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Military Connection: Gov. Brown Appoints New CalVet Secretary

On January 9, 2015, California Governor Jerry Brown appointed Debbie Endsley as acting secretary of the California Department of Veterans Affairs (CalVet). Endsley will be replacing Peter J. Gravett, who is retiring after four years in the position.

Endsley is the daughter of a Veteran, and the wife of a U.S. Marine. She served as a consultant for the California Department of Parks and Recreation in 2012, and for the CalHR Project from 2011 to 2012. Endsley was also a director at the California Department of Personnel Administration from 2009 to 2011, where she also served in several other positions from 1998 to 2011, including chief deputy director and chief of the benefits division.

Gravett, a retired Major General, has more than 40 years of combined military service in the U.S. Army and the California Army National Guard. He was the first African-American to become a division commander in its 225 year existence. Gravett served as commanding general of the 40th Infantry Division from 1999-2002. He retired from the National Guard in 2002.

Gravett also worked for more than 22 years with the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD). He was awarded the LAPD’s Medal of Valor for saving the life of a teenage boy who had been attacked by a mob outside the L.A. Coliseum.

Governor Brown appointed Gravett to his cabinet as Secretary of CalVet on April 29, 2011. Gravett’s retirement comes after four years of exceptional service to California’s community of nearly two million Veterans and their families.

On January 13, 2015, Endsley was sworn in by Gravett during a ceremony at CalVet’s Sacramento headquarters.

We at Military Connection would like to thank General Gravett for his years of stalwart leadership, and we wish him well in his retirement. We would also like to congratulate Mrs. Endsley on her appointment, and look forward to her tenure of leadership for the Veterans of California. We also look forward to a continued relationship between Calvet and Military Connection.

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