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transparent Checkpoints Winter 2006
Class Scribe
Bob Kay
2386 Cherry Hills Loop
Alamogordo, NM 88311
Home:(505) 439-5463
Work: (505) 572-5382
Email: k-bob78@charter.net or
Robert.Kay@holloman.af.mil

Greetings 78ers…

Well, guess things haven’t changed much since we were cadets. Here I am in my “Q” room at lovely Holloman AFB trying to get this done the day before the deadline. Not that I didn’t ever pull any all-nighters at the Zoo finishing up a paper due to my procrastination…yeah, guilty as charged, then and now.

Anyhow, I usually am loathe to put anything about myself in this space but just had to share this one. My oldest daughter and her Israeli husband decided to have a baby a couple of month ago…much against my orders. Little Oriah (Hebrew except I don’t remember what it stands for) showed up anyway. For those of you who have yet to hold your grandchild, it is an experience beyond words. I’ll cut the parents some slack this time.



About a month ago, I was getting concerned that this would be a very brief column due to the lack of info. I should have realized that ’78 would pull through as usual and got my own “stack of stuff.” Thanks gents.

Heard from Mark Rodriguez who is an O-6 in the Reserves. He, Jill and their two boys moved to Tinker air patch where he was no-noticed as the interim commander of the 76th Aircraft Maintenance Group. She is home schooling the boys and everyone is trying to get settled in the new house. Mark hopes to get into a more sane routine when the new commander shows up. Great to hear from you again Mark.

Had a nice chat with Paul McVinney who retired from active duty a while back and accepted a civilian position at the Pentagon working for XOL which is a lessons learned shop recently set up. He stays exceptionally busy and says he’s used to the beltway commute although it never gets shorter. There are a boat load of ‘78ers around the building and he promised to get me a list one of these days. Will try and put it in the next article.

Wayne Kellenbence wrote and noticed that his name was misspelled in the Summer article. I double checked my submittal and confirmed that I got it right (at least this time…I usually buffoon it). Turns out he’ll be able to ensure that doesn’t happen again since he recently accepted a position at the AOG as Director of Alumni Programs and Special Projects. Congrats on both the retirement and great new job Wayne, sure you’ll keep the editorial staff honest (just kidding guys…you really do great work!).

Fellow Bulldawger Gary Storie sent a great family newsletter on all that went on in 2005. Busy year for the Storie’s: Daughter Liz got married to a great guy (Matt) and they are now settled in Hershey PA. Both of his kids graduated from Penn State (Liz in nursing and Craig in finance). He and Cathy hit the big Five-Oh (we’re just about all there I would imagine) and Cathy started a new business as a wedding planner after having so much fun planning Liz’s wedding. He included a nice picture of He, Cathy and Liz in DC…and he looks a lot younger than 50. You guys be the judge.



Fred Zeitz recently finished his PhD in Electrical Engineering at the University of Michigan and accepted a position in Boston with a defense contractor. He leads around a group of “mad scientists” (his words, not mine) who he says are smarter than he is (yeah right Fred). Cheryl is still a flight attendant for American Airlines but has recently been domiciled in Boston…no more commuting! They’re loving the East Coast and certainly don’t miss the snow and cold of the great white north.

Received a great e-mail from Brent Bristow who has been flying for Northwest for over 20 years. He is based in Anchorage and has worked as an Admission Liaison Officer for many years with Ned Friedman. Brent recently made a significant decision to return to active duty and deploy to Bogota Columbia to fill the Current Ops job at the ACCE down there. Wife Anita (who is also from Columbia) will join him so that will make it tolerable. He said his Spanish fluency is the only qualification he has…think a willingness to serve is another one Brent. Thanks for volunteering and serving our Nation. My hat is off to you sir.

As an old retired type, I tend to read the AF news to see what’s going on. Saw an article last month (Dec) on our own Mike Snodgrass (USAFE XP) giving the “keys” to Rhein-Main Air Base back to Germany on the last day of 2005. I would imagine most of us had passed through it during our careers. It was called the “Gateway to Europe” for 60 years after WW II…we do live in interesting times. Also saw a ditty on TV about Joe Reheiser (Vice Commander of 5th AF at Yokota) serving holiday meals to the troops. Glad to see the class is getting the appropriate international exposure to what we’re doing.

Saw a couple of senior officer moves on the net: Dave Scott is now the 354th Fighter Wing commander at Eileson; Johnny Weida moved to Wright Pat after his Comm tour and is now the Director of AFMC’s Capabilities, Integration and Transformation office. He’ll soon be joined by Dave Eidsuane who will be leaving Baghdad and command the AF Security Assistance Center. Also, “Mad Al” Myers recently took command of Carrier Strike Group Eight off the Ike (out of Norfolk I believe). He was the first Zoomie to command a carrier and am sure is the first to be a carrier strike group skipper…good on you Al.

I have now officially run out of info, hope this finds all of you doing well and enjoying your summer. I cannot thank you enough for keeping the info flowing…only way this will ever be interesting despite my mediocre writing abilities.

’78 is GREAT!


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Class of 1978 - United States Air Force Academy
as of 21 Apr 2018