Calendar

TxGC MEMBERS ALWAYS GET $5 OFF!

• Advance purchase online: $30 ($25 for TxGC members)
• Week-of-event & walk-ups*: $35 ($30 for TxGC members)
  • *if seats available
• TxGC Member discount is provided by a discount code via member-only newsletter
  • TxGC Membership is only $10/year… join today

MENU

• Ice tea, water, soda, cash bar
• Choice of Sicilian salad or Mama’s gumbo
• Choice of entree
  • Chicken John Kim: grilled chicken topped in mushrooms, roasted peppers, white wine butter sauce
  • Penne Pasta with Meat Sauce: traditional penne pasta with Mama’s slow cooked meat sauce
  • Blacked Trout: filet topped with etoufee served with red-skinned mashed potatoes and vegetables
• Choice of chocolate cake or cheesecake

GUEST SPEAKER: Mike Matson ‘06

Are you ready for a motivational lunch?! Ready to meet a bad ass? Mike Matson has made a name for himself as an adventurer, most notably earning two Guinness World Records skippering a three-man rowboat over 3,200 miles across the Atlantic! Mike’s love of ocean adventure began at the US Naval Academy, where he first learned how to sail as a crew member of a Navy 44′ MKI visiting ports along the US Eastern Seaboard. Mike was also a member of the Men’s Heavyweight Crew team, the Trap & Skeet team, and completed two marathons. After leaving the Navy, Mike returned home to Houston and became a volunteer firefighter/emergency medical technician in the City of Stafford while simultaneously earning a doctorate in Chemistry from Rice University.  As a new professor, Mike authored Inorganic Chemistry for Dummies and taught undergraduate classes at the local University of Houston-Downtown. When his research shifted from biomedical applications to shale oil extraction, Mike transitioned into the oil and gas industry and currently he is a drilling engineer with Kinder Morgan CO2. Mike first met his wife, Sami, in 7th grade, and they now have two happy, healthy Scouts (Morgan, a Brownie, and Cooper, a Bear) that love living in the Heights. When not at his desk downtown, Mike is likely found weight lifting atCrossFit Live Oak in Montrose with Brian.

TxGC MEMBERS ALWAYS GET $5 OFF!

• Advance purchase online: $30 ($25 for TxGC members)
• Week-of-event & walk-ups*: $35 ($30 for TxGC members)
  • *if seats available
• TxGC Member discount is provided by a discount code via member-only newsletter
  • TxGC Membership is only $10/year… join today

MENU

• Ice tea, water, soda, cash bar
• Choice of Sicilian salad or Mama’s gumbo
• Choice of entree
  • Chicken John Kim: grilled chicken topped in mushrooms, roasted peppers, white wine butter sauce
  • Penne Pasta with Meat Sauce: traditional penne pasta with Mama’s slow cooked meat sauce
  • Blacked Trout: filet topped with etoufee served with red-skinned mashed potatoes and vegetables
• Choice of chocolate cake or cheesecake

Guest Speaker

James Olson

Professor of Practice, Texas A&M University

Jim Olson served in the Directorate of Operations of the Central Intelligence Agency, for more than 30 years, mostly overseas in clandestine operations.  He will speak to us about past covert operations, his opinion on current threats to the U.S., and the need for effective intelligence agencies.

Jim worked as a Case Officer in the field, created elaborate “covers” for effectiveness, and looked for individuals with information who were willing to betray their country in exchange for some sort of inducement.  Joining the CIA also introduced Jim to his future wife.  The two worked in tandem undercover focused on gathering intelligence during the Cold War.

In addition to several foreign assignments, he was chief of counterintelligence at CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia.

In 1997, Jim Olson came to The Bush School of Government and Public Service – Texas A&M, to teach courses on intelligence, counterintelligence and international crisis management.  He is the author of two books related to spying and counterintelligence.  Visit https://bush.tamu.edu/faculty/jolson/  .  Prior to his career in the CIA, he served in the US Navy, where he attained the rank of LCDR.

This event is exclusive to TxGC members and their guests.  Link to purchase tickets requires a code and was made available via  member-only newsletter. If you’re a TxGC member, and did not receive the email with code, please contact Rick Bush at the email listed.

Private VIP Tour of Johnson Space Center

• Tour includes behind the scenes, VIP access, stops at:
  • Sonny Carter Neutral Buoyancy Lab
  • Mission Control (ISS & Apolo)
  • Training Mock Up Facility/Vehicle Lab
  • Cost covers private shuttle bus
• Optional lunch following tour at El Tiempo (Webster)

* PLEASE READ ALL OF THESE REQUIREMENTS BEFORE SIGNING UP

• Must be age 18 to attend tour
• Must be US citizen
• Name provided at sign up must match ID
• First come, first served, maximum 18 spots available

Informal “no-host” (pay on your own dime) lunch.

Come out and meet up with the TxGC Chapter, in the Webster/Clearlake area!  Network, drink a margarita, have some Tex-Mex, and start off the weekend early.

Please RSVP so we have a good headcount.

TxGC MEMBERS ALWAYS GET $5 OFF!

• Advance purchase online: $30 ($25 for TxGC members)
• Week-of-event & walk-ups*: $35 ($30 for TxGC members)
  • *if seats available
• TxGC Member discount is provided by a discount code via member-only newsletter
  • TxGC Membership is only $10/year… join today

MENU

• Ice tea, water, soda, cash bar
• Choice of Sicilian salad or Mama’s gumbo
• Choice of entree
  • Chicken John Kim: grilled chicken topped in mushrooms, roasted peppers, white wine butter sauce
  • Penne Pasta with Meat Sauce: traditional penne pasta with Mama’s slow cooked meat sauce
  • Blacked Trout: filet topped with etoufee served with red-skinned mashed potatoes and vegetables
• Choice of chocolate cake or cheesecake

Guest Speaker

Richard J. Stoll

Albert Thomas Professor of Political Science, Rice University

Areas of Interest: Research interests include the study of international conflict, public attitudes on foreign and defense policy, and American national security policy. Professor Stoll’s current research encompasses a number of areas.  He is studying naval arms races from 1816 to the present.  In collaboration with other researchers, he is studying support for foreign policies that promote gender equality.  Finally, working with Professor Devika Subramanian of Rice’s Computer Science Department, he is exploring the use of social media (in particular Twitter) to tap public opinion.
In addition to being well known as one of Rice University’s outstanding teachers, Professor Stoll is an accomplished scholar of international conflict. He has used computer simulation techniques and statistical analysis to study topics such as arms competitions, comparative foreign policy, and political realism. Dr. Stoll recently participated in a ten university effort funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) to collect data on militarized interstate disputes. Along with Devika Subramanian of Rice’s Computer Science Department, Dr. Stoll is engaged in an effort to create events data from online news sources and to predict the outbreak of serious international conflict. This research has been supported by the National Science Foundation.

Join us in Beaumont for our quarterly “no-host”, pay your own way, lunch.  Bring a friend.  Bring another Alumni, parent or even another service academy Alumni.  Meet your fellow Beaumont USNA Alumni.

Please RSVP for heard-count reasons, to John Augusto at j.a.augusto@icloud.com.

Join us with WP, USMMA, Coast Guard, and Air Force.  Food and drink specials.

Join us and meet some of our USNA Alumni Assoc. & Foundation leadership, from Annapolis, on their roadshow through Texas. We’ll have some free snacks, and drink specials, at the 2nd floor, private bar at El Tiempo “1308 Annex” Westheimer.

NAVY FOOTBALL Season Opener

Navy vs. Holy Cross Football Viewing Party
Saturday 31-AUG @ 14:30 kickoff
Wakefield Crowbar: 954 Wakefield St. Houston

Family friendly; food and drink specials