Two Grand,
Below is the Class News from May 2005. Be sure to check back every
three months, we didn't have a class news for Jan '06 since I was in transit
back from Baghdad and was unable to complete the article and then left it on my
email there -- oops. Be sure to email me with your news so I can include
it in the next article. Also, please go to
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/USAFA2000 and sign up as a member so I can
ensure you get the email requesting updates or send me an email and I'll hold
your address and not release it without your consent.
Thanks,
Jason W. Simmons
(Click
to enlarge)
Checkpoints - 2000 Class News - May '05
United We Stand: Class of 2000 is still supporting one another
as Shawn Thomas and wife Valarie welcomed Paul Gabriel, wife
Lenetta (Banks ‘01), and son Isaiah to Montgomery, AL. Paul is assuming duties
as Chief of the Air Force Network Operations Security Center, Operations Support
Branch. Shawn relinquished those duties to re-establish dominance on the
gridiron at our beloved USAFA as a football coach at the AFA Prep School. I’m
sure Shawn is going to do great things with the Huskies. And I think he opened
up better than I could have. Yes, class spirit and “supporting our classmates”
is still strong. Here at Ramstein, I’m always running into classmates, like
Matt Graham and Bridget (Blanco) Graham, but more so Matt Scott,
as we both hit some of the same pubs. And recently, Summer Koons as she
is TDY for comm support to the FALCONER weapon system.
Speaking of folks we haven’t heard from in awhile, Dave Paolillo didn't give up on getting his commission. He wound up commissioning late in June of 2003, and is working as an F/A-22 Maintenance Officer at Tyndall. Dave relays that he still feels like a part of our class. I think that speaks volumes about our class; we were always accepting and very relax, but certainly have hidden heroes. I’d like to highlight some of the folks I heard back from downrange, doing just that. One month after completing 4 months in Kabul, Sam Deaton has moved from Hanscom and became the communications flight commander at little-known Morón AB near Sevilla (a.k.a. Seville) in sunny southern Spain. He delayed separating for this new tour and loving life there, as a single man again. Sam says, it’s warm, sunny, an hour from the beach or mountains, the locals are friendly (especially the “mujeres”), and he’s re-learning all of the Spanish forgotten after Vicecomadoro Felici’s (Argentine AF) class at USAFA. He recently ran into Buster Ascol and Malia Dolfinger at the end of April while they stopped by for gas. Sam’s offering visits to his paradise and is be happy to host any summer travelers or those passing through here to/from the desert, look him up on the GAL or call DSN 314-722-8201.
Joy (Harwood) Shuck and Jeff Shuck (‘99) are PCSing from McGuire to Travis AFB at the end of Aug to fly KC-10's. Right now, they're deployed together at Al Dhafra AB for 8 weeks. David Witt is still with the 39th AS at Dyesss AFB,TX, along with Buck Hogdkinson, Laura Schmutzer (Powell), Scott Davis, Matt Puckett and Jake Lukens. They are currently home from the desert, but training intensely before heading back there for the summer.
(Click to Enlarge)
Brad Salmi & Abby Albert’s Herc crew in the desert
Brad Salmi sends sunny and sandy greetings from the desert. He and Abby Albert deployed together as C-130 pilot and copilot. Abby’s been working diligently on her master’s. Brad’s desert mustache was decidedly “creepy” and had to go. Looking at the picture, below I completely disagree. I saw grow the mustaches while you’re deployed, it’s became a tradition. Brad and Abby flew Senator Lieberman (their only real “significant” event so far) out of Baghdad. Every time they eat at the chow hall there’s another ’00 reunion--running into the likes of Bryan Raridon, Jason Goldberg, Bud Fuji-Takamoto, and Miguel Rivera and more! All flying there. Also seen in DCUs is Lauren Maher-Dycus working as an exec. Brad just got orders to Laughlin to fly the T-6 and has been in contact with Paul Wurster who has already arrived to fly the T-38. Jason emailed and said his wife Brooke and him are expecting the birth of their first child in July.
And on the note of new family members, Rob Brooks' wife, Jenny, gave birth to their first baby on 18 April. Benjamin Edward Brooks was 6 lbs, 6 oz, 19 3/4 inches long; they’re all doing well as they learn to adjust to much less sleep.
Another hero, Brooke (maiden name) Rillos separated in May and is excited to spend some quality time raising her and Matt Rillos two adorable boys, Joshua and Caleb, for a little while. Matt is at the Space and Mission Systems Center at Los Angeles AFB.
Ann (Hatley) Redd just finished up her second year of law school at the University of Arizona. She is spending the summer in DC, interning at DoD IG, Investigations of Senior Officials. You might see Hans Anker or Ben Matthews on a satellite broadcast. They're both at AFIT as instructors in the Civil Engineer school.
David Adamson and Susan (Murphy) Adamson are finishing their last respective C-130 and B-1 tours in sandbox before PCSing to Pensacola at the end of the summer. Susan saw folks out there like Ryan Romano and Javin Peterson flying KC-135s and ran into Dan Hoadley who's flying B-52s out there now.
JR Smith is finishing up his tour as a T-37 FAIP at Columbus and will be leaving in the winter to fly the A-10. Chris Todaro and Brian Knauf are also finishing up their FAIP tours in the tweet. Brian has already left to fly the F-15C and Chris will be leaving later in the year to fly the F-16. Cliff Flowers is currently working to secure the computer network at USSTRATCOM HQ at Offutt AFB, NE. His wife, Dara (Kjarum) Flowers is spending her days (and some nights) working in the MPF as the Chief of Relocations and Employments. They are getting ready to celebrate their 5th wedding anniversary on 17 Jun; Cliff is still trying to figure out how he landed someone so far out of his league! Russ Magaziner got married back in Sept of '04 to Lauren (Levine) Magaziner. He separated from active duty on 6 May 05, and is trying to finish his mech PhD dissertation over the summer, and will start law school at Indiana University in August to be a patent attorney. Lauren will be attempting a math PhD at IU. William Swan, wife Harmony, and baby Savannah are spending the time in Alberta, Canada. Will is in the process of completing the latter half of his master's degree in Space Studies.
That’s it for now. As I said in the email, I’ve re-stood up our website and am prepared to make it a site that you want to check out at least once a month. If you’d like to have a USAFA2000.com email address, just let me know. I’m also updating the email list. Please send me your addresses. Until next time, let’s have a great summer. It’s going to be super busy, so be sure to spend some quality time with friends or family. Oh yeah, almost forgot, what are you doing Jason? I’m still kicking around Europe while being stationed at Ramstein. This year’s ski season was terrific; skiing the Alps has been great. I spent about 20 days on the slopes this winter and have switched out skis for bottles of wine and touring, meanwhile working 60hrs+ a week as Comm for Intel on the SENTINEL weapon system. Okay, until next time, I’ll close out as Shawn opened, “Two Grand, United We Stand!”
.... Please go to to http://groups.yahoo.com/group/USAFA2000 and sign up to ensure you stay up-to-date.