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Back in friendly skies Military pilots Mark Wittemann ‘84 and Tom Episcopio ‘91 have both returned from active duty in Iraq to California where they occasionally fly missions together. Witteman served as a Navy aviator for seven years, after which his commission was transferred to the Air Force where he flew the KC-135 as a reservist. He flew combat missions over Kosovo, as well as against Iraq in both the 1991 and 2003 conflicts. Currently, Witteman is director of operations for the 336th Aerial Refueling Squadron at March Air Reserve Base in Southern California. “Shortly after my graduation, David Givler ‘84 ran into [professor emeritus of mechanical engineering Francis] Zimmerman who asked about me,” related Witteman. “David told him I’d joined the Navy to fly and Zimmerman replied, ‘I knew Mark would never be a mechanical engineer.’ Dr. Zimmerman was correct.” Episcopio recently left the Marine Corps after eight years of active duty flying CH-53E helicopters. He joined the Marine Reserves, then switched to the Air Force Reserves. “We do routine training flights with the entire inventory of U.S. military aircraft (fighters, bombers, and transport),” said Episcopio. He is a pilot with American Eagle Airlines, but has been on military leave since Sept. 11, 2001. Deployed to Oman for the Iraq war, his squadron flew missions over both Iraq and Afghanistan before returning home this past summer. “When I got off active duty in 1999, I finally had a chance to go to Homecoming, and it was great to catch up with some old friends,” he said.