Source: United States Navy
Participating Navy organizations include sailors from Commander, Submarine Group Ten, Navy Talent Acquisition Group Miami, Naval History & Heritage Command, Navy Band Southeast, Explosive Ordnance Disposal Group Two, U.S. Navy Ceremonial Guard, Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron 72, Naval Meteorology & Oceanography Command, Navy eSports, U.S. Fleet Forces, and the state-of-the-art “Nimitz” virtual reality trailer.
More than 60 sailors will participate in education and community outreach events throughout the city, including the 9th annual Coral Gables Festival of the Arts. The festival will feature naval assets including the state-of-the-art “Nimitz” virtual reality experience, which consists of individuals participating in a virtual high-speed water extraction of a Navy SEAL team pinned down under enemy fire.
The Navy’s senior executive host is Rear Admiral Guido Valdes, commander, Naval Medical Forces Pacific/Director, San Diego Market and Chief of the Medical Corps. During Miami Navy Week, he will participate in community engagements, and speak with local businesses, civic, education, and government leaders.
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 Miami.
“We are excited to bring the Navy Week program to Miami,” said NAVCO’s director, Cmdr. Anthony Falvo. “Seapower and America’s Navy are more important now than ever before. The U.S. Navy remains our nation’s most powerful instrument of military influence and Navy Weeks allow us to showcase how the Navy serves America at sea, in the air, and ashore.”
Throughout the week, sailors will participate in various community events including engaging with students across multiple high schools and volunteering for the city of Miami at Feeding South Florida, the Boys and Girls Club, Nicklaus Children’s Hospital, and Clean This Beach – Miami. Residents will also have the opportunity to meet with sailors Friday Jan. 27 at the Frost Science Museum, and Saturday Jan. 28 at Miami Seaquarium.
Miami Navy Week is only one of 15 Navy Weeks to take place in 2023, 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 Miami Navy Week events should contact Lt. j.g. James Caliva at (210) 776-2831 or james.caliva.mil@us.navy.mil. For more information on the events in Miami, go to the Navy Outreach website at https://www.outreach.navy.mil/Navy-Weeks/Miami-2023/.