The sun was shining as the roar of engines echoed throughout a park in Norfolk as Sailors assigned to the guided-missile cruiser USS Normandy (CG 60) hosted their inaugural car show July 14.

Normandy held a car show to highlight summer training topics for a quarterly safety standdown that addressed driving techniques and motorcycle safety.

"We decided to go a little bit of a different route for our standdown rather than have everyone sitting down enjoying a PowerPoint presentation," said Fire Controlman 2nd Class Logan Cathey. "We are hosting in the fashion of a car show and presenting the safety standdown topics through various types of car categories."

Sailors brought in their personal vehicles and entered them into various categories relating to a topic of safety such as defensive driving, car upkeep, summer safety and more.

"We'll have each Sailor go around with a [grading] sheet and vote for their favorite car and listen to the safety speech, then get their sheet marked off," said Cathey. "Once they've completed each category they are officially marked off for having completed their annual summer safety stand down."

Normandy's unique approach to safety training was considered a success by the command's leadership.

"I am highly impressed with the turnout of the event and the camaraderie and morale this event has brought to the crew while completing their required training," said Capt. Scott Robertson, Normandy commanding officer. "I really enjoyed the success and anticipate an even greater turnout in the coming years for events like this one here."

Sailors who entered their vehicles into the event, won prizes such as 24-hour liberty chits and gift cards purchased through the ship's Morale, Welfare and Recreation (MWR) program.

"It's a nice breath of fresh air having everyone out here on this beautiful day doing training a little differently and getting a chance to win a prize for entering my motorcycle in the competition," said Culinary Specialist 3rd Class Austin Pellegrino. "We have some great minds in our training and MWR program for assembling this event and getting everyone off the ship for a little while."

Normandy's crew ended their standdown with a cookout and plan to continue the car show next year for their annual training.

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