Class of ’73, please continue to send pictures and stories about your lives … families, careers, retirements, etc. VR, Joe Kahoe, CS-07
.
General Norty Schwartz’s vision for the way ahead can be found in his “Vector” to the Air Force: Here. A brief excerpt: “We are not the Air Force our leaders envisioned at the end of the Cold War. Since I became your Chief we have had to make some tough decisions, primarily focused
on three challenges: restoring credibility to our nuclear enterprise, enhancing our contribution to today's fight, and recapturing acquisition excellence. As demanding as we will continue to be in those areas, I am pleased with the progress we've made to date; but also believe we must seize this moment and look ahead. Let me be very clear: I see our AF rising, strong and capable--an AF delivering consistent, credible Global Vigilance, Global Reach and Global Power for America--in what is likely to be a very challenging future.”
General Steve Lorenz, AETC commander, was inducted into the Order of the Sword during a July 16 ceremony at Lackland AFB, TX by the enlisted airmen of AETC. CMSgt Robert Tappana, AETC command chief master sergeant, credited Gen Lorenz with supporting initiatives to help enlisted airmen achieve higher education degrees during these times of high operations tempo and frequent deployments and with making a concerted effort to meet with enlisted airmen to identify and help resolve challenges they face. It was announced by the AF that Steve will soon be retiring after 37 years of service.
Bruce Adriance: The Jolly Green Giant Association is an organization of current and former Rescue Helicopter and Special Ops Helicopter crews. We recently had our 41st annual reunion at the Ramada Resort Hotel in Fort Walton Beach. Organizational President, Rich Comer (1973) invited another 1973 grad to give our keynote address. Gen Norty Schwartz was kind enough to accept. (Bruce E. Adriance, Lt Col, USAF (Ret), Instructor Pilot, L-3 Communications, Link Simulation and Training, E-Mail:b.adriance@cox.net)
Jack Hudson: Attached photo shows a Zoomie lineup from '71, '73, '78 (x2) and '83. The occasion was a bicycle trip from Boston, PA (near Pittsburgh) to Georgetown, Washington DC--5-days, 325 miles, on the Great Allegheny Passage and C&O Canal trails. The group was 12 strong, all from the Victory Riders, a WPAFB confederation of military and AF Civilians, active duty, retired and spouses. This particular shot occurred on day 4, the leg from Hancock, MD to Harpers Ferry, WV. (A photo from days 1-3 would have shown us in mud-splattered rain gear--such is the risk of a mid-May bike adventure in that region.) All-in-all, great fun, but no small challenge for 61 year-old joints.
(L-R) Lt Gen (ret) Dick Reynolds (Class of ’71), Lt Gen (ret) Jack Hudson, '73; Lt Gen Tom Owen, '78; Maj Gen Dave Eidsaune, '78; and Col Bob Stambaugh, '83. Pic 3: The second photo attached shows the group at the Georgetown terminus of the C&O Canal.
Tim Long: “My daughter, Nicole, graduated from NYU in 2008 (3 years, summa cum laude) with a degree in psychology. After 2 years of work experience at Brown University, she is starting a PhD program at U. Penn in cognitive neuroscience. I see George Rampulla some and am working with Ken Volkman in developing a curriculum for a new 767 Virtual Procedures Trainer that UPS just acquired.”
Tom Bailey (CS-36): “I'm very proud to report that my oldest daughter, Katherine Anne Ryan, Capt, USAF has just graduated from the USAF Test Pilot School at Edwards AFB as a Flight Test Engineer! I am keeping busy with my Ophthalmology Practice in NC and enjoying flying around in my Diamond DA-40 XLS.”
Tom Bailey and daughter Katherine Anne Ryan in front of one of the test pilot school's F-16s.
Mike Smith, Ph. D.: “I finished by PhD work in May and am officially Dr Smith. I plan to resign from SAIC at the end of the summer. My wife, Amy, and I are going to take an 18 month sabbatical and serve a mission for the LDS church. We will probably leave in Oct, but won't know where we are going for a couple of months. My personal email and cell phone will stay the same once I depart SAIC. J. Micheal Smith, Ph. D., VP, Space Systems Development Div, President, bd Systems, an SAIC Company, Mobile: 303-748-5692, 360 Command View, Colorado Springs, CO 80915
Bill Swan (CS12): We sold our optical business last year, but stayed on to help the new owner's transition with training, sales and marketing advice, etc. Well, happy to announce I have now "retired,” and for the first time since walking up the ramp on June 23, 1969, I get up in the morning without any job-related thoughts or responsibilities. Kind of strange.......not sure what is next after starting and owning three businesses. I have been asked to be on the Board of Directors of a highly regarded literary support organization, the Society of the Muse of the Southwest. Also been asked to help with the Taos Entrepreneurial Network. Something will come up to get my juices flowing again, because I can't play golf or garden but a couple of days a week with my 60 year old back. And until then, been thinking somebody needs to write the definitive book on our Air Force Academy experience. Maybe I will start that.....entering that particular school in the summer of Woodstock, while most of our friends went on to grow their hair long and protest the war was a very strange time.........and we were kind of at the end of the "hard school approach," but left before it all changed.....have you heard of any other good attempts at that? Still loving Taos, more convinced than ever that this little community of 7000 souls, at 7000 feet and on the edge of the Big Empty (northwest quadrant of NM), is the most creative spot on the planet. Always something happening, even if it is just another picket by a couple of old hippies outside Don Rumsfeld's house (yes, he lives in Taos, the former hippie commune capital of the West). Well, that is about it. 4 grandsons.....5 to 12, all doing great. 3 kids, all doing either incredibly good, incredibly bad, or transitioning from one to the other. But, that is life, and I just got to be grateful every day. In the big picture, everything is great. check 6, Bill Swan, retired fighter pilot and entrepreneur, CS-12 Dirty Dozen
Steve Harman (CS-07): Had a great 4 Jul party and fireworks (FL is VERY liberal on what you can do - it's a good thing we have miles of mangroves across from the IADS control and launch dock in the back yard). Mary and I spent 2 weeks in Italy – went to Taranto, where I lived as a kid when my dad was stationed there and did a 1-week Med cruise - maybe a pic or two (in next Checkpoints). Breakfast overlooking Sorrento was awesome! Went to WA end of May to help with a surprise 60th wedding anniversary party for Mom and Dad - the old army nurse (90) and the older retired AF O-5 (93) were surprised by 150 folks from my hometown, Orting, WA. Having a blast acquiring SOF aircraft and UAVs. More than that, I appreciate the support the CS-07 guys give me with an occasional phone call. Have talked with Tom Grayson several times - his son Jeff is trying to become an AF JAG. Guess that's all - hope all is well. Steve
Tom Kennedy: Sparse pickin's from the 31st Squadron Grim Reapers this quarter. I get a few e-mails back and forth from Phil Yavorsky and the occasional phone call from Bud Gammon; a couple of forwarded jokes from Charlie Meyer and Don Sloan, and that's the sum total of this past quarter.
Fil Thorn web site: Tuesday, June 8, 2010 8:56 PM, CDT: For those of you who may still be checking this site, my 6-month checkup was incident free throughout a day long battery of tests including a bone marrow biopsy. The doc had nothing to talk about except good. On the other hand, my angel Kim did have an incident. She passed out two Saturdays ago during breakfast. After an ER visit and two days in the hospital, they determined her heart had no blockage but some electrical signals were not passing from the top of the heart to the bottom. The end result was a pacemaker which she received on that Monday. She is doing well and back to normal for the most part, having had an adjustment or two to the pacemaker heart rate. (Fil … our prayers are with you, Kim, and your family)
Dan Handlin’s Better Half, Nancy Krause: “This is Nancy, Danny Handlin's better half, and he requested I send you some info and pictures for checkpoints, so here ya go! We have finally finished our house on a great lake in Northwest Montana, where we love to be. One big highlight of the past year, was our trip to the Olympics in Vancouver, in February. We got to see the ladies final figure skating, mens semi-final hockey (Canada and Russia), mens long hill ski jumping, and mens four-man bobsledding semi-finals, including seeing the U.S. night train kick butt. Pictures are attached. Nancy Krause
Bill Beck, CS-21: Just back from the World Cup. Rooting for Germany and deaf from vuvuzelas, was able to attend the Holland-Spain final. Awesome atmosphere and great wine. Flying a G-550 for a wonderful family.
Roger Winburg, CS-40. Attended his final Retiree Council of the Air Force meeting at Randolph AFB. Norton stopped by to listen to the representatives from around the world report on retiree concerns. The Chairman of the Council is Lt Gen Steve Polk, Class of 1968 (left).
