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On February 26, 2009 the Air Force Academy Society of North Carolina held its Winter Social, Fighter Pilot Jazz, at Prestonwood Country Club in Cary, NC. The guest speaker was Col. Hal Shook. Col. Shook is a WWII veteran P-47 pilot. He shared his experiences as a fighter pilot from D-Day through Korea. The meeting was hosted by J.W. “Wild Bill” Stealey ’70. Bill brought WarBirds flight simulation software from his company iEntertainment and allowed attendees to “fly” their own P-47 “Jug”.

Bill Stealey ’79 shows Col. Shook how to fly a “Jug” on a personal computer.

Marilyn Shook, Col. Hal Shook and Lindsey Kirchhoff’07

On April 15, 2008, the Air Force Academy Society of North Carolina held a series of Founder’s Day events at Seymour Johnson AFB in Goldsboro, NC. In all, about forty graduates participated in the events. Classes represented ranged from ’59 to ’07. Graduates were joined by spouses, cadet parents, members of the local Military Affairs Committee and by Coach Fisher DeBerry and his lovely wife LuAnn.

The first event was the Morning Briefing. LtCol Lance “Gipper” Bunch ’92, Director of Operations for the 336^th Fighter Squadron of the 4^th Fighter Wing gave the briefing. LtCol Bunch provided a history of the 4^th FW dating to its origins in WWII and through Korea, Vietnam, the Balkans and the Middle East. He then went into a detailed discussion of the 336^th’s recent deployment to Afghanistan.

Six foursomes took to the links at a sunny but windy Three Eagles golf course for a friendly scramble. Winners were Ron Patchett ‘60 John Graves ’64 Clay Wisniewski ’84 and “Chainsaw McCullough.

The final event was a dinner (complete with USAFA Form O-96) held at the SJAFB Officer’s Club. Gary Howe, CEO of the AOG addressed the group. Fisher DeBerry was the guest speaker. Coach DeBerry spoke of his time at the Air Force Academy and stressed its importance in the development of leaders for the nation.

The Goldsboro Military Affairs Committee donated four Nike AF Autograph footballs that were raffled off at the event and signed by Coach DeBerry. Slightly in excess of $1,000 was raised for the Fisher DeBerry Foundation to support single parents.