CAPT Chuck Vaughan presents a Certificate of Appreciation to Mr. John Reingruber.
LT William Myers, CEC USN Former
The Catalina Mountain Satellite Chapter (CMSC) of the Military Officers Association of America (MOAA) held its meeting on March 19, at SaddleBrooke Ranch. The meeting began with a business session presided over by CAPT Chuck Vaughan, president, during which members were updated on the chapter’s current activities.
CAPT Vaughan stated plans were being made to ask the membership for permission to change from a satellite chapter of the Tucson Chapter to being its own chapter because of the growth in membership being experienced by the satellite chapter versus that of the parent chapter.
SaddleBrooke resident John Reingruber was the presenter. John spent his entire 35-year career as a civilian in the Department of Defense. John is also the husband of CMSC Member LTC Tracy Reingruber, USAF Retired.
Mr. Reingruber initially discussed his early pre-Pentagon career, which featured a tour with the Navy Foreign Material Program, where he focused on reverse engineering weapons and weapon systems from other countries. Next, he told the attendees about setting up and running a special field activity for the Office of the Secretary of Defense to develop equipment for Special Forces, the counterinsurgency in Central America, and counterterrorism applications.
Mr. Reingruber recounted his experiences of conducting research and development for “Charlie Wilson’s War” in Afghanistan. Congressman Wilson influenced key elements of the United States government to support the Afghan Mujahideen in its war against the Russian military. John had many interesting stories about developing “low tech weapons” for the Afghan Mujahideen, as well as developing ways for higher technology weapons to be used in Afghanistan. For example, developing special mule saddles to carry Stinger missiles through the Afghan mountains.
The next regular CMSC meeting will be held at 11:30 a.m. on Saturday, April 16, in the Boardroom of the Grill at SaddleBrooke Ranch. Lunch will be available to order during the meeting.
The speaker at the April meeting will be SaddleBrooke resident LTC Brian Dawson, USAF Retired. In 1972, Brian received a bachelor’s of science degree in mechanical engineering from Michigan State University. His 28-year Air Force career (1984-2012) included piloting B-52, B-1 B, and C-130 aircraft. LTC Dawson’s combat tours included the first Gulf War, flying out of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia and Operation Enduring Freedom, flying out of Bagram, Afghanistan.
Brian will discuss unmanned aerial systems, which have been the subject of the courses he developed and presented at Alpena Community College from 2014 through 2019. He will focus on drone systems technology, FAA remote pilot certificate preparation, drone payload capabilities, and mission planning and execution.
Potential members interested in joining our organization and attending any of these meetings, please contact Membership Chair LTJG David Bull by email at [email protected] or by telephone at 520-825-0604.
The Military Officers Association of America is a non-profit veterans’ association dedicated to maintaining a strong national defense and preserving the earned entitlements of members of the uniformed services, their families, and survivors.
The Catalina Mountains Satellite Chapter is part of Tucson Chapter of MOAA and encompasses Northwest Tucson, including Catalina, Oracle, parts of Oro Valley and Marana, SaddleBrooke, SaddleBrooke Ranch, and Sun City. For additional information, please visit our website at www.tucsonmoaa.org.