RETIRED MEN’S ASSOCIATION Cigar Box Bulletin V M 18...

O ur May 8th speaker was Stuart Ka-

ron. Stuart is a Raytheon executive

with responsibilities related to Ray-

theon’s development and delivery of key

combat system elements for the U.S. Navy’s

revolutionary “stealth” destroyer, the multi-

mission DDG 1000. Prior to his business

career, Stuart served in the U.S. Navy as a

surface line officer, which included com-

mand of the USS Calla-

ghan, a guided missile

destroyer.

Before continuing, I

must offer here a word

of explanation. I am

aware that by writing

this report of Stuart’s

presentation, I might

inadvertenly disclose

confidential information

about a new adddition to the U.S. Navy’s

capabilities. For this reason, I took the pre-

caution of checking each of my statements

about the DDG 1000 against official public

information about the ship. I must say I was

surprised by the amount of information

about the DDG 1000 that is available to the

public. For example, for much of my fact

checking, I used a US Navy website, “Team

Ships” which contains a great deal of infor-

mation about the DDG 1000: http://

www.navsea.navy.mil/teamships/

PEOS_DDG1000/default.aspx.

Stuart present-

ed a high-level

review of the

DDG 1000,

which last

April was

christened the

USS Zumwalt

and is the first

of three ships

in its class that

are under construction at the Bath Iron

Works in Maine. The ship’s name honors

former Chief of Naval Operations, Elmo

Zumwalt, Jr. The

Not Your Father’s (Nor Your Mother’s) Tin Can

UPCOMING

MEETINGS

Friday, June 12

Thursday, July 9

Thursday, August 13 May Meeting Minutes Ships Bell Rang at 10:00 AM

A l Persson called the meeting to

order, requesting that cell phones

be silenced. The members sponta-

neously gave the Pledge of Allegiance and

then sang the Star Spangled Banner.

Al then told a funny story from his own

medical training about being an underpaid

($300/month) resident at an Alabama hospi-

tal.

Nick Veeder announced the new members:

Bruce Porter, Mike Bennett, Phil Fontana,

Al Glazerman,

V OLUME 18 ISSUE 5

M AY 2015 Cigar Box Bulletin

RETIRED MEN’S ASSOCIATION

Tips for Keeping Your Home Safe

4

Protect Your Bank Account

5

Save Money on Travel

6

May Anniversaries & Birthdays

7

Let’s Get Acquainted

8

Wildlife Album—Bob

Cooke 9

RMA Bulletin Board 10

Typhoid Mary 11

INSIDE THIS ISSUE:

Continued on Page 3

Continued on Page 2

Reporter: Bob Mainer

Reporter: Bill Beebe

http://www.navsea.navy.mil/teamships/PEOS_DDG1000/default.aspxhttp://www.navsea.navy.mil/teamships/PEOS_DDG1000/default.aspxhttp://www.navsea.navy.mil/teamships/PEOS_DDG1000/default.aspx

V OLUME 18 ISSUE 5 P AGE 2

The Cigar Box Bulletin

P. O. Box 261

Wayland, MA 01778

Board of Directors

Al Persson President

Ray Atkins 1st Vice President

Chris Hammer 2nd Vice-President

Merrill Mack Treasurer

Mort Brond Program Chairman

Bob Diefenbacher Editor of Bulletin

Bill Ely Past President

Board Members

Karl Geiger Ron Riggert

Wally Hart Frank Lyons

Nick Veeder Bill Beebee

Thank You To Our

Proof Readers

Yutaka Kobayashi,

Bob Curtiss, Karl Geiger,

Ben Stahl

Published monthly by the

Retired Men’s Association

of Weston, Wayland,

Sudbury and surrounding

communities.

Continued on Page 4

Paul Neeson, and Bill Hicks. He also gave the floor to

member hosts with their visitors. Dave Stallard intro-

duced Bob Fitzgerald; Frank Lyons introduced Dan King;

Bill Thompson introduced Bob Noyes; Merrill Mack in-

troduced Don Sundberg; and Bill Ely introduced Dick Tes-

ta.

Finally, Nick introduced each traveler, who had his own

story. Bill Ely told of “toughing out” our recent, classic

New England Winter in Florida. Bob Cook took a tour of

Turkey, including fascinating Istanbul. Don Sherman vis-

ited National Parks, including Bryce and Zion, and dealt

with unexpected cold weather.

Al Persson thanked Jerry Brody for preparing the coffee

and John Iberg for the refreshment setups. He also

thanked Barry David for setting up the badges.

Al announced that Bob Diefenbacher was doing the Bulle-

tin; Bill Beebee was producing the Minutes; and Bob

Mainer was reporting on the Speaker. Don Sherman had

prepared and was showing the slides for the meeting and

Bob Curtiss operated the projector. Finally, Ron Riggert

managed the audio and compiled member contact infor-

mation.

Some have noted difficulty hearing parts of the meetings.

Ron reminded us that audio headsets are now available.

Beautiful nature pictures were on display, taken by Art

Phipps - official RMA photographer.

Al Persson announced that the following RMA Commit-

tees need more members: Speakers, Minutes, and Coffee.

He mentioned that meeting-change requests need to be giv-

en with advance warning: two days for meeting announce-

ments and three days for visual aids.

Chris Hammer noted that the recent RMA trip to the WW

II Museum in Natick was a great success. Next will be a

two-hour visit to the BU National Emerging Infectious Dis-

Minutes — Continued

C IGAR BOX BULLETIN P AGE 3

Zumwalt will be going through sea trials later this year. Its

two sister ships are, respectively, 80 and 28 percent com-

pleted.

Stuart’s description of the Zumwalt and the history of its

development was astonishing – especially for those of us in

the audience who had not previously followed the story of

its genesis. The ship deserves adjectives such as amazing,

incredible, and astounding. Many of its features would

have been the stuff of science fiction a mere decade ago.

Virtually everything about the Zumwalt is a break from

tradition or past practice. Start with its appearance: the

Zumwalt looks more like a surfaced submarine than a tradi-

tional destroyer. Its bow is designed to pierce waves, not

ride them. Its “tumblehome” hull made old sailors in our

audience wonder about the ship’s roll limit. Its propulsion

is by electric motors powered by four gas turbines which

also power all the ship’s combat systems with their com-

bined 78 megawatts.

Stuart pointed out that a ship’s crew is a major operating

cost. According to DOD estimates, the burdened annual

cost for a service member is about $150K. Humans on a

warship occupy precious space. Provisions for human

needs – places to sleep, eat, shower, attend to bodily func-

tions, exercise, prepare food, take care of the sick or in-

jured, operate systems and equipment – take up a lot of

space in a ship’s interior. Zumwalt features a high degree

of automation which supports a reduction in the ship’s

manning requirements. Thus, the radio room is unmanned.

Messages are received, routed and sent by automated sys-

tems with no direct human involvement. The Zumwalt’s

magazine requires no crew to handle the projectiles or pro-

pelling charges. Wherever a process could be automated,

the need for a manned station could be eliminated. The cur-

rent manning level for the Zumwalt requires an operating

crew of about 150 and an aviation detachment of about 28.

For comparison, an Arleigh Burke class destroyer has a

complement of about 300.

The Zumwalt class has a number of features and capabili-

ties that set it apart from the traditional destroyer:

The DDG 1000 Class ships are larger than, for exam-

ple, the Arleigh Burke DDG 51 Class of guided

missile destroyers:

DDG 1000 DDG 51

Length: 610 ft. 505 ft.

Beam: 80.7 ft. 66 ft.

Displacement 15,995 tons 8,315 tons

Draft 27.6 ft 30.5 ft.

Speed 30 knots 30 + knots

The DDG 1000s are capable of sustained littoral opera-

tions (i.e. near the shore) including land attack and

support for special operations forces. Their gun

systems are able to support forces ashore by firing

Long Range Land Attack Projectiles (LRLAP)

with a range of approximately 60 nautical miles.

They present fewer surfaces that will reflect radar di-

rectly back to detectors, thus minimizing

“bloom” (of the ship’s signature) on a radar screen.

If a DDG 1000 is detected by radar, it will appear

to be the size of a small fishing boat.

They create less detectable noise across the water’s

surface. The combination of turbines and electric

propulsion equipment generates less noise, less

exhaust and less detectable heat than traditional

steam or diesel propulsion systems. This quiet per-

formance makes the ship less detectable by subma-

rines.

Their multi-function radar not only provides air sur-

veillance but is especially useful in the surveil-

lance of the typically- cluttered littoral environ-

ment which often contains combinations of geo-

graphic features and man-made structures on the

shore in addition to small vessels operating in front

of the shore.

Survivability – the ability to continue to fight after re-

ceiving damage – is enhanced by departures from

traditional design dogma. An example is the stor-

age of missiles around the periphery of the hull

rather than in magazines deep within the ship. The

magazines are designed to direct the explosion out-

ward, thus doing less damage to the ship’s core.

Their aviation component is provided by two MH-60R

Seahawk multi-mission helicopters for submarine

hunting and for surface warfare. The Seahawks

also can provide gunnery support by directing

ship’s fire on targets.

Speaker—Continued

Continued on Page 5


ease Laboratory in South Boston, starting at 10 AM on

Monday, May 18. Members will travel by private car and

off-street parking is available at 710 Albany St. Any mem-

ber can bring a guest, subject to proof of name, US citizen-

ship, and birth date. The Laboratory website

( www.bu.edu/neidl/ ) has details. Finally, a Pawsox game

trip will occur on August 25, with seats behind home plate

and tickets still available.

Jerry Brody announced lists of member birthdays and an-

niversaries for May. He remarked that there were not too

many May weddings, speculating that members in the past

“saved up for June”.

Bill Ely reported on members’ health and asked for any

new information.

Ray Atkins presented two fine videos. The first was a

James-Bond-style chase scene in a “hot rod” French Peuge-

ot, ending in the arms of an equally-hot girl at a mountain

chateau. The second showed multiple clips of amazing

soccer kicks into distant (often-moving) buckets.

Harold Wilkinson entertained with jokes about kitchen

appliances, nursing homes, babies, menopause, and newly-

weds.

Frank Lyons announced the ROMEO lunch to be at the

Bella Costa, on Route 30, near Route 9, in Framingham.

Minutes—Continued

Leaving Home Safe and Sound

Vacation season is finally here! If a trip away from home is in your plans, remember these tips to keep your home safe and secure while you are gone.

1. Suspend regular deliveries. This includes newspapers, milk and diaper service deliveries. Ask the post office to hold your mail until you return and notify UPS if you are expecting a package.

2. Set timers on lights and radios. Choose timers tested for safety. You can create the illusion that you’re at home by setting the timers to turn lights on and off in different areas of your home throughout the evening. If you choose to leave a radio on, please lower the volume so that it cannot be heard from outside your home.

3. Ask neighbors to watch out. People you know and trust can often be your best defense. Inform your neighbors if you will be gone for an extended period of time.

4. Securely lock all doors and windows. Did you know that in almost half of all completed residential burglaries, thieves simply breezed in through unlocked doors or crawled through unlocked windows? And don’t forget to secure any vehicles you leave behind.

5. Leave curtains and blinds in their normal positions. If you are concerned about leaving blinds or curtains open on the nights that you are away from home, leave them closed. It is more common to have closed blinds during the day than to have them open at night.

6. Unplug countertop appliances, home entertainment equipment and computer equipment. To prevent a fire

hazard, coffee makers, toasters, hair dryers and irons should be left unplugged. Unplug all TVs, VCRs and computers to

protect against power surges in the event of a power outage.

Thanks to our conscientious reporters Bob Mainer and

Bill Beebe for providing the speaker notes and the minutes

http://www.bu.edu/neidl/


Speaker—Continued

Their systems are designed with “open architecture”

standards, which means any upgrade or future sys-

tem that conforms to the standards can literally be

“plugged in”, just as a new device can be plugged

into a home computer via standardized USB ports.

The stern of a ship in the DDG 1000 class has doors,

behind which is a boat-handling bay where two up

to 11-meter rigid hull inflatable boats are stored. A

boat can be deployed on an automated ramp which

can be extended from the transom into the water

behind the ship’s stern. The boat can be recovered

simply by having it run up the ramp into the bay.

Stuart noted that the Bath Iron Works employs construction

techniques for the DDG 1000 ships that differ radically

from conventional ship-building. The traditional method

lays a keel and builds the ship’s hull on inclined ways. At

christening, the ship slides down the ways into the water.

The DDG 1000 ships are constructed ashore in sections.

Modular systems cabinets and other operational compo-

nents specific for each section are installed. Then the sec-

tions, which are on very-large dollies, are rolled into place

and welded together. The superstructure is fabricated and

outfitted offsite, then brought to the construction site where

it is hoisted onto the hull. The completed hull and super-

structure are rolled into a drydock. The drydock is flooded.

Voila! She’s afloat!

For a better understanding of the Zumwalt’s construction

and launch, go to https://www.youtube.com/watch?

v=NNo9ltIgCCU. Skip the ad at the beginning. Also, when

you reach the end of this time-lapse video, it will be fol-

lowed by a video description of the Zumwalt with French

narration. If not, look in the panel of videos on the right

side of the YouTube page for the video labeled “DGG

Zumwalt, une nouvelle categorie de destroyers US.” You

do not need to be able to read French to comprehend the

activity in the last two-thirds of this informative video,

which shows how separate hull sections and the superstruc-

ture were brought together to build the Zumwalt.

At the conclusion of his talk, Stuart received a warm round

of applause – especially from the Raytheon retirees in the

audience who took pride in their former employer’s contri-

bution to the design and construction of the Zumwalt.

(RMA member Bert Fowler had arranged for him to ad-

dress us.)

How to Protect Your Bank Account

Checking account theft is now second only to credit card theft. How do thieves get your checking account information? There are several ways. They steal your outgoing mail, taking checks you’ve written, soak off the ink, and rewrite them. They steal your wallet and obtain information and credit cards that way. Fake ATM machines can be set up to record your account number and PIN. You could be hit by an inside job when a bank employee steals your account information.

But increasingly, these thieves are going online. Around 45 percent of adults with Internet access use the Web to bank or pay bills. Among those whose checking accounts had been raided, 70 percent were online finance users.

There are some things you can do to protect yourself from online fraud and scams. Never use a public computer or wireless "hot spot" for financial transactions. Be sure that your internet web browser has the security options set to high. Use a credit card rather than a debit card when making online purchases.

Also, remember to monitor your bank account carefully and often. If you see a debit that you can’t remember making, be sure to alert your bank. The sooner you report a problem, the better--after 60 days, the bank may be under no legal obliga-tion to provide a refund.

Keep your virus software up-to-date and run frequent scans of your computer. Blocking pop-ups will prevent some mali-cious software from being installed on your computer without your knowledge. Also be suspicious of any emails purporting to come from your financial institution, especially if they ask for your account information or password. Contact your bank directly instead of responding to the email.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NNo9ltIgCCUhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NNo9ltIgCCU


It won’t be l

ong now…

Got your gril

l out?

Got your dec

k furniture o

ut?

Time to get

ready for su

mmer!

Summer vacations are just around the corner. These tips will help you save some money as you hit the road.

1. Travel in the off-season or on off-peak days (not weekends).

2. If flying, watch for deals on tickets and be ready to buy them right away.

3. Always ask for the lowest rate available for airfare, hotels, or car rentals.

4. Be wary of hidden charges. Room taxes, in-room movies, and long distance charges can add up.

5. If driving, tune up your car before you go, to help avoid expensive repair bills.

6. Stay in out of the way places.

7. Pack your own picnic and keep a cooler in the car with beverages and snacks.

8. Look for free attractions.

9. Check the Visitors’ Bureau or local Chamber of Commerce for information

on inexpensive attractions and to get discount coupons

Saving Money on Travel

Anniversaries in May

P AGE 7

Birthdays in May

C IGAR BOX BULLETIN

Average Years Married—52

Average Age—79

Member Birthday Age

Member Spouse Anniversary Years

Paul Kudirka 05/21/1947 68

Robert Joseph 05/10/1943 72

A. Bradford Conant 05/17/1941 74

William M. Carleton 05/13/1940 75

Larry Vifquain 05/14/1940 75

Martin Lehman 05/12/1938 77

Robert Allard 05/14/1937 78

Edwin E. Larsen 05/09/1937 78

Waldo L. Hart 05/08/1936 79

Morton L. Brond 05/02/1935 80

David Macklin 05/02/1930 85

Maurice Fitzgerald 05/19/1929 86

Milton A. Jones 05/10/1929 86

Reynold P. Graunas 05/29/1928 87

Reynold P. Graunas Claire 05/24/1958 57

David Doran Linda 05/04/1963 52

Isidore Louis Vivaldi Mary C. 05/07/1966 49

Lou Petrovic Judy 05/06/1967 48


Let’s Get Acquainted —RMA Members Spot l ight

J ack Whiting. Jack grew up in Wayland when Wayland was a farming community. The schools were not prepared to offer college prep

courses, therefore, he transferred to Wes-

ton High School. His last two years of

high school he went to Noble and Greenough School when

the Weston High School was burned down by one of his

classmates. From there he went to Harvard. It was the

“Korean Conflict”, so he signed up with the Air Force

ROTC. Right after graduation in 1954 he and Jill were

married. In September, together they started his tour of duty

in Texas. Three great years of flying from bases in Georgia,

Texas and ending up in Panama City, Florida teaching in-

strument flying with students who would be stationed on

the “dew line” protecting us from possible Russian threats.

After that, a bit reluctantly, Jack & Jill and now Wendy

(1955) and Spencer (1957) returned to Massachusetts. For

his career he considered finance or banking but on good

advice from his uncle ended up with his father in the truck

parts distribution business called Brookline Machine Co.

Together they were able to expand the one store business to

six warehouses in the northeast. He is very proud that at

this time a son and daughter are running the business and a

grandson, who recently entered the business.

Along the way they had Brew (1958), Zebby (1961) and

Ren (1968). All are happily married and now there are 11

grandchildren and 2 great grandchildren. They have lived

in Wellesley for 58 years the last 54 in the same house.

Jack has been active in many activities in Wellesley includ-

ing helping start youth soccer in Massachsetts and coaching

both boys and girls soccer for 17 years. Presently he is on

the board of the Wellesley Conservation Council and a

Councilor for the Manomet Center for Conservation Sci-

ences. They both volunteer for their church and for the

Audubon camp at Hog Island, Maine. They have travelled

to many countries mostly on bird trips and mostly with

Road Scholar.

P aul Sturgis. Paul was born and raised in Pittsfield, MA. He attend-ed The University of Massachu-setts receiving a degree in Mechanical En-

gineering in 1971 and early in his career

completed an MBA program at Rider Col-

lege in Lawrence NJ. This led to a career in Manufacturing

Management.

Paul and his wife Diane have lived in Westborough, MA

since 1993 and have 2 children and one grandchild. They

enjoy winter getaways with Hawaii being a favorite spot.

Summers are spent with frequent trips to Cape Cod enjoy-

ing their Cape house on Long Pond in Harwich. They are

looking forward to getting Europe and Australia/ New Zea-

land trips planned soon. Paul’s hobbies and interests in-

clude golfing, skiing, biking and boating as well as the nev-

er ending handyman projects around their homes. Both

Paul and Diane for the past 20 years were happy to help

and support their parents through their elder years and still

keep a watchful eye on a 96 year old family member.

His career in manufacturing management primarily focused

on the introduction of new products and/or processes into

international manufacturing sites. The early years were

with Monsanto Corp and its effort to establish a presence in

the emerging plastic beverage container industry. He then

went the high tech route joining Digital Equipment Corpo-

ration in 1977 in Burlington Vt. Paul was one of the pio-

neers of the development and refinement of Digitals Phase

Management process for the introduction of new products

through the design process and then into manufacturing.

He retired in 2009 after DEC’s mergers with Compaq then

HP.

Paul joined RMA in January 2012 and was sponsored by

Richard Smith. He feels it is a great way to continue learn-

ing through the speakers and field trips as well as to be in-

spired by the other members by all that they do and accom-

plish in retirement. Paul’s volunteering includes the Mus-

tard Seed and Abby’s House in Worcester.

He believes that it is important to live every day in a way

that if you don’t wake up tomorrow all is fine.


RMA Album—Wildl i fe Images by Bob Cooke



RMA Bulletin Board

At the height of th

e space race durin

g

the 1960’s, NASA

took on the arduou

s

job of finding a wa

y to write in space

.

Normal pens would

n’t work due to th

e

zero gravity the as

tronauts would fac

e in

the space capsules.

So scientists em-

barked on a way to

solve the problem

.

They came up with

the Astronaut Pe

n,

after months of res

earch and develop-

ment, and at a co

st of about $1 milli

on.

The Soviet Union a

lso faced the task o

f

writing in space. To

solve this weighty

problem, they used

a pencil.

[email protected] 978-443-6048

Hearing Assistance at RMA Meetings is available. The new devices work with or without your hearing aid. Just see Ron Riggert when you get to the meeting to borrow one. According to users, they really work well.

If you have something to be promoted or projected

at an RMA meeting please contact Al Persson two

weeks before the meeting. Please don’t ask Don

Sherman to include your presentation material at the start of a meeting.

Thank you! The Management


By Al Persso

n

First Class Mail Next Meeting

Friday, June 12, 2015

Web site RMenA.org

E-mail [email protected]

R.M.A. Box 261

Wayland, MA 01778

J ohn Walsh has been a member of the New England Heli Crew in Mansfield MA

(www.nehelicrew.com) for 6 years and the president of the club for the last 2+

years. The Club is exclusively a radio control (RC) helicopter club including all

forms of rotary wing aircraft but no fixed wing aircraft. His talk will focus on the

mechanical end of helicopters and drones.

The group includes members who fly multi-rotors, which most people know as drones.

John has built and flown more than a dozen RC helicopters in the last six years, and has

successfully landed most of the time.

John is the owner of Walsh Engineering, a tool design and product development com-

pany located in Norfolk MA. The company specializes in molded products and John

has been involved in the plastic industry for 40+ years, initially as a tool and die maker

in the injection and compression molding field.

For more in depth look at the laws regarding drones John will be joined by Andy Argenio, District Vice President of

the Academy of Model Aeronautics (AMA). Andy has been instrumental in working with the FAA on the proposed

laws for private and commercial use of drones.

RMA Meeting: Friday, June 12, 10:00 am

All About Multi-Rotor Helicopters—(Drones as most know them)

Guest Speaker: John Walsh, President, New England Heli Crew

John says he’s the taller one.
http://www.nehelicrew.com

RETIRED MEN’S ASSOCIATION Cigar Box Bulletin V M 18...

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