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Checkpoints Summer 2008 Class Scribe Bob Kay 40411 Tesoro Lane Palmdale, CA 93551 Home: (661) 274-2201 Work: (661) 824-6426 Email: Robert.kay@baesystems.com Greetings 78ers… As many of you might have seen on the AOG web site “Gone but Not Forgotten”, Herb Crissman passed back in March. I’m not sure what the circumstances were but our prayers go out to Victoria during this difficult time. Herb served his country and family with distinction for many years and will be greatly missed by all of us who knew him. I’ve shared a couple of times before the various endeavors that Greg “Holly” Hollister has been doing but this one is truly exciting. His company is leading a technical coalition and working diligently on several energy initiatives. His group met recently with the Kentucky Secretaries of Energy and Labor as well as the Economic Development office of West Virginia and the National Energy Technology lab. The near term focus is on “employing algae as a method to sequester carbon by using it as a feedstock to grow algae and, in turn, create bio-crude. This will allow coal burning power plants to continue operation without having to lose up to 33 percent of their power generation capability by pumping CO2 into the ground. This process, in turn, can be used to "sequester" CO2 from plants that convert coal to oil - something that has been done since the late 1880's.” Talk about making a difference on a major scale. They are working on other very exciting areas with more details at (www.MoveOnNow.info) it makes for some very interesting reading! Here’s something that is pretty cool. Chuck Stiles sent two great pix of him and Kip Self. Until 22 May when he retired after 30 years, Chuck was the vice commander of the USAF Expeditionary Center at Fort Dix, NJ. The commander, and Chuck’s boss was none other than Kip who officiated at the retirement. The first shot is of Kip and Chuck by the entrance to the center and the second one is after the retirement with the appropriate ’78 accoutriments of red suspenders. Well done gents and thanks for sending these Chuck.   Bill Hadaway has also been keeping fairly busy. He was promoted to Brig Gen in the OK ANG last month after serving as the 138th Fighter Wing commander in Tulsa for the past four years. He is now the Chief of Staff for the state having been in the Guard since 1987. He was also the 125FS/DO, 125FS/CC, 138OG/CC and wing commander flying the F-16C Block 42 since 1993. In his day job, he’s a 777 Captain for Delta flying long range flights to Mumbai, Seoul, Dubai, Tokyo, Tel Aviv and others. He considers himself most “fortunate to fly four different fighters uninterrupted for 30 years and be very senior at the airline at the same time. I was able to participate in six combat deployments since 1996. Ann and I had our 30th Cadet Chapel wedding anniversary last month and have three children, Laura 17, Evan 21 and Robert 24.” Thanks for the info Hads…looking forward to seeing you at the reunion. Vic Summers sent this adorable picture of his eldest granddaughter Summer in highly appropriate attire. He said that since he couldn’t get any of his 3 daughters interested in USAFA, he thought he’d start early with his second round of girls (2 granddaughters – Summer and Kimberly). He bought the flight suit on his last visit to the Zoo. Vic is still VP of U.S. Furniture Operations the U.S. for Corporate Express (recently purchased by Staples). He and Cheri still live the good life in northwest Denver (Broomfield), just south of Boulder. Vic also mentioned that John Murtari was in the Denver area in June visiting his son in Boulder and they were able to catch up. 
Mike “Smacko” McMillie sends regular notes on senior officer goings on and mentioned back in June that Dave Lengyel had his retirement in the early part of the month. Lots of familiar faces attended including Don Alston, Garry Dean, John Puffenbarger, Wayne Hermendorfer, and Russ Fraz among others. Everyone had a nice lunch after the ceremony. I was sitting in the lobby of the Holiday Inn in Panama City last week doing e-mail on Mr. CrackBerry when up walks non other than Greg “Kais” Kaiser! He was in town with his fiancée who was doing some work at Tyndall. Kais tragically had a heart attack (mild to moderate in his words) back in Jan and just received word that the flight doc approved his Class 1 FAA medical certificate. No word yet whether FedEx will let him come back on the line but he thinks he has a good shot. He was still flying in the right seat of the MD-11 when he had the attack. Was great to meet his future bride and catch up a bit…talk about coincidences. Speaking of senior officer goings-on, Larry James is now the 14th AF commander at Vandenberg , Punch MOULTON is the J-3 at EUCOM in Germany, Kevin KENNEDY came home from Afghanistan and is now the J-8 (Requirements and Integration) at Joint Forces Command in Norfolk. Three guys put on their second star in Jun: Dave “Limo” Scott who is still the deputy commander of the 7th CAOC in Larissa, Greece (sounds like a rough tour).Jay Lindell will be leaving Afghanistan soon and going to DC as the Director of the Global Power Programs at SAF/AQ. Finally, Mike “Snod” Snodgrass is the Chief of Staff for Africa Command in Stuttgart. Congrats to all of you. Have run out of room on this round so thanks, as always, to everyone who took the time to write. Will have a nice reunion recap next time. Looking forward to seeing everyone back “on campus” next month. 78 is Great!
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Class of 1978 - United States Air Force Academy as of 21 Apr 2018 |
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