Winter 1982          Rick Layman

Editor's Note: For reasons unknown to the Checkpoints staff, the 1975 Class News did not make its way to Colorado for inclusion in this issue. However, as 1975 approaches its seventh anniversary since graduation, the following statistics may be of interest: 

Initially entered USAFA:     1406 
Graduation Date:     4 June 1975 
Total Graduates:     756 
Commissioned in USAF:     742 
Losses (31 Dec 1981):     135 
Voluntary Resignations:     120 
Medical Separation/Retirement:     3 
Deceased:     9 
Other Losses:     3 
Retention Rate:     81.8% 

 

Spring 1982          Stan Collins

Guest Columnist Stan Collins

Rick has been up to his watertight in alligators lately, so I offered to help out until he gets settled again in his ASTRA assignment. He passed a lot of information on to me, and I've summarized as best I can. Please write and point out any incorrect or incomplete information. The more mail, the easier this job is. The AOG sends us those address cards after they’ve processed them and it can be a new source of information for us.

I just returned from GALLANT EAGLE 82 where I ran into Rob Stewart, a TALO out of McChord. Rob knows his way around an exercise, and he managed to get me a look at the biggest airdrop since WWII! Others I saw at GALLANT EAGLE are Mark Masters, flying F-16s at Hill; Kevin Burns, flying F-15s at Langley; Jerry Macken from Little Rock (C-130s); and Jeff Bailey flying C-130s here at Dyess.

In February, I saw Mike Buckley in C-130 training at Little Rock. He’ll be flying with the Alaska ANG now. Others enjoying civilian life are Brian and Janet Bouffard living in Marine, IL; and I hear Randy Barrett is doing some civilian flying in the Washington DC area. Rick Wilson, John Howard, John Scherer, and Mike Rosvovsky all wrote good letters talking about lots of people. There’s too little space here to do justice to their letters. Rick Wilson is on his way to Offutt to fly RC-135s and he had some information on a whole list of guys. While at Laughlin, Rick saw Gunner Ohgren flying T-38s, and Frank Dressel gave a safety briefing about his ejection from a T-38. Frank is still flying ‘em out of Vance. Scott Hente is a navigator in the E-4, and he’s just welcomed second baby, Michael.

Collin Flynn is an instructor navigator on RC-135s, and Jay Schell is an IN in KC-135s at Travis. Craig Scott was flying RC-135s at Eielson, but now he’s on his way to Reese in the T-38. Craig received the Airmen’s Medal for Valor for helping the survivors of an RC-135 crash up in Eielson. Bob Eaton is in RC-135 stan eval at Offutt, and Steve Watson is going to the Test Navigator School at Edwards. Dave Dyche, a recent SOS DG, is on his way to AFIT at the University of Arizona. Dan McCorry is an IP in F-4s at George, Rick Jones is flying KC-135s at Castle, and Fred Offutt flies A-10s at Myrtle Beach. A super letter, Rick, thanks for all the good poop!

John and Diane Howard are expecting their second child soon. John is going through F-16 training at Hill on his way to a year at Kunsan, Korea. John heard that Rick McGraw and Bruce Hopkin both returned from flying F-4s in Korea. They’ll both be the IPs in T-38Bs at fighter lead-in at Holloman. And there’s lots of news from Columbus. Bob Gambrell and Jim Arthurs in T-38 stan eval there, and John Henk and Jim Arthurs are flying the T-38s there also. Mike Crider took a T-33 assignment to Griffiss, and Jess Pitts left T-37s for a T-33 assignment someplace. How about writing in to tell us where, Jess? Bill Posey got an F-4 assignment after T-37s at Columbus. Does anybody know where? And finally out of Columbus, J. P. Owens got an F-4 to MacDill.

Bo Montgomery left Reese to fly T-38s at Randolph as a PIT instructor, and Marc Isabelle and Karl Gabrys arrived at Williams to fly the T-38. Bob Walden was in T-38 stan eval at Willie, and last word was that he had an F-106 assignment to an unknown location. Mike Coman and Bill Dalson are flying C-141s. Mike’s at Charleston and Bill’s at McGuire. Charlie Sargent is flying C-130s at McChord and Chris Budinsky is flying E-3As at Tinker. Charlie Bergman and Dale Smith are flying KC-135s at Seymour Johnson and Pease, respectively. Charlie Simmons went to MacDill for F-16 training and Buzz Sawyer is an instructor at SOS. Bob and Jill Akers have their second baby on the way. Bob is at Eglin in the AMRAAM engineering office (Advanced Medium Range Air to Air Missile). That’s a lot of catching up, John, and we all thank you for writing.

There’s good news from John and Janis Scherer. John is moving to a C-5 assignment in Dover, and Janis, a Navy nurse, will soon be an Air Force nurse at Dover also. John also had a list of who’s where. Paul Kent is flying C-141s at McChord. Chris Commeford is flying B-52s at Carswell. Joe Benner is also at Carswell in KC-135s. John saw Dave Ehrhart at Maxwell attending a lawyer’s orientation course. John Saxman was also at Maxwell last fall for SOS, as was Phil Gronseth. Phil is going to grad school and then back to USAFA to teach. Steve Vargo is the deputy commander for the ACE detachment at Wurtsmith. And finally, John asks in his letter, “Got any idea where Ken Whitley is?” Maybe somebody will write in to let us know.

Mike Rosnovsky wrote from Sembach where he’s been flying OV-10s with some other 75ers. He says most of them finished their master’s over there and they’re all due to leave Sembach soon. Mike Rosnovsky will fly F-16s at Kunsan, Korea, and Dave Ruddock will soon be in A-10s at Suwon, Korea. Mike Ruth got an F-16 to Shaw, Mike Rosebush will soon be an instructor at USAFA, and Gil Braun is headed for ASTRA at the Pentagon.

From the Association of Graduates we learned that Duane Jones is a maintenance staff officer at 22nd AF at Travis. Bill and Sylvia Lyerly and daughter just returned from two years in Africa. Bill will be at Ft. Dietrich, MD, and he’s starting work on his PHD. Phil Benjamin is now an instructor in missiles out at Vandenberg. And the new chief of the maintenance manpower and personnel branch at HQ TAC is Bob Shappell.

I’ll have moved also by the time this Checkpoints is printed. Rick will be forwarding information to me, so mail to either of us will make Checkpoints. Let us hear from you and see if we can catch up on the whereabouts of any lost souls.

 

Summer 1982          Stan Collins

Guest Columnist Stan Collins

‘Tis the season of the movers for a lot of us. Remember when moving meant throwing things in a blanket and dragging it down two hallways?

Just before I left Dyess I saw Lee Cross at the base gym. Lee had recently arrived to fly B-52s. I also saw Dave Gionet making plans for civilian life in Abilene.

Here at AFIT I saw lots of familiar faces during in-processing. I haven’t had time to get details about specific programs, but here’s a listing of folks I saw: Joe Benner, Chris Commeford, Eric Hoganson, Dave Blessinger, Terry Duncan, Paul Killingsworth, and John Cass. Collin Flynn is here too, and he gave me some catch-up data on a few guys. The AOG says Rich Takacs is here also, but I haven’t seen him yet.

Collin’s list of “who’s where doing what” follows. Frank Dubuisson will be finishing an ASTRA assignment in October. Tom Peterson is flying RC-135s at Offutt, and Bruce Hevey is moving into a SPO at Hanscom AFB, MA. Rick Kim got married and is still flying at McGuire. Congrats to Rick and Tina! John Kennon was last reported working a cubicle at the Pentagon. Ric Sharp, Jim Fellows, Tom Topolski, and Bill Linn have all made the transition to civilian life. Ric is in Prairie, MN; Jim in Boulder, CO; Tom is in MD; and Bill has started a travel agency in Atlanta, GA. Bruce Dodds is still criss-crossing the nation in his Air Coupe. Bruce lives in Houston, TX, where he is a lawyer. My thanks to Collin for providing some info for this issue.

There wasn’t any mail this time, but there were lots of change-of-address cards. Remember, just scribble a few lines on those cards to the AOG, and that news will be forwarded to be put into Checkpoints. Here’s what came in this time.

Jon Turner, Scott Smith, and Phil Gronseth are all working on master’s degrees at civilian colleges. Jon finished in June at Stanford and he’ll be teaching in the aero department. Scott just started at the University of Washington and Phil just started at the University of Minnesota. Craig Matt has just completed training with TWA in Kansas City, MO, as part of Education with Industry (EWI), and he joined the TAC IG team in July. Jim Foreman noted on his change of address that “wife’s name is Lee Anne–EWI assignment in Los Angeles–loving every minute of it!!” Steve Vreeland notes that he’ll receive his master’s from Stanford University in August. Mitch McVay is on his way to HQ USAF for ASTRA. Mitch was a DG as SOS last July. Bill Clark is on the move to the Mayo Clinic for urology residency training through 1986. Keep up the good work, Bill! Russ Snyder started on an OB/GYN fellowship at the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology in July. Tim Wrighton is now in the reserves flying out of Norton AFB, CA, as an instructor.

Joe Facenda is transitioning to civilian life with a forwarding address of Atlanta, GA. Mark Scott became a first officer on a 727 for Air Florida in July. There was good news from Bill Stewart and Felix Greider. Bill will be serving as an exchange officer to Australia with the 36th Squadron, Royal Australian Air Force, in Richmond, Australia. And Felix is an exchange officer to France. Felix annotates that a second child arrived in April (Erica). Congratulations!

Mike Weininger is an F-16 IP with the 61st TTS at MacDill AFB, FL. Mike Gill is flying A-10s at England AFB, LA, and Mike Crider is at F-106 CCTS until August, then returns to Griffiss AFB, NY. Claude Erving has moved from T-33 IP at Peterson Field to Griffiss, and now, he too is at F-106 CCTS at Tyndall AFB, FL. Chris Soto is flying as a Wild Weasel out of Clark AB, PI. Chuck Dohner expects to finish up at Laughlin AFB, TX, in August as an instructor, and he wants to go back to C-141s at Charleston AFB, SC. Tom Laurie is on the move to Reese AFB, TX, with wife, Martha, and son, Erick. Tom will be flying T-37s.

Congratulations to some newlyweds–Brian and Sandi Gomes. Brian is flying T-43s. Byron Huddleston also got married. He notes, “Got married in April to a Lt. type. Joint-spouse to Wright-Patterson flying a desk. Send a rescue ship.”

Gary Jewell had his first baby last August–a daughter named Rebecca Ann. Dan Mahrer is a nav instructor at Castle AFB, CA, and has a new baby, Allison. Fred Whitican is the father of a baby girl born on Super Bowl Sunday. Her name is Andrea Lynne. Dennis Carter boasts a daughter born in January, named Jennifer Elizabeth. Lawrence Harding’s son was born in March and his change of address is to West Pittston, PA.

There were notes from Charlie Bergman and Steve Gibson for new addresses, but no update information. How about you guys filling us in on the details?

Once again, it’s hard to do much except list jobs and locations with only change-of-address cards. Send letters, notes, pictures, or whatever, and let’s keep up with as many people as we can.

 

Fall 1982          Joe Stein

Joe Stein takes over as Class Scribe

Surprise: I’ll bet you didn’t notice that the name and address had changed in the box above. As you know, Stan Collins has been pinch-hitting as the class scribe for the past few issues, but the AFIT workload has finally caught up with him. Who ever said school was fun? Rick Layman has been planning to reclaim the honors, but I think he found out that you don’t ever get settled in at the Pentagon (until you leave). He’s putting in some long hours in the Legislative Liaison office there. That leaves me. Since I was returning to the womb here, Rick thought that it might be appropriate for me to take over the column. It looks like you’re stuck with me.

Letters: Sheryl and Tom McClain were the only ones to take pen in hand in time for this issue. Tom has just completed Wild Weasel training at George, and they’ll be staying on as permanent party there. It seems that the desert beats Korea every day of the week! Their family has also grown since last word, with Daniel (5) and Karen (1) blessing their lives.

The McLain grapevine also located some other ‘75ers for us: Mike and Gwenda Rosebush at USAFA (of all places); John Stewart in the cockpit of an F-16 at Kunsan AB, Korea; Rod and Vickie Kallman in F-5s at Williams; and Gary and Linda Craig in the aggressor squadron at Nellis.

Address Changes: The address cards were, by far, the biggest source of news waiting for me when I arrived. Those up- and re-rooting recently include: Steve and Sarah Pitotti to Edwards AFB; Tom and Martha Laurie to Reese; Scott and Rebecca Hammond to Eglin; the Benners to Wright-Pat (I think!); the Bannisters to Del Rio; Mike and Susan Ruth to Shaw; Craig Matt to Newport News, VA; the Vreelands back here to the Springs; and the Sotos overseas to Clark AB.

Tom Abshire is passing out cigars these days. He and Diane now have a daughter (as of 1 Sep), Erin Elizabeth. Congrats from all of us. I wonder if she’ll be in the class of ’03? Chris Commeford also sends word that he is joining the AFIT crowd–ops research is his specialty. And last, but certainly not least, word has it that Dave Beatty is being indoctrinated in the ways of the “grunt” life as an ALO in the 82nd Airborne. Good luck!

Thought You Might Be Interested Department: Many things have changed here at USAFA since we last saw the place in our rearview mirrors, and some things never will. Those that caught my eye or relit the old memory lamp inside:

– The football team is really hot this year. They are ranked in the top five nationally in offense at this time. The victory over Navy will give us our best chance ever of winning the Commander-in-Chief Trophy, Go Falcons–BEAT ARMY!

– Shades of the real Air Force! A combination of the ORI and stan-eval has come to the Cadet Wing. The cadet stan-eval program exposes them to this aspect of the Air Force life early. This area also happens to be where I’ll be hanging my hat for the next eight months until an AOC job opens up.

– The transition period for women at the Academy appears to be over. The women are completely immersed in the Cadet Wing and appear to be doing extremely well. Things have sure changed since out time.

Almost, But Not Quite: I had a picture taken of all the ‘75ers on ASTRA assignments at the Pentagon, and had hoped to include it in this issue. Unfortunately, I had to start out for USAFA before it was developed. A friend successfully completed my alternate plan by picking up the prints and dropping them in the mailbox for me. Enter the U.S. Postal Service! I haven’t seen a thing for weeks. If they ever do arrive, I’ll include a picture in the next issue. If not, I’ll throw in a Stein original sketch (Oh no!). But for now, a word picture will have to do. Those pounding the halls of the five-sided paper factory are: Bob Akers, Dan Burkett, Dave Commons, Lamar Lewis, Dale Meyerrose, Rick Layman, Phil Romanowicz, Frank Dubuisson, Bill Davis, Chip Diehl, Charlie Bergman, Carl VanPelt, Perry Lamy, Gil Braun, Dave Kovach, Mitch McVay, John Wolter, and Mark Risi. If you need to get in touch (or get even) with any of the above, I have their office symbols, addresses, and phone numbers. But hurry. Some of them are leaving.

Chip Diehl decide that he liked the staff life and landed a job with PACAF in Hawaii–tough luck, Chip. Gil Braun has orders to Korea if they can ever find him on one of the golf course in the D.C. area. Gil also plans to enter a marathon soon and is training toward that end. Better him than me! I’m sure he’ll update us on that outcome. And finally, Dan Burkett thinks he has a job in San Antonio at MPC–that is, if the Pentagon will ever let him go. He may be our token sacrifice for a four-year tour in D.C area.

That’s about all for now. Since I’m just working into the job, I’d appreciate some cards and letters to bring me up to date with your current happenings. Photos are also worth a fortune. And just in case any of you are feeling homesick for USAFA or are passing through the Colorado area, please stop in or call. We’ll drink one in memory of the old days.

 

Album

1. Bill Carrothers with one of his best friends. (Bill Carrothers)

2. Tom Darner with Brie, empathizing with Patty. (December 1982, Tom Darner)

3. Tom Knabel at Incirlik AB, Turkey. (Tom Knabel)

4. Mac McIntosh just home from a deployment with the 27th Fighter Squadron at Langley AFB. (Rex McIntosh)

 

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