Dual Service: State Rep. Hubert Delany Serves Country & State

STAMFORD, CT — For as long as he can remember, state Rep. Hubert Delany (D-144) wanted to give back to his country and the state of Connecticut.

That was exemplified late last month as elected officials gathered in Hartford as part of the current legislative session. Delany was absent, though, having traded in his suit and tie for army fatigues.

Delany, a mass communications specialist and military journalist in the United States Army for seven-plus years, was participating in Immediate Response 2023, a multi-national combined arms training mission in the Balkans to enhance U.S.-based combat power in Eastern Europe and to increase the strength of the NATO alliance.

Immediate Response was made up of 2,800 U.S. and 7,000 multi-national participants working in Albania, where Delany was primarily working, and in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Slovenia and the U.S.

Delany was assigned to the 353rd Civil Affairs Command, an organization of "combat diplomats," whose primary mission is to engage and partner with communities around the world to strengthen local governments and improve interoperability between the militaries of allied nations.

"My job was to report on the work the civil affairs teams were doing during Immediate Response as we met with village elders, municipal officials, and government representatives from foreign ministries of defense," Delany told Patch. He was deployed from May 22 to June 2.

Delany was first elected to represent the 144th House District, which covers parts of Stamford from Turn of River down towards I-95, in a special election in January 2022. He was reelected in November 2022.

While he was away overseas, Delany was still plugged in to happenings in Hartford and Stamford.

"I have a staff of incredibly dedicated and hardworking people. It is only with their help that I am able to manage these multiple commitments, serving both the nation and my community," Delany said. "My staff kept me updated on the legislation being debated, and we had regular communication on any pressing constituency issues that required my immediate attention."

Previously in 2018, Delany was deployed overseas as part of Operation Atlantic Resolve, a similar mission with military units operating in the Baltics.

The desire to serve constituents in Stamford and the country in the armed forces was sparked at a young age for Delany.

"I come from a family with a long history of civil service, and I define success and accomplishment by the degree to which I have helped people and served others," he said. "Serving as a lawmaker is just another expression of that definition. I was raised in Stamford, and it is the honor of my life to dedicate myself to serving our state and our country both in and out of uniform."