It’s a bird! It’s a plane! No, it’s the Navy Leap Frogs!
People living in Chattanooga can look forward to seeing the world famous Leap Frogs descend on their city as part of Navy Week, taking place June 11 to 19. The parachute jumps will be a part of a larger event that encompasses dive team presentations, a Riverbend performance by Freedom (the Navy’s official band in the mid-south) and an air combat simulator.
Lt. Cmdr. Sarah Blansett, the officer in charge of Chattanooga Navy Week, is stoked.
“It’s going to be a lot of fun,” she says by phone from her office near Seattle, Wash. Blansett once lived in Chattanooga, and says she was smart enough to marry a man from the city. Her knowledge of the area will come in handy as she coordinates a plethora of activities and events during Navy Week.
“We’re going to bring in our trident dive team from King’s Bay, Ga. They’ll be doing shows in the tank at the Tennessee Aquarium every day. We’ll also have a display of the equipment our divers use. People will be able to touch everything and ask questions,” she says.
Blansett is also looking forward to hearing Freedom perform Saturday night on the Bud Light Stage. She says their mix of blues and jazz is “phenomenal.”
In addition, Naval Recruiting Command will be on hand to give kids both young and old a shot at experiencing the next best thing to piloting a Navy fighter plane: a ride in their cutting-edge air combat simulator.
“The Navy doesn’t just fight on the water; it also fights under the water and over the water,” Blansett says.
The people from Recruiting Command are also planning to bring an SUV packed with video games to the event. And while they’ll be happy to answer questions about serving in the Navy, Blansett says Navy Week is not about offering people the opportunity to join their ranks. Rather, it’s about community engagement and showing the residents of Chattanooga what their men and women who are wearing the Navy uniform are doing.
“Our goal is to go into areas that aren’t on a major seaport, or aren’t exposed to the Navy on a daily basis, show how we’re a global force for good, and then take that to the local level. Tennessee has 9,000 active duty sailors, including sailors from Chattanooga, which we think is a wonderful representation of the state and the city.”
Local residents will be able to see photos of their sailors outside of the Imax Theater, where the Navy will be setting up a pictorial exhibition.
Blansett promises the Leap Frog performances will be spectacular. Although she has not yet nailed down the details of when and where the Leap Frogs will be jumping, a typical performance consists of 14 jumps out of an airplane at altitudes of up to 12,500 feet.
During free fall, jumpers reach speeds of 120 mph, and can accelerate to 180 mph by pulling their arms to their sides and straightening their legs. Jumpers usually open their parachutes at 5,000 feet by releasing a small pilot chute that deploys their main canopy. Once their chutes are deployed, the Leap Frogs form dramatic canopy configurations.
In addition to activities and events, Navy leaders will be in town to talk with a variety of leadership groups. Vice Adm. Harry Harris from the 6th Fleet, Rear Adm. Donald Ginhtzig, and MCPON (Master Chief Petty Officer) Rick West, the senior most enlisted person in the Navy, are among those who are scheduled to appear.
Blansett says she hopes Navy Week gives people a sense of what the naval branch of the military is doing worldwide.
“Water covers about 70 percent of the Earth’s surface. Plus, about 80 percent of the world’s population lives near water, and 90 percent of all international trade travels by sea. That should give you a good sense of how crucial the support of the Navy is.
“While we are taking part in ongoing operations in Libya, humanitarian assistance is also an important part of what we do. As soon as the earthquake happened in Japan, we were on our way there. Our 7th Fleet was the key to a lot of recovery and assistance efforts over there. We’re also involved in counter-piracy ops.”
Above all, Blansett is looking forward to engaging the public.
“We hope everyone will come out and talk with us. We’re going to have a lot going on. And we’re geared up about coming to Chattanooga.”
For more information about Navy Week, load www.navyweek.org, and then scroll down the menu that runs along the right side of the Web site to the link to the Chattanooga event.