Arkansas' capital and most populous city is scheduled to host members of the U.S. Navy during Little Rock Navy Week, Oct. 16-21.

Master Chief David Twiford, command master chief for Navy Region Southeast, will accept a proclamation at the Inland Maritime Museum from Little Rock Mayor, Mark Stodola, and North Little Rock Mayor, Joe Smith, to declare Little Rock Navy Week. The free event will begin at noon Oct. 16 with a concert featuring Navy Band Southeast's Brass Quintet.

During Little Rock Navy Week, Ms. Emily Harman, director, Office of Small Business Programs (OSBP) for the Department of the Navy, and Master Chief Twiford will also meet with corporate, civic, education and government leaders throughout the week.

Historically, Navy Week events draw thousands of attendees to participate and create a dialogue between Sailors and local residents. The events are designed to raise awareness about the Navy in areas that do not have a large naval presence.

"The support from the Little Rock leadership and local organizations throughout the planning process has been incredible," said Lt. Cmdr. Brett Dawson, lead planner for Little Rock Navy Week. "This event and its festivities will be the result of an extremely patriotic community welcoming our Sailors into their beautiful city with open arms."

Along with a performance at the kickoff event, Navy Band Southeast's brass and woodwind quintets along with the rock band will have several other performances throughout the week, including concerts at multiple local schools, Nixon Branch Library, McClellan Memorial VA Hospital, MacArthur Museum and Market Hall.

Sailors from Mobile Diving and Salvage Unit 2 (MDSU 2) will also participate in Little Rock Navy Week. They will have several engaging, dynamic, hands-on displays available for citizens throughout the week.

"During the Navy Week, we will be demonstrating our diving equipment while also allowing children to try on the diving helmet to give them a chance to talk to us through our communications box," said Navy Diver 1st Class Damian Pelton, a Sailor assigned with MDSU 2. "My team and I are very excited to show the kids at the various schools something they've never seen before. We hope to inspire them by our pride in our jobs as well as in the Navy."

Sailors from the Navy Recruiting District and Navy Operational Support Center (NOSC) Little Rock are also scheduled to volunteer in the community at different outreach events. The Sailors will be involved with a Habitat for Humanity build, beautification projects and volunteering with local Boys and Girls Clubs.

Another highlight of the Navy Week will be the Navy "Nimitz" Experience tour, which will be visiting students at Cabot High School. The Nimitz is a state-of-the-art immersive experience, with a virtual reality mission, electronic data capture, and digital technology at every touch point. In addition to the virtual reality mission, the tour includes a photo booth and a pull-up challenge. Pull-up challenge participants compete with other attendees to gain bragging rights for doing the most pull-ups. The names of pull-up challenge participants are displayed on a digital leader board.

Little Rock Navy Week will conclude with the Navy Ball, Saturday Oct. 21, hosted by the Navy Operational Support Center, which will be celebrating the Navy's 242nd birthday.

Little Rock Navy Week is the one of 15 Navy Weeks in 2017 that focus a variety of assets, equipment, and personnel on a single city for a weeklong series of engagements designed to bring America's Navy closer to the people it protects.

For more information and a full schedule of events, visit http://www.outreach.navy.mil/Navy-Weeks/Little-Rock/.

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