ARMED FORCES

ARMED FORCES

VETERANS

Semper Fi Fund surpasses $150M

CAMP PENDLETON, Calif.

The Semper Fi Fund, a military veteran-oriented nonprofit that celebrated its 13th anniversary in May, has passed the $150 million mark in providing assistance to post-9/11 service members and their families.

“It seems like only yesterday that a handful of us, a small group of military spouses aboard Camp Pendleton, met around my kitchen table with $500 and a desire to help our wounded coming home from Iraq,” said Karen Guenther, Semper Fi Fund president, chief executive officer and founder. The original three service members and their families have grown to more than 18,500 service members and more than 10,000 families, Guenther said.

Fund assistance is directed to a variety of programs designed to help wounded, critically ill and injured members of all branches of the armed forces and their families through direct financial assistance for expenses such as medical bills, hotel rooms for family members at the bedside and living essentials that are most pressing for a wounded service member during a long hospitalization or rehabilitation.

For information about the Semper Fi Fund, visit semperfifund.org.

DEPLOYMENTS

Aboard Navy ships

Several area people are deployed aboard some of the Navy’s largest ships. They include:

Petty Officer 3rd Class Jimmi Bruner of Newton Falls is a mass communication specialist aboard the San Diego-based USS Theodore Roosevelt, one of the world’s largest warships. Bruner is responsible for providing still and video documentation of Navy and joint operational events.

Petty Officer 1st Class Shawn Fazio of Hermitage, Pa., is an aviation electrician’s mate aboard the USS America (LHA 6), based in San Diego. A 2001 Hickory High School graduate, Fazio is responsible for maintaining repairs on various aircraft electrical components aboard the largest amphibious warship in the Navy.

Petty Officer 2nd Class James Monoski, a 2005 Austintown Fitch High School graduate, is a culinary specialist aboard the USS Lake Erie, a San Diego-based Ticonderoga class guided-missile cruiser. The Austintown native is responsible for operating and managing Navy messes and living quarters for 235 naval personnel.

Navy Hospitalman James Gordon of Youngstown is serving aboard the USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD 6), an amphibious assault ship on a routine patrol operating in the Indo-Asia-Pacific region.

Navy Airman Maya Condori, a graduate of Boardman High School, is serving on one of the world’s largest warships, the aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69). Condori works as an aviation support equipment technician aboard the Norfolk-based ship, a Nimitz-class nuclear-powered aircraft carrier and one of only 10 operational aircraft carriers in the Navy.

PROMOTIONS

Special ceremony

Ohio Air National Guard members from the 200th Red Horse Squadron, Camp Perry, Ohio, recently performed an Assumption of Command ceremony for the new squadron commander, Col. Daniel L. Tack, who took the ceremonial guidon as he became the 10th commander of the Air National Guard Unit.

Before this assignment, Tack served as the vice wing commander for the 179th Airlift Wing, Mansfield.

ADVANCED TRAINING

Fighter jet training

Air Force Reserve Col. Robert R. Tofil, a 1989 graduate of Austintown Fitch and a 1993 graduate of the Air Force Academy, recently completed his last flight in a F-16 fighter jet and has begun training in the Air Force’s newest fighter jet, the F-35.

Tofil was most recently stationed at Luke Air Force Base, Ariz., where he was commander of Flight Operations for the 944th Fighter Wing and a M-16 fighter-jet instructor. During his career, he has also been stationed in Iraq and South Korea overseas and in Missouri, Florida and Colorado in the United States.

His civilian occupation is as a pilot for Southwest Airlines. Tofil, son of Ronald and Joyce R. Tofil of Austintown, has three children, Cole, 16; Lance, 14; and Clair, 11.

BASIC TRAINING GRADS

Air Force: Reserve Airman 1st Class Kala M. Moyd, a 2015 graduate of Western High School, Baltimore, daughter of Marie and Clayton Moyd of Baltimore and sister of Jaquintin Burroughs of Sharon, Pa.; Reserve Airman 1st Class James C. Henthorne, 2010 graduate of Lisbon David Anderson High School and a 2012 graduate of Pittsburgh Technical Institute, son of Donny L. Henthorne, brother of William G. and Thomas J. Henthorne, and grandson of Richard C. Henthorne, all of Lisbon; Airman Dylan Bigelow, 2010 graduate of Jackson-Milton High School, North Jackson, husband Alexis Bigelow; Reserve Airman 1st Class Sam J. Phillippi Jr., 2015 graduate of West Middlesex High School, West Middlesex, Pa., son of Rose M. and Sam J. Phillippi Sr. of West Middlesex, brother of Brian G. Phillippi of West Middlesex, and grandson of Samuel W. Phillippi of Ellwood City, Pa.; Airman Chance E. Haught, 2013 graduate of Southern Local High School, son of Kelly J. and Paul E. Haught of Wellsville; Reserve Airman Tristan C. Reynolds, 2017 graduate of Crestview Local High School, Columbiana, son of Cyndi and Jon Straney of New Waterford, brother of Jordan, Landon, and Cameron Reynolds and Preston Straney; Air Force National Guard Airman 1st Class Anton N. Trenga, 2016 graduate of West Middlesex High School, West Middlesex, Pa., son of Anthony and Irina Trenga of Pulaski, Pa..

Navy: Seaman Recruit Daniel R. Walter, a Youngstown native and graduate of Recruit Training Command, Division 162, earned the Military Excellence Award presented to the No. 1 recruit of their graduating training group. Walter is scheduled to attend a six-month ET rating course in Charleston, S.C., followed by another year of additional training during which he will learn to perform duties in nuclear propulsion plants operating reactor control, propulsion and power generation systems.

Seaman Reservist Krista Nicole Kollat, a 2015 graduate of Canfield High School, ranked first in her class of more than 600 during boot camp at the Navy Recruit Training Command, Great Lakes, Ill. Kollat, the daughter of Mark and Mary Jo Kollat of Canfield, received the Recruit Honor Ribbon for demonstrating superior performances in academics, physical readiness, recruit leadership and commitment to Navy core values. She is stationed at Damn Neck Naval Base, Va., undergoing advanced training.

When she completes military training, Kollat will resume classes at Ohio State University, where she is a sophomore. Upon graduation from college, she will serve six years on active duty in the Navy.

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 Alcorn at alcorn@vindy.com