Old Grad Podcast

Fellow D-1 Ducks Tom Blake and Kevin Kearns fondly remember our fall classmate Brian Kleyensteuber who passed away April 23rd, 2025.  Tom, Kevin and Brian all branched engineers and became members of the small but mightly community of US Army Divers. Tom and Kevin reflect on the great loss to our class of one of the most cerebral, physically fit, and spiritual members of our class. 

Steve Havel (B1) talks about the challenges of fatherhood and supporting family members with addiction and substance abuse problems. Steve's bravery is discussing this important topic will undoubtedly be of service to some members of our class. 

In this repeat episode, we revisit with Mark and Holly West who are our local West Point ambassadors. We hear about their passion for serving the community of West Point and Highland Falls with their exciting venture Westy's - Where Craft Meets Community.

In this episode, co-host and companymate Tony Wizner joins John Cook as he shares his remarkable life journey. From his roots in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, to his time at prep school, West Point, and his distinguished 30-year Army career, John offers an inspiring look into his experiences. Together, we explore the high points of his service, as well as the profound challenges of losing soldiers in combat. John also reflects on the incredible support he received from fellow classmate Doug Winton, who helped shoulder the burdens of war. John Cook is a true example of a selfless warrior and leader, facing trauma with bravery and resilience.

Sign up for our mini-reunion in Denver. link below for hotel block for mini reunion in Denver from Aug 21-24, 2025 Thursday:golf, and cocktail reception Friday: hike and party at Pat Kerns Saturday: white water rafting, Coors tour, dinner at cactus club Limited rooms in the block, book early https://bookings.omnihotels.com/event/denver-interlocken/west-point-reunion-main

Reflections on OGP and Intentions moving Forward. 

Name of deceased GraduateCompanyProject Leader

Dede and Brian met at Beast in 1987 while in the same India Company for Cadet Basic Training. After our yearling year, Brian left to complete a mission with Church of Latter-Day Saints while Dede finished with our class. Today they are stationed at West Point and Brian is the Deputy Department Head for History.  We talk about their faith-filled journey while serving our country. 

In this episode we talk about Jason Marquith's journey from barely being 17 years old as a plebe at West Point to a lifetime of service to the Nation. We talk about the unique experience he had transporting his father across the country to meet his great granddaughter for the first time in his final days. 

Mark Livesay was joined by fellow company mate Norine D'Arcy Walker. We talk about the great experience in company Happy 2 and reminisce about barracks antics they called "Capers."

Mark leads a team of people at Google and his internal bio reads as follows:

Helping awesome people do amazing things for the best possible reasons

Mark’s tried about every fun job [and a couple that weren’t] in aerospace and auto manufacturing, business

Mark enjoys time with family, anything triathlon or open water, writing about himself in third person, and irony.

October 1st, 2024 Healthy Leaders Call

Sign up for Class Tailgate on October 19th, 2024 - Link:

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/usma-class-of-1991-football-weekend-tickets-970995693257?utm_experiment=test_share_listing&aff=ebdsshios&fbclid=IwY2xjawFht5tleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHcR3vSdirZaMs7h9mvDNqCQtDFD_-7Ssxtev4L8kaXvtfZvtlWh9Muw15w_aem__PC09fRo2Yek4OkV6ij-2w

Dave Dadich joined by fellow Hog co-host John Cook.  We talk about living every day like it could be your last. 

Sign up for our class tailgate: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/usma-class-of-1991-football-weekend-tickets-970995693257

Tony served 30 years in the Army and retired at the rank of Colonel. He was commissioned as an Armor officer and then transitioned into acquisitions following his company grade time. He supported special operations command in that capacity which included multiple deployments in some unique situations.