CLASS NOTES one, if my memory serves correctly. Rod Turbak also touched base. He has relocated with Vicki and the girls to Jax, FL, where he is XO of VR-62 NOMADS which flies C130s. In August 2010, Rod will take over as CO, as long as he doesn’t mess up too bad. While he was in Pensacola for CO school, he ran into Chris Bergen ’92 who is going to command VAQ-133 out of Whidbey Island. Rod was in Lex Vegas over the 4th and saw Paul and Rhonda Ackerman during the balloon launching festival. Rod invites those passing Jax to look him up. Chris Reid welcomed a son, Owen Charles, on July 30th at a healthy weight of 8 lbs., 7 oz. Last I heard, all are doing well. Keith McGee sent a great update which I have taken the liberty of cutting and pasting here: “Things are going well. I was able to go to VMI for the 4th of July with my son, Tom Nelson and his family. It was a good time and good to be back at the ‘I.’ In 2006, I stopped by VMI on the way home from my grandmother’s funeral and spoke to Dr. R.E. Burnett in the International Studies Department. Turns out VMI set up a Science and Security Program in which they are doing more than we ever had, to include a summer course on Science Security and Intelligence, here in the District at George Washington University. Being on academic probation my entire cadetship, I felt like I needed to give a little back to the Institute and offered to see if I could help set up cadets with internships at my civilian company (Analytic Services Inc.) here in DC. 2007 was the first year, and we had five cadets; 2008, we had about seven; and this year, we had five. So, it has been going well and fully funded by VMI. This year, we also got two cadets (Cadet John Sheehan ’10 and Cadet Robert Stockman ’10) working in my office, deputy assistant to the Secretary of Defense for Chemical and Biological Defense and Chemical Demilitarization Programs and the Army Staff, G8. This year was great, because fellow BRs and alumni were able to assist. BR Lt. Col. Rick Barnes was commanding HMX-1. Forgive me if I don’t get it right, but he was in charge of President Obama’s Marine 1 helicopter. He gave them a tour and was able to get them suited up and attacked by the military working dogs. (Editor’s Note: See article about Barnes titled, “Welcome Aboard, Mr. President” in the front section of this Review.) Col. John Pollock ’85 is the commanding officer of the USMC Chemical Biological Incident Response Force stationed in Indian Head, MD, and was so gracious to set us up for a tour of his facility. He put the cadets through the paces, to include confined space drills, Level A operations, a 50-foot rappel tower and busting in some doors drills. There were other alums that assisted, and we appreciated their help. I hope everyone is doing well.” Wade McNichols let
2009-Issue 4
me know that he and his wife are expecting an addition to the family in January 2010. H. Wayne Lambert sent me a note from Morgantown where he teaches medical and dental students at WVU. He seems to be enjoying himself and says “getting paid to talk is a great way to live.” Sills O’Keefe sent me a note from Norfolk. He is engaged to be married to Dr. Adele Logan on Nov. 21 in Clearwater, FL. Sills still teaches at Norfolk Academy and coaches varsity sailing and middle school lacrosse. He mentioned a pretty large VMI contingent in the area to include Ron Williams ’92, Lloyd Taliaferro ’95 (Sills’ Ring Rat), Pete Mantz ’90 and Fred Minnigerode ’90. Sills has bumped into a lot of others in his ventures, including Erik Nilsson before he transferred to San Diego to command BMU1; Lou Petrillo who lives in Williamsburg with his wife, Jenny, and daughter; and Lee Girard who lives in Richmond. Sills just rotated off The VMI Alumni Association Board after six years and encourages everyone who has time to get involved at the local level. I second his recommendation. I was really bad about going to alumni events for over 10 years, and since I started going to Lynchburg area functions, I have had a blast. Dan Zawadzki sent me an update on his new job. He is now working for RedBox out of Oak Brook, IL, which is just outside of Chicago, from what I understand. He apparently knocked them dead during a five-hour panel interview, because they called him as he was driving back home from the interview with a verbal offer. Congrats, Dan. Bryan Shorter says hello from Panama City, FL. He was planning to have a local VMI picnic on Aug. 15th. He is an instructor ABM for AWACS and awaiting PCS to Vegas in the spring. He keeps busy with his sons, Derek and Cayden, teaching them how to
Class of 1993: Carl Maupin and his family at the White House Rose Garden.
work on his ’66 Chevelle. His wife, Elizabeth, is doing well with her own business but has her hands full keeping Bryan and the boys out of trouble. Jon Kucera sent an update from Durham, NC, where he lives with wife Katerina and sons Garrett (3) and Krystof (1). Jon is an environmental engineer with URS Corporation. His wife is studying at Duke and on track to be a Ph.D. geneticist. Eddie Antoine let me know what he had been up to since graduation. After about 10 years with Kroger, Allstate and a health care company, Eddie switched to education. He taught middle and high school for Roanoke County and Portsmouth City for about three years and then took an HR recruiter position with Hampton City Schools. Growing tired of the traffic, Eddie moved to Blacksburg where he is the Human Resources coordinator for Virginia Tech’s Student Affairs Division. Tony Leone got in touch. He was married to his wife, Carrie, about a year ago and has been keeping busy traveling. Tony works in the Richmond City Council’s Chief of Staff Office. After pulling a stint on the Finance Committee, Tony is now assigned to the Public Safety Committee and looking forward to doing ride-alongs with the city’s finest. Tony caught up with Lee Yowell and was supposed to meet up with Kevin Link who was back in Virginia interviewing for a job. Plans fell through for them to meet up, but Link did get the job and is now living in Roanoke. Tony says he plans to make some football games this fall. I hope to see him there. Mike Wallace just relocated to New Orleans and is enjoying post-Navy life. He is looking into going back to school to get a Ph.D. in history or maybe taking a college admin post. He likes the sound of summers off, I think. Mike was getting ready to start studying for the GRE, and as he put it, “I’d rather stick hot pokers in my eyes.” I feel your pain, Mike, having just finished studying and taking the GMAT. What a beating that thing was. Bud DaRin is back on this side of the big pond. He is living in Reston, VA, and plans to be around the area for at least three years or so. Bud stayed with Dom Ford and his new bride in Hawaii (Camp Smith) and had a blast trying to surf. Dom is a lieutenant colonel now. I’m with Bud in his opinion that he always thought those guys were OLD. I speak with Craig Chwojdak a lot; he is in Richmond with his new job. He just finished redoing his deck in his yard, and I look forward to stopping by and drinking all his beer on it in the near future. Tray Petty once again sponsored the Lynchburg Area Alumni Assoc. picnic at his farm in Lynchburg. Andy Joyner was there with his young twins, as was Wes Bosiger, Paul Meadows, Tom Kent and Mitch Copenhaver. Tom is still with Buffalo Air Handling, and Mitch is a realtor in Lynchburg. VMI was just ranked #10 by Forbes Magazine
107