WP-ORG Kicks Off Fund Drive 23!

It’s time for another WP-ORG fund drive! This will be FD23, our 23rd fund drive since we started keeping score. As you know, WP-ORG services are made possible through your generous donations.WP-ORG is an independent volunteer organization operating separately from the United States Military Academy . We support members from the USMA class year groups, parents of current cadets and midshipmen, parents of recent graduates, West Point societies and parent clubs, as well as other special interest groups that are a part of our community.

WP-ORG currently serves 30,000 members of the extended West Point community. Some are graduates, some are Army or Navy parents, and some are members of our many service-related lists. I’d like to take this opportunity to personally welcome those members who have joined our ranks since the last fund drive.

Should you wonder what constitutes an “acceptable” donation amount, our answer is: Donate in accordance with the value you receive from the services provided by WP-ORG, but not more than you can afford.

WP-ORG is governed by a volunteer board of advisors. Brief biographical sketches of the current members of the WP-ORG Board of Advisors may be seen here.

Our budget for the next six months is $107,438, $9,118 less than FD22, and may be reviewed here.

If you wonder why you should donate, an explanation may be found here.

As in previous drives, you may make a secure donation by using your credit card.

Or you may donate by check made payable to WP-ORG and sent to:

WP-ORG
3800 Buffalo Mountain Road SW
Willis, Virginia 24380-5082

Please be sure to indicate your affiliation and/or year group on your check.

Regardless of the donation method you choose, WP-ORG is recognized by the IRS as a 501(C)(3) Non-Profit Organization. 100% of your donation is tax deductible. For those who may need it, our EIN number is 51-03877132.

The authorization may be found here.

Here is WP-ORG’s privacy policy.

Thank you for your support!

Dempsey Darrow
USMA1975, “Courage and Drive”
CEO WP-ORG, Inc.

In Support of…Good Italian Food

I was in the mood for Italian today so I dropped in at my local Carrabba’s for an early dinner. I had just finished ordering when I noticed a serviceman at the next table with a group that obviously included his family. A service member in uniform out with their family usually means one of two things: either they’ve just returned from a deployment or they’re about to be deployed.

When my waiter returned with my drink I asked him to have the serviceman’s meal quietly placed on my ticket and to inform him that his meal had been taken of. A few minutes later the waiter returned to tell me the manager had said that it was Carrabba’s policy to take care of service people in uniform.

So, add Carrabba’s to the list of establishments that actively support our men and women in uniform.

Then, the waiter told me, “Sir, because of your gesture, the manager will be taking care of your dinner as well.”

Napoleon is said to have said, “An army marches on its stomach.” John Adams is quoted as having said, “The shortest road to men’s hearts is down their throats.” It seems that the good people of Carrabba’s are working hard at the realization of these sentiments. The next time hunger pangs make themselves known I hope you’ll give Carrabba’s serious consideration.

And by the way, the Veal Marsala was excellent!

~ Dempsey

Data Theft Allegation

Through the years, when the issue of greater collaboration between WP-ORG and the USMA’s AOG has been broached, the allegation that at one time WP-ORG stole a database from the AOG is invariably reiterated. In the hopes of putting a final nail in the coffin, the following letter was sent in September of 2007 to the CEO of the AOG along with a request that it be disseminated to the AOG’s board of directors.

~ Dempsey
**********

LTG (Ret) Ted Stroup
Chairman, AOG, USMA
Dear General Stroup,

I am writing this letter to correct what has been represented to be institutional knowledge among the staff at the AOG.  While at West Point for the latest Leaders Conference, Jack Price, one of our longest serving Advisors, had a conversation with Geoff Louis, your CFO.  Although Geoff acknowledged the incident had taken place prior to his time, he told Jack that everyone at AOG believed that WP-ORG had hacked into the AOG computer and stolen the AOG database to build WP-ORG.

Jack told Geoff this was ABSOLUTELY NOT TRUE.  I seek your assistance in clearing up this misunderstanding of our mutual past history.  Here are the facts we would like you to present to all members of the AOG staff, all members of the Board of Directors, and finally, all members of the Advisors. I know this will not cover all parties to whom such views may have been communicated, but we will accept this as a good faith effort.

1. WP-ORG, in its various configurations, has been active since 1994.  The incident which is at the bottom of this, occurred in August 1999.  AOG opened a link on their web site, for graduates to query for Cullum information, the same data that was publicly published in the Register of Graduates (ROG).  (This data is currently provided yearly for the new graduating classes by AOG to WP-ORG.)  WP-ORG was building their graduate database from the same hard cover resource, and had been doing so since 1996, in the format:

   LASTNAME Firstname Middlename yrgrp Cullum co <email address>

The link AOG provided would yield identical data, and our founder, Expeditus Bolaños, ‘90, automated the query process to collect the above formatted data on all graduates through the provided link. He did NOT hack into the AOG server.  He did NOT steal anything, much less the AOG database, which consists of extensive data beyond what was provided, such as employment data, fund raising, and financial records.

2.  Upon AOG’s strong objections to the action, which had been taken openly, WP-ORG promised not to take advantage of any such future opportunities.  That data was deleted.

3.  Although this happened eight years ago, it continues to provide some in AOG with a focus for attacking WP-ORG.  The story has morphed from the facts above into the statement, “Everyone at AOG believed that WP-ORG had hacked into the AOG computer and stolen the AOG database to build WP-ORG.”

4.  Jack told Geoff that, given this statement, it was important that the belief be corrected and accurate information distributed to all parties.  That is the purpose of this letter.

I am

Yours Truly,

Dempsey Darrow, ‘75
CEO WP-ORG, Inc.

for

WP-ORG Board of Advisors

Doug Dribben, ‘83
John Greiman, ‘81
Warren Hearnes, ‘89
Megan Hostler
Mike Lyman, ‘87
Donna McAleer, ‘87
Bob Magruder, ‘64
Mike McGurk, ‘85
Ray Nelson, ‘83
Jack Price, ‘64
Bob Totten ‘60
Dian Welle
Paul Werner, ‘83

Volunteer Spotlight: Cheryl Westfall

WP-ORG (a.k.a. West Point Org) has two full time employees. In order to accomplish all that we do, the heavy lifting must be performed by a small army of volunteers. One of the most dedicated and energetic is Chery Westfall, co-moderator of WP-ORG’s plebe-net and parent-forum discussion and dissemination lists.

Born and raised in Iowa, Cheryl and Jeff, Cheryl’s husband of 42 years, make their home in Phoenix, Arizona. Cheryl is retired from an 18 year position in an Elementary School Health Office.

Cheryl says the following about her family and its association with the military and WP-ORG:

“I signed up for Plebe-net in the summer of 1999 when our son entered West Point.  As my husband went on a 3 week business trip at the beginning of Beast [Barracks], this became my life line.  Over the years  I found myself answering more and more of the questions on Plebe-net and Parent Forum.  [WP-ORG moderators] Di Welle and Megan Hostler asked me if I wanted to make it ‘official’ and become a moderator. Silly me, I said Yes.  Little did I know…”

“We were a not a military family prior to our son attending West Point and worked very hard to catch up!  We live in Arizona and visiting West Point was something we could not do nearly as often as those East Coasters.  So every trip made was indeed very special. We just love West Point and all of its history.”

“Our daughter, Janelle, (ASU & U of Texas) is the Clinical Director for Devereux Arizona. Our older son, Jeff Jr., ( NAU & UOP) is an IT Application Security Specialist.  Our youngest, Ted, is USMA Class of 2003.  He completed his 2nd deployment to Iraq with the 1/23 IN  3-2 SBCT and returned to Ft. Lewis on the auspicious date of 9/11/2007! He has just been selected for the Army FLEP program.”

Jeff and Cheryl Westfall

WP-ORG appreciates all that you do, Cheryl. Thank you!

Thanks, Larry!

Larry Smith’s tenure as a director for the USMA’s Association of Graduates ends at the end of this month.

I first met Larry when he and I both served on the AOG’s Alumni Support Committee. I found him to be as affable and outgoing as he is a tireless worker in support of his alma mater.

Larry made many trips from California to New York at his own expense in his unceasing efforts geared toward what can be described as a “Labor of Love”. Never one to shrink from difficulty, Larry volunteered to tackle the most contentious issues and threw himself into the fray.

We at WP-ORG hope that he will continue his work with us so that we can remain beneficiaries of his “Can Do” attitude. The AOG Board of Directors is losing quite an asset.

Thanks for all your efforts, Larry. Well done.

Larry Smith, USMA 1962