West Point® Class of 1987

Currently on my third year in command and ninth month downrange in Iraq. As the battalion commander for Task Force 2-37 Armor, I command 1000 great Soldiers of all different MOS's: infantry, armor, engineer, and many other great enablers. We are forward deployed inside the embattled, but strategic city of Tal Afar, Iraq. Tal Afar made the news back in March 2006 when President Bush cited the town as a great example of how the clear-hold-build strategy could and should work in the counterinsurgency fight. COL HR McMaster '84 and 3rd ACR did a great job of the clear and hold piece and we are now building every single day. It feels good to create a project, get it funded, and then open up projects like public libraries, computer centers, schools, and police stations. For those of the fellow Dogs from plebe year company E-2, COL McMaster, remembers our class well and how squared away we all seemed. Maybe it was because it was also known as "Easy 2" that we were thus enabled so!

I am the manager of the legal department for a large insurance company, and I am working on opening 2 new law firms in 2007 in Atlanta, GA and Cincinnati, OH.  If there are any ring knockers out there with their JDs and barred in Georgia or Ohio -I would love to hear from you and see if you are interested in joining my team and helping me build these 2 new litigation firms.  I can be contacted at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .

BEAT NAVY!!!  

Thank you.

John R. Swisher,  Esq.
Manager -House Counsel Dept.
Grange Mutual Ins.
1-800-422-0550, ext. 5412
direct: 614-449-5412
fax: 614-542-8124
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Classmates,

Kimberly and I are pleased to announce the birth of our newest daughter Tirzah Ka'iulani Smythe, born on July 6th at Tripler Army Medical Center here in Honolulu. Both Kimberly and Tirzah are fine and we had the joy of sharing the event with our friend and '87 classmate Holly Olson, who delivered Tirzah. Our three oldest daughters, Charlotte, Heidi and Lydia, and their cousin Courtney were able to be with us in the delivery.

Dan Smythe, D-3