Fall 2005 - St. Charles Preparatory School

Armed Forces Update
2001
Lnc. Cpl. Francis J. Hartge
(Headquarter Battalion, Marines
4 th Division) recently returned
from a tour of duty in Iraq. He
plans to return to Ohio University
in January and work towards
a spring degree in biology
and graduate school seems
to be in the plans. He completed
Officer Candidate School in summer
2004 and still has three
years of reserve duty. He has
yet to decide on whether or not
to accept a commission in the
active Marines.
2000
Cpl. Rian M. Call of Lima
Company’s 3 rd Battalion, 25 th
Marine Regiment recently returned
from a tour of duty in Iraq.
He plans to return to his studies
at The Ohio State University this
January. He is pursuing a career
with Homeland Security as
a Border Guard, in hopes of relocating
to either, Texas or California.
He has two years remaining
with the Marine Reserves.
1999
Army 1 st Lt. Justin Habash is
the executive officer for the
headquarters platoon for Bravo
Company in the First Battalion of
the 502 nd Regiment which is part
of the 2nd Brigade of the 101 st
Airborne. He and the 502 nd recently
were deployed to
Baghdad, Iraq for 12 to18
months. He formerly was with
the 101st Airborne Division in Ft.
Campbell Ky. He was promoted
to lst lieutenant this summer.
Habash completed ROTC training
through Xavier University in
Cincinnati where he graduated
in June 2003 with two degrees
— one in English and the other
in philosophy. He was commissioned
a 2 nd lieutenant with the
army. He received both officer
and ranger training.
1997
Matthew K. Toomey is a 2 nd
lieutenant in the Ohio Army National
Guard’s 838th Military Police
Company. He’s currently a
military police platoon leader in
support of Operation Noble Eagle
at Ft. Story, Virginia.
1995
Robert J. “Rob” Chinnock, a
captain in the Air Force, was
deployed this past Labor Day at
Bagram AFB in Afghanistan flying
A-10 Thunderbolt II’s, also
known as the “Warthog.” He
flies missions in support of
ground operations as needed
and his unit supports both U.S.
Army and Marine operations as
well as Afghan Army operations.
He’s scheduled to return home
in early February.
Core values inspire ’87 grad
Chinnock is continuing a family
tradition: he is the third generation
of Air Force flyers. His dad,
Ed, was a B-52 navigator/bombardier
during the Vietnam era,
and his grandfather, Gilbert,
was a B-24 pilot during WW II,
Major Brian A. Hill is an active duty officer in the Air Force and a student at the Naval
War College in Newport, R. I., a center of strategic thought and national security policy
innovation for the U. S. Dept. of Defense. The college prepares officers for future command
and general staff positions throughout the Defense Department and awards
master’s degrees in National Security Studies.
Hill says that his experience at St. Charles provided a foundation for pursuing a life of
service, which he is fulfilling through a career in the Air Force. He says the core values
of the AF are “integrity first; service before self; and excellence in all we do” Hill said: “I
was taught those values by folks like Monsignor Gallen, Monsignor Bennett, Mr. Cavello,
Mr. Lower, Mrs. Cobler, Mr Arends and Senor Pena as a student long before I enrolled at
the Air Force Academy. I am gratified that those values are still taught there (at St.
Charles) today.”
Hill is a veteran of Operations Iraqui Freedom, Enduring Freedom, Southern Watch,
Joint Forge, and Joint Endeavor. He graduated in 1991 from the U. S. Air Force Academy.
Since then he has earned a master of arts in physical education from the University
of Northern Colorado (1995). He also was in residence at the Squadron Officer’s School
in 1995 and earned a degree by correspondence in 2003 from the residence Air Command
and Staff College.
Before his assignment at the Naval War College, Major Hill was the operations officer
of the 906th Air Refueling Squadron at Grand Forks Air Force Base in N. D. There he led
18 aircrews and associated staff in operations, training, and combat readiness in a squadron
tasked with executing world-wide air mobility missions. He also is an instructor pilot
with more than 2900 flight hours (220 combat) in various types of aircraft.
He has received numerous decorations. They include: Meritorious Service Medal with
Oak Leaf Cluster, Air Medal, Aerial Achievement Medal, Armed Forces Expeditionary
Medal, Air Force Outstanding
Unit Award with
4 Oak Leaf Clusters, Air
Force Commendation
Medal with 2 Oak Leaf
Clusters, and the Air
Force Achievement
Medal. Hill and his wife,
Suzette, have an eleven
year-old son, Brayden.
Hill has served in
various positions in
Ramstein, Germany, as
an instructor pilot at
Elmendorf AFB in Arkansas,
pilot at Pope AFB in
North Carolina, at the Air
Force Academy, assistant
athletic director and
English instructor at the
Air Force Academy
Preparatory School, and
at Sand Point, Wash.
flew C-47’s in Korea, and flew
many other aircraft during a long
AF career. When Rob graduated
from pilot training, he was
pinned with his grandfather’s
wings.
Showing off the campus
On a cross-country move last summer from Grand Forks Air Force Base in North
Dakota to the Naval War College in Newport, R. I., Brian Hill ’87 (right) and his
family made stopped in Columbus. While in town he brought his son Braydon to
the St. Charles campus and met up with classmate Michael Smith ’87.
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St. Charles Preparatory School