With the successful completion of the Commissioning last year, the establishment of the scholarship fund for the crew and their families in the fall and the establishment and transition to the new USS Colorado Submarine Association for the long-term support of the crew, the Commissioning Committee has successfully met all of its objectives. We will keep this web site online to be a historical record of Committee’s activities including crew visits and the submarine’s construction period, but all future activities will be updated on the new Association website. We encourage all to follow USS Colorado there and become a member of the Association. All those who subscribed to our newsletter are automatically carried over to Association.
Welcome
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.
This Saturday May 4, three crew members from USS Colorado will arrive in Colorado for a four day visit to our state. Lieutenant Junior Grade (LTJG) Timothy Bell, Machinist Mate Nuclear Second Class (MMN2) Chris Gutierrez and Fireman (FN) Albert Rodriguez will have a busy schedule during this visit. On Sunday they will attend Cinco de Mayo festivities in the morning, attend the Rockies in the afternoon and have dinner with several Association members in the evening. On Monday they will visit two Denver area schools, tour the Capitol, meet with the Governor, and visit the CU University Memorial Center in Boulder.
On Tuesday the sailors will visit Fort Collins where they will visit nine schools in the local area. On Wednesday they travel to Steamboat Springs where they will meet with the City Council, the Chamber of Commerce, visit two schools and have dinner with a group of local veterans. Thursday they return to Groton as they prepare for the submarine’s first deployment.
Three members of the new USS Colorado Submarine Association recently traveled to Groton, Connecticut to meet with the crew of USS Colorado with the purpose of defining how the new Association could best support the boat for the long term. Association President, Don Price and members JJ Mackin and Rick Riessen spent two days meeting with various members of the Command, including the Commanding Officer (CO), CDR Reed Koepp, Executive Officer (XO), LCDR Matt Wolff and Chief of the Boat (COB), Master Chief Chip Alger. They also paid a call on Squadron Four Commodore, CAPT Brian Sitlow. They met also with the officers of the Family Readiness Group (FRG), President Chelsea Taylor, Vice President Megan Petrasek and Treasurer Alana Buday accompanied by the CO’s wife, Aimee Koepp and XO’s wife, Tiffany Wolff.
It was a great visit! The hospitality of the crew was amazing especially considering their busy in port period. The visit kicked off with burgers and beer with the CO and several of the chiefs at a local restaurant.
There was a great exchange of information of ways to support the crew and families. Some of the items discussed were mid-deployment care packages, crew visits to Colorado, visits to Groton by Association members and support for FRG fundraising efforts that will allow for morale boosting events for the crew and families. Another plan is to coordinate donation of submarine dolphin warfare specialty pins by veteran submariners that will be passed on to USS Colorado sailors as they qualify in submarines to emphasize the heritage, traditions and history of the submarine force. The Association has already sponsored a pizza party in February for the families while the boat was away. They also discussed ways for the Association stay plugged in to information about the boats activities to keep Colorado supporters informed about their namesake submarine. During their time on board they were able to observe a number of commissioning gifts given to the crew in good use.
During the visit the Association members presented a special “battle flag” to the crew that they will display while in port and transiting on the surface. They were able to make the presentation during a crew assembly on the pier where a number of crew members received awards for superior performance. It was great to see many of the crew members who made trips to the state during the construction phase. The Association intends to continue those visits in the future, but with the ship now operating, the visits will not be as frequent. Association member Rick Riessen also brought along a number of goodies, such as coffee cups and t-shirts. Rick helped start a new tradition by arranging to have the Command Master Chief insignia worn by a previously served Chief of the Boat “passed down the line” and given to the current COB Chip Alger in a surprise presentation. The intent is to have this pin passed down from COB to COB on Colorado.
On the last night the Association members went to dinner with the CO, XO, COB and their spouses and had a great time further discussing support and exchanging many “sea stories” of one sort or another.
This visit helped strengthen the bonds between the state and the crew and demonstrate Colorado’s commitment to support them throughout the life of the boat.
The new Association is in the formative stages of development. In the near future the web site will be up and running with instructions on how you can join to support USS Colorado. Stay tuned.
COLORADO has a new Chief of the Boat. ETVCM (SS) Freddie Richter completed his tour and was relieved by ETRCS (SS) Larry “Chip” Alger on October 12. It his been great working with COB Richter and wish him Congratulations on a great tour on COLORADO and wish him well on his new shore duty assignment on the Submarine Base. COB Alger comes to COLORADO from staff of Submarine Squadron Four, the boat’s parent squadron in Groton. We look forward to working with COB Alger as the boat becomes operational.
Model of Submarine Presented to Governor
Commander Reed Koepp, Commanding Officer of USS Colorado (SSN 788), and his wife Aimee, visited Colorado from July 17th through the 20th. The main purpose of their visit was to participate in the presentation of a model of USS Colorado on Wednesday. Arriving about noon on Tuesday, their first event was a visit to Colorado Springs. Committee members Beth Burroughs, Florence and JJ Mackin joined them for a jeep tour of Garden of the Gods, Manitou Springs. In the evening they were joined by several other Committee members for dinner at the Broadmoor.
On Wednesday morning a three foot long model of the submarine was presented to Governor John Hickenlooper for permanent display at the Capitol. It will join the replica of the Ship’s Crest which in mounted in the South Wing. The model was crafted by retired Navy Master Chief Jon Sorensen. Jon is a professional model maker who has restored the Boettcher collection of ship’s models that now reside at the Ship Tavern at the Brown Palace Hotel. He made the model several years ago and has had it on display at several of the Committee’s Events. CDR Koepp made remarks as part of the ceremony. Afterwards he and Aimee along with members of the Committee were given a tour of the Capitol. The group then went for lunch at the Brown Palace.
In the afternoon CDR and Mrs. Koepp were given a tour of the Schwab Campus by Committee Member Ryan Schwab.
Beth and Jerry Burroughs graciously hosted dinner on Wednesday evening . We were honored to have three Schwab volunteers with us. They not only attended the commissioning ceremony in Groton, but also volunteered at all of the committee-sponsored events during commissioning week
On Thursday the Koep’s visited the CU Boulder campus starting at the University Memorial Center. The UMC is dedicated as a tribute to all Colorado veterans, men and women, who have served or are currently serving our country. The veteran’s lounge contains many original artifacts from the USS Colorado (BB 45), including the ship’s bell and helm. It also contains the bell that served on the first two USS Colorado’s. The BB45 Association had donated a replica of the ship’s bell that is currently in use on SSN 788. After visiting the UMC, retired Navy Captain Stewart Elliott gave them a tour of the new facility for the Veteran’s Services organization and Marine Colonel Mike Goeff provided a tour of the NROTC spaces.
The tour of CU was followed by lunch at the Capitol Grill in Golden with Committee members Florence and JJ Mackin and then a visit to Lookout Mountain and the Buffalo Bill Museum and grave. Traveling to Centennial, they joined Committee members in presenting Colorado’s Adjutant General, Major General Michael Loh, with an Honorary USS Colorado Plankowner’s Plaque. 
In the evening several members of the Committee hosted them to dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe in Denver. The Hard Rock had just issued a pin honoring USS Colorado (SSN 788) in their collector pin series.
It was great to have CDR Koepp and Aimee visit the state and to give them a feeling for the great state that they represent..
