Mayor Yemi Mobolade and several city leaders kicked off Navy Week by welcoming a contingent of visiting active-duty sailors to Colorado Springs in a brief ceremony at the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Museum Monday.
Spearheaded by the Navy’s Office of Community Outreach, each year the Navy Week program focuses on 12-15 U.S. cities that don’t have a significant Navy presence, officials said.
The object, according to Vice Adm. John Fuller, is to inform citizens on some of the lesser-known aspects of what the seagoing service does, and why a strong Navy is vital to national and global security. “We live in an interconnected world where more than 90% of international trade moves across the ocean, and 95% of the data moves through undersea cables,” Fuller said on Monday.
“Imagine if that wasn’t available to you.” Dozens of active-duty sailors from across the U.S.
, including several from Colorado, will give in-person demonstrations, performances, and talk with residents about the uniqueness of the seagoing lifestyle, officials said. At Monday’s kickoff, several sailors were in attendance from the Centennial State’s two namesake ships: USS Colorado, a nuclear-powered submarine; and USS Mesa Verde, an amphibious transport ship. “There’s not a huge Navy footprint here in Colorado, so this is a unique opportunity,” said Lt.
Jeremy Luallen, who is stationed on the Mesa Verde. “I’m excited about it.” Mobolade, who participated in a naval leadership training pr.