Gov. Dannel P. Malloy has nominated Sean Connolly as commissioner of the state Department of Veterans’ Affairs.
Connolly is a global ethics and compliance officer at Pratt & Whitney, and also serves as a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army Reserve’s 655th Regional Support Group, based out of Westover Air Reserve Base in Chicopee, Mass.
He succeeds Linda Schwartz, who resigned last year to take a job at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Deputy Commissioner Joseph Perkins has been interim commissioner since then.
Connolly, who starts work March 16, served as a prosecutor and brigade legal advisor with the 101st Airborne Division during Operation Iraqi Freedom.
His military decorations include the Bronze Star Medal, the Meritorious Service Medal, the Joint Service Commendation Medal, the Army Commendation Medal, the Army Achievement Medal, the Iraqi Campaign Medal, and the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal.
He previously worked as a senior associate at law firm Greenberg Traurig in Washington, D.C.
