Monday, November 5, 2012

Presentation to USAFA Supt. Gen Gould

New Denver base SWA Chief Pilot JC Curran presents Gen Mike Gould with a model of Southwest Airline's Colorado One during SWA's celebration, golf outing and football weekend at USAFA

Fall 2012 Update #USAFA 84


Mike Jensen

12035 Milam Road

Colorado Springs, CO 80908


usafahomes@gmail.com        

Twitter: @USAFA84

Thanks for all of the updates on short notice! You guys are amazing! For those ofyou who are not getting my pleas for help, please send me an update now or, goto the AOG website and make sure your contact info is correct. (preferablyBOTH!)   One of the first to respond was Chrisand Anne (Foley) Bowman  letting us know that Chris retired on 1 OCT2012. He accepted a job at The Citadel Military College of SC. His last job wasChief of Staff at 13th Air Force at the beautiful Hickam AFB, Hawaii. Ed Heierman, and his wife (Anne’s sister)Sheila, (children Alec & Natalie) made it out to Hawaii to celebrate withthem. They had JJ Johnson (President AEA) and his wife Shelley visiting inHawaii as well. (I’m always the last to know J)
 
 

Bill Brei,, one of our more deployed classmates, was at the very end ofa short "out-of-theater" recouperation & training phase of hisassignment to the AFPAK Hands Program, was SERBed and thus retired from theUSAF on 1 June 2012. The powers that be, never missing an opportunity,  notified Bill to retire AND that he wasselected for a urinalysis within the same hour of the same day. He is nowworking as a manager in a software development company (which makes his wifehappy), but Bill, never missing an opportunity, is seriously considering anoffer to serve as site lead for the military advisory mission in South Sudan.(Which does not make his wife very happy, even though he offered to take herwith him.)

Der Kaiser, Scott Wilhelm, went to a Beale Bandit reuniona few weeks back. He was there with Mike Harvey.They teamed up to be the champions of the official tailgate games. Scott’syoungest son enlisted in the AF, graduating at top of his tech school class& is now  Crew Chief at Little Rock.He is pursuing an appointment to USAFA and just returned from an orientation.Congrats to Scott as he also got married in June on a 1916 historic schooneroff the Maine coast.

Ralph 'Buzz' Seilius retired from VA ANG effective 30 May 2012, now working withdefense contractor, PESystems Inc,  atAir Force ISR Agency, Lackland AFB TX. Buzz, just celebrated 17th weddinganniversary with his wife Jana. First timer, Kathy (Callaghan) Rex has a son who is a sophomore at the Academy andjust choiced into 32, my old squadron. Their second son is at Northwestern Prepand leaning towards USAFA or the Coast Guard Academy .  They enjoy being involved again in activitiesat USAFA. Kobi is on the track team and they won the Mountain West Conferencein both Indoor and Outdoor last year!

For the past two years, Kathy hadthe pleasure of coaching Marty & BrendaLouthan’s daughter in team handball and it has been fun reconnecting withthem.

Kathy also got to see Cheryl (Devita) Roberson  staying with herand Darryl who is now a two star at the Pentagon. She is rooting for Daryl tobe the next Supt so she and Cheryl can spend more time together.

The big news in the Jack Forsythe family is that they just had ason. Jason was born on Sep 24th, and Amy and he are having an absoluteblast with him! Always wanting to be a senior mentor – Jack just didn’t know itwould be for some future Cub Scout Troop.in between feedings and diaperchangings,  Jack sees Paul “Swarm” Suarez and Jay Ducharme occasionally and can report that they’re doing well. Chris"C-DIN"  DiNennahas been stationed at the Pentagon for a little over two years. Manyservice members may want to avoid assignments there, but it took Chris 27 yearsto finally arrive. He is from the area and finds Washington DC to be among theworld's most beautiful and imposing nation's capitals. Plus, he has family therethat his 7 year old had either seen rarely or never met. In his short 7 yrs,Devon has lived on three continents and in 6 houses. Such is the life of a militarychild. This past spring, they bought a house in northern VA. By the way--if anyonethat wants a screaming deal on a two story colonial in Hampton, VA (LangleyAFB),  get in touch with C-Din. He has aretirement set for 1 July 2013.

New SkyWest Pilots: Alan Bridges andBrent “Mongo” Johnson. Alan is basedin Colorado Springs and sent a picture of Maureen and him hiking near Alta, UT,in Salt Lake City this summer. They are officially "empty nesters"with three kids are all in college.  Brentis in training and is hoping to be based in Salt Lake City.

Jim Bratton is finishing up a stint as lead engineer for the AGM-88F, anew variant of the HARM missile. Jim works for Uncle Sam at Eglin AFB. He andwife Liz have a daughter, Corinne, in graduate school and a young one,Alexandra, in her freshman year of college. They are spending the fall tearinga tri-toon boat down for a complete rehab. Visit Jim and Liz next summer for acruise out to Crab Island.

Tommy Wilson’s daughter Haley is in the Class of 2013 where she is thetop grad in Behavior Science. She has been offered Grad School, but there isuncertainty due to impending budget cuts. Dad is quite proud, as am I, and hopewe can find her some scholarship money. Any help and advice is appreciated. Alex Bapty’s son is in the Class of 2016. Along w2ith Kathy’s son, is anIC for Cross Country and Track. Alex retired in 2005 and is now Director ofAviation for NNSA in Albuquerque. His daughter just started med school atUNM.  Rich Call is still with UPS as a 747-400 Captain living in Anchorage.Recently engaged, he is loving life and travelling the world.


Phil Kilgore had a busy year withhis classical charter school project at Hillsdale College. We helped two groupsopen schools with grades K-10 this fall in Lewisville, TX and Moriarty, NM.There are almost 800 students between the two schools. Upcoming openings willoccur in Savannah, GA, Naples, FL, and several other states. Great job, Phil.

Lastly, Jerry Cummin is working at Kelley Barracks, Germany. His oldest 3, are inCollege and youngest 3, are attending the International School in Stuttgart. (Readthat again….it is true J). Wow, Jerry how can you still bedrinking Guinness and driving Toyotas? I have to know!

As you read this, please drop me anote, a card, and email or even a Tweet. The deadline is fast approaching andtime is almost there for another new year. Thanks for all you do and have avery Happy and prosperous 2013. jens