AFTER TWO ISSUES, NO COMPLAINTS: …Could be the erroneous e-mail address provided in the last two issues.
SQUADRON NOTES: Dave Lesser provided most of the details on his CS-01 mates. He and Rosemary practice Ob/Gyn in Ogden, UT, where the welcome mat is always out for ski bums needing a place to stay. Dave Schenk is still in San Antonio practicing pulmonary medicine; while Kirby Knox has branched out from radiology to a holistic practice that includes acupuncture. Frank Shagets (Facial Plastic Surgery) wrote from Joplin, MO, that he’s 2/3 through with getting his sons through SMU. Wife Sana keeps fit by running daily and riding her horses. Bart Noble is an audiologist in Austin, TX, and son Mark follows dad’s tradition as a cadet in Fun One. Bill and Linda Cisco live in a geodesic dome in Battle Creek, MI, where he is an occupational therapist and faculty at Grand Valley State University; he promises to attend the 35th reunion. John Eisenhart is a United captain in Las Vegas while Vance Watt (Gail) flies for Northwest from Apple Valley, MN. Son Jason is a Boeing engineer and daughter Kelsey is Pre-Med. Bill Cohn is retiring from Delta to protect his retirement from Chapter 11 death, though he may be able to fly after retirement for pay. Warren and Peggy Smith, trying to improve the airlines’ balance sheet in May, flew to son Trevor’s graduation, then to daughter Tiffany’s wedding, then to an African missions trip. Dick Fickes works at Peterson AFB as a contractor for HQ SPACECOM/Directorate of Requirements for the Space Based Infrared System. Devin Stilson is a criminal prosecutor in Connecticut and looking forward to retirement “in what seems like a hundred years from now.” Roger and Jean Youel travel in the SW when they’re not engaged with theater and chorale activities in Albuquerque. Northrop Grumman is a major employer in Melbourne, FL where Jerry Welcome works on Joint STARS; he should have 20 years with them by the next reunion. Bill Miller celebrated his 2nd AF retirement in Feb after being recalled for 9-11, “Pretty strange to be an active duty LTC 30 years after graduation and never be passed over for COL.”
CS-33 rep Gary and Judith Blokland are in Kennesaw, GA; Gary retired from the Coast Guard and now flies for Delta. Bill Cunningham wrote from Chippewa Falls, WI, that he is taking computer classes and learning that “School is much more fun when one can pick the courses.” Kent Buchanan lives north of Chicago and works for Motorola as VP for Global e-Business. Hearty congratulations go to Steve Sheldon (Tisha) who was just promoted to the Senior Executive Service in the NSA. Rick Wallace writes that he’s been in DC for 18 years and is head of knowledge management consulting for SAIC and does a lot of Pentagon support. He saw DJ Meister, head facilities guy for Apple Computer out of Cupertino, CA, who was putting up a store at Tyson’s Corners. Al and Karen Rotach are in DC where he provides commercial law advice to the Department of Justice while Karen works in the Pentagon. Randy Putz sent a poignant note from San Antonio: “We've had a roller coaster year. Last August my wife Nancy was diagnosed with a sarcoma--she endured with incredible grace but went to be with the Lord in April. In May, our oldest son was commissioned an ensign from Annapolis and was one of 23 selected for SEALs.”
Colonel Randy and Jeremy (USAFA '07) Putz with new Ensign Luke Putz (USNA '04)
Don Ramm runs Mentor Business Solutions in San Diego, flies T-34s in CAVU weather, assists wife Tracy with CAVUpearls.com, and keeps good tabs on his CS-19 bubbas. Smoke Clark is definitely multi-tasking after retiring from Delta: assistant manager for the World Basketball Association Lightnings, account manager for iNVISION Golf Group, runs (with Patty) e-business Juice Plus+, and has a small apparel embroidering/printing business. Chris Black, Newnan GA, also a Delta retiree, is figuring out what to do next. Dennis Maple (“if I'd known the airline business was this tough I might have stayed farming”) of Phoenix and Ron Johnson of Tucson fly for SouthWest. Jim Mateos sent an inspirational note: he’s qualified in the 757/767, is proud that wife Natalie was profiled in their Dallas newspaper for unusual success at leading girl scouts to achieve their Gold Award project, and also proud of the academic and extracurricular achievements of daughters Jaclyn and Teresa. John Kuconis calls MIT’s Lincoln Lab his office where he works on inserting technology into Army programs; wife Chong Sun finished a rough course of breast cancer therapy in May (prognosis is good) and both look forward to their daughter’s commissioning out of ROTC this summer. Sam and VeronicaGrier are celebrating 31; he’s the missile defense experimentation lead for work with NATO at the Joint National Integration Center in Colorado Springs. Bush Hanson remains active as the NC State AFA president…when he’s not teaching sims at Shaw AFB; wife Nancy teaches at the grade school she once attended. Leo Aguinaldo works for the state out of Davis, CA and is eagerly awaiting grandchild #4: a girl. Chuck Mitchell lives in Yorktown, VA, works for ZELTech and developed software that predicted where Scuds would be before the Iraqis deployed them. Dr. Dave and Karen Brown are empty nesting in Colorado Springs where Dave is practicing ‘minimally invasive GI surgery’. John Rogacki is now Director of the University of Florida’s Graduate Engineering and Research Center near Ft Walton Beach. Chaplain Tom Blase sent a nice note from Maxwell AFB where he is responsible for training new chaplains (can I suggest an acronym: “BCT –Basic Chaplain Training”?); he and wife hosted daughter Eva and family as Ivan refugees from Pensacola.
CRIMESTOPPERS: Paul Schmidt, USAFA ’72, contacted us about an item up for sale on EBay: The Outstanding Cadet in Civil Engineering Award for 1973. It was advertised as ‘bought at a Midwest garage sale.’ The recipient, AJ Briding, was just as surprised as we were and “registered a formal complaint with the FBI internet fraud department, [but hasn’t] heard a peep from them yet.”
Tom and Betty Sporte with their 8+ children; starting with the groom clockwise: Andrew, Kelly, Arika, Ashley, Jessica, Danielle, Timothy, Daniel, Derek, Stephen, Louise, William
COMBAT UPDATE: Sgt Rowe Stayton has transferred to another company “hit hard last week… Charlie company has given out 48 Purple Hearts-there are 96 soldiers in the unit.”
STORM STORIES: Tom Saunders reported from USSOCOM in Tampa that their house suffered minor damage; HQ word was that 40% of Hurlburt’s buildings and 15-20% of base housing was damaged. Mark Ballard returned from a trip to Arizona to find his home had survived but attested to the damage in Fort Walton Beach. Ken & Vicky Stanley, in Gulf Breeze, felt blessed “as the storm surge line stopped only about 200 ft short of our house (we are about 1/3 mi inland).. I had purchased flood insurance after Frances, but was about a week shy of the 30-day waiting period for it to be effective.” The Navarre homes of brothers-in-law Wayne Maricle (Barb) and Mike Koser (Marilyn) experienced Ivan’s 130mph northeast eyewall; Wayne’s house was the only one on their street not to have flood/hurricane water damage…his Air Force engineering intuition drove him to build 4 feet higher than his neighbors. Jerry Welcome’s family endured four named storms; after Frances, Jeanne added “more damage to the house but I plan on cashing in with USAA.” Skip Sanders reported his house in Panama City, already getting a new roof and rooms, had done well. A tornado had come within a block, though, and wasted the neighborhood. George and Dianna Rampulla, just outside of Panama City in Lynn Haven, likewise avoided major damage. John Regni reported that he never had a hurricane in his four years at Keesler, but as soon as he moved to Maxwell the base got hit. Mike Griffith, news correspondent for the Bay Beacon, evacuated his family from Niceville to Birmingham. Birmingham is the home of Brandon, daughter Kelly's boyfriend, who seized the opportunity and proposed to Kelly. Jim Western flew 33 hours back from an Asia trip as Ivan was threatening; no personal loss but 8 workers in his Port Charlotte plant lost homes. Dr Tim Cooper’s Orlando practice ended up treating >50 patients in the hyperbaric chamber for carbon monoxide poisoning; seems most ran gasoline generators in their garages. Al Kinback (Juno Beach-evacuated to London), John Rosser (Key Biscayne) and Skip Vogler (Gainesville) suffered no losses.
Wayne Maricle and Mike Koser, the chainsaw twins, clear Ivan’s debris. Mike and Marilyn returned to find beach erosion right up to their deck.