        
|
|
|
As
the second semester of the 03-04 URI academic year unfolds your R.O.T.C.
Alumni Chapter and the R.O.T.C. program at "Rhody"
continue to be very busy. Several important upcoming events,
highlighted below, make for a very exciting Spring 2004 term; yet, we
can probably agree foremost on our minds and in our hearts is the well
being of our Armed Forces across the globe serving in defense of our
country. Our military personnel in Afghanistan, Iraq, Korea,
throughout CONUS and Europe, etc. ALL deserve our respect and support as
they continue to make their contribution to our global war on terror and
other missions. We are honored by their service and deeply
respectful of their work. |
|
|
2004
ALUMNI GOLF TOURNEY SET: |
|
|
BATAAN
MEMORIAL MARCH RACE
URI R.O.T.C.'s team of five undergraduate/cadets led by team captain
Cadet LTC Tony DiFruscio, '04 will depart Rhode Island for this
challenging 26.2 mile march/race to be held again this year at White
Sands Range, New Mexico on Sunday morning 21 March 2004. The other
five members of our R.O.T.C. team are: Cadets Dana Traversie,
Devin Henry, Clayton Cornell and Peter Anzovino - all '05. Our
R.O.T.C. team will be accompanied to White Sands by our senior battalion
NCO - MSG Leonard Kuhlenschmidt. The Rhody team will enter the
"ROTC" team category and seek to bring back the gold medal to
Kingston. The five cadets are highly motivated, organized and
really training hard for this endurance test. Not only a
individual and personal challenge for each participant but for each team
of five (5) members to complete the course satisfactorily, all five team
members must successfully negotiate the entire course and finish
TOGETHER - hence; this race is yet another team building and leadership
learning experience for our officers-to-be. To top this all off, several of our own Univ. of Rhode Island R.O.T.C. active army officer alumni currently stationed at nearby Fort Bliss in El Paso have come forward to offer assistance to our cadet team upon arrival for the race. Our appreciation and thanks go out to alumni: COL Christopher Moylan '81, MAJ Paul Riley '90 (also former APMS at his alma mater), to name but a few. Rumor has it our team will be met upon arrival at the El Paso airport and provided with valuable logistical support prior to and immediately after the race. We are very thankful to Chris Moylan and Paul Riley and the rest of our Rhody team at Fort Bliss, TX for their super support and encouragement to our team. We will try to have pictures taken that we can share with all of our alumni family later this spring. |
|
|
2004
ANNUAL R.O.T.C. MILITARY BALL: The annual Crammers Saber Battalion R.O.T.C. Military Ball will be held again this year in Newport, Rhode Island on Saturday evening, 1 May 2004. All battalion alumni and friends of URI's R.O.T.C. program are again invited to attend. Uniform/dress is military dress mess, dress blue, civilian formal or semi-formal. Further details to be disseminated later but we hope you will make plans to join with us for a fun evening in Newport. |
|
|
BRIGADIER
GENERAL KEVIN McBRIDE '80
Congratulations
are in order for our BG Kevin McBride '80 who was promoted to the rank
of Brigadier General by the State of Rhode Island Adjutant General MG
Reginald Centracchio during a ceremony at the Rhode Island state house
in Providence, RI on Saturday afternoon 10 January 2004. Kevin's
wife, Colleen and two daughters: Shannon (age 13) and Kelley (age 10)
were in attendance along with both Kevin and Colleen's parents.
Immediately following introductory remarks by Governor Donald Carcieri,
Lieutenant Governor Fogarty, Senator Jack Reed, among others Kevin
received his new rank. As has been the custom, MG Centracchio
bestowed the honorary rank of Major General to Kevin's wife, Colleen!
Following the promotion ceremony a reception was held in the adjoining
chambers of the Great Rotunda of the Rhode Island State House. A
photograph of BG McBride and his wife Colleen is pasted below.
CONGRATULATIONS, Kevin!
|
|
|
|
|
|
LAST
CHANCE FOR 2003-04 R.O.T.C. ENDOWMENT PARTICIPATION:
Our first annual R.O.T.C. Endowment Campaign is nearing a close with
April approaching. The Board of Directors and Officers of your URI
Cramer's Sabers Battalion R.O.T.C. Alumni Association wish to extend our
deepest appreciation to the following alumni, officers and friends of
the R.O.T.C. program who have come forward with generous donations now
received at the URI Foundation offices:
We
are now preparing a large plaque to honor our the endowment's
"founding" contributors. The plan is to prepare
individual name plates of each donor, affix them to the large plaque and
display it in an appropriate location at the URI R.O.T.C.
department/offices or classroom in Keaney Gym at our alma mater. An
appropriate event toward the end of this semester will be used to
present this plaque to our R.O.T.C. Professor of Military Science, LTC
Paul Krajeski. There is still time for new donors to submit contributions to the Endowment (fully tax deductible with the university's Foundation offices preparing donation receipts for each donor) and these can be sent to: URI Foundation; Attn: Ms. Gerri Beagle at 79 Upper College Road, Kingston, RI 02881. Checks should be made out to: "URI Cramer's Saber Army R.O.T.C. Endowment Fund". |
|
|
CONGRATULATIONS
TO OUR COL (RET) PHILIP J. SAULNIER '62 During
the annual Winter on-campus Alumni Awards weekend, our very own COL Phil
Saulnier '62 was recognized by the University for over 25 years of
excellence in service to URI, his nation and community. Phil was
the recipient of the prestigious RAM AWARD. The following is an
excerpt from his nomination document: "A
physical education major, Phil Saulnier was co-captain of the 1961
football team that defeated Brown for the first time in 10 years.
He was cadet colonel and a graduate of the University's ROTC program.
Commissioned as an infantry officer, he was assigned to the 82D Airborne
Division. He volunteered twice for Vietnam and was awarded several
medals. He was recently selected for the U.S. Army Quartermaster
Hall of Fame. Upon retirement from the Army, Saulnier became
executive director, east region, of National Industries for the Severely
Handicapped. He is president of AMERICA'S PRIDE: Supporting
Service-Connected Disabled Veterans, Inc. Saulnier is a trustee of
the URI Foundation and a leader of the Washington, D.C., Alumni Chapter.
He lives in Dunn Loring, Va., with his wife, the former Judith Stone
'61. He is a past member of the Alumni Association Executive Board
and Nominating Committee." Congratulations, Phil, well done and a heartfelt "THANK YOU" for your continued work for the university and for your most generous recent gift to our new R.O.T.C. Endowment campaign. We hope you and Judy can join us on 27 August for our second golf tournament! (See photo below of Judy and Phil in Kingston for the awards ceremony) |
|
|
|
|
|
Cramer's
Saber Soldiers in Afghanistan: Thanks to the communications skills of our own COL Bill Babcock '68 we have a few photographs to share below: first, Bill in front of AMC-A headquarters in Kabul, next a shot of the "winter wonderland" that is the backcountry of Afghanistan (actually Kabul area once again), and lastly three of our country's finest together for a super photo opportunity in the Kabul area: COL John Murphy '79, CPT Al Calvino '92 and COL Bill Babcock '68. We'll have a color enlargement of this last one framed for the ROTC classroom wall down at Keaney Gym!! Thanks for the input, COL Bill and keep 'em a-comin! |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
"MESSAGES
FROM THE FIELD......"
We recently received the
following from LTC Robert Malloy '86 at State College, PA:
"We are having a great time here in Happy Valley. Now that I
have my first semester as a PMS under my belt things are starting to
click. We have about 250 cadets in the program here and recently
commissioned eight second lieutenants in December. We will
ultimately commission about 35 officers this year from Penn State, so
our program is considerably larger in scope than Rhody. I am happy
to say, however, that I believe URI produces the same high caliber
officer as the larger universities. We simply have more resources
and a larger pool of students to draw from. But being a PMS
is Now
that we have set our second alumni golf tournament for 27 August, we
hope Bob can plan on heading north to little Rhody to join in on the
fun! Attached (above - see "Attachments") are three
photos of Bob at the commissioning ceremony at Penn State this year.
The first is Bob presenting the Distinguished Military Graduate
certificate to the top senior cadet. Also pictured with Bob is the
R.O.T.C. military instruction group/cadre at PSU. 1Lt
Matthew Pierce '02 is a
Medical Platoon Leader with the 82d Airborne Division and recently
writes: "Saber's Staff & Cadets - I am happy to announce
that I am finally home from across the pond and have started a well
anticipated block leave (30 days). During the next week I will be
traveling back home to Maine from Fort Bragg and wanted to stop by on
either my way up or on the way back down. Just wondering what is
on the schedule for the Battalion during these next two weeks. I
know all the faces are pretty different from when I was there before,
didn't know if Joanne was still working there or which staff was still
around? I just like to stop by when I get the chance because URI
will always be my second home. My wife and I are excited about the
trip and hopefully will hear back before we leave. After a year in
the middle east it is so good to be home safe and surrounded by the ones
you love. See you soon...1LT Matthew Pierce" Welcome
home, Matt - we hope to see you on the Kingston campus. LTC Helweg
'70 hopes you have a chance to contact him at his Kingston home as well. 1LT
Zach Archie '01 was in touch
with us with this message in late December 2003: "
Hello sir, hope all is well and the ROTC Alumni organization is finding
more and more graduates. I received your ROTC Newsletter and it is good
to see everyone is doing well at their new Units, or preparing to enter
their new assignments. I am here at Ft. Stewart and living in Savannah
GA, enjoying the early mornings singing the Dog Face Soldier song. I am
a 2nd Fire Platoon Leader for the 1-39 FA (MLRS) Battalion. It has been
quite the experience and I enjoy working with the soldiers. My PSG is
great and I have learned alot from him about my job and the Army. On 11
Jan I will leave for NTC and by the fall of 2004 I will be preparing for
the rotation to Kuwait. In October 04' I will transition to Signal Corp
and mostly likely be an XO or hold some kind of staff
job. It is a very busy time here at 3rd ID but all you have to do is
stay above water and keep a smile. There are many URI ROTC
Alumni here, 2LT.Turcotte soon to arrive, 1LT. Palmaccio, 1LT.
Padien and SFC Murrell is due here in Jan some time, and SGM
Johnson is here at 64 Armor, and of course myself. Take Care and
stay in touch."
From
the hills of Afghanistan our CPT
Al Calvino '92 writes:
"Thought you would like to see the most rewarding parts of our
mission. Our biggest battle is winning the hearts and minds of the
Afghan people. This kind of relationship building will hopefully
create a positive image of the west for the younger generations.
Even though these kids were great, this is not done without danger.
My men are at security points making sure no suspicious characters
approach. Also children have been known to carry pens with
explosives in it. With this said, we have to continue our mission.
In another message CPT Calvino adds: "Sir, Quick update.
After one week in country I integrated quickly as Kandak (Battalion)
advisor to basic training. I am currently mentoring an Afghan LTC
in command of a basic training battalion. I am in charge of what
you can call a "mini stryker team-2 seasoned NCOs and I advise on
everything from tactical road marches to range operations, team, squad
and platoon tactics as well as winter and mountain warfare exercises.
We eat, train and sometimes sleep with our Kandaks. The Aghan
National Army Soldiers (ANA) are gracious hosts and understand that if
we help them build a strong army, there will be peace and stability in
Afghanistan. Living conditions currently are not bad for a combat
zone. The toughest part of the deployment is distinguishing good
guys from the bad guys. We travel in numbers, full battle gear,
stiff posture. So far we have searched some vehicles of AMF who
were not supposed to be on the ranges, but all situations were diffused
peacefully. My interper
MAJ
Karen Hutchins was in touch in
2003 with the following message: "I took you seriously when
you said to tell you about myself... probably far more than you wanted
to know. I'll actually be in RI from 3-15 August. (Can't
wait to plop myself on the beach!) Let me know if you have
any students dying to know my story, I would be happy to share any
wisdom I might have! I'll be staying in Matunuck, so URI is right
around the corner."
LTC
Charlie Flynn '86 contacted
LTC Paul Helweg in early January with the following: "Paul...thanks
for the note and I'm really glad to be connected electronically to the
URI ROTC Grads Listing and thanks for the newsletter. You and the
program have a very enthusiastic spirit...we need that more and more
everyday with the GWOT. I'm currently the Commander of 2-504 PIR,
1st BDE, 82nd ABN DIV and have been for the past 18 months. We've
spent 8 months deployed participating in Operation Enduring Freedom in
Afghanistan and now my battalion will be redeploying to the CENTCOM AOR,
but this time it will be to Operation Iraqi Freedom. After all is
said and done it will be hard to match this command tour! I have
great respect for the program at URI and what for what it did to me in
my formative years. Many of the lessons I learned in those years I
still apply today as a LTC and Battalion Commander. Keep up the
great work and I hope to be back in RI over in Middletown to visit my
family and friends after I return this summer. Best of luck at
URI, be safe, and God Bless the USA! LTC Charlie Flynn, CDR
2-504PIR, Class '86 "
IN A SECOND MESSAGE, Charlie notes: "Paul -
Thanks for the reply and vote of confidence...the unit and paratroopers'
are ready to go! Its remarkable what our country is asking these
young kids and families to endure and they do it with ease and
confidence. I don't have any pics of me now, and time is tight as
we leave Saturday, but after I settle in over in Iraq I'll try and get
something out. Best of luck and thanks for what you do!
Flynn"
From
Baghdad, Iraq former URI R.O.T.C. Assistant Professor of Military
Science 1982-86 MAJ Jim Litzler
writes: "Hey folks--I thought this would be the most
effective. I get so many emails (appreciate it), it is sometimes
hard to answer. Second week on the job and I am starting to learn
my way around the palace and meet the people I need to know. Can't
say much about my job, but I am a member of the Coalition Provisional
Authority and our mission is to turn governance over to the Iraqis on 1
July. Many issues to sort out by then, but everyone is working
hard and dedicated to the mission. Don't believe everything you
read! I'm safe, live in the "green zone." Have figured
out some things to make my life more comfortable--hot water at 1600
(shower), best time to get in line for chow, best time to pick up Stars
and Stripes (our newspaper),best time to do laundry--all the things I
used to take for granted. Still work long hours, 7 days a week.
Have not gotten out of the green zone and maybe that's best.
Even though it's just work, eat, sleep, I am enjoying my time except for
being away from everyone. More next week. Jim"
In his very own inimitable style, LT
John Chiappone '03 sends the
following message to us on 11 February: "Hey everybody i have
landed in Germany and it's great. Everything is in German though
(!!). My current position is the 212th MP Co S-2 Security
something whatever. I just found that out. We are waiting to
hear from the Bn Commander the final decision on my PLT since they have
set back to leave in April now. It looks like one of two things:
take over right before going downrange or take over in Sept
halfway through their tour in Iraq. Everything is so crazy here
with the two companies training , one coming back, and one working the
road covering three company areas with one company of soldiers.
The soldiers of the 212th are working 12 hr shifts 8 days on and one day
off. They are awaiting the assistance of the national guard Field
Arty guys being trained at "lost in the woods" (Ed Note:
"lost in the wood" = Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri).
Working to my advantage is the LT I'm replacing has had his PLT for over
18 months and pins CPT in Sept. We'll see - i have these
weeks of inprocessing right now which ends 1 MAR. talk to everyone soon.
john" Good
to hear from you, LT - keep us posted as the months go by!
From Kabul, Afghanistan, COL
Bill Babcock '68 writes:
"Hi folks. Just
a short update on things here.
Kind of quiet but busy. I like it that way.
Time is really going fast. Only
38 days till I start to head home.
Weather here is fairly mild, in the 50s all this week.
Today I briefed a Communist Chinese Colonel on the Afghan
National Army and Security Sector Reform in Afghanistan.
He is the Chinese Military Attaché here in Kabul.
We are looking for donations for the ANA and China is one of the
countries we are looking to get assistance from.
The war on terrorism sometimes makes for strange bedfellows. My
boss from home, General Centracchio, visited
last week and confirmed a rumor I heard that I will most likely have a
new job when I get home. I
will no longer be the Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations.
It looks like I will be the commander of our 56th
Troop Command brigade. I
had mixed feelings at first since I enjoyed being the DCSOPS despite all
the tasks associated with it. After considering all the plusses and minuses about the new
job it will probably turn out to be a good move.
Closer to home, less travel and command of troops is really what
being an officer is all about. Hopefully
this will be my last job since I will have only about 29 months left
till retirement when I get home. Thanks to all of you who have called
and supported Judy while I have been away.
She and Jen just spent a week in Florida.
She really needed the break.
Hope the long winter ends for you soon.
I did not miss it at all. Bill"
From the state of Michigan LTC
David Diana writes:
"Sir, Just wanted you to know that I made the FY03 LTC list.
Once I find what slot I will fill with the 8th Army CONUS unit I'll let
you know. David Diana "
CPT
James Peckham was recently in
touch with us as follows: "Sir, Here are a couple of pics
from my change of command. It happened 9 Oct 03 in the 126th
Transportation Company (PLS) Motor Pool. The outgoing commander was
CPT Dennis Major and the Battalion Commander is LTC George Akin (OD).
v/r James R. Peckham Jr. CPT, TC"
LTC
Michael Levesque '84 was in
touch earlier this month as follows: "just want to let
you and others know that there is yet another URI ROTC alumni over here
in OIF. While normally with Army Materiel Command (AMC) supporting
10th Mountain Division at Fort Drum, I am currently serving as the AMC
Logistics Support Element Commander supporting the 1st Armored Division
in Bagdhad. We have representatives from the various AMC Major
Subordinate Commands (CECOM, AMCOM, TACOM, Joint Munitions Command) and
are fully engaged in providing logistics assistance to the TF 1AD.
Attached is a photo of myself and CPT Schwartz from the 1st Cavalry
Division which is coming in to country to relieve the 1AD. I
expect to return to Fort Drum by April 04. "
AND WITH THIS FOLLOW-ON MESSAGE : "I may
have implied that CPT Schwartz was from URI, he isn't he was just in the
photo. Actually, I like the photo because it's 'cool' but the
attached photo is probably a more accurate portrayal of myself
surrounded by my various Logistics Assistance Representatives (LAR)s
from various AMC Commands - CECOM, TACOM, AMCOM, etc. I guess it's
your choice which one is more suitable. I can put together a
little synopsis of logistics problems here, but they can be summarized
as - distribution-based logistics did not work as advertised. We
drew down PLLs and ASL's in the last half of the 90's while declaring we
would be able to replace 'just in case' logistics (i.e. large stocks of
stuff carried by units) with 'just in time' logistics (small stocks
forward but what unit needs being met by a transportation based
distribution system along with in-transit visibility). It worked
poorly at times with the biggest bottleneck being the theater
distribution becoming very backlogged causing immense problems for items
moving forward (resupply) and back (retrograde of reparables, etc).
It's being fixed now, but it's been a rough go, and the warfighters lost
confidence in the logistics system. The Army G4 has addressed this
recently in pretty succinct terms, promising a fix.
IED's continue to be a problem here, but we are now finding more than
not, in other words for every ten IED's about six or seven are found
while three to four still detonate, at times with deadly effect.
Indirect fire attacks are increasing at least against BIAP where I am,
belief is that foreign fighters are behind this. They'll lose in
the end, but are still dangerous -thanks." LTC Mike Levesque AMC
LSE 1AD, Bagdhad International Airport (BIAP), Photo
below of LTC Mike Levesque '84 and Captain Schwartz:
|
|
|
|
|
|
Former
URI Assistant ROTC Professor of Military Science and URI alum MAJ
Paul Riley '90 writes as
follows: "I know I have owed you an update for some time now,
and I am finally going to make good on that promise. For
background, I am URI class of '90 and also was stationed at URI
as an APMS from '99 to '00. I was lucky to get the chance to come
back to Rhody and teach some great cadets. On a side note, I
think this newsletter that is published is great and I eagerly await it
every month or so. I love to hear from many of my classmates
and some of the cadets that were in the program when I was teaching.
Hello to everyone and keep up the good work.
I am currently the S3 for the
Officer Education Bn at 4-6 ADA at Ft Bliss, TX. It's kind of
funny, but there are a bunch of fellow Alumni here at Bliss. MAJ
Rob Fruehwald and COL Chris Moylan are here also and both doing
well. As a matter of fact, COL Moylan's family and I had a
great time at the O'Club watching the Patriots kick some butt in the
Superbowl. You can never keep a good New Englanda down, even in
the middle of a desert. This summer, I will move into the Bn XO
job for the Divisional Training Bn. I should be here through the
summer of '05. If anyone comes through Bliss, make sure to look me
up.
I'm looking forward to the
Bataan Death March/Race Team coming in March and hopefully getting
together for a BBQ. We'll make sure to take some pictures.Got to
run. Take care all Rhody Alumni, especially those that are
deployed on freedom's frontier.God Bless, Paul"
Our best wishes to MAJ Riley and heartfelt "THANKS" for
agreeing to hook up with our Cadet Team members when they arrive in El
Paso, TX for the Bataan March/Race. Hopefully you can send us a
Group Photo of all the Rhody R.O.T.C. alumni and cadets there together?
From
Fort Rucker, Alabama, our own CPT
John Breen '99 has been in
touch with: "I recently injured myself in the gym and
had to get 20 stitches removed from my foot. While in the hospital
a doctor walked into the room and started talking to me. After
hearing a few words, I knew that he was a "New Englander".
It turns out he is grad of URI ROTC. His name is LTC John
Campbell, I believe he is class of 81'. His email is
john.campbell@us.army.mil. Please add him to your distro list.
I am currently stationed at Fort Rucker, AL. I am the Deputy
Provost Marshal and operations officer for the installation. I
plan on transitioning out of the military in Aug and becoming a Special
Agent in the FBI. I am about halfway through the hiring process.
V/R , John C. Breen CPT, MP Deputy Provost Marshal / Operations
Officer Fort Rucker, AL " Good
luck with your civilian job search, John. Be sure to keep in touch
with us for all EMAIL ADDRESS UPDATES.
|
|
