I debated for a long while about whether to go or not, but in the end, I decided that there were people I'd like to see, changes in the institution to get acquainted with, and it would be neat to attend one last reunion as an active Air Force member.
Laura and I flew out on Thursday, getting into Denver right about 10:30. The nice thing about that was we were were able to hook up with Bob Devaney for lunch. Bob was my roommates the second semester of my Junior year, and has been one of the people I've tried to stay close to over the years. In fact he is my daughter Jill's Godfather, so it was good to meet up and catch up on all the changes in his life over the past few years, including kids graduating, getting remarried and becoming a grandparent! (While that is definitely possible, it is still a very foreign concept to me!)
The reunion events actually started Wednesday with a golf outing on the Academy course. One day I would love to play the course again, mainly because I only played it once in college, and it's kinda like the Mecca of Academy graduates who golf or hack (me). Unfortunately, with busy schedules at both our jobs, that extra day just wasn't possible this time around.Thursday night's event was a Class social down in the Lobby of the Embassy Suites, the main reunion hotel. There was a fine group in attendance and I ran into a bunch of people I knew, including Bill Harding (I went to High School in Las Vegas with him), Carson Berry, a roommate from Nav School, and Rich Shimko, one of the few folks from 38th Allstars, my graduation squadron. Laura started talking to Matt Hannifen's wife, Vance, and the next thing I knew, we were on our way to dinner with them to this neat little restaurant, Nosh, in downtown Colorado Springs. What a great place. They serve dinner as a series of small dishes (almost like Tapas), so we between us we ordered 8, and had a very delicious, yet eclectic, meal!
Friday was the big touring day. It was not very clear all the things that were on the schedule, but we tried to figure it out as best as we could. We drove up to the Alumni Center, Doolittle Hall and toured a couple of exhibits, shopped for USAFA merchandise (I think I'm good for another 10 years!), and ate lunch, meeting up with Tom Sylvester. We then took a bus over to the campus, and walked around campus, including visiting the old 38th Squadron. At the 20 year reunion the Squadron had been disbanded, so it was good to see it back in full form, with all the Allstar pride we remembered. One of the odd things Rich and I noticed was the addition of FIVE names to the plaque for our year. We have ho idea who Robin Adkins, Jerome Jones, Jaime Puig, Robert Sanford, or Victor Ventrano are, or were; they certainly didn't graduate with us!
Mid-afternoon, just about the time we were tired of strolling the Terrazzo, we had a very informative and well put-together briefing by the Academy Senior Staff, pretty much telling us that the Academy is alive and well, and still a viable institution. Most of the briefers were graduates themselves, so they were acutely aware of our concerns, and went out of their way to answer any and all concerns from the audience. I thought they did a pretty fair job of responding to everything except the issue of cadet suicides, which have sadly occurred once or twice over the past decade. On the other hand, I don't know that the Air Force in general has figured out a great response to this, try as they might.
After the brief we had a very moving Memorial Service in the Cadet Chapel to remember those Classmates who have passed over the years. Another classmate, Daryl "Bones" Jones, has become a Pastor and did a phenomenal job leading the service, sharing stories about many of those who have left us. Members of the current Cadet Choir led us in singing "Lord, Guard and Guide the Men Who Fly," and I doubt there was a dry eye in the house. It didn't hurt that we were in the Chapel... The afternoon sun streaming through all the stained glass just adds an incredible feeling of peaceful reverence and awe. It was the perfect venue for this occasion.
After the ceremony we streamed out the front doors to the Chapel steps for a class photo. Even with only about 230 members present, it's a pretty impressive picture. You can pick out the one or two people in uniform, pretty much all Generals these days. I debated wearing my uniform, but decided that it was a pain to carry cross-country, and it would look pretty weird having a bunch of Generals and a lone Lieutenant Colonel wandering around...
After that, it was a race back to the hotel to change and get over to the Embassy Suites for the formal Class dinner. We didn't dawdle, but were still about 15 minutes late for the start, though luckily Rich and Karla saved us a place at their table. We shared the evening with Rich and Karla, Ken Wuttke, and Dave Pistilli. Dave was apparently a Defense Attache for several years, and had some interesting stories to share about life in Morocco.Dinner was very nice, and while the food was delicious, the highlight had to be when the staff brought out two big platters of "Mitch's Mountain" to every table. Mitch's Mountain is a famous dessert served at the Academy dining hall: a pie-pan sized cake heaped high with scoops of strawberry, vanilla and chocolate ice cream. It has always been a cadet favorite, so was a true surprise everyone really appreciated. Entertainment was provided by a specially selected band suggested by Tom Sylvester. Apparently they are all terrific session musicians and had a hole in their schedule. Their song selection was diverse and was punctuated by awesome solo riffs that held everyone captivated.
Over the course of the evening, I was able to hook up with a several classmates and get some pictures to mark the occasion, including General Barb Faulkenberry, and Mike Eayrs, more Nav School Classmates. Got the entire 38th Squadron contingent together, which totaled me, Rich and Barb. Not bad: far better than my Freshman Squadron, CS-27, which was just me!Saturday morning broke cool and clear with a promise of a warm-up in time for the game. For Breakfast we ventured out onto the economy and found a place called Eggs and I, which was a nice breakfast joint that seemed to be a local favorite. More than a diner, but less than a chain, it hosted a nice breakfast worth the price; just what the doctor ordered.
Our itinerary this morning was a caravan tour of Jack's Valley, the field training area for all new cadets during Basic Training. Jack's Valley is the second half of basic training, coming after the first three weeks of orientation which consists mostly of drill and physical fitness. During Jack's Valley, we dressed in fatigues, lived in 10-man tents, and underwent such field training events as the confidence course, the obstacle course, the assault course, and Project X, which is a basic team-building exercise. It was neat seeing the old obstacles, the low crawl through the concertina wire, the pugel stick combat arena, the bayonet assault training facility, and even the open-air movie "theater" where we watched "Patton" in the rain. You can't find those things just anywhere these days!!
After the tour we did some last minute shopping at the Cadet Visitor's Center and then headed down to the game for the tail-gate and the football game against the University of New Mexico. I was actually very impressed that the tail-gate included some prime parking... we were dead center, right up next to the Stadium. It think we had to walk maybe 50 yards total to the beer tent. They had a pretty good spread: beer and soft drinks, along with fairly decent mexican: tacos and pulled pork with all the fixings. Bob Devaney and his lovely bride, Kim were waiting when we arrived, and Rich and Karla joined us a bit later.
The game itself was as good as I remembered: the very inspiring march on of the cadets; a precision parachute demonstration by the Academy parachute team, including two cadets trailing flags for each of the reunion classes in attendance, '72 and '82, and one with the US. Flag; and an ear-shattering fly-by of two F-4s, one piloted by an 82 Grad. The game itself was very entertaining: it went back and forth early, then Air Force seemed to take command, scoring several times to run up a nice lead, then hanging on with tough defense to hold off New Mexico for the win, 28-23. It was a fun night shared with a LOT of familiar faces and friends. Overall I think Laura and I had a great time and are really happy we made the trek west to share in the experience. I don't have much experience, but I don't think many colleges, save other service academies, have such close-knit classes, based mainly on shared academic experiences and at least initially, shared work backgrounds. After 30 years, I cand definitely say I am proud to be a member of the United States Air Force Academy "Long Blue Line."And the Class of '82 all said, "Amen!"
