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January-February 2000 Welcome to the new millennium Great '98! I hope that everyone had a good "celebration of the century," and for those that were at sea and unlucky enough to be on watch, we all appreciate your sacrifice for your country. Sounds cheesy, but it's serious too. Now to hear from the '98ers in the Fleet. From Chris Robinson: Ciao from Naples, Italy. After sitting around for a year in Pensacola, I am now the new Protocol officer at ComFAirMed. Like the Flag LT, I wear an admiral's staff loop. I can remember making fun of them during school, now I'm one. Scary, huh? I am easily the youngest officer here at the command by about 10 years. Of the handful of Ensigns on base, I'm the only true Ensign. The rest are all salty LDOs. So far the job seems pretty cool. I will definitely get to meet some important people and attend some cool parties. Good luck to everyone and if you are ever in Naples, look me up. Thanks, Chris, hopefully you saved your Service Etiquette book from Plebe issue. From Garrett Preisch: A little input for those of us out of the best homeport in the fleet, Pearl Harbor! Also currently deployed to Northern Arabian Gulf with CONSTELLATION (CV-64) Battlegroup, Garrett Preisch, assistant strike officer, CHOSIN (CG-65); Brandon Willis, admin officer, CHOSIN. Aaron McGowan, ASW officer, LAKE ERIE (CG 70); Michelle McKenna, billet unknown, Kinkaid (DD-965). I've been places only dreamed of while back at Boat School. Dreams lived out include sightseeing in Seoul, Korea; enjoying the sunrise while ascending to the summit of Mt. Fuji in Japan; sipping down a "Singapore Sling" at the famous "Long Bar" in Raffles Hotel in Singapore; and elephant riding in Phuket, Thailand. SWO qualification was completed with a pinning ceremony on 4 October '99. Beat Army! Sounds like you're having a great time! Hope you enjoy the rest of the cruise! From Trevor Davis: Kingsville is great; Texas has so much to offer. (Not really.) There are a lot of Academy guys down here. Jeff Abbadini, John Bear, Mike Burks, Jen Dowell, Aylin Duyal, Mike Hall, Mike Kampfe, Mike Kinsella, Tom Kneale, Greg Malandrino, Shane Marchesi, Mitch Mccallister, Pete Mitchell, Dan Moll, James Neal, Kevin Robb, Chad Schumacher, Terry Shashaty, Warren Tomlinson, Mike Valenzuela, Todd Zentner, and that's not mentioning the '97ers. There's even a '96 guy or two still fighting for wings. Lots of familiar names, good luck to all in pursuit of your wings. And for this issue my last letter is from Michael Helton. I thought I'd let you know some news from here in 29 Palms. I am LNO for kilo battery, 3/11. Jim Brady is part of Lima 3/12 and I have just run into Bob Geiger in 2/7. I also wanted to let you know that my wife, Jennifer, and I had our first child on 10 May of this year. He is a healthy son and his name is Isiaih Paul Helton. Congratulations, Mike and Jennifer, on your baby boy! Kevin Sproge wrote me to let me know he was going to the Army/Navy game, so he'll be there along with a lot of the SOBC guys here in Groton, CT. My Class has been here for just two weeks (20 November), and the Leadership Continuum has been a much needed break to nuclear power. For the first time in the pipeline, we got to do something physical and play football/soccer after class. Sinclair Ahn, Justin Anderson, Mike Breen, Brian Cushman, Rich Haas, Brian Haggerty, Ed Hanley, Brian Hogan, and Carlos "The Jackal" Jativa are in my section. Justin is actually going to the same boat as me, L. Mendel Rivers, along with Jon Wright and James Jones who are in the Class ahead of us. Lots of us are heading to Philly for the game, so hopefully by the time you read this, Navy will be victorious over Army for the 100th anniversary game. Tim Clark, Carlos, Brian and Ed all made it to Annapolis for homecoming, and unfortunately we didn't win that one, but they all had a great time trying to fly the USNA '98 Blue and Gold hot air balloon. After going through four bottles of helium, they finally got it up, and went in to watch the game and left Josh DeWaters (a.k.a. Dumpy) to watch the balloon. The wind was too strong, so it smacked the balloon onto Carlos's bike rack, and no more balloon. Don't worry, I'm going to repair it and try to fly it at Army/Navy. Ask some of them about it sometime, it makes a good story. There were lots of marriages since the last article. Shawn Gee married Robin Lynn Holston of Bethesda, MD, on 23 October at the Navy Chapel in Washington, D.C. Classmates in attendance were: Arnie Stankus, Tim Davis, Ryan Erdman, Dave Forman, Dale Matheny, Paul Shoning, Scot Hughes and Steve Fortmann all the way from San Diego. At the rehearsal dinner for Shawn's wedding. L to R: Arnie Stankus, Shawn Gee, Ryan Erdman, Dave Forman and Tim Davis. Shawn brought the flasks, and we all toasted his future with Robin. "No, no, no! We order swords and then carry swords." Shawn looks on as his Swordbearers try to figure out what to do just before the wedding. Navy tradition. L to R: Ryan Erdman, Paul Shoning, Dave Forman, Steve Fortmann, Tim Davis, and Arnie Stankus all take a knee to allow Robin Gee to have a seat and let Shawn get her garter; his brother caught it. Bride to Right: Leslie Hogan, Brian Hogan, Ken Wallace, Pat Hourigan, Dale Matheny, Chris Hogan. Ed and Stephanie Hanley on the steps of the Chapel. Brian Hogan married Leslie O'Conner of Reston, VA, at Ft. Meyer Army Post in Arlington, VA. Classmates in attendance were: Ken Wallace, Dale Matheny, Pat Hourigan, Steve Aldridge, and Tim French. Chris Hogan '03 (USMA), Mikey Aldridge '00, CAPT Ed Wallace '70, USN (Ret.), and Patrick Hogan '70 were also in attendance. On that very same day, but a few hours later, Ed Hanley married Stephanie Marie Clark of Falls Church, VA, on 30 October at the Academy Chapel. Classmates in attendance were: Carlos Jativa and Jen Dowell. Jeff Sowa got married to Angela Stewart from British Columbia. Congratulations to all the recent couples. May your life in the Navy be a happy and adventuresome one! Tim Clark was recently engaged to Allison Williams of Johnston, SC. They will be getting married on 20 May in Johnston. Best wishes there! And finally, congratulations to Matt Chapman who now has a litte girl, Jamie Faith Chapman. For my final plug this month. Proof that it's a small world, the day after Shawn's wedding, I was touring D.C. with my girlfriend April. The USMC Marathon happened to be that day, and guess whom I saw running between the Washington and Lincoln memorials: Dale Matheny. "Hey Dale, what's up?" I yelled. His response: "This sucks!" 26 miles, 360 yards; what are the odds? My other laugh was when I saw Carlos Jativa pull into downtown Annapolis in a cab, dressed in his full NY Yankee attire (jersey and hat) ready to head into O'Brien's. Reliving his good olΠFirstie days. OK '98, I'm done now. Check out our new Web page: www.usna98.com (WEBMASTER NOTE: not .com www.usna98.org). Fair winds. -DSF