Sunday, February 22, 2015
ARMED FORCES
VETERANS
Awards banquet set
austinTOWN
The United Veterans Council of Greater Youngstown’s annual Recognition and Awards Banquet, at which the Citizen of the Year and Veteran of the Year are recognized, is planned for March 13 at the Saxon Club, 710 S. Meridian Road.
A social hour with a cash bar will begin at 5:30 p.m. followed by dinner at 6 p.m. and the program.
In 1969, the council began recognizing important work and achievements by veterans who achieved a result favorable to the veterans community. In 1971, the concept expanded to the civilian community for public recognition.
Tickets are available. Reservations must be made in advance. Call Rod Hosler, UVC treasurer, at 330-788-3270 or contact a participating local post. For information, call Jennifer Baun, UVC senior vice commander and public-relations chairwoman, at 314-803-8643.
Armed Forces Day
SHARON, PA.
As one of many events planned to celebrate Buhl Park’s 100th anniversary, its Centennial Committee is working with local veterans on a daylong event on Armed Forces Day, May 16, said Mitzi and Tom Kuster, committee co-chairmen.
“It will be more than a celebration,” said Dawnle Scheetz, coordinator of the committee that is organizing activities for Armed Forces Day.
The goals include increasing the awareness of the nation’s armed forces through educational programs for civilians, expanding public understanding of what types of jobs are performed in the military, and publicizing the role of the military in civilian life.
The committee will invite re-enactors to represent American military units from various historical periods, and veterans will be invited to take part in a “footlocker display,” where they can show souvenirs from their military days.
Scheetz said the committee is depending on corporate and business sponsorships to cover the expenses of some of the participants, and more volunteers are needed to organize and oversee activities.
Anyone interested in participating should contact Scheetz at 724-699-2485 or Joe Zentis at 724-347-1209.
Commission member
PITTSBURGH
UPMC’s Dr. Marshall W. Webster, a longtime physician leader at UPMC, has been selected to serve on the Commission on Care established by Congress to examine how to best deliver health care to the nation’s veterans.
Dr. Webster will be one of 15 voting members on the panel, which was established by the Veterans Access, Choice and Accountability Act of 2014.
The commission’s goal is to examine how best to strategically organize the Veterans’ Health Administration, locate health care resources and deliver care to veterans.
Since 2012, Dr. Webster has served as senior vice president of UPMC, working on strategic development. A veteran himself, he was commissioned as a lieutenant (junior grade) in the Naval Reserves and was promoted to lieutenant in 1965. After completion of his surgical training, he served on active duty as a lieutenant commander stationed at the Philadelphia Naval Hospital from 1970 to 1972.
PROMOTIONS
New commander
AUSTINTOWN
Air Force Reserve Col. Robert R. Tofil, an Austintown native, recently took command of the 944th Operations Group at Luke Air Force Base in Arizona.
Tofil, a son of Ron and Joyce Tofil of Austintown and a 1989 graduate of Austintown Fitch High School, entered the Air Force in 1993 after graduating from the Air Force Academy with a bachelor’s degree in management. He later earned a master’s degree in aeronautical science from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.
Tofil, a command pilot with more than 2,500 hours in the T-37, T-38 and the F-16 A/B/D/D planes, has served in several leadership positions during his career, including as an F-16 instructor pilot, weapons officer, assistant director of operations and squadron commander. He served 11 years on active duty.
He and his wife, Debra, a lieutenant colonel in the Air Force Reserve, have three children: Cole, 13; Lance, 12; and Claire, 10. He has three brothers, Todd of Brunswick, Scott of Struthers, and Eric of Birmingham, Ala., and two sisters, Pamela Rodgers of Columbus and Amy DiRenzo of Austintown.
BASIC TRAINING GRADS
Air Force: Reserve Airman 1st Class Tawni M. Mcclendon (Youngstown Early College, Youngstown, ’10, Youngstown State University, ’12), daughter of Benjamin T. Mcclendon and Mary L. Currie of Youngstown; stepdaughter of Blaine R. Currie of Youngstown; and granddaughter of Geraldine Washington of Boardman and Samuel P. Washington of Youngstown; Air National Guard Airman 1st Class Andrew J. Wilush, honor graduate (Westerville South High School, Westerville, Ohio, ’14), son of Kevin and Marilyn Wilush of Westerville, and grandson of Robert Wilush of Salem; Airman 1st Class Richard K. Peterson (Meadville Area Senior High School, Meadville, Pa., ’08, Thiel College, Greenville, Pa., ’12), son of Tracey L. Peterson of Meadville, and Donald M. Krider of Saegerstown, Pa..
Army: Pfc. Troy R. Conti (Poland Seminary High School, ’12), son of Raymond J. Conti of Wesley Chapel, Fla.; Pvt. Clayton T. Austin (Salem High School, ’14), son of Brenda and Mark Austin of Salem.
ROTC NEWS
Scholarship winner
West Middlesex, Pa.
Dominic J. Pape has received an Army Reserve Officers’ Training Corps scholarship to attend Kent State University. Pape is the son of Joe M. Pape of West Middlesex, Pa., and is a 2013 graduate of West Middlesex High School.
Upon graduation from college and completion of the ROTC program requirements, the student receives a bachelor’s degree and a commission as a second lieutenant in the Army. All scholarship students incur a military-service obligation of eight years, which may be fulfilled by either serving on active duty or in the Reserve components of the Army.
Items of note for the Armed Forces Digest can be sent to The Vindicator, Regional Desk, P.O. Box 780, Youngstown OH 44501-0780, or emailed to William K. Alcorn at alcorn@vindy.com