Class of ’73 …. Please continue sending you great pictures and updates. Nearly all news clips in the hard copy Checkpoints have been abbreviated due to space limitations, but your complete inputs are included on this web site. Also, you are invited to join a Facebook group exclusively for the Class of 73 at usafa73@groups.facebook.com. VR, Joe Kahoe, CS-07.
Congrats to General Steve Lorenz, who gave up Command of AETC 17 Nov 2010 and retired effective Jan 1st, 2011 with more than 37.5 years. "Over his tenure as AETC commander, he has not only provided the AF with outstanding training and education initiatives, he has also served as a beacon for leadership development," Gen. Howie Chandler, USAF's vice chief of staff.… news release here.
From Mike Nishimuta …Right, one of the good gag gifts. For the Tuesday night farewell dinner, the O’club was transformed into a library.
It was a very entertaining evening. Also, good to see Rolfe Tessem there. He was with the squadron in the first year, but caught a virus and was discharged that year. He is now a very successful video producer in NYC. 
Congrats to Frank Klotz, who retired on 6 Jan 2011 as Cmdr, AF Global Strike Command!
BARKSDALE AFB, LA -- Lt. Gen. Frank Klotz, former Air Force Global Strike Command commander, received the Distinguished Service Medal upon his retirement presented by General Norton Schwartz, Air Force Chief of Staff, during a ceremony here Jan. 6. (USAF photo/MSgt Corey Clements)
BARKSDALE AIR FORCE BASE, La. -- General Norton Schwartz, Air Force Chief of Staff, presents Lt. Gen. Frank Klotz, former Air Force Global Strike Command commander, with a retirement certificate during a ceremony here Jan. 6. Gen Klotz served more than 38 years on active duty in the Air Force. (USAF photo/MSgt Corey Clements)
BARKSDALE AFB, LA -- Nancy Klotz, former first lady of Air Force Global Strike Command, receives the Exceptional Service Award upon her husband’s, Lt. Gen. Frank Klotz, retirement during a ceremony here Jan 6. (USAF photo/MSgt Corey Clements)
BARKSDALE AFB, LA -- Lt. Gen. Frank Klotz, former Air Force Global Strike Command commander, makes his final ceremonial departure after a ceremony celebrating his retirement here Jan 6. Gen. Klotz served more than 38 years on active duty in the Air Force. (USAF photo/SRA Chad Warren)
Skip Sanders was recognized as the AF Disabled Employee of the Year at a ceremony in Bethesda, MD by the Under Secretary for Personnel and Readiness, Dr. Clifford L. Stanley. Another '73'r still serving his nation. AF Chief of Staff and classmate, and fellow Loose Hawg, General Norty Schwartz, joined him in the presentation. Skip is Chief of the ACMI range at Tyndall AFB, which belongs to AETC under the command of Gen Steve Lorenz, who flew in from Colorado Springs for the award. Also there for '73 were Bob Munson, Mike Mosier, Ron Scott, and Paul Freund. Carl and Mary Foerster hosted dinner for the Sanders the evening prior and Nortie and Suzie then hosted all of us for dessert at the 'Air House' at Fort Myer.
The class of 2013 held an Exemplar Dinner on 29 Oct 2010. Attendees from ’73 included: Trapper Carpenter CS-09; Dr. Tim and Wasana Cooper CS-40; Charlie and Donna Felton CS-10; Joe Kahoe CS-07; Tom and Sally Mayberry CS-38;.Mike and Sandra Mosier CS-34; Bob and Pam Munson CS-34; Dr. Ron and Mary Scott CS-34; Dr Mike and Amy Smith CS-24; BJ Stanton CS-38; Bill Swan CS-12; Bruce “Orville” Wright CS-39
Picture from Don McMillan: Jack Hudson, Denny Boyce and Don McMillan at Denny's son's wedding. (Ross) Jack Hudson, Director of AF Museum. See Story.
L to R - Doug Hulsey, Chris Young, Ed Heisey, Ron Hoskins, and Geoff Michael. … Geoff Michael reports he is an AOG life member and “has never seen a photo of these guys appear in Checkpoints. It will be a shocker to them if you include them in the next issue.” Five members of 37 Smilers and four spouses held a mini-reunion at West Point, and cheered the Falcons on to victory and the CIC trophy. Chris Young (Nina) and Ron Hoskins (Susan) drove in from North Carolina. Doug Hulsey, who’s usually piloting FedEx 757s to Europe, flew in from Little Rock. His wife Debbie is a middle school administrator, daughter Sarah works in Chicago, 1 Lt. son Mike navigates B-52s out of Barksdale, and son Scott is in college. Ed Heisey is enjoying retirement in Gainesville, VA and his wife Kathleen is a flight attendant for American Airlines. Geoff Michael, whose business consulting work has him bouncing between both coasts, drove in from NH. Our group also had a chance to share memories of our fallen squadron-mate Steve Hessney with his wife Jill, son Ben (class of 2011), sister Susan, and brother-in-law Larry who all attended the game. Steve had planned to join our cheering section, but we know he was there in spirit. Thanks, Geoff
At Wilmington Beach - my wife and I are at the center flanked by my two daughters who are with their two paramours. … From Jim Heironimus (CS-15 War Eagle): “Greetings from Ohio! I retired from the AF in 1993, later retired from medical practice to teach high school science. This is my tenth year at Upper Arlington High School (suburb of Columbus), and it has been great. I live in Apple Valley, a small lake community about 80 minutes NE of Columbus. I have attached a photo taken last summer during a trip my wife and I took to Wilmington, NC to celebrate our 35th anniversary and visit our daughters. My son missed the trip as he had to stay in Columbus to work. Since that photo, I have grown a beard in an attempt to give the appearance of wisdom. (I don't think anyone is fooled.) Best to you and yours.” Jim
Joel Allen (CS-22) (joelmallen@aol.com) “completed another 12-month 'remote' tour in mid-February with his departure from 
Kabul. This assignment follows 2009 in Baghdad. He is transferring 30+ years of commercial, telecom experience to the host governments’ ICT ministries and State Owned Enterprises, Iraq Telecom and Post Company and Afghan Telecom Company, under DoD and USAID contracts, respectively. Most zooms do their remotes early in their careers, but next stop for Joel is Dubai … back into the commercial world with Iraq and Afghanistan as the focus. No surprise. And no retirement on the horizon with homestead remaining in Reston, VA, where Kathy has been holding down the fort...but SW Florida a real possibility soon. For both tours, I was a contractor with my own company, Joel M. Allen Consultants, LLC. Kathy and I have two grown children: daughter, Kimberly, 34, in Reston; son, Gregory, 30, and in Richmond, VA. No grandkids.” Regards, Joel
Mike Nishimuta reports his wife, Catherine, director of Randolph AFB library, has accepted a librarian position at Aviano AB, Italy in the Spring. They are excited about "One more DEROS" and are looking at a standard three-year tour, if not more.
Buddy Gammon’s “daughter, Sarah (right), who graduated from the University of FL 3 years ago, will graduate from The Florida Coastal School of Law on May 14. She is considering joining the AF as a JAG. I am very proud of her. Her paper she wrote, along with her application for law school, was centered on our USAFA Honor Code. You can see she looks just like me.”
The Great CWDS-28 USAFA Beat TCU Party 22 Oct 10. (l to r) Tony DeRosa, Beth DeRosa, Brenda Tillman, Mike Tillman. Mike Tillman reports that “in spite of our best efforts, we were unable to cheer the Falcons to victory, but we did have a good time! Tony and Beth won the award for Most Distance Traveled, coming from 5.3 miles up the lake to attend the party.”
From AF Magazine on Line: “Tuskegee Airmen Honor Schwartz: AF Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz is now an honorary member of the Tuskegee Airmen of WW II fame. Retired Brig. Gen. Leon Johnson, Tuskegee Airmen Inc., president, bestowed Schwartz with an honorary membership during a ceremony in the Pentagon last week attended by six original Tuskegee members. Byron Morris, Tuskegee Airmen East Coast Chapter president, also presented Schwartz with a Tuskegee Airmen red jacket. Schwartz joined Gen. McPeak and Gen. Ron Fogleman as the only AF Chiefs of Staff to be honorary members in the famous group of black airmen, who flew fighter escorts during WW II and helped to break down racial barriers in the US military.” (For more background, read Tuskegee Airmen from AF Mag archives.)
AF News Release: 11/24/2010 - HURLBURT FIELD, Fla. -- More than 700 Airmen from throughout Air Force Special Operations Command paid tribute to Lt. Gen. Donald Wurster, AFSOC commander, by inducting him into The Order of Sword during a ceremony at the Emerald Coast Conference Center in Fort Walton Beach, FL Nov. 19. General Wurster became the seventh recipient of AFSOC's Order of the Sword, the highest honor an 
individual can receive from the enlisted force. He first became aware of his nomination shortly after his plane landed at the Hurlburt Field flightline Aug 31. More than 200 Air Commandos welcomed him back home and notified him of their decision. "There's no greater honor that can be afforded to a commander than to hold the trust, respect and affection of those they lead," General Wurster said. "You truly humble me with this honor, and I am most grateful. My family and I thank you for this incredible, overwhelming and awesome honor." Airmen donned full service or mess dress uniform and cheered General Wurster and his wife Ronda as they arrived at the conference center. As the Wursters' entered the main ballroom, the hall reverberated from the bagpipes playing, thunderous applause and the crowd banging 105mm and 40mm shells together to celebrate a general they hailed as "an Airman among Airmen."
Chief Master Sgt. Michael Gilbert, AFSOC Command Chief, served as the ceremony's command chief. "When there's success, and there's a lot of success in this command, he's thankful for such great Airmen to serve with and gives them all the credit," Chief Gilbert said. "When there's failure, he immediately assumes everyone gave their best and it must have been a failure on his part that allowed something wrong to happen. This is a rare leadership quality. It's a style that instructors work hard to teach, because in those rare cases when it's perfected, it's so powerful. For General Wurster, it's the way he looks at the world, the way he looks at his AFSOC team and simply the way that he serves." With the ornate, ceremonial sword placed below the speaker's podium, General Wurster took to the stage. His remarks highlighted the contributions of the special tactics, operations, maintenance, mission support, medical and AFSOC Airmen whom he has commanded since November 2007. "Tonight is not about me, but a celebration of the terrific enlisted force in the United States Air Force," he said. "We say that AFSOC is a step ahead in a changing world and that agility is led by our enlisted force. What's occurring in AFSOC in this generation is unlike anything in the entire history of the command, and you all are a part of it. We truly are a step ahead, and these changes are essential to our national security in the coming years. I'm truly proud of each one of you, because it's you who are doing this." General Wurster closed by thanking the more than 16,000 Airmen for their selfless service in "the most relevant, respected and capable command in the United States Air Force." "One percent of the people in this country serve to defend our nation and you're that one percent," he said. "You are well trained, highly disciplined and incredibly competent. You are lethal, but compassionate and willing to bear the burdens that accompany this life of selfless service and sacrifice for the sake of the security of our nation." Once the ceremony was complete, General Wurster took the time to coin every single Airman in attendance.
From Bob Munson: Trapper Carpenter has checked with AOG, and they report the numbers for our Class Fund financials: $415,000 in Nov 2009 in pledges and account; $60,000 for 2010 NCLS; $10,700 for 2013 Exemplar Dinner; $43,000 for 2011 NCLS (so far); $18,000 pledge write-offs. That leaves us $190,000 in the bank and $93,000 in pledges still due. Bottom line: we continue to have enough to get through three more NCLS’ (2012, 2013, 2014) at this burn rate with some extra for another year if most pledges come in. The numbers are not secret and can be shared; I will include them in our post-NCLS report to the class.
From Bob Munson: Ron Scott, Trapper Carpenter, John Stefonik, Charlie Felton, and I met with the NCLS staff and went over plans for this NCLS. “Bigger, better, and with more cadet and more grad involvement. Our ’73 keynote speaker will be Medal of Honor winner Sgt Sal Giunta on Thursday evening after the NCLS dinner.” Our 18th Annual National Character and Leadership Symposium (NCLS), 24-25 Feb 2011, has the overarching theme of: “Strength Within, Leadership Throughout.” We are focusing on “having the strength to do what is right, doing it in such a way that compels others to action” and stressing: Courage; Ethical Reasoning in Action (Head/heart/hands to do the right thing /// Decision-making, behavior, and accountability); Ethics & Foundations of Character (Practice in the art of making moral judgments in both hard and easy cases // Understanding of the basic principles that bind us as human beings, citizens, and members of a profession // Motivation to act reliably on the deliverance of good judgment)
Grim Reapers have located one additional member who was with us for 3 of our 4 years, Bob Errickson. He left after our 2nd class year on a medical issue - a torn up shoulder. Anyway, we've been looking for him for about 3 years and about 3 weeks ago, he found us! Bob is doing well, living in New Jersey. Tom Kennedy 31st Squadron Grim Reapers
Steve and Julie Diehl moved into their Little House at Martinsburg, PA Airport (KAOO) with Puddle Jumper the cat. “Drop-ins are welcome to observe the light traffic from the front porch and check out some of Lou Drendel's art, including two paintings of Robin Olds. We live adjacent to the Altoona-Blair County Airport in a retirement community, although I'm far from retiring ... I hope. Town has one stoplight. We are 1000 feet NW of the touchdown zone for runway 21. Call my cell before dropping in, 814-215-7756.” Thanks.
Dan O'Hollaren retired effective 1 Nov. Jim Scully & Pat Rooney attended and all had a great dinner party. For this assignment, Dan had commuted TDY to Wright-Patt from his Oregon home. Congrats Dan!!! A 
shortened AF bio follows: MAJOR GENERAL DANIEL B. O’HOLLAREN, ANG Assistant to Commander, AF Materiel Command. Major General Daniel B. O’Hollaren was the Air National Guard Assistant to Commander, AFMC. In this capacity, he advised the Commander on all policies and programs of mutual concern between AFMC and ANG as a traditional Guardsman. Dan earned his commission in 1973 upon graduation from USAFA as a Distinguished Graduate, with a BS in Aeronautical Engineering. He completed UNT in April 1974, followed by upgrade training in the RF-4C Phantom II at Shaw AFB, SC. In Nov 1974 he received his first operational assignment as a WSO in 15th TRS, Kadena Air Base, Okinawa, Japan. He gained extensive experience flying training missions in the Philippines, South Korea, Taiwan, and Japan. In addition, he flew several operational sorties in support of a JCS-directed reconnaissance mission, while forward deployed to Osan AB, Korea. General O’Hollaren returned to Shaw AFB in May 1977 as an instructor WSO. During this tour, he deployed to Great Britain in support of an operational reconnaissance mission, flying sorties in the European theater with RAF forces. He was released from active duty in 1979 and joined the Oregon ANG in 1980, first flying the F-101 Voodoo, then the F4-C Phantom II. In 1989, he transferred to the Medical Corps as the 142nd FW Bioenvironmental Engineer. In 1998, he was selected as Commander 142nd Medical SQ. In 2002, he transferred to the state JFHQ and was selected as Director of Support. In 2003, he was appointed Assistant Adjutant General, responsible for staff oversight within state HQ and support to the commander. In 2005 General O’Hollaren became Commander, Oregon ANG. From Nov 2007 to now, General O’Hollaren has been serving as ANG Asst to Cmdr, AF Material Command, Wright- Patterson, OH.
Dan O’Hollaren and family following retirement ceremony, Portland Air National Guard Base, 6 January 2011. (Dan, spouse Diane, granddaughter Keelie, daughter-in-law Karen O’Hollaren, son Paul with grandson Tate & daughter Ashley)
Presiding Officer MG Raymond F. Rees, Adjutant General, Oregon, and Dan O’Hollaren, retirement ceremony at Portland ANG Base, 6 January 2011.
From: J
im Callard [mailto:callardjim@msn.com] “I noticed our classmate John Barry was recognized as Superintendent of the year! I think he would be a good speaker for alum. Excerpt from Jim’s and Elizabeth’s (Buzzy) Christmas letter: “Jim has been telling people for several years now that his goal was to be homeless by 60, and we are proud to announce that he has achieved that lofty objective, while dragging Buzzy along in his wake. … we had acquired a boat – a 29’ Ranger Tug – and hoped to spend time aboard that vessel exploring in various directions – the Northwest, the Sea of Cortez, and points in between. We had sold our house in Durango, but weren’t clear on what to do next. We left Durango in the snowstorm of the century (well, maybe not the century, but it was a lot of snow), which began just prior to and continued through moving day. So we shoveled, packed, shoveled, moved things to storage, shoveled, cleaned, and shoveled right up until the bitter end, and it was still snowing as we drove out of town. It’s hard to admit we miss Durango (OK, maybe a little bit) when we think of all that shoveling! In early February 2010, we drove west from Colorado, leaving snow drifts behind, and landed in Alameda, CA, where the boat was waiting for us. We arrived during a rainy spell that caused all the locals to complain about the weather, but we thought it was pretty cool how that rain kept running off the roofs and sidewalks without anybody having to shovel it! Pretty soon, the weather improved dramatically, and we began having fun on the boat.
That initially involved Buzzy being a nervous wreck every time she docked the boat, but she kept getting better and no longer breaks out in hives at the very thought of approaching an unfamiliar dock. In fact, now she thinks boating is actually fun. We meant to leave Alameda in June, and take the boat to the Northwest, but the weather is really good here, and there is a lot of water to explore in the Bay Area. Also, we didn’t feel like moving again. So here we are, still in Alameda, having fun exploring both the water – including the San Francisco Bay and adjoining waters by boat and the many beautiful beaches on the coast by land – and the many attractions of a large metropolitan area – the ballet, music, restaurants, museums, etc. Another happy coincidence that makes this area appealing is the fact that Becky and Ivan, together with our grandchildren Kiyan and Aydin, moved to Southern California in August. We had not anticipated that when we made our plans to stay a little longer in Alameda, but it has been great having them a relatively short seven hours away by car. It is much easier to visit them than when they were in Boston, and the kids are so cute that there’s plenty of incentive. They will be with us in Alameda for Thanksgiving this year. We’re hoping that the boys enjoy the boat and want to come back! Our cell phone numbers remain the same, but here’s the new mailing address: 1100 Pacific Marina, Apt. 404; Alameda, CA 94501. We’re leaving for Mexico in December, where we’ll probably stay about three weeks. (The boat won’t come with us, this trip anyway.) Then we plan to join Seattle relatives for a New Year’s celebration and to check out marinas in the area in anticipation of a trip to cruise the San Juan Islands sometime next year. We’ll keep you all posted as to our whereabouts!” Jim & Buzzy
Class lunch at La Casa Fiesta restaurant in Monument on 24 Jan attended by: Bob and Pam Munson; Eric and; Ron and Mary Scott; Joe Kahoe; Steve and Leslie Lorenz; Trapper Carpenter; Dennis and Ginny Haugh; T Thompson; Eric Nickerson and John Stephonik