Checkpoints Mar 2015

CHECKPOINTS MARCH 2015

THE NEW FRONTIER OF THE

WING OPEN

USAFA Alumni Magazine

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CHECKPOINTS March 2015

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FEATURES 14 On the Front Lines of American Diplomacy Gary Grappo ‘72, the former Ambassador to the Sultanate of

On the Cover C4C Aubrey Lowe throws a right jab at C2C Sarenna Ortiz during the women’s 150-pound bout at the 57th Annual Wing Open Championship. C4C Lowe won a judges’ decision to take the title. This was the first time that women have participated in the Wing Open. (U.S. Air Force photo/Liz Copan)

Oman, provides a fascinating insider’s look at the Middle East— its unique brand of governance, the abiding influence of Islam, tense tribal relations, the pervasive threat of terrorism and his experience leading the push for new election laws in Iraq.

22 Little Brother of War

For centuries many Native American tribes viewed the lacrosse field as a character and leadership laboratory. At USAFA, the Falcons celebrated their first NCAA tournament victory last season, but not before a series of trials and tribulations tested the team’s resolve. This year, the squad faces the challenge of competing as an independent team without a conference.

30 Why Soldiers Miss War

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While covering the war in Afghanistan from Forward Operating Base Shank, which soldiers jokingly refer to as “Rocket City,” reporter Nolan Peterson ‘04 narrowly survived a rocket-propelled grenade attack. His thoughts in the aftermath of the event will surprise you.

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DEPARTMENTS Columns

Graduate Profile

Back of the Book

4 CEO Update 6 Chairman’s Journal 8 Staff Directory 10 Letters 12 News 36 Service Before Self

40 Legacy of Honor 42 Long Blue Ladle 46 Falcon Fitness Fix

88 Gone But Not Forgotten 93 Class News 136 Final Thought

Heritage

Checkpoints Online Bonus Content

48 2014 Distinguished Graduates 56 Freeze Frame 84 Worth 1000 Words

The Association

Force Shaping and You Worth 1000 Words Extra Long Blue Ladle: Off the Menu

58 CASE in Point 66 Happenings 87 AOG Election of Directors Results

Cadet Life 62 The Academic Priorities Challenge 68 Out of the Nest

From the Terrazzo 74 Pathways to Excellence 78 2015 NCLS

Checkpoints

March 2015

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COLUMNS

Failing Our Way to Success

BY WILLIAM “T” THOMPSON ’73, AOG PRESIDENT AND CEO

F

ailing our way to success? You may be thinking, “Is this a joke?” Isn’t that a contradiction, a dichotomy, an oxymoron, or one of those other words that we seldom get to use? At first glance, it may certainly seem to be. How can one fail and still succeed? A legitimate question, to be sure. The reality, however, is that many significant accomplishments have been preceded by noteworthy failures. If you are in doubt, let me list a few: Abraham Lincoln endured employment failure, business failure, and numerous election defeats before ultimately being elected President of the United States. He is generally considered to be our Greatest American President.

It has been stated on numerous occasions that Thomas Edison tried over 10,000 experiments before successfully inventing the light bulb. Today he is recognized as the Greatest American Inventor.

NASA suffered countless technical, experimental and operational failures before successfully putting the first man on the moon. It is considered to be NASA’s Greatest Achievement.

Bill Gates’ and Paul Allen’s first computer business, TrafO-Data, failed in May of 1979. They went on to start Microsoft which has become one of the most successful businesses ever founded and has made them two of the Richest Men in the World.

So why is great success often preceded and accompanied by failure? Arguably, because of some of the very requirements that are necessary to achieve greatness, including: 1. A clear vision of what is to be attained and a belief that you will eventually succeed.

2. A willingness to take risks and try something different or new.

3. A determination and persistence, despite setbacks, to do what is necessary to achieve the success envisioned.

Creativity and innovation blossom among people who are not afraid to risk attempting new things. When new and different ways are attempted however, failure at some level is highly likely.

The best ways to achieve bodacious goals are often discovered only after other ways have been tried and found to be lackn

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ing, insufficient or unsatisfactory. Consequently, learning from failure creates a stronger foundation to move forward. A healthy attitude toward failure, therefore, is a necessary component of attaining great success So what does all of this have to do with your Association of Graduates? Some of you may remember the New York Times bestselling book by Jim Collins, Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap … and Others Don’t, which was published in 2001. In the book, Mr. Collins started with 1,435 good companies, examined their performance over 40 years, and found the 11 companies that became great. Our goal at the AOG is to create a “Great” organization that serves you, our membership, and the Academy.

But “Great” in an organization just doesn’t happen. It requires a commitment to fundamental values and qualities like some of those mentioned above; Vision, Boldness and Determination. The success we have achieved over the past 5 years in our 2010-2015 Operations Plan has created a structural foundation upon which to build. (You can see the Update to the Membership Video at the following link: usafa.org/Videos/Movie/2112) The implementation of our next three year 2015-2018 Operations Plan will be a key component of our continual journey to achieving “Greatness.” We are currently developing the plan and will have it up on the AOG website this coming spring.

Will we sometimes make mistakes as we execute this next phase of our journey? Most probably. Will the road always be smooth? Probably not. And, of course, none of this means that we should be careless in our duties or that we do not have an obligation to avoid mistakes that we can reasonably anticipate.

It does mean though, that it is imprudent to allow the fear of failure to so govern us that we are afraid to experiment with new ways, ideas and methods to provide better programs and service.

To shrink from opportunities for fear of making mistakes is a guaranteed way to strangle innovation and growth. We can only truly go from “Good to Great” if we learn from our past failures and move forward without being dominated by the fear of failure. In this way we will always be “Failing Our Way To Success.”

GO FALCONS!

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COLUMNS

Chairman’s

Journal

BY BRIG. GEN. (RET.) ROGER CARLETON ’67

IN MY DECEMBER 2014 Checkpoints article, I alluded to the fact there were a number of misperceptions concerning the AOG. In September 2014, the Glacel Group convened two separate focus groups of graduates and posed identical questions relating to the AOG and the USAFA Endowment. These questions—among others—asked the attendees to describe the mission and role of the AOG at the Academy, the mission and role of the Endowment, and how both organizations relate to each other and the Academy. As but one example, some focus group attendees had no idea what the AOG provides in services other than reunions. (An analysis of USAFA compared to USMA and USNA shows we offer 73 programs/services versus USMA’s 38 and USNA’s 43). In the same vein, other graduates felt that membership in the AOG should not require annual dues or lifetime membership cost. As I previously stated, the AOG is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization incorporated in Colorado and, therefore, must comply with state laws. My purpose in addressing some of the financial matters that our President and CEO, “T” Thompson ’73 and his staff deal with on a daily basis is not to make you an expert. Rather, my purpose is to educate you on why we have annual dues and a lifetime membership. I’ll do this at the 40,000 foot level in an effort to keep it both simple and understandable.

Let’s begin with the AOG’s yearly operating budget, approved each May by the Board, which is approximately $4 million.

(Note: our fiscal year is from 1 July through 30 June to correspond to the Academy’s academic year.) This amount covers operational costs as well as salaries, benefits, travel and other line items one would find in any non-profit organization. A key fact to keep in mind is that fundraising is now the sole responsibility of the USAFA Endowment, a separate 501(c)(3) incorporated in Delaware. Thus, the majority of new funds given by donors do not come to the AOG. Instead, the AOG still provides stewardship for those endowments, quasi-endowments, agency and class funds it held when the first MOU went into effect January 1, 2010. Through a pro-bono Finance and Investment subcommittee, the AOG’s assets are invested in the stock market. Returns from these investments are key to sustain operations as the budget—on a cash basis—currently requires over $700,000 per year to balance the books, e.g. spending minus revenue.

Before examining our sister service academies with respect to alumni membership, consider this fact—AOG membership is 6

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25,485 individuals from a pool of over 45,000 living graduates. In my opinion, this low participation rate—approximately 58%—is not acceptable. Our CEO has taken steps to improve this situation which I’ll address later. First, how do West Point and Annapolis have such a higher percentage of graduates as life members?

The answer for West Point is easy. Sometime in the past, a graduate or group of graduates established an endowment that paid for life membership for every cadet upon graduation. For those not familiar with an endowment, it is a permanently restricted net asset accepted with the donor stipulation that the principal be maintained intact in perpetuity. This large endowment funds each graduate’s lifetime membership upon his/her graduation.

Annapolis offers a different methodology. Years ago, they instituted a life membership at graduation, or LMAG, program. Upon entering the Naval Academy, each Midshipman is encouraged to sign up for alumni membership. Their participation rate is in excess of 98%. Thus, over four years a small sum is taken from each participant’s monthly pay such that upon graduation they are lifetime members in their alumni association.

Adopting a “best practice,” the AOG instituted a similar LMAG program with the entering Class of 2013. Each year the participation rate has improved. Sixty-four percent of the Class of 2017 is enrolled in LMAG. While this is relatively low compared to Annapolis, the AOG staff continues to examine means to increase participation. Thanks to a generous donation from an anonymous donor and matching funds from the AOG, 50% of the lifetime membership costs for those graduates in classes that have less than 70% participation has been paid. This initiative has encouraged more graduates to join. We’re making progress but there is still a long way to go before we’re satisfied.

The Life Membership Fund (LMF) is a small part of the AOG’s overall investment portfolio. LMF fees are amortized over an assumed average life expectancy of 55 years following graduation. (Of note, 2015 is the year when the Class of 1959 is no longer in the LMF pool.) Approximately $200,000 per year is taken from the LMF to fund AOG operations. With a yearly budget outlay of approximately $4 million, the spin-off from the LMF helps but is not sufficient to cover expenses.

Recall that at the outset I stated the AOG relies on investment earnings over $700,000 to cover the gap between spending and revenue.

The obvious question one might ask is, “What is the vision or long-term solution to maintain the AOG in a better financial position?” The board believes the answer lies in two areas. First, the number of Life members needs to grow at an increasing rate. This means the AOG must offer more programs and services to convince cadets and graduates that it is in their benefit to join the association. Likewise, all of you reading this article are AOG members.

The challenge for you is to reach out to those classmates who are not members and talk about the benefits of joining the Long Blue Line. Second, the longer-term solution is to create a multi-million dollar endowment—the Long Blue Line Endowment—such that approximately 3% of the corpus can be used each year to fund operations. If we are successful in both of these initiatives then the AOG’s market risk will be reduced. As the old saying goes, there is no such thing as a “free lunch” or, in our case, free membership.

We are committed to being financially healthy while supporting all our constituents—graduates, cadets and the Air Force Academy.

In the latter part of January, the Air Force Academy bade farewell to Dr. Hans Meuh ’66, and welcomed Mr. James Knowlton as the new Athletic Director—the eleventh in the Academy’s history. Knowlton is a Class of 1982 West Point graduate and intercollegiate athlete. He comes to USAFA from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute where he served as Athletic Director for the past seven years. We look forward to his tenure and know he will serve the Academy well. GO FALCONS!

Checkpoints

March 2015

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GRADUATE PROFILE

ASSOCIATION OF GRADUATES UNITED STATES AIR FORCE ACADEMY

&

STAFF DIRECTORY 3116 Academy Drive, USAF Academy, CO 80840-4475, (719) 472-0300 THE ASSOCIATION OF GRADUATES To email a staff member, use the first and last name. Example: Gary Howe | gary.howe@aogusafa.org AOG Executive Office President & CEO William “T” Thompson ’73, ext. 101 (t.thompson@aogusafa.org) Executive Vice President Gary Howe ’69, ext. 107 Sr. VP for Operations Marty Marcolongo ’88, ext. 146 Sr. VP for Finance & Chief Financial Officer Alton Parrish, ext. 123 History and Heritage Projects Officer Amanda Hess, ext. 103 Executive Assistant Emma Ross, ext. 106 Finance Accountant Joyce Love, ext. 110 Senior Accounting Clerk Janice Baca, ext. 111 Sr. Data Integrity Specialist Kim Wilson, ext. 127 Sr. Data Integrity Specialist John Rice, ext. 132 Data Integrity Specialist Murlea Vance, ext. 130 Communications Sr. VP for Communications Bob McAllister, ext. 142 Creative Director Sarah Larrabee, ext. 144 Managing Editor David Bergeman, ext. 143 Editor/Photographer Lewis Carlyle, ext. 140 Graphic Designer Eric Costello, ext. 149 Class News & Obituary Editor Tom Kroboth, ext. 133 Director of Web Communications Troy Surratt, ext. 125 Systems Administrator Albert Gilligan, ext. 124 Senior Programmer/Systems Analyst Open Lead Programmer/Web Developer Toby Lortz, ext. 141 Director of Information Systems Jack Mueller ’70, ext. 122 Volunteer Editor Paul Henry ’67 Business Operations Director of Business Operations Beth Wade Director of Business Programs Vince Greco, ext. 150 Marketing Coordinator Jeff MacLean, ext. 167

Alumni Affairs Vice President for Alumni Affairs Corrie Grubbs, ext. 105 Director of Graduate Programs Megan Nash, ext. 108 Director of Parent & Cadet Programs Bill Preston, ext. 121 Membership Services Specialist Don McCarthy, ext. 139 Graduate Support Specialist Beth Szucs ’97, ext. 115 Doolittle Hall Events/Special Functions Director of Event Planning Ashlee Peterson, ext. 147 Special Functions Coordinator Jean Bickford, ext. 148 Alumni Affairs Event Coordinator Sara Dozier, ext. 138 Alumni Affairs Event Coordinator Michele Bergeman, ext. 136 Event Chaperone Daisy Hall, ext. 148 Customer Service and Facility Management Customer Service Supervisor Michele Cowan, ext. 151 Customer Service Representative Brandi Lortz, ext. 154 Merchandising Lead Jan Howard, ext. 153 Merchandising Representative Daisy Hall, ext. 152 Merchandising Representative Tim Klopfenstein, ext. 158 Facilities Superintendent Kenny D’Amico, ext. 155 The Association of Graduates Board of Directors Kevin Chilton ’76 Board Chair Roger Carleton ’67 Drew Miller ’80 Vice Chair Vic Andrews ’66 Kathy McClain ’82 Secretary Bebe O’Neil ’83 Steve Beasley ’93 Treasurer Jack Fry ’67 Kathleen Rock ’98 Mike Torreano ’70 Mark Rosenow ’03 Bob Munson ’73 CAS President Garry Dudley ’68 Bruce Wright ’73 Larry Fariss ’75

THE USAFA ENDOWMENT To email a staff member, use the first and last name. Example: Gina Simler | gina.simler@usafaendowment.org President & CEO Gen. (Ret.) Stephen R. Lorenz ’73 (steve.lorenz@usafaendowment.org) Vice President, Development Jennifer Bateman, ext. 202 Executive Assistant Ruth Reichert ext. 206 Chief Financial Officer Dennis Scruggs, ext. 203 Associate Vice President for Development Greg Knedler, ext. 224 Director of Annual Giving Alison Mercer, ext. 221 Director, Gift Planning Dale Zschoche, 719.238.7510 Major Gift Officer Obura Tongoi ‘11, 719.375.9082

Major Gift Officer Chris Brewer, 804.337.5767 Major Gift Officer Cindi Brothers, 719.464.7684 Leadership Annual Gift Officer Stella Grayson ‘99, 719.331.7430 Class Giving Officer Razelle Doherty, ext. 222 Annual Giving Officer Amanda Brown, ext. 223 Manager of Donor Relations Gina Simler, ext. 200 Stewardship Coordinator Kate Hutchison, ext. 240 Director of Development Communications Jermaine Johnson, ext. 220 Staff Accountant Susan Mackaman, ext. 204

Volume 43, number 4 Checkpoints (ISSN 0274-7391) USPS 898-080 is published quarterly in March, June, September and December by the Association of Graduates, U.S. Air Force Academy. (Phone: 719-472-0300, DSN: 333-2067. FAX: 719333-4194, E-mail: editor@aogusafa.org.) A portion of your dues pays for your magazine subscription. Additional copies may be purchased for $2.50 each, plus $4.60 for shipping. Periodicals postage paid at the U.S. Air Force Academy, Colo., and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send change of address to Checkpoints, Association of Graduates, Doolittle Hall, 3116 Academy Drive, USAF Academy, CO 80840-4475. The Editorial Board serves the Checkpoints mission by providing a top quality magazine to the Air Force Academy’s broader community. Together, the editor, VP of Communications, Executive VP and the AOG CEO collaborate to ensure that all articles meet the standards of excellence readers have come to expect of Checkpoints. The AOG reserves the right to publish or omit submissions at its discretion. Opinions expressed in this magazine are those of the authors. They do not necessarily reflect the opinions, policy or attitude of the AOG, its officers or the editorial staff. The appearance of advertisements in this publication does not constitute an endorsement by the AOG of the products or services advertised. Copyright, Association of Graduates of the U.S. Air Force Academy, March, 2015.

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STATE OF MIND Feedback, insight and fun from Falcon Nation.

TweetBack @OzoneRenewables, Dan Boyd ’03 retweeted a picture of his classmate, Major Joshua Boudreaux ’03, flying a practice run with the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds as they prepared for a Super Bowl XLIX pregame flyover. The game, which featured the New England Patriots and Seattle Seahawks, was held on Feb. 1 in Glendale, Ariz.

Grads Integral to the A-10 The December issue of Checkpoints article “The Case of the A-10” pointed out the difficult budgetary constraints facing the Air Force as it seeks to modernize its force structure. Since entering the inventory in 1976, the “Warthog” has earned the admiration of pilots and, most importantly, the troops on the ground who needed air support in difficult combat situations.

Many USAFA graduates were instrumental in developing and improving the A-10’s capabilities during testing at Edwards AFB in the 1974–1976 timeframe. A Joint Test Force (JTF) was established consisting of graduates of the USAF’s Test Pilot School and pilots from Tactical Air Command (TAC). The test pilots’ job was to verify compliance with

Fee li

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design and military specifications while the TAC pilots’ task was to evaluate the Warthog’s operational suitability. Karl Jones ’60; Roy Bridges ’65, Rusty Gideon ’66; and Stan Boyd ’66 represented the Test Pilot school during many development tests. Dale Tabor ’61; myself; and Wally Moorhead ’69 provided the users’ input for TAC. Finally, then Lt. Colonel—later General— Ron Yates ’60 was the test director at the A-10 Systems Program Office during this timeframe. He and his team planned the entire development flight test program, sold it to OSD, and managed the test program on a daily basis. Colonel Yates ensured the necessary changes were incorporated into the production aircraft so the users would have a highly capable CAS aircraft.

He played a major role in the design and acceptance of the jet into the USAF. –Roger Carleton, Class of 1967 Letters Guidelines Checkpoints welcomes the feedback of our readers. Letters should reference content published in the magazine and run 200 words in length or less. The editor reserves the right to determine the suitability of letters for publication and to edit them for length and accuracy. Please include your name and graduating year if you are an Academy graduate and email your submission to editor@aogusafa.org.

Quarterly Query Do you know someone who has suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder?

Yes 64% No 36%

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Learn how to check in with Checkpoints at usafa.org/checkpoints/interact

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A. Jim Tietjen ’74 in north central Nepal’s Mustang District, 8 miles from Tibet at 12,500 feet elevation.

The ancient city of Lo Manthang, built in 1380, looms over his left shoulder. B. Steve Edelman ’69 at the entrance to the Robben Island Museum in Capetown, South Africa.

Nelson Mandela was incarcerated on Robben Island for about two-thirds of the 27 years he was imprisoned by South Africa. Edelman and his wife toured the museum and then took a boat to Robben Island itself, where they visited the prison facility and spoke with a former inmate. C. Bill Haugen ’62 stands atop the Prime Meridian with one foot in the Western Hemisphere and one foot in the Eastern Hemisphere at zero degrees longitude in Greenwich, England.

D. C3C Max Rogovin at YumotoOnsen in Nikko, Japan. Rogovin and his mother, Cheryl Gilbert, spent two weeks visiting Japan last summer.

They enjoyed a memorable day relaxing in the mountains of Nikko at an onsen, which is a sulphur hot spring. E. Tara Sweeney ’95 was born in Londonderry, Northern Ireland (her mom and dad were stationed at United States Naval Communications Outpost there). Forty years later, her parents took Sweeney and her wife back to Northern Ireland on a familial journey to experience her heritage. Here she is pictured with a beautiful blue sky and the spectacular Dunluce Castle in the background.

F. Scott Suhr ’81 enjoys Checkpoints before lunch at the grand re-opening of Disneyland’s iconic Club 33. G. Pat Heffernan ’85 and his wife, Dana, check in from Kilauea Military Camp, which is located in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park.

Checkpoints

March 2015

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THE TRANSMISSION USAFA news from around the globe … and beyond.

Academy Introduces New Athletic Director The Academy’s new director of athletics was officially announced by Academy Superintendent Lt. Gen. Michelle D. Johnson ’81 on Jan. 22 at Clune Arena.

James Knowlton became the 11th director during a press conference with Academy personnel, community members and local media, answering questions regarding his experience, vision and goals for the department.

Knowlton replaces Dr. Hans Mueh ’66, who retired after 10-plus years as the Academy’s athletic director. Knowlton comes to the Academy from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, in New York, where he served as athletic director for seven years and will begin his duties at the Academy March 23.

Knowlton is a Class of 1982 West Point graduate who was an intercollegiate athlete and later served as an active duty Army Airborne Ranger. He went on to command a battalion at Fort Carson’s 4th Infantry Division, leading 750 soldiers, and was on the West Point academic faculty. There, he served as an assistant athletic director and interim athletic director, supervising 25 intercollegiate athletic programs with over 1,000 student athletes. (U.S. Air Force Academy Public Affairs) McSally ’88 Wins Recount Arizona Republican Martha McSally ’88 defeated Democratic incumbent Ron Barber by 167 votes and was declared the winner of the final 2014 Congressional race last December 17. She will represent Arizona’s 2nd Congressional District.

After all ballots were initially counted, McSally led Barber by 161 votes after election day, but the margin triggered an automatic recount.

McSally, the first female U.S. combat pilot, becomes the second Air Force Academy graduate to serve in Congress, following former New Mexico 1st Congressional District Representative Heather Wilson ’82.

C1C Rebecca Esselstein Named Rhodes Scholar Air Force senior distance runner Rebecca Esselstein was named a Rhodes Scholar for 2015, the prestigious Rhodes Trust announced over the weekend. Esselstein, a native of Dayton, Ohio, is the Academy’s 38th recipient of the prestigious Rhodes Scholarship and the 12th cadet-athlete to earn the honor.

An astronautical engineering major, Esselstein is a two-time CoSIDA Academic All-America selection and has combined for six academic all-conference awards as a member of the Falcons’ track/field and cross country teams. She is currently ranked first overall in the Class of 2015, while also holding No. 1 rankings academically and militarily.

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“I couldn’t have done this without all the help and support I’ve had along the way,” Esselstein said over the weekend.

“My mentors within the faculty have been exceptional, and so has my support system both in squad and down at the track.”

Esselstein is a three-time member of the Dean’s Aces List and has been named to the Superintendent’s List for excellence in military, academic and athletic performance in five of six semesters. She has done research at M.I.T. on radar and infrared signatures, and was an Aspen Institute Socrates Program Scholar studying the U.S. Supreme Court.

On the track, Esselstein has claimed all-MW honors as a member of the distance medley relay team during each of the last two seasons. She ran the leadoff leg of the DMR that captured the conference title in 2013 and helped the squad to the fourth-fastest time in Academy history last year. As an 800meter runner, she set the Academy’s fifth-fastest indoor time (2:12.56, adjusted for altitude) as a sophomore and clocked the program’s ninth-fastest outdoor time (2:14.09) as a junior.

Esselstein, who was also selected as a Marshall Scholarship recipient earlier this fall, was one of 32 students selected from across the United States to be named a Rhodes Scholar. The group, which was selected from a pool of 877 candidates that had been nominated by their colleges and universities, will join an international group from around the world and begin their studies at the University of Oxford in October 2015.

The Rhodes Scholarships, the oldest and best known award for international study, were created in 1902 by the will of Cecil Rhodes, British philanthropist and African colonial pioneer. Applicants are chosen on the basis of criteria set in the will, including high academic achievement, integrity of character, potential for leadership, and commitment to making a strong difference in the world.

Esselstein is the third member of the Air Force track and field/cross country program to earn the prestigious Rhodes Scholarship award, joining Bob Baxter (1962) and Brittany Morreale (2009). (Air Force Athletics) Bethesda Names Air Force Academy Alum President and CEO The Bethesda Lutheran Communities Board of Directors, in a unanimous decision, has appointed Mike Thirtle ’90, Ph.D., as their new President and Chief Executive Officer.

Based in Watertown Wis., Bethesda is a national support provider for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. The organization offers services for people with disabilities including residential and vocational support, faith life resources and community engagement.

An Air Force graduate’s experience with the serpentine, frustrating, fulfilling pursuit of a democratic Iraq.

Written by Gary A. Grappo ’72

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September, 2009 Baghdad, Iraq

Up at 0530, dress, pack, grab my PPE (personal protective equipment—30-pound steel-plated vest and Kevlar helmet) and rush out into the morning heat to join Ambassador Chris Hill at the U.S. Embassy’s helo pad.

We toss in our baggage, don our PPE, climb into the Blackhawks, belt ourselves in and lift off. The ambassador and I are joined by two other Foreign Service Officers, the ambassador’s military aid, two State Department Diplomatic Security sharpshooters and, posted just forward at each door, two U.S. Army crewmen manning 7.62 caliber machine guns. No skimping on security.

We soar over the rooftops of sprawling Baghdad toward its international airport. It’s a sad, worn and beaten city, a far cry from the capital of a world superpower of the 8th-10th centuries. The Abbasid Caliphate ruled then in what is described today as the “Golden Age of Islam.”

Off to our rear is the Tigris River; further west is the great Euphrates. Between them sits the “cradle of civilization.”

The Super Power That Was In their day, the Abbasids governed with wisdom, foresight and tolerance, welcoming celebrated scientists, philosophers, writers, architects and others of learning who converged on the capital. They gave mankind much, from agriculture to astronomy, and mathematics to medicine, philosophy, architecture and literature.

Today, in 2015, the cradle of civilization is a gathering place of mankind’s most perversely extremist movements. U.S. troops left three years ago, another Iraqi election has taken place, and the world’s most ruthlessly violent and extremist organization, The Islamic State, now runs its own “caliphate” extending along the Euphrates and Tigris Rivers from outside Aleppo in northern Syria through two western Iraqi provinces, an expanse of nearly 1,000 miles.

In 2009, when I made that journey to Iraq’s north, vague outlines of optimism had begun to appear not just to the Americans but Iraqis, too. Saddam Hussein’s nightmarish tyranny had ended, the bloody sectarian civil war ignited by our invasion was winding down, and Iraqis were now struggling to reclaim, if not the glory of their past, then simple peace and stability. They were wrestling with the unfamiliar political framework we had imposed, democracy. Mostly, they wanted a stable, predictable future. Like their battered and beaten capital, Iraqis had experienced enough violence, death, fear and despair.

Taking the Heat

At the airport, we transfer to our waiting prop plane.

The ambassador asks the aircraft crew the temperature.

It’s 0900. “About 105 degrees, sir,” replies an Army warrant officer. “Thought I caught a whiff of fall in the air,” quips the ambassador. Temperatures in Baghdad may climb to 140 at their summer peak. Above 110, Iraq veterans grouse, no one pays attention.

As one of the State Department’s most experienced and highly regarded diplomats, Chris Hill is no stranger to heat. While new to the Middle East, he’s a veteran of the Balkan war (and peace) and the tough, other-worldly negotiations with North Korea over its nuclear weapons program.

Hand-picked by President Obama and Secretary

Top: Grappo and Ambassador Cameron Munter, Minister Counselor at the Embassy for Political-Military Affairs, prepare to board a helo back to Baghdad from Tallil, Iraq. Gary Grappo (left) and Ambassador Chris Hill (middle) meet with Iraq’s then-President Jalal Talabani, a Kurd.

Clinton, he brings a fresh perspective to a war now entering its seventh year. Like his military counterpart, General Ray Odierno, Commander of U.S. Forces in Iraq, he’s been tasked by the president to take on the tough task of guiding America’s gradual withdrawal from Iraq and helping to fortify the country’s still shaky political underpinnings.

That’s where I come in. Having just completed a three-year stint as American Ambassador to the Sultanate of Oman, my Foreign Service career has concentrated almost exclusively on the Middle East (with early career-shaping tours to Nicaragua during the Contra War and on the Soviet Desk during the fall of the Soviet Union). Dealing with and understanding the region—its unique brand of governance, the abiding influence of Islam, limited freedoms, powerful security services, tense tribal relations, oil-dominant economies, pervasive threat of terrorism, and power-wielding royal families— have been my stock and trade for over 17 years.

Armed with that experience and my Arabic, Chris had asked me to head up the embassy’s super-sized Checkpoints

March 2015

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FEATURE

political affairs section and lead the push for the elections law and then elections monitoring.

A Valued Diversity After a one-hour flight, we arrive in Erbil, the capital of Kurdistan. Kurds are ethnically apart from Arabs, who comprise the majority of Iraq’s 33-million population. Kurds speak their own language and possess their own unique culture and a rather colorful but also sometimes tragic history.

In fact, there are many ethnic and religious minorities in Iraq, including Turkomans, Assyrian or Chaldean Christians, Yazidis, Shabaks, Mandaeans, Persians, a remaining handful of a once thriving Jewish community, Marsh Arabs and others. Today, more than 65 percent of Iraqis are Shi’a Muslims. The majority of the rest are Arab and Kurdish Sunnis. All are under threat from the Islamic State, aka ISIS, whose ruthlessly

“I am proud of our servicemen and women here. Under intense pressure and frightening danger, they serve with remarkable professionalism and pride. It is one reason Iraqis seem to be coming around.” ascetic, primitively sterile and monochromatic vision of the world cannot abide Iraq’s rich diversity.

The Kurds have progressed remarkably since the 1991 Gulf war, when the U.S. saved them from the ravages of Saddam’s army and then protected their return from Turkey under a U.S.-imposed no-fly zone.

Iraqi Kurdistan is using its autonomy well, so well in fact that it is Iraq’s most stable region. Turks, Emiratis and Europeans all have growing business interests.

In the face of the invading Islamic State, the Kurdish militia, or peshmerga (“those who face death”), has held the line under indispensable U.S. air support. The Iraqi army, trained and equipped by the Americans before our withdrawal, disintegrated.

On a Mountain Top Following our welcome in Erbil, we move to Blackhawks again for the ride we’ve all been anticipating, a breathtaking 25-minute dash through Kurdistan’s 16

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fabled mountains to Kurdish President Masoud Barzani’s mountain retreat. And what a ride it is—zipping over sharp mountain peaks, winding through deep canyons and skipping above glacial rivers. Even our gunners and protective detail are captured by the stunning scenery. We soak in a thrilling helo ride. Kurdistan by Blackhawk! For an Academy graduate with an engrained love of flying, it is downright exhilarating.

The adrenaline-charged flight also reminds me why I love serving the United States as a Foreign Service Officer—seeing the world like no other, all the while serving our interests through diplomacy.

We soon set down on a mountain top, surrounded on three sides by steep cliffs. Not an easy landing, but our Army pilots manage it with characteristic American military precision.

I am proud of our servicemen and women here.

Under intense pressure and frightening danger, they serve with remarkable professionalism and pride. It is one reason Iraqis seem to be coming around. Iraqis most definitely want their country back, but many are grudgingly coming to respect what we are trying to do, and perhaps even learning to trust us.

On the mountain-top landing pad, some of the local populace come to greet us, but mostly they gawk at the American helicopter pilots and crews with their Star Wars-like flight gear. Those of us in polos and khakis are a side show. We quietly slip away into awaiting cars. Just the way diplomats like it.

President Barzani greets us and we drive to his guest house for a get-acquainted meeting. The ambassador and I met Barzani before but this visit is intended to get to know the Kurdish president better on his own turf. His support is vital to our work in bringing stability to all of Iraq as the elections approach.

Barzani has governed the KRG since 2005 and led his party, the Kurdistan Democratic Party, since 1979. His family has been steeped in Kurdish history for generations.

Trials of Iraq’s Kurds Essentially a tribal society, Kurds have looked to the Barzani clan and others for leadership for years. The Kurds are also warriors. Barzani recounts for us an early 1970s invasion of Kurdistan by Arab Iraqi, Syrian, Turkish and Iranian forces. The Kurds retreated to their familiar mountain redoubts and awaited the invaders, eventually slaughtering nearly half the Syrians and sending the Iraqis scurrying back to Baghdad and the Iranians and Turks in full retreat back home.

Toward the end of the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq War, however, the tables were turned in what is known as the Al Anfal Campaign, or Kurdish Genocide. Saddam’s army invaded Kurdistan, killed some 100,000 Kurds, displaced a million, and destroyed several thousand Kurdish and Assyrian villages. Saddam sought to

forcibly remove the Kurds and resettle their land with Arabs from elsewhere in Iraq.

The Kurds are familiar with suffering and sacrifice. But they are also tough and resilient and masters of guile and inventiveness. Their history dating back to before the Roman Empire has proven that.

Barzani is gracious in our many meetings with him over two days, including a hike through the Kurdish countryside surrounded by squads of watchful peshmerga guards. He also invites us to iftars—the meal breaking the Ramadan fast at sundown—and long evening patio discussions over tea and Cuban cohibas.

Barzani shares more Kurdish and Iraqi history, his views on Iraq’s future, the role of Kurds and, important for us, his expectations for the new elections law the parliament must take up.

At the end of our visit, we board our Blackhawks for the reverse of the trip sequence of two days ago. The Blackhawks are perched on the steep cliffs overlooking the river with 400-foot deep canyon walls on both sides. They lift off maybe ten feet and then bank sharply down into the canyon, practically freefalling before levelling off just above the river. Wide-eyed, we adjust to the weightlessness and then marvel at the scenery.

I leave Kurdistan, its people, culture and history with a wonderful first impression. (I ended up making a half-dozen visits there but none like that first.) I would get a more complete picture of them and Iraqi politics in a few very short weeks.

October, 2009 Inside Iraqi Politics I am sitting in a smoke-filled basement room in Baghdad’s parliament building. It’s mid-October and still well over 100 degrees outside. The air conditioner is wheezing but I hardly feel the coolness. Across the tobacco, coffee and tea-stained table from me, a political officer and Iraqi notetaker, sit representatives of various parties and ethnic groups from Iraq’s Kirkuk and Ninewah provinces vigorously making their case against the latest elections law draft, now six weeks overdue. The Kurds, Turkomans and Sunni Arabs are having a tough time coming to terms. The majority Shi’a Iraqis have gotten pretty much what they wanted and just want to see the others “sort it out,” offering little constructive help.

Over the past four weeks, the Arabic-speaking political officers on my staff and I have been cultivating relationships with Iraqi parliamentarians, cajoling and pleading with as many as possible to help “sort it out” and find compromise. We are non-partisan mediators. Most parliamentarians welcome us; others merely listen and nod politely, offering at least sweet tea if not words. A few, like the popular Muqtada al Sadr’s Sadrist Movement,

won’t meet with us, making our job more difficult.

Years of political isolation, reinforced by decades of Saddam’s brutal repression, have made Iraqis suspicious and distrustful of “the other,” anyone outside one’s tribe, clan, religious or ethnic group.

But Washington is anxious for a law and for the elections. So, now I spend the better part of my days, usually accompanied by one of my political officers, calling on the Speaker (a Sunni Arab) and Deputy Speakers (a Shi’a Arab and a Kurd), and walking the halls of the parliamentary building to strike up conversations with any member who will talk, i.e., doing what I always presumed lobbyists in our Congress do. I’m on a perpetual caffeinehigh since the Iraqis always serve strong, sugardoused tea and stronger Turkish or Arabic coffee.

My officers and I periodically gather in the large downstairs hall of the parliament building, swapping notes on recent meetings, deciphering new positions and alliances, looking for openings and deciding next steps. I send some back to the embassy to get started on the “reporting cable,” a now daily and sometimes twice daily report to the State Department and White House on the parliament’s progress, or lack thereof.

Those gatherings and our ventures into the newly established but emotionally charged Iraqi parliamentary process are now a fixture. Occasionally, I will be cornered for a comment for the Iraqi or American media. For all its fits and starts and erratic directions, democracy in Iraq plods forward.

Gary Grappo and an Iraqi interpreter from his staff confer before departing the embassy and heading to the parliament for meetings with Iraqi Members.

Sectarianism to Democracy Life and politics in Iraq have always been highly influenced by sectarianism. Shi’a versus Sunni, Arabs versus Kurds, Muslims versus non-Muslims and tribe versus tribe. A handful of ideologically oriented parties, like the tiny communist party, exist but most major parties break down according to one of those affiliations and a particular leader or family. That’s a problem for democracy in Iraq and throughout the region.

In the post-World War I period and after the fall of the Ottoman Empire, when much of the rest of Checkpoints

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Gary Grappo meets with then-Vice President of Iraq, Adil Abdul-Mahdi, in one of many meetings between the two in the run up to the 2010 Iraq elections.

the world began to grapple with revolutions, “liberalism versus conservatism,” democracy, socialism, communism, free markets, socialist democracy, environmentalism, human rights, women’s rights, et al, the autocratic governments of the Middle East cut their subjects off from such ideological corruption, usually hiding behind Islam or security.

As a result, in today’s post-Arab Spring, Arabs are just beginning to grapple with such concepts. They lack the philosophical framework and organizational structures to act on otherwise noble political aspirations. In time, therefore, as we see in Syria, Yemen, Libya, Lebanon, Bahrain and elsewhere—and as I personally observed in Iraq—loyalties and alliances generally fall along sectarian, ethnic and/or tribal lines.

November, 2009 The Art and Necessity of Compromise Over two months past the deadline for the elections law, the Iraqi parliament is deadlocked, stuck on a matter of a few designated seats to be decided among Kurds, Turkomans and Sunni Arabs in the area of Kirkuk, an oil-saturated region in the north-central part of Iraq where Saddam had centered his Al Anfal campaign.

My political officers and I, working with the parliamentary and party leaderships and others, have suggested various formulae without success. Sitting with Ambassador Hill in his office at the embassy, we plot strategy. Washington is nervous, knowing that any timetable for withdrawing our forces depends on a successful election, which in turn requires a parliamentary-approved elections law.

Iraqi citizens are also nervous about their nascent democracy and the prospect of delayed elections.

A way forward must be found and in days.

By mid-November, Chris decides it’s time we step up our efforts. He and I together begin 18

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making the rounds—parliamentary leaders, bloc chiefs, party heads and key members. The message—it’s time to compromise. America will help but decisions must be made by them.

A meeting with Kurdish party leaders gets heated.

They are unwilling to cede a seat to one of the minority parties. We try to make the case that sacrificing a seat in the interest of comity and agreement will give them leverage in Iraq’s quid pro quo politics. Argument is followed by counter-argument. We get only more tea and coffee from our Kurdish friends. After what seems likes hours of debate, I whisper to Chris, “There’s another party downstairs, let’s check in.” He welcomes the chance to leave the unyielding Kurds.

We’re back in the familiar smoke-filled basement meeting room. We sit across the large table surrounded by leaders of the various minority factions. Compromise here would get parliament over the line of a majority vote for the elections law.

We pursue the same line of argument with these tough politicians, hardened by years of political life under Saddam, invasion, occupation and civil war. They’re not inclined to agree with us either, arguing with increasingly louder voices why life is so hard for minorities in Iraq. Having been forced to compromise for years, they are not so inclined now. It’s hard not to be sympathetic.

After some hours of impassioned discussion, their leader announces a plan, however. We ask to see it and are handed a piece of paper with a half-page of Arabic scrawl. Our interpreter and I retreat outside to study it. Unsurprisingly, it’s a briefly sketched idea lacking detail and agreement.

I return and whisper to Chris, “They got nothin’.”

Now, we move into high gear. There’s a vote scheduled for later that evening and we’re determined to see it succeed. We offer a plan we’re confident will get the support of the main Kurdish, Sunni and Shi’a parties. “Are you sure?” asks the head of the group. Chris answers confidently that while the vote will be very close, it will pass.

Recognizing their clout, however, he adds, “But it won’t without all of you in this room.”

The leader stands and says he accepts “America’s word.” Hollywood could not have scripted it better, and only minutes before the vote.

We all exit the room—the Americans ecstatic over the agreement and smoke-free air and our Iraqi friends empowered. Chris and I rush to the Speaker’s office and urge him to get the members into the parliamentary hall quickly before members’ minds are changed. He agrees. The public address system blasts repeated announcements and my political officers informally take roll to see if a quorum is reached.

Chris and I, in a moment reported in a subsequent

New York Times article, are cajoling and cheering the parliamentarians into the hall.

All of us return to the embassy to watch the televised proceedings. The floor debate continues for hours, heightening our anxiety. Finally, the Speaker calls for the vote. Another 45 minutes.

When the vote count passes the threshold, all of us let out a stress-releasing cheer and start high-fiving. It’s a law we know can work (and months later, after some amendments, did with a successful election). Chris and I thank my political section staff for their herculean efforts. Chris later remarked to an American journalist that the embassy political section had a better attendance record than a good many parliamentarians.

Then and Now Following those successful elections in March of 2010, Iraqi politicians took nearly nine months to reach agreement on a new government. I spent the remainder of my tour in Iraq doing what I had begun it doing, encouraging and prodding them to seek compromise. When I left in August 2010, they hadn’t succeeded, a source of considerable disappointment for me, Chris Hill and others who had been steeped in Iraqi politics and determined to see them through their trials. But, as one veteran diplomat once remarked, “America’s clock and Iraq’s don’t run on the same time.”

I believed then, and continue to believe today, that the Iraqis, only a few years after the dictatorship of Saddam, had

proven that their democracy could work. As difficult as it is for a people with no experience in democratic governance whatsoever, they really had no choice.

During my one year there, so many Iraqis—politicians, military officers, diplomats, judges, tribal sheikhs, business people and average Iraqi citizens—shared with me their experiences living under Saddam and then through the post-invasion civil war. No one and no family was spared tragedy, usually multiple tragedies. Whatever their political, religious and ethnic differences, they all had one experience in common, tragedy. Family members killed, tortured or disappeared, lives lived in exile abroad, fortunes lost, careers destroyed, hope extinguished. All stories worthy of Job. After all the conflict and the suffering of their recent history, almost all agreed that they needed to find a way to live together in peace. Democracy seemed their only option. They had to give it a try.

Just as in the fall of 2009 and the following spring, Iraqis again made a successful run last spring in perfecting their infant democracy with another election. In 2009, they would have done it without us. Nevertheless, American prodding, cajoling, encouragement and genuine commitment—I am convinced—provided them a certain reassurance their burgeoning democracy needed.

It was an exceptional example of American diplomacy at its best.

Q:

What do cyber warfare, forensics, and diversity fellows have in common?

A:

They are all programs supported by the Air Force Academy Fund.

Private contributions to the Air Force Academy Fund provide margin of excellence programs that go beyond the basic level of funding for the Academy and help create leaders of character for the nation.

Gifts from our graduates, parents, and friends offer cadets the opportunities that prepare them for the future by training them for the Air Force’s top priorities such as providing resources for the cyber warfare competition team, funding events that allow international debate and discussion in forensics, and creating externships that give cadets the valuable skills in creating allies in pursuit of diversity.

Please consider enhancing and strengthening the cadets’ USAFA experience by making a gift to the Air Force Academy Fund today.

THE SABRE SOCIETY Recognizes donors who contribute $1,000 or more annually to the Air Force Academy Fund

www.giveafaf.org

LITTLE BROTHER OF WAR

The USAFA lacrosse program battles for national prominence.

Written by David Bergeman

The rituals and dances began days before the ceremonial competition would commence. Scores of men lined up on opposite sides of the field prepared to represent their tribe.

T

he warriors carried a netted racket which was used to pick-up, throw and catch a leather, hair-stuffed ball. These weaponized sticks were often used to “disable” opponents, providing a substantial mental and strategic advantage to the aggressor’s side. With goals that could be separated by a distance of up to a mile, the game was known to endure for days.

Disputes were settled on the field. Property was wagered. Strength was tested and character was forged. This was more than a game. This was a political tool, an exercise in community building—a spiritual journey.

They called it pekitwe, pakita and pakahato—meaning “to hit.” To the Mohawk, it was tewaarathon, or “little brother of war.” This cultural touchstone of many native peoples is thought to have originated in the area that is now the Northeast United States and Southeast Canada. Thomas Vennum Jr., author of American Indian Lacrosse: Little Brother of War, explains: “As can best be determined, the distribution of lacrosse shows it to have been played throughout the eastern half of North America, mostly by tribes in the southeast, around the western Great Lakes, and in the St. Lawrence Valley area. Its presence today in Oklahoma and other states west of the Mississippi reflects tribal removals to those areas in the nineteenth century. Although isolated reports exist of some form of lacrosse among northern California and British Columbia tribes, their late date brings into question any widespread diffusion of the sport on the west coast.”

The game’s genesis dates long before Christopher Columbus landed in the New World. French settlers in Canada who were among the first Europeans to observe the ritual, dubbed it “lacrosse” because the implement used to handle the ball gave them the impression of a bishop’s crozier or “la crosse.” The game continues to be an important part of Native American culture, and this heritage is reflected in the name of the sport’s equivalent of the Heisman Trophy, the “Tewaaraton Award.”

Since 1967, there has been a strong tradition of lacrosse at your Air Force Academy. Today, its pioneering spirit is embodied in the program’s designation as the most western located NCAA Division I lacrosse team.

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Across: USAFA Lacrosse Coach Eric Seremet was named the 2014 United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association (USILA) Coach of the Year. (Air Force Athletics photo.)

Senior attacker Keith Dreyer was second on the team in points during the 2014 season.

(Photo by Doug Dreyer.)

A Nightmare and a Dream “I don’t know how to say this in a way that is tactful,” says Inside Lacrosse Editor-in-Chief Terry Foy, “but it appeared to me that all of the stars were aligning for Air Force to have a great year and it just seemed so especially terrible that it was all being undone by these awful circumstances that were outside of the program’s control.”

Like many other lacrosse observers, Foy went into the 2014 NCAA Division I lacrosse season expecting big things from the Falcons. This optimism was a testament to over a decade of program building that began under former head coach Fred Acee and continued when the program was turned over to Eric Seremet, an experienced professional player who won a national championship at North Carolina.

In 2010, Seremet’s second season as head coach, the team hit rock-bottom, compiling a woeful 1-13 record.

“That was a tough year,” says Seremet. “We had some conduct issues and a bad record, although we competed in plenty of one goal games. In 2011, we recruited a huge class and a lot of those guys started for four years and we just kept getting better and better [6-7 in 2012, 7-7 in 2013]. When they graduated in 2014, they had a lot of experience under their belt and they did a great job of transforming the program in the way we operate—the expectations at practice and on the field. We really got the right kids in the program which, maybe historically, and I am part of the history, we didn’t do a great job of being sure the kids were consistently doing what they were supposed to do from the military side and the academic side. We are really on top of our guys now to make sure that they are here for the right reasons.”

The 2014 squad included two players who were drafted into the professional ranks. Midfielder Erik Smith ’14 was drafted by the Boston Cannons of Major League Lacrosse and attacker Mike Crampton ’14 was drafted by the Colorado Mammoth of the National Lacrosse League.

With a great surrounding cast and a favorable schedule, 2014 looked to be a breakout year.

Then one of life’s uncertainties happened. In October 2013, the government shutdown forced Air Force to cancel a scrimmage and, more importantly, civilian coaches were furloughed, leaving them separated from their players. During that time, practice was led by a former player, 2nd Lt. Kyle Nazarek ’13. The team continued to work hard, defeating Colorado College and Notre Dame in exhibition games.

Later in the same month, an inexpressible tragedy struck, when Coach Seremet’s wife, Sonia, died in a car accident.

“We had the government shutdown. We had so many challenges last year in addition to my family situation,” explains Seremet. “We also had a motivated locker room of great kids who, while we were on furlough, practiced hard.

They kept the show going. The time I was out, I had a great staff that kept things going. The lacrosse community itself

reached out to get me out of bed in the morning, giving me all the help and encouragement in the world.”

Fast forward to March 2014. With the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) set to dissolve in 2015, rumors about the future of the program began to circulate. On the field, the team was readily handled by a powerful University of Denver squad in the first regular season game, beginning a middling stretch of play that concluded with a head scratching loss to VMI. “It was easy for me to rationalize their performance by thinking that everything had taken a toll to the point where they lost to an inferior team [VMI] and maybe that was de facto [the] end of the season,” Foy says when analyzing the Falcons’ start to 2014.

Resilience When asked what characteristic of being a cadet most lends itself to the lacrosse field, Coach Seremet responds without hesitation.

“Resilience,” he answers. “That’s a 100 percent easy question. Resilience. These kids put up with a lot. They deal with a lot. They handle a lot. I think you can put them through a lot and that’s my coaching style.”

Senior defenseman Kyle O’Brien agrees with Seremet’s hard-nosed philosophy. “He has a challenging style of coaching,” he says. “It’s D-1 for sure. I like the fast paced competitiveness of it. It’s necessary to continue to elevate this program to new levels like we did last year.”

Last year, indeed, the scrappy O’Brien was among the team leaders in ground balls. This year’s captain and the rest of the Falcons picked up their play after the VMI loss, reeling off six wins in a row to establish real momentum heading into the ECAC tournament, and a shot at automatic qualification (AQ) into the NCAA tournament. w

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“Since 1967, there has been a strong tradition of lacrosse at your Air Force Academy. Today, its pioneering spirit is embodied in the program’s designation as the most western located NCAA Division I lacrosse team.”

In the ECAC semifinals, the Falcons took it to Ohio State 14-7. They then played Fairfield University (Connecticut) with a chance to reach their first NCAA tournament since 1988. It was a dogfight. C1C Keith Dreyer, an attacker who will be leading the offense in 2015, scored three goals and had an assist. The game was a nail biter that was decided when Falcons goalie C2C Doug Gouchoe blocked a shot with 5 seconds remaining, sealing a 9-8 victory.

Four days later, Air Force crushed Richmond 13-5 at home to win the first NCAA tournament game in program history.

Next up was a trip to perennial power Duke, and a season ending 20-9 defeat. Although Coach Seremet and his players were disappointed in how they performed against Duke, it would be disingenuous to call the season anything but a success.

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Senior defenseman Kyle O’Brien carries the ball forward in the season opening 13-7 loss to No. 3 rated Duke. (Air Force Athletics photo.)

“We had a close-knit locker room,” says Dreyer. “The seniors last year were great. They were all good friends. The program had a rough patch back in 2010 and they came in the year after, so they went through the roughest of Air Force lacrosse and built the program up to where it is today. We all just jumped on board and followed their energy. I think it was the seniors that led us to a great season.”

The Falcons finished the 2014 season ranked No. 17 nationally. In the wake of their resilience and success, Seremet was named the United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association (USILA) Coach of the Year. His defensive coordinator, Bill Wilson, was named USILA Assistant Coach of the Year.

“One hundred percent of that award goes to the lacrosse community,” says Seremet. “I had a pretty long year, as you probably

know, and my staff was great—Coach Wilson, Coach Kohler and Coach Acee. That award had nothing to do with me and had everything to do with my support and the lacrosse community.

My locker room had a bunch of great kids, their parents and everybody that kept us together moving forward.”

Forward “Who gave you your first stick?” Most of Coach Seremet’s players can name the person. The time. The circumstance. It’s a question at the center helix of every lacrosse player’s DNA. It is a seminal moment paramount to the drive and dedication of cadets at the core of building a winning tradition.

Inside Lacrosse had Air Force ranked 36th out of 69 Division I programs heading into the 2015 season. But this season may be an uphill climb to reach the NCAA tournament due to a number of factors, including scheduling difficulties and the lack of a conference affiliation. Air Force will be joining the Southern Conference in 2016.

“Not being in a conference has a huge, huge impact on our ability to get to the post-season. We have scheduled a few top 10, top 5 teams this year, which just makes those games that much more important,” explains Seremet. “We got into the tournament last year because of our AQ, not because of our strength of schedule. That’s going to mean a lot to us until

we’re given the support that is going to give us two options to get into the tournament. One option being to compete with the Big Ten, the ACC and the Big East on a national scale. Two being the automatic qualifier. The league is really important to our program because it gives us that first shot.

That’s why I think the Southern Conference will be a good fit for us. We have a legitimate chance to compete to win the conference every year.”

In addition to a regular conference schedule, there is hope among those in the program that a yearly “Commander-in-Chief ’s Trophy” type of competition between Air Force, Army and Navy can be arranged. Scheduling and cost factors figure in to the lack of such a competition right now. There are, however, at least two great reasons to make this happen, as Inside Lacrosse’s Foy points out.

“The service academies, primarily Army and Navy, have incredibly rich traditions in the sport. Navy being among the all-time winningest programs,” he says.

“I think this would be important because every year the Army/Navy football game reminds the American sporting population of the special commitment the service academy students make to their athletics teams and their nation. That is very important.” w

DONOR IMPACT When Gregg and Dee Ann Anigian were asked why they support the men’s Air Force lacrosse team, the answer was simple, “to make a difference.” Since 2013 the Anigians have been avid supporters of the lacrosse team. As parents of a cadet lacrosse player, they recognize the impact that private philanthropy can have on the cadet experience.

“The lacrosse team is full of outstanding young men who, in a few years, will be exemplary leaders in our country,” says Dee Anigian. “It is led by talented, dedicated coaches. For them to compete at the highest level, the program needs more financial support than the current budget is able to provide. If parents, alumni and fans of the program offer support to the extent possible for each, there will be no stopping this team. Combining public and private support will enhance the Academy experience for these cadet-athletes; and will allow them to continue being impressive ambassadors for the Air Force Academy and for the sport of lacrosse. It’s a privilege to help in that effort.”

To make a difference in Air Force lacrosse, please visit usafa.org/give/mlacrosse.

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FEATURE

Foy goes on to point out that the service academies have proven that they have the opportunity to compete year in and year out in the sport. Navy played in the 2004 national championship game. Army beat traditional power Syracuse at the Carrier Dome in an NCAA tournament game in 2011. Seremet is confident that this level of success—including a national championship—is within the program’s grasp, given the right development and support.

The 2015 season opened with the team that had ended the Falcons 2014 season—Duke. The Falcons battled the No. 3 team in the country tough, taking a 5-4 lead into the third quarter. Ultimately, the team would lose a 13-7 battle.

“We probably won’t start out fast,” Coach Bill Wilson said in an interview before the game, “but we will get better as the season goes on and by the end of the year we’ll be playing our best as a team.”

Just as with all of the Air Force’s sporting teams, there is an ethos among the players that will make each graduate and supporter proud, no matter the results on the field.

“I like to think we are one of the scrappier teams in the country,” says O’Brien. “When you see Air Force on the schedule, you are dreading that game because you’re

going to get beat up and feel it afterward. That’s what we strive for.”

The needle is pointing up for Air Force lacrosse. This game, with a grand tradition of honor and character development, fits right in here within the shadow of the Rampart Range.

“We are just trying to get people on board internally, externally, in the lacrosse community and we have taken huge steps forward as a program,” says Seremet. “This is a great time to embrace Air Force lacrosse!”

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2/4/15 11:51 AM

Written by Nolan Peterson ’04

A

rmy Sgt. 1st Class Jeffrey Martin parked the truck outside the tall concrete slabs arranged in a defensive perimeter around the U.S. tactical operations center at FOB Shank, Afghanistan. A layer of fine brown dust hung in the air. Out in the distance, high snow-capped mountains ringed the combined U.S.Afghan base. C-130 transport planes and Apache helicopter gunships roared overhead at regular intervals.

“You wanna see where the rocket landed?” he asked me.

“Yeah, of course,” I replied.

“How you doing?” he said, knowing what was in store for me later.

“I’m fine,” I replied automatically, not knowing if it was a lie. “I’m sure it’ll sink in later.”

He didn’t reply.

Due to the frequency of Taliban attacks, FOB Shank is jokingly referred to as “rocket city” by the U.S. soldiers stationed there. Nearby hills and sprawling urban areas dot the

enormous bowl valley within which the base sits in Logar Province, offering plenty of places for Taliban militants to hide and lob one-off rocket and mortar shots.

Consequently, the place is constructed like a medieval castle. Reinforced concrete and rebar bunkers lined with sandbags and stocked with first-aid kits are never more than sprinting distance away. When the air raid alarm goes off, as it does several times a day, you have two choices.

If you’re not near a bunker you just drop to the ground, cover your head with your arms and pray silently that the incoming round doesn’t hit anywhere near you. You keep your eyes down and stare at a seam on the plywood floor of the room you are in, or at a pebble or blade of grass in the field into which you dove. You focus on the sound of the alarm and wait for evidence of the exploding Taliban weapon, hoping that it is a distant thud and not a flash of red and white and heat and then darkness. Survival is reduced to a few seconds of waiting and pure luck. w

I

“They say that when your life is in danger, your training kicks in and you don’t think any more. It’s all muscle memory. You just operate on autopilot. That’s true to a degree.

Training, after all, is just a safely repeatable replacement for near-death experiences.”

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f you happen to be near a bunker, then you go for it. You stop whatever it is you’re doing and find cover. The entrances to the bunkers are open to the outside, with another vertical concrete slab a few yards away blocking horizontal shrapnel, but allowing easy run-in access in a pinch. You can usually see blue sky out the entrance, which always made me wonder what would happen if a wellplaced mortar round found its way into the little space between the open entrance and the protective shield a few feet away. Such a scenario would turn the bunker into a death trap. But the odds of that happening are low, and the bunkers’ designers obviously prioritized quick access over a perfectly sealed enclosure.

Martin and I left the truck and walked over to a three-foot-wide crater in a gravel clearing about 20 yards beyond the walls of the Army compound.

It was midafternoon and we had just eaten lunch. A standard meal of some indescribable meat and soggy vegetables, topped off with a few Rip-Its for an afternoon caffeine kick.

“Jesus,” Martin said as we looked at the charred crater where the destroyed Taliban rocket had impacted the earth. “We’re so lucky to be alive.”

As if on cue, we both looked up and in the direction of the rocket’s flight path. Along that line of sight there was a tall radio antenna inside the Army compound, about 100 yards from the crater. When the attack happened, Martin and I had been standing underneath the towering steel structure, casually talking while we sipped on Blue Monster energy drinks. We survived by diving into a concrete bunker that, as luck would have it, was only a few feet away.

Farther out in the distance behind the antenna, slightly obscured in the eternal brown haze and well beyond the base perimeter, was a low bluff covered in typically drab Afghan buildings. Apache gunships were still patrolling the skies above this area.

“That must be where the bastard shot from,” Martin declared. “Although they always put the rockets on timers and run away before they shoot.

Don’t know why they’re still looking for him. He’s long gone.”

Martin estimated the Taliban militant had aimed the rocket at the radio antenna since it would be an easily identifiable landmark at that distance.

It was a good shot, Martin remarked. The rocket might have impacted the tower had it not been shot out of the sky by the Phalanx Close-In Weapons System that guarded FOB Shank from indirect enemy fire.

“We killed off most of the experienced Taliban fighters long ago,” Martin said. “That (expletive) obviously had pretty good aim, so he’s probably

been around a while. It also means he knows how to disappear, because we are very good at killing whoever shoots at us.”

That was how Martin convinced me that I probably wasn’t going to die by a well-aimed rocket or mortar attack when I first arrived at FOB Shank. The Taliban didn’t live long enough to get very good at aiming their rockets or mortars, he assured me. They refilled their ranks quickly, but lacked experience.

I felt so relieved.

After the attack we inspected the exterior of the bunker within which we had sought shelter and found it pockmarked by nickel- and dime-sized shrapnel holes. Any one of those supersonic, molten metal bits would have been lethal. It was a miracle that Martin and I were alive, and the gravity of our near-death experience was beginning to weigh me down. My head spinning like I was drunk, time and emotions operated at some other speed than normal as I dealt with the what-ifs and the nauseating reality of how close I had come to dying.

“That sound,” Martin continued, referring to the laser Doppler sound that bullets or shrapnel make when passing overhead, similar to quickly running your fingernail down tightly-stretched nylon. “I know that sound. That was close—too close.”

It’s a distinctive sound that, once you’ve heard it in the context of combat, will always trigger the primal, reptilian part of your brain that guides reflexive life and death responses. That’s probably why Martin beat me inside the bunker that morning by several seconds. As a ground combat veteran of two wars and eight deployments, he had seen a hell of a lot more combat than I had.

They say that when your life is in danger, your training kicks in and you don’t think any more. It’s all muscle memory. You just operate on autopilot. That’s true to a degree. Training, after all, is just a safely repeatable replacement for near-death experiences.

In his book, Outliers, journalist Malcolm Gladwell makes the case that becoming an expert at a skill requires 10,000 hours of practice. Perhaps. I’m not sure if it added up to 10,000 hours, but I can still now, more than a decade later, recall quotes and knowledge I had to memorize and repeat countless times during my Doolie year.

But one near-death experience has a similar effect as those 10,000 hours, ingraining in your memory every action, no matter how minute, that kept you alive. And when any portion of that near-death experience is recreated—the sound of an air raid alert, a car backfiring, the Doppler sound of passing shrapnel, the pop of miniature sonic booms as bullets pass overhead—the unthinking responses that saved your life are triggered as automatically as if they had been forged by 10,000 hours of practice.

As a former Air Force pilot, I’m aware of this phenomenon. In UPT the instructors would put student pilots in simulators and create unsurvivable situations again and again. We would emerge from the simulator dripping in sweat and with our hearts beating out of our chest. Even though we were just sitting in the simulator working the controls and flipping switches, our bodies responded to the effort like we were doing backto-back Ironman triathlons. But that’s the point.

That’s why basic training and the four-degree year are so essential to developing Air Force Academy cadets to become officers who can operate calmly and effectively in high stress situations. And that’s why the lessons I learned as a wide-eyed, 18-yearold Doolie have stuck with me as a 32-year-old war correspondent. The hormones released by high-stress situations instruct the brain to imprint memories more deeply. Evolution taught us that trick. The caveman who could best remember how he escaped a saber-toothed tiger attack had a statistically better shot at surviving the next one.

That’s why time slows down in a car crash or while you’re getting mugged. The adrenaline coursing through your veins triggers your brain into hyperactive memory storage. Your mind and senses go into overdrive, absorbing every sensory detail with superhuman lucidity and completeness.

Because of this, an event that might only last a split second occupies as much mental storage space as a week or a month. Years later you can recall details, feelings, colors, smells and sounds more vividly than you can remember this morning’s breakfast. w

Checkpoints

Across: Peterson and Army personnel huddle in a bunker during a Taliban rocket attack on FOB Shank.

Below: With a truck of Afghan soldiers passing behind him, a U.S. Army soldier stands guard outside Afghan National Army Camp Maiwand at FOB Shank in December 2013. (Photos by Nolan Peterson.)

March 2015

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FEATURE

One year later, I can remember with perfect detail Martin’s facial expressions when the rocket exploded overhead. I can specifically recall a spot of whiskers on Martin’s face where he had missed shaving that morning. In Ukraine this September I had a separatist’s AK-47 pointed at me at a battlefield checkpoint. I have a perfect memory of the vein pattern on the hand of the rebel soldier.

And this hyper-alertness often extends beyond the actual experience that sparked it. For hours, maybe even days after you almost die, life just seems, well, better.

You laugh easier. Things smell better. You notice little details in places and things you have seen countless times before. You want to talk about what happened, you want to tell friends and family that you love them. You live harder and truer than you ever have before. And it feels good.

The evening I returned to Florida after my time in Afghanistan as an embedded journalist, I drove across the Everglades at sunset. I pulled the car over on the side of the road, stretched out my arms and felt the sun’s warmth on my skin.

I closed my eyes and could see the glowing red of the fading day’s light through my eyelids.

“I feel so alive,” I remember thinking. “I wish I could live my whole life like this.”

That is PTSD. It’s the inability of normal life to ever match the amplitude of living that you achieved in war. It’s the letdown of survival, and the worry that normal life is just a countdown to a gentle fadeout.

Ask most combat veterans to name the worst experience of their lives, and they’ll probably tell you it was war.

But here’s the confusing part. When you ask them to choose the best experience of their life, they’ll usually say it was war too.

This is nearly impossible for someone who has not been in war to understand. But the lesson to be gleaned from this confusing truth is essential to understanding the experiences of the 0.75 percent of the U.S. population in the military and the seven percent who are veterans.

Contrary to the steady stream of Wounded Warrior Foundation commercials on TV, combat veterans are not broken, and they are not victims. They should not be pitied or looked at with a sad shaking of the head or some reflexive, “Geez, what a shame.” Pitying them belittles their experiences and misrepresents the challenges they face after military life.

Combat veterans have experienced a spectrum of emotions whose breadth supersedes by a number you cannot imagine the emotional fluctuations of civilian life. That’s why it’s hard to give a damn about normal things when you come back. Ask a combat veteran about this, it’s a common feeling.

“The first time Chris came home, he was really disgusted with everything,” Taya Kyle wrote about her husband, Navy SEAL sniper Chris Kyle, in American Sniper. “With America, especially. In the car on the way back to our house, we listened to the radio. People weren’t talking about the war; life went on as if nothing was happening in Iraq. ‘People are talking about bulls---,’ he said. ‘We’re fighting for the country, and no one gives a s---.’”

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Normal life, whatever that is, seems silly and pointless. It’s a grey rerun that leaves you hollow. You feel like you are living on a razor’s edge, only skipping across the surface of life, never returning to the heights or the depths of war.

But PTSD isn’t nostalgia. Nostalgia is really just forgetting the worst parts of a memory, and you never forget the bad parts of war. The pain of losing a friend or the images of the dead reflect in everything you see and echo in everything you hear. Yet, even in times of comfort, you find yourself missing the hardships of deployments. The tough times at least made you feel something. And that’s what you miss the most—feeling truly alive.

You say things like, “I was happier living in a plywood hooch in Afghanistan with my worldly possessions reduced to whatever fit into a backpack than I am now, living in this apartment, where everything I could ever want is within my grasp.”

That quote is from an Air Force veteran and U.S. Air Force Academy graduate who now works on Wall Street.

How does that make sense? Why do the fantasies that sustained us through the toughest times of our lives seem like such a disappointment when we come home to live them?

Maybe, for those who have been to war, the metric by which you measure pleasure and pain is permanently reset.

You’re not sad when you get home, you’re just flat. You start to lust for the feelings to which you didn’t realize you were addicted, but required the worst experience of your life to achieve.

You grow resentful of those who go about their lives indifferent to the sacrifices of the brothers and sisters with whom you’ve served. The little pleasures and achievements that drive most people’s lives and the challenges they claim to have overcome all seem inconsequential. You see reflections of your wartime experience in every part of life, and you wonder, knowing what you know now, how those around you can live the way they do.

That is PTSD. Combat veterans aren’t damaged. They are enlightened souls forced to live life by a set of rules and expectations that make pursuing true happiness feel like chasing the moon.

And for those who ultimately descend into a darkness from which they cannot save themselves, it was not war that broke them—it was the peace to which they returned, but never found.

Nolan Peterson is a former special ops pilot, war correspondent and the founder and editor of BlueForceTracker.com.

COLUMNS

Service Before Self A letter from the Chairman and CEO of the USAFA Endowment.

By Paul S. Madera ’78, Chairman of the Board and Gen. (Ret.) Stephen R. Lorenz ’73, President and CEO To whom much is given, much will be required. Cadets understand this age-old biblical lesson from their first days at the Air Force Academy. They know they have been given the opportunity of a lifetime, an opportunity that over 12,000 applicants seek each year but only 10% realize. They also know that with this opportunity come exceedingly high expectations about their success. They know integrity in their actions is first and foremost and their measure of merit.

They know they will make personal sacrifices for the betterment of the team and sometimes the nation. They know excellence is expected in every facet of their life. They know they will work harder than they ever have previously. They know they will make friendships that stand the tests of war and time.

The core values set a high standard, and there is no compromise. Cadets either live by these values, or they leave.

The overwhelming majority of cadets embrace the core values, inculcating Integrity First, Service Before Self, and Excellence in All We Do into their very essence. They make the values their lifelong beacons and permanent guideposts.

Consider the second core value, Service Before Self. Graduates define this value in their own words, but they all wind up with essentially the same explanation. To a graduate wearing the Air Force blue, Service Before Self may mean not bothering to unpack boxes or hang anything on the walls because you move every two to three years. Or it may mean spending months away from family while fighting on the front lines of war. Or it may mean putting the needs of your troops before your own. Or it may mean laying down your life to defend the freedoms our nation holds so dear. To a graduate who has traded in the Air Force blue for a suit, the sacrifices may not be so different. It may mean not bothering to unpack boxes or hang things on the wall because you still move every few years to climb a corporate ladder. You still spend time away from family to meet work obligations. You are not asked to put your life on the line, but you are still responsible for the employees who work with you and who have entrusted their professional growth and success to you. Whether you are wearing a blue suit or a gray suit, your work—and the sacrifices that are part and parcel of your service—must have purpose and meaning. You seek to be a part of an organization that is bigger than yourself.

Giving by Purpose 2014

Giving by Source 2014

Private gifts and commitments of $15.66 million to the USAFA Endowment during 2014 were designated to the following purposes.

Private gifts and commitments of $15.67 million to the USAFA Endowment during 2014 came from the following sources.

Academic Support $3.05 million – 20%

Graduates $8.21 million – 52%

Athletic Support $308,228 – 2%

Foundations $5.86 million – 37%

Cadet Activities & Clubs $209,431– 1%

Parents $775,539 – 4%

Companies $538,898 – 3%

Character & Leadership $6.14 million – 39%

Heritage $1.1 million – 8%

Friends of the Academy $163,998 – 1%

Operational Support $1.6 million – 10%

Trusts $63,535 – .4%

Other Institutional Support $287,293 – 2%

Other Sources $58,665 – .3%

Unrestricted Support $2.8 million – 18%

THE UNITED STATES AIR FORCE ACADEMY

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ENDOWMENT THE UNITED STATES AIR FORCE ACADEMY

ENDOWMENT

Service Before Self – Our Definitions Paul Madera ‘78 The concept of Service Before Self is familiar to every cadet and graduate of the Academy and, depending where we are in our careers, it has different meanings.

For cadets, it is one of many slogans we learn, but aren’t quite sure how it applies to us. All the while, the daily cadet experience is drilling into us the concepts of working as a unit to such a degree that it becomes second nature to think as a group member with a mission and goal. As we graduate and go out into the active Air Force, Service Before Self takes on a more concrete and substantive meaning—relating to subjugating our personal goals to the greater good as part of active duty flying units or other mission wings—and we have very specific taskings, all of which relate to mission goals and personnel management.

But as graduates nearing the end of our careers, Service Before Self means giving back to the institution that helped form our values, prepared us to contribute, and enabled us to lead adventurous careers as Air Force Officers or as civilian leaders.

Service in the context of this hindsight means opportunity and privilege to assist the next generations of cadets and soon-to-be officers in receiving the finest training in character, leadership, athletics, and academics.

Gen. (Ret.) Steve Lorenz ‘73 Like most graduates of our Academy, I have never forgotten the day I arrived at USAFA and took the Oath of Allegiance with my classmates. In that moment, I changed from being one who was defended by others to one who defended others. When you are seventeen, you do not really know the true significance and implication of that simple act of raising your right hand and repeating the words, “I (state your name),

do solemnly swear, to support and defend the Constitution of the United States, against all enemies foreign and domestic; … ” As you are repeating these words that go back to the beginnings of our nation and have been repeated by thousands of graduates before you, you are making a personal commitment to serve something much bigger than yourself—our Constitution and all that piece of parchment represents. You really don’t realize that making that commitment to defend the nation will affect you for the rest of your life, whether you serve for a full career in the military or you get out after your initial commitment. The values you learn here at the Academy change your life forever. Starting from your first day at the Academy, you learn that serving others is now just part of who you are. As the years have gone by, I have reflected on what our great Academy has done for us all and how we all owe our school and those who come behind us. As one who owes this school so much, I realized that, as a debtor, I must try to serve others by giving back. All of us can give back through our time, treasure, and talents. It is up to you how you want to pay back your own debt. I just know that one must give back to help the classes of today and the future who want to become just like us and serve others of our great nation and Air Force.

Service & Philanthropy Sir Winston Churchill is perhaps best known for his leadership during World War II and as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.

Among his many powerful and insightful statements, he made the following observation about the notion of service, “we make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.” Well said. We at the USAFA Endowment believe there is a strong connection between service and philanthropy. With the benefit of time and experience, the lenses through which you view the Academy do indeed become rosier. Most graduates attribute their lifelong success to the lessons they learned and values they embraced at the Academy. And many graduates—a record number in 2014—elect to use philanthropy to demonstrate their gratitude to the Academy and give back to the place that changed their lives. These gifts are more than just a debt of gratitude. They are also an investment to ensure that today’s and tomorrow’s cadets are well prepared to carry forward our legacy of service.

As our board chair Paul Madera ’78 suggests, philanthropy is a vehicle through which to serve others. The USAFA Endowment is here to serve and support the Academy, its cadets, and its graduates.

It is an honor and, as Gen. Lorenz likes to say, “a noble and righteous cause.” What follows is a report on the impact of your philanthropy at the Academy in 2014. By all accounts, 2014 was another stellar year, and it would not be possible without your commitment and support. Thank you for the difference you make each and every day at this remarkable place. You are truly transforming lives.

We invite you to learn more about the amazing work of the people—the cadets, faculty, and staff—at the Academy and make philanthropy a part of your Academy experience. You will be glad you did.

To make a gift, please visit usafa.org/give.

THE UNITED STATES AIR FORCE ACADEMY

ENDOWMENT

THE UNITED STATES AIR FORCE ACADEMY

ENDOWMENT

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GIVING

BY THE NUMBERS TOP 5 CLASSES FOR PARTICIPATION

44.9% 33.3% 33.0% 31.8% 33.0%

2014

CLASS SUPERLATIVES CLASS WITH THE MOST 2014

SABRE SOCIETY DONORS

‘67 ‘63 ‘65 ‘70 ‘69 CLASS OF

CLASS OF

CLASS OF

CLASS OF

CLASS OF

CLASSES ON THE MOVE

HIGHEST INCREASE IN NUMBER OF DONORS FOR 2014

‘70 ‘89 ‘65 ‘69 ‘13 CLASS OF

THE $10 MILLION CLUB

CLASSES WHOSE MEMBERS HAVE SURPASSED $10 MILLION IN CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE ACADEMY

92 more donors

CLASS OF

62 more donors

CLASS OF

52 more donors

CLASS OF

For the full list of giving by the numbers by graduation class visit usafa.org/givingbythenumbers

THE UNITED STATES AIR FORCE ACADEMY

ENDOWMENT

46 more donors

CLASS OF

31 more donors

It seems like only yesterday ...

USAFA Reunions

2015

We welcome back the classes of

1960,1965,1970,1975,1980, 1985,1990,1995, and 2005 www.usafa.org/reunions

LEGACY OF HONOR

AIR FORCE NAMES SHIP AFTER ACADEMY GRADUATE KIA

By Captain Nicholas Mercurio ’08, 1st Combat Camera Squadron

A The Motor Vessel Capt.

David I. Lyon sits docked at Military Ocean Terminal Sunny Point, Southport, N.C, before the vessel’s christening. (U.S. Air Force photo/Tech. Sgt. Jason Robertson)

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single-lane road snakes its way through arcs gently to the right as the closeness of the trees the knot of North Carolina pines that recedes and gives way to the wide-open expanse of guards the shoreline at the Military Ocean the Cape Fear River surrounding the central pier.

Terminal Sunny Point. It runs parallel A large container ship looms suddenly ahead, to a bundle of riding high and still railroad tracks If he got it in his mind to do something, there on the water for lack whose tributarof cargo and displaywas no way he wasn’t going to do it. ies occasionally ing a freshly-painted splice across the name on her bow. road and curve out of view. Lined along the tracks “David was very determined as a boy,” Jeannie are dozens of cars laden with containers marked Lyon said. It is the morning of Aug. 11, 2014, the as property of the U.S. government and destined day she would see the ship that bears her son’s name for faraway places. Past the waiting cars, the road for the first time.

“

”

“He was a true patriot...He loved his country.”

“If he got it in his mind to do something, there was no way he wasn’t going to do it.”

Her son, Capt. David I. Lyon ’08, was killed on Dec. 27, 2013, when a vehicle borne improvised explosive device struck his convoy in Afghanistan.

A boy who stayed late after football and basketball games to mop the locker room floor, David grew into a man who fulfilled his dream of graduating from the U.S. Air Force Academy.

He would later go on to personify servant leadership as an Air Force captain and logistics readiness officer.

Mrs. Lyon felt exhilarated on May 28, 2008, as she watched her son collect his diploma and walk across the stage to “high-five” former President George W. Bush. She confided what the president told David while shaking his hand. “He said to him, ‘I want you to go home. I want you to be a leader, and I want you to make a difference in this world,’” she said.

David took those words to heart and strove to meet that challenge every day. “He was a true patriot,” said Robert Lyon, David’s father. “He loved his country.”

While he made a difference to many, David had the most lasting and profound impact on his wife of five years and fellow Academy graduate, Capt. Dana Lyon ’06. “He was the best thing to ever happen to my world,” she said.

Although they were recruited by the Academy to play different sports, both eventually found their way to the track and field team, and to each other. “He was a strong leader and a godly man,” Dana said. “He took care of my heart.”

Seven months after her husband’s death, Dana is still struggling to pick up the pieces. “It’s difficult to take on something by yourself when you’ve been doing it together for a while,” she said.

In October 2012, David volunteered for a deployment to Afghanistan as an air advisor. “He wanted to get in the fight,” Dana said. “Not that he was looking for a fight, but that he wanted to serve, to do the mission.”

At the time, Dana had jokingly threatened to volunteer as well until orders came down for her own deployment. They were both serving in Afghanistan at the time of his death; their last day together was Christmas Day at Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan.

“Neither one of us held the other back from what we were trying to achieve,” she said. “I think that if Dave had to do it over again, he’d do it again in a heartbeat because he knew what he was doing was making a difference.”

As Dana reflected on David’s latest achievement of having a ship renamed for him, she described it as an honor she never wanted but is grateful to have.

“I think it’s awesome that it’s a logistics ship, and Dave was a logistics officer,” she said. However, she pointed to a deeper connection as her source of solace during this difficult time. “He cast ripples,” she said.

“His spirit and leadership inspired so many, just as the ship that bears his name will continue to make ripples.”

On Aug. 11, 2014, Dana and her family, alongside Jeannie and Robert Lyon, were at MOTSU to christen and tour the vessel before it departed to perform its wartime mission. Seeing it for the first time, the pride they feel is tempered by the lingering immediacy of their bereavement.

Words come slowly at first, and voices are thick with emotion.

However, as Dana, a world-class javelin thrower and 2008 Olympic-hopeful, launched a bottle of champagne and it smashed against the hull, a thunderous cheer erupted from family members and onlookers alike, and the somber mood was instantly transformed to one of celebration.

The newly christened Motor Vessel Capt.

David I. Lyon is an Air Force prepositioning vessel, which will transport 12.5 million pounds of munitions, or as much as 78 fully loaded C-17 Globemaster III aircraft, overseas to support the warfighter.

“It’s kind of like he’s come full circle,” Dana said. “Dave never got a chance to work supply, and now, a supply ship is named after him. Even though he is gone, his life, his purpose, his mission will continue.”

Capt. Dana M. Lyon ’06, widow of Capt. David I. Lyon ’08, prepares to break a champagne bottle on the hull of the Motor Vessel Capt. David I. Lyon during a christening and ship visit, Aug. 11, 2014, at Military Ocean Terminal Sunny Point, Southport, N.C. The MV Capt.

David I. Lyon is an Air Force prepositioning vessel named in honor of Capt. David I. Lyon, an Air Force logistics readiness officer and 2008 U.S. Air Force Academy graduate who was killed in action Dec. 27, 2013, in Afghanistan. The vessel will transport critical war reserve materiel to locations around the globe. (U.S. Air Force photo/ Tech. Sgt. Jason Robertson)

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Mouth Watering Recipes by Grads, for Grads In this issue we’ll be celebrating our favorite dessert recipes, starting with a mouth-watering rum cake that will have all of your friends dipping in for a second piece! These home made sweets are sure to satisfy your after dinner cravings, and for anyone who wants to skip ahead and have dessert first, we certainly won’t blame you ...

Rum Cake

Chef Duke Morehouse, Class of 1969 Ingredients for the cake • 1/2 cup chopped pecans • 1 package yellow or chocolate cake mix (“moist” variety preferred) • 1 (3.75-ounce) package vanilla or chocolate instant pudding • 1/2 cup light rum • 1/2 cup water • 1/4 cup cooking oil (use as much as 1/2 cup to increase the moistness) • 4 large eggs Ingredients for the hot rum glaze • 1 cup sugar • 1 stick butter or margarine • 1/4 cup light rum • 1/4 cup water Rum glaze preparation • Before removing cake from oven, put all glaze ingredients in a small pan, stir and bring to a boil, then pour on the cake immediately after it comes out of the oven (see directions below).

Directions for baking 1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. 2. Grease and then lightly flour the inside of a bundt pan.

3. Spread the chopped pecans in the bottom of the pan.

4. Place remaining ingredients (cake mix, pudding mix, rum, oil water and eggs) in a mixing bowl—I recommend putting the cake and pudding mixes in first.

5. Mix for 2 minutes at high speed.

6. Pour into bundt pan (yes—the same one that holds the flour and nuts). Bake at 325 degrees F for 50 to 60 minutes. The cake is done when you can puncture it with a toothpick (you might want to use something longer—bamboo skewer works great).

7. When done, remove from oven and place on a cooling rack (if available).

8. While the cake is hot, leave it in the pan and pour the glaze evenly around the edges and center.

Leave the cake in the pan for approximately 30 minutes, then carefully remove it.

9. It tastes great topped with strawberries and whipped cream!

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falcon sweet tooth

P R E PA R E D B Y M I C H E L E B E R G E M A N | P H O T O S B Y L E W I S C A R LY L E

Momma Fry’s Toffee Bars

by Chef Doug Fry, Class of 1976

falcon sweet tooth Momma Fry’s Toffee Bars Chef Doug Fry, Class of 1976

Ingredients • 1 box of honey graham crackers (I recommend the cracker sheets that break into fours, however don’t break them) • 1 cup margarine or butter • 1 cup brown sugar • 12 ounces of chocolate chips (you can use various types of chocolate, we have used the dark chocolate or sea salt chocolate) • 1 cup chopped nuts (pecans or walnuts versus peanuts, but experiment to your taste) Directions 1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. 2. Grease a 10x13 cookie sheet and cover the bottom of the cookie sheet with the honey grahams.

3. Bring the margarine and brown sugar to a boil for exactly 2 minutes.

4. Pour the mix over the graham layer while hot. Bake in oven for exactly 7 minutes.

5. Spread the chocolate over the pan while it is hot to enable the chips/chocolate to be a continuous layer over the cookie sheet.

6. Sprinkle the chopped nuts over the melted chocolate. Put in freezer for an hour (or long enough to solidify bars).

7. Remove from pan and break into reasonably sized chunks/ bars of toffee. Enjoy!

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Chocolate Melting Cake

Chef Dan Macherione, Class of 1966 Ingredients • 8 ounces semi-sweet chocolate • 1 cup (2 sticks) butter • 7 eggs • 6 tablespoons sugar • 1/2 cup flour Directions 1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. 2. Melt chocolate and butter; cool 10 minutes.

3. In a separate bowl, mix four eggs with sugar. Whisk. Add flour and whisk. Add remaining three eggs and whisk.

4. Add egg mixture to chocolate mixture.

5. Pour equally into 6 individual 7 ounce ramekins.

6. Bake 15-20 minutes (interior will be melting).

7. Serve with vanilla ice cream.

FOOD LOVERS UNITE Mediterranean Cuisine

Summer beckons and there are few flavors that complement a warm, relaxing evening like the robust flavor of your favorite Mediterranean dish. Fresh and flavorful vegetables, succulent lamb and chicken, and off the boat fish unite the tastes of this wonderful corner of the globe. You can reach the shores of Turkey and Greece without leaving your patio! Email your favorite Mediterranean recipe to editor@aogusafa.org and you could be featured in the June edition of the Long Blue Ladle.

Celebrate at Doolittle Hall PRIVATE PARTIES . RECEPTIONS . MEETINGS 719.472.0300

USAFA.ORG

FALCON FITNESS FIX

Dan Felix ’74, CFT

Navigating Nutrition There are thousands of diets and food plans floating around the Internet, morning shows, doctor shows, and infomercials. Any graduate raising a family or building a career certainly doesn’t have time to figure them out. Diets can get so confusing that they can drive you nuts even on a diet that doesn’t allow nuts!

If you’re an athletic person, then your diet will differ from a less athletic person.

If you’re trying to lose weight, then your diet should be different than someone not facing that issue. If you’re recovering from injury, surgery, or disease, then your diet will differ from those around you. The key element in all these scenarios is that your needs are unique to you, and specific to what you want.

Think of nutrition as a Lego project.

There is a limited set of different colored Lego blocks but they can build an

unlimited number of objects. That is an excellent description of nutrition. What you build is up to you. What the blocks are and how they work together is not.

If you understand the basic function and source of the elements of nutrition then you can build what ever structure you want.

Nutrition can be complicated so let’s start with straight and level flight and learn a few of the more important aspects.

WATER g The body uses its cells to manage water. g Too little water in the blood system

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and cells will donate water to maintain fluid pressure. g Too much water in the blood system and cells will donate chemicals to try to balance the blood chemistry. g Too many chemicals in the blood system and the cells will donate water to dilute the chemical concentrations. g If water levels are not within a certain range then most of the body’s chemistry is disrupted and most body functions, including muscles and nerves, cannot operate properly. g Water is a nutrient, so include it in your food plan.

CARBOHYDRATES g The body converts dietary carbohydrate to glucose which is used for fuel or converted to body fat. g One of insulin’s functions is to convert glucose to fat. The half-life of insulin is about 7.5 minutes which means that excess glucose from excess carbohydrate is converted to body fat in about 7.5 minutes. g The brain will only use glucose for energy. Starve the brain of carbohydrate and the body has to use a corrosive chemical process to feed the brain from fat or protein. g The body uses 5 calories to digest 10 calories of carbohydrate with a net gain of 5 calories. Eating to lose weight won’t work. g Carbohydrates are energy.

PROTEIN g Amino acids are used to build protein blocks which are used to repair and build tissue. g The body cannot store excess amino acids so excess protein is de-constructed to carbohydrate and nitrogen. The carbohydrate is burned or converted to fat and the acidic nitrogen is mixed with alkaline bone minerals and excreted.

High protein diets are not healthy and can contribute to loss of bone density. g Injury, pregnancy, athletic competition, and post-surgery are some reasons to increase protein. g

FAT g Fat is constantly created and consumed. g One gram of fat has 9 calories of energy compared to one gram of carbohydrate which has 4 calories of energy. Endurance requires fat. g One pound of human body fat occupies one pint of volume. Lose 10 pounds, lose 10 pints. g Very few calories are used by the body to convert dietary fat into body fat.

Dietary fat quickly becomes body fat. g Slightly too little body fat has more problems than slightly too much body fat. Keep it slightly. g An obsessive effort to persistently lose fat is not healthy. Eat slightly less today than you did on the same day a year ago. Repeat each day until you reach your desired weight.

This discussion on nutrition has a glaring and intentional omission: there are no suggested volumes, quantities, or food types. Each person needs unique food plans that change throughout their life. Trying to conform to a food plan not matched to your body or goals won’t help. Build your food plan, don’t just eat it. _________________________________ I am glad to answer any questions you may have about specific routines or diets. Just e-mail them to dan@danfelixcft.com Dan Felix has been fitness training for more than 25 years and has multiple certifications, including Certified Fitness Trainer from the International Sports Sciences Association and the American Red Cross Advanced First Aid certification.

HERITAGE

DR. THOMAS J. ELLER | CLASS OF 1961

Photographed by Lewis Carlyle

Honor Bound Cadet

Dr. Thomas J. Eller has dedicated his life in service to the Air Force Academy, the Association of Graduates, and the Air Force as an officer, scientist, leader and visionary. Soft spoken with a humble disposition, Eller made a visit to the AOG to reflect on his time at the Academy and discuss the many ways that this institution shaped his life.

“The Air Force Academy was very formative for me,” Eller recounts. “I learned about air power, leadership, knowledge of the Air Force and how to get along in it, and how to deal with people. I fall back on those lessons all the time.

The most difficult challenge at USAFA was time management. There were untold number of things one had to get done perfectly in virtually no time. It was also a challenge dealing with difficult people. The ATOs, upper class cadets 48

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and many of the instructors intended to be very difficult. But learning to deal with difficult people proved to be very valuable because it tailored my expectations on how to treat people. I knew how I would come across in boss mode, and that’s effected my whole career, both in the military and in civilian life. These lessons helped me become a better leader, remembering how I reacted to the leadership I encountered at the Academy.”

As a cadet, Eller served as Wing Operations Officer for 1st BCT, a cadet squadron commander, and was a Rhodes Scholarship finalist, graduating fourth in his class. “The AFA also instilled a need for absolute integrity,” Eller continues. “It’s the bedrock of any set of human relationships; we practiced that all the time here. The Honor Code was in full effect, so we were very conscious of the need for the truth throughout our time here.”

D I S T I N G U I S H E D

G R A D U AT E

2014 “

Life in the Cockpit

After graduation, Eller went to pilot training and prepared to begin his service career during the height of the Vietnam War. As a C-7A Caribou pilot he accumulated 3,600 flying hours, including 891 combat sorties over Southeast Asia where he was awarded two Distinguished Flying Crosses and seven Air Medals. He also earned the Airman’s Medal for leading a team fighting an ammunitionfueled barracks fire at Phu Cat Air Base. “The Air Force Academy emphasized that you have to focus on the mission,” says Eller of his flying career. “It also emphasized that you have to do your best at everything you pick up, all the time. There’s never a time to do a sloppy job on anything. Those traits carried over and that’s the way I approach all of my professional life.”

After returning home from the war Eller earned a master’s degree from Purdue University and went on to became the first USAFA graduate assigned to the Astronautics and Computer Science department. He subsequently earned a Ph.D. in Aeronautics and Astronautics from the University of Texas where he was a distinguished graduate. Fully immersed in the technology of the era, he witnessed the gradual evolution of computers from their humble beginnings into the modern machines of today.

“I got to fly in the C-130 gunship test program back in 1971,” Eller recalls. “It was the first digitally fire controlled system which used an onboard computer. We had used analog computers at the Academy, but the transition to digital was occurring. I don’t know if you can find an analog computer today anywhere! The average cell phone has a more powerful computer in it than the entire Academy had for its mainframe in those days. The mainframe took up a room the size of a library and it had a whopping 32 kilobytes of memory. Today we worry about gigabytes and terabytes, not kilobytes!”

I learned about air power, leadership, knowledge of the Air Force and how to get along in it, and how to deal with people. I fall back on those lessons all the time.

“

Giving Back

Returning to USAFA, Dr. Eller served as Assistant Dean of the Faculty, and professor and head of the department. Elected by his peers, he is a Fellow of the American Astronautical Society and an Associate Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. He chaired the original Military Space Doctrine Symposium, which paved the way for the formation of Space Command. He co-invented the GPS Magnetic Momentum Dumping System, increasing satellite lifetime by years. In corporate life, he continued his exceptional contributions to the aerospace field at Martin Marietta Aerospace and Kaman Sciences Corporation. During the first Gulf War, Dr. Eller and his team developed “Bilateration,” used to predict the impacts of Scud missiles from Iraq into Israel.

Dr. Eller’s monumental contributions to the Association of Graduates reach back to its inception. In 1966, he served on the committee that created the AOG. Eller remembers the early days of the Association, and the steps taken by the founders to begin making an impact on the history and heritage of USAFA. “One of our first objectives was to create a war memorial,” Eller says. “We had guys dying in Vietnam. The war

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HERITAGE

2014 memorial which now resides in the Cadet Area is the first thing we accomplished.”

He sat on the Board of Directors from 19691973, serving as Vice President and Acting President from 1975-1979, and President from 1979-1983.

Dr. Eller was also the first graduate elected to the Falcon Foundation Board of Trustees.

“We started off pretty small,” Eller recounts, “but we had big dreams. In the early 1970s we held a committee to create the Commanderin-Chief ’s Trophy. Later down the line when I become AOG president, we won the trophy in the fall of 1982, but it had not been presented by the President in quite a while. Eric Thorson ’67 had a high level position in Washington at the time and he put me in touch with the White House and we arranged to have the President present the trophy.”

Upon retirement, Dr. Eller has served his community as Founding Chairman of the Colorado Vietnam Veterans Leadership Program, Chairman of the Colorado 5th Congressional District Space Advisory Committee, trustee of the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center Board, and a member of the AAS International Space Station (ISS) Utilization Technical Committee.

Legacies After making the move from the temporary facility at Lowry Air Force Base, then-Cadet Tom Eller attends class at the Academy’s permanent location in Colorado Springs.

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Dr. Eller is the first of three generations of his family to graduate from the Academy, having inspired both his son and grandson to become graduates themselves in the classes of 1996 and 2011. Taking a moment to pass on some advice to cadets, Eller insists that the same core values which helped shape his generation are still every bit as important today.

“Kids coming out of the Academy today do a whole lot more than I did when I was there. The key to their success will be to have absolute integrity. It’s very difficult to have it in this modern age, but integrity is key. I believe that having a forward-looking attitude based on integrity will get these cadets off to a great start.”

Dr. Eller’s vision and leadership have had lasting impact on the Academy, the Air Force and the nation.

D I S T I N G U I S H E D G R A D U AT E GENERAL KEVIN P. CHILTON | CLASS OF 1976

Photographed by Lewis Carlyle

The Early Days

General Kevin P. Chilton, Class of 1976, grew up dreaming of becoming an airline pilot. A chance meeting with an Academy cadet introduced him to what he thought was a path to realizing that dream. Instead, it was the beginning of a lifelong love affair with the U.S. Air Force that completely changed his life. Raised by parents who valued honesty, hard work, faith and service, he fit well into cadet life, serving as both a Squadron and Group Honor Representative.

“My fondest memories of the Academy are all associated with my classmates,” says Gen. Chilton while reflecting on the strong ties between fellow cadets. “You learn that to be successful as an organization you have to work as a team. It’s very important to build bonds with people and I felt very close with my classmates.”

A life long dream to take a seat in the cockpit came true at the Academy during his third-degree year. “The soaring program was a very fun time for me,” Gen. Chilton explains. “I loved going down to the airfield and being a part of that. One rather funny experience happened when I was up by myself in a single-seat sail plane. I’d been riding thermals all morning, made it all the way up to 16,000 feet and was still going up! I ended up flying over downtown Colorado Springs—looking down on Pikes Peak is a memory I will never forget. The tower eventually had to call me back down so I could catch the bus and get back for lunch.”

Like many graduates, Gen. Chilton remembers the difficulties of such a demanding school and how it would go on to influence his career in later years. “The challenges I faced in school are

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HERITAGE

GENERAL KEVIN P. CHILTON | CLASS OF 1976

no different than those of any other cadet at the Academy,” Gen. Chilton says. “The physical and mental challenges of your doolie year, along with the time crunch we all faced helped shape me as leader going forward. I can remember running into a very difficult day in pilot training—after reflecting on that day, I remember thinking, this isn’t so bad. Having finished four years at the Academy, I determined that it’s going to be pretty hard for me to have a bad day in the United States Air Force.”

A distinguished graduate, he received a Guggenheim Fellowship and earned a master’s degree in Engineering from Columbia University. Graduating first in pilot training, he flew operational assignments in the RF-4 and F-15. Selected as the top graduate from Squadron Officer School in 1982, he was awarded the Secretary of the Air Force Leadership Award. In 1984, he graduated first in his class from Air Force Test Pilot School and, following a tour as a test pilot and Squadron Operations Officer, was selected to be a NASA astronaut.

Zero Gravity

Gen. Kevin Chilton ’76 met his wife, now-Maj. Gen. Cathy Chilton, during test pilot training at Edwards Air Force Base in California. Today the couple has four children.

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“The Air Force Academy’s influence on my career is rather interesting,” Gen. Chilton Says. “I came in as a blank sheet with regard to the military, and I quickly fell in love with engineering, which eventually lead me down a very eclectic career path. I was also lucky enough to get involved with the soaring program. As it turns out, flying aircraft with no engines came in very handy later down the road during my time at NASA.” General Chilton was the pilot on two shuttle missions, including the maiden flight of the Space Shuttle Endeavour, and was the Commander on his third trip into space.

“NASA was a true evolution for me,” he explains. “In 1961, I remember my parents waking me and my sister up at 3am to watch Alan Shepard make America’s first flight into space. ‘One day you’ll thank us for this,’ my dad said. The best part about NASA for me was the people. All throughout the Johnson and Kennedy Space Centers, these are the people who put us on the moon in less than one decade from a cold start. A lot of those people were still working for NASA when I arrived, and

2014 they were every bit as dedicated as the people I had worked with in the military.”

General Chilton describes his time spent in the space shuttle program as an unforgettable experience. “Certainly the most unique part of the whole experience was having the opportunity so leave the planet three times,” he says. “The space shuttle was a tremendous system to fly. My favorite parts about space travel were a combination of weightlessness and the view out the window. I think every pilot has dreams of flying without the help of an airplane. You certainly do that 24/7 when you’re in space. You don’t climb down the ladder to the mid deck, you fly down like Superman. The liberating feeling of being able to fly was simply fantastic.

Furthermore, words cannot capture the beauty of the earth when you’re looking down from that altitude. I took every moment I had to look out the window. That was precious.”

“

I can remember running into a very difficult day in pilot training—after reflecting on that day, I remember thinking, this isn’t so bad. Having finished four years at the Academy, I determined that it’s going to be pretty hard for me to have a bad day in the United States Air Force.

“

The Next Frontier

Chilton later served as the Deputy Program Manager for the International Space Station Program.

After 11 years in NASA, he returned to the Air Force with assignments as the Deputy Director of Operations for Air Force Space Command; Commander of the 9th Reconnaissance Wing; Deputy Director, Political Military Affairs, Joint Staff J-5; Director of Air Force Programs and acting Assistant Vice Chief of Staff. He also commanded 8th Air Force; Joint Functional Component Command for Space and Global Strike; Task Force 204; Air Force Space Command; and U.S. Strategic Command.

The first astronaut to achieve four-star rank, General Chilton retired from active duty after 34 1/2 years of service. “I’ve always been a little uncomfortable when people thank me for my service,” he admits shyly, “because frankly, I had a ball. I loved what I was doing, I believed in what I was doing.

The people who truly served were my family. I met my wife in pilot training and she continues to serve today as a reservist. She stood on the launch control tower at NASA three different times with our young children, watching her husband sit on top of three million pounds of high explosives.”

General Chilton continues to use his exceptional leadership skills and expertise as a mentor to new generals and admirals at the National Defense University; and scientists and engineers in the Defense Science Studies Group. He is an advisor to leadership at three National Labs and serves on the Board of Governors for the Lawrence Livermore Lab. “My family are my heroes,” Gen. Chilton concludes of his storied career. “I’ve always thought that it’s very important during a career in the military to recognize and appreciate how much your family enables you to get up every morning and go support our great nation.”

As a member of the Boards of the Association of Graduates and the Falcon Foundation, Gen. Chilton is passionate about giving back to the Academy as a frequent speaker for cadet academic, leadership, and honor classes, as well as for various graduation and class events. In every endeavor General Chilton has undertaken, both on active duty and in civilian life, he has exemplified the traits that Academy graduates strive to achieve: integrity, service and excellence.

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MADE IN THE U.S.A.

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Actual Size

A unique piece of USAFA art ... Collect the entire series Cadet Figurines are designed and produced by Tara Sweeney '95 using an advanced 3D printer. Each figurine depicts cadet uniforms of the day and stands 3 1/2" tall. Life-like details and hand-finishing readies each cadet for presentation. Designs available in light, medium and dark skin tones or terrazzo marble.

Available at the AOG Gift Shop and shop.usafa.org

Ivan ‘05 and Suzie Perry, with their two sons Noah and Jonah.

Now is a good time, regardless of age.

“The Air Force Academy was one of the best things to happen to me,” says Ivan. “it prepared me well for the rigors of serving in the heavy-combat zones, and now in my civilian career I am constantly drawing on the leadership and academic attributes I learned during my four Academy years.”

Ivan recently determined it was prudent to make estate plans. “I want to make sure my wife and children have what they need to do well, should something happen to me, and I’m pleased to include a provision naming the USAFA Endowment as a charitable

beneficiary. No matter what age one is when they do estate planning, it is certainly appropriate to consider a legacy gift to help the place that means so much to us graduates.”

In addition to helping to secure an exceptional future for cadets who will join you on the long blue line, a bequest or life-income gift to the USAFA Endowment may also lessen the tax burden on your family and estate.

For information and assistance, contact Dale Zschoche at dale.zschoche@usafaendowment. org or 719.238.7510.

THE UNITED STATES AIR FORCE ACADEMY

ENDOWMENT www.usafa.org/legacy

FREEZE FRAME

THE HISTORICAL SITES OF THE AIR FORCE ACADEMY. Written by Jack Anthony ’78

Have you ever wondered how the land that is now your Academy was used before it became home to the Fightin’ Falcons? From pioneers to ski bums, check out these ten historical sites that tell the tale of a land before USAFA! 1 Cathedral Rock. This 120-foot-tall rock formation is visible from I-25. Did you know that more than 50 pioneers carved their names into the rock and added dates to their names to document their presence in the area way back in the late 1880s? That makes Cathedral Rock a very big sign-in logbook (a bazillion cadets also have scratched their names into the monolith). It’s located on the firing range, so don’t go wandering over there. Take one of my tours which the fabulous Combat Arms folks allow.

2 Husted. Just south of the west end of the north gate entry bridge was the railroad town of Husted. In 1871, the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad was built through future USAFA grounds and Husted was a key stop on the line, with a round house with helper locomotives and many homes and businesses. The town grew as the Santa Fe Railway came through the Academy area in 1887. This community was named after Calvin Husted, a lumberman who came west from New Jersey in 1864.

3 Edgerton/Cascade Ice Company. Edgerton emerged as a stop on the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad in the mid1880s. Five pioneers built two big lakes that were used to harvest blocks of ice when the water froze. The ice was used to keep food cool. Ice Lake is one of these lakes and traces of the other lake still remain, including part of the rock dam. Ice was their cool hard “cash crop.”

4 Lehmann Ranch. This huge cattle ranch started out as Cathedral Rock Ranch and eventually the Lehmann family expanded it into a 5000 acre cattle operation. Their homes and barns were located where the cadet soccer stadium is today. The athletic field area was the lush field of grass the cattle munched on; it was not terraced by them, but was almost ready for today’s use.

5 Otis House. The current Commandant’s Residence (Otis House) started as a small cabin built by John and Elias Evans in 1870. In 1872 the Lennox family bought it and expanded it to a three-room home and a ranch they called Glenwood Ranch. In 1888, William Otis (no, not the elevator guy!) bought it and by the 1930s it was expanded into a 8000 square foot home. The Cogswell family were the final owners before the land was obtained for the Air Force Academy. Hester-Jane Cogswell’s book on Pine Valley is the definitive history of the valley and Lennox family.

6 Oliver H. Bishop Homestead. Oliver H. Bishop and many members of the Bishop family were early pioneers on the USAFA grounds. Oliver’s homestead was located just below the west overlook that looks upon the athletic fields.

Many Bishops carved their names into Cathedral Rock.

7 Burgess and Capps Homesteads. William Burgess and Leonard Capps built their homesteads in the early 1870’s.

William’s still stands today as the Pioneer Cabin and is a USAFA tribute to the pioneers and their spirit. Capps cabin’s rock foundation is located just south of Falcon Stadium and is now part of one of the picnic sites. Most people don’t realize that the rocks there are the foundation.

8 McAlroy Pioneer Homesteads. The McAlroy family had eight homesteads on USAFA, including David McAlroy’s cattle ranch. This ranch was an important part of Husted. It included a large reservoir that was used to hold water so the cattle could drink up before being loaded onto cattle railcars. What’s extra special about the McAlroys is that another David, a 2003 USAFA graduate, is a descendant of that pioneer family. Thus the McAlroy pioneer spirit watched over David as he toiled though his four years at the Academy. He is now an accomplished C-130 pilot.

9 Jacks Valley. Cleo and Zelda Jack operated a cattle ranch in Jacks Valley from 1942-1954. At one time, they were ranchers near Soccorro, N.M., but were forced to move to make way so the land could be used in the development of the atomic bomb. Thus, “eminent domain” bit them twice! These are the namesakes of the notorious Jacks Valley.

10 Ski Tow and Slope. This is not a long ago history site, but a fun one to talk about. In 1962, several residents of the Douglass Valley did a cool self-help project and got funds to buy and install a rope tow in the west end of Pine Valley.

They even borrowed some saws and cut slopes. They had a lift ticket system—$2 for the season. However, snow was lacking and the rope tow system was prone to malfunction. It was a short lived ski area for USAFA. 56

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Jack’s Valley

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AFA Northgate

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6 8 4 2

7

Douglass Valley

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Pine Valley

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FF

AFA Southgate 3

THE ASSOCIATION

CASE POINT IN

THE AOG TAKES HOME THE GOLD IN DENVER FROM THE COUNCIL FOR ADVANCEMENT AND SUPPORT OF EDUCATION The Association of Graduates (AOG) has recently been presented with 17 Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) District VI Institutional Awards for best practices in advancement. The awards validated another year of initiatives designed to increase the quality of AOG products and services.

“There were hundreds of award submissions made to CASE this year and we continue to excel against some of the finest universities in the country. This was the most decorated year in our history,” said AOG President and CEO William “T” Thompson ’73. “We continue to produce products and services that match the high standards of the United States Air Force Academy, its graduates and supporters. We will continue to raise the bar even higher in 2015.”

CASE has over 190 member organizations in District VI, hailing from the Rocky Mountain and Midwestern states of Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wyoming. The Academy’s alumni magazine, Checkpoints, won gold in the College and University General Interest (Alumni) Magazine for the second time in three years in addition to a number of awards for writing, design and photography. June’s 60th Anniversary edition of the magazine included the district’s article of the year, “The Building of the Air Force Academy,” which was written by Class of 1977 graduate, Steve Simon. That article will go on to compete for the CASE’s national article of the year award.

Three AOG videos were selected as winners, two of which were produced for the 2014 Founders Day Dinner, and a featurette on the AOG’s ever-popular WebGuy program.

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Web communications continue to be strong as the usafa.org won gold for being the region’s best institutional website and two silvers were presented for the AOG’s popular e-newsletters 7258’ and ZoomiEnews, which are disseminated in alternate weeks to over 37,000 members of the USAFA community. These wins are indicative of the AOG’s efforts to engage the USAFA community and provide timely information on the institution and the activities of its graduates and members. The payoff has been tangible, as the AOG’s Facebook page “likes” have passed the organization’s counterparts at Navy and Army, every school in Colorado and the entire Mountain West Conference.

“I continue to be proud of the quality of work produced by our staff,” said AOG Senior Vice President of Communications, Bob McAllister. “Our goal is to keep the Long Blue Line engaged and informed with our products and we did a very good job of that this past year.”

In addition to these communications awards, the growing USAFA Golf Tour was recognized for having one of the best branding campaigns of the past year. In membership, the organization’s use of digital communications to increase renewal rates was recognized as a best practice.

Moving into 2015, the AOG continues to expand on the breadth and quality of the product services provided to the Academy and the graduate community. This year’s accolades represent yet another brick in the foundation of our on-going mission to support one of the greatest institutions in the nation.

THE ASSOCIATION OF GRADUATES OVERALL EXCELLENCE IN EDUCATIONAL ADVANCEMENT

Checkpoints

Gold

Magazines-General Interest (Alumni)

www.usafa.org Gold Digital Communications-Complete Institutional Website

Checkpoints Staff Writing

Gold Writing-Periodicals

Checkpoints 60th Anniversary Edition

Gold Design-Periodicals

The Building of the Air Force Academy

Gold

Best Articles of the Year (Districts VI-VIII)

AOG Photographer

Gold

Photographer of the Year

WebGuy: The Untold Story

Gold

Video-General Information (Long)

AOG Membership Renewal Email

Gold

Digital Communications-Innovative Use of Technology

Checkpoints 60th Anniversary Edition

Silver

Magazines-Special Issues

Checkpoints 60th Anniversary Edition Cover

Silver Design-Covers

ZoomiEnews Silver Publications-External Audience Newsletters (Digital) 7258’ Silver Publications-External Audience Newsletters (Digital)

BCT “Beast” T-Shirt

Bronze

Design-Specialty Pieces

Checkpoints Nostalgia Class Reunion Ad

Bronze

Marketing-Advertising

USAFA Golf Tour Branding

Bronze

Marketing-Unit Branding Programs

The Military Pillar

Bronze

Video-General Information (Short)

The 2014 Founders Day Closing Ceremony

Bronze

Video-General Information (Long)

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ASSOCIATION OF GRADUATES UNITED STATES AIR FORCE ACADEMY

S ER V I N G T H E LO N G B LU E L I N E

rising to the CHALLENGE THE USAFA ENDOWMENT’S ACADEMIC STEWARDSHIP COMMITTEE CREATES A CHALLENGE TO INCREASE THE MARGIN OF EXCELLENCE.

By Jermaine Johnson, Director of Development Communications, USAFA Endowment

Cadet Competition Highlights

1. The USAFA Forensics team competed against international schools in Forensics Classic. 2. Air Force cadets took 2nd place in the 2014 NSA cyber exercise. 3. The Academy’s Soaring Racing Team won the 2014 National Sailplane Racing Competition.

(Photography courtesy of U.S. Air Force /Liz Copan, John Van Winkle)

W

e often hear the term “margin of excellence,” but what exactly is the norm and what do we do to widen the margin to move towards excellence? Is it enough to strive for adequacy and hope to achieve distinction? When talking about the United States Air Force Academy and its cadets, the answer is a resounding no. Being adequate and maintaining the status quo is not good enough; we have to look at how to move from good, to great, to extraordinary. Although the government provides the Academy with its basic level of funding, the Academy requires sustained private support to attract the best minds and provide an exceptional education. Charitable contributions are not intended to replace the government’s efforts, but are used to augment and improve the cadet experience. So how do you foster private support? The Academic Priorities Committee found a way to rise to the challenge.

Recognizing the need to address pressing fundraising priorities for each mission element, the USAFA Endowment’s Board of Directors created five stewardship committees whose charters are to focus on academics, character and leadership, corporate giving, parents, and planned giving fundraising initiatives.

Specifically, the Academic Stewardship Committee, led by Paul Kaminski ’64 and John Fox ’63, maintains a close relationship with the Dean and the academic staff to enrich and expand the academic programs at the Academy. Kaminski believes that “In order to accomplish the vision of the committee, we need to do four things: first we need to continue to attract the best and the brightest; provide them with an education built on a solid core foundation; offer each cadet the opportunity to expand the depth and breadth of the core; and lastly provide the opportunity to gain some experience in pragmatic application of that education.”

It is also Fox’s belief that “With the profession of arms rapidly changing, new thinking is required and there is potential to engage cadets in new and exciting ways.”

“The Dean has a number of items on his priority list for doing just that,” Fox notes. “To me, it is incredibly important

that we fund those initiatives.” Armed with these opinions and convictions to further improve on the Academy’s ability to build well-rounded, exceptional leaders of character, Kaminski and Fox met with the Dean of the Faculty, Brig. Gen. Andrew Armacost, through the spring and summer of 2014 to gain a sense of the funding needs for academics, the funding sources available, and where the funding gaps were.

Making The Case During the USAFA Endowment’s October 2014 board meeting, Dean Armacost presented a list of key academic areas in need additional funding. At the top of his funding list were cadet capstone competitions and cadet academic competitions.

Capstone projects and academic competitions are a strategic priority of the Dean and play a pivotal role in promoting the Air Force Academy both nationally and internationally as a premier academic institution. Cadets compete in various capstone projects and conferences, including the Service Academy Challenge, the Clara Barton International Humanitarian Law competition, National Security and Innovation competition, Service Academy Student Mathematics Conference, Boeing’s Advance Concept Energy Supply 2040 competition, Colorado State University’s “Blue Ocean” Innovation competition and the Flightline of the Future competition. The Academy also has multiple academic competitive teams, including Forensics, Cyber Warfare, and Mock Trial, that help to bolster critical, conceptual thinking and problem solving skills. Through capstone projects and academic competitions, cadets are able to have demanding but stimulating educational experiences, all backed by a strengthened motivation to learn.

“By engaging with real-world professionals, using cutting edge technology in the classroom, and then applying those skills to compete, cadets are motivated to reach the next level beyond a mere academic experience,” says Armacost. “These events bring the academic material to life.

The Challenge Compelled by the presentation given by the Dean, the USAFA Endowment’s Academic Stewardship Committee decided to put forth a unique challenge that would not only obtain financial Checkpoints

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1. A cadet capstone research project helped improve both drug test sensitivity and sample processing times for synthetic cannabinoids. 2. Cadets built a solar and wind-powered all-terrain trailer (SWATT), which hooks up to a cadet-built electric dune buggy and can provide a full charge of energy to the vehicle and to other appliances. 3. A team of senior engineering mechanic cadets built a Formula race car from scratch.

(Photography courtesy of U.S. Air Force /Don Branum)

support from private donors but would also show their support of and belief in the value of the USAFA education. The goal was simple: to raise at least $160,000 in two weeks. But, what set this challenge apart and made it the first of its kind in the Academy’s history, is that the committee agreed to match donations dollar-for-dollar, up to $160,000, of those who were willing to make a charitable contribution to cadet capstone competitions and cadet academic competitions.

Email blasts and social media posts kicked off the challenge. As a reminder of the importance of giving, the USAFA Endowment posted daily on social media highlighting specific competitions that would benefit from the monies raised during this challenge. Overwhelming enthusiasm throughout the donor community for the Academic Priorities Challenge translated into tremendous financial support. Graduates and friends contributed to the challenge raising over $471,000 with many of them making unrestricted contributions to provide the greatest flexibility to the Dean, while others took the opportunity to designate their gift to a department of their choice.

“The needs of the academic enterprise remain constant,” says President and CEO General (Ret.) Steve Lorenz ’73. “The challenge created awareness that graduates and the broader USAFA community can have a direct impact on the cadet learning experience, ultimately preparing them for post-USAFA assignments.”

tion, welding, and wood frame construction. These tasks and more are selected to provide cadets with broad exposure to the civil engineering career field.

By being exposed to actual hands-on experiences in surveying, construction methods, and construction materials at the FERL, the “construct first, design later” approach provides students with a solid foundation for learning scientific theory and engineering design principles in more advanced courses of the civil and environmental engineering curriculum.

Industry partnerships are also another example of how non-government funding can impact the advancement of the Academy. Boeing has been a generous sponsor of two energy-related projects for the last two years. Dr. John Ciezki, professor in the Department of Electrical and Computing Engineering, notes, “The Boeing capstone has been invaluable to providing our cadets with an opportunity to attend a relevant forward operating base conference, acquire software and training in the design of micro-grids, and purchase hardware components to assemble and test a technology demonstrator. All of those facets go to making the cadets better critical thinkers and better officers. The faculty greatly appreciates the donations as it provides opportunities that might not otherwise be possible in tight fiscal times.”

Impact of Private Funding

The success of the Academic Priorities Challenge helped to validate the importance of the Academy’s capstone and academic competitions. It is irrefutable that private dollars are transformative to key strategic initiatives and programs. In turn, these initiatives and programs play an integral role in distinguishing the Academy as the definitive institution for higher learning, leadership and character development.

The Academic Stewardship Committee plans to work annually to meet academic funding gaps in hopes of being able to continue to raise the profile of the Academy and enrich the cadet experience. The committee recognizes that the magnitude of its initiatives may be hard to replicate year after year; but, with careful planning and a galvanized USAFA community of graduates and friends, the committee feels confident it will meet the challenge.

Perhaps one of the best examples of preparation for post-USAFA assignments is the Field Engineering and Readiness Laboratory (FERL). FERL is a capstone class for civil engineering majors. In its commitment to graduating Air Force officers with the leadership skills, motivation, and technical competence to be future leaders in the Air Force, the U.S. Air Force Academy’s Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (DFCE) implemented a systems approach to learning that bridges the gap between theory and practice; a concept that has evolved into the “construct first, design later” approach to engineering education.

Now in its twenty-second year of implementation, the FERL concept owes its success to the contributions of Active-duty, Guard, Reserve and civilian personnel who serve as mentors for the cadets.

Mentors provide functional expertise in their specialties and serve as role models in an advisory capacity. During FERL, mentors work alongside cadets on activities such as concrete placement, roadway construction, surveying, heavy equipment operations, power produc64

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Preparing for the future

To support the academic priorities at the academy visit www.usafa.org/give.

Q: A:

How does your financial support to the Air Force Academy, a federally-funded institution, have an impact on cadets and graduates?

Although the government supplies the Academy with its basic level of funding, the Academy requires your sustained private support to attract the best minds and provide an exceptional educational experience. Charitable contributions from donors like you are not intended to replace the government’s responsibility, but are used to create a “margin of excellence” that sets the Academy apart as the definitive institution for higher learning, leadership training and character development.

Each year, you - our graduates, friends and parents - generously give to the Air Force Academy Fund. Your support allows the Academy to provide extraordinary cadet experiences and exceptional graduate services.

Make a gift today to join thousands of other donors who have collectively made a difference.

THE SABRE SOCIETY Recognizes donors who contribute $1,000 or more annually to the Air Force Academy Fund

www.giveafaf.org

HAPPENINGS MARCH

14 17 20-29

Recognition

AOG AFFINITY GROUP PROGRAM

An AOG Affinity Group is formed when graduates create a non-geographically based group built on a common bond or shared interest. The group offers graduates the opportunity to stay connected to the Academy and connect with each other beyond the traditional regional structure of the AOG Chapter Program. Groups can be based on cadet experiences—for example, those alumni who were Wings of Blue, Honor Guard, or Drum and Bugle Corp—or based on shared interests/careers such as small business owners, engineers, pilots, or realtors. There are also identitybased groups such as the current Way of Life and Academy Women Affinity Groups. If you are interested in starting an Affinity Group, please email us at affinity.support@aogusafa.org usafa.org/Group/AffinityPrograms

St. Patrick’s Day Spring Break for the Cadet Wing

APRIL

1 5 9 10 23

Founders Day Easter Sunday

Falcon Heritage Forum Founders Day Dinner at USAFA

Mother’s Day Sale begins at the

AOG Gift Shop and shop.usafa.org

(ends May 8)

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SEA Pavilion POW Memorial

Dedication Ceremony

MAY

1

AOG Board of Directors Meeting Jabara Airmanship Award Dinner

7-8

Service Academy Career Conference,

USAFA MASTER CALENDAR

The AOG has developed an Air Force Academy master calendar of events! Get up to speed on all the important AOG and Academy happenings with USAFA’s most comprehensive master schedule. The easy to navigate search feature allows you to search event listings by specific categories, including interests and geographic region—all with the click of a mouse. usafa.org/calendar

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Washington, D.C.

25 28

Memorial Day Graduation Day

JUNE

8

USAFA Golf Tour, Dayton Classic at NCR Country Club

COMMEMORATIVE

PAVERS Create a lasting legacy! Forever link yourself or a loved one to the proud heritage and traditions of the Air force Academy.

THE AOG OFFERS YOU a unique opportunity to honor the achievements and aspirations of your graduate, in a lasting way. Purchase a commemorative 4�x 8� granite paver to be permanently installed outside of Doolittle Hall on the grounds of the United States Air Force Academy. Each personalized paver tells its own story of hope, achievements and goals.

You decide what sentiment best resonates and describes your Cadet.

A tax-deductible contribution of $250 will directly support the Association of Graduates in carrying out the mission of serving graduates, cadets, parents and the Academy.

To order, visit:

www.usafa.org/Heritage/Pavers

ASSOCIATION OF GRADUATES UNITED STATES AIR FORCE ACADEMY

OUT OF THE NEST THE SERVICE ACADEMY EXCHANGE PROGRAM ALLOWS CADETS TO EXPERIENCE LIFE IN ANOTHER BRANCH OF OUR MILITARY. Interviews by David Bergeman SINCE AT LEAST THE EARLY 1970s, there has been some form of a service academy exchange program (SAEP) between West Point, Annapolis, the Coast Guard Academy, and the Air Force Academy.

In one of the early predecessors of the current SAEP activity, cadets spent just a long weekend absorbing a bit of the culture at another service academy. Not unexpectedly, Air Force legend has it that this short-exposure program was cancelled because Naval Academy midshipmen were allegedly returning to Annapolis depressed after tasting the good life at USAFA, a place they considered the “country club” of the academies.

Setting aside what is most likely this apocryphal history, SAEP today has evolved into a full semester exchange. It takes place each fall term and promotes the interchange of academic, professional and military experiences among the four institutions.

The program helps enrich the bonds of friendship and understanding between the distinct branches of our military services. A spirit of camaraderie and understanding, gained through close personal expe-

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rience, can contribute significantly, now and in the future, to mutual understanding and good relations between the service academies and—by extension— across the four services.

This past fall, seven Air Force Academy cadets spent the semester at West Point, six cadets ventured to Annapolis and five cadets “tested the water” at the Coast Guard Academy. USAFA played host to 17 USMA cadets, five Coast Guard cadets and seven Navy midshipmen.

Following their exchange tours, participating cadets complete an After-Action Report to help improve the process and to articulate insights that can enhance the academy experience—from inspections to privileges to leadership styles.

Checkpoints interviewed several cadets who participated in the program at Army and Navy to get a better understanding of their motivations for participating in SEAP, and to discuss their takeaways from the experience. Without exception, all agreed they came away with a new respect for the diversity of leadership styles they encountered, and for the rich cultures native to the academies they attended.

“

NAVY’S FOOD IS REALLY GOOD. EAST COAST, RIGHT ON THE WATER, SO THEY HAVE CRAB CAKES!

Why leave the Blue Zoo? The most common answer was, “to take advantage of the opportunity to be close to family.” However, that response was always quickly followed by a stated desire to explore the unknown and learn more about themselves and their sister services.

C2C Veronica Morthorpe exchanged to Navy The whole reason I came to the Air Force Academy was to try and find some kind of lifestyle that was far from my comfort zone. Something different.

Something to challenge me. I realized I could meet that huge challenge by putting myself into a completely new environment.

I didn’t know a soul on the East Coast. I’ve only been there once in my life. I was unfamiliar with the people, with how they run things. It’s been all about trying something new. Stepping out of my comfort zone.

C2C Carmela Rourke exchanged to Army It’s a really good experience to see what the culture is like at other academies. It’s something that I’ve always wanted to do. My family is Army, so I knew I wanted to come to West Point. My brother just enlisted. It’s pretty cool to see the kind of environment he might be in and the culture of the people who are going to be leading him. It’s a good way to meet people I’ll be serving with in the future.

C2C Mark “Mac” Caldwell exchanged to Navy I applied at the Naval Academy and I wanted to get some validation that the Air Force Academy was the right choice. I’ve definitely gotten that. I also wanted to broaden my horizons and make some connections with the other services; it’s a joint force now days.

Service Academy Food: Critics’ Choice Overall, the cadets who went to Navy thought the food was a notch above the grub dished up at Mitchell Hall—they hailed the abundance of seafood on the menu. To cadets visiting Army, the culinary quality was equivalent.

C2C Kaylee Kostka exchanged to Army How would I rate Army’s food? Ahhhh, I personally like Air Force’s breakfast better.

That’s just me. It’s all the same.

C2C Erin Giblin exchanged to Navy I used to think Navy’s food was better until the last month. They stopped buying any more food, because the fiscal year hadn’t rolled over or something, so it was really odd combinations of shrimp and random stuff like fried rice and beans at the same time.

Spirit Shenanigans You have to hand it to the cadets at Army, they have perfected the art of good natured ribbing. The middies are purported to be a bit more mild mannered in the prank department.

C2C Jordan Higgins exchanged to Army I had all of my stuff taken. I came back to my room one day and all of my uniforms were gone.

They broke into the locks on my bed … that was pretty impressive actually. Another day they had put packing peanuts all over my bed. For the most part it’s all been in good fun. w

C2C Aaron Mukoda exchanged to Navy Navy’s food is really good. East Coast, right on the water, so they have crab cakes!

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CADET LIFE

C2C Carmela Rourke exchanged to Army The plebes in my company, they filled my room with shredded paper in every drawer, every nook and cranny, all of my pockets had paper in them.

They took all of my uniforms and left me costumes to wear. One of the costumes was a dragoon costume. I had a sequin spangled vest and black pants I had to wear. Another time they took my whole room and put it in the central area.

C2C Joshua Bradley exchanged to Navy Everyone who walked past me, they all knew I’m in the Air Force and they’d ask, ‘What’s that crazy stuff on your shoulder board?’ I’d have to explain our entire rank system. There were a lot of good-natured jokes.

What Will You Carry Back to the Academy?

All of the cadets interviewed were resolute in their desire to bring the lessons learned—good and bad—about the culture, customs and leadership they encountered back to USAFA. They hope this experience will make them better officers, and make the institution a better place to develop leaders of character for the nation.

C2C Aaron Mukoda exchanged to Navy It’s good to learn some of their customs and courtesies. Some of them are different and you don’t want to come off as disrespectful if you are a joint operation leader during your career.

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“

THEY SAY THE AIR FORCE IS SOFT

AND WE DON’T HAVE AS MANY RULES, BUT I THINK IT’S JUST DIFFERENT. WE HAVE FEWER RULES, BUT

WE HAVE MORE TRAINING. THEY

HAVE LESS TRAINING AND MORE RULES.

C2C Veronica Morthorpe exchanged to Navy It feels like they have the same problems we do, but they address it in different ways. The midshipmen are the same people as we are, they do the same stupid things, pull the same shenanigans we cadets pull at USAFA, but in terms of lifestyle, they have different values. They have a different rule structure. They say the Air Force is soft and we don’t have as many rules, but I think it’s just different. We have fewer rules, but we have more training. They have less training and more rules.

We have a different emphasis on leadership than they do. They have different emphasis on followership. In the end, we all reach the same result.

C2C Erin Giblin exchanged to Navy Overall, respect for whatever people have chosen to do with their life. Sometimes I think the playful rivalry between academies can go a little too far. You learn to respect what people have chosen and learn to respect their contribution to the mission.

C2C Kemal Baksh exchanged to Navy The number one take away is that there is more than one way to skin a cat, for a lack of a better phrase. There are definitely different ways to do things. This has gotten me out of the mindset that, “This is how we do it because it’s tradition and that’s the way it’s always been.” Navy has an effective brigade and I can take away a lot of their policies and the way they do things in regard to rules and bring it back to USAFA. C2C Joshua Bradley exchanged to Navy Coming back to the Air Force Academy, I have a job to do. At the Naval Academy they are very focused on getting midshipmen ready for the fleet. The Academy is really focused on getting us ready for the operational Air Force, but seeing it from two different perspectives has helped me to realize, “Wow, I’ve got a job coming up here, and that job is what I need to be preparing myself for right now.”

C2C Mark “Mac” Caldwell exchanged to Navy My biggest takeaway is that we do a lot of things right at the Academy, but we need to communicate more. Having open lines of communication among the service academies will help perfect how we do things and help ensure we’re developing leaders of character and not just on paper.

C2C Carmela Rourke exchanged to Army There are a lot of different leadership styles out there, especially among cadets who are trying to develop their leadership styles.

When I’m a firstie next year I’ll keep in mind that not everyone is going to lead the way I think they should lead. Also, do your research. Know your history. We came from the Army. So this whole experience has been a good way for me to see where some of our traditions come from. As much grief as they give us for being Air Force, it’s been a great experience.

C2C Jordan Higgins exchanged to Army I knew coming from high school to Air Force that I could be adaptable—that I could go into a new situation and succeed. I showed up and I was really worried about getting terrible grades and I ended up doing alright. This experience has shown me that too. It definitely shows you that going from assignment to assignment I will be able to adapt and I can still do well no matter what situation I’m put in.

C2C Kaylee Kostka exchanged to Army The biggest take away that I will get out of this experience is that there is more than one side of the story. There are more ways to look at the battlefield. There are more angles to look at rather than just, “Oh, this is how the Air Force views it from above.” Take in the joint view.

Next Year As the reader digests this wide range of opinions expressed by those cadets returning from the exchange program, other cadets are getting ready to follow in their footsteps.

This winter, in fact, 49 motivated applicants are interviewing for 25 available fall spots in this unique program. To be considered for a slot, an applicant must be a rising second-classman who has been endorsed by his or her respective Air Officer Commanding. Military performance appraisal, physical education average and grade point average are also taken into consideration as indicators that assure the selected cadets have what it takes to adapt and succeed in a unique, new environment.

While deliberations move toward the inevitable selection of exchange program participants for fall 2015, our Academy, our sister academies, and the wider military community can take comfort in the fact that SAEP is alive, well, and paying dividends in camaraderie and mutual understanding for the future.

Checkpoints

March 2015

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Pathways to

x E

e c n e l l ce

A letter from Lt. Gen. Michelle Johnson ’81, USAFA Superintendent

F

ellow Graduates, It’s hard to believe we are close to wrapping up the spring semester and are quickly approaching graduation day for the Class of 2015. When I wrote to you last spring, I described the challenges USAFA was facing and explained the steps we were taking in the right direction, perhaps obscured sometimes by the negative headlines. As an institution, we have stepped up to the challenges of the day and taken strides to make continuous improvement our habit—but we still have more work to do!

During this historic time, we must refine how we do business while staying true to who we are. All of us live in a more complex environment than it was 60 years ago. The Air Force took notice and has developed a new 30-year strategy—our Academy is well nested with the Secretary and Chief ’s message and the future of the Air Force. This strategy acknowledges the Air Force must adopt a culture of agility and inclusiveness that embraces diversity of thought.

This culture integrates into our profession of arms with its joint, networked, global nature and requires renewed commitment from our cadets, faculty, and staff—all of us.

This is a turning point for USAFA … we are 60 years young, though our mission remains the same. You’ve heard me talk about what the Air Force’s Academy does—our Essence. This past year we’ve been working on how we deliver. This started with publishing a Commander’s Intent—a “roadmap” to improving the USAFA experience. This intent outlined three lines of effort: 1) foster a culture of commitment and climate of respect for all, 2) innovation and integration through unity of effort and our Pathways to Excellence, and 3) refine our processes and improve communication.

This first line of effort focuses on designing cadet experiences to increase commitment to serving our nation, the Air Force and its Core Values, the Academy, and each other. The Center for Character and Leadership Development is adjusting to better integrate these efforts across every cadet, faculty and staff experience. They’re preparing to grow into their new building between Harmon and Arnold Halls that will provide a state-of-the-art meeting place under a 105 foot glass skylight tower aligned to Polaris—the star symbolizing our true north since the Academy’s inception. This facility will be the conduit to USAFA’s in-reach and outreach to the AF and the nation. It’s changing our skyline and will take its rightful place alongside our iconic chapel.

However, more importantly than the outward appearance is what takes place inside the building. w

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On January 23, 2015, workers “topped out” the glass skylight tower at the U.S. Air Force Academy’s Center for Character and Leadership Development in Colorado. With the frame complete, work will now begin the process of attaching more than 110 tons of glass to the structure.

We are 60 years young, but I’m reminded that it’s not 1954, or 1981, or even 2010; therefore, we need modern, relevant leadership to help us navigate through this complex environment and help us deal with new challenges.

Our objective is to make this an internal integration forum and one day, the premier leadership and character development resource for not just the Air Force, but for the nation as well. The ribbon-cutting ceremony is scheduled for fall 2015 and I can’t wait to be a part of that ground-breaking moment; however, the skylight tower is just the beginning. For expectation management, we must take a long view and use this milestone as a building block to start the conversation.

Part of improving how we do what we do, requires innovation and integration, which is the second line of effort. I know there are many fresh, modern ideas ready to hatch at the Academy. Hence, we’ve been working to open lines of communication across and through mission elements to ensure we capitalize on the spirit of innovation while embodying unity of effort—we must all focus on the same sight picture.

Our Pathways to Excellence initiative—a small think-tank-like team from all mission elements—is working in full force. This team is innovating ways to create the most effective experience for our cadets, while remaining true to our Essence. The Pathways team has been making great strides by leveraging what we’re already doing and implementing new opportunities to broaden our interaction with the Air Force of the future.

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One example of a new opportunity that builds on the exchange program we have with other Service Academies and higher ed institutions here and abroad, is an ROTC Exchange program we established this spring. We sent one cadet each for one semester to: University of Texas San Antonio, Arizona State University, and the University of South Florida. These are top-ranked ROTC detachments that have collaborated with us to match skills and experience with developmental opportunities. Our cadets were placed in various leadership positions and living arrangements to provide a unique experience that we feel will foster increased commitment and maturity, while enabling them to serve as ambassadors for USAFA. In fact, Cadet Faimon has joined the student body leadership council at UTSA and had the opportunity to be part of a meeting with the Under Secretary of Education, Ted Mitchell.

In the fall, we’re working to have ROTC exchange cadets visit USAFA for a semester. We realize the program is small and it won’t grow beyond a dozen or so cadets, however, this opportunity along with the numerous other opportunities we already offer provides a menu of options for cadets to better develop their responsibility, maturity, and commitment to our institution.

Indeed, the ROTC Exchange program is being augmented by other innovations. For example, we are examining ways we can better leverage cadet time by offering evening classes.

We’re finding ways to place more responsibility on the cadets by giving them more freedom with new pass packages. These initiatives require cadets to practice making good choices and in turn, respond and behave like officers. Holding our cadets accountable has proven to be a good return on our investment— they’re stepping up and making smart decisions.

Our third line of effort is finding ways to modernize our processes and improve communication. As alumni, you are aware of how crucial it is to have a positive partnership with USAFA. This is why institutional decisions need to be clearly communicated and activities aligned to the Academy’s priorities. Naming legislation is a way to allow us to leverage interests of alumni and recognize your contributions to our Margin of Excellence. More importantly, we are working together with the AOG, UE, and AFAAC to update our processes to ensure we get things done the right way and in a timely manner.

The crux of my Commander’s Intent is to focus on how we can make this institution better on all fronts. We are 60 years young, but I’m reminded that it’s not 1954, or 1981, or even 2010; therefore, we need modern, relevant leadership to help us navigate through this complex environment and help us deal with new challenges.

This is why I’m pleased to introduce our newest teammate and athletic director, Mr. Jim Knowlton. He was the Athletic Director at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute for seven years and prior to that, Jim served as deputy and interim Athletic Director at West Point. He’s one of us now, and I look forward to the fresh perspective he will bring along with his business savvy in NCAA athletics.

This is a new era; and NCAA sports have evolved. Competition is part of our Essence—cadets compete not just in

NCAA sports, but in intramurals and cadet clubs. Yes, we like to win, but we must win with character. Jim is on board with our ethos of winning while upholding our core values. He understands that cadet-athletes are cadets first and must be developed as future Air Force leaders. I can’t wait to see the positive transformation in our athletic department under Jim’s leadership. If you’re in the neighborhood, please stop by and give him a warm welcome!

As we carry the torch of Lt. Gen. Harmon’s vision of our Academy, we must remember to build on it and make it better. In order to do this, we must ensure that what we do is modern, relevant, and remains flexible to our unique and ever-changing environment. Our nation’s population has doubled since the inception of USAFA—the demographics of our nation are changing … the world is changing. So, we must remain relevant. To reinforce what I said when I first took command of USAFA, we will remain focused on our mission—to produce graduates who are effective military officers and educated citizens for our nation, proud of their accomplishments, yet without hubris; confident, yet with humility to listen; resilient to conquer adversity and emerge stronger, with respect for human dignity within themselves and others. Trust that 99% of our cadets are getting it right. This past semester, the Cadet Wing scored the best GPAs in 20 years and athletic probations are down 56% compared to the last 10-year averages.

I challenge you as fellow graduates to be advocates for our Academy—be our emissaries and tell our story. I thank you for your continued support of our cadets, our mission, and this great institution. I’m proud of what we’re doing and look forward to seeing what the next year will bring!

Checkpoints

March 2015

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SERVING OUR NATION

T

Our Calling, Core Values and Commitments he 2015 National Character and Leadership Symposium (NCLS) brought another stellar collection of speakers to the Academy to share their stories of leadership and character development with cadets and visitors alike.

Chief Master Sgt. of the Air Force James Cody opened the symposium on Feb. 26 by encouraging cadets to be prepared to lead the enlisted corp.

“When you graduate, you are going to be leaders among leaders,” Cody said. “The nearly 400,000 enlisted men and women of our Air Force will look to you as their leaders, and they expect you to lead them.”

The conference certainly had a diverse array of speakers and issues this year. One of the more unique sessions was “Outside the Wire.” Professional actors

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were joined by cadets to perform a dramatic reading of scenes from Sopholcles’ play “Philoctetes.”

Philoctetes was a Greek soldier and master archer.

In its time, this drama was performed as a method of ritual reintegration for combat veterans. Nearly 17,000 citizen soldiers watched the play during the 5th century BC, a time of prolonged war for the Greeks. “Philoctetes” is the story of a decorated warrior who is abandoned by his comrades on a deserted island after he contracts a chronic illness on the way to the Trojan War. The play was a keenly crafted tool to help soldiers confront the psychological scars of warfare after returning from battle.

Cadets were also treated to a story of perseverance and triumph in the face of adversity as Mr.

John Dau, one of the original Lost Boys of Sudan, recounted his captivating life story. Dau was displaced from his family in 1987 when fighters from the Arab military government began an ethnic cleansing campaign against the minorities of South Sudan. After fleeing into the desert the night his village was attacked, Dau and four other boys lived on the brink of death during a three-month trek across the African wilderness to the neighboring country of Ethiopia. The Lost Boys spent over a decade living as refugees, eventually ending up in Kenya where Dau, at the age of 17, began his very first day of school. In the years to follow, he was selected to emigrate to the United States where he worked three jobs to put himself through Syracuse University. Today, Mr. Dau is a social entrepreneur whose foundations have raised over $3 million in support of a clinic which provides hope for the citizens of his war-torn home of South Sudan.

The trails of perseverance continued to be explored in the lecture of Detective Steven McDonald, a New York City police officer who was shot by a teenager in 1987. Paralyzed from the neck down and forced to breathe using a respirator, McDonald underwent intensive rehabilitation to piece the fragments of his life back together. Mere months after the incident, the detective shocked the world by announcing that he had forgiven his assailant, conveying a message that anger, hate and resentment are far more devastating than any form of physical injury. Today, he travels the nation providing inspiration to police departments and military service members alike.

Former Dallas Cowboy, A-10 Thunderbolt II pilot, and combat veteran Chad Hennings ’88 shared his experience of being drafted into the NFL, but having to wait to fulfill that lifelong dream, and the character building that went along with that episode. After being cut by the Cowboys in 2001, Hennings spoke about a crisis of identity. From that experience, he learned it wasn’t the things he had done that made him, it was his character.

“Life is not static,” Hennings told the audience, “If you’re stagnant you have already lost. Constantly be striving to better yourself in regard to your family relationships, potentially your future spouse, your kids, and also things professionally. That process doesn’t stop when you retire [or] graduate from the Air Force Academy, it’s a lifelong process.”

Rear Admiral Brian Losey ’83, commander of the Naval Special Warfare Command in Coronado, Calif., gave a compelling lecture that touched on the challenges the nation is facing in the war

against terror, and addressed his philosophy in leading individuals with different generational values and characteristics.

“What is character in and of itself?” Losey asked.

“I usually get a descriptor like doing the right thing when nobody is looking. Or, conversely, character is doing the right thing when everybody is looking.

I tried to look it up, but the dictionary is not very good at defining it in our context. I believe in our context character is the aggregation of qualities, traits and values that are reflected in behavior. The behavior of a group, the behavior of an individual.”

The closing ceremony was keynoted by the honorable Allison Hickey ’80, currently the Under Secretary for Benefits in the Department of Veterans Affairs, who was presented with the 2015 USAFA Character & Leadership Award. The theme of Hickey’s speech was to “learn to be uncomfortable.” Hickey detailed some of her experiences as a cadet in the first class with women. Her doolie year, she led a charge to change

Above: Mr. John Dau speaks about his experience as one of 27,000 “Lost Boys of Sudan.”

Right: Detective Steven McDonald, who was shot and nearly killed while serving the NYPD, shared a message of forgiveness.

Checkpoints

March 2014

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FROM THE TERRAZZO

the uniforms that women were issued, and subsequently her changes were made across the entire Air Force. However, there was push back to that change among her peers at the Academy, forcing her to deal with adversity head-on—a skill that has served her well across a very distinguished career.

“Push through the uncomfortable feelings, do the right thing even if it gets the you-know-what kicked out of you,” Hickey said. “Don’t listen to hecklers and don’t be a heckler, engage in uncomfortable conversations. Jump in with all that you’ve got and stay in with all that you’ve got even when it gets more uncomfortable. Remain unwaveringly focused on both the goal and your people when things get very uncomfortable.

You can achieve great success in great challenges, no wobbly knees. Remember, I’ll say it again, seven times, seven different ways, true leadership emerges in the moments that make us feel most uncomfortable.”

The 2015 National Character and Leadership Symposium had it all—a unique blend of personal and professional trials, tragedy and triumph that both excited and educated its audience in equal measure.

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The Honorable Allison A. Hickey ’80, current Under Secretary for Benefits in the Department of Veterans Affairs, spoke about the power uncomfortable moments have to develop true leadership.

“The conference was very eye opening,” explained C4C Robert Peabody. “There were so many great ideas and philosophies shared with us—from both military and community leaders. It was very valuable to hear their insights because we are developing as leaders ourselves.”

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PREPARING TOMORROW’S LEADERS A non-profit organization dedicated to providing preparatory education and inspiring adult mentoring to young adults who are interested in exploring or pursuing attendance at a United States Service Academy.

www.HonorCamps.com (304) 579-7777

U.S. Military Academy

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U.S. Air Force Academy

WORTH1000 WORDS The Garden of the Gods dons its winter cloak of fluffy white snow after a weekend of winter storms blustered their way through Colorado Springs on February 20-22. After three straight days of continual snow, the weather system finally begins to break apart, revealing a brilliant display of sapphire skies.

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ASSOCIATION OF GRADUATES UNITED STATES AIR FORCE ACADEMY

THE AOG IS PLEASED TO ANNOUNCE THE RESULTS OF THE 2015 ELECTION OF DIRECTORS Jack Fry ’67 and Kathleen Rock ’98 have been elected to their second terms of office. Wally Moorhead ’69, Larry New ’76, Steve Mueller ’79 and Tamra Rank ’83 have been elected for their first term.

All six will begin their next term on1 May 2015, the next regularly scheduled Board meeting. Two incumbents were re-elected and four are new to the Board.

A military epic that chronicles the birth of the U.S. Air Force Academy, a Foundation of Honor. The arduous training of America’s future leaders as they prepare to serve, from the jungles of Vietnam to the deserts of the Middle East. “The Cadet” is an accurate, historical saga of the Academy, populated with sympathetic, larger-thanlife characters and immersed in rich period details.

“Timeless and absorbing. Beason’s attention-to-detail, woven with high-stakes drama, provides an astonishing and authentic portrayal of the military academy experience. If you really want to know the rigors, the demands, and the joys of what it’s like to be a cadet, this book’s for you!”

—Jerry Pournelle New York Times bestselling author, Nebula and Hugo winner

www.wordfirepress.com Your purchase of “The Cadet” will help further the mission of the Association of Graduates. Mr. Beason will donate a portion of the proceeds to the AOG.

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BONUS CONTENT

FORCE SHAPING and its Potential Financial Consequences Written by William Jarrett Little ’08

For most of us who graduate from USAFA, we look forward to a long and successful career in the Air Force. Some of us plan to “five and dive” and return to civilian time after our five years of service.

Depending on your career plans, “force shaping” can be a welcome chance to end your military career, or something that can derail your plans. Regardless of your plans for your military career, the truth is that in a world of increasingly tightening budgets, reductions in force are not going anywhere any time soon. If you are involuntary separated prior to the completion of your five years of service, there are potential financial consequences that could have a major impact on your life moving forward.

WHAT DID I COMMIT TO? We all know that we incur a five-year active duty service commitment when we graduate and we’ve all heard the stories that you are “committed” the day you show up for your first class two degree year. In the legal sense, your commitment begins the day you inprocess to the Academy. Most of us probably don’t remember (I know I don’t) but the day you inprocess you sign a document called a “Record of Acceptance, Obligation, Reimbursement, and Oath of Allegiance.”

This document governs your commitments to the Air Force during your cadet career as well as after you graduate. It requires you to serve in the military for eight years from the date you are accepted as a cadet and for five years after graduation. If you’re curi-

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ous about exactly what the documents says, you can request a copy of the one you signed from the Air Force Personnel Center.

WHAT HAPPENS IF I AM DISCHARGED EARLY? If you are discharged prior to completion of your five years of Active Duty service, there is a chance that the government may be entitled to recoup the costs of any educational benefits you have received. This is referred to as Advanced Education Assistance Recoupment (AEAR). If the Air Force elects to pursue AEAR after you are discharged, you will receive written notice of its intent to do so. This usually occurs around the time you will receive your separation orders and your DD FORM 214 which are the documents that officially make you a civilian. The letter will include an accounting of the amount you owe along with methods of payment. The government generally calculates that your USAFA education cost it approximately $165,000. The Air Force will take the amount of time you spent on Active Duty and apply that to total amount of your education. For instance, if you served exactly two and a half of your five years, then you would owe half of the cost of your education or roughly $87,500. The government will usually offer a payment plan that requires you to make monthly payments of $2,000-$2,500. This can be an insurmountable financial burden for some people and it is worth noting that this debt is generally non-dischargeable if

you file for bankruptcy. If you do not make any payments, the government may begin to garnish your wages or intercept your tax refunds.

THE LAW GOVERNING YOUR OBLIGATION TO REPAY Advanced Education Assistance Recoupment is governed by 10 U.S.C. § 2005 which is a federal law enacted

by Congress. It states that the Secretary of each service branch may require a person to enter into an agreement as a condition to receiving educational benefits. It also states that if a person subject to such an agreement does not complete the required term of service for any reason, that person will be required to repay the costs of his or her education. However, the statute was amended on January 6, 2006. Prior to the amendment, the law stated that a person would only be required to repay their educational assistance if they were discharged “voluntarily or because of misconduct.” The law that was in effect at the time when you signed your agreement with the Air Force is the law that controls your agreement. So if you signed your agreement prior to January 6, 2006, the government is only entitled to collect the costs of your USAFA education if you are discharged voluntarily or for misconduct.

Unfortunately, if you were discharged after that date, the government is likely entitled to recoup its educational costs regardless of the reason for your discharge.

WHAT IS CONSIDERED “VOLUNTARY OR FOR MISCONDUCT?” 10 U.S.C. § 2005 does not define misconduct. When a law is unclear on a certain point it is usually up to a court to resolve the ambiguity in the law. A large portion of the junior officers being force shaped are those who have failed to complete their Initial Skills Training. This includes all the rated officer schools (pilot, navigator, air battle manager, etc.) as well as the non rated technical schools. The government has attempted to classify a failure to complete initial skills training as misconduct. However the federal court held United States v. Gears that a lack of motivation or a lack of aptitude, does not qualify as misconduct under the law. In that case, a Naval Academy Midshipman was disenrolled from the Naval Academy for failure to meet physical standards. The Navy argued that a failure to do so qualified as misconduct because staying in shape was part of Gears’s assigned duties which he failed to fulfill. The court held that Gears attempted to meet standards and failed, and that this was a lack of motivation or aptitude, not misconduct. The most important pieces of information in determining whether you were discharged for misconduct are your separation code which appears on your separation orders, and the Chapter under which you are separated. The Air Force has different regulations for separating officers for different reasons. There is a regulation that is used to discharge an officer under force shaping, just like there is a regulation for discharging an officer

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BONUS CONTENT

for misconduct. If the Air Force cited the force shaping regulation as the authority for your separation, it is likely precluded from saying that you were discharged for misconduct because if you were being discharged for misconduct, it would be required to use that regulation.

Just like 10 U.S.C. § 2005 does not define misconduct, nor does it define voluntariness. Voluntariness becomes an issue when a person leaves their initial skills training because they decide they’d like to take a different path in their career. That person usually Drops on Request (DORs) from the Initial Skills Training and requests to be reassigned. In some cases they are, and in others the Air Force chooses to discharge them early. Sometimes the government chooses to recoup its education costs from these people. The important consideration here is the intent behind the DOR and the knowledge of its consequences. According to case law, voluntariness is defined as “a chosen course of conduct that an officer knows will, or could have reasonably foreseen could, produce a separation.” That means that if you knew that you would be separated, or that it was highly likely that you would be separated when you DORed, your discharge would be voluntary. This usually hinges on what sort of documents you were required to sign or what counseling you were given when you chose to DOR. WHAT SHOULD I DO IF THIS HAPPENS TO ME? The most important thing you can do if you find yourself in this situation is to be proactive. The first thing you can do is to begin exhausting all of your administrative remedies. This includes filing a Waiver/Remission request with the Air Force finance office at Ellsworth AFB, writing to the Defense Finance Accounting Service to challenge the debt immediately after you receive your notification letter, or challenging any wage garnishment proceedings the Department of the Treasury may take against you.

Unfortunately, most of these will be unsuccessful. These organizations who are collecting the debt generally do not have the authority to assess the validity of the decision to assign the debt to you in the first place, but can only verify that it was assigned properly and that the amount is correct.

The reason all these things must be done is to get to your best chance to have your situation rectified. That is the

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Air Force Board for the Correction of Military Records.

This is a board that sits at Andrews AFB in Washington, D.C. and advises the Secretary of the Air Force when a member’s records need to be changed. The board will not consider your request if you have not first exhausted all administrative remedies which is why it is crucial that you do so before you file your request. It is also crucial to do so quickly because the board has a three-year statute of limitations. That means that you have three years from the date you are notified of the debt to file your request with the board.

The best way to handle all of this is to hire an attorney. The procedures and legal arguments that need to be made to win your case are very complicated. The discussion in this article merely scratches the surface of the rules and regulations as well as the case law that governs all of these issues. It can be overwhelming for a layperson but with an experienced attorney in your corner you have a fighting chance at winning your case.

I am a USAFA graduate from the Class of 2008. I attended JUPT at Whiting Field in Milton, FL where I was eliminated from training. After being eliminated, the Air Force attempted to recoup my USAFA education costs, which were approximately $92,000.00. It took almost four years to rectify the government’s error in my case but finally in May of 2014 the BCMR found that I should not have been required to repay the government for the costs of my education and all monies that had been seized from me were returned and the debt was removed from my credit report.

During those four years I went to law school at the Mississippi College School of Law where I graduated with honors. I currently continue to serve in the military as a Combat Engineer Officer with the Mississippi Army National Guard. I am licensed to practice law in all State and Federal courts in Mississippi. I am currently an associate at the firm of Lentz & Little, P.A. located in Gulfport, Mississippi where I primarily handle creditor/ debtor, bankruptcy, and commercial litigation. I would invite you to please give me a call for a free consultation if anything in this article applies to you. I promise that I will work diligently to ensure that your case gets the attention it needs to ensure that best possible outcome for you. God bless, BEAT ARMY, AND SINK NAVY!

Celebrate at Doolittle Hall PRIVATE PARTIES . RECEPTIONS . MEETINGS 719.472.0300

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WORTH1000 WORDS Winter has certainly made its presence known this year. A series of powerful storms have dropped considerable amounts of snow throughout the spring semester. Each weather system has painted the Academy in its own unique version of white. During this February storm, every tree on campus became a delicate ice sculpture created by a mixture of snow and frozen mist.

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WORTH1000 WORDS Winter has certainly made its presence known this year in a succession of storms which have dumped substantial amounts of snow throughout the spring semester. Campus life carries on as ususal despite the freezing temperatures and slippery conditions.

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Mouth Watering Recipes by Grads, for Grads Breakfast can be sweet too! This edition of the Off the Menu contains a healthy waffle mix that can’t be beat. Thank you to all of our loyal readers who have made the Long Blue Ladle a success with their sumptous submissions!

Oatmeal Buttermilk Waffles

By Chef Larry McLaughlin, Class of 1963

Ingredients • 2 cups rolled oats (I use quick oats) • 2 cups buttermilk • 3 large eggs, lightly beaten • 1/2 stick (2 ounces) butter, melted (I use 3 Tablespoons) • 1 teaspoon soda • 1/2 cup flour • 1/4 cup milk or yogurt Directions 1. Combine the oatmeal and buttermilk in a nonreactive bowl and let rest, covered, overnight in refrigerator.

2. The following day, stir in the beaten egg and the melted butter. Combine the dry ingredients and fold them in. Stir in milk until mixture is smooth and creamy.

3. Cook in preheated waffle iron according to manufacturer’s instructions, about 5 to 6 minutes, until crisp and brown on the outside.

4. Makes approximately 12 medium waffles.

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Image courtesy of www.wizard.co.za

Gone But Not Forgotten Edward W. Leonard, Jr., ’60 Ed died in the Portland VA Medical Center on Nov. 11th, 2014, at age 76 from pulmonary fibrosis and congestive heart failure. Shot down on Memorial Day, he thought it fitting to check out on Veterans’ Day. He was born in Portland, Ore. and lived his youth in Winlock, Wash.

He graduated from Winlock Public High School where he played football and basketball and ran track. He was an Eagle Scout, served on the yearbook staff, was selected for Boy’s State and elected as his class Vice President.

After graduation and pilot training, his first assignments were to fly more than 5,000 hours in the C-130 Hercules at Rhein-Main AB, Germany (1961-63) and Dyess AFB, Texas (1963-67). Ed volunteered for combat in Southeast Asia (SEA) flying the A-1 Skyraider. Stationed at Udorn RTAFB, Thailand (1967-68), he flew 257 combat missions including 18 search-andrescue (SAR) flights.

After 13 months in SEA, he was shot down for the second time during a SAR operation. He ejected from his Skyraider over the jungles of Laos and evaded the enemy for three days trying to rendezvous with his “to be rescued” pilot (who Ed Leonard was), but was eventually captured.

As the senior ranking officer, his camp discipline and clandestine religious services brought hope and sustenance to his POW-mates but harsh torture to himself, including three and a half years of solitary confinement. Shortly after the Son Tay raid, the Laotian prisoners were transferred to the less brutal “Plantation” prison in Hanoi.

During “Operation Homecoming” even Ed’s release from captivity in 1973 was special. The surviving Laotian POW officers were held back from the general release, eliciting the direct involvement of President Nixon to garner it. As the result of his captivity, Ed had both knees, both hips and one shoulder eventually replaced, not to mention his stop at Clark to have his teeth replaced enroute to the U.S. In addition his back was broken three times and his sternum was fractured which caused significant problems over his lifetime, but never once did anyone hear a single complaint!

Ed attended Air Command and Staff College at Maxwell AFB, Ala. (1973-74) where he earned his MPA degree, then into RF-4Cs at RAF Mildenhall, England (1974-78). His last assignment was to Bergstrom AFB, Texas where he was medically retired in 1980 as a lieutenant colonel.

After earning his law degree from Texas University in 1982, he served as a prosecutor for the Texas Insurance Department and then moved to Ilwaco, Wash. where he served as a defense attorney and was elected mayor for one term. The saga of how Ed and his wife, Suzanne, whom he met on a cadet field trip in 1957, finally married each other in 1993 after

For more current information about graduate deaths, please visit the AOG web site. www.usafa.org.

If you know of a graduate’s death, please notify the AOG as soon as possible. There have been cases in which the association was not informed in a timely manner.

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36 years of star-crossed efforts, is uniquely memorable and too complex to include here, but culminated in 21 enviable years of marriage.

Ed’s USAF awards include four Silver Stars, the Legion of Merit, three Distinguished Flying Crosses, the Bronze Star, 21 Air Medals and two Purple Hearts. He is survived by his love, Suzanne; his daughters Tracy Turi, Paige Matyus and Supawn Sullivan; sons Marty Kaufmann and Don Forman; sister Karen Ray; nieces Joni LaFave and Bobbi Selig, seven grandchildren and many wonderful cousins.

While his accomplishments were many, Ed absolutely cherished his contribution to the rescue of “his” downed pilots and the repatriation of collaborating enlisted POWs, all directly due to his strength, courage and leadership, for which he paid a terrible price, but never regretted for a moment. Ed’s interment will be at the Air Force Academy on April 24th at 1400. He was a man filled with wit, wisdom, laughter and love -- truly Nulli Secundus! (George Luck, Jim Glaza and Suzanne Leonard)

Robert D. DeBerry, ’62 Robert (Bob) David DeBerry, age 74, consummate husband, father, friend, patriot, gentleman and RTB, passed away on Dec. 14, 2014, at the Bruce McCandless Colorado State Veterans Home in Florence, Colo.

Bob had lived there almost three years battling complications from Lewy Body Dementia, diagnosed by the VA as a deplorable result of Agent Orange exposure during his three Southeast Asia (SEA) deployments. While there, Bob faced his difficulties with bravery and no complaints, as was his courageous nature throughout his life.

Bob was in 6th, 11th and 10th Squadrons during his Academy years. He’s remembered by friends and classmates as an amiable, easy-going South Carolina native with a quick smile, a spirited nature and a fine sparkle of wit. He participated in several sports, including Lacrosse for Tiger 10 , plus enjoyed Bob DeBerry bowling, racket ball, squash, golf and playing his guitar throughout his life. He also maintained a lifelong interest in science and history, especially the Civil War. A late-occurring lapse in eyesight halted his plans for pilot training, so after graduation Bob trained in Intelligence at Sheppard AFB and served as an Intelligence Officer at Cannon AFB from 1962-65. From Cannon, he deployed twice to SEA, once in 1963 as an Ops Intel Officer at Takhli AB, Thailand, and again from August to December in 1964 as SOG Planning and Targeting Officer for HQ 2nd Air Division at Tan Son Nhut AB, Vietnam.

A PCS assignment came in Jan 1965 to the Foreign Technology Division at Wright-Patterson AFB, followed by his final trip to Vietnam in Nov ’66 to Apr ’67 as Director of Intelligence with the 14th Air Commando Wing at Nha Trang AB. His escalating duties in SEA affirmed his importance to the war effort, and in 1966 Bob was awarded the Bronze Star for exceptionally meritorious wartime service. His other awards included the Air Force Commendation Medal, National Defense Service Medal and Vietnam Service Medal.

After Vietnam, Bob had a year’s training in Engineering Range Management with AFIT, then worked at the USAF Eastern Test Range at Patrick AFB until he left the Air Force in 1969. In civilian life, he worked as a Site and Program Manager for Sperry Corporation in three different locations, earned an MBA in Executive Computer Management at National University and UNLV, and worked as a Senior Systems Engineer,

Senior Quality Administrator, and Scientific Specialist with EG&G in Las Vegas. His last job was as a Computer Security Specialist with Bechtel Nevada, a position he held and enjoyed until he retired in 2003. His retirement was later tragically marred by onset of Lewy Body Dementia, leading to a move from Nevada to Colorado and subsequent admission to the VA facility in Florence.

Robert David DeBerry is survived by his wife of 22 years, Georgie Ann DeBerry; daughter Kapri Elizabeth DeBerry, sons Christopher David DeBerry and Daniel James Kovach, and many close family members.

By his request, he was interred with military honors in his home town of Sumter, S.C. The Original Red Tags of the Class of 1962 mourn the loss of Bob DeBerry, our valiant brother, whose dedication and service in his younger years led to his fatal disease and ultimate loss of life for his country.

His departure reminds us once again of the passage of time, the aging of our class, the dubious derivatives of war and the significance of lifetime camaraderie. Bob, we RTBs salute you.

The family requests any memorial donations be made in Bob’s name to the Air Warrior Courage Foundation, affiliate of The Red River Valley Fighter Pilots Association, aka River Rats, with info at www.river-rats. org. (Bob Felts, ’62 RTB classmate)

Charles W. Beattie, ’67 Charles Walter Beattie, 70, was taken way too soon from his beloved family and devoted friends by sudden cardiac arrest at his home in North Carolina on Nov. 6, 2014.

Chuck was born to Walt and Mary Beattie in Middletown, Ohio on Aug. 11, 1944. Chuck’s sister Jinnie recalls Chuck first learned about the brand new Air Force Academy at age 10, set his sights on gaining an appointment, and never wavered, joining the Class of 1967.

Throughout the Academy years and afterwards, his classmates remember the unique brand of humor that was both hilarious and irreverent without a hint of meanness. One felt highly honored to be the target of Chuck’s outlandish mock insults.

Classmates fondly recall Chuck’s achievements on the “fields of friendly strife” as a fiercely competitive athlete.

This was especially evident in intramuChuck Beattie ral football and varsity lacrosse. Chuck was proud to have been a part of the first USAFA Varsity Lacrosse Team in 1967.

After graduating in June 1967, newly-minted 2nd Lt. Beattie reported to pilot training at Laughlin AFB, Del Rio, Texas. Upon earning his silver wings in 1968, Chuck served as a C-130 aircraft commander with the 37th Tactical Airlift Squadron, Langley AFB, Va. Between 1971 and 1973 he was assigned to Ching Chaun Kang (CCK) Airbase, Taiwan, where he served as a C-130 aircraft commander, instructor pilot and flight evaluation officer with the 374th Tactical Airlift Wing providing tactical airlift support for U.S. military operations in Vietnam.

Chuck met his future bride, Paula Reid, in 1969 at Langley AFB in Hampton Va. After his tour in SEA they were married in 1972 and their son Mark was born in 1979.

Chuck left active duty in 1972, joined the Air Force Reserve flying C-130s and the Electra, Boeing 727 and DC-9 for Eastern Airlines from 1973 through 1979. He flew the Airbus for U.S. Airways until he retired in August 2004.

During his commercial flying years Chuck continued his Air Force Reserve career progressing through the ranks to Squadron Commander, transitioning to the C-141 and ultimately retiring as a colonel in 1993.

Among his decorations are the Distinguished Flying Cross, Meritorious Service Medal, and the Air Medal with three Oak Leaf Clusters. He was a 1989 graduate of the Industrial College of the Armed Forces.

Chuck’s lacrosse experience at the Academy fostered a lifelong love of lacrosse. He helped establish a youth lacrosse league in Northern Virginia. He also established the Czech American Lacrosse Foundation that helped sponsor the Czech national teams to World Lacrosse Games in 1994 and 1998.

In 2005 Chuck and Paula moved from their home in Alexandria, Va. to their retirement dream home in Oriental, N.C. There Captain Chuck and First Mate Paula enjoyed many peaceful sunset cruises on the waterways outside their door. Chuck’s idea of retirement was definitely not to the rocking chair. He was tireless and passionate pursuing blacksmithing (yes, that’s right, blacksmithing!) out of the very professionally equipped shop he built.

Networks of devoted friends that reach over the decades and around the globe fondly remember Chuck. Upon learning of his passing, Chuck’s Academy classmates (The 1967 “Golden Boys”) traded emails for days telling “Chuck stories” illustrating his unique sense of humor and larger-than-life personality. At a celebration of his life in early December in Arlington Va., “Chuck stories” flowed through an afternoon of laughter and tears. These outpourings in the wake of Chuck’s passing reflected the deep affection and respect he earned among his fellow cadets, colleagues, neighbors and family. (By Chuck’s wife, Paula, with contributions from his many devoted friends.)

Robert J. Connolly, ’67 Robert James Connolly died in his sleep on Dec. 29, 2014 at the VA Hospital in Brockton, Mass. He had been hospitalized for several months for a lingering illness that he battled courageously and confidently to the very end. Those of us who had a chance to talk with Bob during his last months were amazed and inspired by his continuing grit and humor, so characteristic of the man we’d known, cared for and laughed with for so many years. He was laid to rest on the cold day of Jan. 6, 2015 at the Massachusetts National Cemetery in Cape Cod. After 1967, anyone who ever met Bob came to understand that no one ever was more proud to have graduated from USAFA than Bob. He spoke of the Academy almost reverently, treasuring being an alumnus as the crown jewel of his life.

Learning of these feelings might momentarily surprise many of Bob’s squadron mates and friends who remember his seemingly casual attitude toward Academy discipline and standards. Any Bob Connolly such initial surprise, however, turns to fuller and deeper recollection of our classmate whose lifelong pride in our shared Academy experience was evident in so much else about him: his passion to fly; his fierce competitiveness in athletics; his carefree and devil-may-care spirit that made him so much fun to be around; and his loyalty, generosity and selfless support of friends.

Bob attended UPT at Moody AFB, Ga. followed by C-130 training at Sewart AFB and eventual assignment to the 36 TAS at Langley AFB. Bob’s flying assignments included a year in Vietnam, and he separated from the service in 1972.

After his time in the Air Force, Bob spent several years in Florida, eventually returning to the Boston area where he had grown up – the perfect place for a sports-loving, happy-go-lucky Irishman. Most of all he loved his Boston Red Sox, and in later years would travel with classmates to major league baseball games across the country.

Bob is survived by his son Chris. (Bob’s sister Maureen and Bob’s Twelfth Squadron classmates)

Dale V. Hoekstra, ’67 Dale Hoekstra was born May 15, 1945 in Detroit, Mich. He was raised in Detroit and went into the Air Force Academy right after high school.

He initially wanted to become a pilot but got sick and was denied his dream. He then decided to go to medical school at Wayne State University School of Medicine in Detroit, Mich. Most of his residency was spent at Beaumont Hospital but he got the unique opportunity to spend six months of his residency at the Pediatric Orthopaedics Hospital for Sick Children in Ontario, Canada. He then did his internship at William Beaumont Hospital, Royal Oak, Mich. It was during this time that he met and later married the love of his life, Stephanie (Stevie) Depyssler.

Dale had to pay the Air Force back for four years of schooling so in 1972 he joined the U.S. Air Force as a General Medical Officer at Wilford Hall in San Antonio, Texas and stayed until 1977. They then went 89

GONE BUT NOT FORGOTTEN to the USAF Medical Center Keesler in Keesler AFB, Miss. There, he was Chief of Pediatric Orthopaedics in the Spinal Deformities Clinic until 1980 when he left the U.S. Air Force to become Director at the Spinal Deformities Clinic at the Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit, Mich. In 1989, he went into private practice as an Orthopaedic Surgeon at Rochester Hills Orthopaedics, Rochester, Mich., where he stayed until close to retirement. Looking to retire in the Southwest, he and his wife, Stevie, happened to see a job opportunity for a Pediatric Orthopaedic Surgeon. On a whim they toured Albuquerque, N.M., loved the weather so accepted a position as the Medical Director at Carrie Tingley Hospital in December of 2007.

As Medical Director, he spent much of his time as an educator to medical students and residents trying to prepare the next generation to be better than the last generation. Dale excelled at his job. His love of medicine and people helped shape the clinical enDale Hoekstra vironment making patient care a top priority. His work on various medical committees helped improve surgical care as well as employee morale. The staff he worked with and the patients he treated will miss him. He was truly one of a kind.

Dale never became the pilot he wanted to become but found a profession he loved and one that loved him. (Dale’s loving wife, Stevie, and his assistant Jude)

Robert J. Thomas, ’67 Soon-to-be Cadet Dumbsquat Thomas rolled across the plains of Western Nebraska into Colorado Springs in the early summer of ’63, certain the boys coming in from far-off places like New York City and California were smarter and braver than he, and that was OK. He simply aspired to be able to put his pants on one leg at a time like he hoped was their practice, too.

He also was comforted that by having read a book or two in junior high about West Point, he fully understood his new USAFA environment. It’s obvious that his only chance of survival hung on the slender thread of naïveté being an essential quality for a successful cadet-candidate.

Somehow it worked out OK. Bob entered the new world of USAFA (nosebleeds, push-ups, bootle runs) distant from what became his lasting appreciation for the personal changes he Bob Thomas underwent.

The Honor Code played right into his Midwestern values, nature, and pioneer-family upbringing. The shared experiences with others created a pervasive, powerful brotherhood and a pod of close friends that sustained him over the years through good and bad times. And he often marveled at the power of the USAFA brand in educational, professional, business, and political circles – it was automatically a ticket to the orchestra seats in every case!

“Bottom line” (a favorite phrase of his), he was steadfast in his deep gratitude for the four formative years he spent at the Academy.

And so as the weeks wound down and the end came for my hero as a result of a set of cancers even more powerful than he; he awoke every day in peace—firmly pronouncing himself as blessed for having access

For more current information about graduate deaths, please visit the AOG web site. www.usafa.org.

If you know of a graduate’s death, please notify the AOG as soon as possible. There have been cases in which the association was not informed in a timely manner.

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to another day of living. In his new reality, that’s what he did – he lived fully, honorably and whole-heartedly in gratitude until his last breath… he died in my arms peacefully at home in Hawaii. (Avis Thomas, Bob’s wife)

Gerald R. Benfield, ’72 Lt. Col (Ret) Gerald “Jerry” Ryan Benfield flew home on June 30, 2014 from Fort Walton Beach, Fla. He was born on June 7, 1950 in Washington, D.C. and grew up in Rockville, Md. He graduated from Richard Montgomery High School in 1968 where he was very active in basketball and track.

Jerry achieved a childhood goal of becoming an Air Force pilot when he was prestigiously appointed to the Air Force Academy in 1968. He graduated in 1972 with a Bachelor of Science in Aeronautical Engineering and later attended the Air Force Institute of Technology where he earned a Master of Science in Systems Management.

Jerry was a command pilot with more than 4,000 flying hours predominantly in Air Force T-39s, B-52s and Army C-12s. His military life started with four years at the Air Force Academy and continued as an Airlift Pilot (10 years); Safety Bomber Pilot (6 years); Safety Fighter Pilot (2 years); and Acquisition Management (10 years). His career was spent at Loring AFB, Maine; Jerry Benfield Andrews AFB, Md.; Stuttgart, Germany; Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio; Griffiss AFB, N.Y.; and Eglin AFB, Fla. During his military career, he was active in various community activities and served as Chairman of Friendly Adventures, an organization for disadvantaged children.

After retiring from the Air Force in 2000, Jerry worked as an Aeronautical Engineer with Avionics Test and Analysis Corporation (13 years).

Jerry is survived by his loving wife of 25 years, Kathy Benfield; mother and stepfather, Shirley and William Cooper; sister Gail McDermott (Eugene); brother William Cooper, Jr. (Marion); granddaughters Sadie and Sabelle Ingram; sisters-in law Brenda Morris (Ova), and Lisa Weissman; brother-in-law Larry Honaker (Marty); two nieces, Megan Hulse (Greg) and Rachel Weissman; five nephews, Will and Sonny McDermott, Spencer (Helen) and Derek Cooper, and Seth Weissman; along with one son, Sean; and two daughters, Heidi and Yvonne from a previous marriage.

He was preceded in death by his father, Gerald Benfield; daughter Christy Ingram; mother and father-in-law, Ida and Melvin Honaker; and brother-in-law Gregory Honaker.

Jerry was cremated and his ashes will be interred at the Air Force Academy in 2015. *** A tribute to my loving husband...

Jerry, you loved to plan, organize and travel. We shared many wonderful moments: trips to Disney World with Sadie and Sabelle; outdoor adventures like hiking, bicycling, kayaking, snorkeling, fishing and boating; the catacombs in Italy; the pyramids in Egypt. I will never forget the incredible Galapagos Islands… every trip was an adventure and one to remember. You were exceedingly proud of your Air Force career and your association with the Air Force Academy! You were my Flyboy, an “Officer and a Gentleman,” and truly, my best friend.

Your life was a blessing, your memory a treasure.

You are loved beyond words and missed beyond measure.

(With Love, Kathy Benfield.)

Ronald B. Baran, ’76 Ronald Baran, 60, died unexpectedly on Nov. 17, 2014, in his home in Peachtree City, Ga. A Requiem Mass in the Latin Rite was offered on Nov. 21 at St. Francis de Sales Catholic Church in Mableton, Ga, and Ron made his last flight, with military honors provided by Delta Airlines, for burial in San Antonio, Texas, where his children reside.

Ron was born in 1954 in Highland Park, Mich. to Michael and Anne Baran. He excelled at Fordson High School, before acceptance to the United States Air Force Academy Class of ’76. While a cadet, Ron will be remembered for his hijinks, his creative entertainment at weekly squadron meetings, and his rocket escapade and the accompanying 100 tours.

Ron always knew what was important in both his life and his career; his

motto for getting through the tough times at the academy was “it ain’t critical”. He disdained those who achieved and used their rank at the expense of others and he preferred to let his accomplishments speak for themselves. Ron will be remembered as a true friend and a dedicated professional throughout his lifetime.

His dedication to flying made him one of the best. In his 14 years of active duty, he flew the T-33 and F-106 in Air Defense Command, serving at Tyndall AFB, Fla., Castle AFB, Calif., and KI Sawyer AFB, Mich., then did tours at Kunsan AB, Korea and Ramstein AB, Germany in the F-16. While at Ramstein AB, as a new Flight Officer, he lead his team to win the coveted Excalibur Competition, and also won the Top Gun award for best individual pilot in that same competition.

He left active duty as a Major in 1990, and that year he began a 24-year career with Delta Airlines, while he continued in the Air Force Reserves as a USAFA Liaison Officer, where he achieved the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. Just recently, Ron expressed his awareness of how blessed he was that Ron Baran God allowed him to spend his entire career in a cockpit. He hated suits, hated traffic, and never would have been happy working in an office. He always said that “his office had the best view in the world”.

Ron is survived by his father, Michael; wife, Christine; three children and 13 grandchildren, five siblings, and numerous relatives and friends.

Ron was a generous and kind man who loved his faith and his family, especially his devoted wife, Christine née Tyc, whom he married in 1977. Ron and Chris celebrated his 60th birthday and their 37th Wedding Anniversary, last September, fulfilling a lifelong dream with a 10-day cruise to Alaska.

Wanting only to use wisely all that the Lord had given him, Ron gave countless hours to volunteer activities and to serving the less fortunate; God alone knows how many people Ron assisted, in charity and in secret, throughout his life. His great joy, after coming back to the Catholic Church in the year 2000, was to be a servant to the Servants of God, always seeking ways to serve priests and religion in any capacity. He was a devoted husband and father, and a doting grandfather, and he will be deeply missed by all who knew him. (Chris Baran, Ron’s spouse)

Matthew J. LaCourse, ’78 Lt. Col. (Ret) Matt LaCourse died Nov. 6, 2014, when the F-16 he was piloting crashed into the Gulf of Mexico. He was on a combat training mission in support of the USAF. Matty was a pilot and controller in the 82nd Aerial Targets Squadron and died doing what he loved.

An Army Brat born in Maine, Matt lived in San Antonio when he knew he wanted to fly. Graduating from MacArthur High School, Matty entered the Air Force Academy the summer of 1974 and graduated in May of 1978. Days later, he married his high school sweetheart Tina. For the next 36 years and forever, she was and is his sweetheart.

Matt spent 22 years on Air Force active duty and saw much of the world.

After graduating from the Academy, he earned his wings at Enid by the Sea and stayed on as an Instructor Pilot at Vance for the next few years. After Vance, Matt checked out in the mighty F-4 Phantom. Matt built hours and Matt LaCourse experience everyone envied. Followon assignments included the Philippines, Eglin AFB, Fla., and a staff tour (ptooie) at Langley. Next stop Osan, Korea and flying the F-16 and eventually coming back to Florida to retire from the Air Force.

Before his job in the 82nd at Tyndall, Matty had a sort of a mid-life crisis after retiring from the Air Force. He spent some time financial

planning, as a test engineer and even flew the E-9 for Lockheed. But the fighter bug was just too much. And because all the Air Force F-4 drivers got old and ugly, Matt stepped in to fly the double ugly once again.

A couple of years ago, without even knowing it, Matt surpassed the 2000-hour point in the F-4. How many guys you seen with a 2000-hour F-4 patch on their shoulder. At the Pearly Gates, St. Peter looked at the patch and said, “Dude, you’re In.” Matt always said, “I will fly as long as they will let me. I have the best job. I don’t have to sit at a desk in an office; my desk is in the sky.”

Soon the F-4 would be retired and Matt started flying the F-16 again.

The F-16 was like a Ferrari to Matt, but his real true love was the F-4. It was his pickup truck in the sky.

Matt loved flying, but his family was everything to him. He and Tina were a great team. Boating, traveling, condo with balcony putting green.

And golf! Both of them great golfers, but Matty could always revert to, “If it ain’t working, swing harder and faster.” That was the fighter pilot way.

Matt and Tina’s two children were their dreams come true: son Jacob and grandson Lincoln, and daughter Tiffany with grandsons Brody and Brayden. Nothing could make them happier. And nothing ever will.

Matty will always be remembered for his nothing-held-back smile, upbeat attitude, refusal to let the stress of anything get him down, hellraisin’ sense of a good time, and love of Texas, pickups, rodeos and his family. If we had to describe him to someone we’d say, “He was one of the good guys in a country western song.”

After passing through the Pearly Gates, Matt met up with God. God said, “Man I always wanted to fly the F-4.” Matt said, “Well boss, I got 2000 hours and stories to tell. How bout we listen to Bad Company and have a Jack and Coke.” And God said, “Let there be Light.”

God Speed Matt LaCourse. We will always think of you and keep your family in our hearts. (’78 Roadrunners)

Bradley S. Pollock, ’83 Bradley Steven Pollock, Major, USAF (retired), 53, of Wichita Falls, Texas, went to rejoice with the Lord on Oct. 23, 2014, after a long, courageous battle with Multiple Sclerosis. Many friends and family members gathered at Grace Church in Wichita Falls to celebrate his life and remember all that Brad had meant to them.

Brad was born on Nov. 14, 1960, in Piqua, Ohio, to Flavil and Gladys (Apple) Pollock. He was valedictorian of Piqua Central High School Class of 1979, where he had been active in football, wrestling, drama club and National Honor Society. The summer of his senior year, Brad was honored to represent his high school as a delegate to Buckeye Boys State.

Brad’s father, Flavil, taught him the basics of flight in their family’s airplane. This instilled in Brad a life-long love of flying and set him on a course which would eventually lead him to the Air Force. Brad received a nomination to the Air Force Academy from Brad Pollock Senator John Glenn, and he was selected as a member of the Class of 1983.

Brad excelled in all aspects of the Academy. He majored in Operations Research and graduated with Academic Distinction. He also served in key leadership positions on Group Staff and as the Starship 19 Ops Officer. On the more personal side, Brad had a gift of always seeing the good in things and enjoying life’s simple pleasures, whether that was visiting a favorite “Mom & Pop” restaurant in town, or sharing a drink and classic music with friends while watching the sun go down over the Rockies. Colorado was a great fit for Brad – he loved the outdoors. Once he discovered the Academy’s recreational area at Farish, he continued to visit there with his family for years. Eventually he and his wife, Laurie, bought a cabin in South Fork, Colo., where they spent many wonderful vacations, always welcoming friends. Fortunately, Brad was well enough to spend his last summer there with Laurie, enjoying regular visits from the local wildlife right on his front porch.

Brad went to pilot training at Columbus AFB, and he was selected to remain as a FAIP in the T-37. Brad was an extremely talented instructor.

He was selected as a Flight Commander – a rare honor for a FAIP – and 91

GONE BUT NOT FORGOTTEN honored as Wing IP of the Year in 1988. 1988 was a very good year for Brad, for that was when he married Laurie, whom he had met during his senior year at the Academy. After Columbus, Brad and Laurie went to Misawa AB, Japan, where Brad flew the F-16. He and Laurie took full advantage of their assignment to Japan – they made wonderful memories traveling and exploring the Far East. After Misawa, the Pollocks returned to the UPT environment, this time at Sheppard AFB where Brad mentored countless more young Air Force aviators again as a T-37 IP. While at Sheppard, Brad and Laurie started their family. They were blessed with two wonderful boys, Zane and Colter. Unfortunately, it was also at Sheppard that Brad was diagnosed with MS, and was medically retired. Upon retirement, Brad was a Command Pilot with more than 4,500 flight hours.

Brad is survived by Laurie, his loving wife of 26 years, and by his sons Zane Andrew and Colter Adam, all of Wichita Falls. He loved God, his country, his family, flying jets, water and snow skiing, hiking, running, traveling, and his family’s cabin in the mountains. We’ll always remember his infectious smile and his ability to see the world in a positive light.

We’ll miss you, Brad. Your 6 is clear. (Friends and family of Brad)

Todd C. Hoppe, ’87 Todd Carl Hoppe’s dream was to fly. For as long as he could remember, he never wanted to be anything else but a pilot. The first recognizable picture that he drew was of an airplane at the age of two. By the grace of God, hard work and determination, he accomplished his dream and spent over 27 years in the sky.

Todd collapsed suddenly due to cardiac arrest on Veteran’s Day, Nov. 11th 2014, and went to be with his Savior on Nov. 18. Todd grew up the eldest of three siblings in Lansdale, Pa., and was part of a military family, (his father was a Green Beret). He graduated from Calvary Baptist School of Lansdale in 1983 where he ended his high school years as Senior Class President. He received appointments to both U.S. Military Academy at West Point and the U.S. Air Force Academy.

Since his lifelong passion was to fly, he chose the Air Force Academy and headed west to Colorado to follow his dream. He graduated in 1987 and went to Vance AFB, Okla. for flight school. His first duty station was Plattsburgh AFB, N.Y., flying the KC-135 in the 310th Air Refueling SquadTodd Hoppe ron (ARS). Shortly after certification in the KC-135, he was deployed to Operation Desert Shield and Desert Storm. It was during this time that Todd met his wife of 22 years, Stephanie.

They were married in April 1992. Following their time at Plattsburgh, they were transferred to Grand Forks AFB, N.D. Here Todd was a member of the 905th and 906th ARS. Todd’s next assignment led them to McGuire AFB, N.J. where he was part of the 2nd ARS. Two major events greeted Todd almost immediately. The first was Todd transitioning to the KC-10. More significantly the second was Todd and Stephanie beginning to grow their family, starting with Heather in 1998. She was quickly followed by Emily, Megan, Michael and last but not least, Jenna. As much as Todd loved to fly, he loved his family more.

They became the center of his life and flying moved to a secondary position. After leaving active duty, Todd continued in the AF Reserve in the 76th ARS and the 514thOperations Support Squadron. Upon retirement, he was hired with Atlas Air and continued flying in the B767.

Todd earned many decorations over the years including the Meritorious Service Medal, Air Medal, Aerial Achievement Medal, and Air Force Commendation Medal – all with oak leaf clusters. He also received the General Hoyt Award for Air Force Tanker Crew of the Year. In addition, he and his crew received the Kalberer Strategic Air Command Outstanding Airmanship Award and 8th AF General Ira C. Eaker Outstanding Airmanship Award. These were awarded for displaying outstanding airmanship during flight in which the crew encountered three separate yet compounding emergency situations.

After many missed holidays, Todd was excited that he would finally be able to spend Thanksgiving and Christmas 2014 at home with his family. However this was not part of God’s plan. While many grieve that Todd is gone from his earthly home, his family and friends rejoice in the knowledge that Todd IS home. (Lt. Col. Paul Dempsey, friend) 92

Daniel P. Murray, ’92 Daniel Murray, beloved husband of Sheila Murray and father of Declan (14) and Aidan (12), died on July 20, 2014, in the presence of his family. Dan loved his wife and children above all but Christ and fought an eight-year battle against brain cancer. His family is comforted by their steadfast knowledge of the peace Dan now relishes in the kingdom of heaven. Whether it was his beloved friends, nicknamed The Groovers, or his family and countless friends, Dan inspired us all with his integrity, perseverance and character. His character is best described, not defined, by his service to Jesus, his family and his country.

Lt. Col. Dan Murray earned his bachelor’s degree from the United States Air Force Academy in 1992, beginning his Air Force career as an Intelligence Officer at Bitburg Air Base and then Ramstein Air Base, Germany. He proDan Murray vided critical support in every major operation in northern Iraq, the former Yugoslavia and Africa during his tenure, while also fighting through the tragic loss of his dearest friend, 1st Lt. Laura Piper.

After receiving his pilot wings in 1998 and marrying his love, Sheila, Dan was assigned to the 17th Special Operations Squadron at Kadena Air Base, Japan, where he flew the MC-130P Combat Shadow and C-130E aircraft. It was here where he and Sheila were blessed with both boys, Declan and Aidan.

Throughout the rest of his operational career, he supported three other major operational contingencies in combat, including Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom, flying scores of missions from or in more than 30 countries stretching the globe from Thailand and Singapore east to Pakistan. After earning Senior Pilot with more than 2,300 flight hours primarily in special operations aircraft, he served in numerous high profile positions in Air Force Special Operations Command, Hurlburt Air Force Base, Fla., while simultaneously defeating cancer. A testament to his enduring selflessness, he engaged and thrived in our community, including reaching the Third Degree in the Knights of Columbus and faithfully coaching youth sports activities.

Daniel is also survived by his mother, Sherry Murray; sister Alison Carson; brother-in-law Travis Carson; three nieces and one nephew.

The world lost a wonderful husband, father, and friend in Dan Murray. We can all be comforted that he now flies in Heaven, celebrating eternal life with passion in much the same way he lived and served us all. (Jeff Hinrichs, classmate and friend) (Editor’s note: The AOG does not always have all the information concerning the death of a graduate. We only publish the information we have available on each deceased graduate or cadet.)

At press time we learned of the deaths of the following. Our sincere condolences to the family and friends of these graduates, cadet and Air Training Officer.

Col. (Ret) Eugene C. Tatro, Air Training Officer, who died on Nov. 27, 2014 in Green Bay, Wis. Lt. Col. (Ret) Gary C. Potter, Class of 1966, who died on Jan. 14, 2015 in Saco, Maine.

Mr. Robert L. Hahn, Class of l967, who died on Dec. 12, 2014 in Tucson, Ariz.

Mr. Jesse H. Kent, Class of l967, who died on Jan. 10, 2015 in Anderson, S.C. Mr. James L. Bryan, Jr., Class of 1972, who died on Jan. 16, 2015 in Aurora, Colo.

Mr. Robert W. Bush, Class of 1976, who died on Dec. 11, 2014 in Boston, Mass.

Maj. Gen. (Ret) Paul A. Dettmer, Class of 1977, who died on Dec. 29, 2014 in Centreville, Va. Lt. Col. (Ret) Robert L. Dimmick, Class of 1978, who died on Jan. 20, 2015 in Melbourne, Fla. Mr. Clinton J. Land, Class of 1999, who died on Dec. 30, 2015 in Topeka, Kans.

C4C John E. “Jack” Lindsey, Class of 2018, who died on Jan. 24, 2015 in Keystone Colo.

Our sincere condolences to the family and friends of these graduates, cadet and Air Training Officer.

Class News Ed Josephson 23 Old Gordon Road Brentwood, NH 03833 H: (603) 778-1495 Cell: (603) 770-6003 Josephson@comcast.net

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Members

This is as close to breaking news as you will ever get from this column.

On Friday morning, January 16th, Janet Waters and Joe Morgan went to the Annapolis courthouse and were married at 10 a.m. by the clerk of the circuit court. Janet reports: “it was a simple and perfect ceremony. We celebrated with lunch and waited for Joe’s daughter and husband and his son to arrive. They were not aware that we had done it but noticed right away our rings. They were terrific and happy for us. My son is also very happy.”

After a visit with Janet’s sister in Hawaii the Morgan’s will return to Annapolis. Our congratulations and best wishes. We are very happy for you both.

Roger and Lora Counts regularly visit Lora’s relatives in Sweden, but their most recent visit introduced something new. Lora’s cousin asked Roger if he would give a presentation to the administrators and ‘friends’ of a popular museum in southwestern Sweden -- the Ängelholms Flygmuseum. Roger was happy to accommodate the request.

The audience was expected to be rather small, may2014 Class Giving be 5 or 10, but the hall was filled with over 70 attentive Participation Rate attendees. Roger’s presentation was mostly biographi28% cal and covered his formative years, attendance at Kent

State University for two years, his Academy tour, instructor pilot duties, and Vietnam service in 1966 (100 missions over the North in the F-105 Thunderchief ).

He also shared his engineering experiences at the AF Flight Test Center at Edwards AFB, and his over 20 years as a contractor supporting flight test operations Sabre Society at the same facility.

Donors The attendees were also interested in Roger’s radio control modeling experience. Roger showed photos of his 16 model aircraft (both conventional gear and float mounted and powered by either gas or electric engines). The highlight was a video of the first flight of Roger’s museumquality Curtis JN-4D “Jenny” now residing in the San Diego Air and Space Museum.

In appreciation, Roger was presented a bound volume of all Swedish aircraft and a Swedish Air Force hat. Roger and Lora also received a personal guided tour of the museum from Ulf Ohlsson, wingman of the museum management group and Draken pilot, Bengt Lundvist, manager of personnel, and Anders Hässler, friend of the museum. Especially interesting was a close-up look of the three famous post-World War II SAAB fighters – the J 35 Draken, JA 37 Viggen and the JAS 39 Gripen.

Everyone seemed to like the presentation, and it was a great experience for the Counts family.

Jean and Dick Carr cruised the Elba River from Berlin to Prague with

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From left are Ulf Ohlsson, wingman of the museum management group, a former SAAB J 35A Draken pilot and press officer of the former F10 Squadron Airbase, Roger, and Anders Hässler, friend of the museum and husband of Roger’s wife’s Swedish cousin, and Bengt Lundvist, manager of personnel at the museum and also responsible for the museum shop and cafe´. Before he was an interceptor controller, navigation officer, jamming operator at J32 Lansen and a navigator/operator with the rescue helicopter Super Puma. The Museum is managed by the F10 companion society with 2,300 members.

Lou and Ann Kingsland in Sep/Oct 2014. It was very pleasant and loaded with history. In January they returned from a month in Australia and New Zealand. (G’day Mate). Their journey included Uluru (Ayers Rock) in helicopters and they snorkeled the Great Barrier Reef. Dick also climbed the Sydney Harbor Bridge (461 feet above the water), went to the Franz Joseph Glacier, and added Zip Lines and Jet Boats for good measure.

At our reunion we spoke about encouraging mini-reunions around the country. We know from personal experience organizing the mini-reunion at West Point every other year for more years than we can count just how enjoyable these gatherings can be for many reasons. You have a chance to develop and strengthen relationships with those you would not have much contact. Two years ago Rowena and Don Livingston took the occasion to have a family gathering with children and grandchildren attending. It was great. Don and Rowena married when Don was a Captain. She often told us how much she enjoyed getting how much she valued the opportunity to get together. RIP Rowena.

Sometimes the mini-reunion presents an opportunity to bring new people into the circle. RL Penn, no fan of football, showed up with a new friend from Russia. Eugenia was probably overwhelmed initially but she adapted quickly. Many of us were guests at their wedding and the friendship continues to get stronger.

This column can be used as one way to let people know of upcoming events as well as reporting on how your event went. The Class Officers are creating an event calendar to help get the word out and avoid conflicts. It is in the early stages of development but we do have some events. We wiIl put your function on the calendar if you send the name of the host, contact person (if not the host), date(s) and location to me or any Class Officer.

It seems lately we have sad news to report in almost every column. This time we recently learned of the death of two ATOs. You may remember we voted at one of our reunions to recognize all ATOs as Honorary Members of the Class of 1959.

William Robert Walker died on 19 October in Lake St. Louis, MO of unknown causes. He was in the second group of ATOs, a New ATO or NATO, a graduate of the Naval Academy and a fighter pilot.

Col (Ret) Eugene C. Tatro who was also a NATO and a fighter pilot. Col Tatro passed away on 3 Nov 2014 in Green Bay, WI. On a personal note, and a departure from the usual content of the Class News, I want to share some recent thoughts with you.

Recently Judy and I lost our daughter, Karen, to cancer. As this is written it as been about a month since we said goodbye. She received the finest care at Massachusetts General Hospital but it was not enough. Karen passed away at home just before Christmas.

Because of the holiday the usual methods of notifying people of the arrangements were not available. Things were further complicated because Karen had left specific instructions that meant arrangements could not be delayed. Visiting hours were held the day after Christmas.

We expected a light turnout in the small town near the Canadian border. We were wrong. About 250 people came, many having driven a long way to be there. We know of several who drove four hours and more (one way) to show their respects. That evening we realized we had not fully appreciated the impact she had on many people and how much she did that was beyond her job description. We knew she had fulfilled her childhood goal of helping children and families as a Child and Family Therapist/ Children’s Coordinator and she called us almost daily so we knew most of what she was doing. What we didn’t appreciate until that evening was how much of her own time, effort and even financial support she gave to help her clients.

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Class News The stories of that evening were repeated and reinforced at the memorial service two-weeks later. As I thought about all these stories I realized what she was doing seemed so natural and unremarkable to her she didn’t see the need tell us all the details.

Maybe there is a message here for all of us. It seems to me we tend to not share much of our altruistic activities. We don’t give of ourselves for money or recognition, but for the well being of others. It is a selfless act without expectation of reward. Talking about those activities is contrary to the very nature of altruism. Yet if we don’t know the extent of the altruistic activities of our friends and family we never really understand what makes them tick.

I’ve been writing this column and much of the Gone but not Forgotten columns and have been impressed by the deeds of so many. For example, we all know Pete Todd’s professional accomplishments and of his selfless support of the Class and the Academy. We knew very little of his altruistic activities. Did you know he served as a national spokesman for his favorite charity? I remember hearing him making a public service announcement on the radio when we were on the road out West. The announcement didn’t identify the speaker but I was sure it was Pete. Later I asked him about it and he confirmed my guess. Unless asked, Pete seldom spoke about this sort of thing and there was very little in his obituaries. I suspect there are many examples of members of the Class doing volunteer work and making other contributions in whatever way they can, but the full extent will never be known. Here are a couple recent examples of what I an talking about: Casey Kay was the Texas Volunteer of the Year, Roger Conant devoted much of his time working to better his community and environment, and Jay Mitchell had the nickname “Coach” for good reason – Brad Hosmer said of Jay that he “was the golden rule man” and that “His impulse to help, to serve, his habits of thoughtfulness and courtesy were woven into him as deeply as breathing.”

I’ll bet that most of you give very little thought to your volunteer work and expect little reward or thanks for what you do, but it is an important part of who you are. I’m hoping you and your loved ones will make sure these activities are shared in the columns I write. They are needed to complete the picture of the lives of the Class of 1959.

Thought for the quarter: Make you the world a bit better or more beautiful because you have lived in it. Edward Bok

Ed’s squadron mate from SEA and his wing man during Ed’s last flight, was there and gave the eulogy. Afterwards, we formed up in front of Ed’s portrait and rendered honors.”

“We sold our house and moved into Emerald House, which is a CCRC (Continuing Care Retirement Community). Big change,” wrote Dennis O’Keefe, “and we spent 2014 cleaning up, adjusting and continuing the down-sizing. Linda and I took a trip by car to Taft, CA in the late spring to visit her old friend. It went well, and 2014 Class Giving we’re happy we went. Linda continues her walk with Participation Rate Alzheimer’s and its’ ramifications. The role of care-giv22% er is not what one chooses, but it has to be done.”

“On Nov 5, 2014, I logged pilot-in-command time as an 80-year-old. Unless Phil Meinhardt is an active pilot, I may be the first in the class to join this aged group.

I am a member of the UFOs. I also got my FAA medical extended for another year,” wrote George Luck.

“My year started with inactivity, my chest healed Sabre Society from a triple by-pass, which was sprung on me by my Donors cardiologist. All’s well now,” wrote Nels Delisanti. “I rented a lodge in the mountains and brought my entire herd in from the west coast and Hawaii so we could have some time together while I still recognized them.

I’m sailing and racing my sailboat; if anybody comes up in the summer, I don’t need much coaxing to take you out. I’m still lecturing some of my old teaching associates.” The Northwest Falcons dined at Salty’s in Seattle recently and toured the Museum of Flight at Boeing Field (three airplanes flown by George are on display: B-52, B-747 and F-104). Attending were Dennis & Linda O’Keefe, Louisa Congdon, Bobbi Mason Starr, Edie & Chuck Diver, Vic & Suzanne Yoakum, and Carolyn & George. Another gathering of the Northwest Falcons was at Chuck and Edie Diver’s home near Sedro Woolley, WA, attended by: Divers, Nels Delisanti, Bill Zersen, Yoakums, Valleries, O’Keefes, Lucks, Bobbi Mason Starr, Louisa Congdon and Bev O’Rourke. (In the photo of the gathering at the Diver’s home, from left are: Chuck Diver, Vic Yoakum, Bill Zersen, Paul Vallerie, Dennis O’Keefe, Nels Delisanti, and George Luck).

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A.J. (Rosie) Cler, Jr. Members 5423 Myrtle Wood Sarasota, FL 34235-4624 Phone: (941) 371-4843 E-mail: RCtherose@aol.com Class Web Site: www.usafa.net/1960 “This has been a very happy but quiet year for us,” wrote Dick Hillman.

“One highlight was renting a house on Lake Tahoe for our four children, spouses, and grandchildren. Also, we flew back to the Academy for the Navy game with our oldest son—restarting an annual tradition from years back.

Thanks for what you’ve done with this column, George.” (photo below)

“Hello, lovely people,” wrote Phil Cooke (story sent by Gordy Flygare, photo above right). “After two years and a process of 11 months, Barbara and I are officially confirming our engagement. The ceremony will take place 11 Apr 2015, first Saturday after Easter.”

Goose Gulbransen responds to this very important question: “What do I remember most about last year? Family and friends, births and deaths, but travel is (still) the most memorable undertaking at our stage. My conclusion for a happy life: Keep Traveling! Don’t buy into the ‘flying is so bad now we won’t do it.’ Thanks for asking, George.”

“On December 7th, the funeral for Ed Leonard was held at the Peninsula Church Center in Seaview, WA,” wrote George Luck. “Vic Yoakum, Chuck Diver, Nels Delisanti and George Luck attended. George Marrett,

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“The Vallerie family is doing fine. Kay was thought to have ovarian cancer, but it turned out to be a 20-pound tumor which was successfully removed. She is recovering just fine. Our daughter got engaged in September and married December 12th. Our granddaughter got her driver’s permit, so things are hectic here in Boise, Idaho,” wrote Paul Vallerie.

“What an eventful Christmas! The capstone was when my condo group (of eight) drove to Beverly Hills,” wrote Bill Zersen, “all the way to—hold on to your hat--‘The Stinking Rose!’ The menu is laden with garlic! Garlic steaks and garlic laden lamb shanks! One adventuresome diner had garlic rabbit! We stunk pretty bad when we left! Great time!”

“It’s great seeing Louisa Congdon, Bobbi Mason Starr and Bev O’Rourke attend one of our meetings this year,” wrote George Luck. “Bev received the Class Gift of Jim O’Rourke’s Air Force awards and pins, and AFEM cites C-124 operations in Berlin, Congo and Vietnam. “

“2014 seemed like a blur to the Yoakums -- Vic and Suzanne, doing much traveling in-between doctor’s appointments. Traveled to Palm Desert in January and February and visited with friends and classmates -- Van Inwegens, Meinhardts, and Bill Zersen. We cruised New Zealand and Australia in March and April; marveled at the beauty of New Zealand -- much like our wonderful Northwest. We experienced an OMG moment upon arrival into Sydney Harbor, with the Opera House shining gloriously at daybreak off our port side. Spent May on Oahu, Hawaii at the Marriott Ko Olina Resort trying to avoid the sun burning these pale Washingtonians. We took our annual week trip to Sun Mountain Lodge in Eastern Washington in June. We thoroughly enjoyed the beautiful summer in the Northwest, and spent a week on an Alaska Cruise in September with the Lucks. We’re thankful for the luncheons and outings with the NW Falcons, who have lost Jim O’Rourke and Ed Leonard to the group and they are sorely missed. Vic was diagnosed with early stage Parkinson’s in November -- increased exercising and more planning for travel lie ahead,” wrote Suzanne.

“I reviewed a book by Doug Beason, Class of 1977,” wrote Ron Yates.

“The Cadet is the first of three novels in the series “Wild Blue U: Foundation of Honor,” a historical fiction saga of USAFA that follows a fictional member of the class of 1959, Rod Simone. It will be released 5 April 2015 and available through the AOG web site, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, etc; a portion of the sales will be donated by the author to the AOG. Two follow-on novels will be released in 2015 and 2016. The Officer covers 19591976 and follows Simone as a USAFA faculty member and in Vietnam; The Legacy covers 1976-2001 and follows Simone as a senior officer, as well as being told from the perspective of woman at USAFA. The book brings back memories of our first summer at USAFA. After 58 years, some of them even seem pleasant!”

Richard Head was named 2014 Citizen of the Year by the Coronado Private Bank in Coronado, CA, and honored 15 Jan 2015. RG was cited for philanthropic activities and donation of his 1/4-scale replicas of vintage aircraft to a local museum and library.

Bye for a Little While: This issue of the March 2015 Class News utilized considerable input from George Luck and the Northwest Territory Falcons.

Thanks for your efforts, gentlemen. Now, you’re freed to go to www.usafa. net/1960, and read the latest tales on our Web Site, as Les Querry and JT Smith have been adding some interesting episodes. And don’t forget—Andi Biancur has booked the Embassy Suites for our 55th Reunion during the first week of October in 2015. You ought to be there, my (aging) friends.

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Earl N. “Nelson” O’Rear Members 50582 Stonington Drive Granger, IN 46530-8243 H: (574) 273-2597 E-mail: enoandtjo@gmail.com Class Web Site: www.usafa1961.org We were saddened to learn that Patsy Kiszely, Frank’s wife of 35 years, died of complications due to cancer on 21 October. Patsy’s detailed plans for her own “Celebration of Life” ceremony, including the poem on the back of the program, surprised Frank when they fell out of a two-yearold calendar he was discarding from her desk. He said that it was such a surprise because she had never taken much interest in such details as balancing her own checkbook. Frank said that the letters and phone calls from our classmates have provided a lot of support for him.

At the request of our group at last July’s mini-reunion (hosted in COS

by Tom and Judy Wilson), Anne Eller created a “Friend of the Class of ‘61” certificate. Tom sent it to Braxton Ashe of Alabama for his long-term caring for one of ours, David Haines. They initially became friends while flying as lieutenants.

Our AOG selected Tom Eller to receive one of the two Distinguished Graduate Awards for 2014, as detailed elsewhere in this magazine. The awards will be formally presented during the Air Force Academy Founders Day celebration on 10 April. Congratulations, Tom. Well deserved.

Bud McCollum reminds all of the 20 through 22 July Santa Fe, NM minireunion. Sixteen of us had registered by 20 January, and Bud hopes for 20 more. Twelve more have listed themselves as either attending or very probable. The more the merrier. Carolyn and Bud are very much looking forward to seeing everyone and enjoying all. If anyone has requests and/or suggestions as to activities, please let him know. Phone registration: 1-800-325-0720, USAFA group # 2222075. Or www.druryhotels.com and enter the group #. If you have questions or suggestions, contact Bud at 505-660-9673 or email vmccollum02@yahoo.com.Hector summarized the Class of 1961 DC Lunch Bunch’s regular luncheon at the Springfield Country Club in Springfield, VA on 28 October. Those attending were Hector and Joan Negroni, Barbara Campbell, John and Joan Kohout, Mary Francis Koerner, Bill Stackhouse, Charley Dixon, Bill and Theda Foster,

Spike Nunn, and Diane and Jack McDonough. A last-minute no-show was Lowell Jones who aborted the mission because his wing-person was DNIF (duty not including flying). We wish Sandy a speedy recovery. One of the highlights of the event was to memorialize the departed members of the DC Lunch Bunch who made their last flight and are “gone but not forgotten”. Each classmate selected a departed member and made a very short speech in remembrance of the departed brother. Those memorialized were: Jim Dickson, Norm Campbell, Karl Kellerman, Darrell Koerner, Dick Milnes, Karl Whittaker, Ron Muller, Roger Woodbury, Terry Norris, and Charlie Thomas. There was not a dry eye in the crowd. The activity demonstrated that although our classmates may not be physically present, we still have very vivid memories of them. This way we make them immortal and part of us.

Mark and Ginger Anderson joined the group at West Point for the ArmyAF game in early November and enjoyed our win. After Christmas, they ventured south to Peru, where they spent a couple of days in Lima then flew to Iquitos (northeast Peru) and boarded a boat for a four-day cruise on the upper reaches of the Amazon. Talk about being in the jungle! It was quite an experience, like nothing they had ever done before. Check it off their “bucket list”.

Pat and Marilyn Buckley drove to Cold Spring, NY (across the river from West Point) and joined the 61st TFS (Mythical) to cheer on and celebrate the 1 November Air Force victory over Army and winning of the 2014 Commander-in-Chief Trophy. Then to NYC overnight to see the musical “Motown” and dine with 61st TFS members. They visited family and friends on the way back to Florida, including John and Joan Kohout, Bill and Theda Foster, Bill and Rhoda Stackhouse, Spike and Becky Nunn, and Bobbie Lee and Ann Grace. They spent Christmas and New Year with Pat’s brother Mike (USMA’64) and family in Venice, FL. They scheduled lunch with Erik Vettergren in Ft Myers, but Erik came down with flu and canceled. They also visited Jimmy and Linda Rogers for two days and had dinner with Ross and Benita Shulmister. Then home and visits with Gene and Judy Davis. The UK, Italy, and Spain are next.

Dee and Doug Cairns continue to enjoy life in Montgomery. Doug is currently waiting to hear from Arlington National Cemetery on when his mom can be interred with his dad and near her other two Army husbands.

She had a long, good life of 98 years. Arlington is a busy cemetery, so the waiting is long. Their annual Christmas dinner was a happy time with Jerry Gill, Jim and Patty Hourin, Jim- 2014 Class Giving my and Susan Poole, and Neal and Gwen Westbrook. Participation Rate Now it seems time to tackle the question that most of 27% us should be addressing: “How are we going to take care of ourselves when we can no longer take care of ourselves?” That may lead Dee and Doug to another move and to a Continuing Care Retirement Community. They hope to see you in Santa Fe with Bud McCollum in July.

Tom and Anne Eller are in southwest Florida on Sabre Society Snow Bird Duty for a couple of months.

Donors Richard Fairlamb had a great visit to the Panama Canal, followed by a family Thanksgiving in Springdale, UT (Zion National Park) with daughters from Oahu and locally in Springdale. A couple of weeks later, he attended the 2014 graduation ceremonies for the USAF Weapons School in Las Vegas. He knew two people, and everyone sitting around his table was no older than mid-30s, so… He got to meet the 2014 Winner of the Robbie Risner award and statue, the Weapons School “Top Gun”. Very nice. After a quiet Christmas and New Years, he is looking forward to hip replacement in early 2015.

Paul Hinton convinced two of his three grandsons and his son to run in a 5k with him last fall, and his oldest granddaughter induced him to run the Disneyland half marathon in January. What a joy.

Henry and Peggy Howe concluded their year of 50th Anniversary celebrations with a Sunday luncheon at Briarwood Retreat Center just north of DFW Airport on 20 October. Briarwood was where Henry managed the Evacuation Center for Hurricane Katrina victims from New Orleans and was later the interim Executive Director. Along with the many other friends attending, they were glad to share with Richard Fairlamb, and Pete and Patty Lane. They also celebrated their son-in-law’s, Tom Bickerstaff’s, Air Force retirement with a week-long visit at a beach house in Grayson Beach. They, Tom, and daughter Tricia shared the house with Tom’s father from New Jersey and his brother and family who are stationed in Hawaii.

Tom is now an instructor pilot with Lockheed Martin at Hurlburt Field, where Tricia is still assigned at Special Ops HQ. March will find the Howes back in Hawaii on the Big Island and Maui for their whale watching and snorkeling fix. They are hoping to make the mini-reunion in Santa Fe in July to see many of you.

Hector and Joan Negroni opened their winter headquarters in Bonita Springs, FL, on 10 January and will be there until mid-May 2015. They will reconnect with Jim and Linda Rogers and Tom and Mimi Skilling and also hope to get together with other Class of 1961 classmates in Southwest

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Florida. Joan and Hector are also expecting a visit from Brice Jones so that Brice can recover from his broken ribs. Apparently, Brice forgot his age and tried to do a summersault in his skis. The entire Negroni family (11 people) attended the Air Force-Army game at West Point.

Charlie Stebbins said that Dean and Jo Jones visited him and Sarah in West Virginia for a couple of days in early November. Charlie let Dean beat him on the golf course, and Sarah let Jo talk her into spending exorbitant funds during a lengthy shopping spree. Dean looks more and more like Wayne every day! Charlie and Sarah made a quick Thanksgiving trip to Colorado Springs to see their kids and grandkids. They now have one graduate-grandchild, looking for a job in the Colorado area in her degreefield of Zoo Science. (They don’t think there are any appropriate openings for her at the Blue Zoo.) Carleen and Terry Storm’s grandson Braydan received a “hardship” assignment to Hawaii out of his Marine Corps Communications school graduation. So they will not only continue their visits to Rancho Santa Margarita (Terry says he has to change his drink from Wisconsin brandy to California margarita), they will also be traveling to Hawaii over the next three years. The difficulty will be scheduling around his shipboard visits to the Pacific-wide ports of call.

Ad Thompson said that there’s not much going on for him, except that he was elected Chairman of the Santa Barbara Planning Commission a couple of weeks ago. That should keep him busy for a while.

Tom and Judy Wilson are just “bearing” another winter in Minnesota and planning their annual trip in late February to sunny Florida. They are looking forward to seeing all who can make it to Santa Fe in July.

Mary Sue Woodbury wrote that Roger would have loved baby Gabriela Laboy, born 7 October to Michele and Francisco. Michele is his youngest daughter, and this is her first child. Sandi’s three—Emma 7, in 2nd grade; Ethan 5, in pre-Kindergarten; and Eliza 3—are all doing well.

Grandmother Mary Sue babysits and simply tries to keep up with everyone. Everyone is healthy but missing Grandpa very much.

Nelson and Teri O’Rear are enjoying winter in northern Indiana. Well, some of it. Nelson recently reviewed an uncorrected manuscript of a book, The Cadet, for the author Doug Beason (’77). It will be published this spring. Although fictional, Doug brought back many memories with his descriptions of the transition from civilian to Basic Cadet that first summer of training, as well as some of the trials, tribulations, and pressures felt at that time. Helping others also understand the dedication and additional qualities instilled in graduates to serve our country may partially bridge the gap for those who sometimes question USAFA’s existence, and perhaps motivate others to apply. Corrections and editing should make it even better prior to its April publication. Doug will be donating a percentage of all sales to the AOG. Thanks to all who shared this quarter. We still want to hear from you others, too.

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John W. “Jack” Jamba Members 4 Judy Court Satellite Beach, FL 32937 H: (321) 777-5520 O: (321) 861-6279 Cell: (321) 432-1370 E-Mail: jwjamba@aol.com

Hi Redtags! Hope you all had a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Congratulations to the USAFA football team for bringing home the Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy. And also for the win against Western Michigan in the Classic Idaho Potato Bowl in Boise. You make us proud. Also, the Academy ranked high in the 2015 Best Colleges Ranking report by U.S. News & World Report. The Academy has the nation’s fifth-best undergraduate engineering program, its second-best aerospace, aeronautical and astronautical program for the 14th consecutive year, second-best computer engineering program, third-best electrical engineering program and sixth-best mechanical engineering program. Forbes business magazine also recently ranked the Academy as fourth-best college in the West and the 34th-best college in the nation.

From Tim Travis: “Hi Jack...Merry Christmas to you and Happy New Year...attached a picture from a mini-gathering earlier this month in Myrtle Beach after which we attended the Carolina Opry Christmas Show...it was a really classy Broadway quality show and a wonderful get together.

BTW, JD is doing exceptionally well after recent serious surgery. .Hope you’re well...and thank you for the great job you do for our class.” And thank you for that update, Tim. (See photo at the top of the next column.

This from Mike Quinton: “A loyal group of Redtag football fans met at Mike and Judy Quinton’s house in San Diego for a pre-game pep rally and social on Nov. 21. 2014, before the Air Force - San Diego State football game. Lyman Marshall, who came from Hong Kong, got the prize for

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From left are Yvonne Eaton, Mary Hopkins, Bob Hopkins, JD Eaton, Carolyn Staples, Jon Staples, Jinx Travis, Teri Travis (’87), and Tim Travis. coming the farthest, with Cliff Fallon, who came from the Phoenix area, getting second prize. Not even the football game could dampen our enthusiasm.

In the front row are Charlie Hale, Lyman Marshall, Wendy Marshall, Pat Hale, Julie Davey, Roger Smith, Jane Fallon, Cliff Fallon and Dave Bockelman. Back row: Mike Quinton, Pat Connolly, Bob Connolly, Judy Quinton, Bob Davey and Dick Johnson.

Got this as an attachment to an email from Jim Mack to the C Springs RTBs: “Hi Gang, Erv & Pam Rokke have graciously opened their home next Saturday so we Redtags can cheer on the Falcons at the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl game. Their suggestion is to come at 3 PM-ish with your favorite dish & drinks. ‘Reply to all’ with what you can contribute. Take a bow Erv & Pam. Jim.” Btw, more good news, 2014 Class Giving the Redtag tent is “fixed” for the 2015 season.

Participation Rate Side note: Chuck Cheeseman had coordinated with 22% Erv Rokke to use a Skype hook-up between the two RTB groups to talk during the game. But it didn’t work out. Next Year, maybe, Huh? From Chuck Cheeseman: “The Florida RTBs gathered with other grads at Satellite Beach’s Beef-OBrady’s to watch the USAFA victory over Western Michigan in The Classic Idaho Potato Bowl. Jack and Sabre Society Caroline Jamba, Willie and Nancy Gray, Hal and Diane Donors Rhodes, and Chuck Cheeseman represented Sorry we couldn’t get the Skype connection made with all the RTBs in Colorado Springs. But Erv and I will work on that for next time.” No pic.

A late email from the Staples “We’re new residents of South Carolina.

Where the heck is Beef O”Brady’s?” Sorry Jon and Carolyn; maybe next year.

This was from Paul Landers: “We have returned from a month in which we drove ourselves around Scotland and N England, flew to Dublin, drove

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Paul and Jo Anne Landers

the circumference of that island, then back in Dublin, joined a group from our church. The group was led by our Irish priest, who showed us The Emerald Isle through his eyes for eight days. We visited St Andrews; did not play but enjoyed the views. Only a few days after Jo Anne was there, the R&A voted to allow women members. Coincidence? I think not. I attach a photo at the Giant’s Causeway on the Antrim Coast. Best to you and Caroline. Paul.” Thanks, Paul. (Pic 3 Attached) Paul and Jo Anne Landers This from Joe Hines after I enquired if he had been home to Jersey recently: “The last time I spent any appreciable time in New Jersey was in ’98. Went to my HS 40th reunion. Even though I went to HS in North Plainfield, reunion was in Point Pleasant. Mary Anne and I also visited the Liberty State Park and took the Tour to Ellis Island and Statue of Liberty. I remember what that area looked like around Jersey City as a kid, and of course Liberty State Park has completely changed the area. I remember going to Jersey City by train and taking the CNJ ferry to NYC. That was a long time ago! Your classmate, Joe. Thanks, Joe. The Association of Graduates has recently learned of the death of Mr. Robert D. “Bobby” DeBerry, CS-13 class of 1962. Mr. DeBerry passed away on 14 Dec 2014 in Florence, CO after a battle with Alzheimer’s disease. The funeral service was held on 19 Dec 2014 at the Elmore-CannonStephens Funeral Home in Sumter, SC. Burial was in Evergreen Memorial Park, Sumter, SC. The family has suggested that donations be made in lieu of flowers to the Air Warrior Courage Foundation; PO Box 877; Silver Spring, MD 20918 (877) 921-2923 www.airwarriorcourage.com. Condolences may be sent to his family in care of his wife: Mrs. Georgie A. DeBerry; PO Box 180; Cañon City, CO 812155-0160 or also be made online at http://ecsfuneralhome.com/book-of-memories/2004991/DeBerry-Robert/obituary.php.

I got an email from a grad named Doug Beason ’77 who has written three books about the Air Force Academy. He wrote to me to ask for comments about his first book scheduled for a 5 April release. He selected me because I was an early-class scribe.

He said, “What made this book difficult to write was my attempt to show a composite of cadet experiences to the reader without detailing our school’s entire history. My editor and I chose to distill several decades of cadet experiences into this first book which focuses on being a cadet; the next book can show the Academy experience through the lens of a junior officer; and the last book from the perspective of a senior officer as well as introducing the arrival of female cadets. There are a lot of cadet experiences in this first book that could not have possibly happened to just one person!

“I also struggled with how to give the protagonist (and his girlfriend) some flaws, for as my editor pointed out, to the non-graduate community this makes him more human… and more importantly it sets up the next book for him to have some (literally) life-changing experiences in Vietnam when he is forced to confront those flaws. Thanks again for your time. Doug.”

I read the book with mounting interest as I was transported back to those early Doolie days at Lowry and later at the site. I highly recommend it for the way Doug has captured the feelings and tribulations that we all experienced back in the days.

Finally, I took a few days to read the entire recent Checkpoints mag including all the class columns and was captivated by the changes in dialogue, customs, traditions, lingo and many other parts of cadet, active duty and retired life. Do it sometime; you’ll enjoy it. Go Redtags!

Norman I. (Skip) Lee 63119 E. Cat Claw Lane Tucson, AZ 85739-2058 Home: (520) 825-7980 Cell: (520) 241-3498 54wrs63@gmail.com Class Web Site: www.usafa63.org

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Historical Point: In 1914, a little over 100 years ago, the Aeronautical Division of the Army Signal Corps was authorized by statute as part of the Aviation Section, with a Chief of Division who, as head of the headquarters component, also exercised control of the Section. The Aviation Section, Signal Corps (ASSC) was organized on the 18th of July and more importantly it remains the designation recognized by the United States Air Force as its predecessor. The mission of the ASSC was Aviation Support—both liaison and observation. The head of the ASSC was LtCol Samuel Reber who was the first officer formally designated as Chief of Division. Total size was 44 Officers, 224 Men and 23 Aircraft.

Gil Merkle sent a note and photograph recording the internment of his wife, Sue, at the Air Force Academy Cemetery on Dec 23rd. Gil wanted to say that he and his family “thank all of our classmates who have supported us during these past few months since Sue’s death. Friends like all of you help make it easier to press on.”

He said the time was selected because he has four grandchildren in col-

lege, spread from Texas to Seattle and this was the only time they could gather. Several of our classmates from the area attended the service at the cemetery on a cold and clear day. In the photo Bill Ball is holding the Class Flag.

Last to marry! Hank Hoffman wrote that he and Nancy are planning to get married at the Maricopa County Courthouse in Phoenix on the 29th of January around 5p.m. He added “we have our two witnesses corralled for the event, so this is an information-only notice to people out of town.

Anyone who does show up at the event can expect free drinks/dinner at a site to be determined.” At some time after that they will host a real wedding party at their home in Scottsdale. Hank said he is looking at May for the event so everyone can gather about the pool. Also “No presents, please!” A photo of the two of them sent in 2013 was in my file so I took the liberty of adding the happy couple to this article.

Nancy and I are really looking forward to this!

Class Coins: Do any of you remember the Class of 1963 50-Year Reunion Coins? Ever since the reunion I have been bugging Dick Shutack, the coin guru, about getting my hands on additional coins to give as gifts to our family members who joined us at the reunion. It never crossed my mind that we could order additional coins but, of course, those orders had to be placed well before the Reunion so Dick could get them from his vendor.

Well, Dick gave me a call earlier in the month saying he still had a few coins left over and in our conversa- 2014 Class Giving tion he said more coins could be ordered (in minimum Participation Rate 33% batches of 25) if there were other classmates out there who would like to have an extra coin or so. If you fall into that category please let Dick know. The coins will cost about $5 each plus postage. Dick can be reached via e-mail at dshutack@gmail.com or Cell Phone (719) 661-2387. He did add he will be lying on a beach somewhere in Hawaii until late March and won’t be messing with phones or e-mail during that time. As it is, you Sabre Society Donors will be receiving this magazine issue in late March so calling or e-mailing him in April should work.

We received a number of beautiful Holiday cards from classmates and along with the cards annual reports on accomplishments, events plus lots of comings and goings. Linda and I really enjoy receiving all the cards and reading all the news. Inserted with Ken Broman’s card was this photograph taken back at the 50th Reunion of the members of Cadet Squadron 14. Thankfully, Ken added a “cutline” so I didn’t have to ask who is who. For sure Murph is no longer with us and I’d recognize Gordon anytime. (See photo at the top of the next column.)

Many of you, like me, are members of the Air Force Association and receive the Air Force Magazine. In the Dec 2014 issue there was an article that told the story of the 62nd MAW at McChord, AFB, WA, being newly tasked with delivering supplies to Antarctica at McMurdo and the South Pole in June 1983. Two of the Wing’s squadrons during that time flew the C-141B aircraft. The mission was flown during the Antarctic Winter and

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where in the Mediterranean that weekend. Hopefully, classmates will attend from far and wide, because planning for the 100th can’t begin too soon!

50th Pictures – Just in case you forgot where the pictures of the 50th Reunion Dinner were, you can access them at https://www.flickr.com/gp/ studiocopan/074oA3 Beijing and Shanghai – Tom Mahan wrote that he and Judy travelled to Beijing and Shanghai with Ace and Shirley Rawlins last September. They had a great trip and saw some of their previous adversaries up close.

delivery was done by airdrop at each location. Two midair refuelings were also necessary for completing the airdrops and the return to Christchurch NZ. It was clear the mission was both extremely difficult and very precarious. If something went wrong with either of the refuelings there weren’t many options for the crew. To make it back to Christchurch, NZ could easily be impossible and landing at McMurdo or the South Pole appeared to be improbable. The mission aircrew was listed in the article and a name well known by us, the Class of 1963, was included. There in the middle of everything was Richard D. Paprowicz, Navigator.

Tidbits in Time Almanac: Over the years a member of the Class of 1969 E. Adrian Van Zelfden has sent out a monthly e-mail to former USAFA Cadets and their families and friends entitled “Tidbits in Time Almanac – USAFA Edition.” You may well be a recipient. Each day of the month has a “tidbit” about that day in history. For example: “January 7, 1941 Frederick D. Gregory, Jr. (USAFA 1964) was born in Washington, DC. After training as a helicopter pilot, he flew rescue missions in Vietnam in the H-43. He then cross-trained into fixed-wing aircraft and later became an Air Force test pilot. He was selected by NASA as an astronaut in 1978. There is speculation that he was chosen partly because of his helicopter experience. He flew on three missions, STS-51-B, STS-33, and STS-44, spending 18 days and 23 hours in space.” And, on “January 25, 1984 the Apple Macintosh computer went on sale for $2,495 as a replacement for the Apple II.” Tidbits in Time is fun and more often than not enlightening. It is a great tool for reading, entertaining and exploring. To be on Adrian’s list doesn’t cost you a thing although, he accepts donations to defray expenses. It is as easy as sending him a note at vanzelfden@usafa-grads.com. If you want to sample first just send me an e-mail and I’ll forward the latest edition.

That’s it for this time. If you have been in survival mode this winter— especially in the Northeast—by the time you read this change is on the way. For us in the Desert Southwest it is just a matter dealing with a onehour frost delay at the golf course. Take care of yourselves and let me hear from you now and then.

Bob Hovde 206 Walker Ave. Huntsville, AL 35801 (H) (256) 532-3923 (M) (256) 348-9794 bob@hovde.us

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“Debriefing” Reunion – Fred Gregory has succumbed to intense pressure and allowed as how he and Annette could host at least one more reunion this June 21st in Annapolis. Before the last “final” Practice Reunion, he said that there would be no further practice reunions. He continues, “Well…that is the absolute truth. We practiced for more than 20 years and we perfected our showmanship to such a level that many remotely located classmates commented on the skill and cunning of us as a group wishing to learn more. Of course those are our little secrets, never to be divulged!

“However…there will be a reunion of sorts where several items will be put on the table for discussion and debriefing over food and drink: 1. To gain insight from Jeff (Levy) on the ins and outs of major hip surgery.

2. To debrief the 50th Colorado Springs reunion for feedback to Rod Wells for improvement for our scheduled 100th reunion.

3. To again wish Fred and Annette bon voyage for their 5th anniversary practice honeymoon trip to Punta Cona as [was done] the day after we were married 5 years ago.

4. Any further new business.

I hate to miss an important debriefing, but Sandy and I will be some-

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Tom and Ace with MIG: Tom to Ace, “If only we could have caught one (or five!) of these ‘several’ years earlier!”

Christmas Greetings – Roger and Linda Neeland’s Christmas letter show that growing older doesn’t mean slowing down. They have a new granddaughter, Persephone Justice Neeland, and got to keep their grandson, Devan, for 8 days while his parents were on a trip to Germany. They took a trans-Atlantic cruise themselves – from Ft. Lauderdale to Barcelona, with stops in the Azores and several stops along the Spanish coast. (Linda claims seeing the Alhambra was worth a day of walking in the rain. I agree, but it’s even better when it’s not raining!) Roger logged another 5,000 miles on his bike again last year and competed in both the State Senior Games and the World Senior Games as well as for fund raising for worthy causes.

He also puts in many hours of volunteer time with the non-profit FalconWorks. Between family weddings, the 50th Reunion and attending funerals, they concluded that life is a gift to 2014 Class Giving be enjoyed and not taken for granted – make the most Participation Rate of it while we are still here. [Amen!]

29% Speaking of Christmas – While we were in Colorado Springs for Christmas we had the opportunity to participate as “Santa Trackers” at the NORAD Santa Tracking Station (Peterson AFB). The three generations of us went to Peterson for a couple of hours Christmas Eve and answered the phones and emails from “kids” all over the world. The children wanted to know where Sabre Society Santa was at that moment and when he would be at Donors their houses. The parents were just waiting for us to tell

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the kids that Santa wouldn’t come until they were fast asleep in bed!

Class Advisory Senate: Doug Jenkins, our Class Advisory Senate member, sent out the minutes of the last Senate meeting through the Squadron POCs. If you didn’t receive it last December, let me know so we can fine tune our ’64 information distribution system. There wasn’t anything needing immediate attention, but it had good information on USAFA plans for the next couple of years.

USAFA Endowment – Paul Kaminski is serving on the Endowment’s Academic committee and called to talk about an academic priorities project that is underway. They are raising money to support academic cadet capstone projects and academic competitive club teams. The Academic Fundraising Committee is offering a challenge match of $160,000 to those who are willing to make a charitable contribution to this cause. I probably wasn’t paying much attention while we were there, but I don’t remember anything like this on the academic side. I guess I spent too much time in the gym! As the Dean said, “By engaging with real-world professionals, using cutting edge technology in the classroom, and then applying those skills to compete, cadets are motivated to reach the next level beyond a mere academic experience. These events bring the academic material to life!” [I know. I know. He’s my Son-in-law, but it’s still a good quote!] Think about it. We didn’t set up a large project to fund at our 50th. Maybe we need to make one more positive mark on the Academy by quietly supporting the academic projects and teams.

Clear skies and smooth landings!

Visit the AOG Web Site.

Gone But Not Forgotten, Merchandise and more! www.usafa.org

Bruce Wood 7610 Sonatta Court Lincoln, NE 68516 Home and Cell: (402) 470-7152 brucewood1965@gmail.com http://usafa1965.org (official) https://usafa-1965.org (auxiliary)

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Hello Silvertags!

Sad news since the last Checkpoints. We lost Robert G. Kemmerer, CS18; Bill Redmond, CS-14; Richard Apgar, CS-14; and Billy Swick, CS-5.

“Although it’s difficult today to see beyond the sorrow, May looking back in memory help comfort you tomorrow.” -Author Unknown The loss of beloved comrades reminds me that not every classmate will have the opportunity to gather at USAFA and celebrate our reunion.

I hear “I’m not coming” rumblings from some about our reunion being scheduled for early November and how they may not attend for fear of cold, snow, wind, whatever. I fear that some classmates have converted from stalwarts to worry warts. I wonder if Lance Sijan, Tom Daffron, Al Lucki, Gray Warren and the others 2014 Class Giving Participation Rate who died in Vietnam or the rest who have since passed 33% away would forego an opportunity to join their classmates because the weather may not be nice! Whiskey Tango Foxtrot, Over. Enough said! If you don’t come, I think the New England Patriots have room for a few more deflated balls… “And in the end it’s not the years in your life that count. It is the life in your years.” Abraham Lincoln Sabre Society In October, Kary LaFors sent me input which I didn’t Donors have room for in my last post. His input can now be published!

From Kary LaFors: “Hi Bruce, We should have been getting you photos of our get-togethers over the years.

At least we are finally doing so. This was the 7th one we have done with this sized group. This photo was taken on 29 Sept and we are just south of Virginia Beach, VA in Sandbridge. Last year we met in Tennessee and the year before in Utah. People stay for whatever time works for them: some two days, some 4 nights, five nights, and a few for 7 nights. We share meal preparation and it is one beautiful meal after another. I will be discrete and not send the volleyball photos. I can report however that there were no injuries. You probably can recognize all these guys (scribe note: You Betcha!) as they have not changed much since you last saw them. However, I’ll list them from left to right (scribe note - see caption under photo).

“Wonderful news at this gathering was that both Charlie Aldredge and his wife, Maureen, have recovered from cancer.

“We discussed the upcoming 50th class reunion while there and we hear that our planning committee may have already selected the weekend of the AFA vs Army game on 7 Nov 2015. We hope that late date does not discourage too many from coming, but many were disappointed.

“Thank you for all your work to gather and share class news.

Peace, Kary.”

“If you think health care is expensive now, wait until you see what it costs when it’s free.” -P.J. O’Rourke

ally brings wisdom. Gail is under instructions that if I ever think about another “go,” she is to shoot me in the foot. But not in my left knee which was totally replaced last year. Really looking forward to next year’s 50th,” “As you walk down the fairway of life you must smell the roses, for you only get to play one round.” -Ben Hogan

Bruce Grosseta on the Grand Canyon rim.

“Here is Maria and me taking a break from sightseeing during a recent trip to France and Germany. A wonderful “bucket list” trip to Normandy, the Alsace wine country in eastern France and the beautiful Brenner’s Park in Baden-Baden, Germany. One of the highlights was a visit to an American cemetery in the town of St James -- close to St Lo where we found the grave site of Maria’s mother’s finance’ from 1943. Her mother never knew where he was -- only that he was killed on 8 Aug 44 few weeks after landing at Utah Beach. Only conjecture, but we may be the only people to ever to intentionally visit him – 1st/Lt Barney Brown. It was a very poignant moment. Cheers.”

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From left the guys are Tom Thompson, Brad Grems, and Joe Bleymaier.

In the back are Gordon Boezer, Pete Supp, and Howell Estes. In the front after Gordon: Jim Hopkins, Harold Rust, Charlie Aldridge, Kary LaFors, John Love, and John Warden. Wives, Mary Grems, Marcia Bleymaier, Sondra Supp (just in front of her husband, Pete) Sharon Boezer, Pat Rust bending down a little, Utai Thompson, Phylis Hopkins, and behind her, Majorie Warden, and Nanette LaFors at the far right.

From Bruce Grosseta I received: “Avid readers of this column may remember that Larry Farrell and I did the grueling 23-mile Grand Canyon rim-to-rim in one day seven years ago. Each time I come out of the Canyon I vow I’ll never do it again. So why did I do it again in October? Because I’m an idiot!! Took me three extra hours of wondering if old age re-

Tom and Maria Owens From Tom Browder: “Bruce, I enjoyed the Christmas edition of the Checkpoints and your usual flourish on events in ‘65 lives. Looks like a whole bunch of ‘65 folks did the Danube trip this year. Besides your group I know the Planks and Colemans went as a group in the summer, and Missy and I went alone in the spring.

Attached is a pic of ‘65ers taken at a Christmas party in my home on 19 Dec 2014. That is yours truly, Tom Plank, and Bob Foerster in front of our fireplace with the 1972 Don Eckelberry White Gyrfalcon print high over the mantel (been there since 1986; am I the only guy in the class who bought one?) [Actually I bought three!)

“I failed to get a picture of us with our spouses in it but such is life with a lively group. Have a very Merry Christmas, and I hope we meet again next year. Best regards, Tom B.”

Tom Browder, Tom Plank, and Bob Foerster Well, that’s all the input I’ve received, plus some I didn’t have room for in the last issue. Not to worry! And for the few of you who are becoming

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couch potatoes, curmudgeons, “stick in the muds”, and are simply existing rather than living – get out, exercise, travel, and COME TO OUR 50TH REUNION! Bruce. ’65 – Still Alive!

Ryan Denny 1635 Mary Todd Lane O’Fallon, IL 62269 H: (618) 624-4255 E-mail: ryanden@aol.com

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Greetings, Redtags! It’s hard to believe that the class we mentor, 2016, is going to have their Ring Dance in a few months. That means it has been 50 years since we got our rings. Mine still fits! (I had it re-sized after it shrunk one year!)

Speaking of history, Jack Wormington has a great story about how he has tracked down most of the facts about his uncle’s final mission as the pilot of a B-17 during WWII. His uncle, Capt Robert Baber, and most of the crew were killed when their 2014 Class Giving plane was hit by German anti-aircraft fire while they Participation Rate were on a bombing mission over France in August 27% 1944. Here’s a much shortened version of Jack’s story.

Jack grew up hearing about his mother’s favorite brother, Bob, who died in the war one month before Jack was born. He was a B-17 pilot, her childhood hero and her big brother. She would cry if Jack asked too many questions so he learned to avoid the subject.

While at ACSC in 1976 Jack was able to get some basic Sabre Society information on the mission from the Air Force HistoriDonors cal Research Center at Maxwell AFB. He learned that the B-17 was named I’ll Get By, and that the crew had flown more than 20 missions and was a “Lead Crew” for the 95th Bomb Group. After the aircraft was hit, it spun out of control and only 3 of the 10 crew members were able to bail out, only to be captured and spend the rest of the war in a POW camp. Capt Baber and the rest of the crew died when the plane crashed. In 1947 a Graves Registration team traveled to Airan, France to investigate the crash site of an American B-17. They recovered 7 bodies including one with the ID tags of Capt. Robert O Baber and an engine ID plate that matched one of the engines on the I’ll Get By. Jack tried to get more information from the National Records Center in St Louis, but a major fire in 1973 had destroyed 80% of the WW II personnel records, including his uncle’s.

So the story was left unfinished until Jack retired in 1995 and had the time to follow up on his interest in military history during family vacations in Europe. Jack said that his wife, Peggie, is a patient, good-hearted lady, but too many battlefields and cemeteries while visiting Europe forced a renegotiation of their itineraries. (“Renegotiation” meant Jack saying, “Yes, Dear” a lot.) So, battlefields were interspersed with churches,

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gardens, and non-military museums. On the latest trip in Apr 14, Peggie wanted to see the Bayeux tapestry in Normandy, which was near the reported crash site of I’ll Get By. With a lot of help from the US Embassy and others, Jack was able to meet with a French archeologist who happened to be researching the I’ll Get By crash site. In a major stroke of luck, he also learned that there was going to be a memorial ceremony in August 2014, honoring the crew of the “I’ll Get By” as part the 70th anniversary of Liberation Day. (This was Jack’s reward for following his wife’s recommended itinerary.)

Jack Wormington presents a photo of his uncle’s B-17 crew to the Mayor of Airan, France.

Jack and several members of his family returned to Airan, France in August for the memorial ceremony and a reception. During these events, the mayor unveiled a monument to the I’ll Get By crew and Jack presented the town with a large copy of the crew’s photo that had been taken just before they took off on this last mission. Jack has tracked down many of the crew’s relatives, and is still searching for the rest so he can share this story with them. Thanks, Jack, for this great story of a few airmen who were part of “The Greatest Generation”, and my apologies for reducing it to a one-page Reader’s Digest article.

Five classmates were on hand today to witness Larry Bagley’s swearingin ceremony to the Colorado Springs City Council. Larry was appointed by the council to fill a vacant seat until the next election. There is no word yet on whether Larry is planning to run for this seat in this election, or wait to see if he should take a shot at the 2016 Presidential elections.

Tom Guenther, Vic Andrews, Ross Gubser, Larry Bagley, Dick Olliver, and Bill Riley as Larry became the newest member of the Colorado Springs City Council.

Larry is also our Class Senator, who represents us a member of the Class Advisory Senate to the Association of Graduates. In his most recent report, he reminded us of the on-going planning for our 50th Reunion. “Bill Riley held a kick-off meeting/picnic at his house. If you want a head start in providing feedback on anything concerning the reunion, please feel free to contact Bill via e-mail at: mtntennis@msn.com. A reminder to send all those memorable photos (Vietnam, life events, mini-reunions, grand kids, trips, unusual happenings, etc.) to Dick Oliver. Just email the digital photos to: RockyDick@gmail.com.”

Jerry Allen, in his role as the President of the Daedalian Foundation, spoke at a Veterans Day ceremony at the Riverside National Cemetery and at a Daedalian luncheon afterwards. His host for these events was classmate Al “Stretch” Strzemieczny, who is the Flight Captain of the Daedalian’s Hap Arnold Flight that has sponsored this ceremony for the last 35 years. In addition, this flight has also raised $18,000 this year to support scholarships for aspiring military aviators. In spite of his speech, the flight presented Jerry with a special bottle of wine from the Chandelle Winery, which is run by some of Hap Arnold’s descendants. The wine bottles feature aviation scenes on the label, and (for some reason) Jerry’s favorite is

the label with a B-1 and a B-2 on it. This may be because he flew the B-1 and his son Craig ’94 flew the B-2, or it could be because the wine in those bottles really tastes good.

$160 per bag was cheaper and safer than shipping it. Complication: We use an inch and three quarter attack line… All they had was a two and a half inch hose and a gated straight bore nozzle borrowed from the Ugandan National Fire Brigade… We try and have three big guys on the line when we use that big of a hose. [One of the Uganda firemen[… weighs maybe 150 pounds soaking wet, and was about to go airborne when… one of the National Training Sergeants who was helping train stepped in... Another miracle: When we were landing at some airport in Ruanda (I think) we had a bird strike on the F.O. (think copilot) windshield in the 747 we were on. We diverted to our stop, Entebbe, for better maintenance...

Never again! After visiting Auschwitz last year, Entebbe has a special place in my heart. Saw the stamp in my passport when I got it out for this most recent trip to Croatia.” Well done, Beau – I hope we connect next time you are in New Mexico.

Stretch and Jerry keep smiling while they arm wrestle for a bottle of wine.

That’s all the room we have for this edition, but please keep those emails, updates, and pictures coming so that we won’t be too surprised when we see each other at our 50th Reunion. Until next time… Happy Landings!

Larry Wilson 13100 Pinehurst Ave. NE Albuquerque, NM 87111 H: (505) 291-8949 E-mail: Lwilsn628@aol.com

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Hola amigos – I hope you have avoided bad winter weather thus far, and will skate (or ski, or golf, or whatever…) thru the rest of the season.

As I compose this, the Northeast has been hammered, and more blizzard is predicted. Meanwhile, New Mexico is… glorious: as an example, I played 2 hours of outdoor tennis this AM 2014 Class Giving – in shorts. We broke up when one of our group de- Participation Rate parted to head to Taos to ski. Eat your hearts out…

45% Some interesting inputs this quarter – so away we go.

First of all, from Beau Crosby: “In March 2014 I went to Kampala, Uganda with another Volunteer Fire Fighter… to deliver some firefighting equipment and train the first Ugandan Volunteer Fire Fighting Company. My… friend is one of the Volunteer LieutenSabre Society ants… in my home department. He was in Kampala Donors on a church visit, and when the locals found out he

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was a Fire Fighter they asked for some tips. He obliged then… kept working the issue… (and he) found some serviceable… personal protective equipment… donated by the City of Killeen, Texas Fire Department… A lot of the story isn’t really for publication; we bent a few ‘Rules’ making the trip… We loaded 11 complete sets of gear into bags we bought at a Killeen Army Surplus store.

Bought tickets and found out that taking it as ‘Extra’ baggage on KLM at

Fire Brigade practice.

The Ugandan National Fire Brigade and equipment, courtesy of Beau Crosby and friends.

From Bob Muldrow: “…we (hosted) a mini-Blackjack reunion at my home... [with] Ed Stadjuhar, Larry Howerton, Jempy Neyman, Paul Schlichter, Ralph Femrite, myself, and three wives. The story telling was unmatchable. Larry had not been back since we graduated, so that we had a lot of fun bringing him up to speed…” Another tidbit from Bob: “The Center for Character and Leadership Development that has been on hold (construction-wise) for several months now as it has a couple more major issues. Number one it is over cost and under budget. Number two, the 39 degree slant to point the tower to the North Star halted most everything in place when they discovered the steel needed to support this structure was too weak. I am not sure to this (day) if they have found enough steel that is strong enough to do the job. Number three and this borders on the ridiculous as far as I am concerned. The tower was designed to point to Polaris. Well it is off by an inch. The specs were very specific in that it had to point within an eighth of an inch. How in the heck did anyone notice that it was off by 7/8th of an inch is beyond me…”

Jim East had a good experience with the AOG: He and some 11th Cadet Squadron classmates learned that Jesse Kent was very sick. On short notice they decided to present Jesse and his family a cadet saber and display case. “Time was very short and [Jim] called the AOG and got a rep at the service desk [who] began to patiently work me through the details (cherry or walnut; glass or no glass, etc.). I then explained… I needed to send them overnight… Michele Cowan… the deceased grads point of contact for the AOG…” stepped in and arranged for all… and got it done. And helped us help a classmate and his family… The saber was delivered on Friday morning and… the case… arrived Saturday morning. Jesse went into a coma that afternoon and died that evening. His family is very appreciative of our efforts but none of them would have happened if not for Michele. Her support just blew me away. It still does.” Well done, AOG and Michele – thanks for having our backs.

From some Christmas missives: Patti and Bill Hurley travelled a bit in ’14 – down the Rhine and Danube, in the Caribbean, thru the Panama Canal and to Peru and Machu Picchu; then Stateside across the country to the Grand Canyon; then later to Australia. That is a lotta fun miles. Abner and Pattie Haynes continue to thrive in and around St George, UT. Pam and Les Jensen are thriving in Fargo, ND where Les had an extended gig as orchestra director, and later helped me out with a donation to a local disadvantaged school’s music program. Em and Michelle Monda remain based in southern California and chased their kids around the world, to London, and the Loire Valley in France, and Argentina, and Tubingen Germany, and picturesque cities in Italy – plus for Em a bonus: work trip to Minnesota in December. Lastly, Roger and Shonnie Carleton are now grandparents x2 and traveled to Montana, St Louis, and a number of former Soviet bloc countries. Roger AKA Eagle 01 is working his bionic knee hard to get in shape for golf/ fishing/ huntin’.

The Wing Open is being advertised. I always remember the Wing Open when we were dools. Chuck Beattie of CS06 was “encouraged” by squadron

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upperclassmen to “volunteer” to enter. He had some grit and skills, and he ended up in the heavyweight finals, against then-Wing Commander James C Ingram Jr, who had boxed Golden Gloves and was undefeated at the AFA. Chuck landed one punch. Ingram acknowledged it – then proceeded to take Chuck apart. Chuck went down for the count – RIP, Chuck.

Please check the “Gone but Not Forgotten” section as some of our guys have bought it in the past months. Sad. And a reminder for each of us to count the blessings of each good day.

Housekeeping note: Please keep your trusty scribe in mind when you have a gathering and shoot me notes and pics, preferably with names/ captions, so I can get the word out.

That’s it. The very best wishes to each of you and your families for this nolonger-New Year. God bless the troops and the United States of America.

Tim Davidson 9712 Hidden Valley Road Vienna, VA 22181-6094 Phone: (703) 255-5313 Mobile: (703) 772-6052 E-mail: timdav1968@verizon.net Class Website: www.usafa68.org

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HELLO ’68! Echoes of “Slash ’em with a beak! Rip ’em with a claw!” are still ringing in my ears following a fabulous football season for our Falcons. Mucho congrats to our team and coaches!

LEGACY CLASS PHOTO REDUX: Marking it as the first error ever made by our Checkpoints editor, a caption under a photo in the Class of ’67’s column was mistakenly pasted under the photo of our Legacy Class Acceptance Parade participants. With apologies to all, here is the photo, again, with the correct caption.

70-01 Muster in Albuquerque: From left kneeling are Howell White, Ed Welliver, Scribe, Jim Kitchen, and Rhip Worrell. Standing 1st row: Hank Irwin, Tony Eden, J Ferron, Tom Olsen, Fred Bradley, Jim Lozito, Dana Drenkowski, Marty Cole, Andy Ferris, and Morry Morrison. 2nd row: Bob Lutter, George Hoffman, Sully Sullivan, Ed Ashman, Dick Davidson, Brian O’Hara, Charlie Holland, Bill Drennan, Bill Gauntt, Geo Roberts, Ed Stadjuhar, and Bob Daley.

Thursday night featured dinner at a friend’s house. Friday morning, 11 of the class played golf at the Brackenridge Public course and were joined

by Steve Polk to make up three foursomes. The non-golfers took a trolley tour of the San Antonio missions. In the afternoon, the group chartered a bus to Randolph AFB where all the pilots had attended UPT. They were hosted by the current commander of AETC, General Robin Rand -- a protégé of Bill Begert. Because of Bill’s connections, the group was treated to a first-class tour of Randolph Air Force Base starting with a briefing by General Rand, followed by static displays, technology demonstrations of the T-38C, a tour of the POW mini-museum, and concluded with rehydration at the Auger Inn. Saturday, the group drove to the Hill Country and visited a couple of vineyards for some wine tastings interspersed with a German buffet in Comfort, Texas. Then it was back to the hotel for a riverboat cruise terminating at the Casa Rio Mexican Restaurant for a sit-down dinner and slide show. Sunday morning coffee and rolls were served in the class suite and then farewells. As Steve and Garry tell it, “All in all, it was a most excellent reunion!”

’68ers at Class of 2018 Acceptance Parade: From left in the front row and Contrails presenters: Al Blumberg, Dan Hites, Bill Wood, Bill Maywhort, Bill Crimmel, Bill Eckert, Garry Dudley, and Carl Janssen. Back Row: Ken Swanger, Doc Holaday, Chuck Jones, Bruce Buono, and Vince Rusinak. Not pictured: Bill Begert -- See his photo below in the article on 70-02 reunion.

REESE AFB UPT CLASS OF 70-01 45-YEAR REUNION: With superior organization, hospitality, coordination, and communication skills, Jim and Candy Lozito served as host and hostess for Reese AFB’s Class of 70-01’s 45-Year reunion from 18-21 Sept.

2014 Class Giving Lodging was at the legendary Hotel Albuquerque at Old Participation Rate Town. After months of planning, the reunion dates and 27% the effects of a Category 4 Hurricane Odile appeared to be on a collision course. With Albuquerque weather forecasts calling for an 80% to 90% chance of rain, the Land of Enchantment lived up to its name and in lieu of forecasted wind and rain we had ample supplies of blue skies, sunshine, and white, puffy clouds.

The itinerary consisted of visits to the: New Mexico Sabre Society Veterans Memorial; 58th Special Operations Wing at Donors Kirtland AFB; International Balloon Museum; tram

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ride up Sandia Mountain; and sightseeing around Old Santa Fe. A coat-and-tie banquet followed these activities on the evening of 20 Sept where classmates and instructor pilots said a few words about what they had been doing for the past few decades. As is the case with our USAFA reunions, the conversations were non-stop and the time seemed to fly by in a nanosecond. The next gathering for 70-01 is being planned for the third weekend in Sept 2016 in Rapid City, SD. (See photo at the top of the next column.)

RANDOLPH AFB 70-02 45-YEAR REUNION: Steve McPhail organized a 45-year reunion for Randolph AFB UPT Class of 70-02 in San Antonio, TX from 17-20 Oct. Thirty-three classmates and spouses enjoyed a fabulous four-day reunion at the Omni La Mansion del Rio Hotel on the San Antonio River Walk. Those ‘68 grads and spouses attending were Bill and Jody Begert, John Carson, Denny Chrismer, Rick Colt, Mike and Linda Cryer, Garry and Tina Dudley, Gary and Dotty Hall, Hal and Kathi Higley, Pat and Nancy Hurley, Bob and Sonya Macaluso and Judi and Steve McPhail.

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70-02 Gathering in San Antonio: From left kneeling are Hal Higley, Knox Bishop, and Larry Warren. Middle Row: Chief Tapia, Lt Col Joel Deboer, Carm Auwater, Gary Hall, Per Hanssen, Denny Chrismer, Rick Colt, Pat Hurley, Bob Macaluso, Mike Cryer, Bill Begert, Garry Dudley, Gen Rand, and Bill Gallogly. On Top by canopy: Jim Baird, Steve McPhail, and John Hoffman.

ELECTRONIC CONNECTIONS DURING HOLIDAY SEASON: Employing a search of e-mail addresses for classmates who were in Cougar Flight with me during Basic Summer, I was delighted with responses from several who were off my radar screen for decades. The first note and Christmas letter were from Larry Maahs. Larry and his wife, Jan, have three children, Jim, Joanne, and Julie. After seven years living in Tampa, Larry and Jan pulled up stakes in 2014 and now reside on a one-acre lot with a fishing lake in the back in Anamosa, Iowa. Their e-mail address is lmjm35@yahoo.com.

The second update came from Ron Jackson, who wrote “We’re doing fine. I lost a leg to a very serious infection a few years ago, but I survived against all odds, and am currently hobbling along. Last year, I was at our church and they announced some visitors and somebody’s brotherin-law turned out to be my old roommate Gary Vasek. Talk about small

worlds. He hasn’t changed a bit, but has a lovely wife who obviously keeps him in line.” If you would like to get in touch with Ron, his e-mail address is rnj5742@aol.com.

The third note came from Richard Vihel. Richard sent Season’s Greetings and word that he was back in Flagstaff after retiring and flailing around the world for a while. He claims that he doesn’t know what the next chapter will be, but he is healthy and ready for whatever presents itself. Richard’s e-mail address is rvihel@yahoo.com.

More news from my holiday correspondence will appear in future columns. Thanks to all of you out there in “Checkpoints Land” for keeping me in the loop.

THOUGHTS AND PRAYERS: Our classmate Jim Hix passed away on Nov. 4, 2014 at his home in Pensacola, FL. He served in Vietnam for two tours as a Forward Air Control O-1 Bird Dog pilot over Laos with the Ravens group. He was shot down and injured behind enemy lines twice. Air America pilots rescued him each time. He was awarded the Purple Heart and Distinguished Flying Cross. Please keep Jim’s family and friends in your thoughts and prayers.

THAT’S A WRAP: Mind the flak; keep ‘em flying, and keep those cards, letters, e-mails, and photos coming in to Pat Russell and me. Ciao for now. Tim

Lindsey Parris 616 King’s Cloister Circle Alexandria, VA 22302 Home: (703) 836-3604 102177.1033@compuserve.com

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In mid-winter doldrums after the heady experience of our 45th, and a quieter time in my mailboxes, snail- and e-, than usual.

Gratifying news is that the reunion sparked a strong outpouring of additional contributions for our Class Gift, both first-time and follow-on gifts. The enormity of this gift, certainly not lost on those in our Class who know of it, has also become even more in focus for the Endowment, which has kindly extended the contribution window. So, those who are not yet on board have one more shot at it. Randy Percy sent along the below shot of the vertical compass, rising conspicuously now above the ceiling of the CCLD in the Honor Court Terrazzo; as you know, this will channel light from the North Star into the new Cadet Wing Honor Board Room. The CCLD’s christening is still scheduled tentatively for August.

The Vertical Compass nears completion.

Well, gentlemen, it had to happen. Tom Keck, after more than 11 years with Raytheon and his distinguished career in uniform, has moved to new pastures. His exit interview from Raytheon expressed many of the thoughts he had crystallized over 40 years of service, and touched on leadership, life, and career. Worth reading (contact Tom if you’re interested).

Tom plans to decompress slowly, but there is more golf in his immediate future. Huge congrats, Tom, from all your classmates, on your exemplary careers in service of our country. Well done.

Following Tom’s lead closely is Jack Overstreet, who has announced his intention to retire from Lockheed-Martin in February. Jack muses he has been at LM longer than he served in uniform, and has worked as a registered “L***yist” longer than he flew fighters on active duty. And, Jack’s Icelandic equivalent to Lizzie’s law (see below) is “when sleeping with 18 other people in a hut, the probability that there will be zero people who snore is zero.” Absolute zero. Any questions, call Laura, who continues her work with the Society of American Travel Writers. (Laura, it appears, especially from the smallish sample of news tidbits that follow, that you’ll be dispensing travel tips to some 600 families, all of whom speak “USAFA ‘69”!)

After enjoying October’s 45th, Pete and Kathy Melly are off with three

generations of the Clan Melly, escaping Connecticut’s gelid climate to enjoy the fairer climes of St Kitts in February. Pete continues as part owner and COO of a commercial real estate service company for credit unions.

Brian and Lizzie Nelson are also looking to avoid cold climes, and the Twin Cities area has done nothing to disabuse them of their commitment to move. Colorado is the intended landing region (where else so convenient to harass Glen Schlabs?), with snow- 2014 Class Giving birding to yet warmer destinations Lizzie’s enforced Participation Rate 30% version of the 3rd law of thermodynamics reads thusly: “As temperature drops towards the 70F threshold ”- or, for Roger Hartman, George Fuller, Jim Brau, Joe Hasek, and Rick Olafson to 294.26º Kelvin -- “the entropy of the system approaches an asymptote such that the probability of seeing Lizzie proportionately drops to absolute zero as a constant minimum.” QED. Meanwhile, Brian continues to work as the MediSabre Society cal Director at the (back) clinics, and has taken time Donors to conduct research into immutable laws of nature, giving rise to Nelson’s Law of Universal Convergence: Wine+Golf+ESPN+Classmates = Nirvana. Also a QED. Nelson the Buddhist Grasshopper. Who knew. In the picture, Nels practices for his soon-to-be change in lifestyles, taking in the warmth of Phoenix in November and assuming the hands-in-pocket-twolegged-walking position with some of the usual suspects: Mike Goode, myself, Steve Cherry, John Buckner, Brian Nelson, Craig Collins, and Gerry Schwartzel.

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Usual suspects conduct hospitality check at the home of Mike and Linda Goode.

And, speaking of Brother Hartman, he and Barb are planning around the lack of poolside opportunities during New Mexico’s winter months to travel for a couple weeks. As is the case with all of us, they give thanks to all the first responders and agencies who put themselves in harm’s way, and the sacrifices of our uniformed men and women to the common good and keeping us all safe in our daily lives.

Tom and Linda Shumway have cut ties with New Hampshire, figuring they couldn’t affect elections as much as they had thought, and relocated to Fairfield Glade, TN, about 75 miles west of Knoxville. The Glade has been mentioned as a Top 50 U.S. retirement spot, and Team Shumway is situated 2,000 feet above the fray. Tom’s aerie office and effortless noncommute (“Honey, I’m home” is not a recommended end-day salutation to your returning-home-brides, for those of you with home offices!) make time for deer-watching and ball-chasing on one of five golf courses in the development. Tom has a beer and a story for all ’69ers… as a welcome stopover on Rt 40 between Knoxville and Nashville.

The extended family of Ron and Gayle Love expanded to grandchild number five in 2014 (which puts them one behind Roy and Lindsay Coppinger, at six, with one more on the way!), and traveled to Bogota, Columbia to oversee the new young lady. Gayle still works in a neonatal intensive care unit, and Ron is with the Delaware Department of Education.

Ron continues to work in lots of softball, including a seasonally opportunistic 10-game tourney in Pompano Beach in March, and qualified to go to Minneapolis next July for this 5th National Senior Games. He also skied in Keystone with one of his sons-in-law, made his annual reunion sortie to SHAPE, using a military hop, and squeezed in some travel through Germany and Budapest. Both were able to make tit to Breckenridge and their annual trips to Michigan and Chicago Point Resort. Throw in the reunion for good measure, and one has a busy year. These travels allow Ron to avoid paying Delaware taxes. Maybe!?

In the running for the Class Magellan/Marco Polo award are the Flemings, Tom and Karen. From their Fort Collins base, they spend time in San Diego, a cousins’ reunion in Seattle with a stopover at a cozy B&B in the Willamette Valley, skied in the Cascades, hiking in Utah’s fabulous national parks, and the fall colors in Vermont. Tom continues his trips across the Pacific to work defense issues, and maintains the town’s finest wine cellar, so I’m told.

Also in the conversation for “travel kings” are the Traveling Andersens.

David Bruce and Barb, from their Greensboro, NC base, made it to California five times this year, long weekends in Asheville, several trips to New

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Jersey, a Viking River Cruise along the Danube, a week each at Holden Beach, NC, and Seabrook SC, and five days in Breckenridge. Regular time on bikes and golf courses is also in their standard mix. Life is good.

Gene Justin is also in the running for work and travel. He continues his work for Boeing in Huntington Beach and finds time to walk that Beach, hike deep Creek or Mount Ribidoux in Riverside. He says he still loves amusement parks with his family, but avoids the bodily-part displacement rides now. Son Joe develops websites, and James is a game programmer. The three of them form Silicon Valley, South.

Following up on last summer’s bicycle tour of Colorado, here is the promised picture of Jim Downey, Rick Olafson, and Jim Hansen. They plan to repeat their feat this summer and invite all ’69ers to Esse Non Videri with them.

and visited the Cayman Islands. Roy and Anne Long continue to enjoy life in Texas. Jerry and Pam Bruni continued their long-time very generous support of The Empty Stocking Fund here in the Springs.

Former roomie Fran Buchan presented the “key” to a new mortgagefree home to Iraqi veteran Eric Loresto and his son Kristopher at the Birmingham Bowl. Fran was representing Bank of America/Merrill Lynch along with Dave Lieske from the Military Warriors Support Foundation.

What a great program -- kudos Fran!

Fran Buchan helps veteran. From left are Dave Lieske, Eric Loresto, Kristopher Loresto, and Fran Buchan.

Jim D, Rick, and Jim H atop Red Mountain Pass (11,000 feet & 39F) in June 2014.

Steve and Carla Kirby’s Tidy Top product, a Medtrade Innovative Retail Product Award Winner for 2014, continues to rock, expanding state by state, and now in 30 states, 3 countries, and 215 stores. Get ’em while they’re hot! More to come. And, Les “got shoulders, but no knees” Dyer tossed 10 TD passes in his firehouse’s win in its annual pre-Superbowl rivalry. Still got game!

That’s it for now. All best until next time. Salute, all, and cheers. Lindsey

Dick Rauschkolb 130 Luxury Lane Colorado Springs, CO 80921 H: (719) 761-5764 Cell: (719) 310-6928 Email: AOG70@comcast.net

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Slash ’em with a beak, Rip ’em with a claw…! During this year’s remarkable football season, I visualized Wood Woodhead, Chip Terrill, and Duff Duffy leading the Wing in this infamous cheer. Finishing 10-3 after a 210 season was an awesome accomplishment. Knocking off ranked Boise State and CSU were major wins along with winning the Commander-inChief’s Trophy.

Kudos to Coach Calhoun, his staff, and the Class of 2015 that provided great senior leadership! Best of all the boys should be good for the next several years as we had many third classman playing the skill positions.

Heard from a lot of people over the Holidays. Ron and Pam Kelly had a family reunion in Palm Beach.

2014 Class Giving The Barralls spent some quality time with their grand- Participation Rate children. Our oldest classmate Rex Levoy finally re32% tired. He and Lynn celebrated by spending a month in Key West. Unfortunately, he will miss the Reunion. Bob and Diana Chambers recently celebrated an anniversary. They will also miss the reunion festivities. He is passing us up for a diving trip to Truk Island. Chuck Weir and I had a few adult beverages at Truk when we were on Third Lieutenant. A real paradise! Speedy and Sabre Society Wendy Martin said daughter Tracie will be teaching in Donors the Academy’s Management Department. Read lots of kudos about Chuck Reed regarding his time as Mayor of San Jose. Chuck is now working in a law firm. Don Forbes’ yacht – Zoe -- is ready for launch!

Joe Burke was on the road to Brunei and Malaysia while Diane went to Turkey—both are doing consulting. Joe is helping Liaison Officers recruit future cadets. Al Swaim retired from USAA. Jane and he spent some quality time in Germany. Henry Mitchell recovered from some health issues

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Rob and Pam Robison had some interesting encounters with “creatures” while visiting the Everglades. Howie and Pam Robson had a nice vacation at Hilton Head. WC Weir and Barb celebrated son Jim’s wedding in December. Jim is a captain in the Army. Twin brother Gordon is doing well in Scottsdale. Mike (The Phantom) and Melissa Huber were on the road to Hawaii, Switzerland, and Italy. The Phantom volunteers at the USO and specializes in scaring little kids. You have to get on FaceBook -USAFA ’70 Classmates -- and observe Gary Bagliebter and Jeff Krauser do battle on political issues. More importantly, you need to get on FaceBook to stay abreast of our Reunion activities.

Seems Bags and BJ Bjorkland are now the owners of thoroughbred horses. Bags’ horse—Toast Master—came in fourth in a race in Florida.

If either of these horses wins the Triple Crown, I expect our next Reunion to be gratis.

The Muellers and Humkes continue to take cruises to a wide array of great locations. Baxters and Desserts are enjoying Florida. John and Sylvia Disosway are spoiling grand kids in Texas. Dana Arbaugh and DK Shelton took in the AF-SDSU game.

DK Shelton and Dana Arbaugh with Fred Falcon at SDSU Game.

Mike and Jennie Lambert were at West Point when we captured the CIC Trophy. Larry Tieman, living in Boulder, is prepping for a marathon. Me and the Marlboro man are also in the field—watching and smoking. Mike and Anne Torreano are spending way too much time in Arizona while many of us endure the Colorado winter. Tooey and Carole Emery have been to Italy and are regulars on the slopes. Gary and Sharon Dahlen are off to Hawaii as I write this the end of January. The Intrepid Warrior Award goes to BJ Bjorkland. He and Cathi traveled throughout South America before BJ headed off on his own to explore Antarctica! Yikes—good on you BJ! Looking forward to pictures!

After half a century of golf... my tournament partner, Greg Gilles, finally shot a hole-in-one! It was on #7 on the Blue. Greg said, “Now I will be able to rest in peace!” Partner - -you only need two more to catch up with the golfing Phantom!

Speaking of golf and the Reunion (4-8 Nov), looks like golf will be Thursday morning—weather permitting—golfers should plan on a Wednesday arrival. Line up your foursomes and send them to me. Your Reunion

Committee met last week and got things rolling for the Reunion. Tooey Emery and Rich Downing are heading up this year’s event. It promises to be a great time capped off with a win over the dreaded Black Knights from Hudson High! The major event of the Reunion will be the dedication of the “Plaza of Heroes”, one of the most significant Heritage gifts ever given to the Academy. Based on feedback, we have added a new event—a Doolie Squadron get-together Saturday morning prior to the game.

Please encourage all classmates to attend—we aren’t getting any younger.

Keep checking the AOG web site (USAFA.Org) for registration information. Should be up shortly after this issue of Checkpoints, but NLT early April. We would also like to invite Prep School classmates who may not have graduated and Academy classmates who did not graduate. Send me names and contact info if you want them to receive an invitation.

On the health front, Don Mills is doing well after a setback. Sam Poppell is recovering from a few surgeries. Dusty Swanson is on the road to recovery after getting a cell transfusion from brother Dick Swanson.

John Verardo went to a Spurs game in Portland and recorded a video with Gregg Popovich wishing Dusty well. Class act men!

Popo and John Verardo wish Dusty Swanson a speedy recovery.

I am sure all of you received an email or letter regarding our fundraising efforts for the Plaza of Heroes which will be dedicated at our Reunion.

We have gotten several generous donations from classmates, but it is very disappointing to see that only 25 percent of the class has made a donation! At our last Reunion, we had almost 350 Graduates attend. I am sure most attended the SEA Memorial Pavilion Dedication and were proud to be a member of the class that funded this beautiful memorial. Yet, only about 160 classmates have donated to the Plaza of Heroes project, which honors all acts of valor from Lance Sijan’s Medal of Honor, through AF Cross and Silver Star awardees. We would like everyone to participate. We raised over $1M for the Memorial Pavilion, we should easily be able to raise $500K for the Plaza, which will honor classmates and fellow graduates and serve to inspire future generations of cadets. If you have any questions shoot me an email or give me a call. Let’s Finish It!

Paul D. Knott 5565 Lantana Drive Colorado Springs, CO 80915 H: (719) 570-9162 E-mail: pk71knott@gmail.com

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Welcome to 2015! One last word (OK, three) on Falcon football season – pretty darn good! The CiC trophy is on display in the athletic department, and, after beating two nationally-ranked teams in the regular season, we won The Idaho Famous Potatoes bowl game. Not quite the national championship, but one of the better football seasons in our history, to be sure.

George Schultz sent along a photo of himself, Gerry Lemke, Paul McKay, and Rick Miller at the Northern Illinois Parents Club to watch the Falcons defeat the Black Knights. All four of them are retired; George and Paul from American, Rick from United, and Gerry from Motorola. (

Cheering the Falcons on to victory in Chicagoland. From left are Schultz, Lemke, McKay and Miller.

Here is an update on the Center for Character & Leadership Development; Tom Berry, the deputy director of CCLD; and Tom Rackley, the overall project manager for Kiewit, the builders were among the dignitaries who participated in the “topping off” of the CCLD building between Fairchild and Arnold Halls. The glass and steel tower, designed to point to Polaris, weighs in at around 650 tons.

Updates on classmates: Sam Clovis ended up second in both elections he stood for in Iowa in 2014 (Senate and Treasurer). Ernie Jennings didn’t make the College Hall of Fame list this year. I’m sure that he’ll be back.

Lance Miller is on the AOG Board of Directors ballot. Voting will be in February. Darryl Wimberley and Andy Ceroni have books coming out this spring. Darryl’s effort is a refreshing of the story of Paul Bunyan; Andy’s is a mix of murder mystery and international conspiracy. As I get news on how to order them, I’ll pass the word along.

Chip and June Reny, Rich and Christine Rushenberg, and Mike and Elizabeth Smith were nice enough to share their yearly cards with me. I figure that half of the class will join this list by the turn of the 22nd century. Anyhow, they all are doing well. Chip 2014 Class Giving may retire soon, but my reading of his letter makes me Participation Rate think that they’re doing pretty well as is. Rich and Mike 20% seem to be enjoying their lives too much to slow down.

Thanks, guys, for the updates.

Worth a (belated) mention; the annual Veteran’s Day commemoration in Alexandria, VA, honored Rich Gray’s memory. The announcement came way too late to let you guys read about it in the last column, but November 11 will be here soon enough for you in the DC Sabre Society area to plan a trip this year.

Donors You’ll be getting word from Cass Casada that the “Second to None” golf tournament will be back this summer. “Following last year’s success and back by popular demand, another mini-reunion and golf outing is scheduled for June 8-9, celebrating 44 years since our class graduated. There will be several golf tee times reserved at USAFA’s Eisenhower golf course on Monday, followed by a social event (to be determined) that evening. On Tuesday morning, the second annual “Second to None!” golf scrambles tournament will take place at the Golf Club at Bear Dance, in Larkspur, CO. This will be a fun event open to everybody, and include awards to the first and last place teams, no particular golf skills required!

Proceeds from the sale of Mulligans will be donated to the ’71 Class Gift Fund. After the awards luncheon at the clubhouse, all are invited over to the home of Laura and Cass Casada for drinks and desserts. For more information, contact AFA71mini@gmail.com.”

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Normally I would mention the local AOG chapter’s annual business meeting, but we weren’t able to attend. Honi Garvin mentioned that Bill Maggio, Mike and Kathryn Fuhs and Tom and Jackie Berry represented us with enthusiasm. Dr. Hans Mueh (’66) gave his final “State of the Athletic Department” briefing before his retirement. GBA

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Bob Bell 13 Pacific Ave. Sinking Spring, PA 19608 Cell:302-399-3240 E-mail: reservist777@yahoo.com

Members

Jim Herrmann’s recent input was featured in the last issue, but there was one earlier event he had included which did not make it into that edition due to column constraints, so here is the remaining part of his message. Back in 2012 when USAFA went to the Military Bowl in Washington, DC, Curt Bentz, Steve Minnegerode and Jim went together with other grads from the North Carolina area to attend the game. Curt recently retired from a law firm in Rocky Mount, NC and is now living in Summerville, outside of Charleston, SC. Steve lives in Kilmarnock, VA and is teaching counter-terrorism courses in the DC area.

After having reported in the last edition of Checkpoints the loss of Craig Ghelber where a group of grads was able to attend his burial and celebration of his life with his family, another photo showing most of the grad group at graveside was sent in. The only thing is, Brett Berlin, who was also in attendance, somehow was standing just outside of the camera angle (off to the left side) and was missed in the photo. I want to thank Mike Verzola for his photographic support among other things he assisted with in this sad event. Special mention should also be made of Curt Ely whose brief graveside eulogy of Craig touched all in a simple but moving way.

From left are Jim Herrmann, Steve Minnegerode, and Curt Bentz.

From left are John Thurman, Rick Solana, Bob Bell, Steve Machacek, Bob Rakitis, Mark McCarthy, Curt Ely, Charlie Myers, Bill Emmer, and Mike Verzola.

Dennis Sbach took the time to report a reunion in which most of the guys in the picture have never been in Checkpoints, so they thought for once it would be good to send in a photo. The occasion was a reunion of 492nd TFS F-4 guys who served at RAF Lakenheath, UK. The squadron had six ’72 grads who arrived in the summer of 1974 for their first operational assignment. Shown in the photo are five of them plus an “adopted” Mississippi State Bulldog. (The sixth grad in the squadron was Ed Waitte who did not attend the reunion.) The squadron was nicknamed the “Madhatters” and since they were in England – they wore bowler hats. Jim Kimmel and Dennis retired from Southwest Airlines this past summer. Jim Wessler just retired from a civil service job in which he was the civilian warlord on the ACC IG team. Bob Schnick retired in 2010 from Shell Oil where he was an accountant (Bob lived with Dennis in Houston for a while and was his baseball buddy) later moving to NC. Wib Elliott retired from the AF Reserves in 2003 and has since started a software development business and done some consulting. His wife, Jo, owns and operates the oldest Italian restaurant in South Bend, IN called “Sunny Italy Café”. You know the food is great because Jo cooks it!

From left are Jim Kimmel, Mark Clay (the adopted ’72 grad from MSU who was also the best man at the Sbach wedding), Dennis Sbach, Jim Wessler, Bob Schnick, and Wib Elliott.

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Jim is also involved with the local chapter of the AOG in eastern North Carolina where his efforts have been joined by the alumni chapters of the USMA, USNA, USMMA and USCGA in the state to have the NCDOT issue Service Academy license plates. (You may recall my earlier query as to the class collection of USAFA vanity plates. Jim’s has been added to the several others I have received photos of while trying to figure out how to present them to you all.) Demand for this item already exists, but early budget restraints in the state General Assembly prevented the issue from earlier coming up for a vote. Jim reports that they now have commitments from several state Senators and Representatives to get the necessary legislation in place during the session which began in January 2015.

An email came in from Bob Waller mentioning that the last three ’72 grads still working in Fairchild Hall decided to send in a picture for the column. Scott Teel takes the cadets to new heights in Comp Sci, Bob Waller motivates them with Econ while also serving as the Deacon in the Catholic Cadet Chapel, and Mark Mayer still dazzles them with Physics.

From left are Scott Teel, Bob Waller, and Mark Mayer.

Very recently I got an email from Harvey LeCato who I can always count on for news, often just a phone call away. This time he says that in early January, he attended a Falcon basketball game, Falcons vs CSU –an exciting game – they came as close as three points – but never could surpass them. At halftime he ventured into the Gift Shop and spotted a ‘72 shirt. Inside the shirt was Tom Miller, who he did not recognize. Tom is living in the Greeley area of northern Colorado. Along with a nice chat, Harvey also met Tom’s daughter who is a CSU grad and an entrepreneur.

A photo accompanied the item but will have to go into the stack for later.

Thank you, Harvey!

Many more of us in this seemingly cyber-age are finding recent and current news of each other in other social media-type places like Facebook, some with Twitter, and others with such things as Instagram. The class does have a Facebook page which is a good one to find up-to-the-minute remarks of various classmates on a myriad of topics, so if you cannot find enough in the quarterly chapter news venue, maybe your next source of classmate information can be that site – “USAFA ’72 – Best in Blue.” The great ability to link up to photos in addition to text is especially timely. I

mention this other venue for the fact that it is another way we can keep in touch. The AOG column is not always able to collect all the news that may be out there, and as age bears down on us all, we sometimes lose track of each other. Give it a look!

In closing, sadly, a very recent announcement came 2014 Class Giving via Sandy Lewis and Doug Brower telling of our loss of Participation Rate classmate Jim Bryan after a valiant battle with cancer.

16% Jim passed away on 16 Jan. A memorial service was held on 30 Jan in Aurora, CO with class attendees including Mush and Cheryl Brower, Sandy and Bobbie Lewis, Jim and Kris Wessler, Greg Anderson, Randy Fitzhugh, Greg Smith and Doug Hill (starting another career as an FAA Inspector). The Wesslers had flown out to Aurora from Virginia. After the memorial, Gary and Clarita Sabre Society Grant joined the Wesslers, the Lewises, and the BrowDonors ers at Cheddars Restaurant to toast our friend Jim Bryan with some wine that Sandy and Bobbie had brought.

The Grants came up from Albuquerque for the USAFA hockey game and thus were able to join the rest for the Bryan toast event. (The accompanying photo of our guys will be featured in another issue). Our heartfelt condolences go out to Jim’s wife, Ellen, his family and all his many friends. That is all, Class, with hopes that everyone makes it through the winter season to finally enjoy Spring! FPA.

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Mike Arnett 5285 Copper Drive Colorado springs, CO 80918 (719) 310-8100 jmikearnett@gmail.com

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Greetings, fellow members of the Illustrious Class of 1973! We have just a few updates from folks this time around.

I’ll start off with news from our newest father, Gregg Reinecke. He and Djena welcomed James into the world in July. Pix of Gregg and Djena at the 40th Reunion banquet, young James at the library and ringing in 2015 in Las Vegas are at the class website usafa73.org. Just a reminder: Gregg is in Las Vegas and has opened his hacienda to any classmates passing through. Let me know if you’d like his contact info.

Dave Barcus reports that he retired from Miami-Dade College after 13 years and moved from Miami Beach to Tampa. He and Maria have a “nice view,” he says, from the 19th floor of their building on Bayshore Drive. I’ll bet it’s better than “nice.” He says he’s not sure they’ll be there forever as Maria keeps 2014 Class Giving Participation Rate looking at houses on line! They saw fellow Niners Ed 29% and Diane Parry and Dale and& Linda Wrisley on Jan 1-3, 2015. Dale wanted to go to the Armed Forces Bowl in Ft. Worth, even with no service academy playing. Ed and Diane put them up [put up with them?] at their place in Plano, and Dave reported it’s “always a hoot to see Ed.” We can attest to that. We rode out a hurricane with Ed and Diane back in 2004 when they lived Sabre Society (pre-Katrina) in Metarie, LA, a suburb of New Orleans.

Donors What wonderful hosts they are. Dave continued that they are doing quite a bit of traveling to see grandkids and had some down the previous week to do Disney.

They’ll be going to the Grand Caymans in March for a live-aboard dive tour with fellow Niner Skip Smith and several other folks.

Next year, they’ll be going to Palau for some truly world-class diving. It’s a big planet, so somebody’s got to explore it. We just expect pictures, Dave and Skip!

Joe Peluso reported that their daughter, Dr. Allison Peluso, married Dr. Tony Perez on Nov 8, 2014 at the Prado in San Diego. Allison is in her pediatric residency in Houston and Tony is in his cardiology fellowship in Cleveland. Allison plans to move to Cleveland in June where she will start her fellowship in neonatology. He attached a picture of himself and wife Kris with the bride and groom that you can see at usafa73.org.

Tom Kennedy, reporting for CS-31 Grim Reapers, sent this picture of Rich and Connie Hayesalong with their children, Megan and Scott, as they were enjoying a family balloon ride. As you can see, they were careful to bundle up. Living in South Carolina thins the blood. Meanwhile, Bob and Sandy Errickson left their New Jersey haunts for a trip west with a stop in Arizona where they met up with Fil and Kim Thorn and Don and Kyong Gross. Tom himself traveled from his Virginia home to Juneau, Alaska to spend a winter week with his Coast Guard LT JG son, TJ (USCGA, 2012). They had a grand week and Tom “fell in love” with the Mendenhall Glacier. Photos of the Thorn/Errickson/Gross trip and Tom and TJ at the Mendenhall Glacier are at usafa73.org.

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From left are Scott, Megan, Connie, and Rich Hayes hot air ballooning (not including pilot).

Speaking of Fil and Kim Thorn, we just got word (late January) that Fil and Kim lost their son Kevin in a motorcycle accident on 17 Jan 2015. As you can imagine, they are devastated, but buoyed by their faith. Our sincerest condolences to both of them. If you’d like to contact Fil and don’t have contact info, please let me know.

Al Dunlap, Evil Eight, sent in a picture of himself, Larry Radov, and Ron Moran at Ron’s retirement party. Ron retired from Delta after 37 years of service. Larry’s a pilot with Southwest and Al’s an AFJROTC instructor in Abilene, TX. The party was held at the Walnut Creek Country Club in Mansfield, TX on 10 Jan 15. Congratulations, Ron!

Al Dunlap, Ron Moran, and Larry Radov at Ron’s Retirement party.

Stephen Savell, CS-14, sent in new contact info. He’s an Airbus 330 captain for American Airlines and is living at the Wintergreen Resort. Let me know if you want the new info.

The National Character and Leadership Seminar (NCLS) is just a month away and will have already occurred by the time this comes out in Checkpoints. Last year we had 38 classmates and spouses attend. Hopefully, we can exceed that this year. Since we are the flagship sponsor of the event, we and our spouses can attend at no cost.

The new, iconic “Polaris tower” is finally rising at the Center for Character and Leadership Development next to Arnold Hall. I’ve posted a picture at usafa73.org of the progress as of 6 Jan 15. Most of the framework was in place, so you can see what it’s going to look like. Unfortunately, it was not quite aligned with Polaris as intended. The Colorado Springs Gazette reported it was 1 inch off at the 14th floor/140-foot level. The Academy is working to fix it.

A brief update on individual giving by our class to the Academy: We have had 175 classmates pledge/donate to the USAFA Endowment at the $1000+ level; 37 are Sabre Society ($1000/year) members. Let’s keep up the good work!

Finally, I’d like to encourage folks to link up on Facebook. From personal experience, it’s been a great way to stay in touch with classmates, and you’ll get updates in real time, rather than months later. I just posted some pictures from a jaunt my wife and I took through the Wet Mountain Valley in Southern Colorado last Saturday. That prompted Mike Nishimuta to comment that he and 10 of our classmates bought property in the Wet Mountain Valley from a faculty member and 10 seniors. It was in the national forest north of Gardner. Then the oil crisis hit and they couldn’t sell it. Took ‘em 20 years to sell. If you’re one of the Unluckily

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Eleven, I’d love to post your story of how you got involved and what happened afterward.

As usual, I’ll make a plea for you to send in updates for this column as things happen. You don’t have to wait until I send out the call. Send them to class.scribe@r-netservices.com. And if you’re reading this but not getting the requests and other occasional email blasts from me, please send me your email so you can be included.

Until next time, “Here’s a toast…to the host…of the men we boast…the U.S. Air Force!” Mike Arnett

Joe Brezovic 228 Senior Circle Lompoc, CA 93437 (832) 285-4179 launchops74@gmail.com

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It felt strange to complain about a sore back from pulling weeds out of the front yard, while most of the U.S. was suffering through the snow and ice storms. That is what I was doing on Jan 25. The goal is to get the weeds before they spread their runner roots or before they go too deep.

I used to give a flick of the wrist to get the snow off the shovel, now it’s a wrist turn to move the weed tool around the base of the weed to loosen the soil enough to pull out most of 2014 Class Giving the root system. Our 2.5-year-old grandson helped -- Participation Rate some! Something to look forward to for y’all suffering 19% through the winter season… unless you are enjoying the snow with grandkids. I don’t have a ski report from any classmate. Here is what I do have.

Dave and Tai-Lee Daley are still in DC area. Tai-Lee found a website with interesting info and Dave followed up to check the source! He found the original Forbes article in 2010: our USAFA is the #5 Most BeauSabre Society tiful College Campus in the world. Other news: their Donors travels included a Christmas trip to Phoenix to celebrate with parents, 94 and 93 years young.

Bill and Terry Casement were in Fort Worth for New Year’s Celebration and the Symphony Sinatra concert.

Another weekend, they were in Fredericksburg, TX; trekked the Enchanted Rock area and visited the LBJ Ranch. Other cities visited include San Antonio, Las Vegas, and in the East, DC and Delaware. Terry finished a tour as president of the Fort Worth Civic Orchestra. Bill is teaching new A320 Airbus ground school programs for American.

Bill and Penni Van Horn added a letter to their Christmas card. A story of theirs was about their 22-month-old granddaughter going for a hike, running and yelling as loud as she could. They did have a nice family gathering at Thanksgiving. Their hearts will hurt when their Army son, Blair, gets deployed this year. Bill also told of being part of a weekly Bible Study at 6:30 a.m. now for ten years.

Joe and Joy Kelley were able to celebrate a 90th birthday and 70th wedding anniversary for Joy’s Mom and Dad. Joe is still a police commissioner in their community, and teaching two days a week at a local college campus. He’s able to participate in racquetball and basketball games to keep in shape. He’ll probably take on challengers! They, too, work with Bible studies.

Jim and Helen Shamess sent in a family picture while it was summer there in the Northern Neck… the land by the Chesapeake. Jim offered some ideas about talking around the house, since some of us are now

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spending more time around home than we used to! He found that adding “My love” to be an essential ingredient of constructive criticism. Family life there included making a tree house for 4-year-old Gabriel. The stories continued about family living close, traveling, and serving in the military.

Hopefully, their picture shows well. Back: Jon, Joe, Sarah, Jeff, Miriam, Jenny, Sophi. Front: Jim, Daniel, Gabriel, Helen, Esther, and Jake.

Roy and Ann Lower made it to the 40th reunion, if you didn’t see them.

Afterwards they stopped in Estes Park for a few days and encountered elk in a number of places there, and along the road out of Rock Mountain National Park. After their R&R, they’re back doing something… always there’s something that has to get done on their home their in the Northwest: Timber to be cut; timber frame porch to be built; complete a large wood shed. Another family that stayed a few nights at their get-away place in Estes was Denny and Linda Hughes. Fixing and planning. No record that they saw the Lowers.

Dale and Ginny Burchby traveled a bit! In November they spent his birthday with his Mom and sisters in Indiana. Hawaii in December—lots of fun on and in the water; then we wrapped the year up with the kids in town and many activities with family and friends here in San Diego. Ginny keeps everything wonderfully on track—she is the queen of online travel booking and remote assistance to the “kids”. Dale is still at Northrop Grumman, currently the deputy program manager for an aircraft integration project… And they welcome visitors to their San Diego home.

Steve Lunsford completed his eighteenth year of flying for Southwest and is counting the few months left to retirement. He enjoys his days off, but is ready for every day off!! Cindy is still retired and is enjoying taking care of the house and Steve. In September, Steve went to Ron Fellows driving school in Pahrump, Nevada. He spent three days driving the new Corvette Stingray on a track. Day three: open lapping without instructors, driving as fast as he could! … And is already making plans to go back.

Rich and Peggy Bowman have traveled from Alaska in the 5th largest river of ice in North America, did salmon fishing to their (and team’s) limit, golfing (always a must-do), and motor-homed through Colorado, Appalachian Mountains in North Carolina, Savannah, Georgia, and Florida. I do hope they put a book together on their visits! They do have pictures and tales!

Also in Alaska visiting… proof picture of Patty and Stu Lindner, standing in front of the Mendenhall Glacier just outside of Juneau. They “traveled up the inside passage to Ketchikan, Juneau, Skagway and then departed at Seward, where we then took a coach up past Anchorage to the Denali state park (6 million acres)… then took a scenic train trip from there down to Anchorage, and from there flew home.” From them, “Did you know that southeast Alaska has the second largest rain forest in the World?”

Lindners in Alaska.

Classmates in northwest Florida got together at Ted Macy’s house on Dec 13th. “Ted was kind enough to host us all, and put on quite a spread.

The group is planning another get-together this spring, again at Ted Macy’s house. The date is still TBD, but the theme is a crawfish boil. Seems Ted gained a fondness for the boils while at med school in Tulane.” Need info on this? Contact the scribe by e-mail and he will get you to the party leader! (See photo at the top of the next column.)

From left are Pete Gavares, Bill Diemand, Charles Tucker, Pete Strong, Victor Prawdzik, Dr. Ted Macy, John Sweda, Jim Sills, Chuck London, Dr.

JOIN THE SABRE SOCIETY! YOUR MONEY HELPS FUND CADET WING PROGRAMS THAT WOULD OTHERWISE GO UNFUNDED. CALL (719) 472-0300 X200.

The Shamess family

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in upstate New York and is a 767 Captain for American Airlines flying out of Miami. “I happened to have a Falcon shirt on because I had just visited with Joe Rogers, a classmate of ours who flew into Dallas with his wife for a business meeting. Joe spent only one year at USAFA but graduated in architecture from Clemson. I encouraged him and his wife, Cindy, to join us for our 40th Reunion next year.”

I Get Around: John Charlton reported that Joe Rogers was in DC for a couple of days. “Joe and I were roommates in CS 26 right after BCT (Mickey Clemons was our third roomie). Cowboy Awtrey joined us. We were all in the same element in Guts and then of course on to the Red Barons. We really had a great time catching up! DC DAP is scheduled for 14 March if any classmates will be in the DC area. I have details for anyone interested.”

The Northwest Florida Gang Mike Restey and Paul Guzowski. Also in the area, but unable to attend are Ted Cottongim, Steve Forberg, Steve Lenzi and Robert Schultz.

Michael Cranford: Not much else going on this end -- just enjoying retirement and trying to finish the T-28… it’s getting close to flying. Mike talked to Nick Puzak the other day. He and Joanne are doing OK. They, too, are looking for that “perfect” retirement spot.

Last note: a “Thank you” to Dino Schweitzer who for 40 years has been updating the AOG 74 Class page with your stories and other links to help keep us connected! Till next visit: May each of you live long and prosper.

Jeff Chappell 14729 Birken St. Herriman, UT 84096 (210) 488-6137 jtmjbda@sbcglobal.net

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REUNION 2015—that’s right, 40 years since we launched into the wild blue yonder to make our marks on the world. Mark Wells and Ric Oleksak poked the frog, and Jim Burling dug up details from the AOG: Everything hangs on the football schedule, which comes out around the end of February. Here’s how the pecking order goes: 10- and 20-year reunions have priority.

Classes of ’65 and ’70 have requested Army game (first week of Nov).

Max of 2 classes per weekend.������������������������������������������ We’ll be next, competing for dates with Class of ’60, ’80, etc.

Our most pressing need at this point is a fearless leader to dedicate the next several months of his life to this landmark endeavor. Second need is for everyone to update their contact information, especially email addresses, many of which have changed since our previous reunion – my list of valid addresses gets shorter every quarter. Communication will be critical, so don’t let any classmate be left out—spread the word!

Duke Duhachek “left the leisurely life of 767ER F/O to beat myself up as a Maddog captain. Would have retired doing those 12-day Asia trips but they are pulling them all out of MSP eventually and I’d have to commute to SEA or LAX to continue to loaf. So figured if I’m going to fly domestic anyway, just as well do it in the left seat. Nancy and I are doing well. Hope y’all have a blessed 2015!”

Chris Glaeser provided a nugget on another ‘75 class first: First cadet to discover a comet, Spence Roberts. The comet, discovered in 1974 and registered by USAFA, is named Roberts �������������������������� S����������������� ������������������ chwitters Falcon. ������� Bill Murray taught Rick Dalstrom recurrent training recently. Rick lives

Dahlstrom and Murray

Awtrey, Rogers, and Charlton Chris Glaeser also talked with Larry “Rock” Bottomley recently; Rock celebrated his 62nd birthday in NYC with his wife, Maggy, and was joking that he was one of the first ‘75 classmates to reach Social Security age. Rick Benbow responded that he was a year ahead of Rock, who is flying 767s for AA for another few years and living just west of Chicago.

Rick and Claire Benbow are now living in Charles Town, WV, in the Shenandoah Valley. After retiring from the Kelly AFB C-5 Reserves in 1996, Rick continued his airline career with USAirways based in PHL until heart surgery in 2001 grounded 2014 Class Giving him. Rick eventually moved to Moody AFB, GA where Participation Rate he taught ground school and simulator in the T-6 from 15% 2002-2007. In 2007 he relocated to West Virginia and instructed WVANG crews on the C-5A/B Galaxy until April of 2014 when the unit converted to the C-17. Today, he continues working as a part-time C-5M Super Galaxy ground/simulator instructor at Dover AFB. His commute to Dover is about 3 hours, and his part-time status at Dover allows him to continue to work on his Sabre Society golf handicap. With the C-5 being retired, he might Donors follow the aircraft into full retirement in a few more years. He noted that his golf score and age are converging rapidly. Rick������������������������������������� ’s comments:������������������������� “Looking forward to our 40th reunion. I was wondering if any thought of holding the reunion in a location other than COS had been considered? Perhaps in the east near DC or south near Orlando or west near SFO or SEA? And do this in the late summer vs. Fall/Winter. Weather better... no snow on golf course! With so many classes and so few home games might be a topic to address. Hope this is not sacrilege! Also wish Rock the happiest of birthdays... on Jan 18 I celebrate my 63rd birthday! PS: Have not seen Dick Webber traveling through WV... did he park his RV?” Ron Doeppner: I������������������������������������������������������������ ’����������������������������������������������������������� ll be retiring from Sikorsky Aircraft on April 1st of this year. Please change my e-mail to RDoeppner@comcast.net. Ron says he plans to do “absolutely nothing” for a while. Let us know how that works out with Susie. BTW, where do Floridians go when they retire?

Ted Hilbun and Mark Schoning, squadron mates in CS-40, reconnected via Checkpoints – hope you enjoyed getting back in touch, guys!

After losing ten games last season, the Falcons pull off their first Bowl victory since 2010 and win ten games for the first time since 1998! Terry Young reported that Larry Fariss, Wayne Willis, Dick Webber and John Gaughan braved the weather to represent ‘75 at the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl. True warriors!

Bill Estelle convinced Tom Laurie to give a write-up on Charlie Baby, one of the revolutionary regulars in the Talon magazine, which morphed into The Secret Life of Waldo F. Dumbsquat. Tom’s piece is on the 75bestalive.org website, along with several Charlie and Waldo articles. After all these years, the articles are still a quite hilarious insight into events of the day. Bill traveled through SLC on his way to Thanksgiving in NorCal, so Theresa and I met him for dinner at the Red Iguana. Sorry about that cold wait, Bill—hope it was worth it! Until next time, see you around the campus—and volunteer early for reunion duty!

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Just before deadline: John Charlton reported that Bill Lyerly had quadruple bypass surgery on 23 Jan at Johns Hopkins (nothing but the best!).

Bill’s wife, Sylvia, and daughter Kirsten report that he is recovering well; John and Cowboy are keeping up on Bill with visits, etc. They expect him to be home this week and rehab to last five months. Hang tough, Bill!

Dan Beatty 12196 Stanley Canyon Road Colorado Springs, CO 80921 H: (719) 488-1962 C: (719) 338-0276 E-Mail: whrlybrd76@aol.com

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Fellow ’76ers, They’re here… THE DARK AGES! Sad News: We lost Ron Baran 17 Nov 14 and Bob Bush 11 Dec 14. Ray Tyc is Ron’s brother-in-law. Please keep Ron and Bob’s family in your thoughts and prayers. I appreciate all the classmates who sent me notices.

Moving up/moving on: Mike Lee retired from FedEx in Dec, bought a SR-22 to go see the kids and grandkids. Charlie Vono retired from TRW/ Northrop Grumman and was elected AIAA Associate Fellow. Ernie Woollard says he will retire in July. Congrats Mike, Charlie, and Ernie! I heard a rumor that Greg Seely is also planning to retire but I have no details.

General Class Stuff: Jeff Whatley, Bruce Rasmussen, John Hope, John Stevens, Jim Mcnamara, and Pete Mapes all sent notes about our departed classmates. Thanks guys. Dave Robinson sent a note and a picture from Lori’s change of command.

Dave and Lori Robinson with Mark and Betty Welsh.

Ernie Woollard reports the family had a Caribbean family reunion cruise. Randy Schavrien and family did Thanksgiving at Horseshoe Bay. Garland Pannell and Susan still in Greenwood, IN and says their 5 kiddos are all doing well; one working, three in college, one in high school.

Mike McGinty saw Denny Rea, Stef Eisen, and Bill Morris while at Maxwell recently. Says all are well and Cathy Eisen has beaten cancer again and is doing very well. Mike and Kitty’s oldest is due to download their 2nd grandkid in May and the twins are looking at a myriad of college choices.

Stef and Denny confirmed Micheal B did visit and Stef says he, Denny, Pat Burbank and Terry Williams rally together on occasion to share a drink and some stories. Doug and Cendy Fry traveling a lot to see two new grandkids in NYC and Georgia, may visit Jeff and Cyndy Larsen in Rome in March, and their youngest son now a Delta pilot. Stan Correia inquired about reunion info. Lee Cuevas sent a nice Christmas letter. Rob Sheridan and Ray Tyc pinged me about an email from another grad. I haven’t yet been able to verify the validity of that email so consider it bogus until

Willie Shelton, Kevin Chilton, Joe Wysocki, Win Macklin, and Russ Laney

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you hear differently. Joe and Julie Wysocki attended an early December party with Willie Shelton, Kevin Chilton, Win Macklin, and Russ Laney.

Joe and Win are still at Scitor, Joe and Russ exploring some leading edge therapies for TBI, Chili still on the AOG Board and doing consulting and Cathy will go “active” at AFMC/A3, Willie likely to reenter the work force soon. Joe and Julie are also first-time grandparents, as are Mike and Debby Fricano! Terry and Patti Williams also have new grandkids. Congrats to you all! Class of ’37? ‘Papa Joe’ Marchino still at AFPC. On a recent return to San Antonio, the pilot of his Southwest flight was Bob Parker.

Gary Turnipseed graciously included me on a long Veterans Day email with some family history. Thanks classmate; very good stuff! Gary also sent a scanned copy of the program of 2014 Class Giving “1776” from our firstie year. That was the pinnacle of Participation Rate my professional acting career. Also got Veterans Day 22% notes from Bill Clifford and Mike Ponzani. Bill saw Jack Catton and Dave Robinson at the ACC change of command in November. Ponz also included ‘small world’ note about a chat with a local dairy stock clerk and the USAFA – Notre Dame game of ’75 that generated comments from Pete Kluck, Jim Dolan (“...memories of PTF – post traumatic football”), Wade McRoberts, Joe Sabre Society Wysocki, Pat Hanley, and Mike Fricano sharing their Donors memories of that game.

Patrick O’Brien sent a long note about the history of Custer and the Little Bighorn. Interesting stuff; thanks Patrick. Bill Jones reports he and Mica will depart DC for Arizona in June. Says he enjoyed the DC area especially seeing the likes of Mark Welsh and Willie Shelton in action as senior USAF leaders.

Charlie Allan will be working on cruise missile defense of the NCR for the next two years at Aberdeen Proving Grounds. Mike Lee asked for help with a USAFA instructor, Navy helo type, who wanted some info on local helo job possibilities and I was able to lend a hand. Russ Casella says his clan grew by birth of two grandkids and by marriage of kiddos. Truman Hedding needed some classmate contact help. He also attended the USAFA Idaho bowl game.

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Truman Hedding and THE Falcon!

Larry Weaver sent a note about an Arlington, VA get-together to watch the game. Al Patriquin says he, Tom Trainor, Larry Boyes, and Roger Kontak breakfasted in Minneapolis in early December. TJ was on a layover; the other three live in the area. Bill Dunn sent a good interview article about Monty Lee and his flying career. I saw Scott Gough at the USAFA BX a few days ago. Scott Davis, Dave and Christine Berg sent an address updates. Dave says he is short term at JT&E in Suffolk. Luckey Dunn sent a short holiday note. John Haxen had nothing significant to report.

Oldest/Youngest ’76er: Woody Woodman says he beat Art George with 14 Apr 55; Craig Moser claimed youngest with 15 May 55, but then Chris Curry mentioned Tony Przybyslawski, John Delphenich, and Doug Stewart. He then reminded me the older Register of Graduates had birthdates. According to my 1981 copy oldest is John Delphenich 08 Sep 50 and youngest is Doug Stewart 21 May 55. Thanks for the research Chris.

If anyone still wants to challenge, let me know.

Well classmates, again time to stick a fork in it. Lots of photos this time, but I am limited to three so try to use the ones with the most faces/bellybuttons. Send me your notes, inputs, address updates, suggestion, 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

Visit the AOG Web Site.

Gone But Not Forgotten, Merchandise and more! www.usafa.org

John “Lou” Michels, Jr. 4107 Harvey Ave. Western Springs, IL 60558 (312) 463-3412 jmichels@lbbslaw.com loumichels55@gmail.com

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Greetings from the chilly shores of the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal. By the time this gets to your mailbox you should all be enjoying longer days, more sun, and, for those of you who live in the Midwest and Southeast, an occasional tornado.

I’m sorry to start with some bad news: Paul Dettmer (Cathy) passed away at the end of December. As many of you know, Paul had been fighting cancer for most of last year. He retired as a major general after 33 years of active service; he and Cathy retired to northern Virginia where he was working at the time of his diagnosis. Paul spent most of his time in the intelligence and intelligence collection business; I was fortunate enough to fly several missions with him when I was in the RC-135.

A number of our classmates were able to attend Paul’s memorial service: Ben Allen (Donna), AJ Gibson, Joe Alfano (Betty), Rob Veale (Christine), Dan Van Alstine, Monroe Ratchford (Sue), Jim McReynolds (Dorothy) and Paul’s brother and fellow ’77 classmate, Tom Dettmer (Marie). Jim recounted how he, Paul and Joe Bulmer 2014 Class Giving (Marie) were rookie roommates in Evil Eight. Jim relat- Participation Rate ed that on week nights Paul was in the rack around 2100 14% while Jim was preparing to spend another three hours in the books. Jim said that he copied Paul’s study technique by going to bed earlier, but that all that it got him was R-Flight. The thoughts, prayers and condolences of the class go out to Cathy, Ali, Andrew, and Tom. High Flight: Tom Jones (Liz) got a nice article in Air and Space magazine on the occasion of his 60th Sabre Society birthday. I must say, a lot of us either are turning or Donors have turned 60 this year and none of us are getting fullspread articles for the occasion. It’s a nice piece with a great shot of Tom on his first of several space walks (one of which was the 100th space walk in U.S. history) and also notes his moderately terrifying, on-the-pad, main engine abort 1.9 seconds ahead of shuttle liftoff. The article goes well with Tom’s own report about visiting the Udvar-Hazy Aviation Museum at Dulles, where he reminisced about being a back-seater in the F-105G Wild Weasel during third lieutenant, along with Paul Higgins (Nancy), in the summer of 1976. Seeing an F-100, Tom also triggered some BCT memories of throwing ourselves in the dirt as Denver Guard F-100s came in at tree top height over us in Jack’s Valley.

Register Retrospective: From the Register of Graduates entry, this month starring Class President Dan Van Alstine. Dan starts off his comments by noting how much fun he had going into the tunnel network under the Academy and getting fresh donuts at Mitchell Hall. Post-graduation, Dan ended up in B-52H’s, which he loved flying, but he pretty much hated everything else that occurred on the ground in good old SAC. He earned his MBA, finished his commitment, and joined KPMG, making partner in 1994. He’s worked as a business consultant since getting out, and lists his most fascinating assignment as a job in Frankfurt where he was the COO for all of Europe, the Middle East and Africa, dealing with 33 offices in 17 countries. He has three daughters and three grandchildren and notes that being a grandparent is the best job ever. I will take your word for that Dan; right now the “G” word is currently banned in my household. I’m sure that will earn me the opprobrium of many of you.

Ron Sharpe (Kathy) managed to make it out to the soggy Famous Potatoes Bowl in Boise where Air Force boasted another win. Notwithstanding the miserable weather, he and his g-g-grandkids had a great time out there. Ron did note that he was admonished for trying to teach his g-ggrandson the brown tide cheer. Good for you Ron, keep those traditions going. I got a nice notice from Fred Swartz (Carmel) on his son’s successful completion of pilot training and getting his wings. Congratulations to both you guys; I assume there is a T-33 solo ride in his future sometime soon. Steve Simon (Paula) got a positive mention for his work as graduate liaison for the Association of Grads. Steve is a regular contributor to Checkpoints (except that he writes real articles) and his piece on the building of USAFA got the gold medal from the Council for Advancement and Support of Education. Well done, Steve.

We get pretty good discussions going on our Facebook page, and every now and then we get a really interesting one. Bruce Pennington (Monica) put up a piece about his small collection of World War II Japanese swords which started a (for me, anyway) fascinating dialog with Bruce Billig (Carol) about their respective military cutlery possessions. They

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actually posted shots of the Japanese inscriptions and were able to get some translated. It’s a neat discussion on military culture and heritage, notwithstanding the fact that it ended up needing a lawyer for estate planning. I highly recommend you review it. And of course, to review it, you have to be on the USAFA 1977 Facebook page. Please join if you have not considered it yet.

I’m working my way through Doug Beason’s (Cindy) latest book; the first of a four-part series about the USAFA. I like Doug’s science fiction; and it appears that he has fully transitioned his direct writing style into another genre. The book should be released in April of this year; I can highly recommend it both for its historical elements and because I think most of us will find the story line captivating. I haven’t seen a copy of the second book in the series, but Doug was asking people about how to make a reciprocating engine on a light plane shut down in mid-flight, so there will at least be some measure of excitement in the contents. Well done, Doug. I look forward to seeing the other parts of this series.

I got a nice picture of Rob and Yum Mansfield with their g-g-g-grandson. I assume this is at their place out in Monument, thank you for the great shot.

And Duff Muir (Mary) sent me this picture from Copper Mountain before he and his son Stephen hit the slopes. Stylish as always, Duff.

Rounding out our photo group, Tom DeBoalt (Deborah) posted up this shot from Falcon Fieldhouse just prior to a basketball game.

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Class News Great picture, Tom, and I understand that your g-g-g-grandson enjoyed a Falcon win that day.

Finishing touch: On turning 60 at the beginning of the year, I officially became a retired lieutenant colonel. A number of us passed or will pass this retiree milestone over the next 12 months and at least one friend, in a reflective mood, asked me whether I thought the career was worth it. For a number of reasons, I did, and I do, but I would appreciate any of you who care to, to write about your assessment of our time on active and Reserve duty. I’ll look forward to some very thoughtful reading. Sorry about the “g-word” difficulties. Until next time, being seeing you.

Bob Kay 40411 Tesoro Lane Palmdale, CA 93551 Home:(661) 274-2201 Cell: (661) 974-1417 Email: Robert.kay78@gmail.com

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Greetings ’78ers…

This has been a VERY difficult quarter to write about given the loss of two classmates. Matt LaCourse was tragically killed when his QF-16 crashed off the coast of Florida on Nov 14.

From left are Gary Hughes, Tom Czachor, Kurt Daniels, Rich Shook, Glenn Baker (kneeling), Jon Weiss, John Weida, Rick Gier (kneeling) Dave McLeran, Jay Lindell, Mike Christensen, Tom Keohane and Chuck Chuva. Attending but not pictured were John Follman and Doug Lawton plus 10 spouses.

bad!). The book also provides insights regarding the special challenges faced by members of the Academy’s first graduating class.” Doug let Steve read a pre-publication version of the manuscript, and he is most anxious to read the next two books in the series. Sounds like an interesting reading on a subject we probably know a bit about.

Mark Richardson is in Huntsville as the VP for Global Flight Training at Integration Innovation, Inc. (i3). He retired in ’04 as an O-6 and was in the Civil Air Patrol for his first 5 AF post-retirement years, then found himself in Iraq with i3. He stood up 2014 Class Giving the Iraq Air Force pilot training business in Kirkuk, Participation Rate then worked the T-6 contract at Tikrit for about a year.

17% He then returned to the States working the management side of the flight IP business until the Fall of 2011 when he once again deployed with i3 to Shindand, Afghanistan. He found both desert tours to be extremely rewarding experiences and misses the camaraderie of the teams he flew with. With his current executive position he’s been in Alabama the past two years and very Sabre Society much enjoying it Donors Finally, we heard about Jack Anthony in last Spring’s article when he ran into Limo Scott and the aforementioned Jay Lindell in a Springs coffee shop. We’ve also heard about his hobby for the past 15 years researching USAFA from a “who was here before us” perspective. Jack has authored several articles on the subject and has also produced a 30-minute video. There is a strong possibility that the AOG picked up his feature titled 10 cool “USAFA before USAFA” Historical Sites also in this issue of Checkpoints—hope it’s there! He also recently starting doing space-based work at the Scitor Corp and works directly for Konrad Gruca and still dabbles in math substitute teaching in his “free time.” Small world indeed!

That brings this difficult quarter to a close. Please continue to keep Tina and Maggie in your thoughts and prayers.

God Bless. ’78 is Great!

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Geoff Mulligan 2175 Cloverdale Drive Colorado Springs, CO 80920 (719) 593-2992 geoff@mulligan.com

Rich said everyone had an exceptional time in Scottsdale, AZ. Jon and Alicia Weiss were the consummate hosts and put together quite the agenda to ensure everyone had tremendous fun.

Larry Krauser is planning on retiring from the Emergency Management business in DC (living in Maryland) and has been sojourning down the east coast to Melbourne FL. He sent this great shot of him and Julia sampling their future lifestyle as they were house hunting. Larry would like to connect with any ’78ers in the area so please contact him at lmkrauser78@yahoo.com if you live in the area and want to start a ’78 affinity group.

Larry and his bride.

Steve and Diana Whitehouse have been living in Albuquerque, NM since ’94 when he took early retirement from the AF. (He can’t believe that was 20 years ago!) He works for Applied Research Associates which is an international research and engineering firm. He also wrote to inform everyone about a new book that close friend and ’77 grad Doug Beason has written that is due to be released in April. The book is titled The Cadet and is the first in a series by Doug called “Wild Blue U.” Steve continues: “The book follows the exploits of Rod Simone, a fictitious character in the Class of ’59. Although “The Cadet” is a work of fiction, it recreates the cadet experience in vivid details that are sure to bring back memories (good and

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Welcome to 2015. I hope that everyone had a wonderful Holiday season and a great start to 2015. It seems that our 35th wasn’t that long ago and the camaraderie shows that we never leave college well behind. Here’s a picture of a few of us with Coach Calhoun (he is the young one in the middle) – Go Air Force – at the golf tournament.

’79ers with the Coach.

But before I get to all of the class updates I wanted to praise our classmates for a simple event that reaffirmed my faith in our class and the USAFA Alumni community. In January my daughter was notified that she had an interview at Columbia University in downtown New York City for her Doctorate. I sent a short note to our mailing list (see below) and the response was immediate and fantastic. I was a worried father (much like Chip Taylor crying while sending his daughter off to BCT in the USAFA movie “A Year in the Blue”) since this was her first trip on her own and NYC can be daunting. So, I asked if anyone might be able to help. Before the weekend was over I had heard back from over 30 classmates with offers to help her. Frank DeFalco, who lives in Brooklyn Heights, let me know that they became “empty nesters” and offered Jenna a key to their apartment – wow – and Paul Faulkner, who is living in Long Island, also offered to let her stay there. Elden “Kojak” Kocourek wrote and let me know that his son received his master’s from Columbia and could help. While I didn’t hear from Mark Braley directly, Verner “Mitch” Mitchell wrote to let me

know that Mark is teaching English at NYU – English was not my best class!

I still don’t have a clue what Jabberwocky was about. Ed Wilson wrote to tell me that his son Matt and Matt’s fiancée, Brooke, are both at Columbia and could help and Roger Parsons whose son’s fiancée is at Barnard gave us some great information about logistics. Bill “Borneo” Gregory wrote to tell me that, though his information was dated (he, Jeff McChesney, Bob Edmonds and Chris Worsowicz all went to Columbia), they all loved the experience there.

So all in all thank you to everyone who graciously took time to help!

Moving on to other class news, Jim McIntee wrote to let me know he is working on building a “Multiphibious” which is a flying car-boat. Marc Millican wrote from Anchorage where he is flying his Cessna 185 for an Iditarod musher when he isn’t in Natchitoches, LA flying his Steerman. He said whether you are up north or down south he has us covered. Paul Huff sent a photo from Tampa of himself, his wife, Karen, and his son Brandon ‘11 after completing the Ironman Florida – it was Paul’s 8th Ironman! No wonder you look so young – oops you’re the one in the middle.

Karen Huff, Paul Huff and Brandon Huff (’11) In keeping it all in the family, Peter Lenz wrote that his son married fellow ’79er Mario Buda’s daughter Megan back in 2013 and that he (Pete) is currently flying for Fedex and Mario retired as an O-6 at Offutt a while back.

Mark Reid and Thom McCarthy sent a picture from Lt. General Burt Field’s retirement party in November. I heard that it was amazing well stocked with ’79ers. Burt wrote and said that he had no regrets and had a great ride. Thank you Burt for your service and being ever humble.

Mark Reid and Thom McCarthy Michael Gee wrote to say that he, Dale Reed, Tim Fyda, Tom Foertsch and Tim Hoy have a yearly bird hunting outing. Hopefully next trip we’ll get a picture.

I also got a “we’re never to old” message from Chris Brown. He was a wrestler at the Academy and has continued to wrestle.

In 2014 he won the World Championship in Greco-Ro- 2014 Class Giving man wrestling in Belgrade Serbia. And another never Participation Rate too old... James “Doc” Colvin was awarded his doctor16% ate in March of 2014.

Andy Busch wrote to say that he has just taken over as Director of the Defense Logistics Agency and had a few ‘79ers drop in for the ceremony. Andy has relocated to Washington DC (WDC) and plans to join the Saturday morning coffee group which Brian Koechel has so steadfastly made happen. If any ’79ers are in WDC Sabre Society on a Saturday morning drop into Sherlington , VA (just Donors off of I-395) for lies and coffee with the boys. For those of us in or around Colorado Springs, and there are a bunch of us, we haven’t quite gotten our act together for Saturday coffees but we have done well having a dinner gathering most every month on the 3rd Thursday. Reed Schotanus has hosted us twice and we are planning our February dinner. Watch for email announcements.

And about email, we have a ‘79 email list up and running. You can send

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messages to 871 of your buds by using the address 79mail@proto6.com.

If you want to update your information (and please do so) go to www. proto6.com/79mail. Log in using your email address.

Please continue to send the cards, letters, email and pictures! And let us know what you all are up to. Next up is Mike Watson – michael.watson@ cox.net, 6438 W. John Cabot Rd, Glendale, AZ 85308, 623.451.4131.

Don Myers 401 Chambray Hill Peachtree City, GA 30269-4247 (770) 631-1429 E-mail: DMyers80@hotmail.com FB group: “USAFA Class of 1980” Class Website: www.usafa80.org

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Let’s get right to it (lots to pass along): We find Bob Harris living Down Under (Sydney). “I was fortunate that the USAFA ALOs established a spot for me for a number of years. Now I live here as a permanent resident, raising four kids, and planning to spend time in the USA in care of aging mother in California. My gig is I.T. and facilitation work for the Health Services, specializing in prepping dads for fatherhood. Really looking forward to the reunion. I think this will be a meaningful time for many of our class as we are still young enough 2014 Class Giving to be mobile and play golf and walk the grounds and Participation Rate do a small amount of drinking and dancing.”

17% David Hudson was looking for reunion info and sent an update: “I retired in July 2006 as an O-6, CSAF Chair at the U.S. Marine Corps War College, Quantico, VA. Couldn’t stand the thought of an hour-plus commute in DC so we packed up and followed BRAC to Huntsville, AL where the Missile Defense Agency has moved the bulk of its engineering, acquisition, and financing.

Sabre Society I’m a contractor with CSC. Our only child, Neil (named Donors after Neil Armstrong), was five when I retired and I wanted to be around to see him grow up. He dreams of being a Zoomie and being on the first mission to Mars.

Makes Mom and Dad proud! My wife of 23 years, Angela, stays busy getting Neil from project to project. Anyway, I’ve lost hair, gained weight, and look forward to Neil going to college so I can hang up the restricted area badge and travel the world! I took Ed Herlik’s words to heart [about letting classmates know how you’re doing]. I don’t want to get hit by that big bus in the sky and not let my classmates know how much my experiences at the Zoo, in the Air Force, and as a parent have made me appreciate all that I’ve received from others.”

Diana (Green) Francois married-off her daughter, Christine, in “a beautiful fairytale wedding in Austria.” The ceremony was in a church built in 1614, followed by a reception at an even older castle. “I continue as a VP at WBB, now finishing my 11th year with the company. This past January, WBB consolidated operations to two business sectors—I lead our Federal Civilian / Health Business Sector.”

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Groom (Gunter), Christine, and Diana Dave’s wife, Cindy, wrote on behalf of the Prahst family. Their year included large celebrations with three of their children: a first grandchild, an engagement and marriage; and a proposal, graduation, and marriage.

At this last event in Denver, these three children, plus their other five children and any spouses, were all (15!) together in one place. The younger two kids are very happy to now have their own bedrooms.

Newly published. William M. “Spike” Jones has a book, Glimpses of God’s Grace: The Extraordinary Life of an Ordinary Guy. The teaser online will certainly make you want to learn about this fighter pilot… fighter in many respects.

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Class News When I was reading the preamble to a new (and excellent) publication by the Flight Safety Foundation, A Practical Guide to Improving Flight Path Monitoring, I noticed one of the contributors was Steve Swauger (Southwest Airlines).

Another Hog driver. “I [C. D. Moore] officially retired on 1 December and am calling Dayton, Ohio, home with my lovely bride (Leslie) of 34 years. At my retirement festivities I was blessed to have a number of classmates show up to help us celebrate. My retirement dinner was a Hollywood-themed costume party. Dan Weese had the best costume—Spiderman. The picture includes the gift my wife gave me for retirement, a beautiful Harley Low Rider! First time a Harley has been ridden into the O’Club during a retirement party!” Along with Dan, C. D. was joined by Joe Lanni, Mark Mitchell, Bob Wilson, Bill Ehrenstrom, and David Glade.

“Promotion” party. From left are Joe, Mark, Bob, Dan, C. D. (yes, Top Gun outfit), Bill and David.

Loose Deuce News. I happen to have a handful of stuff from my old squadron: John Pray is now Executive Vice President for Operations, Programs and Entertainment at USO. Peggy (Dennis) and Bob Carnahan continue raising cattle in Missouri. It’s a good diversion, as Peggy is still intimately involved with ugly pilot contract negotiations at NetJets. And Mike Smellie is a grandfather!

Grandpa Mike.

Scott (Jan) Carrothers had a year full of “trips and events as Jan celebrated the 30th anniversary of her 30th birthday.” They went to Fort McMurray, Canada, to watch the Northern Lights; a family outing in Nevada; a trip back to Hawaii; and backpacking, plus a stay at the Ahwahnee Hotel, in Yosemite. A pal convinced Scott to go mountain biking for a week from Durango, CO to Moab, UT. After spending time getting into shape (“I haven’t done any riding for 20 years”), Scott was ready. “Seven days of riding, 175 miles, 15,000’ ascent and 20,000’ of descent, max elevation 11,470’, and not a single flat tire!” They used San Juan Huts to cut down on carrying provisions. Son, Kasey, after an internship with Treyarch (a gaming company), will graduate with a job at Google.

To good health. In early December, Al Wallace had a routine lung CT scan at the VA which showed an ascending aortic aneurysm. This find resulted in open heart surgery and a couple months out of commission.

“The surgery and rib cage/sternum stuff… I would not recommend.”

Smile. If you’ve followed the Checkpoints seasons, you know I enjoy sharing a bit of Dean (Carla) Eisberg’s humor from his annual Christmas letter. “2014 was another year living in America’s vacation destination (at least four months a year). We didn’t win the mega lottery, so Dean is still working at Customs & Border Protection. He took the Boy Scouts on four canoe trips culminating in a 200-mile voyage down the Yukon River (it’s easier going down river than up river). In addition to the Alaska hunting and fishing trips, Carla and Dean went hunting/touring in Spain.” Son, Kelly, was selected as the primary candidate from the AK ANG to attend pilot training and fly the HC-130J aircraft. “Things heard around out house this year: Dean: ‘Jeff, I put your money into to your retirement fund. Jeff: ‘You’re putting money into my NRA?’ Dean: ‘No, I didn’t buy you a gun.

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I put it in your IRA, not your NRA.’ Kim: ‘No wonder my generation has no ambition to work hard and move out of their parents basements. The government cuts pay and retirement for the people who work for years yet doesn’t consider cutting welfare for the people who haven’t worked a day in their life.’ Dean: ‘Welcome to the Republican Party.’ Dean: ‘Do you hunt?’ Friend: ‘No, I got married.’ Dean: ‘Yep, marriage can ruin your hunting or hunting can ruin your marriage.’”

Reunion info: If you aren’t already receiving something in your in box, you should be able to get the latest from usafa80.org. I can provide login details. Out of my word allotment for this time. Be safe out there.

Don Rich Trentman 11102 Asbee St. Falcon, CO 80831-8170 Work: (719) 452--7708 Cell: (719) 640-9586 USAFA Class of 1981 (Facebook) rtrentman@falconbroadband.net Class Website: www.usafa81.com

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Falcon football is back! AF went from the worst season in school history in 2013 to a 10-win season with the Commander in Chief’s trophy…wow!

Show pride in our AF blue! It was such a wonderful, almost magical season. Beating a highly over confident 2014 Class Giving and ranked CSU team to finish the season was awe- Participation Rate some. AF went undefeated at home.

18% Class News: Mike Paranka ran into Michelle Johnson making the rounds visiting with tailgaters at our last home football game. Mike enjoyed seeing her and chatting. Here is a photo of Mike, Michelle, and Mike and Therese’s son, Adam (’12). Adam is a 1Lt at Hansom AFB. Mike and Therese’s daughter, Audrey, graduated from Catholic University in DC and works for Sabre Society DoD in the intelligence field. Mike is still keeping very Donors busy in private practice in neonatology in the Denver metro (taking care of those precious premature babies). He and Therese are adjusting to the emptynest lifestyle as are many of you. Mike added that he would like to see more classmates consider contributing to our class gift fund that was featured in the last Checkpoints. Link: https://www.usafa. org/Give/81cip.

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Mike Paranka, Michelle Johnson, and Adam Paranka (’12) at their AF tailgate.

Craig Jenkins and I commiserated about another frustrating year without a playoff win for our beloved Detroit Lions. One win in the last 57 years is tough. Julie (Grimmig) Gier and Doug are doing well in the wilds of Michigan (the Upper Peninsula). She and Doug are doing lots of snowshoeing. (How else would they get around?) Both of their kids were home for the Holidays. Daniel is a compensation manager for a hospital system in Kentucky and their daughter, Megan, is a math professor at Grove City College in Pennsylvania. Their daughter is getting married this summer.

She and Doug recently visited her parents in Niceville, FL. I do, however, question Julie’s judgment rooting for the Packers in Michigan.

Doug, Julie, Daniel, and Megan Gier in upper Michigan.

Steve and Susan Hirst are off to the East coast (Maryland) this spring.

They plan to return to Colorado. I sure hope so, as they were in the seats next to Debbie and me at AF football games. I was fortunate to visit my son, Patrick (14), in Florida this month on a business trip. He is off to training at Vandenberg AFB now and then back to Cape Canaveral.

Speaking of the Cape, Kelvin Manning is still running the NASA show there. I’ll have my son swing by to say “hi” when he returns and try to see Kelvin on my next trip to Florida. I sent out some email “pings” and got a nice reply from Drew Grant. He is doing well in Omaha and like many of us was very happy with the Falcons resurgence this season. I see the usual suspects at AF basketball games during halftime – Marty France, Frank Cheeseman, and Dean Carlson. Marty is back from his Singapore “break” and already pitching a Mt Kilimanjaro climb for this summer, if anyone wants to join him. Dean sits behind me at games and is doing well!

I haven’t heard from Michelle in a while, but I know she is a busy lady.

I am always looking for the occasional email, call, or picture from all of you! I wish all of you a great 2015 and start thinking about next year. It will be our 35th reunion, ugh. Initial planning will start towards the end of this year. Go AF!

Jim Ratti 2860 Arbor Pointe Drive Middletown, OH 45042 (937) 760-2333 rattijm@mindspring.com

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and emerged victorious against Western Michigan in none other than the “Famous Idaho Potato Bowl” in Boise. Gotta love that name, don’t you?

Sounds like something on the menu at KFC… “Would you like gravy with your Famous Idaho Potato Bowl, sir?” But I suppose it’s safe to say that thanks to political correctness, especially as it applies to sports teams, you’ll never see the “Famous Redskin Potato Bowl.” But I digress. On with the news!

Rob Peterson checked in to let us know he flew a trip with Ramona (Kimsey) Hackbart last November. Ramona flies 767s for United and is based in San Francisco. Zan Vautrinot sent an update and said she’s now a Director at Ecolab, a global leader in water, hygiene and energy technology services. They serve busi2014 Class Giving nesses in the food service, food processing, hospitality, Participation Rate healthcare, industrial, and oil and gas industries. She 14% mentioned that Ecolab just initiated a new program called MERGE which supplies career, support, family and other direct outreach to veterans and the military.

Zan said that Tom Arata (’80) played a major role in setting up this worldwide corporate initiative.

Speaking of folks from ’80, Lt Gen C. D. Moore recently retired, and as of 1 January is a Senior Vice Sabre Society President and member of the Board of Directors at my Donors company, Dayton Aerospace. C. D. and I will be working closely together, as I took over as President of the company the same day.

Bob Waters sent a note to brag a bit about his son Patrick (USAFA ’13), who graduated from Pilot Training at Vance back in November. Patrick was the “top stick” in T-1s and drew an assignment to the C-130J at Ramstein. Bob retired from the Guard as a Colonel a little over four years ago and is living in Keller, TX. He flies for American out of Dallas.

I saw a picture of BG Joe Kim serving up Christmas dinner in the chow hall at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, complete with the requisite Santa hat. Hey, the food service guidelines just say you have to have your hair covered – not what the cover has to look like! I thought it clashed a bit with his BDUs, but what the heck – it’s all in the Christmas spirit! Joe is the Deputy Adjutant General of the Hawaii National Guard.

Bryan Daly dropped a line to say he’s here in Dayton, working for Booz Allen Hamilton. Bryan specializes in doing cost estimating for acquisition programs. He and his wife have two daughters, both out of college and on their own – gainfully employed, with benefits, according to Bryan! They also have a son in the 8th grade.

And last but not least, I learned that Steve Herzig is a GS-15 and works in the Air Force Research Lab’s Munitions Directorate at Eglin AFB. So I guess that’s about all the gossip from here. Keep me posted on your news!

Until next time, your humble scribe, Ratman.

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Ray Blust 7 Highland Park Wheeling, WV 26003 Home: (304) 242-7182 Cell: (304) 281-1621 rjmablust@comcast.net

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Happy New Year! I hope this article finds everyone getting in shape and looking younger. Never mind-it’s March or April now, and we have long forgotten our New Year’s resolutions. Ok, I resolve to never mention resolutions again. Thanks to all who sent info and cards.

Without you, our articles would not be.

2014 Class Giving I want to start with a couple who living the dream! Participation Rate Pete and Gerry McCaffrey are enjoying retirement in 13% “The Villages” of Florida and have plenty of room. They each have their own golf cart, and of course Pete’s is AF blue and is decked out in all the stickers and decals allowed by the homeowners association. See you all in May. Mike and Edith Padilla are still in Cordova, TN, where Mike flies for FedEx. They have a son at the Academy. Ben and Maggie Wilson wrote from the fields of Sabre Society Kentucky. Ben is in his 24th year at Delta flying 767s Donors overseas. (See photo at the top of the next column.)

When he’s not flying, he’s running the family’s 160acre farm with 80 head of cattle, mending fences, cutting fields, and keeping the cows fed. But when he is flying, guess who mends the farm; yep, Maggie. You go girl! Their boys, Bo and Tate, are both at U of K studying Engineering while Katie is a junior in high school. Great-looking family! Fellow RF-4 Recce mate Doug “Rocky Mountain” and Kim High sent a note from the Springs. Doug is retired AF

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Greetings Redtags!

This’ll be quick! Not much news to report this time around, although I guess our Falcons football team had a pretty good year! We beat Army to clinch the Commander in Chief’s trophy, pulled of a very stunning lastminute (seconds, actually) win over our perennial rival Colorado State,

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The Ben and Maggie Wilson Family and works at the “old” Pete Field. They have two daughters. Hillary is a senior at CSU while Anna is a high school freshman. Doug, you know how easy it would be to give you some new call signs relating to your last name and where you live? But I’ll leave it to the professional; Stu will come up with some good ones! John-’84 and Gayle (Johnson) Denny are enjoying having their son, Wes, close to home after graduating from USAFA in 2013.

He is an Acquisition Officer and manages projects for AF Special Forces at WPAFB, just one hour from their home. John flies for ABX Air while Gayle works with Apex Learning traveling to school districts in the Midwest.

Andy and Jamie Lagrone are back home in San Antonio. If you have an hour or two stop by and help Andy refurbish his ‘61 Chevy pickup. Dave and Tina Wright are also hanging out in San Antonio. Dave flies for SWA and has recently upgraded to Captain.

Dave “Captain Right” Wright and his girls.

About time, Dave! Their family photo was taken in Hawaii. Caroline is a sophomore at N. Texas while Courtney just got engaged and is a 4th grade teacher. Of course, Tina keeps Dave centered now that he has four stripes. Be careful Dave, she has five! Hope to see you on a flight soon so I can get “2” bags of peanuts. Robert and Ralinda (’82) Gregor wrote from Louisville where Robert is a 757/767 Captain and Instructor with UPS. They recently bought a 98-acre farm south of Louisville and plan to use it for recreation and hunting. Good luck, Robert! Their son Richard is taking after Dad as he is quite the water boarder/skier and is a rather tall 14-year-old. Their daughter Rachel graduated from Auburn and is married to an AF Lt. Ron and Tonia Graves write from Virginia where Ron is an Airbus Captain at United. They are enjoying being empty nesters as son Eric is in a Doctor of Physical Therapy program at Old Dominion U. and daughter Kathryn is a senior at Brown. Ron still has “it” as he completed a Tough Mudder course this year -- Way to go! Got a card from fellow Phantom24 mate Leslee (Forsberg) Washer and Chris (’82). Leslee still tutors and volunteers while Chris is a consultant. Daughter Becca is an Army Nurse, mom, and wife while son Jacob graduated from the Merchant Marine Academy and is now an engineer on a harbor tug in Alaska. (See photo at the top of the next column.)

I will now finish this article with a tribute and update on my good friend Jon “Superman” Duresky. Jon and his wife, Brenda, as well as their family have been through an unimaginable ordeal. As most of you know, he survived a ruptured aorta while on a layover in Boston. He is now in the process of his comeback. Unfortunately his comeback will not include flying. But, as you can see from the photo, he has the love and support of his family. Jon and Brenda would like to thank all who sent prayers and good thoughts their way. They obviously helped.

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The Jon “Superman” Duresky Family That’s about it for now. I hope this finds you all healthy and happy.

Take care and God bless. Ray Mike Jensen 6547 N. Academy Blvd.

Colorado Springs, CO 80918 (719) 338-3570 Web Page: www.usafa84.com Email USAFA1984@gmail.com Facebook: USAF Academy 1984 Twitter: @USAFA84

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What a great job with all the responses! Thank you for spending the time and sending them in.

Here we go!: Carol (Tikijian) Thelen is enjoying her days as a family nurse practitioner, seeing individuals and families of all ages on the western edge of Baltimore. She says there’s never a dull moment. Eric Furches upgraded to 737 Captain with Delta. 2014 Class Giving No more schnitzel and beer in Germany for him for a Participation Rate while; he’ll be on the domestic side for the for seeable 11% future. After serving 34 years from USAFA to DOD, Jerry Cummin still is serving. This time he has enrolled as a law enforcement officer and is going to training. Look for him on the streets of Pittsburgh later this year.

Seahawk fan Glenn Richard wrote me before the Super Bowl. What a great game! I know it didn’t turn out the way Glenn wanted to but it was still enjoySabre Society able to watch. That being said, Patriots fan Bob Perry Donors is unbearable once again. Glenn has been flying with Southwest for 10 years now; still living in Spokane. He and his wife will be attending the 2015 Scottsdale Arabian horse show and all four of their kids are out of the house. Brad Webb could not make our reunion as he was taking command of NATO special operation headquarters in Mons, Belgium. Donna and he are enjoying their fourth assignment in Europe. Their children, Marshall and Sarah, joined them from their studies at the University of West Florida in Pensacola.

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Brad Webb, Donna, Marshall and Sarah Daryl “Sky” Smith continues to be the Chair of the Organizational Leadership Department at Mount St. Joseph University. Daughter Stepha-

nie is a sophomore at THE Ohio State University; she has no connection to the national championship except that she is a season ticket holder and screams really loud. Daryl’s quote: “Kudos to Jens for putting on a wonderful reunion (yes, you have to include this).” Daryl also gave props to Bob Chapman for “rocking” the tailgate party with his Cadet bathrobe.

Garrett Thompson and his wife, Melissa, travelled to the wine region of Chile with Greg Bauer and his wife, Holly. They were celebrating the ladies’ 50th birthdays which were one day apart. American pilot John Flint is enjoying flying out of Miami. Michael Harvey is enjoying the retired life along with his wife, Tina, who is working for HP. When their youngest daughter graduates this May, they are going to move to Herndon, VA. Currently Mike is volunteering as assistant coach for the USAFA Forensics Team. Roger Deemer shared that when his two sons made Eagle Scout, he stepped down as scoutmaster of Boy Scout troop 105 in Michigan. His wife and he celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary last year.

Doyle Hayes and his wife are leaving West Virginia state government and will be moving to Dover, DE where their son Daniel class of 2012 is flying C-17s. Steve Latchford retired from active duty in 2011 and began working as a contractor for the defense threat reduction agency with Judy at USCENTCOM and Tampa. Mark Mavity is there as the CENTCOM surgeon. Joe Sherman did his first iron distance triathlon and finished under 10 hours 30 minutes; his son Spencer ‘15 graduates this May, heading off to RAF Lakenheath as an aircraft maintenance professional.

Don Stukey and his wife, Barbara, have a fourth classmen in CS seven.

Their daughter Sarah is a freshman in high school. Mike Lynch checked in; he is still coaching the women’s soccer at Belmont Abbey College, one child in college and two in high school where Krisanne is teaching. Mike got back in the college coaching after 14 years with Pfizer. Southwest airline pilot Ron Beck married a former USAF nurse he met in Osan and they are now living near Patrick Air Force Base with two sons, \ He flies for Southwest out of Orlando.

Jeff Burum has been doing great work while struggling with some of his own medical issues suffered from chemical and biological warfare as well as chief of budget in Saudi Arabia 1993 to 1994 under Desert Storm and Southern Watch. Another Southwest pilot, Brad Robert, retired from the Air Force in 2006. Lives on the 42 acre farm raising cattle, chickens, bees and has hay. Celebrated his 30th anniversary with his wife, Wendy, and they are officially empty-nesters. Brent “Mongo” Johnson just got picked up by Delta Airlines and is flying out of Salt Lake City on the Airbus 320.

Congrats, Brent!

Fred “FX” Hallway just got done launching the 2015 Mustang as the plant vehicle team manager of the Mustang program at Ford Motor Company. It is a beautiful car!

The Havenridge family Please check out more information and photos on our website. I received over 30 pictures and we can only get 3 spots per issue. Thank you once again for your support, and please call when you are in town. JENS

W. Scott Carney P.O. Box 210 Princeton, ME 04668 USAFA.Class.of.1985@gmail.com

Greetings’85ers!

Welcome to the official countdown to our 30-Year Reunion! Plans for the big event should start coming together once the dates are selected at the end of March (when the fall football schedule is finalized).

Make sure the AOG has current address and contact information so you don’t miss out on any of the details.

You can also look for updates on the class Facebook page, USAFA - Class of 1985.

Michael Black had the distinct pleasure of attending the SES Induction Ceremony for Chevy Cleaves on 5 Jan 2015. Chevy was recently selected as the Director, Diversity and Inclusion for the USAF. This is the first time the position and work have been elevated in this way. Congrats to Chevy! Several classmates were in attendance.

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2014 Class Giving Participation Rate

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Sabre Society Donors

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FX Hallway with his 2015 Ford Mustang.

Carol (Miller) Caughey has been living in a snowbird crash pad in Florida this year while flying the Boeing 757. She is volunteering to fly polar vortex rescue missions for American Airlines. She flies missions to Barbados or St. Thomas. Many times, she is forced to endure the warm temperatures herself. Don’t worry about her, she’ll be fine.

And this quarter’s winner: Chris Havenridge, his lovely wife and their 10 beautiful children. Top that! Or have fun trying!

JOIN THE SABRE SOCIETY! YOUR MONEY HELPS FUND CADET WING PROGRAMS THAT WOULD OTHERWISE GO UNFUNDED. CALL (719) 472-0300 X200.

From left are Quintel Williams, Chevy Cleaves, MGen Tim Ray, and Mike Black.

Thanks to Michael Black for providing the only input for this edition.

Stories and pictures are always appreciated, so if you have items you’d like to share with our classmates, please drop me a note. I look forward to hearing from you. ‘85 Best Alive! Scott

Bob Colella 9247 Northedge Drive Springfield, VA 22153 (703) 455-3176 robert.colella.86@gmail.com

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Holiday greetings to all, Fond memories of wrapping up finals and heading home for the holi-

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Class News

days… such a nice feeling to have the semester done and behind you and I reflect on it often.

It would appear however, that others dwell on other memories that are just as amusing if not slightly disturbing. Most recently on a Jill Stiglich’s post in Facebook (not the same as “posting in Mitchell Hall”) she remarked on coming across the “original” Taylor Holmes 1915 recording of Rudyard Kipling’s Poem [Stop reading now unless you want it in your head for the next 3 months…] Boots. As in, Boots, Boots, moving up and down again….aghhhhhhhhh. Apparently it “pops” into her head when she is doing a particularly mundane or hellish task. You can find it on YouTube, but you really shouldn’t…

I am concerned that we all may need to be on the same floor of whatever retirement home we wind up in as the only memories we are going to have at some point are only going to make sense to a very select group of octogenarians. We will remember that the Cadet Wing Commander is C/ Col John W. Hesterman, but we aren’t going to be able to find our rooms…

Jill apparently has a system to recover from having this in her head – see photo below

wind up overseas on assignment. She also reports that they are getting ready for their move from Prescott, AZ as time there draws to a close: “Dennis has decided to retire from active duty next year and return to United Airlines. Although we had always planned on retiring in the Denver area, we’re now looking at Houston—where he would have much higher seniority. We will probably be moving to the Woodlands (north of Houston) in July. His retirement ceremony is tentatively set for Aug 7th, in St Louis in Busch Stadium.”

Bridget, as always it seems, is working with young kids; this time as an elementary school behavior coach. Some would note she is likely a global expert on elementary school behavior given her 30-plus years with perpetual youth Dennis, but alas, many would say the same about Mrs. Colella in her role as a 1st grade teacher here in Virginia.

Wishing the Malfs the best – here is a photo from Basic Training with Dennis and Brandon

Boots Recovery System!

But don’t despair as there is a new generation that has signed on to take care of us – evidenced most recently in the form of one newly-minted Amn Brandon Malfer. And as Dennis Malfer looks to close the book on his time on active duty, firefighter-in-training Brandon heads to the helm ensuring the U.S. Air Force is not “Malf-less.” Bridget reports in their most recent Christmas update that Brandon graduated from basic training in Dec in San Antonio and is off to San Angelo TX for firefighting school hoping to

Col Dennis and Amn Brandon Malfer Great article on line at: http://www/citamn/afrc/af/mil/features/story. asp?id=12342610 about classmate Brig Gen Richard Scobee taking command of 10th AF (Air Force Reserve’s combat “arm”). For those of you who remember Rich, it is a great article that speaks at length about him as well as his father who passed 29 years ago in the Space Shuttle Challenger accident.

2014 Class Giving In my squadron as a 3-degree our “sponsor” was Participation Rate Patrick AFB on Cocoa Beach, FL, and we were able 12% to schedule a trip down there to visit that year when Rich’s dad flew in space for the first time. I will never forget watching the space shuttle lift off and how loud and how bright it was – inspiring heroics. I also recall the ever-wise-cracking Rob Shrink, as we sat on the beach that day when our AOC Pat Garvey came running by. Major-at-the-time, Garvey remarked “wow, Sabre Society it’s a lot easier to run here than back in Colorado; I Donors wonder what the elevation is here?” To which Rob replied, with one foot in the water; “I’m pretty sure we’re at sea level…”

I missed the annual gathering of Falcon’s here in DC most recently but this photo records the event as reported by all who attended to watch the Air Force – Army game and see the Command in Chief’s Trophy find its way back to Colorado. We truly were spoiled our four years at the zoo with the incredible run of success with the football program.

Check us out on Facebook; that is where most of the connecting is go-

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DC Falcon Fans Gathering

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ing on these days. As you know our 30-year reunion is close upon us – next issue will likely have some details on times and dates so keep your ears to the ground classmates.

Best to all in the New Year. Bob Colella.

John & Carolyn Sammartino 3107 Woods Cove Lane Woodbridge, VA 22192 H: (703) 492-5492 W: (703) 808-6234 jsammar@verizon.net

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The night in the frozen hotel was followed by an overnight dogsledding adventure, where she and her family each mushed their own dog-sled teams. After Sweden, the family traveled to Geneva, where they visited the peak of Mont Blanc, ate more chocolate than is wise, and then hit the natural hot springs. From Switzerland, they traveled by train to Italy, and visited Venice, Florence, La Spezia, Sienna and Rome, where the visit was capped off by private tours of the Vatican and the Priscilla catacombs. Lisa is already laying plans for her next big adventure when she turns 60! If you have any questions about the trip or logistics involved, please contact her at lisa@lisadalessio.com Sounds like a great adventure, Lisa!

Happy New Year ’87! Had a few inputs this quarter from several classmates who have never written, which was good to see—I didn’t have to send out my usual 25 or so spam emails and harass everyone!

First off, Lou DeFidelto sent in the following update: “The four of us (in the photo) fly to a different location each year and enjoy four days of golf, food, poker and fine drink. Last year we visited Tom during his tour in Germany and this year (our tenth) we played in San Antonio, TX. Although we compete for a trophy, we find that the time spent together is what is most important. We have taken different roads since 1987, but are thankful that we have set aside time each year to remember our friendship. Dr. Jim Wisnowski joined us one evening and completed a poker table of five 35th Squadron Wild Weasels.” Sounds fun, fellas, and a pretty cool tradition.

Brig Gen Tom Sharpy, Lou DeFidelto, Chris Forseth and Mike Folkerts Wayne Wingate, first time writer, checked in via Facebook with the following input: “After retiring in 2013 took a year off to help out my in-laws in Ohio. Having had enough of snow, my family and I moved back to my home state of Florida and settled in the Jacksonville area last year. Our daughter is a sophomore at Florida Southern Collage, and our son is a freshman in high school. I stay active in the security business and volunteering in the local community. I recently signed up to be a volunteer Admission Liaison Officer (ALO) for the Academy. I would recommend to other grads who have the time to look into the need in the area. It is a great way to stay connected to the school and help high school students navigate the process and prepare for an Academy appointment. Haven’t run into any grads in the local area, but ran into Ed Knetig (’89) in Cleveland where there is a good all-services academy group.” Thanks for the input Wayne!

Lisa (Gummel) D’Alessio a CS-33 alum, checked in via Facebook and email: Lisa “decided to spend her 50th birthday fulfilling a life-long dream of staying in the ICEHOTEL in Jukkasjarvi, in the north of Sweden.

Lisa and husband, Tony Here’s another first-time input from Erick McCroskey: “Erick finished up his third year with the Institute for Defense Analyses in the Washington, D.C. area, working in the areas of cybersecurity and operational testing... very interesting work that took him to Tucson, Honolulu, Norfolk, and St. Louis. His wife, Tamara, continued her work as an emergency room nurse, but particularly enjoyed spending time in her pottery studio and riding their horse, Pickles. Their son Nathan, now 16, enjoys watching all kinds of sports and plays on a recreational hockey team... he got to meet all the Washington Capitals, skate on the ice with Alex Ovechkin, and even skate on the Winter Clas2014 Class Giving sic ice in Nationals Stadium! Corrie, age 14, has been Participation Rate riding Pickles in Eventing (jumping, dressage, and 10% cross country activities in the same competition), and hopes to become a professional equestrian; she also enjoyed her softball season, pitching for her rec league team. The family didn’t do a lot of vacationing this year, choosing instead to spend time and money on improvements to the house. Erick and the kids drove to Missouri over the summer to visit his folks, while TaSabre Society mara took advantage of the freedom to visit her cousDonors ins in Southern Virginia. And we did enjoy numerous

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visits from local friends and a nice long visit with good friends from Florida.”

Also heard from Diane (Breivik) Allen: “We’ve lived in the St. Louis/Scott AFB area for more than 10 years now. I retired (20 yrs) from USTRANSCOM and now continue to support them as a contractor (ops research analyst). Aaron Allen (also ‘87) works at the NGA in St Louis, the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency. Oh, we have 2 sons, one at U of Alabama and 1 in high school.” Thanks for the input Diane!

We hope everyone enjoyed our football team’s bowl game win—looks like the team is solid for the future! Have a great 2015 and look forward to your stories, adventures, successes, etc—no input is too trivial when it comes to Checkpoints! Fly Safe ’87!

Tom Sadlo thomas.sadlo@gmail USAFA88Scribe@gmail.co (240) 427-8453

The ICEHOTEL in Jukkasjarvi, Sweden.

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Happy New Year ’88ers!

I want to first thank Craig McCurdy for the excellent job he did as our class scribe all these years. Craig, your work was outstanding and greatly appreciated!

Now on to the latest news… Hopefully you’ve all heard the great news that our own Martha McSally is now Congresswoman McSally representing the Tucson area. Way to go Martha; we’re all counting on you standing up for our alma mater and keeping the budget scalpel far from it!

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Many of us are now out of the Air Force with the latest being Scott Tate.

Tim Taylor sent news on Scott’s retirement at Sheppard AFB… “I was honored to attend Scott Tate’s retirement today at Sheppard. The officiating officer was George “GW” Holt who is the Wing/cc of the 136th AW in Ft. Worth. Tater led a circuitous path to retirement but passes on a great deal of wisdom to many of his students.”

Col George Holt officiating Lt Col Scott Tate’s retirement ceremony, 23 Jan 2015.

John York wrote to say he and Clay Garrison (‘88) are at Fresno ANGB. Clay is the Wing Commander and John is the Operations Group Commander. They’re currently transitioning from the F-16 to the F-15.

- something I love to do!” For more info check out her site: http://www. firstgiving.com/fun…/MindySeagraves/over-the-edge.

Another classmate making an impact in the political world is the El Paso County Commissioner Darryl Glenn who just announced he is running to represent Colorado as its next Senator and will be running in the 2016 elections. Darryl, we’re all for you… get out there and take back the country!

Here’s some information I obtained from the AOG on our class: Cols = 140, still on active duty = 284, and in the Reserves = 42.

Noteworthy classmates: Elected officials Mr Darryl L. Glenn, and Col Martha E. McSally. Also general officers Brig Gen Nina M. Armagno, Brig Gen Sam C. Barrett, Brig Gen Dawn M. Dunlop, Brig Gen Thomas L. Gibson, Brig Gen Evan M. Miller, Brig Gen Shaun Q. Morris, Brig Gen Ronald E. Paul, Maj Gen Mike T. Plehn, Brig Gen John T. Quintas, Brig Gen Michael D. Rothstein, Brig Gen Kevin B. Schneider, Brig Gen Dirk D. Smith, and Maj Gen Jacqueline D. Van Ovost. Other noteworthy classmates include Col James L. Cardoso, Jabara Award Winner 2000; Ms Sandra Rhodes, posthumous graduate, and Lt Col (Ret) Robert J. Sweet, POW. Finally, Charles Michalec wrote “For those that attended last year’s reunion, weren’t we supposed to be getting together ideas for a “Class Gift” for the next reunion?” Great question; does anyone have an answer?

Thank you again for all the inputs submitted. If I missed any it was definitely unintentional. If you want to stay more current on our class in addition to this quarterly update, please visit and join our Facebook page. ’88…Best to date! USAFA88Scribe@gmail.com.

Paul W. Tibbets, IV 11 Custer Drive Offutt AFB, LA 68113 E-mail: p2a2tibbets@gmail.com or p2a2me.com Class Facebook group: http:// www.facebook.com/ group.php?gid=43101356987

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Members

Greetings ’89ers. In January this year we had 1 classmate nominated by the President – Randall Reed – and 1 classmate confirmed by the Senate – Allan Day – for appointment to the grade of Brig Gen. Both are at the Pentagon on the HQ AF staff. Randall is Director, Secretary of the Air Force & Chief of Staff of the Air Force 2014 Class Giving Executive Action Group; and Allan is the Director, Re- Participation Rate source Integration & Deputy Chief of Staff, Logistics, 12% Installations and Mission Support. Congrats guys!

One correction to last issue. Paul Lambertson (’90) wrote to say Dan Fogarty was promoted from Associate Technical Fellow to Technical Fellow at Boeing.

Paul and Dan work together, and Paul says Dan is an extraordinary leader and a huge asset to Boeing. Appreciate the note Dan! Sabre Society Our first update is from Christy Kayser-Cook, who is Donors still teaching Core Physics at USAFA and loving it! She also volunteers on the Academy Selection Panel scoring applicant’s packages, and this past summer was able to work Basic Cadet Training as one of the AOCs. With an assignment looming, Christy submitted her paperwork to retire effective 1 Oct. Daughter Haley (13) is in 7th grade, loves math and science,

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Matt Evans sent this photo and said this “(This) is a picture of a Viking IX dinner on Dec 14, 2014. In the picture we have, from left, recently retired Cy and Amy Bartlett, retired Brian and Joanne Yoo, retired Matthew and Stephanie Evans, Maj Gen Mike and Diana Plehn, and United Captain Bill and Carol Ann Cole. We just 2014 Class Giving wish the rest of the Viking families could have made it Participation Rate 10% to the DC area for the dinner.”

Mindy Seagraves sent the following on our Facebook page: “Hi, this is Mindy Seagraves, and I’m going Over the Edge for Girl Scouts! I will be rappelling down the side of a 17-story building to raise funds for the Girl Scouts of Southern Arizona! By doing this, I’ll be helping girls build courage, confidence and character through unique programs here in Southern Arizona.

Sabre Society Donors This is an amazing event... I’ll be celebrating my 50th birthday, embracing life, doing something thrilling, and having a blast... all while supporting Girl Scouts -

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and earned the Iron Man award for competing in 6 sporting events during a meet (due to the small number of girls on the team). Emily (15) is in 10th grade and has her driver’s permit! She enjoys driving her dad’s F-250 since driving Mom’s minivan isn’t cool. Emily is doing well in school, runs cross-country and plays basketball. Husband, Gary, started a new job as the Academy’s Base Training Manager and stays busy outside of work landscaping their home and planning family trips. This past year they traveled to Winter Park for skiing, Southern Utah for a 9-day spring break trip visiting numerous national parks, and the northeastern U.S. where they covered 4K+ miles, over 90 national parks in 14 states and one Canadian Province. Great to hear from you guys!

Christy, Emily, Haley and Gary enjoy the Valley of the Gods in southeastern Utah.

Eric Chandler writes that he is enjoying retirement from the Air Force, flying for United Airlines in the 737 out of Chicago after a 13-year military sabbatical. Wife, Shelley, is in her second full year as a personal chef for her company called Sizzle. Eric says she remodeled the kitchen this past year to celebrate his first airline paychecks, which he didn’t argue with since she uses the family as crash-test dummies in her test kitchen where they enjoy lots of new and interesting recipes! Son Sam is still imitating Bruce Lee with martial arts, started a jazz quartet with some buddies and began his first year of cross-country ski racing with the team at Duluth East. Daughter Grace is involved in martial arts, piano, and math club.

Last summer Eric ran the entire length of the 296-mile Superior Hiking Trail along the north shore of Lake Superior with his dog Leo. He did this to raise money for the Wounded Warrior Project. The run took 41 days over a five-month period to complete. Eric’s message for 2015 (and a quote from Shelley): “Enjoy the joy you can enjoy!” Thanks for the update!

Mike Shepherd 3801 Derby Circle Quartz Hill, CA 93536 (661) 266-2133 michael.j.shepherd@hotmail.com

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Members

Hello Redtags! As promised, I have a few words regarding the status of our former Falcon football teammates. Charlie McIntyre reports that Jim Drape is a successful doctor now. Dave Keller is retired and doing well.

Steve Senn is Troy Calhoun’s right hand man [Executive Assistant, Quality Control]. (Charles) Lance McDowell is a coach and pastor in the Springs.

Pat McNelis also put together a summary for us: “Dee Dowis is in South Carolina as a regional manager with Pfizer... although that could’ve changed in the last year. FYI, we all keep in touch but not always with what our jobs are, so he may be in a 2014 Class Giving different role now. Brent Merritt is in Atlanta moving Participation Rate up the ladder with Delta. Dan Mullins is here in COS 8% flying with FedEx and has done some coaching up at the prep school. I retired from F-15 land a few years back and am the Director for missile defense training under STRATCOM/JFCC IMD. Greg Johnson is a real big wig with Intuit in San Diego -- oddly a friend and classmate from my small high school back in Virginia works next to him! She is a co-big-wig too. Darren Sabre Society James is an O6. Mario Mathis passed away a few years Donors ago [January 5, 2011]. Mike Jurries was with the F-15 ANG in St Louis but now with Kansas ANG. A little more about recently-promoted Colonel Mike Jurries—he recently assumed command of the 131st Support Group. His wing commander asked “What happened to the young Captain Jurries, ‘world’s greatest fighter pilot,’ to transform him into Lt Col Jurries, Mission Support Group commander? The answer is Mike has rediscovered his gift of leadership. A gift seeded and nurtured by parents. A gift grown on the gridiron of the Air Force Academy football team. A gift that has been maturing through parenthood and life experience,” said Francis. “And now he finds this talent for leadership blossoming as he experiences command.”

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Mike Jurries’ parents and spouse pin on the Eagles at Whiteman.

Grace, Shelley, Sam and Eric hit the slopes in West Yellowstone, MT. Next we hear from Doug Malone, who continues working for ManTech International Corp in Virginia. He is preparing for his third career as a high school math teacher, and will finish his M.S. Ed. within the next year. Wife, Jacqui, still loves teaching English, and was fortunate to move to their local high school for this school year. Now their son Will gets to share his senior year with mom! Speaking of Will, he is planning to continue the military legacy and enlist in the Air Force following graduation.

He would like to become a Pararescue specialist! Son Tom is a junior at George Mason University, doing well academically and enjoying the swim team. Thanks guys!

Chris Kulas dropped me a note after his recent retirement. He was just hired by USAA as the Director of Site Management in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. Congrats Chris! That’s a wrap for this quarter. Keep those cards and letters coming. Take care and God bless!

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Class News In other news, I heard from another recently promoted Colonel, Mark “Spock” Leonard. “I decided to hang up the uniform after finishing my 3year assignment at WPAFB, OH as a Program Director. I retired in September and moved to Monument, CO. I asked our classmate Carl “Schaef” Schaefer to preside at the ceremony; he did a fantastic job and made it a very special day for me, Kimberly and our 3 boys. Since I got back to Colorado I ran into Dan “Moose” Daetz and his wife, Esme (Class of 1991).

He recently retired as well and moved to Colorado Springs. Enjoying the great Colorado outdoors!”

Mark and Kimberly Leonard with Carl Schaefer presiding.

Another Colonel-select is Laura Radley who is currently enjoying Carlisle Barracks and the Army War College waiting on a Reserve slot to open up. She sent me a quick note on some others in the class. “I instant messaged with Kurt Root last month on his birthday. He retired a few years ago and is at Alaskan. Kim Scott is on MPA at 18th AF and doing great.”

Congratulations to all the new bird Colonels!

We had some newcomers to our Facebook site: Greg Murray, Ryan Luchsinger and my former roommate at University of Washington Matt Hurley. While on Facebook I ran into Rob “Waldo” Waldman. He sent this update “Speaking/consulting is still going great and I am continuing to support our nation’s veterans though my charity -- The Wingman Foundation. Last year I was inducted into the Professional Speaker Hall of Fame, a prestigious award that honors speakers who have reached the top echelon of platform excellence, and has been bestowed on less than 185 speakers worldwide, including Colin Powell and Zig Ziglar. My wife, Dana, and I and our four-year-old son Ace are still happy and blessed in Atlanta GA. Mighty ’90 visitors are always welcome.”

Waldo and Dana Waldman celebrate Ace’s 4th Birthday.

This month it was great to hear from and about the football players—next issue I’ll try and track down some of our hockey and basketball greats! Speaking of a hockey great, Kurt “Rolo” Rohloff sent me a short update. Like many of us he is watching his children grow up into young adults before his eyes. “My daughter is a senior in high school and is considering Iowa or Minnesota for Physical Therapy. Mark’s hockey is going good. We’re almost 2 months into the season and he is a first year Bantam which is 13-14 year olds.” That’s it from the mailroom—remember this May marks 25 years—I’m sure there is a group planning a get-together by the time this issue hits the press—find us on Facebook for details. Mighty 90! – Flash.

Visit the AOG Web Site: www.usafa.org 122

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Carson Tavenner 7216 W. Country Club Drive Arlington, WA 98223 (301) 367-8969 Tavenner@hotmail.com

Members

Congratulations, ’91! We have successfully met our Class Gift goal: $100,000 donated to the Center for Character and Leadership Development, specifically in the form of a sponsored break-out room off the main lobby/atrium. Recently the top of the Polaris-pointing skylight was put in place, so it can’t be long now before we’ll be able to tour the facility.

So let’s take a second and recognize the top giving squadrons of our class: Barnstormers, Roadrunners, Chickenhawks, Skyraiders, Cerberus, Barons, Thunderbolts, Stalag, War Eagles, and Mach One! Of course every squadron participated in giv- 2014 Class Giving ing, but a real “shout out” goes to these givers. Thank Participation Rate you, thank you! I also humbly recognize those whose 11% friends and family gave gifts in honor of one or more of our Fallen Comrades; out of respect for privacy the names are withheld.

More good news, if you didn’t hear the first Brigadier General selection list with ’91ers on it came out at the first of year! Congrats to our class’ first generals (to be): Tony Bauernfeind, Steve Bleymaier, Chris Craige, and Sabre Society Stacey Hawkins. Couldn’t be prouder, fellas!

Donors In response to all this great news, Chris Howard says “As usual the Class of 1991 has delivered the goods…

BOLD GOLD!” Not in connection to the promotion, but connected to family news rather, Steve Bleymaier decided to send in what he self-described as his first update to Checkpoints – ever(!) and included this stunning photo of his radiant family. Steve’s news was that he and his wife, Wendy, completed their 5th (!) adoption and now have 9 children! Steve has been serving at Wright-Patterson but will be moving on to fulfill the needs of the Air Force this summer.

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Abigail (19), Jacob (18), Emma (16), Benjamin (14), Hannah (13), Sophia (10), Caroline (8), Timothy (4 ½), Peter (4)… and two amazing parents.

George Halley is keeping busy! He’s holding down three jobs (like me, I guess – no wonder George and I are kindred spirits). He loves them all and all are seeing significant growth. One of them is GMI.org, which produces GIS applications to Christian mission work. George says he’s really blessed to have some outstanding bosses and they have a lot of trust in him. In another job, he sells health insurance to seniors, many of whom are in the mountains west of Colorado Springs. He sometimes takes his kids on the rides up there, so they can meet the individuals and learn from the generations. I have no doubt those visits are appreciated! I’ve been playing viola at the local retirement community and it is impossible to stop the concert and leave the building with at least a dozen hugs and stories afterwards. I encourage everyone to spend at least two hours a year at a local retirement center or similar facility, and not just around the holiday time. Take your kids; it will be a blessing for everyone.

Also in the news in Colorado: Gordon Klingenschmitt is a newly-elected Colorado State Representative! Way to go, Gordon! I have not stopped to count how many local elected officials we now have in the class, but I think the number is relatively small still. Surely Gordon will be seeing many challenges in office but I’ve no doubt he’s up to the task.

The week after Thanksgiving a nice crowd of ’91ers gathered at the Col-

Springs from March 23-28 if you’re there and would like to visit. My work leading the Tai Initiative has also been a “stretcher of new muscles”; it is an organization of 12 young adults geographically distributed across the U.S. I’m learning about the digital generation’s great need to nevertheless have physical presence in order to keep motivated and focused on tasks.

The challenge of commanding a virtual office full of people who aren’t paid has been enormous. This July we will be in D.C. holding a conference. Maybe I will see some of you there?

Thanks for reading, Bold Gold! Congratulations again to our new general selects! Congratulations to the whole class for achieving our Class Gift at the Center for Character and Leadership Development! I can’t wait to see our crest etched into the glass…

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James S. Mehta 3802 Elbert Ave. Alexandria, VA 22305 james.mehta@us.af.mil jamesmehta@earthlink.net

orado Mountain Brewery in Colorado Springs to share in their thankfulness for family and for one another. Colleen McCrary organized it and reported they had a great time! From Facebook evidence the ones showing up included Matt Lasley, Gordon Klingenschmitt, Ron Craig, Frank Doiron, Max (Torrens) Despain, Vernie Pendley, Brian Banks, Bill Price, and even Shannon Curry was bidding for a Denver overnight in order to make it. (did ya Shannon?) I hope we can have another one in March, Colleen.

Members

Welcome again to your class column 1992. It’s nice to once again have the Commander in Chief’s Trophy and a bowl victory to boot. Nonetheless, there are a whole lot of things more important than football, like the great things you are all doing in the Air Force, in the private sector, in academia, and at home. I’ve said it before; it is always exciting to learn about your great successes in life. Unfortunately, it’s not as easy to keep track of all of you or “run into you in the halls of the Pentagon,” so I need you to share your experiences.

Mailbag. Ken Callahan decided it was time to fi- 2014 Class Giving Participation Rate nally write me after leaving the Pentagon last year as 8% the Director for RPA Capabilities on the Air Staff. Ken had the opportunity to get his PhD in History at Purdue University through the Air Force and he jumped at it. He’s scheduled to graduate in May 2017 and will then head to Air War College to teach and finish out his Air Force days. Brandon Baker replaced Ken in his position on the Air Staff. Thanks for the update, Ken… and don’t wait so long to write again. I’m sure you have Sabre Society Donors a lot of free time as a college student!

1992 in Command. The Air Force command list came out this quarter for Wing and Group commands.

There were quite a few 1992 names and as someone mentioned to me, “we’re taking over!” Well, many’92ers have already been in command for a year or two, but we are definitely in the prime time for command. Congratulations to all who were on the list!!

I heard from a few who are currently in command, like Michael Bob Starr who is the Wing Commander at the 7th Bomb Wing at Dyess AFB and Bill “Spanky” Spangenthal who is the Wing Commander of the 97th Air Mobility Wing at Altus AFB. I think it was Fall 2014 that Michael Bob left the Pentagon to take command. I know he’s doing a great job out there leading the Airmen at Dyess.

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It’s been years since they lived together; but a true bond is never broken.

Steve Hernandez and James Hodges got together, along with their families, at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, NJ in November. Steve just retired (hey, hey!) as the Professor of Aerospace Studies at the University of Pittsburg while James is currently the 87th Air Base Wing and Joint Base Commander. Steve and James were roommates for all four years, including Basic, Mighty Mach One, and Fightin’ Fourth. How many grads can say that?

Out here in the northwest corner of the Northwest, Bartz Sykes and I met over hash browns and coffee (along with his adorable 3-year-old daughter Amani) and found out about all the fun things going on in our mutual worlds of freedom and household joys. Bartz, Tamara, and their five kids live about 26 miles west of me, but it still takes more than an hour of going north and south to get onto Whidbey Island where they’ve homesteaded in this terrific house. They returned from Japan just over a year ago after what was a very quick and sudden departure to go to Japan just about two years ago. Whew, they are ready to stay put for a bit.

My own big news is that I’m building a house in Darrington, WA (to get further away from Bartz of course) while also becoming the Director of the China Team for ACCTS this year. Meanwhile, I’ve been receiving training in leadership in a ministry context from a variety of sources, which makes this whole process more inspiring. This major step of becoming the Director will likely see me taking on responsibility for leading the ACCTS China Team through several decades of development. Can you imagine what China will look like in 2025? Truth is, almost no one can because they are at a tipping point. Connected to all this, I’ll be in Colorado

1992 at the CSAF Wing Commanders Conference: From left in the front row are Jeremy Sloan, John Lamontagne, Rob Kiebler, Brook Leonard, Lance Landrum, Chuck Corcoran, Derek France, Mark Slocum, Tim Sundvall, and Jason Armagost; Back Row: Dan Simpson, Mike Grismer, Rob Novotny, John Nichols, Jim Meeger, Michael Bob Starr, Al Miller, Bill Spangenthal, and Lance Bunch. Not pictured: Jim Dryjanski, and Jason Hanover.

With some prompting, Spanky told me that he’s enjoying command, and while his wife, Alisa, and their three kids, Emma, Cody, and Hudson, also enjoying their last 6 months with the Mighty 97th, they are also looking forward to whatever is next. Spanky data-dumped all his knowledge on ’92 whereabouts: Classmate Col (s) Mike “Remo” Remauldo is current-

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Class News

ly the Reserve 730 AMTS/CC at Altus. Col Joel Jackson is taking his second Wg/CC position moving from 22 ARW at McConnell to 60 AMW at Travis in February. Col Al Miller is also taking a second Wg/CC position moving from 515 AMOW at Hickam to the 22 ARW at McConnell… replacing Joel.

That is a must-have photo for the next column—send me a copy! Col JJ Menozzi is retiring this year from the 71 FTW/CV position at Vance. He and Kelly (recently retired) have established a winery in Washington State and are headed there to bottle some Zoomie wine.

Col Chris Colbert is the 436 OG at Dover and recently returned from deployment. He and Nicole are doing outstanding with a house full of boys (including Chris). Col Tom “Tork” Torkelson is taking over the 100 ARW at Mildenhall. He is currently the 18 WG/CV at Kadena. Col Clarence “Coolhand” Lukes is taking the deployed 386 AEW/CC position this summer departing from his 374 AW/CV position out at Yokota.

Finally, Spanky reminded me that we were together over 20 years ago at UPT at Vance AFB on the other side of the state from Altus. As I mentioned many times in this column, it truly is amazing how fast time flies…thanks for the update.

Frequent Contributor. Layne Kasper sent me a note and a photo for the column. It is always great to hear from Layne. Troy Simon hit Layne up with a surprise visit to Aledo, TX from the West Coast. The big event was watching Layne’s son’s baseball game. I’m sure there was no reminiscing of their old days on the diamond for the Falcons.

Looking a little older, but a lot wiser, Troy and Layne.

Ray Platt looked me up because he has a nephew interested in law enforcement, specifically OSI. While connecting with Ray’s nephew, Ray and I caught up. Ray is still in the Reserves at Robins assigned to the depot, but is spending most of his time in his real job drilling for oil with BP’s joint venture in Rumaila Field (Iraq) full-time. His wife, Sara, works at STRATCOM and they bought a 60-acre property not far away in Plattsmouth.

When back at home, it seems Ray spends his free time chasing unarmed animals with a hunting rifle. In his own words, “Short 11-mile commute for Sara to USSTRATCOM each day and a deer and turkey paradise… life’s good.” Now take a look at this monster buck he bagged.

Ray and his buck.

Pentagon news. My fellow cubicle-mate in the bowels of the Pentagon on the Joint Staff, Ken Ohlson, is headed to be the 10th MSG/CC at USAFA this summer. So if you are back at the Zoo or even just stopping in for a visit, you can do so knowing 1992 is taking care of business. It is a well-deserved command and reunites him and the kids with Kendra who PCSed to the Springs in September to command the OSI detachment at USAFA. As for me, we’re on the move again, also. I’m headed out to PACAF to command the OSI Region in the Pacific this summer. The family’s excited to be going to Hawaii. For Michelle and me, it is a return to where I was assigned when we got engaged and married, and for the kids, it’s the opportunity of a lifetime to live in paradise. So if you find yourself in Hawaii, make sure to look me up.

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Breaking News… This Just In. I just received an 11h-hour email from Joel Miller telling me that he is a candidate for Mayor in Colorado Springs.

Literally, I just turned on the computer to review my draft column and submit it, and I saw an email from Joel. Joel was elected to the City Council in 2013 but resigned his seat in November 2014 to run for Mayor. Resigning gave his district the opportunity to vote in his replacement rather than having the Council appoint one without the input of the constituents. This is consistent with his platform and he says, “I have earned a reputation for shaking up the crony establishment and for being prepared and willing to stand up for what’s right.” If you want to follow Joel’s campaign, you can do so at www.JoelMillerforMayor.com or www.facebook. com/JoelMillerforMayor. Good luck Joel in your endeavor to become the first grad Mayor in Colorado Springs history.

Until Next Time. Thanks again for tuning in to the class column. Remember to send me an update about all the great things you are doing out there. Keep the faith. True Blue ’92. James Michael D. Sundsted 1805 Macadams Place Alexandria, VA 22308 202-814-8746 Michael.Sundsted@whmo.mil Class Website: www.zoomienation .org–”Class of 1993”

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Members

Happy Spring to the Class of 1993! I hope all of you are doing great so far in 2015! All is well in Virginia with my family and I am glad to say we have had several check in with us over the holiday break.

Leo Kosinski was first to update me. He is still at Travis AFB and indicated that there weren’t too many ’93ers in town. Jason Breeden is still having fun flying with Southwest Airlines (who wouldn’t!). On a deployment to AFCENT CAOC at Al Udied AB, Leo got to work with some great classmates: Jennifer Joyce Krischner, Tad Sholtis, 2014 Class Giving John Price, Joe Santos, Mike “Sax” Mathes, Alex Mezyn- Participation Rate ski, and Harvey Newton. All were doing great things 9% in the AOR! Leo said it was impressive to look around the table and see that a good number of our classmates were division chiefs and having a solid “93” impact on the effort. Leo will be heading to Joint Base Lewis-McChord this summer.

Speaking of McChord AFB… Chris Nisco reports from Edgewood, WA. He and his wife, Rachel, and six Sabre Society kids (perfectly balanced at 3 apiece) enjoy the Pacific Donors Northwest. Chris has been flying with Alaska Airlines since 2003 and is still in the Reserves (97 AS) flying C17s out of JB Lewis-McChord.

Adam Olshefsky writes from Arlington, VA where he works at Deloitte. He and many grads got together to watch Air Force win the Idaho Potato Bowl. Waylon and Leslie Richards, C.C. Massoti (’94), John Gifft (’94). Scott McLean (’86), Larry Romo (’78), Brian Koechel (’79) and Alexa Granados (’04) were all in attendance.

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Idaho Potato Bowl Air Force Crew in Arlington, Va. Adam updates us on his former roommate, Don Kerns. Don and his wife, Amy, just celebrated his 20th wedding anniversary. They have two kids, Rachel and Luke. Don is the campus pastor at Advent Arlington Presbyterian Church in Arlington, TN near Memphis. Adam is also starting a non-profit called Invest in Our Best. Thanks Adam—great update!

John Heck writes from downtown Philadelphia where he is on a oneyear assignment to SAP, a business software company. He is in the Secretary of Defense Corporate Fellowship Program and is one of 16 officers assigned to a company for in-residence Senior Development Education.

Nathan Hobbs recently retired from the Air Force last January and is

now a simulator instructor. Nathan, wife, Kellie, and their children, Katelyn, Makenna, Nicolette and Alexander, are getting used to the quiet life in Jackson, MS. Nathan works for L3 as a simulator pilot on the C-17 for the Memphis National Guard. Before he left the Air Force, he was an Air Force liaison to the FAA in Georgia. The Hobbs’ children are very busy on 15 acres, involved in many sports, musical, theater and community activities.

Nathan Hobbs enjoying his new life in Mississippi as a C-17 simulator instructor.

Mike McClung writes from the National Air and Space Intelligence Center at Wright-Patterson AFB, OH. He is enjoying his last year of Group Command there. Recently Mike’s oldest daughter qualified for the National History Bee and the entire family joined the trip to Atlanta to watch her compete! Congrats on the great achievement!

John Price is enjoying leading Airmen who make Rapid Global Mobility happen up at McGuire AFB. He and his wife, Stephanie (’94), are glad he’s out of school for the first time in his life! John finished his doctorate program last summer. John is currently the Wing Commander of the 305th Air Mobility Wing and enjoys working with fellow graduates Jack Mateer (’90 and Maintenance Group Commander) and Erik Simonsen (’92 and Operations Group Commander). Presidential Group Deputy Commander, Bruce Ybarra, recently flew President Obama to McGuire where John Price escorted the President. Pretty impressive having two of our classmates taking care of the POTUS! In his spare time, John thoroughly enjoys flying the KC-10 and C-17.

Jason Mills, BFF and UPT roommate, recently retired from the US Air Force at Laughlin AFB, TX. Jason pinned on Colonel and forewent the duties associated with the rank to fly the friendly skies as a United Airlines Pilot. Congrats on the career move—regards to the family!

Andy “Bones” Moore is wrapping up squadron command at Andrews AFB and the 89th Airlift Wing. He and his family are headed out to take a medical group command job at Mountain Home AFB. (Make sure to have some Scrubby’s BBQ for me!) Andy is still a practicing orthopedic surgeon but he finds it harder to carve out operation time as a commander. He is available for any consults if you need to navigate the crazy bureaucracy of the military medical system. Thanks Andy and congrats on the new job!

Pete Gbelia writes that he is flying for Alaska Airlines out of LAX and lives in Phoenix, AZ. He also flies predators for the 214th RG (ANG) out of Davis-Monthan AFB. In his spare time, Pete runs a social impact company in Monrovia, Liberia where he focuses on sustainable energy for all selling and distributing clean cookstoves, and small solar lighting systems for Liberian families. He says that it has been tough working through the recent Ebola crisis, but his staff has done a phenomenal job.

Pat Hopper and George Joyce met up in Atlanta for the Air Force-Georgia State game and ran into Shamus Prindiville and JJ Trahan (’94) who happened to be there as well for the AF tailgate.

(That’s about it for this quarter’s Checkpoints. We had an overwhelm-

ing response this time and there were four who sent in emails/letters who weren’t included in this edition so you’ll be first in line for the Summer magazine!

Craig Allen 85 Quail Creek Drive Del Rio, TX 78840 H: 830-313-7089 C: 660-864-5374 kegsdoolittle@yahoo.com

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Members

Spring Break ‘15! It’s been a cold winter, even down here in Del Rio. We’re ready to move out of the “dark ages” of January/February and get into some warm weather activities. It has been a dark ages-like period for ‘94 news as well. After the post-20 year reunion barrage of Red Hot updates and pics, I didn’t hear from many people over the holiday period. It felt like the “Seinfeld” episode where Kramer and Newman found the old set of “The Merv Griffin Show” and set it up in Kramer’s apartment. After a couple successful episodes, with lots of guests and interesting topics (like from the 20-year reunion), they find themselves out of fresh material, “bottomed out” and needing to “re-tool.” Though I did get a couple of ‘94 updates recently, please shoot me an email, text or pic for next time so we can get back to the exciting format pictured below.

The show goes on!

I had the honor of attending Jim DeReus’ fini-flight and retirement ceremony recently. Jim retired from active duty here at Laughlin in January, culminating a great career as a C-17 pilot and finally a T-6 instructor pilot.

Jim and his wife, Sheran, will be staying here in Del Rioto allow their son Michael to finish high school as a Del Rio Ram. Jim will be living the good life and continue teaching the next generation of Air Force aviators as a T6 civilian simulator instructor. A pic from Jim’s fini-flight is included. It is after the traditional hose-down and you can see that Sheran and Michael made the mistake of letting the fini-honoree gain control of the fire extinguishers. Good fun. Congrats Jim!

DeReus family at Jim’s fini-flight.

At Thanksgiving time, we were with my folks at Air Force Village in southwest San Antonio. We randomly ran into Marc London, his wife, Karen, and their kids at dinner. They were there visiting Marc’s grandfather, a World War II veteran. Marc and Karen currently live in Memphis, where Marc is the University of Memphis ROTC Det/CC. While we were catching up with them, we learned that Karen is the sister of Scott “Macho” Weyermuller (‘99), who I flew B-2s with back at Whiteman. It really is a small AF. I must have been too busy talking with Marc and his grandfather to think of getting a picture of us, but Colleen got one with Karen.

Pat, George, Shamus and JJ at the Air Force/Georgia State game.

Visit the AOG Web Site.

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Karen London and Colleen at Thanksgiving.

That sums up what I got for this quarter, but as usual, I learned some things through social media. Jason Towns, a fellow Viking 9 grad, is running a skydiving operation in south Texas, Port Aransas apparently, which must be nice. Bill Sullivan 2014 Class Giving and his family are on an extended “walk-about” in Participation Rate Australia, following his retirement. The updates I’ve 9% seen are awesome, but still I’m waiting for the Bells Beach report...”no way it’s bigger than Waimea, right bra?” Jack Aalborg and Dane Nielsen look like they got in a couple good ski days in Utah this season.

C.C. Masotti planned to attend Mardi Gras. Chuck Baird is doing a lot of filming in Alaska. Jesse Hernandez was enjoying the Dallas Cowboys great seaSabre Society son, right up until that Dez Bryant catch that wasn’t Donors a catch up at their Green Bay playoff game. Speaking of the NFL, as I write this it is a week out from Patriots v. Seahawks. I’m sure at publishing time all this deflated football nonsense will be forgotten and Brady and Belichick will have a fourth title. Right? One can hope.

Anyway, shoot me an update for next time, so I can keep the format fresh -- Kegger.

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Members Andrea Themely andrea.themely@gmail.com

Greetings KTPers! I have taken back over from Travis Koch writing our class news. Travis lasted a lot longer as a scribe than any of us before him so please thank him for all his hard work writing the article and keeping us all up to date!

If you haven’t already joined, there is a class Facebook page and a linked in group too. They are both called “USAFA Class of 95” and you must request to join. If you have no Facebook account but your spouse does, you can join that way too. These are both great forums to exchange information, especially as our reunion approaches, and as retirement and second careers begin for many.

I’m writing this winter from Washington D.C. where I am in National War College with Clint Ross, David LeRoy, Rich Carrell, Tim Gillaspie,

USAFA Racquetball Tournament winners at NDU! Putting our Academy intramural skills to good use. From left are Lindsay (Brown) Droz (’98), Andrea (Rolfe) Themely, Rich Carrell, Clint Ross, Dan Dobbels (’98), and faculty coach Brian Toth (’94).

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and Thom Geiser. I’m including a pic from our recent racquetball tournament against Eisenhower School (formerly ICAF). Clint ROSS and I were keeping the pride as mixed doubles partners… yes, we are still playing intramurals 20 years later!

Right across the street at Eisenhower School ’95ers include Renae (Bartalone) Hilton, Rob Masaitas, and Brian Green. We also have lots of ’95 grads in Alabama at Air War College: Rhet Turnbull, Travis Koch, Phil Acquaro, Paul Brezinski, John Groves, Mark Mullarkey, Shane Steinke, and Max Weems. Apologies if your name was left out… send me your news for the next update!

Other ’95ers in the DC area include Chris Maddox and Jen Grant on the Joint Staff, Harmon Lewis at the Air Staff, Julie (Pilkington) Grundahl in SAF/IA, Scott Grundahl in OSD POW/Missing Personnel office, and Scott Cambell. I had dinner with Julie and Scott right before the holidays, and luckily their beautiful 4-year-old girl, Grace, had a lot in common with my 5-year-old, Jake, which is to say they are both kids, clearly making them best of friends, so they had a great 2014 Class Giving Participation Rate time running around the backyard together.

The group command list for summer 2015 just 7% came out and lots of ’95 grads are on it… congratulations to you all! Clint Ross just got picked up to be the 501 CSW/CV at Alconbury, England, Tim Gillaspie will be the 82 TRW/CV at Sheppard, and Thom Geiser will head to Afghanistan as the 438 AEW/CV. Julie (Pilkington) Grundahl will be the 11 WG/CV at Andrews; Dave Abba will be the 3 OG/CC in JBER, Alaska; Kenyon Bell Sabre Society will be 76 MXG/CC in Tinker; Kevin Massie will lead Donors the Counterspace Division at Los Angeles AFS, Paul Moga will be the 80 FTW/CV at Sheppard, Travis Rex will be the 35 FW/CV in Misawa, Japan, and Tom Seymour will be the 8 OG/CC at Kunsan, Korea. I know this list is not all-inclusive so if I missed you, please send me your info and where you are headed so I can publish it in the next Checkpoints!

I know of several that have taken advantage of the early retirement option… congrats to both Paul Spaven and Joe Difidi for your successful Air Force careers! Mike May and Melissa (Hyland) May are also retiring very soon—Melissa starts terminal leave in February and will be joined by Mike at the end of the year. Melissa already has offers from United and Delta so we will see her in the friendly skies very shortly! The Mays will be moving to Colorado. Missy also mentioned that Chris Hummel is retiring, Sam Mann already retired and is with Southwest Airlines, Dave Cobb is headed to Delta, and Matt Liljenstope will be joining corporate America.

Mike Brevard and Jen (Buss) Brevard wrote from their new house in Wisconsin… they bought a 120-acre ranch and now have room for all their animals—which include 47 chickens and I’m sure a partridge in a pear tree. Their oldest daughter, Heather, started at University of Wisconsin-Madison last fall...,Jen can’t believe she is old enough to have a child in college!

I also heard from Jon Cory, who wrote, “I am living in Muscatine, IA, and just got back from the 2nd annual weekend of hunting with fellow former Barnstormer Scott Mattes (’96), who lives in Des Moines. My youngest son, Greyson, recently skipped up and joined his brother in 11th grade, so they’ll both be graduating in 2016 and on their high school’s varsity football team next year. Speaking of graduates, the Cory family and my in-laws are focusing on our “end game” which is to move to (and eventually retire) in Colorado Springs. So I’m shamelessly seeking connections, favors, networking, and anything else to find a job in the area. Please contact me on FB or LinkedIn with any leads! Keep the Pride, classmates!”

I got to have breakfast with Karen (Hanchett) Slocum and her beautiful daughter Anna in October. She is enjoying the best of both worlds, being a stay-at-home mom most of the time and fighting the fight part time in an awesome Reserve job! She’s planning to stay in for 30… I’m not sure the rest of us have committed that long but it’s funny how fast 10 years can fly by! I definitely wasn’t expecting to still be on active duty myself at this point but like many of you, here we still are.

Mike Snodgrass wrote from Washington DC, where he is finishing his third year at Andrews AFB. He is currently the 89 OG/CD after completing his command tour as the 89 OSS/CC. He’s flying the rich and famous around in the 1 AS along with fellow KTPers Dave Bohnen and Brian Bartee. Dave was the 89 APS/CC and was ecstatic to get back to flying, and Brian finished up a 757 gig and is now living the large life flying around our nation’s leaders. All three plan to retire out of Andrews and you will likely see them flying us around very soon too!

Jennifer Rollins wrote from Ellsworth AFB, SD, where she is back flying the B-1 after a tour as a Defense Attaché in Sierra Leone, and currently getting ready to deploy with the 34 BS. She is enjoying flying again and she wanted to share a picture of her and Chad HENNINGS (’88), (3-time Superbowl champion with the Cowboys). He was in Rapid City as the guest speaker for the inaugural Black Hills Military Appreciation Ball for which Jen led the coordination. Jennifer got to wear ALL of his Superbowl rings--check out the picture with all of that bling!

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In other news, Julie (Morganson) Bernardi separated almost 10 years ago after her second son, Jake, was born. She also has a 15-year-old daughter, Jessica. She recently graduated with her teaching degree and has started her 3d or 4th career -- teaching middle school math at a K-8 school in Bend, OR. Ray Pastora worked for the Joint Staff but after a great 5 years, sequestration loomed and contracting funds became scare. He transitioned to a year doing IT work for the FBI before taking a government position close to home to eliminate the vicious DC commute. He and Shelby met in 2008, married in 2010, and have grown their family from of 3 to 5. As you can imagine, there is never a dull moment in the Pastora household.

Chad Hennings (’88) lets Jennifer Rollins try on all of his Superbowl and Hall of Fame rings!

I would love to hear from you and include your info in the next article!

Please email me or message me on Facebook and send photos too… remember all photos published must have a picture of a graduate. So we’d love to see your kids but you have to be in there too. Until next time, keep the pride!

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Andi Vinyard andivinyard@yahoo.com andi.vinyard@us.af.mil

Members

Hello everyone! Just a few updates this time. The first quarter of your 2015 has been great. I miss a lot of things this year at the Deid – including our yearbooks! Luckily the AOG has been kind enough to send me a list of TABs and emails so I can reach out to 2014 Class Giving folks. As you can imagine, it’s easy keeping up with the Participation Rate folks still in the AF. I will be reaching out to more folks 7% the next few months so please send me some updates.

Greg Soderstrom is the DO of the 434 FTS, Laughlin AFB flying T-6s and training the future of the AF. Also at Laughlin are Rob Ludington, 86th FTS Commander (T-1s); Randy Oakland, 87th FTS Commander (T-38s) who was recently selected for SDE as a Lorenz Fellow; and Brian Pardee is the 47th OSS Commander.

Sabre Society Paul Baker is currently the 48 FTS Commander at Donors Columbus AFB. They recently unveiled a new tailflash design, which includes their patch designed by Walt Disney in 1942 (I bet that’s in someone’s Contrails).

Also at the unveiling was Brad Hall, previous commander and now at USTRANSCOM, Scott AFB, IL; and Col (ret) Bob Jessup, former commander of the 48th Fighter Interceptor Squadron, Det 1.

The Pastora family Several folks on active duty were selected for SDE slots… Air War College: Matt Ayres, Soloman Garrett; ACSC Instructor: Clay Bartels; Eisenhower School: Derek Blough, Sean Bradley, Rita (Perez) Carey, Nate Owedoff; Naval War College: Geoff Lohmiller, Dan Walls; Marine War College: Todd Robbins; JAWS: Bryce Silver; National Defense Fellowship at the Belfer Center of International Affairs: Chris Menuey.

Mathes Mennell is departing Los Angeles after 14 years of coaching at Loyola Marymount to be the head coach of the UNC-Asheville men’s soccer program. He sent a great pic with Rocky the UNC-A mascot.

Mathes and Rocky I’ve had a couple of unique opportunities at the Deid recently to include camel racing (nothing like it in the U.S.), a Qatari wedding (no, not for me), Doha Master’s where we were up close to Ernie Els, and most recently the world handball championships where Qatar lost to France in the finals. If you show up at the Deid before June, look me up and we can share our 3 drinks!

Melvin E. Maxwell, Jr. 4660 4th St. South Arlington, VA 22204 mel_maxwell97@hotmail.com melvin.e.maxwell2.mil@mail.mil

From left are Paul Baker, Col (ret) Bob Jessup, and Brad Hall.

Other ’96 sightings at Columbus include Tom and Esther (Obert) McElhinney who have been in the Reserves there for over 10 years, Beau Neal in the 48 FTS, and PK Carlton is the 49 FTS Commander headed to Air War College.

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Members

Greetings ‘97!

As always, hope this update finds you well. News is a bit slow this quarter -- here are some tidbits from my Pentagon and DC wanderings. Last update I told you about Roger Maldonado making Colonel in the Guard.

Congrats to Michelle Pryor (Gadus) who was recently frocked to O-6 mak-

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ing her the first classmate (that I know of ) to make that grade on active duty.

We’ve had a couple gatherings at Michelle and Dave Pryor’s house— ran into Wil Pointer, who is flying with the 89th Airlift Wing at Andrews, as well as Jeff Nelson, who is at National War College, and their families.

Jeff and I are also in the same local poker game -- don’t worry, we’ve checked the Virginia legal statutes and 2014 Class Giving there is nothing criminal about losing money.

Participation Rate Michelle Carns has started up a monthly ’97 Penta6% gon lunch gathering. Some recent attendees included Wendy Miller who recently retired and is enjoying some time off before committing back to full-time work, Joe Arico who recently retired from the Marine Corps and serves as a civilian contractor in the Pentagon, and Brian Kabat who works weather on the Air Staff.

Sabre Society Congrats to those classmates who got picked up for Donors Senior Developmental Education—I took a quick look at the list when it came out in November. I know Samantha Weeks (Glinkski), Dave Rayman, and Thad Middleton were among the classmates who got selected but I have to say Matt Anderson and Casey Tidgewell have to be the big winners—at least they both get views of the mountains. Matt and his family are headed to the Marshall Center in Garmisch, Germany and Casey got picked up for a USAFA Group AOC slot. Congrats to the other classmates I might have missed.

That’s all I have for this round. Don’t make me troll Facebook! Send a scribe some news -- until next time…Mel

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Patrick Fox One Crestwood Lane Hanover, NH 03755 Cell: (415) 599-9089 Office: (603) 643-8885 pfox@newenergycapital.com

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I feel like I need a good excuse for blowing off last quarter’s Checkpoints submission, yet I don’t have one. The deadline came and went, not without the editor twice reminding me to submit, and I just blew it off. When I received my issue and I saw the empty section in the Class of ’98 write-up, for some reason it caused me to think back to recognition and walking down the hall and seeing (yeah, I gazed around) some, okay most, of the upperclassmen turning their back 2014 Class Giving on me – you know who you are Julian Pacheco ’96. Participation Rate Maybe they were on to something, maybe they knew 7% that almost 20 years later I’d blow off my class scribe duties. In any case, it’s good to know that I wasn’t the only one who was ‘about-faced’ during recognition; in fact I have a few updates this quarter on others who didn’t meet the expectations of certain upperclassmen in their squadrons.

Brian Quinn is taking a full year of MAS with the Sabre Society Marine Corps at Quantico. Earlier this year he was at Donors the bookstore picking up his textbooks when he recognized an author of one books on the shelf, Chase Maenius. Turns out Bull Maenius, who graduated with a GPA well in excess of 1.5 but not quite high enough for the first number to be a “2”, is an accomplished author, or at least an author. I’m dumbstruck by this. I was in study groups with Maenius; he had trouble with his native Texas dialect, much less the Queen’s English.

Chase’s book, which is about Sun Tzu, contains almost as many words as it does pictures, and is available for sale on Amazon for $69.35. I bought one for myself for Christmas. The back cover claims the author did graduate work at Oxford; curious to know if the Oxford that Chase went to ever runs into copyright infringement issues with the more famous school of the same name in England.

Quinn’s discovery started a group email that included Mike Gismondi, Wally Adams, Deno DeBacco, and Drew Dougherty. Giz is doing well – moved to the suburbs of Fairfield County, CT from NYC and is busy with 1-year-old triplets. He regularly goes fishing with, and receives parenting advice from, his brother-in-law Deno, who lives on the New York side of the Hudson River. Both Quinn and Deno are O-5’s – probably not what the upperclassmen who turned their backs on them foresaw that in their futures. Wally is delivering boxes for UPS. Couldn’t get much of an update out of Drew; I think he’s flying for Southwest, but I did hear through the grapevine that he borrowed a friend’s car and on a whim drove it from Colorado to Austin, Texas… there’s got to be some kind of story there.

Completely changing subjects, a local guy invited me to play in a ‘pick-

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up’ hockey game every Thursday night. The invitation had me feeling like a high school hero until his wife told me that her husband didn’t want to be the worst player on the ice. We play at a local boarding school for junior high boys – you have to live in the Northeast to find stuff like junior high boarding schools. As you exit the locker room and walk to the rink the hallway is filled with pictures of the school’s graduates that went on to play Division 1 or pro hockey. Every Thursday night as I take the ice I’m inspired to see one of our own on the wall of fame, Eric Oberg. His picture is adjacent to fellow Falcon, Greg Dumont ’97.

I won’t bore you too much with holiday card updates – just the quick and dirty: the Macros-Crimmel’s are back at Whiteman flying the Stealth Bomber and Rob continues to ride Beth’s coattails. Sean Finnan is in Germany – all his kids look like his wife, Adrianne (which is a good thing).

Matt and Kerrie Dunker are living in London – Kerrie has great hair; Matt doesn’t have any. John Lee’s wife, Dustine, finally grew tired of him hanging around the house and made him get a job – he’s now flying for Southwest. And the Academy Endowment manages to wish me happy holidays and ask for money within the same sentence.

The real news on the holiday card front is for the first time since I can remember Jeff Mohr didn’t send me a card. It’s been tough to take. The last time I was this insulted by J Mo was when as juniors he told me I was a “90’s guy” – I had no idea what being a “90’s guy” meant, but it didn’t sound like a complement. Despite not getting the holiday card, I still follow J Mo on twitter. He and fellow Cincinnatian JD Kiker were all over twitter after their Ohio State Buckeyes won the national championship.

Man, if you got time to tweet, you have time to send me a card.

The past October when AFA played Navy a group of classmates hosted John (JB) Boria’s family at the Academy. JB passed away in September of 2004 while deployed in Qatar. Trey Hall, Mark Navo, John Lee, Jamie Rhone, Karl Falk, Phil Dillingham, Sean Lee, Keith Litzer, and Bo Bodden all made the trip – many of them brought their families too. JB’s parents and his brother were very touched by all the guys’ kindness and lasting friendship for JB and one another. Truly a first class move by a first class bunch of guys. Mr. Boria sent me this picture of the group having a great time Saturday night.

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Mary Stewart Arlington, VA marybeth1999@hotmail.com mary.stewart@pentagon.af.mil

Members

Shiners, we are dangerously close to me having to dig up the Polaris, find the most toolish quotes, and exercise my creative writing skills on the individuals responsible for them by making up outrageous life histories. Since my creative writing skills ba- 2014 Class Giving sically merge the styles of JK Rowling and EL James, no Participation Rate one wants this to happen. As it is, I considered recit8% ing first BCT group staff, calling minutes for the noon meal formation (Hoods worn up!), or posting airplane silhouettes to fill our ’99 space for this issue. Luckily, Michelle (Baugus) Nunez came through for me with the following update: “So as I write this, today I turn in my thesis to finish up my Master’s for ACSC – there are 88 weeks of my Sabre Society life I will never get back. My in-the-zone board is next Donors year, so here’s hoping it was worth… something. Still plugging away with the Reserves, although I moved to a Group position this year – however retirement is getting that much closer. Speaking of getting older, you know you’ve crossed a new threshold of old-ness when your classmates come back as squadron commanders. Case in point, our very own Todd

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Benson was handed the reins of the 2nd Space Operations Squadron earlier this summer out here in Colorado. At his change-of-command, I ran into Tony Muro who, if he got his math right, is already starting to count the days toward retirement. Speaking of newly-minted O-5s, Shanna Corbett also got picked up over the summer, so congrats to her as well.”

Thank you Michelle, for not leaving me all alone in the front-leaning rest position while we wait for our classmates to let us know how life is treating them. I know there are millions being made, babies being born (speaking of which, the one and only Frank Layo is expecting his firstborn with wife, AJ, this March), and wars being waged. Let me know how you’re doing, or at least pimp your classmates and tell me what they’re up to these days. Until then, I was dreamin’ when I wrote this… forgive me if it goes astray…

Jason Simmons 5756 Range Rider Drive Colorado SAprings, CO 80923 Jason.Simmons@Outlook.com

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Kevin is also living in Colorado Springs, with a Buckley commute daily; he relays that he may be looking for a job in the Springs or Denver area since he was one of the over qualified PhDs that the AF mistakenly did not select for promotion. Here we are enjoying Keystone’s recent SnoFest.

Bryan Trinkle is increasing his Spanish abilities by continuing to “Build Partner Capacity” from Travis as an Air Advisor to SOUTHCOM countries; his recent trips were to Peru and Colombia, with Panama coming next.

Personally, I think he’s just enjoying taking advantage of the air miles policy, and saving them up for fun vacations with wife, April, and daughter Brooklyn!

Ross and Evelyn (Andersen) Schumer are currently in Iowa City, where Ross is finishing up a year-long fellowship at the University of Iowa in Foot/Ankle and Sports Medicine Orthopedics. Evelyn recently transferred into the Reserves and is currently putting her physics PhD to good use as a personal trainer!

Members

Classmates, Much better this time around, but please do not wait to send me updates. After you read this, take two minutes and send me a quick update on you! Pictures with other classmates take priority, so when you’re out there having fun with some fellow Two-Granders, pull out your iPhone and share the pic with me. And now, on with the news…

Brandon Acheson is serving as the associate pastor at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Elgin, IL (outside Chicago), after earning his master’s from Reformed Theological 2014 Class Giving Seminary-Orlando in May 2014. Brandon notes that Participation Rate he has aspirations of becoming a Chaplain. Brandon 8% wanted to thank several USAFA grads for their support to help him through seminary, including Joel Brown, David Rogers, Omar Rashid, as well as Luke (‘99) and Amanda (Saunders) Osborne.

Justin Hohn has thrown his hat in the race for Columbus City Council (4th District) in Columbus, IN. Good luck and kudos to Justin for not just talking about Sabre Society politics, but doing something about it. In March, Rob Donors Ellis and family will celebrate their fourth anniversary of living in Tanzania. That means they are due for a one-year home assignment in the United States, starting sometime in the summer. According to Rob, their missionary work in Tanzania is progressing very well, as both of them have received a capable-high rating in the Swahili language and culture. Between now and their home assignment, Amy’s ministry goals are to bring in other missionaries and coach them on their own culture and language acquisition program, while Rob will be focusing on Security across Africa as well as locating new housing for current and future missionaries. Rob says you are welcome to visit Tanzania; he exclaims “Karibu Tanzania!” and I say, “Wow!” -- talk about a stellar classmates committed to service (not just Rob, but Justin, Brandon, and so many others out there).

Meanwhile, personally, I have been relishing being back in Colorado Springs and even hit the slopes during some of the off-time. Recently, I had a classmate take over the pull-out sofa of a condo that I rented for my family -- Kevin Kuciapinski was a welcome addition to our mini-vacation.

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Melissa Simmons, Jason Simmons, and Kevin Kuciapinski

Ross Schumer, Evelyn (Andersen) Schumer, and their two children enjoying Iowa.

Bessie (Fontenot) Granier is living in St Louis and runs into Tim Souhrada often, as they both help out the Gateway St. Louis AOG Chapter with events throughout the year. The AOG Chapters are a great way to meet up with fellow graduates and especially for supporting televised USAFA sporting events. Recently at a USAFA football party, Bessie said she ran into Chesley Dycus who is currently stationed at Scott AFB. Bessie notes that it was fun to reconnect and catch up with Chesley and other various baseball alumni all currently stationed together at Scott.

Tracy (Tinianow) Bozung pinned on Lt Col right before she PCSed her family last summer to Dayton. Tracy is more than halfway through her master’s in public health work at Wright State University. She hopes to be doing some work at the Wright-Pat family med clinic over the next few months. The Bozung family is enjoying being only 3 miles away from Casey (Tinianow) Parini and her family, so Tom Bozung is enjoying staying at home and watching kids a lot. It sounds like their holidays were fun; they had a huge celebration with Casey and Tracy’s parents along with both sets of in-laws. I have a feeling the kids were the ones that got the best end of that deal – lots of presents, I’m sure.

Matt Graham and Bridget (Blanco) Graham are in Suffolk, VA. Matt is working as an Army Strategist on the Joint Staff and Bridget is an AFOSI Reservist. They had a new addition to the family last year, a son, Garrett!

They also have a 6-year-old girl, Kristin. Matt and Bridget get to run into other grads in the Hampton Roads area. Bridget notes that Jaime (Webb)

Matt Graham and Bridget (Blanco) Graham

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Nordin and Cameron Nordin are also AF Reservists at Langley AFB, VA. They also hang out with Danna Alberts who works as a military contractor supporting Norfolk and even get to enjoy time with the Tom Hutton family and Ryan O’Hara’s family. Tom and Ryan also work on the Joint Staff.

Ben Matthews met up with Michael Ryan for the first time since graduation, but notes that he forgot to take a picture. Okay fellas, this really isn’t an update; more of gee-whiz info. Therefore, both Ben Matthews and Michael Ryan owe us real updates for the next issue -- where are you both at, what are you doing, what adventures are you pursuing? Same goes to all those reading this, but have not sent me anything this year. I look forward to hearing from everyone next time around.

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Faith (Hitchcock) Dunn 6423 NW 94th Court Johnson, IA 50131 Faithd03@hotmail.com

Members

on-the-go Complete K9 Meal Bars for dogs. At the end of her segment, Kristina teamed up with FUBU founder Daymond John and she agreed to sell him 35% of her young company in exchange for a $100,000 investment and his professional mentoring support. If you missed the episode you can watch her sales pitch on YouTube. Congrats Kristina and any classmates that have a pet should go check out her stuff online!

Weddings and babies: Rachel (Haff) and Todd Moore had baby girl #3, Hannah Rose Moore born in November on Thanksgiving Day. Tim Chapman and his wife, Lindsey, also delivered a daughter, Claire Evelyn Chapman, who was born on Dec 10th. Matt Kenkel and his wife, Anna, welcomed Logan Grace on Sept 12th. Matt writes that everyone is doing well and big sisters Lily and Lucy are happy to teach their smiley little sister the ropes. Matt is currently taking advantage of the “family time” while working his way through ACSC with classmates Lee Bryant and Quoc-nam Nguyen down at Maxwell AFB in Montgomery, AL.

2014 Class Giving Participation Rate 8% Sabre Society Donors 8 (Editor’s note: We did not receive an input from Faith for this issue. Please send her your information and photos for the next magazine .)

Eric Ballew World Cell: +1.850.543.9936 ericballew86@yahoo.com eric.ballew@us.af.mil Class Facebook: USAFA Class of 2002 Class Website: www.usafa02.org

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Class of 2002! I hope everyone had a great Holiday season and your New Year is off to a great start! We have a few updates for our class and I’d love to see more. Continue to up- 2014 Class Giving date me with your latest job moves and family updates Participation Rate anytime something cool happens!

7% Entrepreneurs and Reality TV Superstars: Siobhan (Couturier) Celusta and Aaron Celusta opened a brewery in Downtown Colorado Springs called Iron Bird Brewing Co and they definitely love when they see fellow grads come in! Aaron is a Reservist flying gliders and Siobhan is still AD as a Powered Flight Instructor at USAFA. They just welcomed their second baby in Sabre Society November so they have been a little busy, but they still Donors want visitors anytime!

Kristina Guerrero was the big winner on the ABC entrepreneurship show Shark Tank this fall. She was on the show to seek investment and mentorship for her dog food company, TurboPUP. Kristina pitched the “sharks” on her unique

The Scheglov Wedding 2014 proved to be another fun year for Class of 2002 weddings. In August, Hamilton Grey Shelfer married Rochelle Anthonisz in Waikiki, Hawaii. Paul Scheglov was on hand as one of the groomsmen. The Shelfer’s currently live in Tampa, FL while Grey is stationed at MacDill AFB. In October Paul Scheglov married Monica Grenwick at the Cadet Chapel with classmate and best man Abram Woody by his side. Other grads in attendance included groomsmen Kris Trumble (’07), Hamilton Grey Shelfer and bridesmaid Masha Scheglov (’10). Paul and Monica currently live in Olympia, WA while Paul is stationed with the 1st ASOG at Joint Base Lewis-McChord.

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Stephen Freedman skiing the Alps in front of the Matterhorn.

Mini Reunions Worldwide: John Eccles, Sarah (Hardin) Eccles (’03), Dave Orleans and Tony Straw met up over the holidays in San Antonio.

John and Sarah both fly U2s and recently returned from a deployment together. In March Stephen Freedman and Eric Peterson spent 7 days on the border of Italy and Switzerland in the town of Zermatt skiing the Alps with an incredible view of the Matterhorn. Dave Orleans won the 2014 Facebook/Instagram “look at me” award for over-posting selfies, fireball shots, and countdowns to random trips. Mustafa Danquah still insists on advertising he wears Chuck Taylors as a 35-year-old man with the hashtag “arate”... I wonder if he means “karate”?

As always, keep me posted with pics and updates!

JOIN THE SABRE SOCIETY! YOUR MONEY HELPS FUND CADET WING PROGRAMS THAT WOULD OTHERWISE GO UNFUNDED. CALL (719) 472-0300 X200.

Matt Kenkel, Anna, big sisters Lily and Lucy and new baby Logan Grace.

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Susan Lynn (Doyle) Maly Linked In: USAFA 03 USAFA2003@gmail.com Class Facebook Page: Usafa Zerothree LinkedIn: USAFA03

2014 Class Giving Participation Rate 6% Sabre Society Donors 4 Hi Bongers, I hope this note finds you doing well. We had one update from Maj Rob Gatti. He and his wife, Stacy, welcomed their first child, Savannah Grace-Ryan Gatti, on Dec 5th in Honolulu HI. Congratulations!

Rob flies the C-37A out of Hickam AFB, and Stacy is a RN at a local hospital. Hope your 2015 is off to a great start. Please send updates via our FB page or gmail account. Take care, Susan

John Tamasitis 825 Kinlock Court Columbia, SC 29223 jgtamasitis@gmail.com Cell: 803-360-2970

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Members

Class of 2005, I hope this update finds everyone well. Only a few more months until the Reunion Weekend; it truly is amazing how fast time flies. There is not yet have a date for Reunion Weekend at the writing of this update in Jan 2015, but I am told that one will be set once the football schedule for next season is finalized. Now to the updates: Patrick Yanez had the distinct privilege of flying over the Rose Bowl game this year with Garrett Bartee (’07). Fellow ’05er Matthew Zulaf called in the timing updates from down on the field and, looking at the photo, it was quite an experience.

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Breezy Long 120 Sunfest Drive Deatsville, AL 36022 windyshort82@gmail.com

Members

Greetings, ’04… Bueller…? Anyone out there? This quarter’s “news” is more of a plea. I don’t know about you guys, but I miss hearing about how you all are doing and seeing your latest pics! Maybe everyone had their fill of one another at the reunion, 2014 Class Giving haha, but please stay in touch and send in a blurb Participation Rate when you can.

6% On a more personal note, if you happen to be traveling to/through Montgomery, AL, please don’t hesitate to reach out. We have a spare room, a cozy dining table, and/or time to go meet nearby and catch-up.

Also, CONGRATULATIONS to all those Ready for Warriors who are heading off to school and internships this year, either in the Maxwell neighborhood or someSabre Society where farther out into the Wild Blue [or sister service Donors school “color”] yonder.

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Last but not least, hugs and high-fives to all those still deployed or engaged in various missions overseas (in and out of uniform)—and of course your families— your sacrifice and dedication are never overlooked in this family. Take care, and hope to see or hear from many of you soon!

Yanez “showing off ” over the Rose Bowl.

Additionally, Patrick wanted to let me know that one of our own, Alex Goldfein, not surprisingly was selected to the Thunderbirds. To my knowledge, this is the first of our classmates to receive such an honor. Alex flew over the Super Bowl this year 2014 Class Giving Participation Rate in the Thunderbird #3 position. Congrats Alex.

6% I also received an update from Emily (McConnell) Arthur. Emily and her husband Todd Arthur (’04) are currently stationed at Randolph AFB. Emily is a Contracting Officer and Todd is a T-6 PIT Instructor. On July 29, 2014, Emily gave birth to their baby boy, Ryker.

Ryker wanted to make an early appearance and decided to show up two months before his due date. Ryker weighed only three pounds at birth and spent a month Sabre Society Donors in ICU. However, and not surprisingly, Ryker is a fighter just like mom and dad, and he was tipping the scales at 15 pounds as of the time of this update. Congrats to both Emily and Todd.

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Visit the AOG Web Site.

Gone But Not Forgotten, Merchandise and more! www.usafa.org Emily, Todd, and Master Ryker

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Class News

Finally, Harrison Stell checked in from his very busy life. Harrison and his wife are expecting their fourth child this upcoming March. While he operating as the CIC of the baby factory, Harrison separated from active duty in September via the VSP and was hired by Delta. However, he continues working for the T-6 Reserve unit in Del Rio, TX. He regularly keeps in touch with his fellow Honor Guard alum and, one of the Miller twins, Chris, was blessed with twin baby girls in January.

As many of you know we have a lot of flyers out there and many of them are still doing great things. Marc “Top Secret” Catalano submitted that he has a claim to fame, “Flew the last combat mission of OEF/first combat mission of OFS. I got you Marc, “wink wink”! Still living abroad and experiencing the world is lucky Amber Col- 2014 Class Giving lins. Here is what she has to say, “Our youngest, Kayan, Participation Rate just celebrated his first birthday. We are currently liv6 ing in southern Taiwan since my husband, Xiangyu Chen (’08) is flying the E-2K for the ROCAF. When I’m not homeschooling our oldest son Logan or privately tutoring, I am exploring Taiwan with our family and friends.” I say, keep making us jealous Amber…!

Not everyone can make up their mind, so the following update shows us how some of our classmates are Sabre Society hanging in the states, while getting to explore overseas.

Donors Adam “Teddy” Boyd wrote “I’ve got orders to Hickam this summer so I’m excited. This will wrap up 6.5 years in Charleston; big change for us! Also our first little girl was born Oct 19th so obviously a life changer there.

Hope all is well bro. Nice, nice, and nice bro… life’s good! Justin Taylor and Jenny Miller (Evans) got the opportunity to represent America as pilots on the PACAF C-17 Demo Team in November at the China International Aviation & Aerospace Exhibition. By the way, it’s a technicality that they are in the states, as both of them fly for the 535th Airlift Squadron at JB Pearl Harbor-Hickam. At least you two have an out if you get that “island fever!”

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The Stell family Again, I hope all is well with everyone and I look forward to seeing everyone at Reunion Weekend. Please keep up to date with the latest news and announcements on our Facebook page. Also, if you ever find yourself in South Carolina, please let me know and hopefully we can grab a drink together.

Respectfully yours, John Tamasitis.

Shawn “The Schulz” Schulz 7840 Swiftrun Road Colorado Spring;s, CO 80920 (915) 309-5612 USAFACAD@hotmail.com Facebook page: USAFA Class of 2006

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Members

Class of 2006, I hope that each of you are doing well. It is amazing that we are through the holidays and 2015 is underway. I sit here compiling all the news updates in the midst of the “Dark Ages” that most of you should recall… going to work when it’s dark and coming home… when it’s dark.

Alas, I have little to complain about. An assignment here at USAFA is simply a blessing and I know that many of you would love for such an assignment. Well, that brings me to my first set of updates. I am wrapping up two years here at USAFA but understand that a few of you are inbound.

Kenon “The Kenon” Thompson has had two missile tours, at FE Warren and Vandenberg, but is coming back to USAFA to teach our next set of management majors. He is not alone as I understand that Josh “Wolfy” Wolfram will arrive here too after he finishes the deployment he is on. I say congrats to both of you on your competitive selection and ask one thing… go easy on the Management 200 course; that was brutal! Just a quick note on deployments; our Class Prez Justin “Gabs” Gabbard is also deployed and can’t wait to return to his motherland in Virginia. JG you know that ACC misses you!

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Mixing up some Europe and America pride we have Jake Ashmore and Nate Heguy who just graduated the F-15E WIC and are back at Seymour Johnson AFB. Great jobs gents… The Ashmores will be going back to RAF Lakenheath in July. Brent Peterson and Nick Tsougas are in the F-15E WIC class that is starting in February. Looks like I am one of the few still stuck on the ground!

Rounding out our flying community updates is a Return of the Mac, William “Mac” MacVittie, that is. I know you all liked the song reference… here is what goes on with him. “In November I finished up C-17 Re-Qual and am back to flying the Globemaster at McGuire AFB, NJ as a member of the Bully Beef Express”. I am no expert, but if you had to re-qual… you should have tried harder the first time bro… totally kidding. Great job keeping that cargo in the air!

A little humor goes a long way so David “Smalls” Smalenberger and Clyde Cross II want to remind everyone that “the fire is burning and chins are in. I got an update from Laura Chighizola (Lammert) where she informed me that her son asked, “Why is there a zero (on the dishwasher)?

Here classic response… you guessed it. “Zero Six, she replied.” Keep that class pride going strong Laura; it is up to all of us to scar our kids for life…

SPAAAATZ!

Megan Malcom is finishing school up in Denver and will be moving to Eglin… Florida beware! David Drake has had enough of teaching SOS in ’Bama so he is headed to Los Angeles AFB to get his mind back in the OSI business. Look out party animals! Michael D’Amore is still doctoring it up and is leaving Germany to return back to the Great State of Texas, San Antonio to be precise. Jonathan and Jane Dunn (McDonald) are doing well and just moved. She wrote, “We just PCSed to Edwards AFB earlier this month where I am the new Sustainment Services Flight Chief overseeing food, fitness, lodging, and the Club.”

Our very own fast burnin’ Ashley Housley is moving on up in this world. She wrote,“I’mcurrentlytheComptrollerforthe89thAirliftWing(POTUSandTop5Airlift)atJBAndrews,MD.I’mheadedtothePentagonthissummertoworkatSAF/FM Although we had lots of “athletic” updates last edition, I cannot skip a couple updates from some of our past football stars. First, Denny Poland is no longer in the AF, but has been a successful investor and stood up his own firm… keep up the great work Denny, I saw your 2014 performance… Awesome!

Jonathan Wilson also has a claim to fame… in fact, it’s the Hall of Fame. He wrote, “In October I was inducted into my high school’s Football Hall Of Fame (Hillsborough High School, Tampa FL).” Well Jon, you got me beat!

The Kendricks

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Christin Brodie (817) 223-9793 Christin.Brodie@usafa.edu cbrodie2@icloud.com

Members

2014 Class Giving Participation Rate 5% Sabre Society Donors 5 One of our own, Paul Silver, is proudly serving in the U.S. Army. He wrote, “I’m leaving the US Army JAG School and heading to the 1st Armored Division OSJA at lovely Fort Bliss, TX.” Thanks to those that provided updates this time around, and spread the word to others that I will gladly accept more. As for me (ShawnSchuuuuulz), I am still the Budget Officer here at USAFA and would love to meet up if any of you are in town. I got you covered on a place to stay... just say the word!

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Casey (Bayne) Whitson (310) 343-5969 email@caseywhitson.com

Class of 2008!

Thanks to Jet Sadorra for a short note. He and his wife, Ashley, are expecting their first kiddo this spring. They are having a boy, so send him a few possible names… he’s in the global. I’ve heard or seen notes on Facebook that a few of us our now civilians and pursuing new dreams outside of the military. I heard from Mario Mendoza, Jr who has been representing our class well in the Filipino Air Force. Mario’s Supreme Aircraft Models creates wooden aircraft models made in the Philippines. They ship all over the world and can be found on Facebook. They have some pretty awesome pictures on their page, so check them out.

Members

2014 Class Giving Participation Rate 4% Sabre Society Donors 5 Hi Class of 2007, Thank you for continuing to send me your updates. It always amazes me how much has changed for our fellow classmates in just 8 short years since we graduated. Some of my favorite updates are the ones about recent additions to our class of 2007 family. This quarter I received two of these exciting updates.

Babies: Miji (Dalton) McConnell and Casey McConnell welcome their first child Brody Robert McConnell on Feb. 2, 2015. Miji is a Medical Service Corps officer (healthcare admin). She’s currently working as the wing executive officer at Kadena Air Base. Casey served as a tanker pilot but was approved for VSP and separated from the Air Force last September.

He is currently applying to fly commercial once they leave Japan.

Jacobe Kendrick and his wife, Andrea, welcomed their son Brayden Zane Kendrick born Dec. 8, 2014 in Midland, TX. Jacobe separated from the Air Force in 2012 after which the Kendrick family moved back to Midland. He now works in the family business and also started a real estate investment company. His wife, Andrea, is a stay-at-home mom raising their two boys. (See photo at the top of the next column.)

Note: Photos for birth updates must have the graduate pictured. Checkpoints will not include photos of just the newborn. If you ever have any questions about submitting an update for Checkpoints please shoot me an email. It’s a simple process and I can help you if you are unsure what to send. Looking forward to receiving your updates for next quarter!

Mario Mendoza and one of his models from Supreme Aircraft Models.

I know a few people recently graduated from Weapon School including Asha Padmanabhan and Deb Gaddis… Congratulations! However, I haven’t received many updates from everyone else in the class.

Asha Padmanabhan at left. Her sister Tina flew to Vegas from Spain just

Padmanabhans

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Class News

for the weekend and to watch her sister not only graduate from Weapons School, but kick it’s butt. Want details? Ask Asha.

Please let me share all the amazing stuff! Your story could be the inspiration someone else needs to get them started on their new adventure. So call me, send me a message on Facebook, or look me up in global! I look forward to hearing about your amazing adventures!

Forrest Underwood PSC 2, Box 9538 APO AE 0012 forrestunderwood@gmail.com Facebook: Forrest J. Underwood

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Members

Ozzie Ortiz, Drew “Kenny” Powers, Jeff Randolph, Skylar Morgan, and Ricky Kirwan also put a ring on it!

Will Harrison asked Lauren Twitty (’10) to marry him… on a combat sortie over Iraq… that they were flying. Talk about a power couple!

2014 Class Giving NEW JOBS: Jeb Beard is deployed to the U.S. Em- Participation Rate bassy in the garden spot of Ouagadougou, Burkina 4% Faso. John Harvey is trading his T-6 for an MC-130J… welcome to the community, brother. Dave McMahon is teaching AFROTC at the Big House (University of Michigan) where he continues to tailgate with students before football games and crash frat parties.

OTHER SPOOGE: We celebrated the culmination of the new 5-week course of SOS with a classic “Haps ‘till Sabre Society Taps” party at the Maxwell O-Club. In attendance were Donors Forrest Underwood, Leighton Bagby, LK Martineau, Jesse Horton, Claire Carlos, Abbey and Jon Wilkins, Dean Chuva, Scott Mitchell, JD Rulien, Marissa Whitaker, Brandon Sullivan, Reid Gaiser, Wick Kelley, Mike Kemp, Mark Muller, Dustin Nordman, Tyler Hewko, Ray Zhang, Will Parker, Chris Dubois, Matt Herzberg, Leo Kim, Rob Moak, Eric VanderWyst, Jeff Winter, Dan Balch, Drew Hundley, David Butzin, Ed Tison, Dan Romero, Lisa Bush, Kristen Barra, and the world famous Tom Kellerman.

Mike Knapp and Adam Bunker went on leave together to NAS Rota, Spain.

SHAMELESS PLUG: Check out www.crashpadsinaltus.com! Classmate owned! If you ever need a place to stay in Altus, OK you need to look no further than the Bat Cave!

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Happy New Year! Lots of exciting moves being made in 2015! Thank you for sending in all of your updates! Also, let us know if you are going to SOS, PCSing, transitioning out of the Air Force, or anything else exciting!

We want to know how you’re doing and where you’re going!

Remember to Like our Class of 2009, Air Force Academy Facebook Page!

We have almost half the Class!

Here’s the latest… BABIES:

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Members Todd Gamiles 2010checkpoints@gmail.com

From holding fish to holding babies, John and Tina Wilhelm welcome Hunter Lewis Wilhelm to the family!

Greetings class! It’s been a busy last few months (of course when is it ever not?)! Starting things off, congratulations are in order for Haley Brewton as she and her husband, AJ, 2014 Class Giving got married this past quarter. Eagle 8 Squadmate Carol Participation Rate Quirindongo-Crespo and her husband, Matt, also tied 14% the knot. Ben Saunders and his bride, Jessica, also said “I do.” Wedding bells are also in the very near future for some of our classmates as well. Another squadmate, Jeff Reddout, got engaged to his fiancée, Anna, and Lauren Twitty said yes to Will Harrison (’09). Congratulations again to all our couples and future couples, and may all you all share many happy years together!

Sabre Society I did get a few pilot drop reports, namely Mack DelDonors gado (C-17s to McChord), Evan Rodts (C-17s to Travis), and Nick Flaute (KC-135s to MacDill). Awesome job earning those wings, and hope you get to travel lots of cool places with those heavies!

Kelly Snyder, Deanna Franzen, and Indya Vernon have been hard at work since graduation pouring in the studies working towards their law degrees. Keep up the hard work! If you ever find yourself in need of legal counsel in the near future, be sure to hit them up!

Well, we knew it was going to happen sooner or later. In what may be the first of our class to return to USAFA (outside of immediately after graduation), Sean Purio recently graduated from CU with an MA. He (along with his Meghan Martinez (’12) and 3 kids) will be returning to the Academy to teach English to all the doolies. Congrats on the instructorship!

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AJ and Chelsea (Tompkins ’10) Hendel and Jeremy Fox also welcomed their babies into the world!

MARRIED: Ryan Christie, Dave Mackintosh and Miguel Valenzuela all took their vows and are enjoying the BAH bump.

ENGAGED:

ue.

Forrest Underwood found himself a beautiful frauline in Germany!

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As always, please keep the updates flowing. At the time of this writing (late January), summer cycle assignments should hopefully drop soon so as you find out please let me know! ’Til next time, Blue Skies and Tailwinds!

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Elizabeth Borroni 809 Swift Water Drive Abilene, TX 79602 (979) 571-1180 elizabeth.borroni@gmail.com

Members

2014 Class Giving Participation Rate 4% Sabre Society Donors 2 (Editor’s note: We did not receive an input from Elizabeth this issue.

Please send her your information and photos for the next magazine.)

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LeRoi Edwards leroi.edwards@gmail.com

Members

Greetings dearest classmates, It is with much zest and fervor that I wish you all merry holidays and happy New Year. It is amazing how fast the time has flown since that miraculous May day back in ancient 2012. It has been my absolute pleasure to provide a voice for our class to 2014 Class Giving share stories of love, lust, and otherwise to each other Participation Rate and the Long Blue Line.

6% Hopefully this note finds you all in good health and great spirits. While I did not receive many formal notes this time around, the beauty of Facebook allows me to creepily bird-dog the lives of many and I can assure you that the class of 2012 is living in full color.

Since graduation, I have had the pleasure of attending several weddings of 2012ers, but I always find that Sabre Society Grad-to-Grad weddings are pretty fun. In this issue I Donors get the privilege to highlight two: First up, Jenny Flynn and Davey Greer (’10) were hitched in scenic Larkspur, CO on 28 Aug 2014. The bridal party was also stocked full of grads: Adam Greer ’08, Heather VanderWyst Flynn ’09, Megumi Voight, Fanita Schmidt, and Krissy Barber. We had to wait for the photos, but I think it was worth it.

Congratulations, Davey and Jenny!

Mr. and Mrs. Castro going hard in the paint with the wedding party. plenty more weddings where these came from, with additional memories and weddings sparked from those celebrations. Congratulations to all the love bugs recently married, engaged, children born, dogs adopted, dollar rides flown, awards won, deployments completed (shout out to Justin Lukso), etc. You are all warriors in my book and I hope that our paths cross at your earliest convenience. Thank you for all that you do. Cheers, LeRoi PS – While we cannot control who pays for what as far as new glass obelisks pointing towards Polaris are concerned, we can all give back to the programs at school that helped mold us into who we are today, helped us meet who we met, and helped us survive in general. Please do your part and make it easier for us to say “back when it was hard” by showering the newest generation with alumni dollars for these programs. http://www. usafa.org/Give.

LeRoi Edwards, Reed Fleming, and Patrick Murphy give $12/month to https://www.usafa.org/Give/mensrugby.

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Members Andrew Hedman awhedman91@yahoo.com andrew.hedman.2@us.af.mil

2014 Class Giving Participation Rate 5% Sabre Society Donors 1 (Editor’s note: We did not receive an input from Andrew this issue. Please send him your information and photos for the next magazine.)

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No volunteers yet.

Mr. and Mrs. Greer soaked in a sea of celebration.

A second big congrats goes out to two HAPpers that just couldn’t wait any longer, so they too made it HAPpen. Danny Castro and Bridgett Murphy tied the knot on 30 Dec 2014 in Florida. Again, why Grad-to-Grad weddings can be so much fun, their wedding party included the following 2012-standouts: Michael “OD” O’Donnell, Dane Lannon, Chris Chua, Alexa Ramsier, Shaina Thompson, Kristen Nee Shanklin, Willis Brown, Kelly Beiber, Joe Castro (’09), and Tim Smith (’13). I’m sure it was quite the party with many stories to be told for many generations, to many people, with many laughs. Congratulations! (See photo at the top of the next column.)

With the Spring and Summer coming up, I am sure that there will be

Members

Editor’s note: We have not yet had a volunteer for the Class of 2014 scribe. If the class wishes to have a column, volunteers should contact Tom Kroboth, Class News Editor, at Tom.Kroboth@aogusafa.org.

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FINAL THOUGHT

C2C Kassie Prusko (left) sizes up C1C Hope Stremcha Feb. 19 during the 57th Annual Wing Open Championship. Last August, a female boxing club was created to allow women to hone their fighting skills and compete in the sport. Seven ladies participated in this year’s event, marking the first time that women have boxed in the Wing Open Championship. Prusko won a decision over Stremcha in the 119-pound championship bout.

2015 Wing Open Championship Results 112-pounds: Mateus Arcano dec. Timothy Tyson 119-pounds: Kassie Prusko dec. Hope Stremcha 119-pounds: Adam Sumait dec. Nick Fernandez 125-pounds: Roy Taylor rsc-1 (1:28) Osama Farqaleet 128-pounds: Heather Parcasio unopposed 132-pounds: Jamal Johnson dec. Peter Coote 139-pounds: Josh Key dec. Landon Tomcho 145-pounds: Brett Hagen rsc-1 (1:10) Shane Garcia 150-pounds: Aubrey Lowe dec. Sarenna Ortiz 156-pounds: Samuel Sheikh dec. Johnny Wells 165-pounds: Victoria Rodriguez dec. Bridgett Wall 165-pounds: Brandon Pitts dec. Darnell Jones 175-pounds: Gytenis Borusas rsc-1 William McCollum 185-pounds: Chad Turney dec. Max Zendali 195-pounds: Scott Wawrzyniak dec. Sean Richards Heavyweight: Yohance Salimu rsc-1 (1:03) Dan Neghina Men’s Outstanding Boxer: Brett Hagen Photo by Lewis Carlyle.

Women’s Outstanding Boxer: Aubrey Lowe

POSTMASTER: Send change of address to Checkpoints, Association of Graduates, Doolittle Hall, 3116 Academy Drive, USAF Academy, CO 80840-4475.

Vince Rusinak, ’68 Vince@Rusinak.com

Nancy Rusinak Brother, R. Berthiaume, ’73

Nancy@Rusinak.com

www.RusinakRealEstate.com Rusinak Real Estate, Inc. 7160 North Academy Blvd Colorado Springs, CO 80920 719.590.6110 Toll Free: 1.800.789.6650