ARMED FORCES

ARMED FORCES

ADVANCED TRAINING

‘Jump school’ graduate

SLIPPERY ROCK, PA.

Richard J. Klumph, an Army ROTC cadet at Slippery Rock University, Pa., recently graduated from the three-week airborne training course, also known as “jump school,” at the Army Airborne School, Fort Benning, Ga., and the Cadet Language and Cultural Immersion Training at Fort Knox, Ky.

The selected cadets are deployed to partner nations where they are immersed in the local cultures and languages and spend three weeks assisting with Army missions that range from helping build community projects to teaching English to local children.

Klumph, the son of Richard C. Klumph and grandson of Eugene C. Schilling and Ruby E. Houston, all of West Middlesex, Pa., is a 2012 graduate of West Middlesex High School.

RETIREMENT

A career of service

AUSTINTOWN

Reserve Air Force Col. Patricia A. Brunner, a 1972 graduate of Cardinal Mooney High School, recently retired after 23 years of service, including four years on active duty.

Brunner, of Austintown, was commissioned into the Air Force Nurse Corps in 1991 as a first lieutenant. Her numerous duty stations included two foreign deployments, one to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, in 1994, and in 2006 as chief nurse of the Air Force Theater hospital in Balad, Iraq, the first reservist to serve in that position.

She was chief nurse at Youngstown Air Reserve Station from 1995 to2007 and at Dobbins Air Force Base from 2007 to 2010. She served as commander of the Aeromedical Air Staging Squadron at Niagara Air Reserve Station, Niagara Falls, N.Y., and was a member of the Reserve Nurse Corps Board of Directors for Air Force Reserve.

Her final assignment was as nurse consultant for the inspector general of the Air Force as a reservist assigned to active-duty component for compliance for regulations and clinics to take care of he patients.

Her civilian job is a member of the General Motors corporate staff as medical services manager.

She received a bachelor’s degree in nursing in 1985 from Youngstown State University and a master’s degree in organizational leadership in 2000 from Geneva College.

A daughter of Charles and Della Brunner, both deceased, Brunner has two children, twins Chad Butcherine of Weathersfield Township and Christy Allen of North Jackson, and five grandchildren.

Her siblings are Charles Brunner of Kent, Bruce Brunner of Austintown, Linda Rado of Niles and Barbara Raybuck of Poland. A brother, Robert Brunner, is deceased.

BASIC TRAINING GRADS

Air Force: Airman Evan H. Clayton (Lakeview High School, Sandy Lake, Pa., ’13), son of Paula and Shawn Clayton of Sandy Lake; Airman Brittany D. Misterka (Buckeye Online School For Success, East Liverpool, ’12), daughter of Anthony Misterka of Middlefield and Kelly Misterka of Chardon; Airman Thomas J. Green (Fitch High School, Austintown, ’13), son of Bridgette Freeman-Green and Moses Green Jr. of Austintown; Airman Zachary T. Braum (Madison Comprehensive High School, Mansfield, ’12), son of Regis L. Braum of East Palestine and Julie E. Baker of Mansfield; Reserve Airman 1st Class Andrew R. Sherman (Greenville High School, Greenville, Pa., ’08), son of John and Lori Sherman, and grandson of Clifford Harriger, Ester Harriger, Phyllis Sherman and John Sherman, all of Greenville.

Army: Pvt. Aleia T. Burley (East High School, Youngstown, ’12); Pvt. Kohren A. Hayden (Fitch High School, ’07), son of Danielle McKeever of Jackson, Miss., and grandson of Alice McKeever-Carter of South Bend, Ind.

ON ASSIGNMENT

Aboard USS Somerset

SAN DIEGO

Navy Seaman Anthony Armstrong, a culinary specialist from Niles, and a 2009 graduate of Balboa High School in California, is serving aboard the USS Somerset (LPD 25), named in commemoration of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. The name honors the passengers and crew of United Airlines Flight 93 whose actions prevented terrorist hijackers from reaching their intended target, forcing the airplane to crash near Shanksville, Somerset County, Pa.

Items of note for the Armed Forces Digest can be sent to The Vindicator, Regional Desk, P.O. Box 780, Youngstown 44501-0780, or emailed to William K. Alcorn at alcorn@vindy.com.