Class of 79 News July 2014 Omnes Viri News USNA 79ers – 35th REUNION 4:00pm-5:15pm Dress Parade on Worden Field 7:15pm-8:30pm Jewish Service in Levy Center 7:00pm-11:00pm Dinner Reception (Westin Hotel) Our 35th Reunion will be 25-28 September 2014. We play Western Kentucky on the 27th. Here is information from Valerie & Sean on the tentative schedule, our headquarters hotel, registering for the reunion, ordering football tickets, and the class store (same info from last month). Saturday September 27th 9:00am-5:00pm Museum Hours 9:00am-5:00pm Visitor Center Hours 9:00am-10:00am Reunion Check -In/ The Westin Annapolis 10:00am-11:00am Class Meeting / The Westin Annapolis 1:00pm-7:00pm Tailgater/ N* Room Navy-M/C Stadium 3:30pm Navy VS Western Kentucky After Game Company Parties 1979 Reunion – Tentative Schedule of Events Thursday September 25th 7:30am-4:00pm Midshipmen Store Hours 9:00am-5:00pm Visitor Center Hours 9:00am-5:00pm Museum Hours (TBD) Golf (Location TBD) 12:00-12:15pm Noon Meal Formation 3:00pm-6:30pm Reunion Check-In / The Westin Annapolis 7:00pm-10:00pm Crab Feast- Supe’s Tent/ Navy-MC Stadium Sunday September 28th 9:00am-5:00pm Visitor Center Hours 9:00am-10:00am Catholic Service (Main Chapel) 11:00am-5:00pm Museum Hours 11:00am-12:15pm Protestant Service (Main Chapel) Friday September 26th 7:30am-4:00pm Midshipmen Store Hours 9:00am-5:00pm Visitor Center Hours 9:00am-5:00pm Museum Hours 9:00am-6:30pm Reunion Check-In / The Westin Annapolis 11:00am-12:00 Class Memorial (Main Chapel) 12:00-12:15pm Noon Meal Formation 1:50pm-3:00pm Superintendent Briefing Alumni Association Welcome (Alumni Hall) 1979 Reunion – Hotel Information Here is the information and link for booking the Westin Hotel for the 35th Reunion. A personalized Web site for USNA Class Of 1979 occurring (September 25, 2014 September 29, 2014) has been created. 1 Guests can access the site to learn more about the event and to book, modify, or cancel a reservation from April 14, 2014 to September 29, 2014. instructions are provided courtesy of the Alumni Association. Please go to the USNA Alumni Association website at USNA.com. Once there, click on “Sign In” to log into your account. Below you will find the appropriate link(s) for classmates to access the site: For classmates that have an account in the Online Community at the Alumni Association website, please visit http://www.usna.com and log into your account. If you do not have an account in the Online Community, then please follow the prompts on the sign in page to set one up. If you are not sure, then contact onlinecommunity@usna.com and we will be happy to check for you! USNA Class Of 1979 (OR copy and paste the following link into a web browser) https://www.starwoodmeeting.com/StarGroups Web/res?id=1404149119&key=22ED9002. Important Information: 1 night stay plus tax advanced deposit is due at time of booking 2 night minimum stay required for rate to apply. Cancellation period is 30 days prior to arrival date or guest will forfeit the afore mentioned deposit. If you have an account but do not remember your user name and/or password and have the same email address as when the account was set up you can submit a request online to retrieve your username and/or password. The room rate negotiated is $299 per night. At the last Reunion five years ago, the rate was $288, as a point of reference. Typically, the Westin charges $349 per night on a Football Weekend. If your email address has changed, PLEASE DO NOT SET UP ANOTHER ACCOUNT. Instead, contact the Alumni Association and we will be happy to look up your user name and password so that you can access your account to register for the reunion and update your contact information. Please email onlinecommunity@usna.com for user name and password look up. 1979 Reunion – Registration Instructions Reunion Registration is now open. In previous emails I asked that you prepare for this by ensuring your login credentials – User Name and Password at the Alumni Association Website (www.usna.com) – were tested and ready. Are you ready? Once signed in, click on My Account in the bottom right hand corner of the page. Click on Update Profile to update your contact information, and then click on military salutation to update your current rank or civilian status, followed by updating Class Mail so that your class officers can continue to communicate with you. Please read through this email completely before you actually go Register. This email provides the gouge to get you registered and paid up for all the key activities. The team at the Alumni Association is standing by to help! Please do not hesitate to contact one of the following for username/password retrieval or help registering for your reunion: For those of you who are NOT ready yet, here is what you need to do to log in. These 2 onlinecommunity@usna.com or holly.powers@usna.com. After making all selections, click on Calculate Total, then Next. Once you have logged in and are ready to proceed (make sure you have your credit card ready for payment and perhaps be ready to take some notes – particularly if you are interested in the Golf Outing), go to Stay Connected, then Find My Class and select 1979. In the next screen select Events and click on Register Here and you will be taken to the Registration Page. If you are unable to see the Events tab, try accessing the USNA Alumni Association web site using Mozilla Fox Fire or Chrome. At Step 3, Verify your address and contact information then complete the credit card payment information. Click Complete Registration. You will receive an email confirmation of your order. Your Credit Card will also show the charge as made to IATS-Charities which handles the payments for the Alumni Association. Your Reunion Committee looks forward to seeing each of you in September! When you have accessed the Registration page: Update 5/21 from Sean Cate: Reunion Registrations are taking off with about 20 classmates signing up in the first days. I want to point out a few common errors we are seeing people make so you won’t also make them. Step 1 comes up. This page provides a summary of all events and event costs. Note: If you are going to attend the Friday Dinner AND Saturday Tailgate, there is a Combo Price for these two events. First – please be careful with your selections. There has been some confusion with the Combo selection. The Combo selection gives you a discounted price for the Friday Dinner and the Saturday Tailgate. Use Combo for every Adult in your party attending BOTH events. Leave the individual Friday Dinner and Saturday Tailgate empty if it is just you and/or other adults. After you are familiar with the events and are ready to make your selections, click Next. At Step 2 you will Register and select the events you will attend. If you select Combo for Friday Dinner and Saturday Tailgate you do not need to again select those as a single event. The exception would be for additional Dinner or Tailgate tickets for children, friends, etc. NOTE: Friday Dinner is Adult Only. However, some you may also be bringing your children/grandchildren to the Saturday Tailgate only, or your former Sponsor (for example) to the Friday dinner only. Those may be added in the individual event areas. If you have any questions, please let me know. Please include your planned attendance at the Class Meeting, Supe’s Brief, and Memorial Service. These events are FREE but we would like a preliminary headcount. Please also make sure you have added the name (First Last format preferred) for ALL people in your party attending Pay-for events. Check your email receipt closely after you have registered to assure all information is correct. If you have Registered and made an error or later want to change some aspect of your registration, (add or delete an event, 3 add/correct nametag info, etc.) this MUST be done manually. All changes require you to contact Holly Powers at the Alumni Association, at (410) 295-4017 or holly.powers@usna.com and she will be happy to take care of it for you. proceed. If you have never purchased tickets with the Navy Ticket Office, create a new account by using Box 3 at the sign in option. 1979 Reunion – Class Store The registration fee is mandatory. Good News: The Class Store is OPEN: Reunion merchandise is available on http://www.usnaclasstore.com/79store.html. Merchandise must be ordered in advance and will be shipped directly to you. Orders must be received by August 24th to be shipped prior to the reunion. Merchandise will not be available during the reunion weekend. Again, it is helpful for our planning to know how many people may attend the Memorial Service, Supe’s Brief, and Class Meeting so don’t omit those in your registration. Spouses are welcome to attend the Class Meeting Saturday morning. The Registration process will remain open until about three weeks before the Reunion. Please don’t plan to “Just show up” as walkups for all events may not be possible. You MUST register by August 31 to guarantee your Nametags will be printed. 1979 Reunion – Information on Class Website (www.usna79.com) Reservations for the Westin are booking at a brisk pace! Don’t forget to book your room at our Headquarters Hotel! Stan Clark will keep all reunion information available on our class website (www.usna79.com). There is a link for the 35th Reunion on the left-hand side of the page and here is the address for the page: BEAT ARMY! Omnes Viri 1979, Sean http://www.usna79.com/Class_Information/Eve nts/35th_Reunion/35th_Reunion_main.htm. 1979 Reunion – Football Ticket: Online Ordering Instructions PREZ SEZ The Navy Ticket Office wants your reunion experience to be a special one. We have a block of tickets set aside for your reunion so you can sit with your classmate. This specific block of seats is available online. Tickets will be mailed 2-3 weeks prior to the game. 1. Go to www.navysports.com 2. Click on the Buy Tickets Link 3. Click on the Promotion Codes Drop Down 4. Enter 1979 in the promotional code box 5. Enter Quantity of tickets needed and continue through order. 6. If you have an account with the Navy Ticket Office, use your account log in to Greetings Classmates, From Mid-Month: There are a couple of Navy-Marine Corps notices I wanted to pass along: Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel announced today (6/5) that the president has made the following nomination: Marine Corps Gen. Joseph F. Dunford Jr., for appointment to the rank of general and for assignment as the 36th commandant of the Marine Corps, Washington, District of Columbia. Dunford is currently serving as commander, International Security 4 that require a minimum order – the Slipon Visor, and the Afghan Blanket. I’m ordering two blankets myself so help me out to get to the minimum (I think it is only 20). Your order will ship in plenty of time for the Reunion, but the store will NOT be open during the Reunion so order your class apparel now. Assistance Force-Afghanistan; and commander, United States ForcesAfghanistan. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel announced today (6/6) that the president has made the following nomination: Navy Rear Adm. Walter E. Carter Jr., nominated for appointment to the rank of vice admiral and for assignment as superintendent, U.S. Naval Academy, Annapolis, Maryland. Carter is currently serving as president, Naval War College, Newport, Rhode Island. Ted Carter is an NFO out of the USNA Class of 1981. I don’t know what Company he was in but I’m sure one of you will tell me. BEAT ARMY! From End-of-Month: Reunion registration is going slow but steady; as of the end of June we have 62 classmates registered. The Reunion Committee is putting together a good deal for the classmate who is the 79th to register, and that will be announced at the Reunion. It would help our planning for more people to register now – some things like Reunion Giveaways take lead times that require us to estimate final numbers prior to the end of Registration in early September. We don’t want to have too few or too many items. Book your Hotel Room, get your football tickets, and get registered today! After that, click into the Class Store and get your Reunion gear! OK Folks. A Reunion Update. As of 6/13 we have 47 Classmates registered to attend. In addition we have over 50 (of 120) rooms booked at the Westin Hotel. Please get your room booked soon and registration entered so you don’t miss out. Once again the Reunion Committee will provide a good deal to whoever is the 79th Classmate to register. All gouge (links, etc.) for the Reunion has been provided in my previous emails or may be found at the class website, www.usna79.com. Remember that you need to: Book your Westin Hotel Room through the established link Register and pay for all Reunion events through the Alumni Association link o The Crab Feast Thursday evening has a maximum attendance so once full, we will have to close that. You MUST have a Football Ticket for everyone in your party attending the Tailgate. Contact the NAAA per previous gouge. Chuck Dixon will be coordinating the Class Golf Outing with more information coming soon. The Class Store is OPEN. Link previously provided. There are two items See you all in September! Beat Western Kentucky! Beat Air Force! Beat Army! O/V, Sean P.S. Register for the Reunion TODAY!!!! B IL L T O T I Cubic Names Bill Toti as New President of Mission Support Services. Cubic announced that effective July 1, Bill Toti will succeed Jimmie Balentine as president of Cubic's Mission Support 5 Services segment. Toti will also serve as a senior vice president of Cubic Corporation. To ensure a smooth transition, Balentine will remain at Cubic until the end of the fiscal year serving as chairman of Mission Support Services. Balentine will then serve in a part time role as an executive advisor to Toti. Balentine's retirement comes after more than 20 years with the company. Balentine successfully grew the business unit from $25 million to nearly $500 million during his tenure. "I'm excited to step into this role and look forward to working closely with our customers and partners," Toti said. "I'm looking forward to applying my diverse skills and experience to some of the biggest challenges we face today and there is no better place to do that than Cubic." Toti has a bachelor's degree in physics from the U.S. Naval Academy and a master's degree in spacecraft systems engineering and pre-doctoral electrical engineering degree from the Naval Postgraduate School. He served as a Federal Executive Fellow at the Brookings Institution specializing in Asian political-military affairs, and as a Massachusetts Institute of Technology Seminar XXI Fellow in International Affairs. "I want to thank Jimmie Balentine for his extraordinary efforts leading our Mission Support Services business segment. Jim has demonstrated outstanding leadership and built a world-class team," said Brad Feldmann, president and chief operating officer of Cubic Corporation. About Cubic Corporation "We are delighted to welcome Bill to Cubic. He brings the right talent and experience to this important role as we continue to seek ways to expand growth prospects for the company. Bill is a proven leader with a solid track record in mission-oriented businesses including large scale IT enterprises deployment and support." Cubic Corporation is the parent company of three major business segments. Cubic Transportation Systems is a leading integrator of payment and information technology and services for intelligent travel solutions. Cubic Defense Systems is a leading provider of realistic combat training systems and secure communications. Mission Support Services is a leading provider of training, operations, maintenance, technical and other support services for the U.S. and allied nations. For more information about Cubic, see the company's Web site at http://www.cubic.com. Before joining Cubic, Toti worked at the Hewlett-Packard Company as vice president and account executive for the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps Accounts for HP Enterprise Services. During his tenure at HP, Toti led a $1.3 billion per year business unit and successfully led the HP team that won the re-compete of the Next Generation Enterprise Network project. He led all IT strategy, service design, service transition, service operations and continuous service improvement for the Navy and Marine Corps Internet and other Navy/Marine networks. Prior to HP, Toti was vice president of the Mission Support Operations at Raytheon Company. He also served more than 26 years in the U.S. Navy. CONGRATS, BILL! LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD At the 82nd Military Operations Research Society Symposium (MORSS), I was honored to receive one of the two MORS lifetime achievement awards for the individual practitioner, the Clayton J. 6 Thomas Award. Quite a surprise! My “boss” at the USNA Alumni Association – the Chapter Coordinator, Lt Col Joe Fagan USMC Ret. – and classmate Mark Clemente were at the plenary session. CORPSMAN BECOMES MARINE Battle-Scarred Corpsman Becomes Marine It’s not often you see a midshipman hustling down Stribling Walk to get to class with a Combat Action Ribbon and a Purple Heart pinned to his uniform, but that was the last four years for 2nd Lt. Jefferson Talicuran. The 25-year-old former Navy corpsman, who was nearly discharged for a combat wound only years before, strode across the graduation stage this year to accept his diploma and commission as a Marine Corps ground combat officer more than seven years after he originally joined the Navy straight out of high school. Here is the write-up: The MORS 2014 Thomas Award is presented to Mr. Kirk Michealson in recognition of his extraordinary contributions to the military and national security operations analysis profession and to its future vitality through his unselfish mentoring and support of aspiring analysts during more than thirty years of truly distinguished service. Throughout his career, he has also contributed to the analytical endeavors that support critical decision making in all areas of national defense— within the military, in the Office of the Secretary of Defense, and in the commercial defense sector. Mr. Michealson has also given back to the profession he loves through his volunteer work at all levels of the Military Operations Research Society. These contributions reflect the highest standards of the operations research profession in the national security realm, Mr. Michealson truly epitomizes all that the Thomas Award stands for. ALL ACADEMY CHALLENGE 1-10 July is the time we will beat Army yet again … and Air Force and Coast Guard all at once. This friendly fund-raising competition has been established to support the next generation of leaders in the form of a sprint for 10 days only. It’s a simple way to show them all that Navy is truly the best. Which academy has the most supporters? That will be up to YOU. VADM MIKE MILLER ‘74 As his tour comes to an end, hear Admiral Miller’s thoughts on what his time as Superintendent has meant to him, the future of the Academy, the impact of philanthropy and more in this video interview. ALUMNI MENTORING PROGRAM With nearly 800 USNA alumni participating as mentors and protégés, the Alumni Mentoring Program (AMP) Pilot was accepted and endorsed by the USNA Alumni 7 Association Board of Trustees on 2 May to continue. As part of the 50th Anniversary Legacy Gift from the Class of 1969, AMP promotes the culture of alumni helping alumni to achieve greater goals in life and career. Orange grease has a way of leaving a stain, especially when it’s mixed with sweat from climbing a 21-foot obelisk. “You’re kind of a rock star in a small arena, for a day at least,” said John Truesdell, who reached the top of the Herndon Monument at the Naval Academy in 1960 in a record 12 minutes. “THE LAST SHIP” Producer Michael Bay (synonymous with things blowing up), filming aboard the HALSEY and DEWEY, a lead actor who was quite happy the setting was a ship and not a submarine, post-apocalyptic drama, alumni involvement, a Navy crew saving the world, riveting dialogue like, “I WANT ANSWERS!” … what's not to like here? Premiers on 22 June—here’s the trailer. “It’s one of two good memories from plebe year,” said Truesdell, now 73 and a semiretired investment counselor who lives near Tuscon, Arizona. He credits his small stature with being the key to his Herndon success. He weighed 123 pounds when he entered the academy, and by Christmas the rigors of plebe year had his 5-foot 6-inch frame down to 108. SURVIVING THE 1st YEAR Not long after graduation, Induction Day ushers the next class in to begin the neverending and hottest summer of their young lives, a tradition that also happens at Air Force, Coast Guard and West Point. Less than seven percent come from military families and only 1 in 10 don't make it through their first year. Five percent don’t last the summer. Here’s a great video chronicling “freshmen” at all four academies during those daunting first six weeks for the Class of 2002. “It was just everybody yelling and pushing,” said Truesdell, who was shoved aloft in a kind of vertical pushup. “It was just a riot.” Mids in those days wore their dress uniforms to Herndon, unlike today, when T-shirts and shorts rule. In the 1960 climb Truesdell, like the other plebes, shed his coat and shoes, then had at it. HERNDON MEMORIES Truesdell, who graduated from the academy in 1963, holds the record for climbing the monument when greased. The Class of 2017, which will tackle Herndon on Monday afternoon, will have to cope with a coating of vegetable shortening. As with other Herndon climbs, there was no strategy — just perspiration, luck and teamwork. Herndon memories: Mids who made it to the top reflect on climb By THERESA WINSLOW twinslow@capgaznews.com In some years, the marker was left bare — resulting in a record of one minute, 30 seconds, set by the Class of 1972. His white dress pants and matching socks were trashed. Last year, it took plebes more than 90 minutes to scale the monument, grab the 8 “Dixie cup” hat atop the obelisk and replace it with an upperclassman’s hat. The longest climb — more than four hours — was in 1995. I realized how close it was,” said Davis, a guard on the academy basketball team who runs a law firm in Atlanta. “I reached up and tugged and held (the hat) up in the air. They carried me off.” Many of the mids who’ve made it to the top were either small like Truesdell, or tall, like Midshipman 1st Class Matthew Dalton, 21, who is 6 feet 4 inches and made it to the top in 2011. A plaque commemorating the event still hangs on the wall of his sponsor’s home, he said. “I just remember everybody was wet, everybody was slipping and sliding, but it was a great day.” The tradition of the climb dates back to 1940. The ritual started to become significant as a plebe rite of passage later that decade. “When I pass (the monument),” said Midshipman 2nd Class Andrew Craig, who triumphed in 2012, “I just remember having a great time with my friends. We kind of suffered together through plebe year.” Legend holds that the plebe who gets to the top will be the first admiral in the class — but that has never happened. Craig, 21, called snatching the cap “a huge rush” and said he was simply at the right place at the right time. Of course, him being over 6-foot 5 helped, too. “Every class thinks they’ll break the record. How hard could it be? But you know, you can’t discount the chaos factor. I was wet and greasy, but you wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.” Truesdell made it to commander. Dalton, who will graduate this week, is taking a cautious approach. “When I get to the fleet, we’ll see where I go from there.” 79ers IN THE NEWS The monument is named after Cmdr. William Lewis Herndon, who went down with his ship in a hurricane in 1857. “When I go back and I look at it, it doesn’t seem that tall,” Truesdell said. 1 – Welcome to the Area / Newsletter – New additions this month include: None. But Herndon still loomed plenty large to the teenage sons of Mawuli “Mel” Davis when he showed it to them at his 20th reunion. Updates include: Abe Ellis, Greg Parker, Dick Tobey. ‘They couldn’t believe (I) climbed all the way up there,” said Davis, 45, who in 1988 got to the top in 43 minutes, 44 seconds — the fastest time of the decade. 2 – Abe Ellis – I received the following from Abe. Congrats, Abe! “Today I find myself in Upstate New York (35 minutes from the little town in which I “We just got out there and before I knew it I could hear people yelling ... and that’s when 9 (along with our classmates Jim Burton, Mike Mowins and Mike Feidt) was born and raised...lacrosse hot bed which was my ticket into USNA!!) as the Business (BarnEllis Enterprises, LLC) Manager and the General Manager of the Salmon River Lighthouse & Marina in hustling and bustling Pulaski, NY. (pronounced pahLAS-keye, unlike pah-LAS-kee, as those old Virginians say for their town!). lakefront home, to a lifelong very good friend (the sister of MY lifelong since 9th grade.....best friend!) whom (Kathy) became my very best friend and my S.O. over the past 7 years. (guess maybe I should write some of this "new" news to the author of our Shipmate article.....or a cc on this note....yeah, that will work!) (Wiz, I may have a picture on my camera I can download and send to you.......I for sure have one on my cell phone...after the tie, my dress shoes and her high heels went off and Hawaiian shirt and flip flops went on......will a cell phone pic work??) So that is it for now Boyz and Girlz. Hope you both are doing well. Not sure if this new venture will allow my new bride and me to leave for an entire weekend of debauchery in Nappy Town with all of the LCWB crazies, but we for sure have NOT taken it off the "2014 Bucket List". Our family purchased the entire property about 2 months ago.....marina, retail store, boat docks, boat launch, gas and diesel service, 3 rental cabins, AND....drum roll.......an actual Lighthouse......built in 1838, deactivated later that century, then RE-activated about 25 years ago (I think!) and it is now an "official" USCG Type II Aid to Navigation.......right here at the mouth of the Salmon River where it joins Lake Ontario. The late summer Salmon "Run" into the river to their final place of rest is something to behold.....which I did last year for the first time. Now I am smack dab in the middle of it all at the (arguably) best spot for the hundreds (thousands??) of salmon fishing fanatic fools that wait all year to be a part of it..... All the best! Fly Navy!! O/V, Abe 3 – Andy Brower – I received the following request from Andy Brower: “Our daughter Addie is graduating from high school this year. She has accepted with William and Mary but has deferred for a year to study Chinese at Fudan University in Shanghai. Can you send out a blast asking if anyone has contacts or info to share about Shanghai?” Tough gig......REAL tough gig. The lighthouse is one of only 3 along the Seaway Trail in which one can stay overnight.....it has a 2-story residence and 3 bedrooms. All of the "pieces" of this new puzzle are undergoing massive renovations (years of decline and neglect and "who really gives a crap" attitude to reverse), so I wear a lot of different hats every day (including "Keeper of the Light!"). Perfect place for an old worn-out Navy O-6, don't ya think? (All of this reminds me of the retired Army General in White Christmas...General Waverly as I recall) Andy’s e-mail is atbrow@aol.com. DC AREA 79er COORDINATOR HOME – Kirk.Michealson@1979.USNA.com or Kirk.michealson@gmail.com Orlando, FL – (407)422-9694 Cell – (407)375-3440 And...2nd drum roll........I was married 2 weeks ago right on the beach in front of our 10