Classmate Update

Paul Carron sent me a note a week or two ago. He’s married to a Charlotte girl who keeps him in line, and they just had their first little one. Madeline Elisabeth Carron was born 16 January 2008 at Fort Benning, GA.

Also, to round out this update, here’s something on a 99er that I stumbled upon when I was looking around the USMA website:

Uptgraft named MacArthur Award winner

(reprinted from The Pointer View)

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Department of the Army announced the winners of the Gen. Douglas MacArthur Leadership Award for calendar year 2007 Tuesday.

Captain James W. Uptgraft (Class of 1999), an instructor in the Department of Military Instruction at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, is one of the 28 company grade officers, including three other academy graduates who were named.

“I am extremely honored to be recognized as a MacArthur Leadership Award winner,” Uptgraft said Wednesday.

Other academy graduates were Capts. Christopher J. Demure (Class of ’00), James T. Golby (’01) and Edward E. Kennedy (’00).

The MacArthur award is given annually to Army officers — active, Guard and Reserve — who exhibit extraordinary leadership abilities and embody the ideals embraced by MacArthur. Criteria for the award include the ability to motivate others, understand fellow Soldiers and inspire commitment, teamwork and esprit de corps.

The award states that “these officers epitomize the ideals for which Gen. Douglas MacArthur stood: Duty, Honor and Country.”

The MacArthur Leadership Award program is jointly sponsored by the Army and the General Douglas MacArthur Foundation.

The awards will be given in Washington in May.