In honor of Veterans Day, Congresswoman Jennifer McClellan announced the recipient of the 2024 Veteran of the Year Award for Virginia’s Fourth District is Lt. Col. Curt Powell.
“This Veterans Day, I’m thrilled to name Lt. Col. Curt Powell as the Veteran of the Year for Virginia’s Fourth Congressional District,” McClellan said. “Mr. Powell served 23 years in the U.S. Marine Corps, including two combat deployments and continues to give back to our community in his post-service life. He now leads a mentorship program for justice-involved veterans in Chesterfield County. Throughout his life, Mr. Powell has dedicated himself to helping those around him. I commend him on his lifetime of service and thank him for all he has done for Virginia’s Fourth. Lt. Col. Powell exemplifies the selflessness that we should all strive to embody.”
In his 23-year career in the Marine Corps, Powell held a variety of command and staff level positions, in peacetime and combat, from Second Lieutenant through Lieutenant Colonel. He served through combat deployments to Somalia and Beirut, Lebanon, during which the 24th Amphibious Unit peacekeeping mission was attacked on October 23, 1983. As a White House Advance Officer, he planned and directed presidential helicopter missions around the world in support of President Bill Clinton.
He was the sole representative of Marine One in coordinating with the U.S. Secret Service, White House Communications Agency, Air Force One, Cabinet Secretaries, numerous foreign dignitaries, airport and host country law enforcement, and senior aviation representatives. For his service, he has received numerous ribbons and medals, as well as a Presidential Service Award. He is also a distinguished graduate of both of the Marine Corps Command and Staff College and the Naval Postgraduate School.
Powell works in a volunteer role as the Mentor Coordinator for the Chesterfield Veteran Treatment Docket (VTD), which provides treatment and supervision services for justice-involved veterans suffering from either a severe mental illness and/or substance use disorder.
After joining the Chesterfield VTD in 2023, he led the establishment and development of the mentor program and personally recruited and trained the roster of eight volunteer veterans who serve as mentors to participants of the program. Powell volunteers as a mentor himself and has been instrumental to the operation of the Chesterfield VTD mentor services, all with the goal of providing support to veterans in their post-service life.
More information on McClellan’s Veteran of the Year program is available online.
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Rebecca Barnabi
