US Navy to Visit 15 Cities During Navy Week 2012

From Boston to Sacramento, America’s Navy will come home to 15 cities across the country in 2012 to show Americans why having a strong Navy is critical to the American way of life and to help commemorate the Bicentennial of the War of 1812.

Since 2005, the Navy Week program has served as the Navy’s flagship outreach effort into areas of the country without a significant Navy presence, with 148 Navy Weeks being held in 62 different U.S. cities. In 2012, the Navy Week cities are Phoenix, New Orleans, Nashville, Tenn., Spokane, Wash., Baltimore, Boston, Sacramento, Calif., Sioux Falls, S.D., Milwaukee, Chicago, Toledo, Ohio, Cleveland, Detroit, Buffalo, N.Y. and Houston.

“Navy Weeks are designed to help Americans understand that their Navy is our nation’s front line in war and peace, operating on, above and below the sea every day,” said Cmdr. Kim Marks, Director of the Navy Office of Community Outreach, which plans and executes the Navy Week program. “Because the Navy is concentrated primarily on both coasts, we’re challenged to communicate our mission away from fleet concentration areas. That’s where the Navy Week program comes in,” she added.

Navy Weeks focus a variety of outreach assets, equipment and personnel on a single city for a week-long series of engagements with key influencers and organizations representing all sectors of the market.

“During a Navy Week, 75-100 outreach events are coordinated with corporate, civic, government, education, media, veterans, community service and diversity organizations in the city,” explained Lt. Cmdr. Pam Bou, Navy Week Program Manager. “We bring in as much of the Navy as we can. The Blue Angels, the Navy Parachute Team, bands, divers, Seabees, EOD teams, namesake ship and submarine crews, hometown Sailors, medical personnel, environmental displays, USS Constitution Sailors and equipment, and Navy recruiting properties all have participated in the Navy Week program.”

Last year was the Navy Week program’s biggest year to date. In 2011, there were 21 Navy Weeks across America that reached nearly 100 million Americans through more than 1,500 individual outreach events.

In 2012, all 15 Navy Weeks will help to commemorate the bicentennial of the War of 1812, with nine of the 15 events held in conjunction with one of the Navy’s large-scale signature commemorative events on the Eastern Seaboard and on the Great Lakes. The week-long War of 1812 bicentennial signature events will include parades of warships and sailing vessels, public ship tours, air shows, international athletic competitions, community relations projects, and other city-wide activities.

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Naval Today Staff , January 26, 2012; Image: navy