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Gone But Not Forgotten |
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Class of 1986 Memories Old and New Remember These From BCT 82?
USAFA Football 1982 - 1986 USAFA beat Notre Dame four years in a row during our time there. USAFA had a trick play (known only between QB and Center) against Notre Dame in Fall of 82. Notre Dame spread way out on the sides to stop the option. Middle area of Notre Dame defense had huge gaps. USAFA center opened a hole and QB ran up the middle before getting stopped near the goal line after an approximate 50 yard run. USAFA beat BYU at BYU during the Fall of 82 in the last seconds with a fake field goal attempt. The holder passed for a 2-point conversion and USAFA won by one point. USAFA ranked #4 in our senior year. We were up to be national champs, but were stymied by a loss to BYU. USAFA went on to beat Texas in the Blue Bonnett Bowl. Food Fight our Fourth Class Year Don't have pictures of it. But if my memory serves me right, it was in the Fall of 82 on one of those "Smokers Nights" (Thursday) when the flight of a bread roll sparked a food fight in Mitchell Hall. Then we all got confinements for a while and had to dress in Combination 1 (Service Dress) for Smokers Nights until further notice. Classmate Inventions Patent 6,088,021 issued 11 July 2000 for Peripheral Input Device with Retractable Cord If you are using a Kensington Retractable Cord Pocket Mouse Pro or the Philips Recoil PC Controller GGE908, you are using something from the mind of someone that came from USAFA Class of 1986. Patent 6,963,904 issued 8 November 2005 for Method for Correlating an Electronic Mail Message with Related Messages Patent 7,035,523 issued 25 April 2006 for Inexpensive Fiber Optic Attenuation Patent 7,793,319 issued 7 September 2010 for System and Method for Improved Channel Surfing Class of 1986 We stayed in the same squadron for four years at USAFA. Hellweek We were made to drink that syrupy grape juice during lunch along with either pita bread or tacos that didn't go well with many of our classmates for the activities we were required to do. By the evening meal, my fuzzy memory recalls about a quarter of our classmates getting severe cramps that required trips to the hospital. At this time of the evening meal, the upperclassmen were dismissed and those of us who remained were told to eat up, drink up, and relax a little. Of course, the next day we were given a better drink (just plain water) and with over reaction to the events of the previous day we had to drink water every few minutes. Moving the F-16 I believe our classmates of CS-21 (Blackjack) made the bold step of moving the F-16 up to the Chapel area. The rest of the class helped pitch in to pay for the F-16 to be moved back and set up. Classmate Singer Remember Ivan Thompson? He made the November 2004 issue of Airman Magazine. Here is the article write up. Maj. Ivan Thompson loves to write and sing songs about the
things that matter most to him: God, family and his purpose in
life. — Louis A. Arana-Barradas Funny Thoughts How many still have dreams that center around USAFA? The central theme for many people I know from various classes centers around being late for something. The dreams usually happen on a Saturday morning as you are sleeping in, then you realize that you graduated a long time ago just as you wake up ready to get to your class.
Remembering Classes Recently (2003), I (Ed Yong) provided a transcript from USAFA to help me finish a masters program. In looking at the transcript, I don't remember half of the classes I took (especially those right after lunch) - Ha! Ha! Also, I dug up a notebook that had notes to one of my EE classes, and I don't remember even taking the class. The notes are in my writing, but the content seemed like a foreign language. I forgot how to work that style of math over the years. I hope that many of you have a far better memory than I do. If you majored in EE, you might remember that the EE Department named me in their firstie roast as the EE with the most resistance to learning (it's an EE joke, too). Carpeted Squadrons During our time, I think only CS-35 and CS-38 had carpeting when we first entered. Two years later, other squadrons started getting carpeting. In Ranks Inspection (IRI) One of our favorite activities with the M-1 Garand rifle that we used to carry.
Parades The culmination of the Triple Threat (SAMI to IRI to Parade). Sometimes, as the weather got hot, there were people who forgot not to lock their knees, especially when there was a long speaker, people began to fall out of formation. It was always a relief to hear Pass in Review as you started moving again to get the blood flowing. Saturday Morning Inspection (SAMI) Another favorite activity done on Saturday mornings with a Friday night preparation. Let's see if we can remember some funnies:
Nukes A term used for both room and person. While room nukes were usually done the night before a SAMI, people usually got a "nuke" to celebrate their birthday. The C4Cs would gather about 15 minutes before Taps to get the birthday celebrant into the shower area. Items from Mitchell Hall such as gravy, ketchup, mustard, peas, and any other leftover foods mixed together to make a foul smelling gruel brought back in milk containers were used to dump over the birthday celebrant. C4C (Class of 1989) Revenge During 2nd BCT for Class of 1989, I (Ed Yong) was the safety/medical officer for J Squadron. I took care of the basics who had medical conditions that kept them from the morning runs. I had just got back from Airborne school and was in decent shape. "Sgt Airborne" nicknamed me, Rambo, because of the shoes I wore. Anyway, the first formation I had, there were approximately 20 basics who were not able to run. So, we did a lot of pushups instead. The next day, I had 5 basics who were not able to run. I asked where did the other 15 go, and the response was that the other 15 would rather run than do hundreds of pushups. One morning a basic said we should get a treat as in not doing pushups because there was a birthday basic in the group of 5. We've already gone through about a week doing about 400 pushups every morning during the PT session. Well, the treat was to celebrate my birthday as it was also in the summer which meant double the pushups. The basics did come back to say that they excelled in the upper body strength areas for the PFT. Later in the year (May 1986) during finals, I happened to be tired and was barely conscious in the library. The C4C who was the basic with the birthday snuck up behind me and said "Get in a front leaning rest position!" I nearly flew out of my seat into a push up position as I almost thought I was in Airborne school. Then I realized where I was and looked around. I saw the C4C and the rest of the C4Cs from BCT that were in CS-39 and CS-40 who were across the room in the library laughing. OK, they got me. I said that was pretty funny, but Hellweek is coming up, too, and told them to look out for me. I ended up passing out quite a few prop and wings to my basics who were in CS-37, CS-38, CS-39, and CS-40 from summer squadron J. BCT 85 (BCT for incoming Class of 1989 in the summer of 1985) During 2nd BCT in my Safety/Medical Officer duties, there was a funny event over a period of three days. The smartest kids from high school take things literally under the stressful conditions of BCT. There was a blister call in the last half hour before TAPS and the basics with blisters on their feet would line up to get patched. For some reason, the basics on my Day 1 did not wash before coming to me. Talk about stinky feet. I asked if they are going to shower and the answer was yes. Of course the bandages I applied would get wet and fall off. So, I handed the bandages over and told them to put them on after their shower. I asked the squadron commander if I am expected to patch up the basics' feet, and if so, they would need to shower before coming to get their feet patched. Of course, the basics came immediately after their shower. They came fresh out of their showers in bath robes and nothing else. OK, I can't have this. I was a first aid cadet for blisters not a doctor. So, Day 2, the basics had to hold their towels over their lap while I patched their feet. I asked the squadron commander if the basics could put on their under clothes and PJs under their bath robes. So, Day 3 and forward were fine. Bandages did not get wet, bandages stayed on and no indecent exposures. Class Trunks When we first received our red trunks as C4Cs, one of my
squadron mates (who shall remain unnamed) decided that he fits
inside. So, he jumped inside the red trunk and closed the lid
to test out his theory. His roommates jumped at the chance and
locked him in the red trunk and tossed him out in the hallway.
The upperclassmen had fun with the event. My poor squadron mate
was cussing up a storm as I was not sure he knew he was out in
the hallway with the upperclassmen spinning him around. As the
lid was finally opened, he stood up ready to give it to someone
when he saw that he was in the hall surrounded by laughing
upperclassmen. He stood at attention all red faced (mad and
embarrassed). Out of the graduates of 1986, the first person I (Ed Yong) knew before going to USAFA was Ken Gotski. We had the same liaison officer from the suburbs of Chicago. There were two other guys, but they left in the fall semester of our Fourth Class year. The first person I met at the outskirts of USAFA was Jim Browne. Jim and I were at the same hotel. We were seated at the same breakfast table, got on the bus together, went to the same summer squadron H, and ended up in the same squadron (CS-38). I should have followed Jim after graduation. To make the years fly by, I opted to become a civilian in 1994 and Jim is a Colonel as of 2004. Small World During our Fourth Class year, I was in language class (Chinese) making introductions as we just got a new instructor. I said I grew up in Oak Park IL and went to Oak Park River Forest HS for a month. At this time, the instructor Capt Everson said he went there in the early 1970s. Then I added that I moved to a neighboring town, Cicero, and went to Morton East HS. At this time, Chaplain Col Thomas nearly fell out of his seat because he grew up in Cicero IL and graduated from Morton in 1948. What are the odds of three people from the same area of the USA meeting up in Chinese class at USAFA? Chaplain Thomas swore me in as a 2LT during the evening ceremony the night before graduation. My parents were there to pin on the bars. Concert During our Fourth Class year, Huey Lewis and the News played at USAFA. The cadet wing went to this mandatory evening formation. It was sort of a secret treat. The rumor that went through was a defense drill was happening and many of us wore fatigues. I can't remember if any other well known names played during our time there. Speaker During our Fourth Class year, I think we had the lady that held Lear Jet records, Brooke Knapp, come give us a motivational meeting in Arnold Hall. T-shirts were given to us that had the moniker "No Guts No Glory" on the backs of them. For EE Majors We had a funny instructor, Dangerous Dan. He was one of those brilliant instructors who lost many students who were not at his level especially if you had the class right after lunch. A funny moment was when he derived an equation all around the room taking up about 45 minutes. In the end, the answer wasn't right. He says to the class - "Well, it's something like that." One smart aleck asks, "Can we do that for the tests and get credit, too?" The funniest moment with Dangerous Dan was when a smart aleck wrote on the board "Don't Do Comm" and pulled the screen over it as our instructor was trying to get everyone into the Comm field. When our instructor came in and began class, he pulled up the screen but didn't notice the message on the board. As he was giving his speal on the Comm field, the class was cracking up. He was asking what's so funny and then turned around to see the message. His reaction should have been captured on video - a startled look, a step back, and the uttered words "This is blasphemy!" Bloopers Mixing around town had moments where you had to be careful of getting too cozy with people especially wearing civvies (sort of a strange break the ice line of "let me see your ID before I ask for a date")
I didn't get into blooper situations (of course), but I was stuck in my room most of the time studying EE that my roommate named me the gEEk. The Laundry Cart There was one of those moments with the big laundry cart that looked like a cage. One morning, some funny guys decided to roll the big laundry cart in front of my door effectively locking my roommate and me in our room. The people passing by also thought it was hilarious and didn't help move the cart. We had a class coming up in the half hour. We either jumped out the window or tried to push the door open. We opted to push the door open. The door was moving, but the funny guys hooked the doorknob into the laundry cart's bars. The doorknob snapped off in our hands. So now, we had a big hole in our door where the doorknob is supposed to be located. After classes were over, I called maintenance to fix the door. Maintenance gave me a difficult time over destroying Government property and that we were going to march tours for eternity. I explained that it wasn't our idea to hook a laundry cart to our door to lock us inside. Maintenance fixed the door and we didn't get tours. Marching Tours At the start of my 2nd Class year, CS-38 had a tough AOC. He was sent in to clean up our squadron from the previous year when things got too lax. Within the first month of the school year (Aug 84), half of CS-38 was out on the tour pad. The AOC asked me if I marched tours. I said I have not marched tours. He smiled and later that day I found a Form 10 by the sink. I received 2 tours for having dust in my book case. A week later it would become a demerit for each room infraction instead of tours. Who can forget "Go write yourself up for ..." and get tours just to get tours? Then we had help with getting tours from the Army officers who scoped the hill with their binoculars catching people who were a bit tardy to their intramurals. Of course, I was never late to intramurals. I only heard about that from people who were. Academy Grads are Everywhere When I took a VSI package in 1994 and went to work for Gateway (1995 - 2004), I didn't expect to run into Academy grads. The USA has come a long way since the Civil War where Academy grads (USMA, of course) ruled Government, battle field, and industry leadership positions. Gateway had its share of grads. There were grads from USAFA, USMA, and USNA. I was the first USAFA grad at the North Sioux City site. Then someone in 1987 joined Gateway at the Hampton site for a couple of years. Then I find 1982, 1984, 1985, and 1986 USMA grads at North Sioux. Then we find five USNA grads at the San Diego site. Then we had another USAFA 72 grad join in San Diego for a couple of years. It was fun over football season. USAFA still ruled the gridiron at the time. PFT The runs were the worst for me. I was not a runner. I can do above average in short distance sprints, but anything past 1/4 mile and I slow down. Anyway, with the PFT, the first one of the school year in Fall 82, I scored a 408. The squadron athletic officer was coming through congratulating everyone who went over 400. As he was congratulating me, he spied the scores. Pull ups score at 100, jump score at 100, push up score at 100, sit up score at 100, and then he saw the run score at 8. I was burned out by the run. Of course, he says something like "I came to congratulate you on your 408, but your running stinks. I'm assigning you to intramural cross-country to improve your running." Even at the USAFA candidate PFT that I had to take at Dundee HS, running was not a strong point. At that early screening, I did 12 pullups, jumped 8 feet, maxed on pushups, maxed on situps, threw a basketball across the gym (forget how many feet), and had a run time of 55 seconds. The run wasn't too bad, as it was an average time, but about 5 minutes after the event as I was getting ready to get into the car, I felt light headed. I had to stop what I was doing and have a snack. Oh yes, the other candidate I remember from the candidate PFT is Steve Tanner. We ran against each other and I think he beat me by just 1 second. Intramurals I was assigned to intramural cross country because I was a slow runner. The idea was that cross country would make me run faster. However, it didn't help very much. I can sprint fast, but was slow at distance. The worst race was when someone who started in the next race beat me to the finish line. I was a martial artist and the squadron intramural boxing coach said I was signed on to his team. However, I was a better swimmer as I was able to do all the strokes for intramurals. I was a fast swimmer, but not fast enough for intercollegiate swimming. However, I was able to do well in intramurals. Anyway, I told the squadron boxing coach that the squadron swim coach already signed me for swimming. Boxing coach said I will be doing boxing and left. Ten minutes later, the squadron swim coach came by and said I will be swimming not boxing. I sort of ended up being a squadron swim team co-coach as a C4C. The group of firsties (Class of 83) we had in CS-38 were swimmers and that was the only year that CS-38 had a winning intramural swim team while I was there. Form O-96 "May I have the Form O-96 after you, please?" How can we forget? Fast, neat, average, friendly, good, good. Flashers at Football Games Seven cadets wearing raincoats, boxers. low quarters. shower caps (rain covers for the service caps), and black socks would run out on the field during half time with the letters "F-A-L-C-O-N-S" painted on their chest and alternately flash the wing as they yelled out the letters. They also had "V-I-C-T-O-R-Y" spelled on their backsides. Started in 1982 by our classmates of 1986 from CS-25.
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