USNA Class of 1998 |
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Shipmate Class Notes |
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January-February 2002Happy New Year, great '98! I hope this holiday season was a wonderful one for all of you. For those of you who were away from home defending our nation, we all thank you. Since this is a double issue, I've got some great letters. Here we go. From Mark Brophy (nmbrophy@hotmail.com): Hello from the Oklahoma, Navy. Life is treating Nicole, Kurt, and I well. We checked into VQ-3 about three months ago, but I've only gotten one "deployment" under my belt. For those wondering what the hell we do on a deployment in E-6 land, here's the skinny. It's about four weeks long, and we go to Travis AFB for a while, then to Offutt AFB for a while, then we go somewhere in the U.S. to "randomly disperse" the aircraft, then back to Travis AFB, then home. We stand alert while deployed and wait for the inbound nukes. It's kind of like the movies with us running out to the plane with the sirens going off trying to get airborne before we get nuked. The only other '98er here in TACAMO is Bill Tull, and he's in VQ-4. I thought I'd send along a recent photo of the Brophdogs and pup taken on Halloween. Kurt was born two days after my birthday (pretty cool) and will be having his 1st birthday this November. Brad Hipp was there for his birth and just for that we made him the godfather. For anyone driving or flying military across the country, Oklahoma City and Tinker are the perfect halfway stop. Write us, and we'll hook you up with a good meal and place to crash.  Family Halloween: Mark and Nicole Brophy holding their pumpkin Kurt Sounds like you are set up well there in Oklahoma and enjoying it. Best of luck with your new family. Here's the next, from Melissa Plaskonos: I just wanted to give you an update on some of us in San Diego. I had a "Girl's Night" at my house last Friday, with Pam (Philips) Williams, Regina (Ware) Dixon, Sue (Olivier) Balcirak, Bethany (Schultz) Schmidt, Sonja Hanson '99, and Beth Sallness '99. We all caught up and had a great time. Regina and Jerome's son, Charles, is doing great...he is already walking! (Early for his age, taking after his athletic parents, I'm sure.) Pam and Marc's daughter, Abigail, is so beautiful. Now that Abigail is six weeks old, Pam has just returned to work at NAB. Sue and Dean are doing so well! Neal, Sue, Dean, and I all took out our motorcycles and went riding last Sunday. Bethany misses Karl, who is deployed to the middle East, but is in good spirits and is still as bubbly as ever. Sonja and Beth are sweethearts, and are in the process of moving in together. Neal and I are doing great! I am transferring to a SeaBee Battalion in two months and will join them deployed in Rota, Spain. I return in April to our homeport, Pt. Hueneme, CA. Neal will join me there, once he processes out of the USMC (can you believe his five years is up already?). He is currently a Series Commander at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot, which is a really rewarding job for him. We also have an energetic dog named Otis (a one-year-old, 60 pound, English Pointer Mix) who loves the dog beach.All sounds great, Melissa. Thanks for all that great info. Now on to that hard charger Phil Dana (cheng@howard.navy.mil): Life is good. I'm back home in San Diego sitting on the most kick-a** ship in the world, HOWARD (DDG-83), and enjoying my new job as CHENG. My wife, Jennifer, is five months pregnant and walking around like the marshmallow man from Ghostbusters. God bless her, and I'm glad I'm a man! I ran into some '98'ers...Dave Noya is working at Regional Support Organization here in San Diego. He is in their Combat Systems Department. Glen Cesari is working down the hall in the same building on one of the waterfront staffs and doing very well for himself. I ate breakfast with Teague Collins over on the Connie at North Island. He is the OT division officer and sitting TAO on the carrier...very nice! I heard from these guys that Bob Pudney is at the SBU. Congrats to Stacey Moy who left the SWO community for America's elite...I think he may be at BUDS right now. Michael Acosta is flying PHROGS back east but was able to swing by the house for some BBQ and B while in school at Camp Pendleton. Lebron Butts is out here somewhere doing the Supply Thing, and I ran into another Supply Bubba, Ryan Lookabill, who was hanging out at RSO with me. I also could have sworn that I saw Mark Symmes across the pier helping out with a working party on LAKE CHAMPLAIN... if not, then he has a twin. Dan Hallock is sitting over on SHILOH as FCO, which has to be the number one second tour job in the fleet. Derek Clark, Danita Gross, and Matt Hennessy were all in my TAO class as TAO's for carriers. Other '98ers that I saw roll through SWO-Land Newport were Sue Balcirack, Brandon Dye, Anthony Graham, and Kermit Jones. I heard that Amy Carson is rolling early to DH and is slated to STETHEM (DDG 63) as OPS...wow! I hope she finds my notes on the SWOS computers. If anybody is out in San Diego, look me up and let me show you the sweetest ride on the ocean.Thanks for the drop on so many of our Classmates, Phil. Sounds like you are truly loving it out there. I'll keep an eye out for you in the next "All Hands". Continuing on, the next one if from Doug Thumm: Here is the news from my family here in Jacksonville, NC. I have just returned to Jacksonville from the CH-46 FRS in Camp Pendleton, CA, and will be stationed at MCAS New River with HMM-263. Ryan Shadle and Greg Pawson are also in the squadron. Seth Michaud and John Gilmore are also living in our subdivision while going through the CH-53 FRS. Seth will be staying in North Carolina while John will be going out West. In June, Mandy and I were blessed with a little bundle of joy named Logan Alexandra. She and Mandy stayed in NC while I went to the West Coast for four months. Kristin and Greg Pawson had a son on 1 November and Karen and Seth Michaud are awaiting the birth of their first child any day now. Congratulations also go out to Tara and Darren Sweeney and their new daughter Katie Bell and to Angela and Nate Bailey and their new daughter.Lots of babies! Sounds great! Here we go now to Jason Fox: I was married over a year ago to the former Elise Warren of Seattle, WA (29 October 2000). I'm still stationed aboard DAVID R. RAY (DD-971) in Everett as the navigator, with Jamie (Humphrey) Horning. She and Brad are doing really well. Fortunately, he was not involved in either of the recent EA-6B crashes out of Whidbey. We just returned from a Counter-Narcotics Deployment, and getting ready to decom the ship in February. From there, I'll be going back to USNA as part of the Company Officer program. Yes, perhaps one of the firsts from our Class to sign up for the SWOCP Bonus, looks like I'm going to be around a while. Jamie is heading over to NOPF Whidbey for shore duty, following her stint here as the CICO.Must be nice to rotate to shore duty. Subs guys have to wait just a little bit longer, but have a great time back at USNA. And now to our final letter, from one of our infamous foreign nationals, Horacio Delgado (ghislan@hotmail.com): First of all, let me say that I am very sorry for what happened to your country on 11 September. Ironically, at that moment I was escorting three U.S. Coast Guard officers that had come to Peru as part of UNITAS, and we all saw it live on TV. The common impression of everybody over here is that of full disapproval of those non-human and coward attacks, and many Peruvians remembered what we had here for more than 12 years in our own war against terrorism. Not too long ago I found out about our Classmate Darin Pontell, for whom I also felt sorry. On another note, let me tell you that life has been OK with me. I service selected Coast Guard (which is part of the Peruvian Navy) and graduated from Coast Guard School in 1 June, after a year and a half of full time studies. I was able to come out second in my class, much easier to study in my mother language, and now I am trying to arrange a scholarship to Yorktown, VA, at the U.S. Coast Guard Training Center. After I graduated I was sent on a four-month deployment onboard a Coast Guard Cutter, to my southern border and in March, I will be going to the northern border to do the same. Three weeks ago I was part of a search and rescue mission and participated on a MedEvac for a U.S. sailor who was onboard a U.S. research vessel 200 miles away from the coast. We have a lot of contact with the U.S. Embassy here in Peru, especially for the counter narcotics program. And last, if anyone comes to Peru, please let me know so I can show you around. So far I've been able to meet with Mark Davis, Mandy Taira, Dustin Solomon '99, and Motale Efimba '97. Unfortunately, I was away when Glen Cesari arrived. Anyway, send me an email and you are all welcome. PS: I am about to put the ball and the chain to myself in the near future. Her name is Carmina, like the opera, but different last name.Great to hear from you, old buddy. Have a wonderful wedding, and I hope the Peruvian Coast Guard suits you well. And that's all for this time Great '98. Have a wonderful 2002. Best of luck in all your endeavors, and keep writing. Fair winds... -DSF | |||||
| Last Updated: September 15, 2002 |
