Trophy Finds Its Way Home: On 18 August, Brian Duffy, Mark Volcheff, Robert “Trayls” Traylor, and Mark “Tap” Tapper (’80) surveyed the hallowed grounds of the Eisenhower Blue Golf Course and vowed that before the sun set on the terrazzo that day, the coveted Colorado Tri-Service Academy Annual Golf Championship trophy would once again find itself in Air Force hands. The conditions were brutal. The temperature was in the mid-80s, the sun kept getting in the players’ eyes, and the wind took the day off; and yet the lads were undeterred. They weren’t playing for just a trophy; they were playing for truth and justice and the natural order of the universe. For despite the seemingly innocent designs of graduates of other institutions that proudly proclaim nearly two centuries of tradition unhampered by progress, the reality was that they were invaders on Air Force soil, intent on taking something which the gods overseeing the order of the heavens deemed long ago to belong to Air Force custodians. Mark ripped long drives, as he is wont to do, that players twice his size could only dream of. Brian and Tap tag teamed from the fairways and always gave the team a shot at birdie or better, and Trayls contributed as the clutch player with the crucial short game. When the smoke and dust settled, the team had shot 18 under par, and the prizes for lowest score by a pure all-grad team from a single academy, and for low net overall, were theirs. The trophy was once again firmly in Air Force hands. Well done, lads. We can all sleep well knowing stability has been returned to the cosmos for at least another year.
Ben Phillips was inducted into the AF Athletics Hall of Fame in September. After 50 years Ben still holds the USAFA water polo records for goals, assists and points.
Scott and Cindy Hammond recently adopted Anne Bonny Pirate of the Carolinas. Bonny is an Australian Shepherd and will spend the next few months using her high dog IQ to train Scott and Cindy to meet her expectations. As all Aussie owners know, she will only shed twice a year, (January through June, and July through December) and she’ll be the star student in obedience school, immediately followed by uncanny displays of selective memory.
Kevin Burns has officially left the building. He retired from federal service on 30 Sep. It’s about time. Welcome to the land where pickleball rules, trips are unhurried, and naps are mandated.
Remember watching a documentary on baby sea turtles trying to make it from the nest to the sea before a horde of ravenous predators descended upon them and cut their journeys short? Do you also remember feeling helpless watching that documentary from your overstuffed recliner and wondering why someone with a heart bigger than your Grinch-sized unit wasn’t doing something to help the young turtles? Enter James and Lee Anne Foreman. They are volunteer members of the Network for Endangered Sea Turtles (NEST), which is dedicated to increasing the odds of survival for baby sea turtles near the Outer Banks. Even if the baby turtles make it to the ocean, the temperature of the water can be so cold that it stuns the hatchlings. James and Lee Anne and their fellow volunteers spend several nights of the hatching season to monitor the status of the turtles and ensure the ailing ones are taken to a rehabilitation center. As James wrote, “Loggerhead hatchlings making their way to the sea are more amazing than any noon meal formation!”
Marty Stytz recently gave a seminar on quantum computing in Adelaide, Australia. While he was there, he also visited Sydney where he dropped in on a sports bar by the Sydney Opera House and found an Air Force Academy pennant attached to the wall. Lesson learned: if you’re thinking of traveling across the world to leave a USAFA memo as evidence of the long reach of airpower, you can delete Australia from your list of places to conquer.
As the Class of 2025 nears graduation, we can expect more events to occur in which we, as members of their Legacy Class, will be invited to attend. So far we have an excellent track record in this regard. A member of the AOG staff recently wrote: “The Class of ’75 has the largest attendance at any milestone dinner since I’ve been at the AOG in four years. I am blown away by how many of you are attending such a momentous occasion. Thank you!” Come to think of it, “Most Support by a Legacy Class” would be a worthwhile title to carry around, and it would provide an accurate portrayal of the members of the class with the highest attrition rate. By the way, if you say “Class of 2025” within earshot of any of its members, you will be greeted with a healthy retort of “Psycho.” It’s (probably) not an indictment of you, it’s just the class nickname, and a catchy one at that.
GBNF: Rodolfo Saavedra Ferrere, CS-18. Ted Stallone, CS-11. Buck Rogers, CS-19.
More information about our GBNF classmates, and extended stories and photos can be found in Checkpoints Plus at 75bestalive.org.
