Assemblyman Jeff Gorell (R-Camarillo) will be promoted to the rank of Commander (O-5) in the United States Navy (Reserve Component) at a ceremony on Friday, June 20 just outside Naval Base Ventura County. Commander-select Gorell, an intelligence officer and third-generation navy veteran, was selected for promotion last year by the Navy’s annual Commander (O-5) promotion board.

Cmdr. Gorell’s military service was previously highlighted in 2011 when he became the first sitting member of the California State Legislature to be called to active military service since World War II. Half of his first two-year term was spent on an unpaid leave of absence from the legislature while he was embedded as a targeting officer with the U.S. Marines at Camp Leatherneck in Afghanistan. He earned the Defense Meritorious Service Medal for leadership in a combat zone.

The ceremony will occur at the U.S. Navy Seabee Museum at Naval Base Ventura County in Port Hueneme, and will be officiated by senior Navy officers in his chain of command.

What: U.S. Navy Promotion Ceremony for Commander Jeff Gorell

When: Friday, June 20, 2014
12:00 noon - 2:00 p.m. Brief ceremony, followed by luncheon

Who: Jeff Gorell, family, community members, Navy leadership

Where: U.S. Navy Seabee Museum at Naval Base Ventura County
1001 Addor Street, Port Hueneme, California

Assemblyman Jeff Gorell has completed two one-year tours to the Middle East and Afghanistan and was decorated for his leadership in a combat zone. In 2002, Gorell led a combat camera team in Bagram, Afghanistan; and from 2011-2012, he commanded a targeting cell embedded with the U.S. Marines in Helmand Province, Afghanistan. Gorell is the grandson of a Navy Seabee who fought in the Pacific during World War II, and the son of a career naval officer and Vietnam veteran.

Since 2009, Commander Gorell has served as executive officer of NR STRATCOM JFCC SPACE, a reserve unit that supports military joint space operations.