Navy Week Charts Course to Spokane

Spokane Navy Week brings Sailors from across the fleet to the area to emphasize the importance of the Navy to Spokane, the state of Washington, and the nation.

More than 50 Sailors will participate in education and community outreach events throughout the city.

Participating Navy organizations include Navy Band Northwest, USS Constitution, Naval Meteorology and Oceanography Command, United States Ceremonial Guard and Color Guard, Navy Talent Acquisition Group Spokane, Unmanned Undersea Vehicle Squadron One, Naval Special Warfare Assessments Team, Explosive Ordinance Disposal Team One, Navy Leap Frogs, United States of America Vietnam Commemoration, U.S. Navy Bureau of Medicine and Surgery, Office of Small Business Programs and the United States Naval Academy.

The Navy's senior executive is Rear Adm. Jeffrey Kilian, Deputy Chief of Staff, Reserve Component, N093, Office of the Chief of Naval Operations. Kilian is a native of Spokane, Washington. He graduated from San Diego State University in 1994 with a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering. He also holds a Master of Science in Engineering (Construction Engineering and Project Management) from the University of Texas at Austin and he completed the Advanced Management Program at Duke University. Prior to joining the Navy, Kilian served four years as a Marine assigned to 1st Marine Division, 1 Marine Expeditionary Force. During Spokane Navy Week, he is participating in community engagements, meeting with students, and speaking with local business, civic, 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 Spokane.

"We are thrilled to bring the Navy to Spokane," said NAVCO's director, Cmdr. Anthony Falvo. “Though our Navy is deployed around-the-world and around-the-clock, the Navy Week program allows us to showcase our Navy in places that don’t enjoy an everyday naval presence. Most importantly it affords us the opportunity to highlight our most important asset – the highly skilled men and women of the United States Navy who ensure our warfighting advantage to preserve our American way of life.”

Throughout the week, Sailors are participating in various community events across the area, including engaging with students across multiple schools and at the Boys & Girls Club of Spokane, volunteering through Second Harvest and Habitat for Humanity Store, and publicly visible at the Lilac Festival Parade and downtown Spokane. Residents will also enjoy free live music by Navy Band Northwest at venues throughout the week.

Spokane 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 130 million people -- about half the U.S. population.

Media organizations wishing to cover Spokane Navy Week events should contact Ensign Taylor Worley at (901) 232-4449 or taylor.a.worley.mil@us.navy.mil