Reunion

POVA-The Psychological Operations Veterans Association

Reunion 2012 - Salt Lake City, Utah

During our POVA Reunion in Boston last year it was decided to hold the next reunion in Salt Lake City, Utah in fall of 2012.

Preliminary planning for that reunion is ongoing, and it is expected to be held after Labor Day, because the summer heat is gone then and pleasant days can be expected.

The preliminary hotel is Radison Hotel Salt Lake City Downtown with a date sometime after Labor Day. The costs of the rooms are $99.00 per night. There is public transportation that goes by the hotel. The hotel does not provide an airport shuttle but they do havea contract with a private company to and from the airport for $8:00 per person per trip. The airport is located five miles from downtown.

We are expecting to tour the Kennecott Copper Mine, Park City, Antelope Island and The Hill Air Force Museum.

The first day we will visit the Kennecott Copper Mine which is the richest mine on the planet, where you will see the world's largest earth moving vehicles, which move 250-300 tons of earth in each load, loaded by shovels that hold 90 tons of earth in each shovelful. In the museum, we will learn the history of how the mine got its start, and more.

In the opposite direction we will drive up into the mountains where we will see another old mining town, Park City. There we will experience the Olympic Park and Museum, where the bobsled, skeleton, and luge track is located as well as the ski jumping area. Olympic athletes train there year round. Park City is also home of the main street galleries and fine dining, as well' as Deer Valley the # 1 rated ski resort in the US.

We would hold our PSYOP Dinner on that evening.

Day two, we will head to Antelope Island, where a herd of over 500 head of Buffalo (North American Bison) roam freely. We may even see some Antelope (pronghorns), as well as other wildlife in its natural habitat.

The Hill Air Force Base Museum ,has more than 70 aircraft on display including. a replica of the Wright Brothers first airplane, plus many military aircraft ofthe zo" century including aircraft still being used today. The larger aircraft are displayed outside, with the smaller aircraft being housed in two huge, air conditioned buildings. My favorite display is the SR 71 Blackbird spy plane.

Each of the above tours will be less than 50 miles from the Hotel and the tours are combined to reduce distances. Most of these can be seen at a low ($5.00) or no cost. Transportation to these sites will be provided by the host, and our president Mike Stoeckert has said he will be renting a car that will provide additional transportation, if needed.

If someone wanted to add a few days to their reunion schedule Utah has five National Parks (Bryce Canyon, Zion Canyon, Arches, Canyonlands, and Capitol Reef) all of which are 300 miles or less from Salt Lake City, as well as Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming 365 miles north, and the Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona which is about 500 miles south.