Wednesday, February 2, 2011

New article: Posted 2/2/11

Mike Jensen


12035 Milam Road

Colorado Springs, CO 80908

1-800-GO-AFA-GO

www.usafa84.com

michaeljensen@remax.net

www.twitter.com/usafa84

Facebook Users: Checkout the Class Page on Facebook. You can search it by loading USAF Academy 1984 on Facebook. Thanks Vince Easler for setting it up!

Thanks for the updates:

Howard Hayes recently retired after 26 years of service (15 years active duty and 11 years in the Minnesota ANG in Duluth).as the Operations Group CC in the 148th Fighter Wing in Duluth (F-16s). Now flying the A-319/320 Airbus for Delta Airlines. The family plans to stay in Duluth. Each of their three kids is currently serving in the military, so the tradition continues.



Steve Winters left Vandenberg this past August as the Vice Commander of the 30th Space Wing. He was selected to be the new Air Force Space Command Chair "Space Chair" to Air University as part of the faculty at Air War College. He retires effective 1 Feb 2011 (had his retirement ceremony on 14 Jan at the Maxwell O'Club). Married to Carolyn with 3 kids Gregory (22 yo), Leslie (16 yo), Jared (11 yo). Will be moving to Tennessee where he has been hired as Operations Manager at the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for Middle Tennessee.



“TransAm” Joe Herron reminded me of some things that have not been released for public dissemination yet, but I can tell you that he is completing his swan song tour living in London working at the Embassy as the Chief of the Office of Defense Cooperation. One of their highlights was recently attending a Burns Supper in the House of Lords with free flowing Scotch and tons of Haggis! They arrived in the Summer of 2009 and will be there until the Summer of 2013. So their upcoming events will be the Royal Wedding this spring and then Farnborough Air Show along with the Olympics in the summer of 2012. Two classmates have come through with RONs from American and United, Mike Burns and Beth Austin, both getting to experience a side of London not usually seen by tourists! Unlike many of our classmates with next generations being at USAFA, Joe’s oldest son is a Sophomore at Harvard and the youngest a 10th grader at the American School in London. Joe is pretty sure the academic nature comes from his wife, Leslie, and her folks, Col (R) John May class of 61. (Joe, we are MORE than pretty sure) 

Bob Perry will be a grandfather again--daughter Cara is expecting in May.



Max Batson’s son, Chris, will graduate this May from CS-18. Pilot training to follow. He's also getting married in the Chapel on 4 June. Max talked to Mark Blumenthal last week. Mark’s a UPS MD11 captain in ANC. Says he ran into Doug Applegate in HNL a couple of weeks before. Max also spoke with Glen Ewton. He's on the 777 in ATL (Delta) getting ready to upgrade on the 320 in SLC. Max is a Delta MD90 captain in MSP.





Jon (“but I REALLY want to split 10’s”) Wikstrom and I had an all night blackjack session after the Falcons Bowl victory in Shreveport. Son, Wylie graduates this spring. Jon received an email from Sandy McFarland that her son Josh (son of Dillon ’84) and Jordan Pavlich (daughter of Sean ’84) got engaged. Sounds like an August wedding . Josh is a ‘10 grad and stationed at LA Space in Acquisitions.



Ed Lorenzini is still working for Raytheon in the DC area. Their son graduated last year from the Academy (Class of 2010) and is at pilot training at Vance, Ok. Even though Tom Wilson will not recognize this fact, I believe, that makes the Lorenzini family, the first family to graduate a 3rd generation. And just to make sure the traditions continue, Ed and Elisabeth added a new baby to their family in 2009 making it a total of 5, ranging in ages from 24 to 1. Brian Stilson (84) just moved from DC back to Dallas with his family to take a new position with American Airlines. Robert Carriedo (84) is in Colorado Springs and just returned from a deployment in Iraq. His second daughter, Maria, Christina is a 3 degree at the Academy.



Speaking of Thomas R. Wilson, he reports that daughter, Haley, (who may be the first female third generation cadet) is a proud Grim Reaper and is “training” Jeff and Brenda Follansbee's boy, Clark. Tom also lets us know that:

Gary Seifried is finally a Captain at AA after almost 20 years of service.

Mark Torres turned 50 and turned an ankle running across the street. (It’s OK, I’ve been hurt watching TV)

Jerry Slyman is a S-80 FO at AA and has his oldest daughter playing soccer on a scholarship from TCU.

Dave Dunteman and his wife are out of Phoenix, with Dave flying for Southwest.

Bobby Sullivan still has a Boston accent even after 18+ years of living in Kentucky and flying for UPS.

Jimmy Mackey is a 767 FO for AA at DFW and spends alot of time as a big whig at the Joint Naval Air Station in Ft. Worth.

I was able to spend some time with Tom as we brought back the CINC Trophy after the Army game. Tom rushed for 17 hot dogs while I tackled a 12-pack. John Hanlon was there with his wife and 2 boys, as well as Vic Haynes on a Boy’s weekend with his 2 sons. I heard that the “BigGun” Herman Baker was there too, but with all those cannons on campus, Herman did not stick out.

Bruce Lennard has a new gig. Check it out. http://tullylegal.com/attorneys/blennard.html

Jack Forsythe will retire on 1 May after nearly 27 years of service! He is happy to say that his time in service to our country has been a blast! He states: “From F-16 pilot to F-16 sq/cc to F-117 group command to the halls of the Pentagon, my family and I are eternally grateful to the great airmen that we’ve had the privileged to serve with! I’m forever grateful to our Academy that propelled me toward these opportunities as well. My family (Amy, Katie & Rob) and I will remain in the Washington, D.C. area – our home – and continue to work to secure our nation’s way of life. We look forward to our second career and, hopefully, another great lacrosse season for the kids! Our classmate Paul Suarez and I work together in HQ Air Force A8 and regularly compare notes on how to find a civilian job; still theory at the time of this writing. He will retire 1 May as well” Thank you, Jack

An update with photos! Marybeth Ulrich (Peterson) promotion to O-6 in the USAF reserve last year. Our classmate, Brigadier General Eden Murrie (Alt) was the presiding official. Eden is on the National Security Council Staff as the Director of Legislative Affairs. Marybeth is still teaching at the Army War College in the Department of National Security and Strategy as a civilian. In her reserve job, she works for DIA as the reserve attaché to Moscow. Our classmate Tim Brown is also at the Army War College in an active duty O-6 billet in a sister department.

Caroll (Rosado) and Grady Elliott are still living in Hamilton, NJ with their 3 sons, Eric, Arman, and Kristan, and Caroll's puppy, Toby. Winter 2010-2011 has been relentless and they are anxiously awaiting the Spring. They send their best wishes to all our classmates and their loving families. “May you all be blessed with lots of good health, love and happiness.”

Steve Reed just finished up his first deployment flying the U-2 again after 15 year break. He is on a leave of absence from FedEx for voluntary recall to active duty from retirement.

Ed "KTOWN" Knouse reports: Kalimera!!! (Greek/Cypriot for good day!). He is still "Living the Dream" in Cyprus (retired here in June 08 as an O6)! and "Sharing the Dream" with his wife Diana (aka "Princess" and/or "The Brit Chick") and their two Persian cats Sakkara (named after the Egyptian pyramids, we got her in Egypt when they were stationed there) and Baileeze (his official pedigree name is "King's Coffee Baileez", based on his creamy color and Ed’s favorite beverage!). They are both "Best in Show" recipients as well...know affectionately as "the posh cats"! Ed, on the other hand, is known as "Mr. Groomer"! Besides brushing the "furries", Ed spends most of my free time renovating their apartment and gardening (maintaining the grounds) for their Homeowner's Association as well as volunteering for the local community counsel..."I'm a lumberjack and I'm okay..."! Ed is still working on his Greek-Cypriot language skills, and "siga siga" (slowly, slowly) they are coming along. They hope to see everyone at the 30th!



Luke (aka Lalu) Simcik is down living the good life in Brazil for six weeks, saying its and its good living and relations. He enjoyed the picture of Gen Mike Loh (maybe the first grad to grad generals?) Brazil, Luke? I just live vicariously though the guy.



Anita Eigner Latin retired this summer from Los Angeles AFB where I was the 61 ABW/CC. She now lives in Tucson, AZ where she loves the warm weather and their beautiful home in NE Tucson. She works for a Systems Engineering & Integration firm called "The SI" Organization based out of Valley Forge, PA which means she travels a great deal for my job. Life is wonderful and the transition from the 26.5 years in the AF has been painless and great.



Bill Brei is still on an indefinite duration deployment to Kabul, serving in the Combined Security Transition Command-Afghanistan (now part of NATO Training Mission-Afghanistan), serving as the special advisor/mentor to the First Deputy Minister of Defense. Thanks Bill.

Truly a Flach Sighting: Yes, Steve Flach will be returning to USAFA in March. He will be coming out for first flight as it is going to be quite the event with a bunch of attendance. Their UAS is replacing the Boeing Insitu Scan Eagle.

Scott Studer is still working for the Florida Air National Guard as the State A3. They are nice to him and heI still gets to fly F-15s. (I REALLY want a ride, Scott, I write for Checkpoints you know)



Wade Harlan, his wife and two kids have been teaching improved farming methods to poor minority village farmers and training house church leaders in Asia since 1999. After learning the major trade language we are now working on learning a minority language so that is definitely keeping their brain cells active! Although they are not farmers by background, but its been rewarding process to learn how to help those poor farmers increase their incomes and be freed from their oppressive superstitions. Its been an interesting journey from "The Blue Zoo" to a recycling adventure!! (WOW!)



Kenn White retired as an O5 from Mildenhall back in '05. He took a GS job at RAF Molesworth in order to stay in the UK -- He just went over 18 straight years there -- 12+years on active duty and 5 1/2 since retirement. He is the Assistant Director of Intelligence at, get ready for a mouthful, the Joint Intelligence Operations Center Europe -- Analytic Center, JAC Molesworth for short. His, wife Helen and Kenn celebrated their 26th anniversary last fall with a couple of weeks in Mauritius diving and sunbathing. Kenn’s sons, Hugh's 21 and Alex is 19, are full-blooded Brits with dual citizenship -- both are still in college here in the UK. They live in the countryside about an hour north of London and spend most of my spare time in the garden and playing some of the best golf courses in the British Isles. Last fall 4 of them played Royal Troon and Turnberry and this summer we're playing St. Andrews, Carnoustie and Gleneagles.

Mike Benevento and his family have been living in his home state of Vermont since 1998. He and his wife, Kristine, have two sons, Matthew and Calvin. Matthew lives in an apartment nearby while Calvin is a high school senior. They are busy with the college drill--trying to get Calvin into a college of his choice. Mike ran as a Republican for the Vermont House of Representatives against two Democratic incumbents this past November. While most of the country elected more Republicans, Vermont bucked the trend and remains one of the most liberal states in the nation. Even though he did not get elected, it was a good experience just meeting the people and getting a better idea of how state government works.

Chris Rowzee is a guardsman in the 180th Fighter Wing, Ohio ANG. She works full time for the Louisvill Veterans Affairs Medical Center, and in her “spare” time she is an official working D1 Women’s Basketball Games. (that’s a lot of “travelling” calls, get it 

Roxanne Hernandez Knight is raising a great-niece who has been with them(Greg Knight '81) for four years. They have their child, Briana, at college. Nesta has just turned 10 and they are thoroughly entrenched in preparing her for this big, crazy world. Roxanne wanted to give a big shout out to her "partners in crime", Anne (Foley) Bowman and Barb (Lalli) Brennan. “Ladies let's make the 30th our chance to finally let it all hang out!” (not sure what that means, but I LIKE it!)

That is it for this edition, keep in touch. Check in often and the beer is always cold at the tailgates.

GO FALCONS! jens