THE CHALLENGE. In the next five, double-spaced pages, I have to condense all the great stuff you've given me -- and I can't use teeny type. I'm up to it -- and I want to thank all of you for taking the time to tell us how/what you're doing. without delay ( and with only a little rhyme or reason):

OVERSEAS: Derek (Barb "age classified" plus three) HESS is the DO in F-15s at Kadena. "I have spent all but 29 months of my career flying, which I think is great!" they've been assigned to the Netherlands, Saudi, and Japan, and are planning a trip to Australia this fall. "That will have put our kids on just about every continent in the world (and if anyone knows why we should go to Antarctica, we might consider making it all of them!)"

Larry (Lorraine plus two) WHITE hailed us from Ops Plans at HQ EUCOM (Stuttgart) to say: "Since my wife and kids packed themselves off to the in-laws for a couple of weeks, I finally read the last three years of Checkpoints and resolved to finally write you." Larry's background includes the F-4G (Wild Weasel) and EW staff work. He's there with Tim BRENNAN (Ops Support) and Ed SCHMIDT (Doctrine). He adds how he juggles the kids' things around a mixed German/American schedule and that "work here is backing off to about 60 hours a week -- hearing congress say we need to cut the joint staff by 10 percent so helps morale."

Down Under: Jerry (Melanie plus two) SIROTE still flies for QANTAS and lets us know that winters there are between 50 and the low 60s -- but the family still goes to Alabama for six weeks "every northern summer to get our American fix!" Greg AUGST is at the American consulate. Jerry adds he received an invitation from John PRAY to attend John's celebration at getting a McChord C-141 squadron (John says he sees Shelby BALL, chief of Wing Safety, and Chris GOLOB, a Reserve driver) and that Walt CARLSON is with FedEx out of the Philippines (commutes from Utah). Tom (Ann plus three) WILLIAMS is back after a furlough to the States. They are still with the Navigators ministry, working specifically with Asian students in Australia.

CONUS: Bob YOUNG reported in from a combined exercise he was on as a Reservist. "Got to do a CSAR with Navy E-2 as AMC and USAF F-16s the first day, Army apaches the second, and A-10s the third. Lots of fun. We were working on interoperability. Harpo (HARPER) was there. I saw Matt NEUENSWANDER for a little while. It's hard to believe we're old enough to be in charge."

At Randolph: Tom ANDERSON is CC at the nav training squadron; Dean SCULLY slid over from Brooks as Randolph's aerospace physiologist; Karen (LUSK) (Ken) KAYLOR is working training issues at AETC; Dave BRITTON's flying the needle (T-38); and Greg HARSTAD and Russ HODGKINS passed through to requal on Tweets (Columbus) and T-38s (Vance) respectively.

Mary DALEY now has the Log Sqdn at the Zoo. It's her third job in three years; "Don't know what that says, but ..." She's got company as Debra (DUBBE) GRAY is there as the Supt's speech writer.

Scott PAPP, on his way to a ROTC assignment at Wilkes-Barre, PA, "just left Gunter-by-the-sea, AL, where I was buying computers for the government." He says, "Don't get a ROTC assignment if you want to feel young, as the cadets continuously remind you how old you really are." Scott regularly saw Glenn TAYLOR, program manager for the huge Global Combat Support System, and Doug HAGER, ops researcher at HQ AFROTC. Craig SEEBER moved into the same small town (Wetumpka) to start AWC. while getting a haircut there, Scott saw a guy in a USAFA sweatsuit -- it was none other than Craig CARTER, paster of the Mulder United Methodist Church.

Tom "Mitch" MITCHELL (a.k.a. Brew Dude) let us know he still flies out of DFW for AA "going on 10 years now! My latest hobby is beer brewing. Been playing with that for about three years and have had pretty good success! I call my little operation 'Blue Zoo Brewing Company,' although in accordance with Federal law, I don't actually sell the stuff." It was Mitch who first put the bug in my ear to see about a class home page.

Dara (SNYDER) (Ken plus three) CUMMINS calls the Ft. Worth area home. Dara is working part-time as a petroleum engineer and Ken is a Christian minister working as a family counselor, conference speaker, and teacher with Lifetime Guarantee Ministries.

Dale (Susan plus one) SHIRASAGO is a military advisor at the State Dept. His pin-on date came while he was in Baghdad for 99 days as chief missile inspector of UNSCOM, along with reps from the UK, Russia, Canada, South Korea, Romania, and the U.S. Needless to say, there was not much fanfare. "I don't think Saddam would have appreciated it too much."

Look! Up in the sky! The short list of pilot and/or mission specialists came out and Joe LANNI, C.D. MOORE, Steve RAINEY, Paul G. SMITH, and Robert WILSON were on it. Good luck on the last cut, gents!

Marty MEYER works at the Pentagon in "Advanced Concept Technology Demos (the UAVs, for instance). I flew the F-111 for 11 years (four models total -- EF-111 in the Gulf War). I've been married for 10 years now; we have a seven-year-old daughter, a mortgage, and a cat."

Tom EHRHARD is "still at Johns Hopkins University, starting my third and last year of trial by academic fire -- I have a year to finish my dissertation, which is basically a 300-page paper. All nighters just won't work, which leaves me in a quandary as to how I will approach it." Obviously, Tom was an excellent example of the typical cadet.

VRRROOOM! Dave FRANCIS saw Bret LUEDKE's picture in AF Mag as a civvy test pilot on the F-22. Also with the F-22 are Steve RAINEY, the AF test pilot; Janet (LIBBY) WOLFENBARGER was project officer for the acquisition program. I guess this means the success of the jet is greatly due to the efforts of some of our classmates.

Frank "Spanky" OTT, DO at Eglin's FWS, sent a blast that sounded like fighter talk. Seems he's there with: John POSNER (DO), Steve "Sped" MILLER (CC), Vinny DEFRANZO (DO); plus Steve "Muddy" WATERS is at Laughlin as Ops in the T-1, Dave FRANCIS is Ops in A-10s at Pope, Ali FROLICH and Matt NEUENSWANDER are at Moody as Fighter DOs. Matt adds Jim POWELL and Larry DEPATIS are in Moody in wing staff jobs.

Our AF roots. T.J. JOHNSON, airshow coordinator at ACC, had a chance of a lifetime recently: He hitched a ride on a C-47 to the Elmira, NY National Warplane Museum Airshow and was in the P-51 that flew formation with the demo F-16 at the show -- you can find the picture in Air Classics magazine. the next day, off in the B-17 Fuddy Duddy with Col Morgan (pilot of the Memphis Belle) and SSgt Embree, recon photographer aboard a B-17 that landed during the attack on Pearl Harbor.

YOUR TURN. As fast as life is moving, it's time to think about what's ahead; our 20th reunion. Yep, it's time to start the planning stage. We need folks, preferably in the Springs area, to volunteer to honcho it and liase with the AOG. Let me know. (That's the nice pitch. It will get stronger as the days wear on.

Stay in touch. Don.

Don Myers
AOG members: 40 percent