Navy Week Charts Course to Chicago August 5-11

The Navy Week program returns to the city of Chicago for the fifth time since the creation of the program in 2005.

Participating Navy assets include Sailors from the Virginia-class fast-attack submarine USS Illinois (SSN 786), Virginia-class fast-attack submarine USS Hyman G. Rickover (SSN 795), USS Constitution, Naval Talent Acquisition Group Great Lakes, Naval History & Heritage Command, Navy Band Great Lakes, Naval Special Warfare Assessment Center, Fleet Weather Center - Norfolk, Vietnam War Commemoration, Navy eSports, Bureau of Medicine and Surgery, Navy Flight Demonstration Squadron (Blue Angels), National Museum of the American Sailor, U.S. Naval Academy, U.S. Fleet Forces Command, Region Legal Service Office Midwest, and the Office of Small Business Programs.

More than 75 Sailors will participate in education and community outreach events throughout the city, including a Navy Week proclamation and recognition ceremony at Daley Plaza, Navy Days at Navy Pier and the Griffin Museum of Science and Industry, and a presence at the Bud Billiken Parade.

The Navy's senior executive is Vice Adm. Douglas Perry, Commander, Joint Force Command Norfolk, Commander, U.S. 2nd Fleet Director, Combined Joint Operations from the Sea Centre of Excellence. During Chicago Navy Week, he is participating in community engagements and engaging with local businesses, civic, education, and government leaders.

Navy Weeks are a series of outreach events coordinated by the Navy Office of Community Outreach designed to give Americans an opportunity to learn about the Navy, its people, and its importance to national security and prosperity. 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, providing the public a firsthand look at why the Navy matters to cities like Chicago.

"Sailors are the reason America's Navy is the most powerful in the world," said NAVCO's director, Cmdr. Julie Holland. “We are thrilled to bring your Navy Warfighters to Chicago. At Navy Weeks, Americans will connect with Sailors who have strong character, competence, and dedication to the mission, and who continue a nearly 250-year tradition of decisive power from seabed to cyberspace.”

Throughout the week, Sailors & civilians will participate in various community events across the area, including engagements with youth at Boys & Girls Clubs, Intentional Sports, and YMCA Chicago. Sailors are volunteering at organizations in the city of Chicago, including Habitat for Humanity, Nourishing Hope, Greater Chicago Food Depository, Misericordia, Hope Manor, Illinois Home for Veterans and Chicago Lights, among others. Residents will also enjoy free live music at venues throughout the city performed by Navy Band Great Lakes.

Chicago Navy Week is one of 15 Navy Weeks in 2024, which brings a variety of assets, equipment, and personnel to a single city for a weeklong series of engagements designed to bring America's Navy closer to the people it protects. Each year, the program reaches more than 140 million people -- about half the U.S. population.

Media organizations wishing to cover Chicago Navy Week events should contact Ensign Jordyn Diomede at (901) 232-4450 or jordyn.s.diomede.mil@us.navy.mil.

You can find the Chicago Navy Week schedule of events at www.outreach.navy.mil.