Navy Week Kicks Off in the Quad Cities

By Chief Mass Communication Specialist Steve Johnson, Navy Office of Community Outreach Public Affairs

DAVENPORT, Iowa (NNS) -- Quad Cities, of Iowa and Illinois, Navy Week 2011 launched June 16 with a variety of events aimed at increasing awareness of the U.S. Navy.

Quad Cities Navy Week events, including this weekend's annual regional air show starring the Navy's Blue Angels, featured appearances by the Navy Rock Band "Horizon" on local radio and television stations, as well as at various free music venues open to the public throughout the five-city region, which encompasses Davenport and Bettendorf in Iowa, and Rock Island, Moline, East Moline in Illinois.

Quad Cities Navy Week is one of 21 Navy Weeks scheduled across American in 2011. Navy Weeks are designed to educate Americans on the importance of naval service, understand the investment they make in their Navy, and increase awareness in cities which might not otherwise see the Navy at work on a regular basis.

Rear Adm. Thomas Cropper, Commander, Strike Force Training Pacific, was in the studio of 97X-FM celebrities Dwyer & Michaels' morning show to present key messages of the Navy.

Following his radio interview, Cropper was presented keys to all five cities by respective mayors of Davenport, Bettendorf, Rock Island, Moline and East Moline, as well as a proclamation declaring June 15-22 Navy Week in the Midwest cities nestled along the banks of the Mississippi River.

The pilots and crews of the Navy Flight Demonstration Squadron, The Blue Angels, met with TV news reporters on the tarmac at the Quad City International Airport in Moline, Ill., for personal interviews, and visited a local hospital and a local high school summer program.

Quad Cities Navy Week will proceed next week with official visits by Rear Adm. Tilghman D. Payne, Commander, Navy Region Midwest, as he tours area manufacturing plants as well as the Rock Island Arsenal, and conducts meetings with community groups and business leaders throughout the Quad Cities region.