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July-August 2004 Greetings Great '98! As you can imagine, we have lots of updates due to the amount of time between issues during the summer months. I hope that this issue finds you all well wherever you are. Without further ado, here's the latest from Bob Tongchiw in Thailand: Hey David, How are you? I have received the Shipmate magazine almost every copy. Please give my thanks to the Naval Academy Alumni Association for the great j ob they're doing, j ust like they pron-iised.You also; well done on being our class representative. This year I will be involved in US/Thai joint training exercise CARAT04. I attended the Initial Planing Conference(IPC) of CARAT04 in Bangkok during Decernber03 and the Final Planing Conference(FPC) in Sattahip during Febuary04. The Frigate Squadron II of the Royal Thai Fleet of Royal Thai Navy is the organizer for the training in this year.The CAR-AT04 training will be in June and July. With this message I am sending you a picture of three U. S. Naval Academy Graduates taken while the Royal Thai Navy hosted the official dinner at Soannongnut in Pattaya on the 26th of Feb04. They are LT Greg R Adams '99, RADM Kevin Quinn'77 and me LT Banjird Tongchiw (CIC Officer of HTMS Taksin) from left to right in the back line. I have told the Admiral that I will turn in this picture to post in Shipmate. I'm not sure if it works or not, up to you! Please say hello to our classmates. I miss you guys lots. Some of our friends have gotten married and have kids. Thanks to all of you for sharing your lovely pictures with. And please remind them to do not forget that BOB Tongchiw is in Thailand(O6655-3786). If you will be in Thailand, e-mail or call me. Thanks David, I will keep in touch. Take care, Bob Tongchiw '98 LT Kevin Adams '99, RADM Kevin Quinn '77, and LT Bob Tongchiw live it up in Thailand Demarr Thomas reports: Dave, I am currently deployed to Iraq as a Blackhawk pilot stationed out of Fort Hood, Texas. I am with 507th MEDEVAC supporting 3rd NIAW here. We are working closely with Mag 16.1 have run into a number of our classmates to include Corey Thornton, John Gilmore and Amy Kellstrand. Well, got to go fly. From Lou Becerra: It's Lou Becerra from USNA'98. I'm currently stationed here in San Diego at EWTGPAC along with Angie Maganza and Frank Sanchez. Nate Bitz writes: I've been running into a ton of Academy grads lately. Most recently was Jeanne Daffron on IWO JIMA (attached picture). She and I were both down there with our bosses. She's been the aide to 1st MAW for awhile now and I just started working for CNFJ a few months ago. Jeanne has a nice civilian job lined up and will be punching out soon. I think I'm destined to spend the rest of my life herein Japan. I just finished a tour with the Warlords of HSL51 in Atsugi. Quite a few 98ers are still there - Clay Shane, Cindy Fluck (Pease) and Teague Suarez. Great squadron. I miss the flying already. Can't wait to get back to the States and back into the cockpit. Well, Dave, take it easy and good luck with the class project. Let me know if I can help out in any way. Nate Bitz Nate Bitz and Jeanne Daffron aboard Iwo Jima Melissa Plaskonos (Plean) writes: Dave, Hi. How are you doing? I wanted to give you an update on my husband Neal Plaskanos '97 and I. My last tour in the Navy was my best tour, with a deployable Seabee Battalion out of Pt. Hueneme, CA. I transeferred out of the Navy this September to begin my Masters at Stanford University in Construction Engineering and Management. I will graduate on 13 June. Neal is also in the construciton business now as a project engineer for a large Bay Area civil firm. Neal and I are moving to Boston after graduation, where we have acceptedjobs and bought a house. Though we will miss California, we are excited to return to the East Coast (after 6 years in Japan and California). We recently also found out that I am pregnant with twins, due to deliver on the Marine Corps Birthday! Yut! We just had dinner last right with Steve Fulton '97, who just had his second child with his wife Jill in Maine. Jany Collaco and I see each other quite often. She is in nearby Monterey with her fiance' Chris Brianas '99. Jany just got chosen for her second year on the San Fran 49er's Gold Rush Team. She is an amazing dancer! Sue Balcirak and I talk all the time, She is with Dean Balcirak in Newport with their baby, Dean Jr. They are doing really well right now and we cannot wait to live closeby to them! That's about all of the Academy grads we see out here in Palo Alto. Take care, Melissa Plaskonos (Plean) Loren Reinke writes: Dave, Great to hear from you. I hope you and your family are doing well. I have a note for you to pass on to all of the class and maybe I will do a write up in the next Shipmate... John Mentzer (my old plebe year roornie and stationed at SWOS) ran the Boston Marathon and finished 25th overall and the 4th American. Can you believe he did this???? And get this, this was his first marathon ever. WOW! He also finished 8 minutes shy of Olympic qualification time. Anyway, just thought I would share that with you. Loren Reinke To follow up Loren's report about John, check out this excerpt: The Kenyans'continued domination of the Boston Marathon last week may have overshadowed the fact that Rhode Island's John Mentzer was the fourth American finisher at the 108th edition of the race. The former U.S. Naval Academy All-American, who lists Newport as his residence, placed 20th overall in 2:30:50. Mentzer, 27, had tuned up for Boston with some decisive local victories, including a win at the Jerry Musco Memorial 5Mile Road Race in Coventry earlier this month in a course-record time of 24:33." And from the Horn of Africa: Greetings from Djibouti, Africa! I know most of you are probably wondering where in the bell is Djibouti. At my going away party, I had to pull out a map to show everyone. It is a small country in the "Horn of Africa". I've been here 3 months and have 3 to go. I should get back in May and I get out of the Navy injuly. I received about 10 days notice for this deployment; the Navy's last "good deal" before I get out. So far Djibouti has not been bad but I've been told I am lucky to be here during the winter. Although, I think I'll feel what 130 degrees feels like before I leave. I am working in the CJTF-HOAJ6 directorate as the Asst Current Operations Officer. It has been a really good experience working with all of the different services and learning how they work. For all of the Marines out there, I'm taking the Marine Corps'Martial Arts program (Tan Belt). That has been a lot of fun but hard work. I really don't like getting up at 0430 to train but it is worth it. Chris Robinson after some good ole Marine Corps training I do have very good news to share. In September, Sarah Rollings and I got engaged after 3 years of dating. We are planning a beach wedding in October 2004. Sarah is doing great in San Diego. She is working as an Engineering Duty Officer at SUPSHIP San Diego. She has a little over 2 more years there and then we will have to decide what is next.We are thinking about moving back to Italy because we had so much fun the first time. I haven't run into any classmates out here yet but Tracy Robinson '02 is stationed here in the J1 directorate. The picture is of us on New Year's Eve. Pat O'Mahoney '99 has stopped by Djibouti a couple of times while on deployment with ESG ONE. He is living in San Diego and is the aide to RADM Conway. Sarah has run into Ian Hoag, who is also at SUPSHIP awaiting graduate school. Tracy Robinson '02 and Chris Robinson on New Year's Eve On January 3 1, 2004, the new base medical clinic was dedicated in memory of a fallen classmate, Capt Seth Michaud, USMC, who died here in June 2003 in a tragic training accident. Although, I didn't know him, I'm sure he would be proud of the new clinic. My email address is Naples98@hotmail.com if anyone is going to be in San Diego. Chris Robinson That's all the updates .... remember our class project and please contact Dave or me if you have any questions about how you can donate. For those of you who haven't been to the stadium since its renovations, it will be great for our class to have a permanent presence there. If you'd like to get word into Shipmate, email me at cbjohnson@1998.usna.com. Semper Fi, CB Johnson