Brian Krenzien reports from Poland:
Hello Ray from Eastern Europe.  I’m presently serving as US Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Attaché in Warsaw Poland and as the Transportation Security Administration’s (TSA) representative to central and eastern Europe.  I live in Warsaw for the next few years and I cover aviation security/border security stuff for the region (Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Bulgaria, Moldova, Ukraine, Russia, and Belarus).  With everything going in in neighboring Ukraine, it is an interesting time to be in the region.  It’s certainly an interesting gig as I travel the AOR regularly to work with host government officials to help improve transportation security globally and to address US interests related to transportation security.  Poland is a popular place these days with lots and lots of high level delegations coming to visit and understand the changing face of Europe…arguably, Poland is now the eastern front of NATO, and the Polish people have been amazing in their support to the women and children refugees who have fled Ukraine.  I’d argue the Polish community has been more welcoming in this situation than the US could ever be.  Other than work, I’ve tried hard to get embedded in the local community, and have develop a strong network of Polish and ex-pat friends from around the world (ironically, not a single one of them is American as I don’t seem to run across that many Americans here in Warsaw or in the region as a whole).  Definitely trying to keep busy with work, volleyball, gym time, and travel.  I’ve included a picture in Prague, Czech Republic.  My daughter and her husband came to visit over Christmas and we had the opportunity to head over to Berlin and Prague after showing them around Warsaw for a bit.  Hopefully I can make it back to the US for the reunion, but the situation next door may dictate some of that for me.  Hope all is well.

Randy Johnson shares:
Talk about a small world, I thought you’d enjoy hearing this update we received from our younger son, Garrett, who is a ’21 KP grad and currently attending Navy Flight School in Pensacola, FL.  He recently had a Sunday morning watch and showed up 15 minutes early to relieve the Ensign who had the Saturday night watch.    (the Navy typically assigns the new Ensigns watches when they first get into the flight program).  While they were doing their handover, Garrett mentioned he attended KP and the other Ensign mentioned his Dad went to KP too.  Well,  the Ensign our son was relieving is named Evan Brofford, a ROTC graduate from Ohio State and whose father is Kevin Brofford from our class!  And as it turns out, both Evan and our son were then assigned to the same training squadron.

I reached out to Kevin and we had a good laugh about this as the last time we had spoken was when we happened to run into each other in a hotel pub outside of London back in 2011.  I was working with BP at the time and travelled to London quite regularly and he was laying over on one of his AMEX corporate flights.

As they say, it’s often a very small world we live in…!

I look forward to seeing everyone at Homecoming in September.

Maureen McKeever notes:
I am very excited to see everyone in September at Homecoming! It seems that it’s been more than 5 years, but that’s because of the pandemic. I am still working at Dollar Bank in Card Services, training new people and talking to customers. Here is a sunrise picture over my building in Pittsburgh from April. Yes, I still look at the skies to see if it’s going to rain or be nice – typical deckie behavior! I am also still working at the polls every election day, and here is a picture of Constable Turkey (at kp83.org), who has been at every election for the past 4 years. They don’t seem to be able to find a human constable for us. My youngest nephew Ethan graduated from the University of Virginia this month, and although I could not attend I watched the festivities online. Here he is with his balloon! (at kp83.org) I am serving as president for the WIlkinsburg Stamp Club and for our GFWC Women’s Club and enjoy going antiquing and flea-marketing.

Bruce Garrott has been getting around:
Debbie and I have been around the world, so to speak, since March.  Our first trip was to Bali, with some Navy Reserve friends, in late March to early April.  Yes, 12 time zone changes, so we could have flown around the world!  After working for 5 weeks, we were off again to Italy and France, where we joined a Backroads Multi Adventure trip, of hiking, biking and kayaking on Sardinia and Corsica. We also explored Sardinia before the trip for a few days, we I honed my skills driving a six-speed rental on the narrow, windy roads, south of Olbia.  After the organized trip, we flew to Nice, as you cannot get to Italy from Corsica, on our way to Manarola.  (No, you cannot make that up.)  After an overnight in Nice, we spent 4 days in the Cinque Terre region of Italy. An absolutely beautiful area. Then, we had a day in Milan, on our way home. Thought I would wear the “colors,” in Corsica!  We look forward to seeing everyone at the reunion!  Bruce

Lisa Fields stitched this report together:
Gary and I have been doing well.  Enjoying the last couple of months with our grandsons living relatively close as the Navy has seen fit to send them to Pearl Harbor with their parents in July.  We are heartbroken that we will have to go to Hawaii a couple of times a year to visit!!

Last summer I was asked by the Fiber Arts Center of the Eastern Shore to prepare a one-woman quilt show of my work.  To say that I was honored to be asked is an understatement.  I have been quilting for 30 years, more so in retirement.  But to be asked to prepare a one-woman show was both daunting and exciting. Delivering the quilts to FACES in April was almost as rewarding as ringing the bell after license exams, but not quite!  Here are a few pictures of the items on display until July. Wishing everyone a great Homecoming Weekend!!

Scott Douglass finally lands:
I retired from United Airlines in Nov ’22 and am enjoying retirement in our Sun City Palm Desert CA community.  I posted 164 rounds of golf last year and won Silver Medals at both regional Men’s Doubles PickleBall tournaments I entered (3.0 rating 60+ age group).  My wife and I schedule 4 to 5 ten-day trips every summer to get out of the desert heat with our first tip this year to Lytham & Bath England .  I’ve kept in touch with Don Town who lives in Charlotte and owns/manages The Pit – a fantastic indoor entertainment center (hint – don’t race him on his own indoor kart race track).  John & Risa Grimaldi stopped by while visiting the area; they split their time between their Florida and New Jersey homes.  John is busy closing HUGE deals in commercial insurance.  I’ve had several visits from Ed Fairbairn  who maintains a rigorous fitness routine and is still working for a defense contractor.  I enjoy following Brian Krenzien‘s travels all over Europe from his posting in Warsaw Poland as the Regional Director for TSA.  Classmates traveling through the Palm Desert Area are welcome to stop by! (Contact:  858-682-6896)

Susan Pawlukiewicz confirms that she’ll see us at the Reunion.

Phil Custer surfaced and is “looking forward to seeing everyone after 40 years.  I’ve only seen Doug Ulman (my roommate 1st Class year) since graduation (to the best of my failing memory) and that was over 20 years ago.”

Erin Gantt performed at the opening ceremonies of the 2023 National Memorial Day Parade in Washington, DC on 29 May. She sang the US Armed Forces service songs, starting with “Heave Ho!” and took this photo with VADM William Galinas (NAVSEA Commander).

Ray Christensen looks forward to seeing most of you in September. Please check our website for latest Homecoming schedule and to make final reservations, payments and donations toward our class gift. Contact Mickey Cunningham () with any questions.

Sean Connaughton sends a happy report:
On February 18, 2023, I had the honor to attend the wedding of Lee Forsgren’s son Chris at the Ritz Carlton, Pentagon City in Virginia. Attached is a photo of Lee, his wife Janet, son Chris and new daughter in law Sarah. See you in September!

Dan Rohde reports:
Carrie and I are enjoying a quick trip out to Sunny SoCal (not so sunny this week) for some work and pleasure.

We had the PLEASURE this morning of joining CAPT. Mark Coynes out on one of Jacobsen Pilots new boats “Orion” for a ride.  Always enjoyable spending time with Mark, especially on the water.!!!

Bruce Garrott sent photos of a couple of his 2022 trips:
We became Pilgrims on the Camino de Santiago (Way of St. James) last May, at the end of an eleven-day bike trip.  The cathedral in Santiago de Compostela is in the background.  Debbie and I rode significantly more than the 200 Km minimum, as we started near the French border, north of Pamplona.  The other photo was taken at Omaha Beach, in late August.  We were on a Backroads bike tour of Normandy and Brittany.  That is a beautiful part of France, and they still remember what our nation did for them, 79 years ago.  If anyone is interested in that KP bike jersey, please reach out to me at .  I intend to place another order this summer.

Craig Ellixson posted photo to our Facebook group, “Representing whilst day trippin a coupla local parks. Pre big game meant little-to-no bodies on the trails or traffic on the roads.”

Speaking of Facebook, a wonderful classic photo was posted of an unofficial senior year event!

Mickey Cunningham reports that our September Reunion plans are moving forward, thanks to great participation. Reminder for you to check our KP83.org website for updates and to confirm and pay for Friday icebreaker and other activities as soon as possible. As of this column time, details still being worked out for our Saturday tailgating and dinner on Academy grounds.

Ray Christensen thanks you as always for your column contributions and I look forward to seeing most of you in September. I wonder if a certain famous painting might still be hanging in the Elliot M. See room while we are partying in Wiley Hall?

Doug Ullman shares his status:
Barbara and I purchased a brand new home in Clemmons, NC (just west of Winston-Salem, and moved in February. I’m still with GDIT as a Business Process Analyst, Senior Advisor/Master Scheduler, and head their Program Controls Center of Excellence in addition to leading the EVM & Scheduling Group for one of GDIT’s major clients, the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services. We have two grandsons: George (coming up 6) and Charlie (2-1/2).

Lee Forsgren (former Deputy Assistant Administrator for Water at EPA and Assistant Administrator for Legislative Affairs at NASA) contributes:
Sean Connaughton and I have gotten through the election season. In doing so we did several fundraising events for several candidates. One event we did at Sean Connaughton’s house were fortunate enough to do one for a Kings Pointer Sang Ye ‘01. Attached is a picture of all the Kings Pointers at the event.  Photo includes Melissa Mejias ‘06 (worked with me at EPA), Sean Connaughton – Former Maritime Administrator, Secretary of Transportation in Virginia, Steve Blust ‘71 (former Chairman of the Federal Maritime Commission), Sang Ye ‘01, Lee Forsgen, Wes Sterns ‘93 (Real Estate entrepreneur)

A.J. Murphy sends news:

Had a good outing beginning of OCT, while over in New Orleans.   Put together a T/M for my brother Jim Murphy ‘73 and me to go over to Stennis Space Center in MS.  Met with the G.M. for Aerojet Rocketdyne – Mike McDaniel.  He hooked us up with a great tour of the NASA rocket test stands, where we were able to go up on the largest one. Which is 300’ tall.  As an aside, Mike Booth informed me that the huge crane at the top was installed by his former company American Hoist & Derrick. These stands have tested rocket engines from Apollo to the current Artemis moon programs. We met some true rocket scientists that explained what they do there.  We were lucky as there was a rocket engine in place for testing, making it even more interesting.

We also visited the production facility where the rocket engines are assembled.  It was interesting to see the technicians putting these together.  They even found that it was easier on the personnel to build them upside down!  In one of the photos with the Artemis engine, you see us putting our thumb prints on the nozzle.  This will send our DNA into space!

The second stop was Special Boat Team Two Two.  The civilian operations officer and former boat unit senior chief welcomed us “old timers” for a great tour of their facilities.  My brother Jim was in Coastal River Division Two Two in New Orleans as a reservist commanding Swift Boats after graduating in the seventies. I popped into the next generation, Special Boat Unit Two Two as a reservist in the late ‘80’s.  This unit is now an active unit for supporting SPECWAR and features the SOC-R riverine waterjet craft.  It makes you realize how the years have flown by when we looked at the C.O.’s listed in the quarterdeck area and we looked back who we served under.  Riverine Special Warfare years hold a lot of good operational stories from our reserve lives!

While in town, Gretchen and I were able to meet up with Jim & Anne Quern.  Had a lot of catching up to do with them and all the activities going on.

Bumper Kunkle shares:
Maria and I are settling in nicely here in Monterey, TN.  We met Tom and Sue Bodman in Nashville back in October (photo is attached).  They were on their way back to Florida from Montana.    Tom and Sue having fun traveling in their RV seeing our great country.
I got to see Steve Dear (KP’85) and Pete Brennan back in New Jersey in early November.  Unfortunately, the circumstance was sad, it was a memorial for Steve’s dad.  Mr. Dear was a great guy, friend, mentor, brother-in-law, and father to many KPers.  Klaus Rohr (’62), Gene Mattioni (‘62), and John Mattioni (’57) were the other Kings Pointer present.
Pete is living in NC with his wife Ella.   He is still the funny, witty guy we knew back in college.

Ted & Marie Hercamp vacationed with Tom & Martha Teefey at the Oasis at Death Valley. What an amazing place! We also spent some time in Las Vegas enjoying Miranda Lambert, High Tea at the Waldorf Astoria and dinner at the Prime at the Bellagio.   Of course not everything could stay in Vegas. Here is a picture of the guys with their new “fancy friends”. Fun times!

Ronda Cobb adds:
For National Wreaths Across America day on Dec. 17, 2022 I have been selected to represent the US Merchant Marine and our Academy Battle Standard at my local ceremony.  If anyone has not gone to one of these events, they are truly touching and inspiring.

Mickey Cunningham and our Reunion Team continue to reach out for contact info from many “missing classmates”. Please see that list at home page of kp83.org so we have a shot at seeing them at Homecoming. All will be informed as soon as date is set!