From: Steve Bishop
Sent: Saturday, May 13, 2006 2:29 PM
Subject: Hi Friends!
Time for new addresses: wstephenbishop@cs.com and PO Box 1011, Niwot, CO, 80544. The email is reestablished as the one and only, the PO Box is brand new as I return to Colorado to train for and take up new employment. My very best to each one of you, Steve
From: Kerry Miller
[mailto:falcon492@atlanticbb.net]
Sent: Saturday, May 13, 2006 2:29 PM
Subject: update
Hi, Ace -
Rosy has requested that I contact you to update our class roster.
Miller, Kerry D (Doug) falcon492@atlanticbb.net
50 Hickory Drive
Ridgeley, WV 26753
Home: 304-738-2169
Thanks
Doug
From:Frank Mayberry
[FrankMayberry@hotmail.com]
Sent: Wed 3/8/2006 11:28 AM
Subject: 50th Reunion
Classmates, As you all know, many of us married shortly after graduating and will be having our 50th anniversaries about the time we have our reunion. Some of us think it would be a good idea to have a luncheon during the reunion period so we can share in our celebration. We've got some time to work on this. I don't think the celebration should exclude those who aren't having their 50th because they may want to congratulate those who are. I would like to know your thoughts on the subject so we can plan accordingly. Frank Mayberry
FrankMayberry@hotmail.com
From:Amthrush@aol.com
Sent: Wed 3/8/2006 3:31 AM
Subject: AFA/WYO Thursday at 8 pm at Anglers
Hear Ye, Hear Ye! The Falcons need to win their first game in the MWC Tournament against Wyoming. If they win, that should solidify the probability that they will be selected to play in the NCAA Tournament. The game will be televised on ESPN+Plus; unless you subscribe to ESPN's FULL COURT TV package you need to come and cheer the Falcons on to victory at Angler's (Downstairs) on Okaloosa Island at 8:00 p.m. CST on Thursday, March 9. Even though the Cowboys finished the regular season with a 12-17 overall record and with a 5-11 conference record (7th out of 9 in the MWC), they still managed to beat the Falcons by 55-50 in Laramie. On the neutral court in Denver, the Falcons should be favored by 4 or 5 points; but given that they have lost the first game in the MWC Tournament for the past 2 years in Denver there is no room for overconfidence.
Antoine Hood has been selected to the all-MWC first team. Jacob Burtschi was chosen on the second team, and Dan Nwaelele was given honorable mention. Hood leads the Falcons this season with a 14.8 ppg average and a total of 78 assists for the season; he was second on the squad with 46 steals. Burtschi averaged 12.7 ppg and led the team with 6.1 rpg and 68 steals; he was second with 77 assists. Nwaelele averaged 11.8 ppg and led the Falcons with a 48.4% success rate for making 3-point shots.
If the Falcons win Thursday's game they will play the winner of the BYU/Utah game to be played at 11:00 p.m. Thursday. This second game for the Falcons would be played on Friday, March 10, at 11:00 p.m. CST and is scheduled to be telecast on ESPN which you can watch at home. Assuming they win that second game, they will then play in the Tournament Championship Game Saturday, March 11, at 11:00 p.m. CST. The Championship Game will also be telecast on ESPN.
See you at Anglers on Thursday, March 9, at 8:00 p.m. CST. The Sports Bar will not be open on Thursday, but Anglers has promised us the HD TV in the downstairs bar. GO FALCONS!
Aaron
From: George Elsea
[elseage@yahoo.com]
Sent: Mon 2/27/2006 9:12 PM
Subject: email address
My email address is elseage@yahoo.com
All the Best!
George
From: Miles Kaspar
[makasparjr@sbcglobal.net]
Sent: Mon 2/13/2006 12:11 AM
Subject: Extreme Piloting
Ace-Am forwarding a video of a Russian (I assume) wringing out a Sukhoi 30. Wish I had a web site for it. Sent to me by a Plt Trng classmate who flew Huns and Sixes and retired from ANG and Amer Airlines.--Miles
From: Amthrush@aol.com
Sent: Thu 2/16/2006 1:21 AM
Subject:Air Force Basketball
For those of you that haven't been keeping up with the Falcon Basketball team lately, here is the latest update. The Falcons brought their season record to 20-5 tonight as they defeated the TCU Horned Frogs at Fort Worth by a 63-45 score. They actually outrebounded TCU tonight by a 30-25 margin, but only hit on 5 of 20 3-point attempts. The Falcons scored 25 points off of 10 TCU turnovers. They are now at 8-4 in the MWC and are in third place behind San Diego State at 9-2 and UNLV at 7-3. Those two teams play one another in Las Vegas tomorrow (Thursday) night.
The Falcons have lost games to Wyoming, New Mexico, BYU and San Diego State so far; all were away games. The only away games they have won so far were at UNLV and tonight at TCU. Their remaining games are Saturday, 2/18, at Utah; Wednesday, 2/22 at home with New Mexico; Saturday, 2/25 at home with UNLV and Saturday, 3/4 at CSU. The MWC tournament will be in Denver from March 7 through 11. If the Falcons can win their remaining four games to finish at 24-5 they have a good chance of getting an NCAA Tournament bid even if they do not win the MWC Tournament. They almost certainly would get an NIT bid with a 24-5 record and having defeated both Miami and Georgia Tech of the ACC.
GO FALCONS!
Aaron
From: LES QUERRY
[lesquerry@wildblue.net]
Sent: Wed 2/22/2006 9:14 AM
Subject: Change of E-mail address of Les Querry
Dear Friends and Family, Please change my E-mail address from starpower.net to: lesquerry@wildblue.net Thanks, Les
From: Liggett, Charles
[charles.liggett@lmco.com]
Sent: Tues 2/7/2006
Subject: Summer Bivouac
I seem to recall someone in the class of 60 requesting information on the location of our initial summer bivouac. I was going through a box of letters my mother had saved and then given to me before she died several years ago. I had not bothered to look at them too closely but just last week I happened to open the box and take a look and there was a letter from me to my parents that also included a map of the bivouac area and a diagram of our field exercise with numbers corresponding to tests of various skills that we were supposed to have acquired based on the training by our illustrious ATOs. The letter is a little long but you have to realize it was an exciting time for a young man from a small river town in southern Ohio and perhaps he just wanted to share that excitement with his parents. The letter is dated Monday, 10 September 1956, I think the bivouac must have been the week prior to September 10. Here goes.---
"Monday morning about seven o'clock we started off on a ten mile hike to the bivouac area. We carried full field packs and our M1 rifles (about 45 or 50 pounds). We reached the bivouac area about 11 O'clock. We ate lunch right away and then pitched our tents. The remainder of the afternoon was spent getting settled down and making our tents comfortable. From 7 to 9 o'clock throughout the week we had movies.
Tuesday we awoke bright and early at 5 A.M. and tried to shave. The temperature was usually about 40 degrees when we got up in the morning, but it warms up fast and by noon is about 70 or 80.
We moved off at about 6:30 for 57MM recoilless class which was about two miles away. All morning we fired the 57MM at old barrels and boxes across a big field. This is the gun that can seriously injure or kill you if you happen to be standing behind it (within 100 feet). The way the instructors talk it's safer to stand in front rather than behind it. After the 57MM we fired the 60MM mortar. I think this weapon is the most fun of them all.
Wednesday we fired the 30 cal light machine gun and the BAR. On these weapons you squeeze the trigger and before you know it you have fired 25 to 50 rounds of ammunition. Wednesday afternoon we also tossed grenades. We each tossed 3 practice grenades with a light explosive change and one fragmentation grenade that exploded.
Thursday turned out to be the most miserable day, the temperature was about 35 or 40 all day. In the morning we had a mines and booby traps class where they showed us various mines and booby traps and how to use them. They also took us through a mine field that was planted with mines and booby traps. If you happened to set off one you would explode a big firecracker.
Thursday morning we also had a field fortifications class where we learned how to dig foxholes and trenches and also how to use barbed wire. For the last part of the class we had a little game of war. We had to run across a field towards the enemy who was dug in in a gully. About half way there we had to dig shallow trenches to lay in to fire at the enemy, meanwhile they were firing at us with blanks. A little further across the field we had to cross a barbed wire entanglement. After that we rushed the enemy troops who were well dug in but they claimed they had shot all of us.
Thursday afternoon we had a compass problem. The instructors gave us a compass and a map and we had to walk about two miles to a certain spot. Nobody got lost but there were a couple guys who missed the target several hundred yards.
Friday we had an airpower demonstration. We saw some F-80s shoot rockets, 56 cal machine guns and drop napalm bombs. There was also a B-25 bomber that dropped incendiary bombs. They were all shooting at a target about a half mile from where we were sitting, so we got a pretty good view. Some of the other weapons that were demonstrated were smoke generators, marking rockets, flame throwers, white phosphorus grenades and thermite bombs.
After the demonstration we had a tear gas attack. We walked across a tear gas field once with our gas masks on and then once without them. My eyes were watering for a half hour after the exposure to tear gas.
Saturday morning was the big day, from 7 to 12 in the morning we had a field problem. We had to run between 28 stations. At each station we would have to demonstrate our proficiency in some phase of summer training. (Following are the stations.)
1. Find five things wrong with the placement of a 60MM mortar.
2. Take the M1 apart and put it back together in four minutes while blindfolded.
3. Figure out a way to get across a pit to a platform using only a bucket of sand and two boards (one was not long enough to reach across). The solution was to hold the two boards together with the bucket handle.
4. Using map reading determine our position.
5. Run up and down a hill about 600 yards and stab three dummies enroute.
6. Take apart a 45 cal pistol and put it back together again in three minutes.
7. Take the M2 carbine apart and put it back together in four minutes.
8. Recognize the mistakes in a display of combat equipment.
9. Name and identify seven different kinds of fuses used in mines and booby traps.
10. Name five steps in what you would do if you had a misfire.
11. Name five mistakes in a pitched tent.
12. Do as many setups in one minute as you can. I did 35.
13. Do as many pull-ups as you can.
14. Do a PLF (parachute landing fall) and then recover to your feet while being dragged along the ground.
15. Observe a 30 cal machine gun emplacement and note what was wrong.
16. Throw three grenades at a target. (Accuracy counted.).
17. Cross a creek bed using only a rope that was strung across the creek bed. It was about 50 feet.
18. Do as many pushups in one minute as you can. I did 35.
19. Give the procedure to follow in case of certain emergencies, such as snake bite, drowning, broken leg, cuts, etc.
20. Find out what was wrong with a 30 cal machine gun.
21. Assemble a 30 cal light machine gun.
22. Fix a broken BAR and fire five rounds through it.
23. Fire at a balloon tacked on a stake at 75 feet with a 45 cal pistol. I hit it the first shot.
24. Fire the M2 at a target. (5 rounds).
25. Triangulate. That is fire three shots all within a certain radius.
26. Find our way to a certain point about a half mile away using only a compass.
27. ssemble the breach block of a 57MM recoilless rifle.
28. Fix a malfunction of the 57MM.
The entire course was about four miles long and we had to run in between each station. After five hours we were pretty tired. After we ate dinner we loaded all our gear on buses and rode to within three miles of the base. There we debussed and marched to rest of the way. We were all glad to get back and take a hot shower and jump into a soft bed. In the bivouac area the dust was actually three or four inches thick in some places.
No one got bit by a rattlesnake this year although they did catch a couple from under the logs where we sat down to eat."
If you're still with me enclosed are both pdf and jpeg copies of the Final Problem that lists the 28 tests and also a grid map with the bivouac area pinpointed.
I can send a paper copy of the map to anyone who wants it.
Summer Bivouac Area.jpg
See you for the 50th.
From: Ace Holman
Sent: Fri 1/20/2006
Subject: Check out the B-2 Spirit
Click or cut/paste to your browser:
http://www.richard-seaman.com/Aircraft/AirShows/Edwards2005/B2/index.html
This guy is good...
Regards, Ace
From: Aaron Thrush
Sent: Thu 1/5/2006 2:43 AM
Subject: AFA vs. BYU Tonight on ESPN2
Just a quick heads up for those of you that have not been keeping a close watch on the Falcon Basketball team this season. They play their first MWC game of the season at home against the BYU Cougars tonight at 10 p.m. CST. The game will be telecast on ESPN2, and I strongly recommend you try to watch the contest.
The Falcons are 12-1 so far, having lost only to the Washington Huskies who were ranked # 10 in the nation after losing their first game of the season last week to Arizona. BYU is a surprising 8-3 so far as they are starting 2 freshmen (6'6" G - Cummard and 6'11" F Plaisted). BYU lost their first game of the season (at home) to Loyola Marymount by 71-83. Later they lost two away games to Southern California by 68-74 and to Utah State by 80-91. The Cougars have good depth and frontline height as they regularly play 10 players each game to include 6'9" C Malaman and 6'11" C Dawes. They lead the MWC so far this season in offensive scoring with a per game average of 78.9 points. They have held their opponents to an average of 67.5 points per game.
The Falcons once again lead the nation with a 52.3 points allowed per game average this season. 6'5" F Dan Nwaelele is the leading Falcon scorer with a 12.5 ppg average, followed by 6'4" G Antoine Hood at 11.8 ppg, 6'6" F Jacob Burtschi with 11.7 ppg, 6'2" G Matt McCraw at 11.3 and 6'10" C John Frye with 6.7 ppg. Burtschi is the leading rebounder with a 6.4 rpg average; Frye is next with a 3.8 rpg average. John Frye's play has been a pleasant surprise this season as he replaces the injured Nick Welch at center. Frye scored a team high 26 points against Navy early in the season as the Middies often left him unguarded away from the basket. He made them pay as he hit 3 of 6 three pointers. Against Georgia Tech last week in Colorado Springs Frye hit 3 of 3 three point baskets and had a game high 18 points as the Falcons defeated Georgia Tech by a 54-46 score. Frequent substitutes for the Falcons are 6'2" G Tim Anderson, 6'5" G Andrew Henke and 6'7" F Keith Maren.
The Falcons currently have a 10 game winning streak and have won 33 of 34 games at Clune Arena over the past three seasons. Tune in and watch a very good Falcon Basketball team face a challenging first conference game foe tonight.
GO FALCONS,
Aaron
From: Ace Holman
Sent: Mon 12/12/2005
Subject: Oceana 2005 Air Show
Click or cut/paste to your browser:
http://www.richard-seaman.com/Aircraft/AirShows/Oceana2005/Highlights/
Enjoy the show...
Regards, Ace
From: Frank Goham
Sent: Sun 11/20/2005 12:30 PM
Subject: 62A reunion
Ace,
Fascinating time last night at Ft Walton Beach. Reunion of our 62A pilot training class. 60 some guys plus wives etc. Excellent wine and fellowship. Great luck, ended up seated next to Bill Goodyear and Dennis Walsh before we recognized each other. Pic attached. Ed Leonard should have been there too but is suffering maintenance issues on his POW-induced hip and knee replacements.
Cheers, Frank
From: Miles Kaspar
Sent: Sun 11/20/2005 12:56 AM
Subject: Switch On-Contact
Ace-Weese: Glad to hear you survived summer's havoc. I tried to pull up some of the 1960 Web Site but couldn't get individual info. Mebbe my fault. Anyway, have new ISP-makasparjr@sbcglobal.net Hope this gets thru to you-Miles E-mail: makasparjr@sbcglobal.net
From: Aaron Thrush
Sent: Wed 11/16/2005 2:05 AM
Subject: Huskies Defeat Falcons
The Falcons did not come close to keeping the Huskies below 60 points in their game last night, but they did show that they can be competitive with top teams in the nation. The final score was 85-74. A link to the AP recap of the game is at:
http://images.sportsline.com/u/partners/aol/index.html?http://cbs.sportsline.com/
From: Aaron Thrush
Sent: 11/15/2005 12:57 PM
Subject: FALCONS DEFEAT MIAMI, FL
Now that I have your attention, let me point out that it is the Falcon Men's Basketball Team that defeated the Miami Hurricanes last night in Seattle by a score of 57-53 in a semifinal game of the Black Coaches' Association Classic Tournament. They had defeated Division IIA Northern Arizona Sunday afternoon 62-49. Tonight the Falcons will play the host University of Washington Huskies in the BCA Championship game.
Realizing that some of you have too much going on in your lives to stay up with the latest from the Falcon sports scene, let me quickly bring you up to date. Chris Mooney, the Falcon head BB coach last year, left in the late spring of 2005 to take the head coaching job at University of Richmond in Virginia. He was succeeded by Jeff Bzdelic who had coached the professional Denver Nuggets before being fired by the Nuggets over a year ago. Many were surprised that Bzdelic would be interested in coaching at the Academy, but family reasons helped persuade him to stay in Colorado, and he was quickly hired after he indicated an interest in the job. With 4 of 5 starters (only Tim Keller graduated) back from an 18-12 record last year, it appeared that the Falcons might well aspire to returning to the NCAA Tournament that they had experienced two years ago. The top player that everyone assumed would lead the Falcons this year was senior center 6'8" Nick Welch. Unfortunately Welch suffered a foot/ankle injury in a pickup basketball game this past summer and had surgery to repair a broken left foot in July. He had further surgery in September to repair a tendon in his left ankle. All this followed three previous surgeries during his college career. Due to his missing lots of academic and military training because of his medical problems, Welch has been granted a medical turnback for the current semester and the Academy has granted him nine semesters to complete his Academy education. He'll return to classes in January, 2006, but will not play until the 2006-07 season. Under NCAA rules athletes have five years to complete their athletic eligibility. The result is that this year the Falcons will have senior guard 6'4" Antoine Hood, junior forward 6'6" Jacob Burtschi, and junior G/F 6'5" Dan Nwaelele as returning starters. They are joined as starters by junior guard 6'2" Matt McCraw, the 6th man last year and by junior center 6'10" John Frye who only averaged about 2 and 1/2 minutes per game last season. Top reserves will include top recruit freshman guard 6'5" Andrew Henke from Minnetonka, MN, along with senior forward 6'6" Marc Holum and sophomore guard 6"2" Tim Anderson who both averaged about 10 minutes per game last year.
Now that you have a feel for who is playing, let's talk a bit about the wins over Northern Arizona and Miami in the past two days. The Falcons had a relatively easy win over Northern Arizona although they led by only 29-25 at the half. Hood and Burtschi shared top scoring honors with 15 points each. McCraw followed close behind as he lived up to his reputation as the top 3-point shooter in the MWC a 3 of 4 night and a total of 13 points. Nwaelele had 7 points and Frye had 6. Interestingly, Frye's points came from shooting 2 for 2 from the 3-point distance; he also had 3 blocks. Overall, the Falcons had an 8 of 17 success rate for 3-point shots and made 8 of 10 free throws. They were outrebounded by Northern Arizona by a 38-23 margin and Air Force had only 3 offensive rebounds the entire game. Since the Falcons play a game consisting of lots of movement and passing, 3-point shooting and backdoor layups, there are not many Falcons hanging around the basket to get offensive rebounds.
The game against Miami last night was much closer. Dan Nwaelele opened scoring with a 3-pointer that gave the Falcons a 3-0 lead. That was the last time that they led until they went ahead by 46-45 with 2:57 left in the game. Early in the second half the Hurricanes led 35-23 and the Falcons were only shooting 9 of 27 from the field. Air Force then proceeded to go on a 15-5 run and closed the score to 40-38 in Miami's favor with 8:40 left in the game. Antoine Hood scored 18 of his game-high 22 scoring total in the second half, including 4 of 6 from 3-point land for the game. Nwaelele and Frye both ended with 8 points each while Burtschi and McCraw had 7 points each. Andrew Henke chipped in with 5 points for the night. Overall, the Falcons only shot 8 of 25 for 3-pointers. They had a 5 of 7 success rate for free throws. Both Hood and McCraw played the full 40 minutes in the game, Burtschi played 36 minutes, Nwaelele played 26 minutes, Frye played 20 minutes and Henke played 24 minutes. Anderson played 13 minutes and Holum played only 1 minute.
The game against the Washington Huskies tonight will be difficult given the Husky record of 29-6 last year which included NCAA tourney wins over Montana and Pacific before losing to Louisville in the regional semifinals. They lost 2 starting guards (Will Conroy and Nate Robinson) from last year's squad, but they have able replacements in Brandon Roy and Ryan Appleby. In the frontcourt they have 2 three year starters in seniors 6'6" Bobby Jones and 6'8" Mike Jensen along with senior 6'6" Jamaal Willliams. If the Falcons can hold them below 60 points, it should end up to be a close score of an Air Force victory of around 63-58. The next Air Force game will be with Univ. of Colorado at Colorado Springs at USAFA next Saturday at 3:05 p.m. CST. The Falcons have 10 non-conference games scheduled before MWC play begins against BYU on Thursday, January 5; that BYU game is scheduled to be on ESPN2 at 10:00 p.m. CST. Eight of those 10 non-conference games will be at home. They include Georgia Tech on Wednesday, December 28, at 8:05 p.m. CST to be played at the Colorado Springs World Arena which holds more spectators than the 6,000 seat Clune Arena at USAFA.
From: Aaron Thrush
Sent: Fri 11/4/2005 2:56 AM
Subject: AFA/ARMY at 2:30 CDT Saturday at Angler's
Just a quick note to better let you make plans for coming to Angler's Sports Bar this Saturday for the 2:30 CDT start time for the Falcons game with the Army Black Knights. For those elsewhere in the nation, the game is to be telecast via ESPN Classic and on the Internet via ESPN360. It's not exactly a national championship preview game, but it will be hard fought and competitive. While the Falcons were combining with BYU to set an MWC record for total points scored in their 62-41 loss last Saturday, Army had an off week to better prepare for their trip to Colorado Springs where they have not won since 1977. Yes, the Black Knights have lost 13 straight to the Air Force at Falcon Stadium. Army has also lost 15 of their last 16 games with the Falcons. Nevertheless, they have had two weeks to prepare and get well after shutting out Akron 20-0 two weeks ago at Akron to win their first game of the season after starting 0-6.
Adam Fitch will start at QB for the Falcons since Shaun Carney has a left hand injury that required seven stitches from the BYU game. Fitch set an all-time Air Force record by passing for 5 TD's last week after replacing Carney early in the second quarter. BYU led 28-7 at halftime and had a 41-7 lead with less than a minute left in the third quarter when the Falcons started a comeback that saw them score 35 points in 16 minutes. Unfortunately, BYU scored 21 more points during that same time period to finish the game at 62-41. Along with Carney's injury, other Falcon starters that are questionable for this Saturday include TE Robert McMenomy, C Jon Wilson, NG Russ Mitscherling, DE Gilberto Perez and backup FB Ryan Williams. Starting FB Jacobe Kendrick is a probable starter, but still has a tender ankle. Starters who definitely will not play include OL Caleb Morris and LB Rick Ricciardi. That's a lot of injuries folks, and it doesn't include reserves that are walking wounded such as HB's Justin Handley and Jim Ollis and TE Michael Krogh.
Meanwhile, Army will depend on RB Carlton Jones who ran for 213 yards against the Falcon defense last year and who is the second leading Army career runner in their history. In addition, they have an experienced QB in returning starter Zac Dahman. Given the Falcon injury list and the fact that Army is long overdue to pull off an upset at Colorado Springs, expect a close game with Air Force being fortunate to escape with a victory of 31-24.
GO FALCONS!
Aaron
From: Aaron Thrush
Sent Sat Sat 10/29/2005 12:54 AM
Subject: AFA/BYU at Angler's at 2:00 p.m. CDT
Yes, the Falcons were walloped last week by TCU by a score of 48-10. Yes, they have now lost 5 of their last 6 games. This is still a team that can beat BYU in Provo on Saturday. We'll be back at Angler's on Okaloosa Island to watch them try to do so as the game will be carried via ESPN's GamePlan. It won't be easy to defeat the Cougars. Their QB, junior John Beck led them to stay even with TCU 2 weeks ago until finally succumbing 51-50 in OT to the Horned Frogs. Beck has completed 195 of 307 passing attempts this season for a total of 2219 yards, 14 TD's and 10 interceptions. He has averaged 317 yards passing per game. His favorite targets are senior WR Todd Watkins who is averaging 15.9 yards per reception and who has a total of 6 TD's for the season and sophomore TE Jonny Harline who has caught 37 passes for 14.9 yards per reception and 1 TD. Harline caught 8 passes for a total of 100 yards last week against Notre Dame in a 49-23 BYU loss. Junior RB Curtis Brown is the Cougars' leading rusher with 527 total yards and 5 TD's. MLB Cameron Jensen is a leader of BYU's defense; he has averaged 7.5 tackles per game. BYU does have an injury problem in their defensive secondary and could be susceptible to an effective passing attack if the Falcons can manage to mount one.
To win, Shaun Carney will have to play almost a perfect game with no costly interceptions and no fumbles from either him or from other Falcons. Both Jacobe Kendrick and Ryan Williams, the top 2 FB's are still slowed by ankle injuries, so expect to see sophomore FB Scott Peeples to get lots of playing time. Good games from HB's Justin Handley and Chad Hall and WR's Jason Brown and Greg Kirkwood will also be necessary. The defense will have to find a way to rush Beck with his passing and hopefully will be able to intercept some of his attempts.
Both teams have had turnover problems this season with Air Force having 17 turnovers so far and BYU having 15. Given the Falcon's season long history of inconsistent play, I can only hope they might eke out a 27-24 victory over BYU. If they don't play well, however, the Cougars could win with a score similar to that of TCU's victory last week.
GO FALCONS!
Aaron
From: Aaron Thrush
Sent Sat 10/22/2005 4:55 AM
Subject: AFA/TCU on TV at 2:00 p.m. CDT
Be at the Connie Kay's Flight Line Cafe at 538 N. Eglin Parkway (across from Denny's) at 2:00 p.m. CDT if you want to enjoy a huge Falcon victory Saturday afternoon. Sorry about no musings last week, but it took a while to get over the 27-24 defeat at the hand of the Navy Middies. The Falcons finally put it together for an entire game when they destroyed UNLV by a 42-7 margin last Saturday. UNLV made it somewhat easier by netting only 2 (that's right, two) yards rushing for the game after a couple of shotgun formation snaps over their QB's head, four turnovers that included 2 fumbles after Air Force kickoffs and a total of 13 penalties for 88 yards. A disturbing statistic from the Air Force side was the fact of 5 fumbles, 3 of which were turnovers; a fourth fumble was picked up by QB Carney and taken in for the second TD of the game from within the UNLV 10 yard line. A new Falcon punter, Christopher Carp, had only one punt in the game, a 38 yard punt with a 3 yard return. There was also a new Falcon kickoff man and UNLV had only one 16 yard return from Air Force kickoffs. Coach DeBerry and his staff obviously made some necessary changes to their special teams personnel after the Navy game.
On to the Air Force/TCU game at 2:00 p.m. CDT to be played in Colorado Springs. In some respects the Falcons and the Horned Frogs are mirror images of one another. The Falcons have lost 3 games this year by a total of 7 points to Utah, Wyoming and Navy. Had they won those games, they would have a record of 6-1. Only the Wyoming game was played in Colorado Springs. TCU has a record of 6-1; they have won 3 games by a total of 11 points over Oklahoma (17-10), Utah (23-20 in OT), and BYU (51-50 in OT). Only the Utah game was played at home in Fort Worth. Air Force has lost games as a result of inconsistent play and have had 5 interceptions and have lost 10 of 22 fumbles this season. TCU is the top team in the country with 26 total takeaways, a +2.1 per game turnover margin and a total of 15 interceptions. Statistics like that are enough to make one wonder why the game is currently rated as even or even has Air Force as a one-point favorite.
Maybe it has something to do with the history of the two teams in competition with one another. They first met in the 1959 Cotton Bowl game when they played to a 0-0 tie on a frigid day on a field full of cold mud. Air Force finished the season with a 9-0-2 record and were known as the Cardiac Kids who also tied Iowa at Iowa by a score of 13-13 and defeated a Colorado team in Boulder by a 20-14 score. In 1998, TCU defeated Air Force by a 35-34 score in Fort Worth to prevent an undefeated season for the Falcons who finished at 12-1 for the season. So you might say that the Falcons would savor a victory over TCU who come into the game at 6-1 overall and 4-0 in the MWC and with plans to finish at 10-1 by defeating SDSU, CSU and UNLV in that order after the Air Force contest. The one game TCU lost was 21-10 to SMU in the week after they had upset Oklahoma 17-10 in Norman.
TCU will be led by a tandem of running backs in the form of junior Robert Merrill and senior Lonta Hobbs as well as junior QB Jeff Ballard. Ballard has started the last three games (after BYU) in place of senior Tye Gunn who has an injury. The offense hasn't missed Gunn that much as Ballard has completed 55 of 92 passing attempts for 673 yards and 7 TD's for the season. He's had only 3 passes intercepted. TCU has lots of team speed, especially in the person of junior WR Cory Rodgers. He is the usual kickoff and punt returner for TCU which is ranked 4th in the nation for kickoff returns with a 28.5 yard return average and 22nd in the nation for punt returns with a 13.2 yard return average. On defense, the Frogs are led by redshirt freshman LB Jason Phillips who has 44 tackles and 5 tackles for losses, but 16 of their defensive players have 10 or more tackles. Overall, the TCU defense has had 57 tackles for losses to include 23 sacks.
Meanwhile, Air Force has to hope that its two best fullbacks, senior Jacobe Kendrick and sophomore Ryan Williams will play well in spite of ankle injuries. Third string FB Scott Peeples did rush four times for 40 yards to include a 20 yard TD against UNLV. Shaun Carney and/or Adam Fitch will have to have impressive games as well. If the Falcons are to win this game and have real hope of a winning season and even a possible bowl game, they will have to avoid turnovers and big plays, either offensively or defensively, by the Horned Frogs. It will be a big order and TCU is unlikely to help the Falcon cause as did UNLV last week. Still, my hunch is that this Air Force team is ready to play their best game of the season and will win a squeaker by a 32-31 score.
GO FALCONS!
Aaron
From: Aaron Thrush
Sent Wed 9/28/2005 1:24 AM
Subject: USAFA/CSU, Another Thursday Night Game on ESPN
Once again you have the choice of watching the Falcons at home on ESPN or coming out to Connie Kay's Flight Line Pub & Cafe at 538 N Eglin Parkway (across from Denny's) to watch with a group of grads. The game will start at 6:30 p.m. CDT. The food is good; the prices are reasonable for both food and beverages. See you there.
The Falcons find themselves as 4 point underdogs as they travel to Fort Collins to play the CSU Rams. CSU started their season losing away games to Colorado by 31-28 and to Minnesota by 56-24. Last Saturday they took out their frustration by mauling Nevada by 42-21 at Fort Collins. Against admittedly easier competition, the Rams had senior QB Justin Holland completing 15 of 27 passes for 223 yards and 3 TD's with no interceptions. The CSU main receiving corps of David Anderson, George Hill and Johnny Walker had 12 catches for 212 yards. Sophomore RB Kyle Bell piled up 183 yards on 33 carries in his first starting role of the season. Defensively, safety Ben Stratton is a standout. Expect the Rams to try to establish their running game in order to make Holland's passing talent all the more effective.
With the Falcons coming off two close losses to Wyoming and Utah (both of whom are better teams than Colorado State) it's time for some luck to favor the Air Force to a greater degree. It will be a close game, but the Falcons should eke out a 35-31 victory if they can avoid the inconsistencies that have plagued them the last two weeks. Carney will need to come closer to repeating his accuracy from the San Diego State game when he was 10 for 12 and will need to take advantage of the height advantage of WR's Jason Brown and Greg Kirkwood versus the CSU defensive backfield. Adam Fitch may well see more playing time given his driving the Falcons to 2 TD's in the last 6 minutes against Utah. The fullback tandem of Jacobe Kendrick and Ryan Williams will also need to rush for 100 yards or more to make a victory more likely.
GO FALCONS!
Aaron
From: Frank Mayberry
Sent Fri 9/23/2005 5:32 PM
Subject: Charitable Unit Trust
To: Class of '60 lawyers,
I want to donate Real Estate to the AOG for the formation of a charitable remainder unit trust. I have been working with the AOG, but they have recommended that I have an attorney to draw up the trust agreement. I want a classmate to be that attorney. Please contact me at FrankMayberry@hotmail.com if you can help.
Frank
Wow! Great idea. Good thing it's 5 years away. We may take that to do it right.
I've "played" with the capabilities you've listed, so I can picture getting our arms around the technical aspects.
But you're right . . . success will be measured by classmate participation and contribution.
You get a gold star.
Ace
Sent: Thursday, September 22, 2005 12:47 PM
To: cholman@atn.org
Subject: Re: Note for class website
Thanks Ace,
It's a whole new ball game!
Andi and Rosie had the idea of doing a 45th reunion CD and had sent me photos for it. I think that they wanted to send a CD because not every classmate tunes in on our website, the photo quality is so much better and the long download times are avoided. And the website's previous file space limitations only permitted rather poor picture quality. My approach would be to do both a CD and a 45th reunion photo site. If an improved photo site becomes successful, we can try albums of other submitted photographs; such as "cadet days", other reunions and "over the decades" (with some editing, of course).
My more long-term objective, though, is to do a 50th Anniversary DVD to be issued at the 50-year reunion. We have an opportunity to do something that I've never heard of being done before, namely producing a class "yearsbook" 50 years after graduation to cover the period after graduation. Its like a " '60 after 50 ". Doing something like this would have previously been a horrendous and costly effort using paper photographs and text with a book to publish and mail. Nobody would have attempted it. But the DVD and digital photography make it very "doable". A DVD can hold over 50000 good quality photographs and is playable on a computer or a TV. And the cash cost is very small. The success of a project like this would depend on the degree of classmate interest in supporting it. Would they be interested enough to contribute anything? The gathering and editing of the material would be the major effort.
This might seem like an overly ambitious undertaking but "gluing" it together would be a hell of a lot easier than doing a book.
Here are some ideas of what the DVD could contain:
1) personal photographs and movie clips from classmates during our cadet years
2) personal photographs, movies and videos from classmates during their service years including;
- photos of classmate pilots with their favorite "bird"
- footage of "kills" during aerial combat
- career milestone photos; promotions, retirements, meetings with presidents, etc.
3) a collection of photos and videos from all reunions and mini-reunions (skiing, luncheons, etc.)
4) videotaped statements from the class officers
5) videotaped statements from classmates
6) all of Rosie and Chris' Checkpoint articles
7) images of memorabilia
8) George Lester's classmate biographies
and so on.....
From: Les Querry
Date: Thu 9/22/2005 7:39 AM
Subject: Note for class website
Hi Ace,
Hope that things have settled down for you and are getting back to normal. I had sent the following note on 28 August and 8 Sept. with the hope of getting it on the class website. Would you add it at your earliest convenience? Les
_______________________________
Class of '60:
Andi and Rosie have sent me photos taken during the 45th reunion that I will put on a CD for issue to interested classmates (or other reunion attendees). We would also like to include photos taken by other attendees who think that they have photos that others might enjoy. Anyone having digital photos that they would like to contribute to the reunion CD can send them to me on a CD for inclusion in a composite CD. Its easy to make a CD of selected photos if you have a CD burner or at Costco or Wal-Mart, etc. Anyone having just a few photos that they know others would love to see can e-mail them to me in compressed form. (Preferred photo size greater than 1600x1200 pixels and file size less than 500KB.)
Les Querry
371 Seltenhorst Lane
Bluemont, VA 20135
540-554-2416
From: Aaron Thrush
Date: Wed 9/21/2005 1:53 AM
Subject: You can watch the Air Force/Utah game at home this week on ESPN's Thursday night game at 6:30 p.m. CDT. As a result, Angler's won't be an option since they've found that it doesn't pay them to keep the upstairs Sports Bar open on Thursday nights. If you would like to watch the game as a group, I'll see you at Connie Kay's Flight Line Pub & Cafe at 538 N Eglin Parkway (across from Bangkok Cleaners).
Be aware that the Falcons are currently 7 point underdogs for the game to be played in Salt Lake City. If they play as inconsistently as they did last Saturday while losing 29-28 to Wyoming at home, the Falcons will be lucky to escape Salt Lake City and not having lost by double digits. Shaun Carney passed for only 53 yards on a 4 of 12 completion day with one TD and 2 interceptions. He also carried the ball 20 times for a net 78 yards. The Falcons also had 3 fumbles although only one was a turnover. They had a 16 yard punt that resulted in a Wyoming FG, and they missed their final PAT with 3:27 to play due to a bad snap that the holder couldn't handle.
Utah had its 18 game winning streak ended last Thursday at TCU when the Horned Frogs defeated the Utes 23-20 in overtime. Brian Johnson is an 18-year-old sophomore QB who is the successor to #1 NFL draft pick, Alex Smith. Johnson showed flashes of brilliance against TCU last week, but he also made some costly mistakes. Quinton Ganther who rushed for 656 yards in 2004 is the starting tailback. Defensively, Utah has Steve Fifita at DT, Spencer Toone at LB and Eric Weddle at safety as leaders. Utah will score 25-30 points or more against the Falcons. The question becomes one of whether Air Force can outscore the Utes. Unfortunately, I don't believe that they can. Look for Utah to win by 35-24.
GO FALCONS!
Aaron
From: Ken Alnwick
kjalnwick@cox.netSubject: Third Annual Redneck Rivera Reunion Update
Date: Mon 7/18/2005 7:47 AM
Ace,
Sorry to report that Hurricane Dennis CNX'd my plans for travel to Fort Walton Beach and the third R3 (Redneck Rivera Reunion). Should have called or e-mailed the info, but we had to scramble to save our vacation--which we did in grand style in Hilton Head S.C. I even got to see the Harbor Town light house and golf course --although I played on another.
We survived the blow pretty well in FWB and hope to resched the R3 for next year. Killer (Wayne Kendall) will be back to SeaSpray in October and perhaps we can run a practice session then.
I hate to say it, but as much as I love you, I was really hoping that Dennis would stay its course and smack Mobile instead of us. Oh well, maybe next year.
More to follow.
Cheers,
Ken
From: Frank Gorham
Subject: Hurricane Dennis
Date: 7/11/2005
Good show mate. Take THAT Pensacola!!!
From: Charles Holman
To: 'Frank Gorham'
Sent: Monday, July 11, 2005 11:03 AM
Subject: RE: Hunker down!
Ppiftt! I spit in your eye, Dennis. You are full of sound and fury, signifying nothing, and in the end, fizzles out . . .
Ace
From: Frank Gorham
[mailto:frankgorham@comcast.net]
Sent: Sunday, July 10, 2005 8:35 AM
To: cholman@atn.org
Subject: Re: Hunker down!
Excellent,
And as we were writing, Dennis was moving due North so maybe the prayer beads in your area are beginning to work better. That, and we are just getting our first electric power surges so somewhere in the net Gulf Power is already being hit.
Drop us a line when all is clear and power is back up!!
Cheers, Frank
From: Charles Holman
To: 'Frank Gorham'Sent: Sunday, July 10, 2005 8:27 AM
Subject: RE: Hunker down!
Thanks for thinking of us. We're hunkered down on high ground with kids and grandkids and pets.
Regards, Ace
From: Frank Gorham
[mailto:frankgorham@comcast.net]
Sent: Sunday, July 10, 2005 8:01 AM
To: Holman, Charles
Subject: Hunker down!
Charlie, Weese:
Well it seems your Mobile/Pensacola karma gods have once again won the hurricane lottery. You need to stop feeding that cat, maybe it will go away before the next storm.
Seriously - not looking good for your vicinity again. We hope you come thru as unscathed as last time.
Oh, the good news is that we are shipping several million tons of newly pumped sand from our beaches to yours. Take good care of it.
Cheers, Frank
From: Les QuerrySubject: Air Force - Navy game, 8 October 2005, Wash. D.C.
Date: Fri 7/1/2005 6:13 PM
The DC '60 group will try to expand upon the activities available to those planning to attend the Air Force - Navy game in Washington on 8 October 2005. In addition to the game and the usual Lalime-Mobile at the game, we will have our 2nd DC '60 "Falcon Roosting" the day after the game on Sunday, 9 October, at our mountain home, about 1 hour west of D.C. We also plan to have a "winedown" at our home after the game for interested and available persons. The Sunday gathering will be held early afternoon to permit late travel on Sunday.
This will provide additional activities for classmates who have come some distance for the game and an opportunity to meet many more classmates since not everyone goes to the game.
Other activities can expand back into Friday and forward into Monday for those interested, possibly for Udvar-Hazy Air and Space museum visits, golf matches, other museum visits, etc.. Gerry de la Cruz is a docent at the National Gallery of Art and has offered to give a guided tour to interested persons.
If you are planning on visiting the DC area during 8-9 October and wish to attend events other than the game, please let us know.
Notice: DC '60 is in no way trying to compete with CS '60 with their marvelous handling of events surrounding the Army and Navy games held at USAFA. They are Nulli-Secundus. We only want to make the visit here a little more eventful for classmates traveling to the local Navy game (and get to see them a little bit longer).
Les Querry '60
lesquerry@starpower.net
From: Dave Reed
Subject: Update
Date: Fri 7/1/2005 6:13 PM
HI ACE & OTHERS:
Nice to catch up with many of you at the 45th. It seems my email is not on file so I haven't gotten in on some of the recent mailings and politics, so here it is (along with an address and phone):
David Reed M.D., J.D.
Medical Review and Research
921 Roxwood Lane
Boulder, CO 80302
neptune@ecentral.com
303-494-3154
The attached photo is just a fun one taken for the hoped-for publication of an article on glider oxygen. On a more serious note (and there is along, long story here the details of which I won't bother you with) I have discovered that the FAA mandates on the use of oxygen in civilian light aircraft and gliders is at least 40 years out of date and seriously needs updating, especially as it pertains to new technology equipment such as the "pulse-delivery systems". Amazing - all these FAA mandates but NONE of which have ever been verified by in-flight or in-chamber testing! I have been to CAMI in OKC to discuss it with their researchers and - in effect - got ignored. I sent several letters to the Federal Air Surgeon - also an MD JD and got ignored. I have tried interesting AFA in doing some simple inexpensive studies but - "no USAF applicability" in spite of USAFA flying gliders with the same systems installed! I happen to have a six-person unofficial flight test data from a civilian company (God only know why they did it, but that is another story) and the results showed significant hypoxia at FAA flow rates all the way to 18M. Well, if I get stone-walled much further I am going to take what I know to the Aviation and Space Committee of Congress and see what happens there.
Am presently working with AOPA in an effort to get a chamber interested in doing some research. There is a possibility with U. N. Dakota, but they have no funds. Long, long story here - the above is just the tiny tip of the iceberg. If anyone has any input let me know.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Does anyone remember a classmate - Jim Branton - who was with us for a year and then dropped out? He is an attorney-client of mine and is Past-President of the Texas Trial Lawyers. I have sent him much of the 45th handouts as well as Les' marvelous CD. F.Y.I. I am presently reviewing possible medical malpractice cases for attorneys helping to decide which cases are meritorious and which are not. I estimate that only 5% of what I review are one that I feel are worth pursuing - good news for the docs! Good fun, though, and it is satisfying doing work that is well in keeping with our Honor Code, and with electronics being what they are is easy to do from New Zealand also (see the next paragraph).
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
I would like to extend an invitation to anyone to visit with Pat and me in New Zealand. Our town is a little place outside Whangarei, about 100 miles north of Auckland. We are typically there from December through May each year and would love to see any of you there . Even if you do not plan to come to Whangarei, I can be of help in advising you of the realities of travel and places of interest in NZ, Australia and the SW Pacific Islands to the North (Fiji, Cook Islands, New Caledonia, etc.). Glad to be of help - just let me know.
Steve and Kathy Bishop visited us there several years ago, as did Dave Luce and wife Marilyn. I had hoped that Dave would show for the 45th, but...Anyway - after being in M.D. practice in Oregon, Dave is now working for an insurance company in Minnesota helping to keep costs down by screening out what types of procedures are medically-justified and cost-efficient. Sounds terribly responsible but awfully dull...
That's it for now - below is how to contact me in NZ - the email stays the same as in the Democratic People's Republic of Boulder.
David Reed M.D., J.D.
Medical Review & Research
150A Beach Road
Onerahi-Whangarei 0101
New Zealand
neptune@ecentral.com
649-436-0501
