Participating Navy assets include the Nimitz-class nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72), the nuclear-powered Ohio-class guided-missile submarine, USS Nebraska (SSBN 739), USS Constitution, Naval Talent Acquisition Group Northern Plains, Navy Reserve Center Omaha, Naval History & Heritage Command, Navy Band Great Lakes, Ceremonial Guard Drill Team, Naval Meteorology and Oceanography Command, Office of Small Business Programs, Fleet Air Reconnaissance Squadron 3 - Detachment Offutt, Strategic Command Navy Element, Navy Flight Demonstration Squadron (Blue Angels), U.S. Fleet Forces, and the Office of Civilian Human Resources.
More than 50 Sailors will participate in education and community outreach events throughout the city, including the Guardians of Freedom Airshow.
The Navy's senior executive host is Rear Adm. Robert E. Wirth, Deputy Director, Strategic Targeting and Nuclear Mission Planning, J5N, U.S. Strategic Command. During Lincoln Navy Week, he is participating in community engagements, meeting with Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps (NROTC) midshipmen, and engaging with local businesses, civic, education, and government leaders.
“I am most excited to see our incredible Navy Sailors engaging with the Lincoln community and sharing their stories and experiences,’ said Wirth. “I am also afforded the honor of administering the Oath of Enlistment at a Lincoln Saltdogs baseball game to several future Navy Sailors from the local area.”
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 Lincoln.
"We are excited to bring the Navy Week program to Lincoln," 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 & civilians will participate in various community events across the area, including engaging with students across several high schools, Boys & Girls Clubs, and after school programs. They are volunteering at organizations in the city of Lincoln, including Habitat for Humanity, Lincoln Food Bank, YMCA, United Way, and the Matt Talbot Kitchen, amongst others. Residents will also enjoy free live music by Navy Band Great Lakes at venues throughout the week.
Lincoln Navy Week is one of 13 Navy Weeks 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 Lincoln Navy Week events should contact Lt. Jill Brown at (214) 402-4444 or jill.m.brown.mil@navy.mil. You can find the Lincoln Navy Week schedule of events at www.outreach.navy.mil.