Welcome to USS Colorado (SSN-788) Commissioning Committee web site. USS Colorado (SSN-788) is the 15th Virginia Class submarine. She was delivered to the Navy on September 21, 2017. Having completed shakedown operations, she was commissioned on March 17, 2018 at Naval Submarine Base New London in Groton, CT. The Committee's purposes are to promote awareness within the state, provide support for the crew, and to help organize and raise money for the events surrounding commissioning.
23. May 2019 · Comments Off on Association Members Visit Groton · Categories: Boat Visit
On May 16 and 17 eight members of the USS Colorado Submarine Association visited the crew of USS Colorado in their home port. Don and Sheri Price, JJ and Florence Mackin, Rick and Donna Riesssen, Mark Nelson and Bill Rinz traveled to Groton, CT and on Thursday, in order to show their support for the crew, helped prepare and serve both noon and evening meals on board under the watchful eye of Culinary Specialist Shamar Close. The crew members seemed appreciative of their efforts.
In the evening Association members had dinner at a local restaurant with members of the Wardroom and the Chief’s Quarters and their wives.
During the visit Association members had a chance to meet the new Executive Officer, LCDR Kenny Kirkwood who recently transferred from Pre-Commissioning Unit Oregon . They also got to view the Ken Jones Challenge Plaque, which shows the charge issued to the crew from the veterans of the WWII Battleship USS Colorado (BB-45).
Association members were invited to a crew’s picnic on Friday. The Commanding Officer, CDR Reed Koepp, presented awards to a number of crew members for exceptional performed during the ship’s operational period earlier this year including weapons acceptance trials and engineering examinations.
On Saturday
May 4th, Lieutenant Junior Grade (LTJG) Anthony Matus, LTJG Timothy Bell, Machinist’s
Mate First Class (MMN1(SS)) Chris Guitierrez and Fireman (FN(SS)) Albert
Rodriquez arrived in Denver for a four day visit to our state. LTJG Matus, the Assistant
Operations Officer, had actually been on a previous crew visit in October of
2017. LTJG Bell has been on board about eight months and is currently the
Chemistry and Radiological Assistant. MMN1(SS) Guitierrez is a nuclear
machinist mate and hold the distinction of being the longest serving member of
the crew having reported with the first increment of the engineering department
in 2014. FN(SS) Rodriquez, a member of Auxiliary Division, completed the
requirements for submarine qualification in only six months, one of the
shortest times of any of the crew.
That
evening the crew went to Big Bill’s Pizza in
Littleton for dinner. They were greeted warmly by the owner who introduced them
to the patrons who gave the sailors a standing ovation. It was a great welcome
to Colorado.
On Sunday the crew Boulder and then attended the Colorado Rockies game at Coors field. They were given a rousing reception as they were introduced to the crowd during the seventh inning stretch. In the evening several members of the USS Colorado Submarine Association treated our visitors to dinner at the historic Buckhorn Exchange in Denver.
Monday was a busy day for our sailors. They made presentations at Castle View High School in Castle Rock and Casey Middle School in Boulder talking to about 150 students. In the afternoon they received a special tour of the Capitol and observed a flag raising from the balcony of the Capitol dome. They met with Governor Polis who presented them with the Colorado state flag. From there it was off to the University Memorial Center (UMC) at CU Boulder. The UMC is the official repository of USS Colorado artifacts and has the ships’ bells that served first three USS Colorado’s and a replica of the bell currently in service on the submarine, a gift from the USS Colorado (BB45) Association.
On Tuesday,
after driving to Fort Collins, the crew members were interviewed for thirty
minutes on local radio station KCOL 600 AM by morning host Jimmy Lakey. They
then split up into two groups and set out to visit a total of nine middle and
high schools. The schools visited were Preston Middle School, Blevins Middle
School, PSD Global Academy, Lesher Middle School, Rocky Mountain High School,
PSD Global Academy, Fort Collins High School, Liberty Common High School, and
Fort Collins High School. All together they spoke to about 650 students in Fort
Collins who asked many questions about life on a submarine. After touring
downtown Fort Collins, the sailors headed to Steamboat Springs for their
Wednesday events.
They
started Wednesday as guests of Steamboat Springs
City Council for breakfast and then gave a presentation to the Council who were
intently interested in what the crew had to say. They then visited North Routt
Charter School about twenty miles from Steamboat where they talked to about 150
students in grades 3 through 8 of the school. After stopping at Freshies
Restaurant in Steamboat for lunch where they were hosted by the owner, they
visited Steamboat middle school where they talked to 120 6th and 7th grade
students. They also got to tour the town and visit the local rodeo grounds and
ski areas. The sailors were then hosted to dinner at the town’s
combined VFW/American Legion Post. They were then hosted at Steamboat Whiskey
Distillers for after-dinner refreshments by the owner, a former Navy Seal. The
visit was covered in the local Steamboat Pilot newspaper and given front page
coverage. Considering that Steamboat Springs is a community of only 12,000 they
cut a wide swath. They were often stopped on the street by persons recognizing
them because of the news coverage and given spontaneous gift donuts by the
Owner of Powder Day Donut shop.
On Thursday
they were hosted for breakfast by the Steamboat Springs Chamber of Commerce and
made a presentation to the Board before heading to DIA to catch their flight
back to Groton. The visit to Steamboat provided the crew members an opportunity
to see some of Colorado’s beautiful mountain scenery
Once again, the visit by the crew members proved to be a great success. All the students at their school presentations were interested and asked incisive questions which the sailors answered in a highly professional manner. It gave those students a glimpse into life in the Navy and on a submarine and demonstrated the high caliber of sailors who serve in our Submarine Force today. It also gave the sailors a chance to appreciate the support they receive from their namesake state and to observe the great natural beauty of Colorado.
