Checkpoints column submitted 18 December 1999

Howdy, everyone! I’m getting so rip-roarin’ excited about my upcoming move back to Colorado Springs, I hardly know what to do with myself! My family is eager to go find out more about that place that made Daddy so crazy. I’m going to make sure my son does some tours on the strips and no doubt my daughter will be going through the obstacle course in no time. If you saw their rooms, you’d understand! Since they’re only 4 and 2, though, maybe I should give them a break. Thinking of USAFA, I’ll share Noel FULTON’S information with y’all right away. He gave me a list in November of ‘91ers at USAFA: Dana ALLEN (Math), Brian ANDERSON (MAS), Russ BALKA (Athletics), Paul BAUMAN (History), Robert BLOCK (Math), Eric BOWMAN (Astro), Steve CARNEY (Management), Kim DORNBURG (Athletics), Noel FULTON (Aviation), Kyle GRESHAM (Chemistry), Mark GROTELUESCHEN (History), Eric HOLT (Management), Mike JOHNSON (Soaring), Rick LESAN (Pol Sci), Jeff NEAL (Pol Sci), Brian PETERSON (EE), Mike VENERI (MAS), Jean VOIGHT (FULMER) (Math). Wow! Considering the kinds of classes being taught, it seems few of us were very good at engineering; yet there’s so much math representation! Well, I’m looking forward to seeing my buddies in History. Did you know Paul Bauman once saved my life? Yep. I’ll save that story for the reunion.

And, thinking of our alma mater always makes my heart go thumpity-thump for our lovely sponsor, the AOG. They have a new service for all of you called AOG-mail. You can use AOG-mail to send an e-mail message to an individual graduate or to groups. Check out how to use it at www.aog-usafa.org/aog-mail.

I was pleased last summer to discover that Chris BUSHMAN moved into my area. He’s working here in Seattle at Boeing as a member of the Air Force element. As of this writing, my family and his haven’t met (his wife is Stacey, his girls' names are Allison and Emily), but hopefully they’ll come down for a Christmas party.

Mike SHEPPARD is a T-38 flight commander/IP at Columbus. He said in September that he didn't usually see a lot of folks from ‘91 in the T-38 squadron; most are in T-37's and T-1's. His UPT buddies are “scattered to the winds.”

If you are a friend of Susan RANK but haven’t kept in touch recently, you are going to like this column! I have had lots of news from Susan this fall. After she did the Antarctica missions, she’s kept me nicely up-to-date on all her ‘goings-on’. It started this time with “a quick note to say that I'm off again...this time for about 7 weeks…driving to Altus, OK for airdrop & formation AR school…I made it to Altus safely…only saw about 2 clouds the whole way here…got one of the much nicer rooms…back to academics & simulators…checkride went well and I am finally finished here at Altus…going past the Grand Canyon…up through CA…Hwy 101…back home…going on a trip 16 - 23 Dec…to DC for Presidential support backup. Don't know if I'll be there the whole time or end up flying somewhere else.“ Say hi to the big guy for me, Susan! I can’t wait for election time to come around again.

I’ve been really busy myself with grad school, commuting 2 hrs each way every day, so I haven’t spent any time trying to get in touch with other grads at McChord. In fact, the one guy I’ve seen the most lives in Los Angeles: George HALLEY. The reason he was up here was to make plans for his wedding to Erin; they were married on 27 November in downtown Seattle; my wife, Wendy, and I attended the gorgeous reception and unfortunately were the only ‘91ers. However, we had some fascinating conversation with two couples representing ’90, ’89 and ’86! Boy, those numbers seem like ancient history now, don’t they? Anyway, it was great to see George (he and Erin had come here to the house in Puyallup for lunch back in September) and I can guarantee you he has found a wonderfully kind and beautiful wife. They are in missionary training; George is planning on going to India in the next few years. Hopefully they will be able to come to the reunion and tell us all about how preparations are going.

Okay, the last four pieces to share are all from some fairly lengthy emails from Toby ZYROLL, Brad TEBRUGGE, Mike SHEIKH and NG Chee Meng (who’s back in Singapore commanding an F-5 squadron). Here’s their own words:

Toby ZYROLL “A lot has changed since my days at the zoo. I have been married to Megan for six years and we have a two year old little girl, Julia. I separated [Sep 98] and moved to Austin, TX. I work for a company called M/D Totco. I'm a project manager developing control systems for off shore oil rigs. My work has been taking me to Singapore and Brazil a lot lately. Flying business class and having an expense account is certainly better than going TDY on per diem.”

Brad TEBRUGGE at Randolph: “Things are going well with us...Madeline (8 months in Nov) is beginning to scoot around (you wouldn't recognize it as crawling yet) and is more fun every day. We have so much to be thankful for. We hope you are all well.” Later, his wife Kim filled me in with more detail: “The things that fill his schedule are hunting, flying and playing with Madeline. Brad’s flying the T-1 at PIT. He grew up in San Antonio so it's a little weird to be "home" but we are appreciating time with his parents. His mom was diagnosed with cancer so we are on a humanitarian assignment. We keep praying. We are about the same, plus new additions like beloved Madeline, an awesome dog named Shelby (a Rhodesian Ridgeback), a cat, and of course, a horse.”

Mike SHEIKH (in Spokane) says “I've been in civilian world for a while now. The grass isn't that green on the other side of the street, at least in the beginning. I never thought I would be doing what I do now. I am a licensed stockbroker with a small client base focused on sophisticated options trading strategies and day trading. Most of my clients come from the options classes I teach at a local college. One of my larger clients owns a promotional products company. I share office space with him and perform all the duties of an owner, which include sales, accounting, inventory management, printing, and legal. The company essentially imports desk accessories and miniradios from China. I am essentially acting as a consultant. My consulting services include writing business plans, negotiating agreements, and financing if necessary. In the winter I am a booking agent for ski condominiums located in Breckenridge, Colorado. To sum it, I'm a senior at "the school of hard knocks" and getting ready to graduate. Some people call me an entrepreneur others call me stupid, only time will tell. I'm fortunate to be surrounded by a lot of my good Academy friends, who give me moral support from time to time. My roommates are Chris SULLIVAN and Tom HIGHSMITH.”

It’s always a treat for me to get news from NG Chee Meng, who’s now raising his beautiful family (wife and 2 daughters) in Singapore. He writes “it has been a while…I have completed my command and staff course at home (instead of going to Maxwell as originally planned). The course was pretty hectic but I came through it all right. I was lucky enough to finish at the top of the class, in no small measure thanks to the support of my wife Michelle. Anyway, after my month long leave, I will be heading back to the Squadron to take over command around 1 Feb 2000. I wish you guys could be around. Unfortunately, my Chief has decided to retain me in the F-5 community and will only let me go to the F-16s only much later in my career. On the family side, there has been a lowered level of productivity. We have stagnated at 2 daughters so far. Sara has grown into an active 4-year-old while Elisabeth is already 2 and will be venturing to Nursery next year. However, before long, I'll have to fend off hormone-charged young men knocking on my door!”

Last, before I close, news of two families moving to unknown lands; unknown, that is, because I’ve forgotten! Shame, shame. Shannon, Angie and Joshua CURRY will be setting up a new home now that they’ve left Ft Huachuca and Peter GARRETSON is going across the Pacific.

As for me, I’m going to be seeking information from the AOG and other sources about what we should be doing for the reunion. Just think; when you read this, it will only be a year and a half away!