NAVY LEAGUE OF THE UNITED STATES

Citizens in Support of the Sea Services

Denver Council Peak News, 9 (5), November 2019

Denver Council Dinner hosting the XO

CU Boulder NROTC, Cmdr. Regina

“Reggie” Kauffman and honoring our top

Navy Recruiters

I trust everyone had an enjoyable Fall. Hard to believe

we’re already starting the holiday season! The past two

months have flown by and are well-documented in this

Denver Council newsletter.

Our Fall dinner meeting will be held at the Hilton Gar-

den Inn Denver Airport, Friday 15 November. Social

hour starts at 6 pm with dinner at 7 pm. Our guest speak-

er for the evening will be Cmdr. Regina “Reggie” Kauff-

man, USN, Executive Officer of the Navy ROTC unit at

CU Boulder. She’ll be bringing Midshipman 2nd Class

Rachel Lee to complement her talk about Mainland

China’s historical and current claims in the South

China Sea. This will include more recent U.S./China

incidents and close-calls of which Cmdr. Kauffman was

personally involved in 2001.

Cmdr. Kauffman’s last deployment was onboard the

USS Carl Vinson as the Combat Direction Center/

Combat Operations Officer operating in the Pacific. Her

talk will also cover specific observations regarding her

RIMPAC (Rim of the Pacific) exercise, involving U.S

and allied forces. I’m looking forward to seeing every-

one on November 15th.

Jim Quin, Council President

Commander Regina Kauffman

Cmdr. Kauffman is a 1997 grad-

uate of Penn State with a B.S. de-

gree in Aerospace Engineering.

Commissioned through the Naval

Reserve Officers Training Corps,

she earned her Naval Flight Of-

ficer wings of gold in 1999, and

most recently achieved designa-

tion as Space Cadre and as an In-

formation Warfare Officer.

Cmdr. Kauffman’s sea duty as-

signments included two operational tours with Fleet Air

Reconnaissance Squadron ONE (VQ-1) as an EP-3E

Navigator, Evaluator, Senior Evaluator, and Mission

Commander; a tour aboard USS ENTERPRISE (CVN

65) as a Tactical Action Officer; and a tour aboard USS

CARL VINSON (CVN 70) as the Combat Direction

Center Officer.

Kauffman’s Patrol and Reconnaissance staff assign-

ments included tours at Patrol and Reconnaissance Wing

TEN, and Patrol and Reconnaissance GROUP. Her joint

assignments include the United States Cyber Command,

and Defense Information Systems Agency.

She is a graduate of the executive MBA program and

the Space Systems certificate (non-resident) programs at

Naval Post Graduate School, and Joint Professional Mil-

itary Education I through the Naval War College.

The September Dinner Honored Naval

Historian and Author, Captain Steve

Maffeo, USNR (Ret.) and

Top Sea Cadets

During the September Dinner,

Capt. Maffeo, attired in his Conti-

nental Navy period uniform, pre-

sented an insightful biography of

the extraordinary life experiences

of John Paul Jones, often referred to as the “Father of

America’s Navy”. See the awards section for Sea Cadet

honorees.

Speaking Engagements by Deputy

CNO Vice Adm. John Nowell, USN

On September 12th several members of the Denver

Council attended two speaking engagements by Deputy

CNO/Chief of Naval Personnel Vice Adm. John Nowell.

One engagement was hosted by the Rocky Mountain

Navy Association in Denver, the other by the NROTC

Unit at the University of Colorado, Boulder. During

these engagements, Vice Adm. Nowell interacted can-

didly with attendees while addressing the importance

and challenges of attracting and retaining top quality

personnel to sustain

and improve our

current and future

Navy.

Denver Council Page 2

USS Colorado Submarine Association

The USS Colorado (SSN 788) is

currently deployed. Here she is seen

heading out to sea flying our state flag

donated by the Association:

If you'd like to support the crew's

families while the boat is away please

consider purchasing a gift card for

Family Resources Group (FRG) mem-

bers. The FRG will give them away

as gifts to family members at meetings and parties. The

Association recommends gift cards from merchants with

a presence in the New London/Groton area to include:

Amazon, Applebee's, Buffalo Wild Wings, Dunkin

Donuts, Michael's, Moe's Southwest Grill, Olive Garden,

Pizza Hut, Popeyes, Target, Sephora, Smash Burger, and

Starbucks Gift Cards can be purchased online from each

store’s website or through Amazon for no more than $25

made out to USS COLORADO FRG MEMBER using

the email address: usscoloradofrg@gmail.com.

We hope everyone will help support USS Colorado

(SSN 788)! Link: https://usscoloradosubassoc.org

In September one of our Association members, Beth

Burroughs, was visiting Groton Conn. to meet with the

FRG and attend a Kid’s Paint Party that they sponsored.

She was impressed with the level of activity they’ve es-

tablished, both to do small things such as a walk, or big

things such as spray gun painting.

They have also recently completed

a ladies’ painting activity, a fund-

raiser at Margaritas in Mystic, as

well as a Krispy Kreme donut sale.

We salute one group of extraordi-

nary women!

Legislative Affairs

Council Legislative Affairs Representative and Re-

gional Vice-President, Legislative Affairs, Brett Nelson

will attend the Fourth Annual Anchors Aweigh Con-

gressional Fly-In Event on November 13th and 14th in

Washington, DC. This event provides an opportunity for

Navy Leaguers to present Sea Services’ priorities to

members of congress and/or their staffs during face-to-

face meetings on Capitol Hill. Please contact Brett Nel-

son at rbrett.nelson19@gmail.com for more details.

Council Awards/Honors

During the September Din-

ner Meeting, Sea Cadet Unit

Commanding Officer LT

Greg Hall and Navy League

Cadet Unit Commanding Of-

ficer LT David Gilfillan pre-

sented an impressive sum-

mary of Cadet activities and

accomplishments during the past year. The presentations

were followed by Council President, Jim Quin, awarding

Theodore Roosevelt Youth Leadership Medals and Cer-

tificates to Naval Sea Cadet Corps, Lexington Division,

Cadet of the Year, PO2 Sydney B. Rhomberg, NSCC and

Navy League Cadet Corps, Training Ship Colorado, Ca-

det of the Year, LC3 Ethan M. Carrithers, NLCC. Con-

gratulations to both honorees.

The following awards will be presented during the up-

coming November Dinner Meeting:

Denver Council Navy League Sailor of the Year for

2019 to NC1(AW) Michael D. McCarthy, USN

Denver Council Navy League Recruiter of the Year for

2019 to NC1(SW/AW/IW) Hayden J. Reed, USN.

Honorees are attached to the Navy Talent Acquisition

Group Rocky Mountain.

NAVY LEAGUE OF THE UNITED STATES

Citizens in Support of the Sea Services

U.S. Navy

U.S. Coast Guard

U.S. Flag Merchant Marine

Denver Council Navy League Peak Newsletter is an official publication of the Denver Council, serving the members and community of Colorado. This publi-cation does not necessarily reflect the official views of the National Navy League or Department of Defense.

Stories and artwork may be submitted via email to the editor at mahaffey10@aol.com or postal service PO Box 19253, Boulder, CO 80308-2253. Electronic versions available upon request.

Find out more on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/DenverCouncil/

National and Local Dues

Please remember to keep up with your Navy League nation-

al dues (and keep Sea Power magazine coming to you) and our

local Council annual dues of $15 per individual or $25 per cou-

ple. These local dues became mandatory in January 2019 and

are a key element in supporting Council initiatives.

Denver Council Page 3

Sea Cadets Update

Both units continue to grow with 47 Lexington Divi-

sion (older) cadets and 27 Training Ship Colorado

(younger) cadets. The combined adult staff is now 20.

The units continue involvement in many exciting activi-

ties to include:

The Lexington Division proudly honored their newest

Chief Petty Officer, Cadet Emerson McClary, who

started out as a League Cadet in 2015 and is now a

high school senior.

The Division was selected as one of only 12 units in

the Nation to pilot the US Naval Sea Cadet Corps part-

nership with VEX Robotics to teach STEM (science,

technology, engineering, mathematics) to cadets. The

Lexington Division will begin assembling and pro-

gramming robots in December.

Medical Team Cadets were briefed on operation of the

medevac helicopter and

toured the ICU at Foot-

hills Hospital in Boulder,

learning about Tactical

Combat Casualty Care.

Training Ship Colorado

Cadets were given an

orientation tour of an

operating ambulance and taught CPR by a qualified

instructor.

Successfully completed their semi-annual physical

readiness test.

Received training on all

Rates and Ranks that the

Navy has offered since

World War II.

Honored recently interred

Veterans at Fort Logan

National Cemetery

Received training on the role of the U.S. Coast Guard

and a briefing by Lexington Division Cadets on their

recent summer training experiences at Coast Guard

Station, Elizabeth City, NC and aboard a Coast Guard

cutter in Alaska.

Navy Birthday Ball a Gala Event

On October 19th, the Denver Council supported the

Colorado Springs Council’s Navy Birthday Ball held at

the Hotel Elegante in Colorado Springs, celebrating our

Navy’s 244th Birthday.

Festivities included a

tribute to our POWs and

MIAs, a banquet, cham-

pagne toasts, and the cer-

emonial cutting of the

cake as well as an ad-

dress by keynote speaker,

Vice Adm. Michael

Dumont, USN, Deputy

Commander, NORAD and USNORTHCOM.

Silent Auction to Benefit Denver Council

We will hold our second annual Silent Auction to ben-

efit the Denver Council. Please bring an item for auction

to the November dinner and come prepared to do some Christmas shopping!

NAVY LEAGUE OF THE UNITED STATES

Citizens in Support of the Sea Services

Online Resources:

Navy League National:

https://www.navyleague.org/

Denver Council Navy League:

www.navyleague-denvercouncil.org/

Denver Council Flickr photo albums:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/131150115@N07/albums/

Denver Council Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/DenverCouncil/

USS Colorado committee:

https://usscoloradocommittee.org/

USS Colorado (SSN-788) Submarine Association

https://usscoloradosubassoc.org

U.S. Navy

U.S. Coast Guard

U.S. Flag Merchant Marine

Welcome new member

Calvin Polland

Denver Council Page 4

NAVY LEAGUE OF THE UNITED STATES

Citizens in Support of the Sea Services

Proposed Slate of Candidates for Elections

Council Officer and Executive Board Member Elections

will be held during the November 15th Dinner Meeting.

Here is the proposed slate of candidates for the Officer

and Board Member positions for 2019 which will be pre-

sented and voted on.

Officers:

President, Jim Quin

Executive Vice-President, Dan Puleio

Secretary, Joanne Nelson

Treasurer, TBD

Executive Board:

Membership Recruiting, Kathleen Branch

Military Affairs, David Oppenheim

Membership Retention, TBD

Social Media and Council Contact, David Fong

Legislative Affairs, Brett Nelson

Youth Programs & Photographer Joe Suchman

Newsletter Editor & Council Awards, Joe Mahaffey

Chaplin, Gray Buckley

Member-at-Large, Rick Martin.

We are still seeking nominations for the positions of

Treasurer and Membership Retention. Nominations

will be requested from the floor at the meeting and mem-

bers must be present to vote. Those interested in serving

should contact Joe Mahaffey at mahaffey10@aol.com.

Board members must be active members in good standing

of the Denver Council, Navy League.

Toys For Tots

Please support the annual Toys for Tots drive sponsored

by the United States Marine Corps Reserve by bringing a

NEW, UNWRAPPED toy to the November 15th Dinner.

Toys will be collected at the door.

Upcoming Events

37th Annual Colorado All-Service Academy Ball

Saturday, December 28th, 2019 at the Broadmoor Hotel in Col-

orado Springs. Generous room discounts are offered by refer-

encing the Ball. Registration is entirely online this year at

https://coloradoasab.org/. Reservations by December 8th.

Future Denver Council dinner dates:

Friday, 17 January 2020

Friday, 20 March 2020

Friday, 22 May 2020

U.S. Navy

U.S. Coast Guard

U.S. Flag Merchant Marine

Late Fall Dinner Friday, November 15, 2019

Your reservations may be made on line no later than

5:00 PM Wednesday, November 13 via our Navy League

RSVP site:

www.blacktie-colorado.com

Enter event code DNL1115 (All one word, not case sensi-

tive.)

If you prefer to RSVP by ground mail, please print this

page, complete the form, and send the form to arrive NO

LATER THAN Wednesday, November 13, with check

payable to NLUS Denver Council to:

Mrs. Florence Mackin

2137 Night Sky Lane

Lafayette, CO 80026

(720) 291-9771

fmackin@mackinweb.net

RESERVATION REQUEST for

NLUS Fall Dinner –

Friday – November 15, 2019

6:00 PM Social Hour

7:00 PM Dinner

NAME(S):______________________________

GUEST(S):_____________________________

# MEALS:

Chicken Marsala____

Veggie Tortellini w Pesto Sauce ___

Salmon w/lemon butter sauce ___

$37.50 per plate.

DIRECTIONS TO MEETING PLACE

Hilton Garden Inn Denver Airport

16475 East 40th Circle, Aurora, CO 80011

I-70 east to North Chambers Road, turn Right (East) on

East 40th Avenue. Turn Right (South) on the second East

40th Circle. Hilton Garden Inn is on the Right behind

Ap-