CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — The United Corpus Christi Chamber of Commerce held its annual Salute to the Military Luncheon this afternoon, bringing together military commanders, business leaders, and community members to recognize the service members stationed in the Coastal Bend.
The event, held Wednesday, May 13, 2026, featured remarks from local military leadership and highlighted the ongoing relationship between the region's military installations and the surrounding community.
Al Areola Jr., president and CEO of the United Corpus Christi Chamber of Commerce, said celebrating the local military is one of the highlights of his role.
"One of the fun parts of the job is to be able to celebrate our local military. As you know, they are a significant part of our local economy. They're also our friends, they're our neighbors, and so it's just a fun time to celebrate them," Areola said.
Areola said the event also served as a forum for pressing issues facing the military community, including workforce challenges at one of the region's major installations.
"We've been doing this event annually and every year the dynamics of the military change and right now we've been seeing a shortfall in jobs at Army Depot. That's certainly been a conversation we continue to have. It was a big part of our conversation today, but you're also seeing great growth with the US Coast Guard sector and we are able to have our friends from them here also, and we're able to talk to them as well," Areola said.
Areola emphasized the broader significance of the military's presence in the region.
"Their presence in our community is significant, but moreover, it's important to our national defense what they do," Areola said.
Army Colonel Kevin Considine, who attended the luncheon, said the event provides a valuable opportunity for the military and civilian communities to come together.
"This is a great event. It's put on every year by the Corpus Christi Chamber of Commerce, and it's an opportunity to recognize soldiers, sailors, Marines, Coast Guardsmen that serve here in the local community, and it's important because there's a lot of interdependence between our mission, the community, and how we collectively work together. So I view this as an opportunity for us all to get together and just have a collective thanks," Considine said.
Considine, who said he has been stationed around the world, described Corpus Christi as one of the most welcoming communities he has encountered.
"Corpus Christi is an amazing community and incredibly supportive of their military. I've been assigned allover the world, and this is one of the most supportive places that I've ever been to, not only for the mission itself, but just how they take care of our employees. They take care of each soldier, sailor, and marine and make sure that they feel at home in the coastal bend, whether the coastal bend is home for them or not," Considine said.
The luncheon was sponsored by the Port of Corpus Christi, Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi,Refinery Terminal Fire Company, Unique Employment Services, Valero, 1st Community Bank, Christus Health, and Del Mar College.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
For the latest local news updates, click here, or download the KRIS 6 News App.
Catch all the KRIS 6 News stories and more on our YouTube page. Subscribe today!
