Dear Proud to Be ’83,

I hope everyone’s New Year has begun on a favorable note!  Last month I had the opportunity to return to West Point and see what your Margin of Excellence dollars are doing for the Academy.  I am your Class Representative on the Advisory Counsel to the Board of Directors.  The first day I had the opportunity to go out and see cadet projects.  I happened upon a firstie named Anthony Ruizcalderon.  You can guess how that conversation started…”Cadet Ruizcalderon, do you think your father and I were classmates...”  His project, “Data Analytics in Support of Strategic and Tactical Decision Making” would have made his papa proud if the elder Tony could have understood it.  I don’t think I am going to be able to explain it to him either as my battles with the orange bomber alongside John Lennon against MAJs Dewald and Tighe are infamous.  Anyway, suffice to say “The Corps has”…gotten a lot smarter.  I even heard the Hockey Team had the highest GPA of Corps Squad Teams.  I won’t bore you with the minutes of the BOD Meeting so let’s go to the updates –

Article on Ted Westhusing and family in Emory magazine

Johnny Thomas came across this article on Ted in the Emory University Alumni Magazine.  Ted received his PhD from Emory in 2003. JT’s daughter attends Emory.   It is an excellent read and tribute.
http://www.emory.edu/EMORY_MAGAZINE/2011/winter/westhusing.html

Decoteau Family Update

I was able to reach our classmate Mark and he sends the following update for the Decoteau family:
“After the loss of Marc Paul on January 29, 2010 we spent the past year adjusting to our life without his smiling presence.  Life does continue on though and we are proud of our other two children.

Maddie, our oldest, will complete her 5th year of a six-year Doctor of Pharmacy program at Campbell University in NC.  Her scheduled graduation date is May, 2012.  Andrew, our youngest, graduates from High School in June and has accepted a position at USMAPS for  July of this year.  Hopefully he will complete USMAPS successfully and enter USMA with the Class of 2016.  

Marc Paul’s unit and US Army Special Operations Command have been a tremendous support over the past year.  They held several memorial services including at Bagram Airbase the week of Marc’s death and a memorial by 4th POG at Fort Bragg in February, 2010.  Each May USASOC adds the names of those lost in action during in the previous year to their memorial wall at Fort Bragg.  On Memorial Day Weekend 2010 Marc’s name was added to the memorial.  During the ceremony, USASOC also unveiled a completely renovated memorial wall.  The new monument is a really impressive tribute to all of the Army special operators lost in service to the United States from Korea to the War on Terror.  In October, eight members of Marc’s detachment came to New Hampshire to visit us over the Columbus Day Weekend.  We had a great time of fellowship and getting to know the men with whom Marc served.  Finally, we had an opportunity to travel down to Ft. Bragg at the end of January for a plaque dedication in Marc’s Battalion area on the first anniversary of his passing.  Most of the members of his company were at the ceremony, except for a few who have already deployed overseas again.  The plaque is now displayed at the Battalion HQ entrance along with the guidon that Marc carried over to Afghanistan when the unit deployed.  This is a lengthy update on the military side of things, but I wanted to let all of you know that not only are we proud of our son’s service, all of us should be proud of the way his fellow soldiers and command have been so supportive of us throughout this ordeal.  They have been there not only comforting us, but honoring Marc Paul and his service.  It has been a humbling experience.

Marc has been honored by his community as well.  Our town erected a new flagpole (40 feet tall with a 12’ x 8’ American flag!) at the elementary school that Marc attended and dedicated the pole to Marc.  It is really something to see such a large reminder of our nation in the midst of our little town.  Thank you for mentioning his memorial fund [Marc P. Decoteau Memorial Fund, Community Guarantee Bank, PO Box 996, Plymouth, NH 03264, and will benefit the Plymouth Regional High School Lacrosse Team.].  We used the generous gifts of so many people to build a set of bleachers and coaches’ film tower at the lacrosse field where Marc played his senior year.  It was a great addition to the athletic facilities of our high school and will be used and enjoyed by folks for many years to come.  We have the fund still open and will continue to use it to support the lacrosse program at the high school in whatever needs they may have in the future.
We want everyone to know that the thoughts and prayers of all of our friends, including ’83 classmates, have been so appreciated by Nancy, Maddie, Andrew and me.  Many thanks to all.

GO ARMY!
Mark F. Decoteau, Town Manager, Town of Waterville Valley”

32nd AAMDC welcomes new CG: BG Rossi returns to El Paso for sixth Bliss assignment

The 32nd Army Air and Missile Defense Command welcomed back one of their own Tuesday when BG. John G. Rossi – who previously served as the unit’s G3 Training officer – assumed command of the unit in a ceremony at the Fort Bliss Museum.  The assignment is a homecoming of sorts for the entire Rossi family. Rossi’s wife Liz is a native El Pasoan and all three of the couple’s children were born in the Sun City. For Rossi, the command marks his sixth assignment at the installation.  For the rest of the article - http://fbmonitor.com/2011/03/23/32nd-welcomes-new-cg-rossi-returns-to-el-paso-for-sixth-bliss-assignment/
Congratulations to the Rossi family.

BG Ray Royalty takes command of the 95th Division (USAR)

BG Ray Royalty took command of the 95th Division (USAR) in a ceremony at Fort Sill Saturday April 16th.  His pinning ceremony to BG took place in Charlotte, NC on Sunday April 17th.  Ruben Ordnonez and Mark Snyder are two of his four Brigade Commanders.  Congratulations to our Division and Brigade Commanders.

COL Dallas Homas. Commander, Madigan Army Medical Center

Len McWherter sent a photo off the wall of Madigan Army Medical Center of COL Dallas Homas the Commander.  Congratulations to Dallas and family.

GO Assignments

Brigadier General Kenneth E. Tovo, Deputy Commanding General (Support), 1st Armored Division, United States Army Europe and Seventh Army, Germany to Commander, Special Operations Command Central, United States Central Command, MacDill Air Force Base, Florida.
Brigadier General John Uberti, Chief, C/J-5, International Security Assistance Force Joint Command, OPERATION ENDURING FREEDOM, Afghanistan to Deputy Commanding General/Chief of Staff, Installation Management Command, San Antonio, Texas.

COLs Chris and Shelley Putko Retire at West Point

Ron and Donna (Prep) Alberto attended Chris and Shelley Putko's retirement ceremony and parade at West Point on 30 April.  They report that all six of their kids (15 to 26), both sets of parents, and a zillion aunts, uncles, cousins and friends were there to help celebrate their 28 years of service.  It was a beautiful day and a wonderful event: retirement ceremony in the new cadet library, cadet retirement parade, and luncheon at the officers' club. The Putko’s will move from Colorado Springs to Massachusetts this summer.  Congratulations to the Putko family and thank you for your service (See Attached Photo by John Kelleher).

Las Vegas Mini-Reunion

I heard it was a blast…but in keeping with the rules of Vegas.  No news to report.  It may become a yearly sojourn and I will post details.

The Best Ranger Competition 2011

If you haven’t heard, Proud to Be, ’83 had two offspring entrants in The Best Ranger Competition 15-17 April 2011.  Captain George Rhyndance ‘07 (Christine O’Donnell) and 1LT Shaun Pothin ‘08 (John) represented their families and units with distinction.  This year was the 28th anniversary of this competition between the best Rangers in our Army.  The competition has evolved over the past twenty-seven years from one that was originally created to salute the best two-man “buddy” team in the Ranger Department at Fort Benning to determine the best two-man team from the entire United States Armed Forces.  Great Job George and Shaun.

Distinguished Graduates

On behalf of the Chairman and the Board of Directors, the AOG is pleased to announce the 2011 Distinguished Graduate Award recipients:  GEN (R) William Richardson ’51, MG (R) Carl McNair ’55, Dr. Lewis (Bob) Sorley ’56, GEN (R) Dennis Reimer ’62, and COL (R) William McArthur ’73.  I envision that we need to start thinking about our Proud to Be ’83 distinguished graduates now to make sure they are considered in the not too distant future.   

Class Offspring Update

We will present the class gifts to our legacies during graduation week.  The gifts are 2011 U.S Army Commemorative Silver Dollars.  They will be presented to the following 10 Cadets to be honored for Graduation 2011:  Michael J. Ecklund (Jim); Timothy James Dean (Tim); Brian Louis Johnson (Dave); Nolan Martin (Chris); Jason Pak (Yeong-Tae); Augustin Paulo (Dan); Anthony George Ruizcalderon (Tony); Eric Schweppe (Bonnie (Brouse)); Benjamin David Snider (Dave); Michael K. Tovo (Ken).

I am starting to hear of acceptances for the Class of 2015 - Joseph Kyle Samuels ((Keith)(Christy Bishop '84)

Let me know as the acceptances roll in for the Class of 2015 so I can track our lucky participants for this year’s R-Day.

Again, if I have missed someone please let me know.

Save the Date April 2012 Golfing Grads of USMA

We had twelve 83ers out of the 130 alumni attend this year in Opelika, AL.  Our very own astronaut Doug Wheelock was the guest speaker at the Thursday night Welcome Dinner.  Doug recalled how his boxing Joe Aperfine almost ruined his Astronaut career before it began by deviating his septum.  The “really” old grads could relate to the Joe Palone “finish him off, finish him off” quote.  The dates selected for next year are April 19-22, 2012.  If you are interested in attending, let me know at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .

May - Proud to Be ’83 Cadet Spirit Award

We will have our third installment of the Proud to Be ’83 Cadet Spirit Award this Month.  Last Year’s recipient was Maci Farley from Houston, TX.  The award is a mounted Bayonet.  

Class Gift (2013)

Show us the money!

Class Gift (2013)

The Class of 1983, Distinguished Leaders Series ($1.25M endowment)

Class Gift Progress Update:  Steady Progress!  As of mid-April 2011, we have raised $705,000.....$550K to go to reach our 30th Reunion gift goal and the commitment to endow the “Class of 1983 Distinguished Leader Series.”  Class participation stands at 22%. We need your help to achieve the objective!  Bob Blatz, Phil Clough, Lucille Dedekind (spouse of Charles Dedekind C2), Pete Martin, Jim McAree, Wayne Richardson and Mark Sullivan have taken on the challenge to identify major class donors who will help us close part of the funding gap.

In addition, a number of people have stepped up to volunteer - Mark Voss and Brian Cotter to contact and lead company giving efforts. Mark and Brian (G2) will achieve over 50% participation and will eclipse $100K in donations before the campaign closes.  Similarly, Mike Woods is leading A1 efforts with outstanding results at 46% participation and on track to eclipse $100K. John Driscoll and Bill Selman (E2) are looking to achieve similar results and have already accomplished a 30% participation rate. Not to be out done, Tom Fish and Jim McAree will spearhead Company H3 efforts.  Vicky Nilles is on point for Company D2 and Geno Stockel has recently taken the initiative to lead Company E1 efforts. Bonnie Schweppe (Brouse) has taken a role to lead the Women of 1983 toward 100% participation and collectively a significant contribution. Everyone can make a difference!!

We are coming up on two years until we present our class gift; there is not much time left to reach the goal given that we have not had much help from equities market with money in the class fund.  Please consider a pledge and donation to the class gift ( http://www.westpointaog.org/netcommunity/page.aspx?pid=3196 ). Contact Harry Shablom at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it to volunteer.


Our Gift:  The West Point Leadership Center’s Distinguished Leaders Series (DLS) is a faculty-run lecture series that supports cadet development.  The DLS brings influential leaders from all sectors to West Point to address cadets.  The Series hosts eight speakers a year (September through May) with all cadets majoring in Leadership Development participating or approximately 300-400 cadets.  While at West Point, visiting speakers meet with the Superintendent, discuss leadership with smaller select groups of cadets, and receive a tour of the Academy.  The rest of their visit is customized to meet a speaker’s business and personal interests.   The Center will ensure that donors to the DLS are invited to attend the Series as guests and that they receive an annual report on the individuals who have participated as lecturers.

Army – Navy 2011 in Washington, DC

Mike Olsen, Stu Harrison, Chris Bauer, Lori Sussman, Jill Maurer, Tim Dean, Dave Sacha, Tom Fish, Bonnie Schweppe, and others are already having monthly meetings to organize a number of events for the class.  Major events will include the usual tailgate and a Remembrance Dinner to celebrate those of us who passed away the previous year.  

Reunion

Our 30th Reunion is only 2 ½ years away in September of 2013.  Keep email and snail mail addresses updated for future plans.

Beat Navy!

Pete aka Fizzer