About COVO

Les is originally from North Carolina where he graduated from Pfeiffer University with a BA in history. After graduation Les joined the US Navy and became an Explosive Ordinance Disposal (EOD) officer. He was assigned to EOD Group 2 at Fort Story, VA. and deployed aboard the aircraft carrier Franklin D. Roosevelt, CVA-42 for nine months as the EOD officer. After the tour aboard CVA-42, Les was recruited to serve as one of 3 EOD officers assigned to the Naval Undersea Center, Kaneohe, Hawaii to develop a new type of swimmer defense system using dolphins for Viet Nam. He was deployed to Viet Nam as the Asst. Officer-in- Charge, then Officer-in-Charge of a 14-man EOD detachment in Cam Ranh Bay, VN to provide swimmer defense and EOD services to ships and pier facilities in the area. After a successful OPEVAL in VN the system was redeployed to Guam where Les was OIC during turn over to an operational unit of Naval Special Warfare. Les resigned from active duty and took a civil service job with the Naval Undersea Research and Development Center, Hawaii where he continued to work as a program manager for research and development of Marine Mammal Systems in support of Naval missions. From Hawaii, Les moved to San Diego where he became the director of the Navy’s Marine Mammal program and met his wife, Junko. He served 28 years as a Navy Officer and Navy Civil servant before retiring. After retirement Les moved to Colorado where he was a volunteer with the Upper San Juan Search and Rescue Team (SAR), directing and participating in mountain search and rescue operations. During this time he became a Wildness EMT for SAR, and served 8 years on the Archuleta County SAR Board of Directors, as President of the Board for 3 years. He was recognized as the Colorado Emergency Management Association Volunteer of the year in 2015 for his service with SAR. Les and his wife, Junko moved to Bend in 2016.

Brigadier General Dennis Merrill, USA (Ret) has over 35 years of public and military service. He served over 32 years with the Oregon Army National Guard, retiring in 2004. He is a veteran of Operation Joint Guard (1997), in Bosnia-Herzegovina where he served as a brigade task force commander. Additionally, he served as the United States Marshal for the District of Oregon from 2002 to 2010. Prior to his appointment as the United States Marshal, He served for 27 years with the Portland Police Bureau, retiring as a Captain in 2002. BG Merrill’s volunteer and community service endeavors include: past co-coordinator and driver for DAV transportation program in Bend; past area coordinator for the Employer Support of Guard and Reserve; past Advisory Board member of the National Guard Youth Challenge Program; past President of the Oregon State Council of Chapters of the Military Officers Association of America; current Communications Chair/Board member of the Central Oregon Military Officers Association of America and current Board Director for Crook County Fire and Rescue in Prineville. His professional associations include Life Member of the MOAA, VFW and International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP). He is a native Oregonian. He graduated from Tigard High School, Portland State University and United States Army War College. He currently resides with his wife Carol in Powell Butte.

Len was born and raised near Green Bay, Wisconsin and developed a lifelong love of the Packers. He spent 11 years in the U.S. Navy, educated in electronics, and served as a Sonar Technician. He then added to this education with an Associate’s Degree in Psychology, a Bachelor’s Degree in Business and a Master’s in Finance. He had a varied career, which included Gremlin Industries, General Dynamics, Convair, and IVAC Corporation. Len settled into his last 22 years before retirement with Hughes Network Systems as Manager of Installations for the Western US and Canada. He connected with COVO at the 2011 Stand-down, and has continued his interest in helping Vets through the Outreach program since then. Len also volunteers with Mosaic Medical and the ELKS. In his spare time, he enjoys fishing (sometimes catching), hiking with his wife and dog (Annie), and RV-ing, enjoying life in Oregon.

Casey was born and raised in Oregon, attending high school in Bend, Oregon, where he served as the first rifle team commander for Mt. View High School’s NJROTC. After high school, Casey enlisted in the United States Marine Corps as a Helicopter Crew Chief. After the Marines, Casey attended the University of Houston where he graduated summa cum laude with a degree in Business Management. While in college, he served as the President of the Phi Theta Kappa International Honor Society. After graduating, he attended the University Of Denver Sturm College Of Law. He was a member of the national moot court trial team and worked for a clinic where he represented low-income clients. Since law school, Casey obtained his real estate and financial advising licenses, and worked as a Morgan Stanley Smith Barney financial advisor. Soon thereafter, Casey worked for over three years as a Deputy District Attorney in Deschutes County. There, he served as both President and Treasurer of the Deschutes County District Attorney’s Association where he helped to lead efforts to obtain the Veteran’s Treatment Court and develop the Veteran’s Intervention Strategy to appropriately address the combat related conditions of veterans in Central Oregon. Casey also took numerous misdemeanor and felony cases to trial, including successfully co-chairing a murder trial in 2013. Casey then founded a law firm in the Old Mill District where he is now working as a criminal defense, family law and estate planning attorney. He enjoys the many outdoor activities that Central Oregon has to offer, including snowboarding, mountain biking, hiking and boating.

Jim has over 37 years of public and military service with the U.S. Air Force and Oregon Air National Guard, retiring in 2006. He is a veteran of Vietnam as well as Desert Shield/Desert Storm and Iraqi Freedom. Prior to commanding the Oregon Air National Guard, General Cunningham was the Oregon Air National Guard Director of Operations. In this capacity he oversaw state operations and training for seven Air Guard units, coordinated Air Guard involvement in state emergency operations, and managed military air space management issues. General Cunningham is a retired Captain with United Airlines. Jim serves on the Advisory Board of Oregon Youth Challenge and Board of Directors of the Rosenbaum Foundation. Past board experience includes, Sisters Habitat for Humanity, Sisters Folk Festival, Deschutes County Search and Rescue Aviation Advisor, and Aviation Advisor for Economic Development for Central Oregon. The General is a graduate of the University of California at Los Angeles (BA) and Webster University (MA). He resides with his wife Dana in Sisters Oregon.

Michele Primiano didn't set out to run a nonprofit. She set out to serve — and that instinct has shaped every chapter of her career.

Her first taste of that calling came in the U.S. Navy, where she served as a hospital corpsman, learning early on what it means to show up for someone in their worst moment. That lesson followed her into the San Francisco Police Department, where she spent 18 years rising from patrol officer to Sergeant, leading teams across some of the city's toughest assignments and learning, again and again, that the strength of any mission comes down to the people carrying it out.

When Michele left policing, she brought that same people-first leadership into the private sector, overseeing operations, safety, and fleet management for large-scale transportation teams. It was a different uniform, but the same philosophy: build strong teams, hold high standards, and never lose sight of the people the work is actually for.

Today, Michele leads Central Oregon Veterans Outreach with that same conviction. COVO exists to help Central Oregon's houseless, jobless, and disadvantaged veterans — and their families — find stability, dignity, and a path forward. For Michele, this isn't a departure from her earlier work; it's the place all of it was leading. She has served alongside veterans, worked to protect vulnerable communities, and built teams capable of showing up when it matters most. Now she gets to do all three at once, every day, on behalf of the men and women who once wore a uniform themselves.

Under her leadership, COVO continues its mission to provide emergency shelter, transitional and permanent housing, job placement support, and access to essential services for the veterans and community members who need it most — because every person who served deserves someone in their corner when they come home.