As part of our year-long 60th anniversary celebration, the Boys & Girls Club of the Lower Naugatuck Valley will be recognizing the life of someone who has been positively affected by our Boys & Girls Club on a regular basis throughout the year.
For the month of March we recognize Senior Chief Navy Counselor, Harold “Butch” Gibbs.
Butch grew up in Shelton and at a young age was a very active member of his Boys & Girls Club. Gibbs was most involved in the Keystone Club from 1986 – 1991, the Boys & Girls Club’s most dynamic teen program aimed at providing awareness and impact in the areas of community service, career preparation, and teen outreach.
Butch served as President of the Keystone Club for four years. During that time he attended nine regional and national conferences, served on five steering committees, and was a Co-Chairman for the Northeast Regional Conference. His outstanding commitment to The Club and community earned him the title of 1989 Junior Boy of the Year, 1991 Boy of the Year and in 2011 was inducted into the LNV Alumni Hall of Fame.
In 1993 Gibbs joined the United States Navy. After recruit training camp in Great Lakes, IL, he reported to the USS Aubrey Fitch in December of 1993, where he completed four years of service. From 1997 – 2001 Senior Chief Gibbs worked on shore duty at the Naval Submarine Base New London in Groton, CT. After completion of his duties in Groton, Butch served six years abroad on board the USS Essex and USS Harpers Ferry from 2001 to 2007 based out of Sasebo, Japan. While deployed to the Persian Gulf on the USS Harpers Ferry he participated in many security operations to protect the Iraqi oil platforms from insurgents.
After this successful tour, Gibbs was promoted to the rank of Chief Petty Officer, and he reported to the Commander, U.S. Forces, Japan, as the Regional Career Counselor for all shore commands in Japan. Chief Gibbs was also sent as an individual augmentee to Baghdad, Iraq as the Leading Chief Petty Officer and Regional Career Counsel for Iraq from July 2007 to January 2008. In 2009 He reported to the USS Nassau as Command Career Counselor where he served an eight-month deployment and decommissioned the ship in 2011. His next tour of duty was for Commander, Tenth Fleet/Fleet Cyber Forces Command where he oversaw career development and inspected 413 commands servicing more than 10,000 Sailors throughout the world.
In June 2014, Gibbs returned to Japan to report to the USS George Washington, the United States Navy’s only forward deployed aircraft carrier as the Command Career Counselor. In 2015 he was instrumental in the completion of the first ever three carrier crew swap involving the movement of more than 9,000 Sailors between Japan; San Diego, CA; and Norfolk, VA, culminating with the USS George Washington moving from Japan to Norfolk, VA, and receiving the 2015 Pacific Fleet Retention Excellence Award. He is currently awaiting transfer to Commander, Naval Medical East located at Portsmouth Naval Hospital where he will oversee the career development of more than 20,000 Sailors from the Mississippi to Italy.
Senior Chief Gibbs has been awarded several honors and awards through his naval career, which include four Navy Commendation Medals, five Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medals, and seven Good Conduct Medals. Butch holds an Associate’s Degree in counseling and applied psychology, as well as holding Department of Labor certifications in Counseling and Computer Operations. He currently resides in Newport News, VA, with his beautiful wife, Denise, his 2 daughters, Alexandria and Charlotte, and two step-children, David and Taylor.
If you or anyone you know would like to share their story about their positive experiences with our Boys & Girls Club, please email Press@BGC-LNV.org, or call Ann Wheeler at 203 – 924-7462.
All are invited to our 60th Anniversary Gala on November 10, 2016. See our website for details at www.BGC-LNV.org
