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November 2000 Dear Great '98, I hope Thanksgiving finds everyone well. My last cry for help seemed to work, because I have a ton of good information to share this month. I'll just get right to it. Meghan Forehand now has her "wings of gold," and might be the first female pilot to wing in the Class of '98. She received her wings on 19 November '99. She is due to report to Guam on 1 October, and she'll be flying the CH-46. From Aaron Beattie: There are quite a few of us still here in Pensacola. I just got winged on 25 August and will be heading out to Guam to fly the Navy's newest helo, the CH-60S. It will replace the CH-46s out there. Trevor Davis and Jerome Gussow will also be out there. My roommate, Dan Lindblom, just finished up primary and selected Marine helos. Just talked to April (Goldsby) McBride and she only has one flight left in the RAG before she reports to VP-5 as a P-3 NFO. Must be nice to have your wings already. Keep those skies safe! Shawn Triggs has been a staff supply officer on VADM Fallon's staff in Norfolk. Next year, after Groton (February to April) and back to Athens (May and June), he will be returning to his home state for a tour on a Boomer out of Bangor. He has been attending Old Dominion University at night and has almost completed his master's in business administration. Another full letter from Todd Sawhill: Howdy Y'all. Not too much I can say that ought to be put in a magazine. However, like most of my buddies knew I would do, I ended up in Athens, GA, for eight months at the tail end of the football season. (However, this time the Navy paid me to do it after the doctors said no more flying for me). I got a good opportunity to live the college life again and even managed to study supply stuff every once in a while. I got to see Jared Payne a few times, and he is doing great with his new wife. As for guys in the Class: Dave Loya wound up in San Diego; Pat McGrew is in Italy and so is Dennis Kane; Dave McKelvy is in Nah-fahk on a carrier along with Jon Limbert '99; Malcolm Rumph is in Washington. As far as the other guys go, Chris Kovack, JD Gainey, and the others all did great and are doing great out in the Fleet I am sure. From the flyboy side, all I know is that Aaron Shoemaker is going to a VP squadron in Jacksonville and Brian Bradford is going to a VP out of Jax. Oh, and anyone who wanted to know where Pat Faye was, he was lucky enough to be on the Gator that hit the supply ship in the Pacific and enjoyed a long stay in Hawaii for repairs. I'm now the aviation supply and logistics officer at NAS Keflavik for P-3s, so any of you guys and gals make it up this way, swing on by the shop. Already seen a few of y'all...and we are always open. Remember, if you can't blame anyone else, blame supply. Keep in touch and God bless, Sawdawg Thanks, Todd, I hope the Supply Corps treats you well, and keep those letter coming. On to another letter from an aviator, Keith Henderson: I received my wings of gold in November and am now flying SH-60Bs in Mayport. I just finished the RAG with Bobby Brown '97 and am checking in to my fleet squadron, HSL-44, next week. I performed my initial landing qualifications on the back of ROBERT G. BRADLEY (FFG-49). I visited the bridge while I was out there and found out that while I was landing in the back, Scott McBride was the OOD. I have also run into a few others here in Mayport. Matt Music is here on GETTYSBURG (CG-64) and Amy Carson is on O'BANNON (DD-987), I think. In two weeks I will be traveling up to Buffalo, NY, to be in Rob Radak's wedding. He received his wings around May and will be flying 60Bs in San Diego. It's amazing how small the Navy sometimes seems when you've graduated USNA. The Navy must not make aviators work hard enough; here is another letter from a pilot; Rocky Burns (rockyburns@juno.com): I'm still down here in P-cola finishing up before I head to Sigonella flying 53s. I thought I'd write because '98 has pretty much been dominating down here for the past three months. But it is scary, the '99ers are starting to flow in and even some '00. I'm living here with Everett Alcorn who is getting winged 15 September. I see Greg Pawson, Brian Swanson, Amy Kelstrand, and Jeanette (Gaudry) Haney still flying in helo land. Marine track is a little slower than the rest. Here's a list of the last three months wingers: Jim Grieco, Chris Barnes, Eugene Bolton, Rob Danberg, Tim Davis, Greg Paradis (now married almost a year), Brain Saal, Rob Wickman, Jeremy Lieby, Paolo Carcavallo, Bill Delmar, and Ben Cone are all going to Mayport flying 60Bs. Trever Davis, Dan Keeler, Jerome Gussow, Steve Minihane and Aaron Beatie are all going to Guam. Trever, Jerome, Steve, and Aaron are flying the new 60S. The rest 46s. The San Diego crowd includes: Sandy (McBeth) Ennor, Mike McPhail, Jason Coffey, and Diana Yorty are flying 60Bs. Sumner Lee and Kevin Popp are flying 46s. John Arbuckle is flying 60Fs. Going on vacation in Hawaii are Lisa Berberich and Ryan Seggerty flying 60Bs. Flying in Norfolk: Lydia Duffey (H-3s), Scott Walgren (46s) and Doug Burfield (46s). Jacksonville: Kate McCreery and Jared Asman both flying 60Fs. Tony Schwarz is flying 53s out of Corpus and Scott Pichette is flying H-3s out of Puerto Rico. Some other info. Brendan Eagan is getting married 16 September. Chris Gilmore, Everett Alcorn, Robby "Werm" Burton (rumor recently engaged), Doug Ramsey (E-2s Norfolk), Chris Domencic and I will all be attending. Should be a good time. Thanks for the huge update on names and assignments, Rocky! From Michael Davis: To catch up on me, I came home and got in a local university and finished my business degree (bachelor's) in May. I'm planning to start on my M.B.A. in February. I just started at a new job at Saturn selling cars. This was after spending two and a half years at Lowe's doing appliances, plumbing, and kitchen cabinets. What I'm hoping to do now is use the money I make selling cars to pay for my M.B.A. and then use my time here as a springboard into the corporate side of Saturn. Good luck, Mike. Kevin Cordle is stationed on ABRAHAM LINCOLN (CVN-72) in Everett, WA. He's the maintenance support officer where he is the youngest in the entire department of maintenance, yet the second highest ranking. He's been doing CDC watches while on his six month deployment to the Persian Gulf. He got married at the Chapel on 25 September 1999 during the mist of hurricane season but were fortunate to catch a beautiful day. Along the way, he has been in touch with Vins Evans who's tying the knot on 7 October in Tennessee to Anji. He's got orders later in October to San Diego as a supply officer on a small boy. Josh Huggins is already in San Diego on CONSTELLATION (CV-64). Jason Fesnak is still in Earle, NJ, and he got married over a year ago to Melissa. Ken Chong has made it to his destination of Hawaii as NFO. Malcolm Rump is in Bremerton, WA, on CARL VINSON (CVN-70), I believe as a Supply boy too. Just missed the Hurricanes for a September wedding! L to R: (excluding bridesmaids and children) bride and groom, Jennifer Ebert and Kevin Cordle; best man, Vins Evans; groomsman, Ken Chong, Ryan Lilly, Josh Huggins (not pictured); usher, Brian Ebert A quick note from Phil Dana (Pmdjaw@aol.com) (10th Company) and the mighty warship STETHAM (DDG-63) out in sunny San Diego: I relieved Paul Datka '97 (10th Company) as DCA and will soon be relieved by Alex Korn '99 (10th Company) who is now the MPO. I'm finishing up my first tour this coming December after serving as AUXO, DCA, and now the training officer. One deployment to the Arabian Gulf as a MEF with stops such as Fiji, Saipan, Port Kembla, Australia, Perth, Australia, and Phuket, Thailand. Stateside libs have included Portland Rose Festival and Cabo San Lucas. Mazatlan and San Fran are coming up. Interesting stories include liason officer to Kuwait during FON ops and noncompliant boardings in the Gulf. My wife, Jen, and I have a home in Oceanside, CA, with two golden retrievers command and we will be off to return to Newport, RI, early in December. I'm giving the department head thing a try and have pretty much committed to life (not a surprise). The $50,000 bonus had nothing to do with my decisionŠha ha. I'm slated to return to San Diego as WEPS onboard SHILOH (CG 67). Aegis Warrior! In closing, I would love to hear from some of my Shipmates. Go Navy, Go SWO! Thanks, Phil. I think you need to consider Navy recruiting for your shore duty. From Susan Olivier: I am on JOHN YOUNG (DD-973) as the AUXO and enjoying my time here. San Diego is a fun place to live and I run into '98ers all the time in bars in Pacific Beach and on the base. I am living with Dean Balcirak, Steve Fortmann, Kathy McMorrow and Lacey Edge. Dean is on deployment on VALLEY FORGE (CG-50), but due back in just two weeks and then we are getting married a week after that in Rhode Island. We have been apart for a year because my deployment ended right when his began, so it was not very fun. Steve and Kathy are still together and going strong and Steve left for his six-month deployment to Guam a few weeks ago. He is doing really well with SEAL Team 5. Kathy just left on her deployment too, she is on the Tarawa LSD-1. She is in deck division and just loves her job and the Navy. Definitely a lifer. Lacey just got back from her deployment to the Gulf on BONHOMME RICHARD (LHD-6). We're just hanging out in San Diego and enjoying the in-port time. Jason Dalley is also on my ship and he has the stressful job of DCA, but is hanging in there. Suzanna Brugler just moved here from Yokuska and she is getting married in December to my CSO, LT Chris Cigna. Melissa Plean is still in CEC and just moved from Sasebo, Japan, to Coronado. She is getting married in November to Neal Plaskonos '96. I run into Dave Loya, Matt Sladky, Dave Silverman, Chad Graham, Tom Ogden, and Luke Radlinski a lot here in PB. Also, Colleen and Sandy Kosloski came to San Diego for a visit last weekend and they are great. I hadn't seen them since graduation. That's about all the '98 news I have from out here. Thank you for the letter, Sue, and by the time this goes to print, congratulations on the wedding. Wow! A bunch of good letters from all around. Please, keep them coming. The next two articles will be written by someone else, because, for the first time, I'm going to be gone for a significant amount of time. Thus far I've been able to go on short underways that managed to fit in between deadlines. Justin Anderson, James Jones and I are going to be three section gas pedals on this next mission. It's just the three of us back aft, and as if know the layout of our subs, you'll know what I mean by gas pedals. Other news from me: On 18 August I attended Scott Kinkele's funeral at Arlington National Cemetery. Ian Schillinger, Josh Roots and Tommie Watkins were also in attendance, with Alumni from '97 and '99 as well. The service and military honors were deeply moving. I realized that the cemetery I always associated with old war heroes, and thus I myself seemed not directly associated with, now strikes too close to home as it shelters one of our Classmates. That whole day was a sobering experience. I will publish photos in a later issue. But now, to try to end on a more positive note, I've included a picture back from May, when my boat was down in Port Everglades. We had all our USNA Midshipmen with us on summer cruise, and we got to meet up with Gary Rotella and friends. Gary is RIVERS' unofficial sponsor and spared no expense when it came to treating the wardroom and crew of L. MENDEL RIVERS (SSN-686). None of us will soon forget that spectacular port visit, and Gary's generosity was appreciated by all. '98: Some of RIVERS' crew in what some like to call Ft. Liquerdale. Pictured here at the Sage restaurant, l to r: standing:Steve Vancott '00, Ryan Mewett '00, Chris Wojtaszek '01, Jeff Lee '01, Chris Hansen '01, Keith Baravik '97, Carole (keyboardist), Gary Rotella, James Henry '01, Gary's associate, Dave Forman '98, Robbie (Gary's associate), Jim Shell '95, Efly Peters; seated rear: CDR David Portner '81 (CO); seated front: Steve Karpi and Todd Glidden And back to Class stuff to finish this month off, our Web page www.usna98.org has a new Class directory thanks to Mike Gawlas. You've got to check it out. Keep working hard and stay safe. Fair winds...DSF