CLASS NOTES extra time with the SWAT and forensic teams. In Richmond, I got an update from Wes Barrow. He’s still recruiting for Ernst and Young while keeping up with his IT consulting on the side. He keeps up with Brandon Howle and Marshall Luck for the occasional golf game. Also got a note from Matt Irving, checking in from Richmond where he keeps an eye on Jake Britt and Mike Wilson. Chris Magee just sold his business in Richmond and has entered into what he calls “semi-retirement.” This definitely does not help his “old man” reputation among the class. Chris keeps tabs on Jochen Dunville and Ryan Debouchel in northern VA who are both doing well with their families and work. Around the country, I heard from Corey Kearse who just passed the state bar in AL and just took a new job with a law firm in Birmingham. Got an e-mail from Joel Christenson who is about to pursue his Ph.D. at West Virginia University this fall. After months of “secret squirrel” training, Chris Varner is now working for the FBI temporarily stationed in CT. Out in KY, Greg McDearmon is doing excellent with his family and contracting business which somehow keeps making money in spite of the housing crisis. Chris O’Toole and wife Jill just welcomed their first child, daughter Ella, in April in NC. I also have been keeping up with Jon Rogers out on the West Coast in Seattle. Our class continues to rotate Marines through the OIF. Chris McGuire most recently arrived as a company commander in 4th Marines in Al Anbar Province. Jason Berg also deployed around the same time to Fallujah as a transportation company commander. Above the ground, Cliff Ford is on his way back to Iraq for the third time with his helicopter squadron. I also got a nice letter from the mother of Rich Hallett. Rich is still flying Cobras out of Camp Pendleton and heading back to Iraq for his third tour. She also says Rich keeps up with Dave Janeka and also Brian Long who lives in Fredericksburg. BT, if you read this, e-mail me, brother. On the Army side, I got a note from Barry Williams down the road at Fort Riley where and the family will be moving out to Fort Campbell. John Wilcox is still out in language school in CA, but he and his wife, Nellie, just bought a new house outside of Fort Bragg. Aaron Bush is about to head out on his fifth deployment with Special Forces shortly but is enjoying life with his wife and son Aaron, who just turned 2. Charles Gallion is still out at the National Training Center at Fort Irwin with his wife, Parry, and little boy Charlie. Other members of our distinguished Army are back home shaping the officers of the future (scary as that may be). Mike McDermott is a tactical officer at West Point mentoring all of the VMI dropouts while
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working on his master’s degree at Columbia. Robbie Trent is back in VA on recruiting duty in the Lynchburg area. And, most importantly, VMI is getting one of its own back, as Eric East will be serving on the AROTC staff in Kilbourne Hall this fall. My only Air Force update comes from Charles Faulkner who is stationed at Goodfellow AFB and returning to Washington in July where he and Emily are expecting a baby in October. And in joint-service news, our world traveler John Holmes has deployed with the Navy as an augmentee for the Army on a civil affairs mission to Baghdad this summer. A good chance to use your new Polish language skills, right John? And finally, in international updates, I got a few notes from BRs overseas. After passing the PE as a civil engineer, Van Carson and his wife are moving out to Vincenza, Italy, for three years where they will also have their first daughter in September. Quite a year. His only competition for a better year comes from Aaron Hamilton who is still living in Australia. He proposed to his fiancée, Erin, on the top of the Sydney Harbour Bridge and then discovered his roommate won several million dollars in the Australian lottery. Hard to beat that. I apologize for the brevity of these notes, but I did not hear from many folks this go-round. I encourage all of you to check in with me to update your contact information. I think many of my e-mails are out of date. A special thank you to all the mothers and wives who keep me updated for the handful of you who are too busy or too lazy (I’m looking at you Jake Abell) to keep in touch with the class. Again, I encourage you to check out our class page on Facebook (and yes, you can register on the site even if you are a Republican, McGuire). Thanks everyone.
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Christian Arllen
Jim Boatright is still living in Atlanta with his wife, Emily, daughter Madeline Louise and new son Jackson Whitaker; all are well. The word on the street is that one of young Master Boatright’s namesakes is known to hunt a good bit and make regular treks through Atlanta to his various hunting adventures. Jim reports that Whit Johnston, Scott Johnson, and Will Warthen are doing well. Jim has been busy building places for folks to have fun and finished up his master’s degree in Building Construction from GA Tech last year. Jay Mogge is also in the construction industry working out of Birmingham, AL, and was recently engaged. Congratulations, Jay!
Beau Mason is doing well and ran into Ryan Mitchell recently. They are both in Iraq where Ryan is flying Blackhawks. Beau is a company commander for an engineering company. When stateside, Beau lives close to both Will Ward and Joe Segar. Congratulations go out to Beau on the birth of his son last summer. Tony Cerella is heading to Iraq on a MiTT team assignment about now, and Bethany is setting up the abode in Monument, CO. Luckily. Bethany will be close to family during this deployment. Brad and Becky Allen are stationed out at Travis AFB where Brad is toying with C-17s. David and Sarah Hoffman are stationed at Edwards AFB. Michael Gereau is doing well in Panama City, FL, where he flies MH-53E and the HH-1N with the Naval Surface Warfare Center PC DIV. He has been training for a couple marathons and building planes in his spare time. Sounds like Ptown is the place to be. Tom Boyer moved to Seattle recently and reports that the place it amazing when the weather clears. Tom caught the trail of Charles Bryan in Tacoma a while back. Danny Boyers married Doris Shambora from Wilkes-Barre, PA, on the 29th of December and they are expecting. Congratulations on both counts! Danny is in the midst of a masters program at Liberty University. Both Danny and Doris are teaching 6th grade in Lynchburg, VA. Eric Adams is a contractor in Richmond and is having a blast restoring homes and fishing. He will be fishing is some tournaments soon and traveling to Ireland for a week of fun with Vern Dooley and J.D. Longest ’01. John Stewart is attached to a Shore Detachment in Jacksonville, FL. He and Jessica are expecting a second kid this summer. Kelley and I are well and since the rest of you are popping out kids like it is going out of style, we thought we would join the fad and expect to start sleeping a lot less in late August. I took a trip down to the “I” in April for the Class Agents’ Conference and even though the X is gone the place hasn’t really changed. There are renovated buildings and the facilities have been improved, but the cadets are still being stacked like cord wood in Barracks. Ah that brings back fond memories. I spent an hour on the 4th stoop hanging out with pre-strains and the 4th class. Funny how so many of their gripes mirror ours through different times. To those of you in harms way I pray that you will make it home safely; to the injured physically and mentally, I pray you will heal quickly and fully. To all who serve now and in the past, know that you are treasured, and we are thankful for you and your families. Faithfully yours, Christian
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