Capital Region Military Alliance of Virginia (CaRMA-VA) celebrated its first year while highlighting its accomplishments during its annual event. Attendees of the morning meeting at Brightpoint Community College included a regional audience of city, county and veteran service organizations as well as chambers of commerce, higher education, business, and military leaders.
The mission of CaRMA is to actively facilitate community and government support to sustain and enhance current military missions, pursue future missions, and promote the region’s contributions to national defense.
“We are very proud of the accomplishments of the regional partnership since the founding of CaRMA in February of 2024” said Becky McDonough, CaRMA lead, and CEO of the Hopewell/Prince George Chamber of Commerce, the sponsoring organization. “Work sessions throughout the past year have resulted in the re-opening of a parachute drop-zone, the historic opening of Fort Lee’s military museums to the public with the establishment of a new gate, and re-establishment of the Adopt-a-Soldier program.”
McDonough shared that CaRMA has been designated as a military affairs council by the Department of Defense and the Virginia Department of Veterans and Defense Affairs. It is Virginia’s newest council joining others in Hampton Roads, Northern Virginia and Charlottesville, and others across the country. Elevating the importance of hiring transitioning veterans and military spouses is just one of the CaRMA initiatives. With its close geographic proximity to Fort Lee, the H/PG Chamber regularly engages military spouses like Fadoua Harrabi as interns. Harrabi met McDonough and other CaRMA team members in a serendipitous encounter in 2024 at the Association of Defense Community’s (ADC) Installation Innovation Forum in Texas, where Harrabi was attending as a Military Spouse Leadership Initiative participant with ADC.
Keynote speaker Cathie Vick, President and CEO of the Virginia Chamber of Commerce connected the importance of the national defense economic impact to the future of Virginia in her speech entitled “Blueprint Virginia 2035: Supporting Military Families, Strengthening Virginia”
The program also included award presentations.
The General Brehon B. Somervell Medal of Excellence was presented to Mike Flanagan, founding CaRMA Advisory member, Civilian Aide to the Secretary of the Army Emeritus, and retired Army colonel, by Fort Lee Senior Installation Commander, Maj. Gen. Michelle Donahue.
Certificates of Appreciation were given to active CaRMA participants and subject matter experts including: Kristen Pudlow, Deputy County Administrator of Prince George County; Command Sgt. Maj. Nickea Harris, senior enlisted leader of U.S. Army Garrison Fort Lee; Wayne Covil, Senior Reporter WTVR Channel Six News; Brian Moore, Economic Development Director, City of Petersburg; Heather Barrar, Friends of the Lower Appomattox River; Quay Jones, Director of Public Works, Fort Lee; Colin Romanick, Executive Director, Pamplin Historical Park; Cara Buckley, Operations Manager, VFW Post 637, Hopewell; Susan Garling, Community Relations Officer, Fort Lee; and Stephen Baker, Chief of Public Affairs, Defense Logistics Agency.
Rounding out the program was a panel of transitioned service members who now work in manufacturing, healthcare, logistics, and energy lead by John Maxwell, former Commissioner of Veteran Affairs for the Commonwealth of VA, and current founder/director of the newly created Veteran Community Network of Central Virginia, a primary partner organization of CaRMA.