Personnel from the Naval Oceanographic Office (NAVOCEANO) helped kick off Navy Week Mobile by visiting two local high schools, Alma Bryant and Mary G. Montgomery, Feb. 22-23, to discuss military and civilian careers in the ocean sciences.

More than 500 students learned how the physical environment affects Navy ships, submarines, aircraft, and SEAL teams, and how ocean forecasters, geologists, and unmanned systems help those entities to operate and navigate safely and effectively.

"We're excited to participate in a Navy Week celebration, especially one so close to home," said NAVOCEANO Commanding Officer Capt. Greg Ireton. "We're a very unique part of the Navy and we want to show people, especially young people that might be interested in ocean and weather sciences, that there are opportunities for them in the Navy and beyond. Scientific knowledge can and will make a positive difference in their futures."

NAVOCEANO, located at Stennis Space Center in southern Mississippi, is comprised of approximately 700 military and civilian personnel. Roughly 30 percent of the command's workforce is comprised of scientists and engineers.

The command is participating in Navy Week Mobile activities alongside Stennis-based Fleet Survey Team and Naval Oceanography Mine Warfare Center. The three commands will have static displays at the Exploreum Museum in downtown Mobile, Feb. 24-25, and at guided-missile destroyer USS Mitscher (DDG 57), Feb. 26-28.

NAVOCEANO uses a variety of platforms including ships, aircraft, satellite sensors, buoys, and unmanned underwater vehicles to collect oceanographic and hydrographic data from the world's oceans.

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