“Bud” Nevers grew up in Spokane, attended a small private HS (without team sports), and became a great golfer. This led him to an athletic appointment to USAFA which was a culture shock to say the least. While a cadet he did 3rd Lt at Edwards and asked for heavy airlift which excited him enough to stay around undo graduate, complete UPT, and become a C-141 pilot. After his first tour he snagged an assignment back at the zoo as a golf coach. From there he left active duty and began flying tankers in the USAF Reserve while also flying for USAIR. Twenty years later they merged with another airline which sidelined Bud for a bit when he became a financial advisor. He returned to flying after a few years and finally really retired at 65. He lives in Spokane again and raised two sons. Enjoy Bud Nevers!

An AF brat Chris grew up in the Cincinnati area till his high school years where he also attended Herndon HS and played on the same football team vs the TC Williams TITANS as me. At USAFA Chris spent one summer stint in San Diego participating in the Navy Seal BUDS program. He later did a semester exchange program at Annapolis so he learned some of the Navy’s language differences. Upon graduation he got F-4’s after UPT and spent 4 years in Torrejon flying all over Europe with some colorful stories he shares. MacDill and F-16’s followed as did even more stories working with the DC Guard at Andrews till he retired as a LtCol. USAF life was followed by 22 years flying for Southwest Airlines primarily out of Baltimore. He is now retired and enjoying his grandkids.

Dave grew up in Western PA and was encouraged to go to AFA by his uncle. He excelled as a cadet (squadron commander and Wing staff) and for his 1st choice upon graduation, medical school at Drexel. His USAF CAREER took him to Misawa in the late 80’s followed by a long tour at Travis with some interesting stories, one I was very impressed with. (No hint from me but it was interesting and scary) He retired from active duty and became a renowned surgeon in the State College PA area where he resides now.

This episode I am hosted by Charlie Williams (77) who has me discuss my USAF childhood, cadet days, and decision to join the Navy upon graduation. I also get to share some of my sea stories on the USS Saratoga in the Med and most importantly my time aboard the USS Midway home ported in Japan, there are times in this recording where it might be tough to hear everything so please let me know if it needs some cleanup, which I don’t know how to do… Near the end I ask for anyone who wants to participate to reach out. But hang on to the end for some of my fun flying stories.

Here is George “Bud” Studor who grew up in upstate NY and went to the zoo as a wrestler. He wrestled all four years and graduated with a degree in Astro. In the USAF he flew C-130s pretty much everywhere most notably Europe, Greenland, and Korea. A chance meeting with a family friend who was also an astronaut got him a slot at AFIT where he earned his MS in Astro. He then took jobs at NASA in TX while on active duty. He also taught at USAFA, earned his PHd at Montana State and upon leaving the USAF went full time to NASA for 30 years. He ended his NASA career for a proper family reason and consults now.

Jim Glass and I attended Prattville Jr HS in the late 60’s and share some overlapping impressions of those times. Jim went from HS to Marion Military Academy prior to USAFA, was thinking of leaving USAFA 3rd class year and got detoured for a solid reason, became a cadet Falconer, graduated and served his commitment in the USAF. He then felt the calling to serve in a higher way and went off to earn his Master’s and PHD in divinity which led to his becoming a pastor. After being away from the Air Force for 16 years he applied and returned as a chaplain which he constituted to do till full retirement 40 years after graduation! A key assignment was at USAFA in the Center for Character Development.

Greg Whaley grew up an AF brat and came to USAFA from Eielsen AFB, Fairbanks, AK. Greg got a summer stint in the NCO program at Wright Pat and 3rd Lt in Germany. Many semesters on the Dean’s List earned him UPT at Williams. His USAF career took him into SAC and bomber pilot at Loring (Maine), Fairchild ( Spokane), a Master’s in OPs Research at AFIT, HQ SAC (Offut), aircraft commander at McConnell (Kansas) & Lajes in the Azores (middle of the Atlantic Ocean), His next and final assignment was to the DC area where he retired, achieved his Wharton MBA and entered the world of government consulting. Stops at SAIC & General Dynamics planted the seed of his own business which became Academy Solutions Group. 20 years later, after landing on the Inc 500 list three times (2011, 12, 13) he successfully sold the company and retired again. He discusses his current position that many of us are also doing.

Here is the story of Scott Gough. AF brat who maintained a waiver throughout his cadet and flying days to successfully fly in the USAF & UAL. There are two stories he wanted me to edit out that I thought were ok to leave in so enjoy. Scott was on the Dean and Sup list often but also enjoyed a CDB with tours, another humbling cadet story. His initial flying was in T-33’s where he overcame an interesting challenge. He also flew F-106 ‘s out of Castle AFB and OV-10’s in Korea. He returned from Korea and eventually became a National Defense Fellow and Pacific Planner in the Pentagon, finishing up his USAF career as an advisor with the ANG. Upon retiring from active duty he embarked on a long and successful career with UAL. Most recently he was a key participant in the rebirth of the Air Gardens.

This episode you meet Larry Weaver. AF brat from Ft Walton Beach who turned down ROTC scholarship to got to the AFA prep school. Figured out how to beat the Dean and Commandant enough to land on the Sup’s list but also got a CDB Firstie year. Upon graduation became a B-52 pilot, USAFA prof of history, and Assoc Dean at Maxwell. His PHD in history from Indiana U led him away from the cockpit eventually as did several assignments and papers at the Pentagon. He also graduated with distinction from the Naval War College where he teaches today. Larry has a great sense of humor and is proud of his CS - 21 classmates who also excelled academically winning top academic squadron all three of his upper class years at the zoo. Quite a contrast to the Pinks!

This episode you meet Steve Heinz. Steve was a top cadet in our class in civil engineering. He actually turned down pilot training to become a civil engineer. He spent eight years on active duty started his company from his home and turned it into a major player in energy software headquartered in State College, Pennsylvania.

Dave grew up in Kentucky and did his best to keep his head down while at the zoo, mostly successfully as you will hear. Was a pilot for 21 years on active duty with interesting stops in the Philippines and Panama. After active duty career became a Delta pilot till retirement.

The Anchor app I use to record and edit these chats is going away. So I am working with the AOG on new tools and how to keep the show going. Yep, old dog needs to learn new tricks. Anyone else expect a train wreck? This episode I want to provide the series' backstory and update on what our new grad (Class of 24) is off to do. I shared the backstory with a Rwandan Grad, Class of 14. We had to do all our comms via recording since pre-calls weren't available. We had his episode up for a year but he got some promotions and was asked to take it down since he overshared some stories. It is all good now..and why I let every grad edit their episode as much as necessary.

This episode you meet Randy McPeak. He shares his interesting story of how he grew up in S. Illinois, survived USAFA, became a USAF T-38 and B-52 pilot, and transitioned to US Air and commercial flying while in the USAFR. After "flunking" retirement from American Airlines he now repositions aircraft all over the world leading to very interesting photos in his FB feed.

This episode you meet "Wild Bill" Stealey, Class of 1970, AFA lacrosse defender, IP & C-5 pilot, Wharton MBA, Management Consultant, President & CEO of successful video game companies... and grandpa. You will figure out on your own why John Wilbur Stealey got the call sign "Wild Bill." Also he shares his USAFA days which shows how the zoo experience was in the early days as the New Dorm was being constructed. One of the key people "Wild Bill" mentions is the video game creator Sid Meyer of Civilization fame (at least famous to me, this old peddler of parts to the X-Box teams at Microsoft)

Kevin Chilton grew up in So Cal near LAX and loved watching the planes come and go in his neighborhood. Some interesting events and people got him to USAFA where he excelled in academics but also got to know the tour pad. Upon graduation Kevin headed off to Columbia for his Master's in Mech Eng followed by UPT, RF-4 flying in Kadena which evolved to F-15's which led to Test Pilot school at Edwards, Eglin and eventually Houston and the NASA astronaut program. Three Shuttle rides in the 90's were followed by a return to the USAF where he had numerous interesting assignments including Commander of the Space Command at Offut. Kevin has some great stories and wisdom to share. You will enjoy this one. Oh, and he never accomplished his original goal of becoming an airline pilot but it appears things worked out anyway.

Rich Luhrs grew up in Kinderhook, NY and was told from day one he would not be flight rated upon graduation so he focused on academics and double majored in EE and Math. After AFA he attended Princeton on a Guggenheim Scholarship followed by engineering roles at Wright Pat and Edwards. Oh, and a very short time as a EE instructor at AFA from where he entered civilian life as a SR EE for several companies and agencies till his retirement. As a cadet Rich pulled off many spirit stunts and recalls them here. Enjoy!

Kirk Bell grew up in Gary, IN and attended three high schools, two of them military ones in OK and MO. His older brother was a Preppie in the class of 74 which led to some interesting overlap for Kirk. As an upper class cadet Kirk was in CS-28 and they won Honor Squadron our Firstie year. (Cuff-links? Really?) Upon graduation Kirk became a pilot and followed UPT at Vance with an IP tour. He also had a short Air Ops stint at Keflavik, Iceland followed by another IP tour at Randolph in San Antonio. From there he left active duty and became a financial advisor at Shearson- Lehman - Smith Barney rising to branch manager till 2003. He now is a managing partner (and still Financial Advisor) for his own firm, Bell & Valente, a company affiliated with Raymond James. Kirk is a past President of the North Dallas AOG, pilot for Angel Flight, and Rotary Volunteer. And he is still active playing tennis and golf. Kirk is a very proud member of the Spirit of 76 and represents us well in his community.

Major General Larry New and his twin brother are both grads and classmates of the Spirit of 76. They both hail from Texas and flew fighters, Larry primarily in the F-15. Larry accumulated over 3500 hours in fighters even flying into his 50's! As he climbed the general officer ranks he worked on USAF procurement and resources for force structure at NATO and Pentagon assignments. Upon retirement from the USAF he became a VP at Boeing as well as an AOG Board of Directors member. Larry has numerous awards and honors and is an outstanding member of the Spirit of 76.

Mark grew up in Denton Tx, was also a history major, roomed with Rich King for a stint, spent his active duty as a maintenance officer at Reese where the challenge was to keep the training flight schedule on track while repairing and logistically supporting T-37 and T-38 aircraft. After finishing his commitment he went off to law school and worked as a trial lawyer in Dallas followed by 15 years as a Federal Prosecutor followed by a role with the Texas Attorney General's office. I got to know Mark best when we returned from Europe, me finishing up my 30 day leave, Mark and his wife their honeymoon.

Stef grew up on a farm in CT the son of a Luftwaffe pilot and learned to fly in HS. At USAFA he excelled academically (DG top 40 MOM's) as did his cadet squadron who was the top academic squadron while we were at the zoo. Upon graduation he became a pilot and stayed in the IP/training role throughout most of his career. With a Masters and PhD he eventually rose to Commander of AF Basic Command in TX and the AWC in AL. Since retirement from active duty he has been the director of USAF Negotiation's Center of Excellence and a professor of research.