Navy League of the United States - Denver Council
Citizens in Support of the Sea Services and Their Families
Denver Council Dinner - November 17, 2023
| The Denver Council had a wonderful evening on Friday, November 17. Out guest speaker for the evening was Chaplain (Colonel) Andy Meverden, who served for 14 years as an enlisted soldier in the United States Army, and then for an additional 26 years as a Reserve/Guard Chaplain. He deployed to Afghanistan with the Colorado Army National Guard Green Berets from 2002 to 2003. Chaplain Andy's presentation centered on his experiences in Afghanistan with the ‘soft side of war’. In addition to his religious duties, he was asked to lead humanitarian projects, such as conversational English classes for high schoolers, as well as missions to support orphans, widows, and the local ex-patriot NGO community in Kabul. |
After a tragic accident resulted in the deaths of four young boys and left another one severely injured, he had to reach out to the village elders to learn about and then participate in a local custom to acknowledge the injury and make it right with the fathers of these children. His respect for the local Afghans, and willingness to atone for the injury led to a level of reconciliation. All in the audience were moved by his story. Chaplain Andy’s book about these experiences, Unconventional Chaplain, was published in May 2020.
We also honored the top performers at the Navy Talent Acquisition Group (NTAG) Rocky Mountain. PO1 Andrew Burris received the Recruiter-in-Charge of the Year award and PO2 Moreno Big received the Recruiter of the Year Award. Both fine sailors demonstrated great devotion to duty and the willingness to go above and beyond in order to exceed recruitment goals. |  |
| We were happy to welcome a third-class Petty Officer with the Sea Cadets to give us an update on the activities of the Lexington Division and the Training Ship Colorado. Another five cadets took the stage to share their recent activities with the audience. We are very proud of the Lexington Division and the Training Ship Colorado cadets. They are a very active and impressive group of young people. |
Many thanks to all who brought gifts for donation to the Toys for Tots program. We have 3 large bags of toys ready to be brought to the donation warehouse in Aurora. We hope to see you at our next meeting on Friday, January 19th.
| September Denver Council Meeting At our meeting on September 15, we were honored to welcome CDR Regina Kauffman, Deputy of Officer Development, Naval Service Training Command, as our guest speaker. CDR Kauffman stressed the importance of the maritime services filling the pipeline with responsible officers, especially those who are nuclear trained. This year 1,100 Ensigns entered the Navy through NROTC programs. The need for submarine and aircraft carrier officers is especially critical since those vessels are the lynchpins of the Navy. |
We honored the Lexington Division Sea Cadet of the Year, PO1 Patterman and the Navy League Cadet of the Year, PO2 Jones. They were joined by some proud family members. We also honored the Marine Recruiting Station Dever top recruiters of the year, SSgt Pedro Machara and SSGT Christa Brown, who was unable to attend the meeting. They were joined by their Commanding Officer, Major Tyler Folan and Master Sergeant Matthew Renkas. Our next meeting will be held on Friday, November 17. Details will be posted a month prior to the meeting. |
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Navy League Denver Council is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization. 2137 Night Sky Lane, Lafayette, CO 80026