CLASS NOTES a metric century bike ride on the Northern Neck with one of my [oldest] Marine Corps friends, Dave Wassink. Dave was in our TBS class. Also, on the same ride with me was Doug Ashton ’76 (my dyke) and Granny Amos ’65, my former CO on my Grenada/ Beirut cruise of 1983 and 1984. Anyway, we did the bike ride in fine fashion and made a day out of it in celebration of Granny’s birthday.” Thanks, Doug. Give Rug and Granny my best next time you see them! Hank St Pierre, like quite a few of us these days, feels the urge to reconnect. Hank recently retired from the Army and decided to stay in the Kansas City/Leavenworth area. Like most military retirees, he immediately went to the dark side and took a job as a contractor. Some of us would say that becoming a civil servant is going over to the dark side, right, Albro? Hank first went to work for BAE Systems but left that job after one year. Way too much like the Army – corporate structure was way too regimented and the bureaucracy was too inflexible for him. A year ago, he was hired as a program manager for one of the companies with a contract vehicle at Leavenworth. A great company with only 50 employees that wants to grow and realizes that flexibility is a key to that growth. Hank relates that the average Army colonel has five jobs in five years after retiring, before finally growing up. Speaking from
retired from the Department of Homeland Security, and his ceremony was held on Sept. 14th at the Officers’ Club at Ft. Myer in Arlington, VA. With the help of his staff, it turned out to be a fantastic day full of surprises for him. The room was filled with friends and colleagues that Rich had worked with during the last 33 years of his military and federal career, including many that he had not seen in 10, 20 or 30 years. Says wife Dawn, “It was a wonderful day, and I am so grateful to the awesome group of BRs that were there to share the day with us! The ceremony was full of laughter, tears, great memories and heartfelt congratulations for a job well done. We are looking for more opportunities to get together!” Congrats, Rich. Sorry I was unable to make to the grand event! Jeff Curtis will be transitioning from the chief of staff position next July; this is his fourth year. He’ll be switching jobs to be the executive assistant to the superintendent and secretary to the Board of Visitors. Meanwhile, he and Betsy are working long hours on weekends and in the evenings, fixing up the house they bought in the local area. Thanks for your outstanding service as COS, and we are all glad that you are staying on in the inner circle at the Institute! Another e-mail from Bill Albro that I will once again leave up to all of you to translate! And I quote: “OK – so, yes, you caught me in the picture playing golf w/ Doug and the gang – it was a grand day, and the Black team of Doug, Chip and I won the round over Dave, Dickie, Hal and Kendall. Weather was perfect and course only had a few rough spots. I have been monitoring the e-mail from Stosh on giving away cases of beer. No, Meade – Guinness is not in my basement – I haven’t made the pilgrimage down to Williamsburg w/ the truck to make a pickup – YET. I had dinner w/ Sput at ‘Comfort’ on Broad Street the other day, and that was fun. Sput has the cottage all ready for the winter storms and is back in Richmond until spring. I haven’t seen anyone else since Gleb’s retirement and Jeter’s BBQ in front of Tom’s house.” Fred Bailey’s mother, Martha Wilson Bailey, passed away on Oct. 27, 2012. She was married to Robert G. Bailey ’40. Her youngest Class of 1979: Rich McGruder’s retirement ceremony was held on Sept. 14, 2012, at son, Robert Martin Bailey, attended the Fort Myer Officers Club in Arlington, Virginia. Attending were, from left, seated, VPI. Two other sons attended John Poffenbarger, Randy Hawkins and Doug Doerr. Standing: Eric Swartz, Gleb Taran, VMI, Gordon Bailey ’69 and Fred. Kurt McCabe, Bob (Stosh) Morris, McGruder, Jim Pigg and Tom Manley. McGruder She had two daughters, Susan had worked for the Department of Homeland Security. Mitchel and Carolyn Shackleford,
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experience and observation, that is not too far off the mark. I started in the contractor world, too, after retirement; moved over and up through four companies in six years before settling in as a GS. A quick note from Jim Owens: “Not much happening at the Owens household – the summer went way too fast. I’m still doing my Reserve gig with Army Africa as DCG. Spent half of September in Tanzania and a week in Italy doing my part. Only have about six months left till I have to retire but am having fun in this great assignment. My real job with Northrop in Suffolk keeps me out of trouble the rest of the time. Sherry and I did go up to D.C. a couple of times – first to watch her Hokies get stunned by Cincinnati and then to attend the funeral of my old boss from Iraq, BG (Ret.) Jack Kern ’70 (who, by the way, was the brother-in-law of everyone’s favorite TAC … Bob Candido ’70). It was a great celebration of Jack’s life and a real tribute to a good friend.” Thanks for checking in, Jim! J.K. Hudgins retired from the San Diego Police Department in July with 33 years of service. He has since been hired by the San Diego County District Attorney’s Office as an investigator and should start with the DA’s office in early November. In the meantime, he has been really enjoying his retirement. He recently hiked Mt. Whitney, CA, the highest mountain in the Continental United States at 14,505 ft. Impressive! Some “retirement”! Speaking of retirements … Rich McGruder
VMI ALUMNI REVIEW