CONCORD, NH ― The New Hampshire Department of Military Affairs and Veterans Services (DMAVS) has announced retired U.S. Army Colonel Brenton K. Fraser has been appointed as the Director of the Division of Community-Based Military Programs (CBMP), effective July 14. Col. Fraser succeeds Amy Cook, who joined the National Alliance on Mental Illness New Hampshire (MANI-NH) to develop suicide prevention programs.
The Division of Community-Based Military Programs was created in 2008 as a bureau at the NH Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS). Nationally, it was the first of its kind operating in a state Health and Human Services department with the purpose of helping to facilitate military and civilian partnerships. In 2019, the Bureau of Community-Based Military Programs moved to the Department of Military Affairs and Veterans Services and became the Division of Community-Based Military Programs (CBMP).
As Director of CBMP, Col. Fraser will lead the division in its mission to deliver quality services to New Hampshire Veterans, Service Members and their families through collaboration, coordination, and communication with military and civilian provider groups across the Granite State. Day to day, CBMP’s five full-time employees play a key role in New Hampshire’s coordination of care for Service Members, Veterans, and their families in need of support and services for substance misuse, homelessness, suicide prevention, mental health, sexual military trauma, unemployment, domestic violence, education, and legal aid.
“Colonel Fraser is a proven leader with a distinguished military career during which he led complex, highly effective teams,” said Major General David J. Mikolaities, the NH Adjutant General. “His proven track record of building effective partnerships and coalitions among competing stakeholders will serve New Hampshire’s military community very well. His attitude and approach to collaboration and partnerships will be a tremendous asset to the division, the department, and the State of New Hampshire.”
Col. Fraser brings over 30 years of experience to the department, most recently as Director, Capability Development Integration Directorate (CDID) at the Space and Missile Defense Command at Fort Eustis in Virginia. There, Col. Fraser led a geographically distributed team of over 250 military, civilian and contractor personnel involved in concept development, experimentation, studies and analysis for the Command’s space, stratospheric high altitude, and strategic missile defense advocacy.
From 2012 to 2013, Col. Fraser served overseas as Chief, Provincial Security Force Advise and Assist Team (SFAAT), 101st Airborne Division, leading a team of 27 personnel in the politically complex northeast Afghanistan region along the Pakistan border. Col. Fraser advised the Kunar Provincial Governor, Chief of Police and Director of Joint Operations Center on all aspects of planning, operations, and civil/military relations to contribute to the province’s security and stability for future governance and commerce.
Col. Fraser is a Distinguished Military Graduate of the Whittemore School of Business and Economics at the University of New Hampshire. He holds a master’s degree in National Security and Strategic Studies from the U.S. Naval War College and has completed additional studies at the U.S. Naval War College and the Joint Forces Staff College at the National Defense University in Norfolk, VA.
About N.H. Department of Military Affairs and Veterans Services
The Department of Military Affairs and Veterans Services was established legislatively in New Hampshire in 2019. The Department is led by Major General David Mikolaities, the N.H. Adjutant General and Warren Perry, Deputy Adjutant General. The Department of Military Affairs and Veterans Services consolidated veterans services from across the state including the Division of Veterans Services, the Division of Community Based Military Programs and the State Veterans Cemetery. The Department of Military Affairs and Veterans Services shares a mission triad with the New Hampshire National Guard—fight and win our nation’s wars, secure the homeland, and build enduring partnerships. To learn more about the N.H. Department of Military Affairs and Veterans Services, visit https://www.dmavs.nh.gov/.