(U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist Second Class Zane Ecklund/Released)
America’s Navy is gearing up to participate in Miami Navy Week. Miami is one of 14 cities selected this year to host a Navy Week, one of the Navy’s signature outreach programs.
Miami Navy Week is scheduled for Mar. 24-Apr. 1 and is designed to give area residents an opportunity to learn about the Navy our nation needs. The Navy plans to include the following elements in the week-long celebration: Senior Navy leadership; Sailors from locally assigned units in the community; Sailors from the oldest warship afloat, USS Constitution; a port visit from the USS New York (LPD 21); Sailors from the state namesake ship, USS Florida (SSGN 728); Navy Divers and Navy Explosive Ordnance Disposal teams; U.S. Navy Band Southeast performances; The Navy’s History and Heritage Command, and Navy Meteorological and Oceanographic static displays.
Since 2005, the Navy Week program has served as the Navy’s primary outreach effort into areas of the country which do not have a significant Navy presence, with 228 Navy Weeks held in more than 75 different U.S. markets.
“Navy Weeks are designed to help Americans, and in this case Miami area residents, understand why having a strong Navy is critical to the American way of life,” said Cmdr. Linda Rojas, director of the Navy Office of Community Outreach (NAVCO), which plans and executes the Navy Week program. “Because the Navy is concentrated primarily in select locations on both coasts, we’re challenged to communicate our mission away from fleet concentration areas. That’s where the Navy Week program comes in.
“We’re very excited to bring a Navy Week to Miami,” Rojas added, “which is a past fleet concentration area, and still maintains strong Navy ties throughout the community.”
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, we coordinate about 75 outreach events with corporate, civic, government, education, media, veterans, community service and diversity organizations in the city,” said Lt. John Stevens, NAVCO Navy Week program manager. “The 2019 schedule is exciting for us. We’re outside the continental U.S. for the first time in our program’s history as we travel to Puerto Rico, and we have the potential for some ships joining us in our coastal markets, including a port visit from the USS New York in Miami.”
For more information on Navy Weeks and the 2019 schedule, visit http://outreach.navy.mil/Navy-Weeks-2019/.
