Mike Arnett 5285 Copper Drive Colorado springs, CO 80918 (719) 310-8100 jmikearnett@gmail.com
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Members
Greetings, members of the Illustrious Class of 1973! Up first, a quick report on this year’s National Character and Leadership Symposium (NCLS). As the Flagship Sponsor, the Class of 1973 received recognition at every NCLS venue over the two-day event. With the theme of “Character Overcoming Conflict: Individual Stories, Global Impact,” this year’s symposium featured inspiring, thought-provoking and challenging speakers and panelists, as we have come to expect. It was extremely well received by the Cadet Wing. Of special note were classmate speakers General Norty Schwartz, 19th USAF Chief of Staff, and his wife, Suzie; and Monsignor Steve Rosetti, President, St. Luke Institute. Norty and Suzie’s presentation in Arnold Hall was to a packed house (the cadets had other sessions they could have attended). Norty spoke for a few minutes, then turned it over to Suzie before they answered questions. Suzie’s “the rest of the story,” behind-the-scenes accounts of a couple of incidents when Norty was Chief were big hits with the audience. Steve’s presentation on dealing with corruption in high office struck a chord with cadets. There was a line running halfway up the F-1 stairs for questions afterwards. Some 40 classmates and spouses attended NCLS this year—the most so far. This was my Sabre Society second year, and I highly recommend it to all. Donors Moving on to updates from classmates, Todd LaVigne, CS-03, wrote from Cairo, Egypt, where he is one of several US Army liaison officers assigned to the Office of Military Cooperation – Egypt, handling Foreign Military Sales (FMS) cases for the US/Government of Egypt. “My specialty is Air Defense Systems -- after 21 years working as an Aircraft Maintenance Officer on active duty and making heroes out of USAF fighter pilots, I’m now helping the Egyptian Armed Forces learn how to shoot them down -- how’s that for yin & yang! I’ve been doing FMS for about 13 years now and this job is a true frontline operation with an important ally. Unfortunately the budget issues we’re all having are affecting the Egyptian FMS situation as well. We are all working hard to identify REAL priorities for them so they can make the right calls.” Todd’s been in Cairo for two years and was due to rotate back to the States this May, but the home office is having trouble finding a replacement, so he volunteered to stay on, possibly through the summer until they find someone. Todd noted that his wife, Diana, is working in FMS, too, for the Egyptian Air Force as a program manager for their automated logistics systems. Her tour is up next January. I guess that explains why Todd is so willing to hang around Egypt for a few more months. Todd sent a cute picture of his 2-year-old granddaughter, Elizabeth, in Air Force overalls. Didn’t have room for it here, so check it out, as well as Todd’s full write-up and contact info, at our class website, www.usafa73.org. Ted Kammire reports that he, Scotty Parker, Kirk Lilly and Dennis Geesaman held an 18th Squadron mini-reunion 12-14 Feb 2014, in Flatonia, TX, 90 miles east of San Antonio. “We were hosted by Dennis and Kathryn Geesaman, at their historical Olle Hotel. After arriving late on Wednesday, we were given a tour of ‘Goose’s Roost’ their 238-acre ranch complete with cows, horses, llamas, peacocks, Guinea hens, turkey and of course geese. We had a delicious German-style dinner and finished the night around a back yard fire. The next day, we guys re-created some of our Jacks Valley training at the Goose’s Roost shooting area [see picture at usafa73.org]. With it being a hot and dusty day we decided to quench our thirst at the local Shiner Bock Brewery. In the meantime, the ladies toured the local churches and history around Flatonia. That evening we
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From left are Scotty Parker, Ted Kammire, Kirk Lilly and Dennis Geesaman.
were introduced to a genuinely French restaurant in Flatonia. For anyone interested in a fine getaway weekend, along with interesting Texas history, Goose’s Roost is a fantastic place to visit.” You can find both the Olle Hottel and Goose’s Roost Ranch on the Web. On the CS-31 front, Tom and Betty Kennedy visited with Bud Gammon and his friend Barbara while they were spending several weeks in Fredericksburg, VA. The group had quite an interesting day at the local Hartwood and Unicorn Wine Festival (see photo). Turns out the vintner, Richard LePage from Unicorn Winery, is an old C-130 pilot who knew Norty Schwartz from their flying days. He also knew Steve Connelly (class of ’70) the brother of our classmate Dan Connelly. Bud’s daughter Sarah Elizabeth will be getting married on 26 Apr. Tom also reported that Phil and Chris Yavorsky just returned from a Hawaiian vacation – hope to have some photos in the next issue.
From left standing are Betty and Tom Kennedy, and Bud Gammon. Bud’s Friend Barbara seated. After attending NCLS, Stalker Reed joined CS-07squadronmate Mark Coffman at his home in Beavercreek, CO for a day of skiing. Stalker says it was quite a sacrifice for Mark to ski on a busy weekend with an altitudinally-challenged, flatlander classmate limited to the green slopes, but he did it. Stalker sent in the accompanying photo, plus one of him and Mark in their ski gear [at usafa73.org].
From left are Bob Munson, Stalker Reed, Norty Schwartz, Ron Scott, and Mark Coffman at A-Hall during NCLS. Onesismo Solis, 12th Squadron, checked in a couple of months ago. He lives in Abilene, TX but works at Altus AFB, OK as a C-17 simulator instructor. Spends a couple of weeks at a time at Altus and loves his job. He says that between the commute and having a grandkid in Ft Worth, he really racks up the miles on his car. I also heard from Jim Shumate, a fellow Niner for two-plus years until he was diagnosed with diabetes and medically separated. Jim went back to native Utah, married his sweetheart Cherie Nelson (she was in the 1972 9th Squadron Sweetheart contest), and earned his law degree in 1975 (fast burner!). After 15 years as an attorney, he was appointed a judge in St. George, Utah’s 5th District Court, serving 23 years before retiring from the court in April of this year. He briefly made national news when he presided over the jury conviction and sentencing of polygamous church leader Warren Jeffs in 2007. Fellow Niner (DNG) and Kansas lawyer Ed Hageman saw Jim’s name associated with the case and called him up to confirm it was his old squadron mate. Jim’s oldest son, Jon, completed what his dad started, graduating with the USAFA Class of 1997, and becoming an Air Force pilot. Don’t forget to send your updates to class.scribe@r-netservices.com or jmikearnette@gmail.com. There’s no need to wait until I call for them again in July. Please include pix. If I can’t include them, I’ll send them on to Mike Nishimuta to post to usafa73.org. “Here’s a toast…to the host…of the men we boast…the U.S. Air Force!” Mike Arnett
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