Yorkville native honored in Connecticut as Service Person of the Month

GROTON, Conn. – A Yorkville native and sailor from Naval Submarine Support Center (NSSC) on board Naval Submarine Base New London (SUBASE) was recently recognized as Service Person of the Month (SPOM) by the Chamber of Commerce of Eastern Connecticut (the Chamber) and the Ledyard Rotary Club, Feb. 18.

Hospital Corpsman 1st Class Erik Brengman serves as NSSC’s only behavioral health technician for 20 submarines and more than 3,500 Sailors. Brengman was acknowledged for his performance of his military duties and community contributions during a virtual ceremony.

The video call started with Angie Clay, a representative from the Chamber, sharing some of the things Bregman did that earned him the SPOM nomination.

“Through his ‘can-do’ leadership style, he provided outstanding results no matter the complexity of the task set before him,” said Clay. “Petty Officer Brengman’s dedication to the military and community has remained steadfast during COVID-19 challenges.”

As the command’s coordinator of a base-wide Caring and Sharing program, he led a group of 24 volunteers in gathering food donations to provide meals to lower income military families during the holidays. Bregman also helped deliver meals to sailors on base who were placed on Restriction of Movement (ROM) status as a COVID-19 mitigation measure due to recent travel or newly reporting to SUBASE New London during the pandemic.

“He is one of the lead efforts for what we like to refer to as Meals on Wheels,” said Cmdr. Shawn William, commanding officer of NSSC. “As sailors come in from outside of the state we have to restrict their movement, and put them into the barracks for two weeks where they’re not able to do anything. Petty Officer Brengman is a big part of making sure we feed them three square meals a day.”

Brengman expressed his gratitude towards the Chamber, Ledyard Rotary Club, and the local community for the recognition.

“Thank you for the honor of being Service Person of the Month and being able to be a part of this community,” said Brengman. “When I moved to Groton it was immediately apparent that this community supports sailors to the utmost of their ability, and I was able to quickly integrate with the local community.”

The Chamber and local service clubs, such as the Ledyard Rotary Club, organize the SPOM program to honor local military personnel of all branches who not only excel in their regular duties, but also go above and beyond in their contributions to their community.