Tosh Smith, Ian Laughrey, Mike Sharp (96), Chad Lewis, Scott Rowe and Mike DesRoche at the reunion dinner.

Dave Carlson and son Micah

Final notes.. .Stacy McClain is hanging out in Charleston finishing up her MBA and working as a Navy Civilian. Christophe Powers is in his 5th year teaching high school French in Adanta. Moe Dunn wrote in from DC where he is a contractor with the White House Communications Agency. Moe passed on that James Finlayson passed the bar in the state of Nevada. Kudos to James!

Moe also recently hung out with Bonar Luzey, Carlos Hattix and Adrian Smith.

Jaime Andersen (Melton) sent in a photo from the reunion dinner at the Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame. Jaime also manages the '98 Group on Facebook. If you haven’t already, you should check it out. It is a great way to stay in touch with old friends.

Jaime (Melton) Anderson, Melissa (Cabot) Parent, Keith Anderson, Craig

Goolsby, Calvin Powell and Erick Gilbert: CS-19 Graduates at the reunion dinner.

Moe and Bo hanging out in DC.

That’s all I have for this round. Until next time.. .Mel

Karin McWhorter

8243 Oasis Bloom St. North Las Vegas, NV 89085

(702) 476-4304

I also got an email from Jenna Nettles, Geoffrey Nettles wife. They were

planning on attending the reunion, but unfortunately they were not able to make it. She and Geoffrey were married 19 Feb 2006 in Phoenix, AZ, while he was stationed at Luke AFB as an IP On 14 Dec 2007 theyhad an adorable son, Caden. Geoffrey is currently stationed at Osan AB finishing up his ALO tour.

He left for Korea when Caden was only three weeks old but should be returning soon.

mcwhorters@hotmail.com

Hi Everyone, I hope this holiday season finds you happy and healthy. For those of you that

made it out to our reunion, I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did. We had a

tremendous turnout and it was great to catch up with old friends. From the “spirit van” decorated in 1998 slogans to the bright red “98 Dominates” shirts at the football game, it was great to see that some things never change!

I had great hopes that I would come home with lots of updates and pictures, but found myself so busy that I didn’t take a single picture or write one thing down. So, thankyou to everyone that sent in updates. I meant to ask this at the reunion, but if anyone is interested in writing this column, please let me know. It has been more than a decade and I would happily step down if someone else wants to step up! Also, if you are already thinking about our 20 year reunion and want to be in charge...

Ok, here are this month’s updates: Damian Schlussel wrote in to say that he and his wife have welcomed a baby boy, Cameron, born on 11 Oct. Congratulations!

I also got an e-mail from Ian Laughrey. He and his wife, Melissa (Feyereisen, ’97) have just completed their first year in Washington, DC. Melissa separated last year and is spreading her time between being a part-time nurse practitioner and wrangling their two wild boys Colin (4) and Braden (2). Ian is flying

Geoffrey, Jenna and Caden Nettles

Visit the AOG Web Site

Merchandise, Gone But Not Forgotten and More!

www.usafa.org

129

Scott Crabtree wrote to announce the arrival oftheir second daughter, Anna.

She was nice enough to wait to show up until the after he back from a

day

got

3-month TDY. He also wrote that Doug Hellinger and his wife had their first

baby (Mary) backinMay. HeandScottareattachedtothesameArizonaANG F-16 FTU squadron in Tucson.

I wish I had a better

memory and could recount all the great conversations I had, but I can’t. So, I will ask again for updates, photos, letters, etc. I know a lot of you are headed to school this summer, so send me a note with your news.

Have a wonderful holiday season! Karin

James W. Busch

(830) 734-2411 DSN: 652-2636

buschfl6@yahoo.com james.busch@randolph.af.mil

Shiners welcome to another installment of the greatest Checkpoints column in school to it. history. Several e-mails to get to this time, so let’s -

get right Daryl Myers, Wing Plans guru and KC-10 pilot at Travis AFB, CA, found time between wakeboarding and snow skiing to marry California girl Kindra Watson.

In attendance were Chuck Bris-Bois (PJ at Kadena), Bobby Wolfe (recently accepted to Harvard Business School and relocated to MacDill) and Brad Pristelski (out and living/working with a consulting firm in Phoenix).

Scott, Colleen (French 01) and their daughters.

Shawn Briscoe also wrote with baby news. He and

Becky (Leivers) are now

parents. Their son Ben was born Jan 31 st, but came into their lives Oct 24.

Becky also recieved an IPCOT, so they’ll be at Elmendorf for another three

years. Shawn is a debate coach and adjunct professor at the University of Alaska Anchorage.

Lastly, I got an e-mail from Will Wade who is currently deployed to Iraq, working with the Army in Baghdad. He just found out that he will be headed to ACSC this summer. He attached a great picture of an AF group in anticipation of the AF / Army football game (which AF won!).

Daryl, the groomsmen, and the rest ofCalifornia’s finest.

Daryl also added that Ryan Harris, Joel Nelson and Jules Delay are all out of the AF with the VSP. Ryan and his wife, Debbie, are still in Colorado working

for an investment firm and Joel and his wife, Mindi, are in Sioux Falls SD and just had their second child. Jules got out and flies for UPS. Thanks Daryl for all the news.

Also writing from Travis AFB, Ryan Moon and his wife, Gesa, had a little Leon Viktor, back in August. Ryan is

boy,

finishing up a tour in the KC-10, and will soon head out to Andrews for his next assignment.

In the back row From left are TSgt Susan Guido,

SSgtLilaMcClintoc, ColJeff Snell, MSgtJennifer Bonfigli, SSgtMikeSchmidley, andMajJohnMaser(’95).

Second Row: Maj Will Wade (’98), MajToddWentzlaff(’89), Lt Col Doug Dixon, ILtNate Van Loon (’06), CaptJulie Moore (’00), Maj Gen David Clary (’76), Ch. (Maj) “Chappy” Watties, Maj Harry Sears, and Lt Col Michael Reschke (’92).

Front Row: Steve Koly (’01), Lt Col Mark Synovitz (’89), Lt Col John Colley (’89), and Capt Josh Aultman.

Here in Vegas, Nick Stengle and Lisa (Kaplan)

just found out that they are headed to Georgetown for school this summer. Nick is looking forward to being a student and the whole family is looking forward to getting back to the East Coast. They have two adorable daughters, Alexis (4) and Elina (2).

It really was great to see everyone at the reunion. It was a lot ofwork and I am really thankful that Tara Cappelli (Vice) flew in a week early from Korea and helped with all the last-minute details. She and Troy (’99) are living off base near Osan, where Troy works for 7AF, and they are expecting their first baby, a boy, in late November. There were quite a few pregnant classmates at the reunion and I think that would have been a great photo, but I will wait for the

birth announcements!

JOIN I I IE SABRE SOCIETY YOUR MONEY HELPS FUN'.LI1 «

CADET WING PROGRAMS THAT

WOULD OTHERWISE GO UNFUNDED CALL THE AOG FOR INFO,

130

The Ryan Moon clan.

August apparently was the month for babies, because Michelle Nunez and her husband, Luis (’97), also had anewbabyboy, their second, backin August.

(See photo at top of next column.)

In addition to raising a family, Michelle is a reservist at the 310th Space Wing in the Springs and the Director-at and class rep to the Rampart AOG chaplarge ter. She added that James Taggart recently moved back to the Springs and has joined her squadron, cross-training over from the rated pilot world. Michelle also offered to help out with the reunion.

Anyone else? Thanks Michelle!

In totally unrelated news, Joe Whitehead graduated from UT Law in May ’07, completed a federal clerkship in DC, and just started at a firm there. Nice work Joe.

Lastly, a big apology to Angela Smith (Arredondo) for totally disregarding an e-mail she had sent me for the previous issue. Not the right person to ignore— Angela is a prosecutor in Houston, TX where she and Jason just bought a new house. Jason is aT-6 IP at Laughlin but is hoping to join the reserves soon and

MaryEdith and Andy Malin are in Iowa; they are expecting their second child in March. Andy is in his 4th year of orthopaedic surgery residency and Mary is working part time as a project manager/event planner for an educational policy company.

The newest addition to the Nunez family-Michael (USAFA class of2030).

party while Angela brings home the bacon. Angela also added that she caught up with Jen (Dolan) and Chad Hillberg in Dallas recently. They are expecting their 2nd baby- a girl

-

in November. Chad is lighting up the

T-6 PIT program at Randolph as we speak, and will return to

Sheppard AFB to instruct after one tour flying the world’s greatest multi-role fighter, the F-16. Chrissy (Deibel) MacGregor is the proud mama of a lovely little girl Katie.

Chrissy, Rob and Katie are really enjoying life in Germany where they can actually see a castle from their house. (That’s nothing; I can almost see Mexico from my house). Jenn Ortiz has been enjoying college life at the University of Central Florida. She is supposedly getting a master’s degree in Counseling but we all know that she's really there to party and hook up with cute guys. Good to see some things never change. Hey Angela, thanks a million for writing and I promise I’ll report the news promptly next time.

Class, I wish I had something to offer about the upcoming extravaganza which -

-

will be our class reunion, but I still do not. For now, mark your calendars for Labor Day '09; call or e-mail me if you want to help, and have a happy holiday.

James

Jason “JW” Simmons

Simmons@USAFA2000.com

jw_simmons@yahoo.com

(No Sabre Society Donors Yet) (Editor’s note: We did not receive a column from Jason for this issue. Please send him your inputs and photos for the next magazine.)

Faith

(Hitchcock) Dunn

6423 NW 94th Court

Johnson, IA 50131 Faithd03@hotmail.com

Hi there’01 ers, I received a lot of updates this time thanks to Facebook and the USAFA Class of2001 page I created on it. Anyone out there that wants to check it out, please

do and join the page and keep the updates coming!

Jeff Feuring and his wife, Eun Young, welcomed their first baby in September and named him Henry Charles.

Jeff, Eun Young and Henry Feuring

Andy and Kate Malin Lucy (Garcia) Ueda is currently pursuing her pastry certificate from the Art Institute of New York City. Mike is deployed to Iraq and should be back in time for Christmas.

Raul and Angela (Feldman) Ochoa are in Arkansas and Raul just left for a deployment to Iraq. Angela is hoping to get deployed soon so they can overlap a bit out there but for now is holding down the fort at home. Clara (Aguirre) Austin and her husband are in the middle of a PCS from Kirtland AFB, to Rome, NY, Air Force Research Lab. She stays at home with their three kids: Noah 4, Lillian 2, and Adam 8 months. I’m sure they keep her busy!

Wells Littlefield graduated from law school in May and has been activated as a reservist at Eglin. He’s also been selected to return to active duty as a JAG. Melanie (Borchers) and Jeremy Ferguson are settling down in San Antonio where they just moved in September from Ramstein. Jeremy is working AETC staff at Randolph and she is at Lackland at the ISR Agency. They ran into Lisa (Case) and Byron Nicholson who have been at Lackland since May. Ryan Fleming and Kari James (03) Fleming are living in Charleston and are expecting their first baby in April. Barry Mattson and his wife, Amelia, just moved to Decatur, AL and are also expecting a baby. Reina (Smith) Chaperon got out of the Air Force in 2006. She and Jeff Chaperon are both at the University of Florida; Jeff got an AFIT scholarship to get his master's in Hospital Administration and she is getting her Doctorate in Physical Therapy.

Ben and Molly Gunn are stationed nearby at Hurlburt Field and have a little

girl. Preston Laslie is almost done with his PhD at Georgetown. Rob Marshall just PCSed to Hurlburt Field, FL where he’s flying CV-22 Ospreys with Christian Helms and Luke Sustman. Christian Helms got married in Atlanta back in March and Rob is still working on taking the Air Force flag to the highest peaks in the world, including Mt. Everest. Check out the website: www.USAF7Summits.com. Ester Babcock, Erin VanOosten, and Tavis

McDevitt, are looking into joining the climb of Denali.

In other news, there was a dedication ceremony at USAFA for Derek Argel

and Jeremy Fresques. Memorial display cases were dedicated for each of them in their old squadrons. I have attached a photo below.

Thanks, Faith.

Argel and Fresques Memorial 131

Real Deal, admits that he still sends Checkpoints e-mails to his squadron in a

lame attempt to win new friends. Finally, Joel is having the most commercial

Amy Kauvar 806 Magnolia Bend

success, with his new Cambridge-based little people wrestling league. All

send a “BONG!” shout-out.

San Antonio, TX 78251 215-280-1760

amykauvar@gmail.com Class Website: www.usafa02.org

(One Sabre Society Donor) (Editor’s note: We did not receive a column from Amy for this issue. Please send her your inputs and photos for the next magazine.)

Susan

Lynn Doyle

(937) 760-1076 Susan.doyle@wpafb.af.mil Susan_Doyle@post.harvard.edu From left are Kevin Kenney ChrisWhite, Missy SmithJake Lindaman, Ric

Greetings from the great swing-state of Ohio! By the time you read this our nation will have elected our 44th President, and we’ll be on our way to paving the agenda for the next four years. I hope this edition of Checkpoints finds you and your families doing well and enjoying life wherever you are.

We had some great updates come in from all over the world. Daniel Stoker, his wife, Erica, and their two-year-old son Caleb are doing well and recently relocated to Luke where he is in RTU for the F-16. Luc Gruenther is in F-16 training there as well. Tommy and Janet Tauer are stationed at Misawa, where he flies the F-16. Dan Munson is back in

the desert and flying the Global Hawk. He’s had the oppor-

tunity to experience a lot of firsts with the Global Hawk program, such as flying the jet from home into theater without air support and he continues to explore and exploit the Global Hawk’s capabilities. Jamison Richart is also back in the desert again at Ali Al Salem AB as an Aircraft Commander oftheC-130. He’s loving life and couldn’t be happier. Matt Burniston is still atVandenberg and enjoying life as well. He sends word that Matt Wieringa is flying KC- 10s out of Travis, is currently deployed to somewhere in Iraq, and should get home sometime mid-Decemher. John Harris is stationed in Kunsan with the 80th FS, the Juvats, flying F16CMs. He recently deployed to Eielson to fly in Red Flag Alaska 09-1, dropped some GBU-12s on one oftheVULs and had the opportunity to fly OCA-SA, XINT, AI, CAS, and DCA. Chris Deschane and his wife, Erin, live in Washington --

Turner; Conor Teegarden, and JoelPerlin.

Charlotte (Medina) Pittman is stationed at Nellis AFB. She left C-130s at

Pope, arrived at Creech AFB, NV in January of this year, finished Predator training in June, and has flown missions overseas from Nellis since. Charlotte and her husband, Carlos, were married in April of2006 and are expecting a baby in April! Congratulations!

Kay Knapp, Randy Watts, and Susan Doyle met up at the Women’s Memorial in Arlington Cemetery for the 5th Annual AcademyWomen Symposium, which began with a career workshop for “Women on the Move” and culminated in a leadership seminar. During the “Wisdom of the Ages” panel WASP veterans Lorraine Zillner Rodgers and Dawn Rochow Balden Seymour shared their experiences as B-17 and B-26 pilots during World War II. It was incredible learning experience and opportunity to meet heroes who served our country over the past 70 years. AcademyWomen provides excellent resources, to include an eMentor Leadership program and programs for combat and wounded veterans—check it out at www.academywomen.org.

D.C. where he is a consultant for IBM and she supports the Air National Guard at an ad agency. They are expecting with a due date in May2009. Congratulations mom and dad! On the other side ofthe globe, Kevin Weaver and his Erica

wife are stationed at Kadena where he flies CSAR.

KayKnapp, RandyWatts, and Susan Doyle in front ofthe Women’s Memorial in Arlington National Cemetery.

This is a great opportunity to point out the wealth of resources available to active duty and transitioning academy grads through the AOG and other netKevin and his wife Erica Weaver. ,

Conor Teegarden sent an update from Lakenheath and included a picture of

the 494 FS Finest, Baddest, Meanest while downrange this summer with the “Strongest, Mightiest, Bongest jet.” According to Conor, after the photo they sang a few rousing rounds of USAFA fight songs and then walked around spotcorrecting PT uniforms. They recently returned from deployment and returned to their normal routines: Kevin continues his ballroom dancing lessons in hopes of making Dancing with the Stars Military Edition. Chris picked up with his wildlife rescue work, rehabilitating goldfish for release into the wild. Missy turned mean when AF lost to Navy and pushed three people down the stairs. Jake, after experience downrange, works with athletes trying to make the transition to cyber-athleticism. Ric recently designed and built the 6th generation fighter with nothing but a protractor, duct tape, a BIC lighter, old boots, invisible ink... and dreams. Conor, the original Checkpoints and -

132

-

works. For our classmates who are considering a transition, the AOG Career Center includes resume resources, information on the Service Academy Career Conferences, and iSABRD, a database with over33,000 graduates who are willing to support you with your transition. For active-duty classmates, it’s

early to learn about what’s out there and to take advantage of the AOG’s member discounts, scholarships, etc. There are also several Junior Military Officer recruiting firms offering various transition resources. Whether you are active duty or civilian the mentoring and networking opportunities never too

are tremendous.

Thank you for your help to put these updates together. Please contact me at

susan_doyle@post.harvard.edu ifyou are interested in developing a Class of 2003 website that will continue to keep our classmates connected. Additionally, please keep sending your pictures and submissions and include any specific ideas you’d like to share with our classmates in following editions. Take care and keep having fun! Susan

past weekend, the football team is 6-2 and bowl eligible! That will hopefully give us another excuse to get together over the NewYear’s holiday somewhere

Breezy (Long) Heddinger Cell: (719) 213-3205 breezy.heddinger@usafa-grads.com windy04@gimail.af.mil breezy. heddinger@usafagrads.com

to have a reunion of sorts at a bowl game.

I caught up with a few of our football classmates and they had a lot going on.

Brian Falk is a communications officer who recently PCSed back to Colorado

Springs where he works at Schriever AFB with Kenny Smith. A big group of grads have football season tickets and have fun going back to watch the games to include: Forrest Poole, Joe Riedesel, Kenny

Well, folks, we seem to have had a relatively quiet summer. I only have one piece of news to share with you all this quarter, but it’s a good one. On 3 Jul 08, Brook (Taylor) Kolarcik and her husband, Joshua Kolarcik (’99), welcomed their second child into the world: Gideon Joshua Kolarcik. He joined his big sister Hannah who turns two years old on 2 Nov 08. Brook’s hubby Joshua was a combat controller in the USAF until separating in Nov 07 and is now an FBI agent. As you can see in the photo, when Joshua graduated from the FBI Academy, Mommy-Brook, Hannah and Gideon were so proud! They recendy moved to Monroe, IA, where Josh is now working. On top of their busy schedules, both Brook and Gideon have also been certified as Crossfit Level 1 Trainers. Brook stays at home with the children and will soon begin personal training at their gym, as well. Talk about a “power couple! Congrats on your newest family addition and best wishes as you settle-in in Monroe. ”

The Kolarcik family Before I sign offwith holiday salutations, I’ll impart an additional tidbit. Most classmates I catch up with in the States or on deployment specifically ask that I don’t rush off to Checkpoints will all their latest news. Still, I’d like to share one brief, non-attributional story. Sitting in the ops room in my current deployed location, multiple crews from various airframes were busy checking equipment in/out, phones were ringing, and everyone was caught in their own individual hustle-and-bustle of the ATO day. Then, in one of those random moments of silence, two sentences rang out in the room: “Why...?’’ and “No excuse, Sir.” Seven out of ten people in the room laughed.. .the other three probably wondered why. The eyes of strangers from ’00, ‘02, ’03, ‘04, ‘05 met across the room, and we all just shook our heads with a smile—it was one of those silly moments when you realize: “Oh my gosh, we’re everywhere.”

Keep on keepin’ on, 2004. Whether you’re at home with your loved ones, or on a separate continent with your AF family, have a wonderful holiday season and remember to give thanks from time to time that there will always be some-

Smith, Brian Falk, Marcus McKindra, Tim Trimailo, Amber Hoffman, Gale Monahan, and many other grads from different classes. Kenny Smith said they form a pretty good group of partiers who like to do it cadet-style at the Ritz. Oh the good old days...

Quick updates on some of those guys: Forrest Poole and Amber Hoffman are recently engaged; Forrest popped the question on top of Mt. Herman. Amber is working in manpower at Buckley AFB, Denver and Forrest is at Schriever and after being stationed close they decided to finally tie the knot! The wedding is planned for October 2009. Gale Monahan separated from the AF in August and is going to law school full time in Boulder. Kenny Smith recently got picked up by the Management Department to get his master’s and go back and teach at USAFA. He also let me know that John Feely and Brian Lemay were also selected to teach Ops Research in the Management Dept. John just started his master’s at Minnesota and Brian is at Michigan getting his before they return back to mold the young minds of those aspiring officers! How crazy to think we are old enough to be back at the zoo teaching!

A few others updates, though I don’t have too much detail is that Cameron Hodge got F-15s and he should be finished training at Tyndall AFB. I think he is headed to Mountain Home AFB. John Rudzinski is at Charleston AFB doing Aircraft Maintenance but has also been back and forth to the Academy on TDYs to help coach football when he can.

John Blake Peel married his spring break sweetheart Vanessa Bolich. The newlyweds said their I Do’s in Las Vegas this past August 2nd. Everyone said they had a good time at the wedding. Another fun wedding was between Kris Holstege and Tiffany Hess Holstege. Kris and Tiffany (Tyler Hess’s sister) got married June 21 st at her grandparent’s house in Murrieta, CA. Tiffany graduated from Fresno State this past spring and will be teaching English in Korea for the next year while Kris is stationed at Osan AB. There were a lot of grads attending the wedding to include Tyler Hess, Cameron Hodge, Chris Charron, Cody Clark, Luke Lefever, Jordan Filer, Brent Carroll, Nate Terrazone, Curtis Switzer, Dan Carroll, Zach Myhra, and James Russell.

one, somewhere, to laugh at zoo jokes.

Paula

Delapasse

196 Cambria Drive

Beavercreek, OH 45440

(225) 603-4450 paulamaffey@juno.com paula.delapasse@wpafb.af.mil

Happy Holidays to everyone! I hope this finds you having spent the holiday season with loved ones wherever you might be. Another year has passed quickly as we welcome in 2009. A lot has happened since graduation and we have even more to look forward to in the coming year. For many it will be finally finishing up training and getting out to get their hands dirty; for some it is back to school for graduate degrees. We have many returning to the AOR for their second and third deployments while we still look forward to pinning on Captain! For many who are already out of the AF, how is the real world and kick starting that dream career you always imagined?!

I am writing this submission around Halloween and the fall always makes me think of

sports. I checked out the USAFA Athletics website and there is a

whole lot going on! Our water polo team is ranked 20th in the nation and the swimming season is well underway. Men’s and women’s soccer are braving the cold right now as they wrap up their seasons and the sports schedule was packed with fencing, rifle, and golf matches as well. Finally with a win this

The dapper groomsmen (from left) are Cody Clark, Tyler Hess, Cameron Hodge, the groom Kris Holstege, Chris Charron, Luke Lefever, Jordan Filer.

Kneelingis Kris’s brotherMitch.

Another exciting engagement from two members of our class: Brian Jarratt and Celia Palm are getting married June 2009 in her parents’ yard in her hometown of Loman, MN. Currently, Celia is TDY to Little Rock for C-130 navigator school (FTU) and, once complete, she will go to Kirtiand AFB for some more training. She is eventually on her way to HC- 130’s with the 79th Rescue Sq at Davis-Monthan AFB. Brian is at Nellis AFB so they are looking forward to

being a lot closer!

Some news from the warfront. I got a quick hello from John Tamasitis who has been deployed to Afghanistan for the past four months. He will be return-

ing home before the end of the year and says things are going great. He is having a good time getting outside the wire and trying to make a difference.

Looks like smiles all around to me; keep it up John! Upon returning, John will be PCSing to Hurlburt Field where he will be the AFOSI Counterintelligence Team Chief for AFSOC. (See photo at the top of the next column.)

Amanda Young also wrote from A1 Dhafra AB where she is deployed from Tinker AFB, OK. Amanda said she is over there with Ryan Roberts, Nikki Beaumont, Seth and Jenna Burke Pelletier, and Will Guthrie and has seen many other grads come through during the past few months. Come home safe 133

Kristin Pearson, Scott Eberle, Joe Tucholski, Heidi (Vermillion) Tucholski, Eric Brown (’07), April (Linzey) Brown. The couple is doingwell and

living in

the DC metro area.

Adam and Choi

J ohn and his “buddies.

”

Amanda but before then, send an updated “This is why I’m Hot" deployed video with you beatboxing in the background! Lastly and most randomly, my

XiangYu and Amber (Collins) Chen got married on July 3,2008 in Taibei, Taiwan. They will have a ceremony following his completion of pilot training in Taiwan. Also, Amber went TDY to Qatar in August.

mom ran into Dan Therrien's

grandmother while they were at apolitical rally in Las Vegas. I got word that Dan is flying RC-135s and recently deployed for his first time a few weeks ago. I don’t know any other details but Dan we hope you are having fun and doing well. Send us more of an update sol don’t have to rely on our families’ chance meeting!

That is all I have for now! As soon as you read this get on the email and send

update!! I love to have new news to talk about and I know some of you are out there doing amazing things or have great stories to tell. Send them my way and share with everyone. Oh and my new email on global is the paula.delapasse@wpafb.af.mil AFRL/RXOF one! Take care and goodbye for me an

now!

Felisa

(Hervey) Dyrud

5434 S. Monrovia Ave.

Tucson, AZ 85706

felisa.dyrud@gmail.com (719) 352-5991 Facebook group:”Feel the Fire”

Amber and XiangYu Elizabeth (Flaherty) West got married on July 12th to Jason West. Lisa Canon was in the wedding. Here’s a picture!

Hey’06, Kenji Miyazawa is a Japanese poet whose work and legacy we encountered in Japan while visiting Peter’s sister in Morioka (a city in the North) a few months ago. Here is a piece of one of his poems that I find relevant to officership and life...

Be not defeated by the rain, nor let the wind prove your better.

Succumb not to the snows ofwinter, nor be bested by the heat ofsummer...

Bestrongin body. Unfettered by desire. Not enticed to anger. Cultivate a quiet

joy.

Count yourselflast in everything. Put others before you.

I hope this finds you well. We have been exploring Tucson, where despite

being a city of over one million, almost every direction spits you out into mountains or gorgeous, rugged wilderness. I am serving as an executive officer for the 612 Theater Operations Group at Davis-Monthan AFB, and Peter has been working as aWhite House intern in the office of Presidential Speechwriting (mostly checking facts for the President’s speeches), until his training for Combat Rescue begins in January. And now for some updates from our classmates:

BABIES: Alexander D. Johns writes: My wife, Maricel, gave birth to a beautiful baby boy Tristan Alexander on 5 July2008.

Liz and Jason

Scott Eberle and Kristin Pearson got married on Oct 12th 2008. Many grads made it. Jenny (06) and Jess (05) Miller, Donny Heaton, Boedy Franklin, Max Reele (05), Jeff Carter, Colleen Smith (05), Liz and Frieden McLean, Adam

Messer, Nick (04) and Amber (05) Beamer, Megan Stromberg, Denny Olson, and Joe Beck. They are loving life in Florida and enjoying their new dog, Killian.

We are also going C-130s to Yokota AB and will be there 31

May, 2009.

Jill and Woody Olmstead welcomed Josiah Steven Wood Olmstead into the world in late July... he is of course adorable! They are at Sheppard AFB for pilot training. (Maybe we’ll have room to run some baby pictures next time...) (Editor’s note: Please remember that to run a baby photo, the graduate also needs to be in the image.)

Torrey and Sarah Hamilton became jubilant parents to their beautiful daughter, Annelise Sophia, on September 5th. They are stationed at Ramstein AB, Germany, where Torrey is an all-source Intelligence Analyst for 3rd AF. Tripp and Carly (Siefken) Johnson are expecting a new family member due April 4th... they are really excited!

WEDDINGS: Adam Messer married his bride Choi (Williams) in Austin, Texas on March 7,2008.

They had quite a party. Grads in attendance included Marcie Mueth (’07), Laura Hansen (’05), Cynthia Nogueras, Amber (Tittle) Beamer

(’05), James Steel, Nick Beamer (’04), NickTsougas, Jeff Carter (Best Man), 134

Scott and Kristin

RichYoungwrites: Andy Baydala married his fiancee, Samantha Brown, in October in their hometown of Birmingham, AL. '06 grads in attendance at the wedding included me, NickTsougas, Adam Swift, Beau Tresemer, and Billy Singiser. They honeymooned on the south coast of Barbados.

OTHER LIFE HAPPENINGS: Gail Watling winged back in March, got C130s, and is stationed at Little Rock now. By the end of the year she will be flying with the 30th out of Cheyenne, WY. She also filled us in that Toni Horrell got engaged to Tim Merhar. Both are C-17 pilots at McChord.

Thomas Freeman is about four months into a365 dayTDY at Camp Taji, Iraq.

He’s an Air Force adviser to an Iraqi Colonel and his Communications Squadron in all things comm. He is also working to put the first Iraqi students through their brand new Communications Courses at the Iraqi Air Force Academy there at Taji.

Dayle Morell just moved back from two wonderful years at Aviano, Italy. She is now a law student at Boston University. In three years she will be a JAG and feels lucky to have this opportunity!

Stephen Music and his wife (Libby Badtke Music, ‘05) finished UPT and are both flying Hercs in Little Rock. Libby is flying the J-model and Stephen is flying the E and H3 models. They will be there for the next four years or so, and their first deployments are coming up soon. No kids yet, just two dogs, a black lab (her name is Onyx) and a yellow lab (his name is Hercules).

Josh Ames just finished UPT and got Hercs to Little Rock as well!

Shawn Ingkiriwang got promoted to senior captain June '08. He will be coming to Tucson Arizona, for his F16 conversion early in 2009.

Mike Lewis, Ashley Guthrie, Nate Masdon and William MacVittie are busy flyingC-17 missions for the 16thAS, Charleston AFB. Clayton Couch writes: There are several of us stationed her in Pensacola, FL who recently winged as strike navigator / WSOs (ironically on the same day we in-processed to basic training six years ago 27 June). Here are our names and our respective airframes: Nick Barnhart, B- IB; Clayton Couch, F- 15E; Javan -

served as groomsmen for Chad. Chad met Alanna while working with Habitat for Humanity in New Orleans over spring break our two-degree year. Chad is

currently in T1 training at Laughlin AFB, Texas.

1

I Chad Reger and Alanna Windham

Andy Waterworth married his beautiful bride Angela Sheffield in Scottsdale, AZ on July 5,2008. The picture shows the entire wedding party including a number offellow classmates: From left are Patrick Picard, Paul Taggart, Landon Brown (cousin), Zach Roberts, Angela, Andy, Crystal Sheffield (sister), Monica Herrera, Erin Finger, and Molly Miller (Smith College ROTC '07). Lin Milker and Daniel Picard were also in attendance. Andy and Angela are currently stationed in San Antonio, TX.

Greeson, F- 15E; and Steve Keefer: F- 15E. Edward "Monty" Montgomery writes: For the Aug 22 winging at Corpus Christi, TX, the following assignments were given out: Brett Davis, MC- 130s to Mildenhall; Edward Montgomery and Beau Tresemer, C- 130Js to Ramstein; Alex Johns, C- 130Hs to Yokota; Jake Montoya, C- 130Hs to Dyess; Eric Lane, C130Hs to Little Rock; Mark Catalano, AC- 130s to Hurlburt (though that unit is moving to Cannon soon). We'll all be heading to Little Rock in a few months for training and then off to our respective bases. We're all busy abusing our livers in the meantime.

Casey Bayne 6925 Clovercliff Drive Rancho Palos Verdes, CA 90275

(310) 343-5969 checkpoints@caseybayne.com

Andy Waterworth and Angela Sheffield Jeremy Chang married Jennifer Chang in their hometown of Pasadena, CA on Aug 2,2008. Bryan Lawson served as a groomsman for Jeremy. Jeremy and Jennifer decided to spend their honeymoon in their home state and ventured over the Golden Gate Bridge to San Francisco for a few days. The happy couple is stationed at FE Warren AFB, WY.

Hi Class of2007!

Hope you enjoy these recent updates. I would like to get some updates and pictures from those of you who are or were deployed. Please feel free to send them my way!

Weddings & Engagements: Colonel Neal Barlow (c/o 1978) gave his daughter Kaitlin Barlow away on September 6,2008 to the lucky groom Shaun Lee. Kaitlin and Shaun met during soaring our three-degree year at the Academy.

They were married in a gorgeous ceremony at the Academy chapel and fellow classmates Brice Johnson, Mary Asher “Mash" Vendt, Chad Reger, Casey Bayne, Kristan Bird, Juliette Delgiudice, and Keith Sanders were in attendance. For their honeymoon, Shaun surprised Katie with a cruise to multiple vacation spots in Mexico. Katie is currently at UCLA Dental School in Los Angeles, California and Shaun is stationed atVandenberg AFB also in California.

Jeremy Chang and Jennifer Col (Ret) SydMcPherson (c/o 76) announced that his son Matt McPherson married his high school sweetheart Sept 20,2008. Matt flew in from Minot AFB where he is a missile officer. His bride, Katherine Kerr

McPherson, is an Army brat so she knows the drill. Matt had several friends from Academy in the wedding party and in the saber arch: TJ Gabrielson, Ted Shillig and his wife, Jessa

Shaun Lee and Kaidin Barlow

Chad Reger married AlannaWindham in a traditional, southern wedding on July 5,2008, in Pensacola, FL. Classmates Bryan Blackburn and Shaun Lee

Flatebo Shillig, and April McDonald. The ceremony ended with the traditional swat on the butt and a hearty "Welcome to the Air Force Mrs. McPherson." Katherine did a perfect reply at the reception when Matt fished the garter from its hiding place. It was a lovely shade of camouflage and said "Go Army" onit. That got a mighty "Hooah!" from the nu-

Army veterans in the crowd. Matt and Katherine enjoyed a relaxing honeymoon in Orlando, FL. merous

135

Brice Johnson planned to ask Mary Asher “Mash” Vendt to marry him on a

yacht in the Gulf of Mexico this past July. His original plans for proposal were shot when a downpour caused the captain of the yacht to return to port. Brice did not let this deter him; they still enjoyed a romantic dinner and he proposed despite the nasty weather! Brice and Mash plan to be married on Aug 1,2009.

Brice, an ensign in the Navy, is currently completing Navigator training at Pensacola, FL. Mash is still serving in the Air Force but completing her pilot training with the Navy at Pensacola.

Assignments: Dan Edelstein completed pilot training at Laughlin AFB, TX and will be flying C-17s at McCord AFB, WA. Good luck Dan and watch out for those boom operators!

Keep sending your updates, stories and pictures my way! Thanks, Casey.

And now a message from our Class Presiden t: Hi Everyone, I hope this Checkpoints article finds everyone well! When you have a chance, please send me your personal contact info either via the “Classmate Tracker” at usafa2007 .com or send it to my government account or miror22@yahoo.com.

I’m trying to compile everyone’s info so I can send out future updates for our

10-year reunion. While I know most everyone is on the global now, that might not be the case in the future, so please give me some info! Give me a write ifyou ever need

something!

Best Wishes, Tyler Rube.

Collin O'Bryant (farleft) and Will Burrows (next to Collin) with C3CBen Cochran (far right) and C2C Tyler Keener (3rd from right) in Uganda.

Trenton

Sandberg

450 Illinois Ave., Unit 2 Del Rio, TX 78840

(308) 641-1430 trenton.sandberg@gmail.com

Richter Class, Hope all is well out there in the real world. I don’t have much for this issue.

A few highlights from 60 days: Alex Watkins spent a month in A1 Hoceima, Morocco (working through an NGO) teaching English and rebuilding houses demolished in the 2004 earthquake. Asha Padmanabhan spent two weeks in Cambodia working with the Somaly Mam Foundation helping to combat the sex slave trade. Jonny Reynolds spent his 60 days in Washington, D.C. working as an intern for South Dakota Senator John Thune. Collin O’Bryant and Will Burrows traveled to Uganda with Compassion International to perform humanitarian and mission work for poor and orphaned children. Garrett Rybak, Emily Shanes and Jared Freeman traveled to Kenya through Compassion International as well. I think there were many more of our classmates who performed similar work, but I don’t have names. Sorry if I left you out!

Visit the AOG Web Site

Garrett Rybak (far left) and Jared Freeman in Kenya.

In September, Erika Shortridge tra veled to Europe to represent the Air Force at the annual Allied Component Command Tennis Tournament held in

Amsterdam. The countries represented were Belgium, Germany, Poland, The Netherlands, the UK, and the US. Each team consisted of Airmen from their respective countries. The US team, comprised of six men and four women (all but two were Academy grads), placed first overall in both men’s and women’s divisions. Individually, Erika placed second in the women’s division, losing to teammate Kat Bushey (06). Congratulations, Erika!

Merchandise, Gone But Not Forgotten and More!

www.usafa.org (Gone But Not Forgotten: Continued from page 93.)

Thomas A. Bouley, ’88 He served with distinction as an exchange F3 Tornado pilot with the

Royal Air Force during Operation Iraqi Freedom, and had the honor of leading the first British 4-ship combat mission on the opening day of that war. At Nellis, prior to taking command of the 65AGRS, he was the Deputy Commander and then acting Commander of Red Flag. His decorations included four Meritorious Service Medals, four Air Med-

als, the Aerial Achievement Medal, two Air Force Commendation Medals, the Air Force Achievement Medal, and two United Kingdom

Campaign Medals.

Tom was very active in the community, be it at church or as a Boy

Scout leader and mentor. He loved fishing, soccer, the Anaheim An-

gels, the Seattle Seahawks, skiing and snowboarding, and traveling around the world with his family.

He was a decorated warrior, an inspiring leader of pilots, and a loving father and husband. He had served his nation with distinction for over 20 years. Tom will be sorely missed by his family, friends, and the fighter pilot and Aggressor community.

Memorial Services where held Aug. 4, 2008 at the Nellis Air Force Base Chapel and a Funeral Mass at St. John Neumann Catholic Church located in North Las Vegas was performed on Sept. 5, 2008. (Brother Joe, Lt Col, USAF(Ret), who had the honor of commissioning Tom in ’88) 136

Erika Shortridge smoking the competition in The Netherlands. In tennis, love means nothing.

There were a crazy number ofweddings this summer/fall. So many, in fact, it’s impossible to mention them all. Here is a really short list of grad-to-grad

weddings that I was able to come up with. I’m sorry if I missed anyone!

Melissa Anderson and Shane Praiswater. Kimberly Kallabis and Peter Shenk.

Victoria Castro and Richard Pinckney. Carla Merino and Ryan Williams. Megan White and Matt McDonald (07). Kendra Giboney and DrewTullson (07).

Brittany Williams and Ashton Carter (06). Jennifer Wiliams and Charles Linz (07). Danielle Warwick and Brian Reece (07). Congratulations to all!

That’s it for this issue... please send me your good news!

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