Seafair, which welcomed more than 2 million visitors this year, featured the Navy guided missile destroyer USS Sampson (DDG 102), several Coast Guard vessels, and the Navy’s Blue Angels flight demonstration team during the week-long event.
“This is a critical element of our schedule and we are a proud partner of Seafair, and we intend to remain a proud partner,” said U.S. Navy Rear Adm. Sucato, the commander of Navy Region Northwest. “Events like this really reinforce the importance of small partnerships.”
Sailors could be seen throughout the downtown Seattle area in their service dress white uniforms, interacting with the community and answering questions about their service and the Navy. Meanwhile, thousands of visitors flocked to Pier 46, where Sampson was moored for tours and sea service members displayed equipment and answered questions for visitors at the Fleet Week Expo.
The highlights of the week included three air shows over Lake Washington. The air shows featured the Blue Angels, which not only performed their signature aerial demonstration featuring the Boeing F/A-18 Super Hornet, but also the Lockheed Martin C-130 Hercules ‘Fat Albert’. F-35 Lightning II jets from the Air Force and Marine Corps also performed demonstrations and could be seen flying over the city throughout the weekend. Coast Guard MH-65 Dolphin helicopters performed search-and-rescue demonstrations at Lake Washington in between fast-boat demonstrations from local teams.
Meredith Burger, the Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Energy, Installations, and Environment, visited Seattle for Seafair and talked with local leaders about steps the Navy is taking to promote energy efficiency in the fleet.
“Communities are why we are here,” said Burger. “Together, we think about our partnerships, our stakeholders, the people we work together with to ensure that as we do our mission, we are close with the people who we are defending and that we make sure that they are benefitting. We cannot do it without the people in this region. And this is true as we think about our cities, our municipalities, and our tribal partners.”
In addition to the expo at Pier 46 and the air show demonstrations over Lake Washington, Sailors, Marines, and Coast Guardsman went out into the community to interact with Seattleites and help out during several community service events. Sailors from Sampson volunteered with Emerald City Pet Rescue, where they assisted the staff in taking care of animals and playing with them. A second group of sea service members helped out the grounds crew at Seattle Children’s to clear invasive ivy from the facility while the Navy Region Northwest band played for patients and staff.
Throughout the week more than 4,500 guests visited Sampson at Pier 46 taking in the ship’s capabilities and interacting with the crew.
“The real magic of fleet weeks is the one-on-one interaction with a Sailor and hearing their story,” said Sucato. “That interaction is why the Navy does fleet weeks.”
| Date Taken: | 08.05.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 08.06.2024 17:26 |
| Story ID: | 477802 |
| Location: | SEATTLE, WASHINGTON, US |
| Web Views: | 57 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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