CLASS NOTES is doing well, and their girls are growing up too fast. Finally, Tim said he spoke with Amy Burris and that Larry Quentin Burris is back at the Pentagon and is aide-de-camp to the Army deputy chief of staff (DCOS) and working his tail off. Elvin Cabrera took the time to write me a great handwritten letter. He is a New Jersey State Trooper and aviator. After looking for a few jobs after he separated from the Army, he decided that the private sector was not a good fit. So, he applied with the state troopers and was accepted. Then, he saw an opportunity to fly and is now a helicopter pilot. He also reports that he and Special Agent Dennis Lucente frequently meet for lunch. I think I’m going to invite myself to one of those luncheons, so I can catch up with Elvin and Dennis. I was drinking a cup of coffee over the Christmas holiday, and I opened a Christmas card from Kirk Dennis! Wow! There was little information in the card, but Kirk and his family live in Washington state, I think in the Seattle/ Tacoma area. He is married and has two children. I think Kirk works as a DEA agent. Kirk, when you read this, please reach out to me. Several BRs have asked me about you and want to hear how you are! For the last notes submission I was able to update the class on Tim Collier’s whereabouts. Tim e-mailed me that he was able to catch up with Justin Rubino on Facebook. According to Tim, Justin is stationed in Norfolk, Virginia, assigned to Joint Forscom Command. I received a great update from Brian Carl Blue. Brian works and lives in northern Virginia. We discussed how we were disgusted with the performance of the Pittsburgh Steelers. Hopefully, Chad Bourne will read these notes and surface to report, as he, too, is a Steelers fan. As mentioned in the previous notes, I saw Kurt Polk last November at the Institute Society Dinner, and he and his fiancée, Angie Diamantini, were scheduled to be married in December. Kurt and Angie were married in December in NYC by Col. (VMI Chaplain) James Park. (See the photos submitted by Kurt.) Congratulations, Kurt and Angie! I recently spoke with Dave Fleck and Thom Brashears who have answered my request to be committee members for our 15-year reunion. Dave’s sister, Donna, recently was relocated to California for work, and she and Dave drove cross country in January. Somewhere in California, Dave and Donna met up with Tony “Two Tap” and Hiti Teriitehau for the enjoyment of some adult beverages. Co-class agent Daniel Seymour Williams was called back to active duty, as the Nebraska National Guard is scheduled to be deployed in late 2010. His unit will mobilize in August, with
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a trip to Camp Shelby, Mississippi, and then to my former home at the National Training Center at Fort Irwin, California. Dan’s unit will take another trip back to Camp Shelby before their movement into theater. Seymour reports that his roommate Richard Tran Hauben was not only selected for promotion to lieutenant colonel but was also selected for a tactical command! That’s pretty exciting news, considering a few years ago, Rich was almost medically retired from active duty and was not allowed to attend Air Force Command and General Staff College (CGSC). However, someone thought enough of Rich to select him for command by name before he came out on the O-5 list. This is quite impressive, Rich, and we are proud of you! Congratulations and thank you for representing our class so well! Seymour also reports that Matthew Stephen Chapman is getting married! That’s right; Matt is getting married to his girlfriend of 10plus years on April 17, 2010. Dan tells some great Ratline stories about Matt, as they dyked in the same room. In the room, there were four Band Company Rats and Dan. It seems as though he and Matt were the only Rats in the room with integrity, as the other three were rolled before the end of the first semester. So, it was Matt, Dan and five firsts from the class of 1992. The room was dubbed as “spook rat room.” Another good story follows: Matt had a pool party on Labor Day weekend after first class year. Dan attended and a good time was had by all. After a few kegs had been kicked, Dan threw something while wearing his class ring, and the ring went flying. After a few hours of searching, still no ring could be found. A few days later, Dan came back with his combat ring and tested some scenarios; still he was without a ring. Exactly one year to the day, Dan was lying on the couch and his phone rang. It was Matt calling to say their pool pump died, and when the repairman went to dig up the old pump, he found this monster ring inside. Unbelievable! What a great story, and thanks for sharing, Dan! Finally, as for me, I began working for The McIntyre Group in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, in December. McIntyre is a risk management firm that specializes in placing hard to fit property and casualty insurance. I have spent my first three months getting licensed and training, and I will continue training for another nine months. Then, it will be time for me to take off the training wheels and build a book of business. My boss is Jim Walker ’86. I am so thankful for the opportunity and am very excited! Thanks to all who have sent updates to Dan and me. Please continue to keep us informed about you and your families. Godspeed.
’96
Rusty McGuire
We have been covered in snow the past few weeks, but hopefully it is nice and warm as you read this issue of our class notes. What a small world … To get away from the snow, a friend organized an impromptu party in the middle of a blizzard at his new pub near my house. I managed to get there to find a number of friends and two Brother Rats – Brady Crone and Eric Michalski joined in on the party. They both recently moved within a mile of my house. With the number of other Brother Rats in Hanover, we are taking over this place. We may need to make Hanover the official county for our class. Both guys are doing well. They moved into the same neighborhood that is perfect for their families. I also ran into Christian Hoff who was working a tour to help with relief after the recent disaster in Haiti. Christian recently completed ILE and agreed to take a little time away from his civilian job to work at the Pentagon during the relief efforts. I also hear from Mike Ohlegar who is currently in Afghanistan, working on the G9 staff at the MEB-A in Camp Leatherneck. He works long hours but enjoys the job. He ran into a first lieutenant out there named Eric Harley ’07, and they talked about how VMI has changed over the years. Mike was able to pass through Lexington the day after Thanksgiving on his way back home to New Bern, North Carolina. It was the first time that he had been there since the reunion. He was pretty impressed with all of the new buildings; he said, “They look way more comfortable than when we were there.” When he returns from Afghanistan, he has about 90 days until he leaves his job at 10th Marines, as the Det OIC of the Civil Affairs Detachment, and moves to Monterey, so he can go to Navy Postgraduate School. In school, he will be working toward his second master’s – this one in computer science. His family is looking forward to the move but not to the process itself. I did not hear from many of you this time, so make sure you send me your updates, but Mike also brought up a good point. The 15th Reunion is just around the corner. If you are interested in helping out, please contact me. Thanks … Rusty
’97
John Duckworth
Editor’s note: There were no notes received from the class of 1997 for this issue.
VMI ALUMNI REVIEW