January 2009 President's Corner

Mitch Rowland '71, USNAAA Atlanta Chapter President

I know that Christmas will be over before you read this, but Merry Christmas and Happy New Year anyway.

December was a busy month here in Atlanta. We started off with the Army-Navy gathering at the Fox Sports Grill. We had almost 200 gather for the festivities. Unfortunately (not really), Army didn’t have much to celebrate. But all the Navy supporters had plenty to cheer about. It is always nice to see how many younger members come from Army. They have Ft. McClellan here in Atlanta. But they have quite a few recent grads travel the 90 miles from Ft. Benning in Columbus, GA.

Then on December 14^th we had our annual Christmas Party. This year we had the largest gathering in recent memory. I guess the suddenly lower cost of gas helped attendance. We had a large contingent from the north side of Atlanta. Someday, those over 150 alumni from the south side will get the word that these events are fun and start coming. Those in attendance were: Richard Click ‘70 with Heather, Paul Borer ‘70 with Jody, Jon Barton ‘66 with Jan, Stewart Caldwell ‘65 with Ann, Jack Clay ‘56 with Patricia, Chuck Chandonnet ‘61, Ed Hux with Muriel, Mike Hughes ‘76 with Jan, Mike Midas ‘60 with Agnes, Clint Johnson with Monty, Jesse Wrice ‘83, Nick Ward ‘74 with Jean, Charles Gardner ‘61 with Diane, Paul Hurst ‘62 with Nancy, Win Rorabaugh ‘70 with Joan, Bill Rentz ‘55 with Sue and Fern Johnson, Frank Regan ‘70, Spencer McManes ‘57 with Anne, Bob Thome ‘74 with Connie, Mitch Rowland ‘71 with Carole, Larry Bergen ‘66 with Cheryl, Gerry Mackey ‘54 with Connie, Terry McElroy ‘86 with Mary ‘87, Joe Frazar ‘65 with Marilyn, Harvey Cybul ‘62 with Lois and Carl McCallum ‘60 with Marilyn. The gathering had good food and better conversations and friends. We can only hope that somehow the word gets out about this event so that it will continue to grow in years to come.

And just to make a busy week busier, we had our monthly meeting on Dec 19^th. Our speaker was Jim Daigneau. Jim started in AFROTC, but due to some good fortune, he ended up as an AVROC. He was awarded his Wings of Gold at NAS Chase Field in Beeville, TX. He has flown the A-6E, KA-6D, A-7, F-18, F-16N, and several models of the A-4. He was the only A-6 pilot in the initial group of F-18 pilots. He is now a senior instructor and APD for the 757 and 767 at Delta Air Lines. He is also the Project Pilot for the 757 fleet at Delta.

Jim spoke to us about recent developments in Iraq. He explained how the surge had worked so effectively. The "shoe throwing" incident happened just after our meeting and really showed how much things have changed. The thrower wasn’t taken out and never heard from again. As far as we know, his family is OK. Only a few years ago, he and his family would have been history by now.

Those who attended our monthly meeting were: Bill Rentz ‘55, Clint Johnson ‘60 with guest Maj Todd Copley USAF, Tony Womble ‘63, Don Thompson ‘59, Dick Borowiec ‘68, Mario Maddox ‘85, Ples Bruce ‘77, Jon Barton ’66, Rick Haley ‘72. Our SOPA was Sam Smith ‘52 and the plebe for the day isn’t even a plebe yet. Mario Maddox brought his daughter Michelle who is at NAPS and will be a member of the class of 2013!

On the very next day, December 20^th, we gathered again at the Fox Sports Grill for the Eagle Bank Bowl. We had about 20 in attendance. Even though Navy lost, we enjoyed the game. Something about the offense just didn’t seem to click this year. So, we had our third loss in Bowl games. But we have been competitive in all of them.

Our next scheduled event is our monthly meeting on January 16^th. We hope to have a large gathering to start the New Year.

BEAT ARMY!

Mitch Rowland ’71
Chapter President