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1972 - 2022 Link in the Chain
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1972 |
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2022 |
Updated:
07/22/2021
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Also visit CGA 72
Link in the Chain for 2022 and
Golden Ring Legacy
07/22/2021 - Traditions New & Old
(June / July 20202 Alumni Association Bulletin, pg 46)
Submit your tradition to
editor@cgaalumni.org

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03/23/2019 -
2022 4C Formal Dinner & Dance
By Greg Johnson
The last 4/c Link In The Chain
event for 2022 was the 4/c Formal Dinner and Dance held on
23 March 2019. CGA 2022 invited our class to the
formal and ten of us were able to honor our LITC class by
attending. Art and Carolyn Butler won the honor for
coming the farthest, driving from Plymouth Michigan.
For those of us who did our graduate work at U of M in Ann
Arbor you probably remember Plymouth Road out past North
Campus to nearby Plymouth. For some reason Art is
still partial to the Big Green Machine of MSU, but he and I
still posed for one of the pics with our LITC Cadet Bella
Allman from Grand Haven MI, who, just like Art, took two
years at MSU to prepare herself for the Academy. Others who
attended were Herb Williams RI, John Larned RI, Larry and
Carol Brudnicki NH, Charlie McCarthy CT, Tom Meisenzahl CT,
Jim Norton CT, Jim McCarthy MA, Buck Baley MA, and Greg
Johnson PA. One of Larry Brudnicki’s LITC cadets, 4/c David
Satow from NH is my LITC POC and coordinator. And Brad
Nieson’s LITC cadet Rasa Kirvelevicius from CT is the class
VP and helped out greatly with logistics.
The first order of business was to
meet for lunch Saturday at noon at one of Charlie McCarthy’s
favorite hangouts, Filomena’s in Waterford. Charlie,
Tiger, Buck, Larry and Carol, Art and Carolyn, and Greg held
down the lunch court and caught up on years of sea stories.
For the formal dinner, Tiger had brought with him 308 Lindt
Truffles from Boston for the after dinner chocolates.
Charlie, Buck, Tom and I helped defray the costs.
After we adjourned from lunch, Tiger, Buck and I stopped by
CGA and with the help of Brad Nieson’s LITC Rasa K, my LITC
Kaleigh O’Connor, and Jim McIntire’s LITC Santa Andrianaivo,
we put one truffle under each of the overturned coffee cups
at the 300 seats in the Cadet Wardroom. The wardroom
had 38 tables set up in formal fare and was really beautiful
by wardroom standards. By the way, word quickly spread
that 72 had made such a gesture with the truffles and it was
very much appreciated. BZ to Tiger for making the
effort.
We had the rest of the afternoon
off and regrouped at the Chase Hall Quarterdeck at 1845.
Each one of us were assigned a table of 8. Eight of us
had LITC cadets who we had been communicating with over the
year and those cadets were at our respective tables.
So for the most part the escorts were our LITC cadets.
That was somewhat a surprise and so when the escorts showed
up it was the first time some of us had ever seen our LITC
cadets. That was so very special. We made our
way to the entrance to the wardroom and after the rest of
the 4/c had arrived at their seats, we were escorted into
the wardroom with the Admiral and Class Advisor, kind of
like the ‘official party’. The class president 4/c Dalton
Stoves-PC Smith’s LITC Cadet, the Class Advisor LT
Summerlin, and ADM Rendon gave a few remarks. As part of 4/c
Stoves remarks he recognized the class of 72 and when we
stood up, it was seemed to me there was surprise that we had
such a good showing. And then I found it interesting
that in the Admiral’s words, this event was being viewed as
a celebration looking forward to completing 4/c year and to
the upcoming summer training. I think when we had our
4/c formal I didn’t think of it as a celebration, but how
many more days we had to endure before we were no longer
SWABs. But that bubble faded as dinner was served.
Now days, there is a contractor who prepares the meals and
the contractors did the serving as would be in a fine
restaurant. There was a salad, then soup, the main
dish, dessert and coffee. It was quite well done.
By the way, you may have heard
that the 4/c take an oral indoc board during the month of
March. Basically the 2/c will ask 10 random questions (some
with more than one part) from the entire Running Lights.
80% is passing but there are some questions that are ‘must
know’. Once everyone in the class passes, the class
gets carryon for the remainder of the year. So that was a
big topic of discussion. By the date of the formal, 3
classmates had yet to pass and they were being tutored by
their classmates for their next try sometime the last week
in March. However, as of this post, 4/3/2019, my spies tell
me the three had yet to pass. No carryon yet.
(continued below)
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Click on photos below for larger image |

Greg Johnson, Abby Nitz (IL) |

Allison Roth (OR), Greg Johnson |

Art Butler, Bella Allman (MO), Greg Johnson |
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%20%20n%20Jake%20Grube%20(PA)-02.jpg)
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John Lared, Greg Johnson, Jim Norton, Buck
Bailey, Jim McCarthy, Tom Meisenzal |
Cody Fidler (PA), Jake Grube (PA), Greg Johnson |
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Greg Johnson & Kaleigh OConnor (PA) |
Greg Johnson & Kyra Hartman (PA) |
%20Me%20Clare%20Brinkman%20(MI)-02.JPG)
Gwyneth Cantu (OK), Jim McCarthy, Clare Brinkman (MI) |
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Chris Jinsei (Almenia), Herb Williams |
.jpg)
Herb's Wardroom Table |
(continued)
I think the following from Herb
Williams sums up the evening perfectly from the standpoint
of being involved in the LITC.
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"Thank you for your continued
coordination of our link the chain activities. Like
you have shared with us many times, it was fun and
brought back memories, particularly the formal
dinner in the cadet wardroom. Last time I was in
there was 47 years ago. Podium in the same
place. Same view out of the windows. Obvious
difference was sitting across from 4 young ladies
[in dinner dress blues] which is a good thing.
They and the three male cadets were obviously
interested in what it was like for us. I downplayed
and barely mentioned the hazing, and instead was
able to recount my amazing experiences at the
academy such as the project with Electric Boat in
the Arctic, my 2nd class summer with the Air Force
Academy and of course the real Coast Guard: ocean
station which none of them had heard about,
boardings, ship and facility inspections, rescues
etc. I told them to take advantage of every
opportunity the academy provides. Their friends at
home might be going to the beach or holding down
summer jobs but none of them were going to have the
adventures they were going to have.
"Maybe because my
link in the chain cadet is from the Philippines, we
seemed to gravitate to 4/c from other countries. I
met cadets from Jordan, Madagascar, the Ukraine, and
two other countries. I can’t recall now. As
expected the cadets were poised, attentive, and
proud of their class. Equally gratifying was the
continued praise our class was receiving for our
support of the long blue line and especially the
thanks we received from numerous cadets for taking
the time to join them. Very gratifying and humbling.
Of course let’s not miss that it was an opportunity
for us to have had another mini reunion."
Herb
"
Herb
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(continued)
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.jpg)
L-R, Back: David, Satow, Larry Joe Front: Kealy,
Carol, Katie, Roys
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Receiving line Tiger and Capt Colletta |

Tom Meisenzahl in receiving line |
.jpeg)
Erin Edwards, Ella Firenzi,
Charlie McCarthy, NayalinaTamariz
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(continued)
Along these lines from Herb, I
have to mention, after the dinner I went over to Art’s table
to talk with him, Carolyn and their LITC Cadet Anne Allman.
I didn’t notice at the time, but all the 4/c from my table
politely hung around until I was finished talking with Art
and then they came up to me as a group, but then
individually and sincerely thanked me and our class for
celebrating their first year with them. At first I was
surprised, but then it dawned on me that these young cadets
are not like their civilian peers I’m used to back home.
They truly are exceptional and the CG is fortunate that they
will be the future of our CG.
Here are two thankyous the 4/c leadership sent
me:
CAPT Johnson! It was an honor having you
and your classmates attend our 4/c formal. We are
delighted to have such a wonderful class connected to us.
It will be exciting to begin sharing sea stories in both
directions as we begin our summer. And yes, pictures
will be available in the next couple of weeks. The
link will be sent out to those who attended the formal.
v/r 4/c Rasa K 2022 Class VP
Rasa Kirvelevicius is Brad Nieson's LITC cadet.
Captain Johnson, I hope you and all of the class of ’72
LITC members had a safe trip back home and enjoyed the time
at the Academy for the formal this past weekend. I
know that all of my classmates I have talked to enjoyed
having the LITC members there to talk to. Thank you
again for taking the time to make the trip to the Academy.
I look forward to furthering the bond between our classes.
v/r 4/c David Satow, 2023 LITC Coordinator
David is Larry Brudnicki’s LITC cadet And
From several LITC Cadets to their 72 LITC:
Thank you so very much for the
picture. And thank you again for coming to our Formal.
It was great to see you again.
Thank you for coming to our
4/c formal!! You made it really special for me and it
wouldn’t have been the same without you.
We are so elated that
you were able to come and spend time with us. You have
shown us that we truly have the coolest, kindest, and most
generous LITC member. You are a blessing in our lives
and can’t wait to see you again.
The next 2022 LITC event
is tentatively set for Tuesday 20 Aug 2019 with an optional
opportunity on Monday 19 Aug. This is the first week
back from summer training events and a new academic year as
3/c cadets…their first stripe!!! Put those dates on
your calendar and help us make this a memorable return to
CGA for this great class of 2022. Go 72 Go 22 Go
Bears!!!!
=========================
Additional photos submitted by Tiger
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Jim McCarthy & Larry Brudnicki

Wardroom Table

Charlie McCarthy in Receiving Line |

Receiving Line |
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11/29/18 - Reply from Greg Johnson
Tiger and LITC classmates. To answer Tigers questions in
his email below I attached the recently issued class of 2022
profile. The answers to Tiger's questions can be found in this
table, less #s 5 (leaving after 1/st semester), 6 (valedictorians)
, and 10 (%stay up till 2400) # of valedictorians
used to be captured, but no longer. #5 can't be counted until
start of 2nd semester and I don't know if admissions is involved in
that data point. And #10 how in the world would you capture
how many routinely stay up till 2400?
Some remarkable stats for 2022. 23% attended 1+ years of
college (I assume includes the 18% Scholars/prep school
appointments) (I did) 41% Parents with military service (My
Dad) 85% Varsity letter and 70% Team Captain (Not me) 41%
Female (highest in history) 36% URM (highest in
history)
SAT scores, the top 25% for verbal and math are
above 700!!!
Another interesting stat and recently not
uncommon 390 Appointments and 279 Enrolled. (note that
unlike our day, swearing in occurred on day 1. We had a week
before we were sworn in.) That means 111 declined their
appointments and went elsewhere or were medically disqualified.
I have heard that CGA estimates 25% decline/medical and issues
appointments accordingly. This year 28.5%
declined/medical and so there were more waitlisted
appointments than normal. My state of PA had the following
data:
24 appointments 9 Accepted (2 from 1s
list, 4 from waitlist, 3 Prep School) 12 Declined (8 to other
academies, 4 to civilian universities) 3 Medical
Disqualifications
GregJ
11/29/18 from Jim McCarthy
Greg, I am sending this email to you first and LITC’ers
to keep them informed. I am trying to keep a running history
of date, personnel stats like : 1. Number of Applicants to CGA
in 2018. 2. Number of Appointments tendered 3. Number of
Appointments accepted 4. Number of people entering Chase Hall 1st
day 5. Number of cadets leaving after 1st semester. 6. Percent
or number of cadets were valedictorians of their HS. 7. Percent
or number of cadets were captains of a HS sports team 8. Percent
or number of cadets were to 5% of their graduating HS class. 9.
Percent or number of cadets were in the top 10% of their HS
graduating class. 10. And it would be interesting to know
statistically how many cadets stay up routinely (like 3-5 days a
week during the weekdays) until 2400. I know one of my cadets
stays up 5 days a week til 2400. 11. And any other stats such as
this. And it would be interesting to know statistically how
many cadets stay up routinely (like 3-5 days a week during the
weekdays) until 2400. I think keeping track of these
numbers will make more sense and take pride in as they get older
(like us). That they will probably know each and every one of
their classmates by name and recognition on the street. Can
you help me out here? Whom would I call in the Admissions
office to get this type of information? And would they release
it? - Tiger

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