CLASS NOTES stopped by on his way out to Texas. He joined me, Jamie Joyner, Marlin Ikenberry and Brad Coleman in Lejeune Hall for a cup of coffee and told us some harrowing tales of traveling halfway across the country with cats. From all accounts, Ray is enjoying his new work with USAA. Brad Moses was in town for graduation. He is set to relinquish battalion command in summer 2014 and will assume duties as the executive officer to the commanding general of United States Army Special Operations Command. For those of you who don’t know, Larry Burris was selected for promotion to O-6 and will head to Fort Campbell to assume a brigade command, I believe, after he finishes the U.S. Naval War College later this summer. Congrats to Larry, his wife, Amy, and their beautiful girls. As for me, life continues to be great here at the Institute, as I have immersed myself in the world of student financial aid. Feel free to reach out should you have any questions. Jill and the kids are doing well, and we even added a fourth dog. As always, stay safe, be well and please let me know if you’re ever in town. Rah Virginia Mil, Go Big Red! ’95,’95, ’95!
’96
Class of 1997: Steve Strachan and Chris Strock discussing Occupational Safety and Health Administration regulations at a DPR Construction job site in Charlottesville, Virginia.
Peter Segersten 13945 South Springs Drive Clifton, VA 20145 703/203-0569 vmialum1996@gmail.com
Class of 1997: Addison Nicole Zirkle, daughter of Beth and David Zirkle.
Editor’s Note: We did not receive notes from the Class of 1996.
’97
David Zirkle
8109 Barrowden Court Mechanicsville, VA 23116 keydet@alumni.virginia.edu
Facebook has been flooded with the gratifying spectacle of individual remembrances of the solemn anniversary of New Market. On a less solemn note, this is also the 20th anniversary of all the residents of 473 – Terry Ingram, Mark Perrault and me – passing out during our first New Market parade. U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Billy Edmunds is about halfway through deployment to Afghanistan. He’s apparently getting his fill of staff work as an air liaison officer at International Security Assistance Force Joint Command. Jay Adams and his wife, Kelley, got a new addition to their family, Charlotte Lee Adams, April 22, 2014. U.S. Army Lt. Col. John Bushman is back in Virginia, living in Alexandria and working for U.S. Army Cyber Command at Fort Belvoir. Shannon Ferguson was promoted to cost accounting supervisor at Flowserve Corporation in Chesapeake and is remarried to Lorie Simmons Ferguson. They have “a Brady Bunch family of six (Gaven, Olivia,
2014- Issue 3
Class of 1997: Mark Turner, left, with Jim Smythers and son Julian show their VMI pride in front of the Al Alam Palace in Muscat, Oman. Former VMI roommates, Turner is posted at the U.S. Embassy in Muscat, and Smythers is at the U.S. Embassy in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Carter and Landry) with daughter Landry Shannon celebrating her second birthday March 26, 2014.” U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Taylor Edwards reports that he’s “closing out my tour at the Pentagon working on the Global Positioning System and moving to Paris, France, in July to work for NATO for three years. It’s a tough life, but I’m willing to make the sacrifice for my BRs.” Steven Strachan “ran into Chris Strock at a DPR jobsite in Charlottesville, Virginia, recently. One of the great things about VMI is that you never know when you will run into someone you know. But when you do, success is sure to follow!” Beth and I have had an eventful year, the highlight of which came on Christmas Day with the arrival of Addison Noel Zirkle. Gary Compton and I ran the Hardywood Twilight 4 Miler in Richmond, Virginia, where we found Addison Hagan and Jerry White waiting at the finish.
Class of 1997: Charlotte Lee Adams, daughter of Jay and Kay Adams. Addison has been busy with “The Field of Lost Shoes.” I ran into Jerry again when I spent the better part of 30 miles drafting off him during the annual Cap2Cap bike ride. That’s all the news that’s fit to print this quarter. Set your clocks for the next big celebration, the Institute’s bicentennial Nov. 11, 2039.
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