News

2 May 2017
Greetings T3 Folks =

I’m slow - next alumni lunch is this coming Monday, May 8th 1130 hours at the usual place, China King in Woodbridge. May is odd numbered month so it will be a lunch.   The address for you never attended GPS folks is 14345 Potomac Mills Road, Woodbridge, Va. It is directly across Opitz Blvd from the Olive Garden. I aim for 1130 but 1145 seems to be the more accurate time. But as long as you show up by 1300 you are bound to be on time or at least be greeting folks as they leave.

On an added note I am trying to use i-phone technology on my desk top computer with the crank. I keep hitting the space bar twice for a period to pop up at the end of a sentence. It makes for an ever increased usage of my back space and delete key. Technology - confusing but great.

On 24 April the Agency didn’t really know it but they ushered out an era. When Dana Reeves retired after only 39 ½ years of Federal Service he took with him the title of Sole Printer Survivor. Some years back in anticipation of NCE starting up in Springfield the Agency moved its printing mission to St Louis. Most of the printers moved with them. Some did not. Dana was one of the few that stayed in the area and was reassigned to our School. His retirement this past month meant that all the Agencies printers are gone from Springfield. For those of you that don’t know Dana you missed a fine gentleman. His versatility within our School and the Agency has been matched by very few. Recognizing the demise of the printing profession Dana cross trained within the Geospatial community and became an outstanding instructor in GEOINT related subject matter. As a side line Dana is a Civil War Re-enactor for the Union Army.   Congratulations Dana - no excuse to miss our lunches or dinners now!

Back to the retirement ceremony - I had the privilege of attending Dana’s retirement. Other than my own it was my favorite retirement of all time. First of all I finally got to meet Dana’s bride Ruthie. I didn’t know what to expect but I couldn’t have expected who I met. Ruthie is a fine person and really seems to be just what Dana needed. I also got to meet Dana’s first grandchild who is now a month and a half old. Funny thing was that they didn’t have him on the guest list so he was considered a security risk. I guess dirty diapers are considered biological warfare but that got him in. Dana’s daughter Lindsey was also in attendance. Apologies if her name is spelled wrong. I also cleverly wrote around the fact that I couldn’t remember Dana’s grandson’s name - William I think - if I remember correctly I was told that Will was wrong but William was right - I think…anyway there was no shortage of former Schoolhouse and College personnel there. The MC of Dana’s retirement ceremony was none other than the great Nick Sottler. Nick also did my retirement ceremony. He did an awesome job again. I took my retirement program and wrote down on it the names of all our past associates on it and put the program in a safe place for reference when I did this email. Well it’s so safe that I can’t find it. Time to trust my seventy year old memory - now where was I? Oh - names - apologies to those who slip my mind right now.   Let’s see, Chris Levesque, Gregg Heitkamp, Dana (duh), Nick Sottler (double duh), Nicol James, John Mykyta, Cheryl Watters (“JACK BATT, of course I remember you!!), Solomon Bacon, Debbie Allen, Cdr Dan Taube, Keith Voyzey (more about him later), and at least two more - dagblasted memory! I really enjoyed talking with my ex-next door cubicle neighbor Debbie Allen. She has recovered well from the stress of being in a cubicle next to me for about a year. I miss our old family talks. Both her little girl and my little granddaughter are now old enough to drive. Time is cruel.

While near the Fort Belvoir area I did two things - no, actually three things - the first was look up our www.belvoirDMS.org web site honcho Ray Chapman. Ray has been doing well. We talked about the site a bit as well as the 100th Anniversary of our school’s move to Camp Humphries in May of 1918. I have received minimal interest in it although everyone that I ask says they want to be there. Any local volunteers out there to spearhead this? Ray also needs information to keep the website interesting. If you have anything about yourself, your job or any great DMS memories please send them on to Ray at ray.chapman@gmail.com   The second thing I did was cruise around our old campus. I actually had the guts to enter building 214 to look a bit. In keeping up with present day security measures I quickly found out that the building that I worked in for over 25 years required a badge and key pad entry. If I was about 260 pounds lighter and had a loaded diaper I may have been able to get in. In the foreseeable future (hope not) the diaper thing may be possible but the weight thing will never happen unless Scoop Martin gets a hold of me. The old press room floor door was the only thing I saw that was related to our school. The sign that said “CAUTION HEARING PROTECTION REQUIRED” was a reminder of the decibel creating printing presses that soiled the floor in there for many years. Behind building 214 our signage identifying the park as Zieres Park is still there. The third thing I did was go to Bozzelli’s. Yes, it is still there!. If you don’t remember Bozzelli’s Sub shop you must be either real old or real skinny. No one, and I mean no one can match his pepperoni, steak and cheese sub. I bought one and took it home. Wish I bought two. Mr. B looked good and we talked for a while. I had taken appropriate photos of the press room door as well as Mr B but computer hang-ups negated my attempts to attach them.

Most of you know it but for those that don’t I’ll repeat that my time is eaten up a lot by a flea market set up (The Virginia Bazaar) that I have had for the past dozen years. Every so often a former Belvoir colleague will wander through. It happened three times this past month. First was Keith Voyzey and his bride Lori. Keith has relatives in the Fredericksburg area. And as usual Lori looks a lot better than Keith does which actually doesn’t say much. Needless to say Keith married up. On the next day LIC Lee Mayden visited with his two sons. Lee is retired in Raleigh, North Carolina. Lee still showed the stress scars from car pooling with me in the mid 90s but otherwise is doing well. Then on the next weekend I was surprised to see SGM(Ret) Joe Shamp and his bride Joan. Joe was operations SGM at DMS I believe in the early 90s. Other than grey hair which may be the result of our desks facing each other in the late 60s Joe looked good. His excuse for not joining us for dinner or lunch was that he and Joan cruise around in their 43 foot RV often. One would think they would want to eat some place other than the motor home at least once a month.

Our last lunch was attended by some hungry folks who quickly changed that status. My Super vet Gene Tatum attended as well as Bruce and Elsie Mersereau, Glenn Goode, John Jens, Virgil Tarry, Russ and Tanya Cavender, and me of course. We always have a great time. Wish more would attend. Reminder - next lunch is this coming Monday - 8 May -