2015 - 3

Save the Date:

17 September 2015
Annual Fall Breakfast
9:00am - 10:00am
Coolidge Room, Ballou Hall (Medford Campus)

11 November 2015
Veterans Day Flag Ceremony
11:00am
Memorial Steps/Coolidge Room (Medford Campus)


Where Are 
They Now?

Major Eric Hanson (A00), U.S. Army, was selected by the U.S. Army Judge Advocate General for a 2015-2016 Congressional Fellowship in Washington, D.C.  MAJ Hanson is an Army JAG currently assigned as the Chief of Military Justice for the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) at Fort Campbell, KY., where he lives with his wife, Rosanna, and their two children.

Vadim Reytblat, E15
ENS, USN
1810 Information Warfare Officer
IWBC, Pensacola, FL (Jul-Aug 2015)
Navy Information Operations Command, Ft. Meade, MD (until Sept 2018)

David Forsey, E15
ENS, USN
1220 Naval Reactors Engineer
Naval Reactors, Navy Yard, Washington, DC (Current)
Navy Nuclear Propulsion School, Pittsburgh, PA (Mar-Dec 2016)
Naval Reactors (through 2020)

Andrea Moon, A15
2LT, USA
Medical Corps Officer Candidate (62)
Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences, Bethesda, MD

Chad Larcom, A15
2LT, USA
Medical Corps Officer Candidate (62)
Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences, Bethesda, MD

Edward Lowe, A15
2LT, USA
Chaplain Candidate (56A)
Princeton Theological Seminary, Princeton, NJ

Robert Costa, A15
2LT, USA
Field Artillery Officer (13A)
Fires Center of Excellence, Fort Sill, OK

James Kiefner, A15
2LT, USA
Aviation Officer (15)
U.S. Army Aviation Center of Excellence, Fort Rucker
, AL (Jan 2016)


If you would like to share your information, or if you have any information on other ROTC
alumni, please contact Gina Regonini in the
Office of Alumni Relations
([email protected]).  We welcome your updates! 

Contacts
Gresh Lattimore, Chair
Advocates for Tufts ROTC

Gina Regonini,  Assistant Director
Shared Interest Groups
From the Chair

Gresh Lattimore, 
F65, F69, FG72
CAPT USNR (Ret)
We Advocates are in a good place with plenty of opportunity to expand our reach!  Here's what happened over the past four months: 
 
*  On April 6th we hosted a panel of Fletcher women veterans, a male Air Force veteran, and a Navy moderator from the Pentagon entitled: Would You Want Your Sister to Join the Military?  Very successful.  See the article below.
 
*  On April 17th we presented ROTC awards at the Tufts Academic Achievement ceremony to a number of our deserving ROTC students.
 
*  On April 30th we hosted an impressive Army ROTC Awards Ceremony at Ballou Hall.
 
*  During April we also became involved with the reconstruction of the Tufts Memorial Steps!  We were asked to confirm the inscriptions on each of the six existing steps plus a new step in honor of veterans of the Gulf War and Post 9/11 Conflicts.   Working with the Vice President, staff, and architect at the Facilities Department as well as the Office of Alumni Relations, we polled Alumni Council members and our Advocate roster for suggestions regarding certain wordings , and had our final recommendations approved by Tufts President Tony Monaco.  The steps toward the upper campus are scheduled to be completed by mid-September.  The lower steps will most probably be ready for our Veterans Day ceremonies this November.  We'll keep you advised!
 
*  On May 16th five new Army second lieutenants and two Navy midshipmen were commissioned at Goddard Chapel.  See "Where Are They Now?"
 
*  On June 6th Linda Dixon and I attended REAL's 45th anniversary reception - dinner. REAL is the acronym for Resumed Education for Adult Learners.  Keith Wasserboehr, a current REAL student, is the very first recipient of our ROTC / Returning Veterans Scholarship.  More and more returning veterans are enrolling in the REAL program, and we are increasing our connections with them.
 
*  On June 15th we hosted a meeting of the ROTC Units Commanding Officers with the Dean of Admissions, Lee Coffin, and the Dean of Arts & Sciences, Jim Glaser and their staffs to exchange ideas for undergraduate ROTC recruitment going forward.  We generated many positive ideas.  At this meeting we met the new Navy ROTC Executive Officer, CDR Brian "Bat" Masterson, who is featured below.  
 
*   We can also report that our scholarship for ROTC and Returning Veterans has reached $483,000 and continues to grow.   We've profiled two recent donors who are particularly enthusiastic about supporting this fund.
 
   In the academic year ahead we hope to forge closer ties with our ROTC units and military veterans spread across the Tufts campuses.  We also plan to expand our Executive Committee.  We need more person-power in order to achieve all the things we would like to do.  During the next few months we will be reaching out to those of you who have indicated a desire to help at some level.  If you want to play a more active role, why wait?  Contact me soonest: [email protected].  Your suggestions and on-going support are most appreciated! 
 
   Finally, our heartiest congratulations to the two West Point women who just qualified as the first female Army rangers: Lt. Shaye Haver and Capt. Kristen Griest! 
 
See you at the Networking Breakfast on September 17th!     
             Gresh

Women in the Military
(l-r)Kate Kranz Jordan, Jeremy Blaney, LCDR Rosie Goscinski, Linda Dixon (J63, F99), 
Cate Klepacki,  Alisha Guffey
A panel of Fletcher students, all veterans of military service, along with a moderator from the Pentagon, conducted a fascinating discussion on April 6 focusing on women in the military.
 
The panel described some of the many benefits that today's military offers women.  For example, the military is one of the few fields where women receive equal pay for equal work. Women can also gain excellent career training in thousands of jobs, assume major responsibilities, join the leadership ranks, and find fulfillment in serving their country.
 
The conversation also included the many challenges to the successful integration of women in the military, including resistance to change, gender issues, the need to adjust working environments, and military sexual trauma. 
 
Sincere thanks to our panel and moderator for sharing their perspectives and experiences!  
* Rosie Goscinski, (Moderator) LCDR, USN
* Alisha Guffey, F16
* Kate Kranz Jordan, F17
* Cate Klepacki, F16
* Jeremy Blaney, F16


Vadim Reytblat, E15, Tufts Naval ROTC student, with panel moderator LCDR Rosie Goscinski.


Naval ROTC students from MIT and Harvard attended the panel discussion.


Panelists Alisha Guffey F16, former US Army Captain, and Cate Klepacki, F16, former US Air Force Major.


Panel moderator LCDR Rosie Goscinski, USN (center) with panelists Kate Kranz Jordan F17, LCDR, US Naval Reserves and Jeremy Blaney F16, Captain, Massachusetts Air National Guard.

ROTC/Veterans Scholarship Approaches $500,000  
 
Kosta Alexis, Director of Development at the School of Arts and Sciences, reports the good news that Tufts has raised over $483,000 to date to support undergraduate financial aid for our ROTC students and returning veterans.   Our thanks go out to all of you who have supported this fund.  Our new Dean of the School of Arts and Sciences, Jim Glaser, is 100% behind this effort.  Jim is committed to providing additional support to attract and assist these wonderful young men and women.
 
While we have made great progress, we still need more support.  We ask that you consider a gift to the ROTC / Returning Veterans scholarship.     To donate or to learn more about various giving options, please contact Kosta Alexis at 617-627-4978 or [email protected].  Thank you!

Scholarship Donor Profiles

Ron Paffrath, E53, J77P "Forever Indebted" to Naval ROTC

Paffrath, a young Naval officer in 1955
For Ron Paffrath E53, A77P, a kid from Brooklyn, the Naval ROTC program at Tufts was a life changer.  As he wrote in a recent letter, "I have been forever indebted to the program for the positive influence it had on my life...the opportunity for responsibility, leadership and service to the country that the Navy provided a twenty something could not be replicated in the civilian world."
 
While at Tufts, Ron was very active with the drama group, 3P's, where he met his wife Mary, who is member of the class of 1954.  He also joined the Zeta Psi fraternity and as he notes, with so many World War II veteran upperclassmen, fraternity life felt more like a men's club.
 
Upon commissioning in 1953, Ron served on a destroyer for a goodwill tour of Northern Europe.  He then graduated from submarine school and finished his service aboard submarines in the North Atlantic and Mediterranean.
 
After a brief stint at a Westinghouse nuclear facility in Pittsburgh, Ron moved to Milan, Italy to work in a management consulting business.  The family returned to the States in the mid 1960's and for the next 20 years Ron was involved in the nuclear fuel and uranium mining industries.  He also developed and sold a successful data processing business.
 
In his mid-50's, Ron earned a graduate degree from Wesleyan University and taught high school and junior high school physics and earth sciences in Glastonbury, CT for ten years.  "The future of our nation's economy is dependent on our kids' excelling in science and engineering," he says, "and I wanted to see kids get into science."  He now enjoys retirement in Madison, CT where he goes fishing as much as possible. 

Paffrath is now retired and enjoys fishing whenever possible
Ron was an early donor to the ROTC Veterans Scholarship Fund with a generous gift. "When Tufts pulled the plug on the ROTC units, I was really very angry," he comments.  "It was the epitome of cutting off your nose to spite your face.  It prevented the services from getting competent officers with a different life view from academy graduates.  I applaud the current climate of positive support for the military on the Tufts campus and am pleased to offer my support."


Comites Choose Charitable 
Gift Annuity

Carmen Comite A65, A97P was a regular donor to Tufts financial aid when he learned about the ROTC/Veterans Scholarship.  As an Air Force ROTC graduate and Air Force veteran, Carmen contacted the Tufts gift office to see how he could help.
 
After discussing several options, Carmen and his wife Rita decided that a charitable gift annuity was their best option.  Under this arrangement,
Carmen Comite
A65, A97P
 
the Comites gifted a lump sum that spins off an annual income, payable in quarterly installments to them with Tufts as the ultimate beneficiary.   
 
"I felt comfortable with this arrangement because if anything happens to me, Rita still continues to receive benefits," Carmen explains.  Upon the death of both spouses, the principal balance reverts to Tufts. 
 
Raised in Medford a short walk from the Tufts campus, Carmen worked his way through Tufts as a commuter student, often having three jobs at one time.  He met Rita on a summer job working at Jordan Marsh in Boston.  After his commissioning in 1965, he received an educational deferment and earned an MBA, followed by four years as a USAF Management Engineering Officer. 
 
Carmen worked for the Gillette Company in Boston for over 20 years in a variety of marketing positions and was part of the team that marketed Gillette's first twin bladed razor, Trac II.   He and a colleague left Gillette and formed Best Business Service, a business equipment company selling Sharp copiers and Xerox facsimile machines in the Boston area.
 
The Comites are now retired in Florida and spend their summers on Cape Cod.  Their daughter Alison, a physician, earned a B.S. from Tufts in 1997 while their son Bryan, a Dartmouth graduate, is a Vice President at Prudential Insurance Company.
 
Carmen is grateful for his Tufts education, his Air Force experience, and the many friends he made along the way.  He encourages others to donate to the ROTC/Veterans Scholarship Fund and recently noted in his 50th reunion class profile:  "The education I received at Tufts and the management experience I received in the USAF were the key "door openers" to my career....for those of you inclined, I would recommend supporting the Tufts Scholarship fund efforts...particularly those for Returning Military Veterans.  We have so much to be grateful for their continuing voluntary sacrifices." 



Welcome Brian Masterson

CDR Brian "Bat" Masterson has joined the NROTC Boston Consortium as the Executive Officer and faculty member where he teaches a course in Leadership and Management.  CDR Masterson has  accumulated almost 3,000 hours flying and instructing in four separate Naval aircraft. 
Born in New Bedford, MA and raised in Florida, CDR Masterson was deployed with Patrol Squadron TEN (VP-10) soon after his commissioning at the U.S. Naval Academy in 1996.  He flew the P-3C Orion with the "Red Lancers" during the opening stages of the conflict in Kosovo in support of Operations ALLIED FORCE and DETERMINED FORGE.  He later conducted anti-submarine warfare operations in the North Atlantic and supported counter-narcotics missions in the Caribbean and South America before returning to SIXTH Fleet to conduct reconnaissance missions across Europe and the Mediterranean in support of Operation JOINT GUARDIAN.
 
He next returned to sea in USS Carl Vinson (CVN-70), serving as Tactical Action Officer (TAO) and Air Warfare Officer during a Northern Arabian Gulf deployment in support of Operation IRAQI FREEDOM. 
He returned to VP-10 for a SEVENTH Fleet deployment and another FIFTH Fleet deployment in support of Operation ENDURING FREEDOM.  He was also the senior pilot during a surge detachment to SIXTH Fleet.  While at VP-10, CDR Masterson was the squadron's Maintenance Officer and a senior Instructor Pilot. 
 
CDR Masterson completed a further sea tour in USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN-69) based out of Norfolk, VA, as the Combat Direction Center Officer (CDCO) and ship's Integrated Training Team Lead and deployed to the FIFTH Fleet Area of Responsibility (AOR). 
 
Ashore, CDR Masterson has served in a number of senior positions in Pensacola, FL and Norfolk, VA. He has earned numerous military awards for service and achievement. He also holds a Master's degree in business administration from the University of West Florida. 

Office of Alumni Relations / 80 George Street / Medford, Massachusetts 02155