Happy New Year! I hope all of you had a wonderful and safe holiday with your family and friends.
2026 is now here and marks the 250th anniversary of the founding of our great country. The days are getting longer, and it is only 131 days to KSU!
The hotel list for the 2026 Central Route has been released! So get your reservations made! The link to the hotel are here. In Ontario, please seriously consider staying at the host hotel. Conference spaces and other things are provided based on the number of rooms we fill at the host hotel. If we don’t meet the minimum occupancy, we may not get the same size conference room next year.
If you’re looking for a roommate, check out the forums to see who else is looking or post your own request. If you post something on the Central Route Facebook page, it may not be seen by everyone.
To all those that have not yet registered, please do so now. I see that 14 people have registered in the last couple of weeks and a hearty welcome home goes out to the 43 FNG’s that have registered so far for RFTW XXXVI.
Remember, the registration fee will increase to $120 on February 1, 2026. Our Registration Teams and Platoon Leaders will start working on Platoon assignments soon so don’t delay!
Our Route planning is on going with some minor changes. Midway is coming back to the 10-day run. While travelling through Arizona, we will help celebrate U.S. Route 66’s Centennial with a drive through Seligman, AZ and on Day 10, after lunch, we will join up with the Southern Route and travel together into Springfield, VA.
FNGs! In the next couple of months, expect to be contacted by our FNG Coordinator, Platoon Coordinator and/or Registration team. We intend to pre-assign platoons before you join us in Ontario, so you will know who your platoon leader will be and what platoon you’ll be in before you arrive.
Events: Looking for an RFTW event near you? Events can be found here.
Volunteers: Volunteers are still needed for positions! If you’re interested, please sign up here! Here are some positions that need to be filled:
Staging is still in need of people.
If you have skills with Route Planning, like making GPX files or are adept with Google Earth, please contact me directly.
Medical Team members are needed. No specialized medical skills are needed.
Friends of Bill Coordinator.
Some of our positions need backups in case the primary person needs to drop out.
So, if you have any questions about any of the positions on the Run or about the Run itself, please reach out to me. I’m only a phone call or email away.
As said before, RFTW XXXVI is honoring the 35th Anniversary of the Gulf War with Operation Desert Shield which started on August 2,1990 and ended with the transition into Operation Desert Storm on January 17, 1991. The Air Campaign prepared the battlefield for the ground operations which lasted about 100 hours ending on February 28, 1991. US casualties during this conflict were 382 personnel in theater with 6 persons still missing and 6 persons unaccounted for.
Also, January 28 marks the 40th Anniversary of the Space Shuttle Challenger Incident. Those that were around back in 1986 will probably remember where they were that day when a tragedy occurred 73 seconds after liftoff. I was at NAS Sigonella, Italy, with my squadron preparing to fly aboard the USS Coral Sea to plan and take part in Operation El Dorado Canyon, which happened a few months later. But that is sea story for another time.
So, next time you visit the Arlington National Cemetery please honor their memory by stopping by the Space Shuttle Challenger Memorial in Section 46.
Mission Statement
To promote healing among all veterans and their family and friends
Call for an accounting of all Prisoners of War & Missing in Action (POW/MIA)
Honor the memory of those Killed in Action (KIA)
Support our military people all over the world.
Is it May yet?
Jim “Who?” McDonough
XXXVI Central Route Coordinator
Due to circumstances beyond our control, Midway Route Photos from previous runs are no longer available. 