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.

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During the period of May 15th through the 19th, the Commissioning Committee hosted four crew members to our state. MMNC(SS) Brian Love, MMN2(SS) Todd Ault, STS2(SS) Alexander Gilbert and EMN3(SS) Robert Cooper arrived on Monday the 14th and were met by several Committee members. Gene Kellar drove the group to Glenwood Springs stopping for Mongolian Barbecue along the way. Garfield County Veterans Service Officer, Gregg Bak arranged for the crew to stay at Hotel Colorado, dinner at The Brew Pub and passes to the Hot Springs.

After breakfast at Hotel Colorado the crew visited Glenwood Springs High School, and met with two classes of Air Force Junior ROTC cadets. After a quick lunch, they headed for Grand Junction High School where they were met by Brian Oney, Mesa County Veterans Service Officer. Brian arranged a presentation in the auditorium to the Army JROTC and any interested students. The auditorium was practically filled and many questions were asked, mainly about life on a submarine. Dinner was with the local US Submarine Veterans at the Golden Corral, where they met Bob Magos, a WWII Submarine Veteran who served on USS R-2 (SS-79) and USS Pipefish (SS-388/AGSS-388)

After traveling to Montrose, on Wednesday morning they met with Sheldon Smith, Montrose County Veterans Service Officer, and Capt. Lance Bach, Navy JROTC instructor at Montrose High School. They made a presentation to the unit and other interested Students. Afterwords, the JNROTC students presented t-shirts to the crew and they were interviewed by the Montrose Press. In the afternoon Sheldon Smith escorted the group to the South Ranger Station of Black Canyon of the Gunnison, where the Rangers escorted the crew on a personalized tour of the canyon.

Traveling through southern Colorado they returned to the Denver area on Thursday. On Friday Committee member Bill Emslie arranged for the sailors to visit four middle schools, have lunch in Old Town Fort Collins and visit Veteran’s Plaza. Returning to Denver they attended the Navy League Denver Council’s meeting and dinner that evening.

On Saturday the crew visited Estes Park where there was a welcome ceremony for them at eh Estes Park Veteran’s Monument by Mayor Pro Tem Cody Walker and several others. Following they were treated to lunch at the historic Stanley Hotel ant then a visit to Estes Park. In the evening they attended the Honorary Plankowner’s Reception at the Governor’s Mansion Carriage House with about 90 persons in attendance.

Overall it was another great visit to Colorado by the sailors of our namesake submarine. They proved to be great representatives of the Navy and the Submarine Force and impressed all who met them.

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PCU Colorado crew members recently completed another visit to Colorado. Visiting the state this time were LTJG Anthony Matus, MMA2 Tristan Newton, ITS2 Nicholas Sylvia, and ETN2 John Warren. They arrived on Monday October 9th and on Tuesday morning they visited Doherty High School in Colorado Springs where they presented a flag flown over the boat on sea trials, for placement in the schools military Hall of Honor. Afterwards they were hosted to lunch at the El Paso Club by the Trustees of the Colorado Thirty Group. After lunch, the Colorado Thirty Group, with the help of crew members, presented a plaque of the ship’s crest to the Colorado Springs City Council. The plaque is a replica of the one that the group presented to the boat at the Christening and is now mounted in the Wardroom. In the evening they had dinner with several Committee members at Front Range BBQ in Colorado Springs.

On Wednesday MMA2 Tristan Newton went to Cherokee Tails High School in Aurora and visited the Industrial Arts Class taught by Paul Clinton. The class is making “Plankowner” plaques for the commissioning crew. In the Navy members of the crew who are present at Commissioning are designated plankowners. Tom Mustin of CBS4 Denver interviewed Petty Officer Newton, two of the students in the class and Mr. Clinton for a piece that showed on the five o’clock news. The students stated how proud they were to be making the plaques for the crew.

After the visit to Cherokee Trails, Petty Officer Newton joined the other members of the crew who started their day in Fort Collins. The crew had visited Fossil Ridge High School and Fort Collins High School in the morning where they made presentations on STEM education and Navy life. At lunch time they made a presentation to the local Rotary and Mayor Wayne Troxell read a proclamation in their honor. In the afternoon they made an all school presentation at Liberty Common High School before heading to Left Hand Brewing in Longmont for a tour and some refreshments. Later they also visited the monthly meeting of the Rocky Mountain Base of the US Submarine Veterans organization where they were greeted warmly.

Thursday the crew was interviewed by KRDO Radio in the Springs and then attended a County Commissioners meeting where a proclamation was read in their honor. They also visited Mesa Ridge High School, Widefield High School and Truman Elementary School. In the evening Mr. Leroy Landhuis of the Landhuis Company and member of the Colorado Thirty Group, hosted a reception at the El Paso Club in their honor. About forty people were present to meet the sailors and ask questions about their experiences. Many made donations to the Committee to help fund Commissioning week events.

On Friday the sailors were again in Colorado Springs. They had an early phone interview on Nash FM 95.1 followed by school visits to Panorama Middle School and Pikes Peak Elementary. In the evening they attended a reception at the Pioneer Museum where a birthday cake was cut in honor of the Navy’s Birthday. After the reception, a number of supporters joined the sailors for a lively dinner at Paravicini’s Italian Bistro in Colorado Springs West End. The highlight of the evening was the crew members serenading the patrons with a rendition of Anchors Aweigh.

The crew did some sightseeing in Denver on Saturday before attending the Navy Ball in Colorado Springs at night. The theme of this festive event was USS Colorado. About 180 persons attended the celebration of the Navy’s Birthday. All seemed to have a good time and enjoyed meeting the sailors. The Springs Mayor John Struthers was the featured speaker. The sailors headed back to Groton on Sunday.

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