Navy set to drop a few frogs on Utah

SALT LAKE CITY — Any day now, frogs will fall from the sky in Utah.

Navy Week, the U.S. Navy's public relations extravaganza replete with jet flyovers and rock concerts, descends upon Salt Lake City beginning Thursday and running through Sept. 19.

Lt. Bashon Mann, the man in charge of Navy Week, expects the parachute demonstration team to be one of the event's most popular attractions. The skydivers are aptly dubbed the Leap Frogs.

"The Navy Leap Frogs are going to be here," Mann told the Deseret News. "They're going to be doing three jumps at the Utah State Fair. If you haven't seen that, you need to because it's incredible."

The dates of Navy Week directly coincide with those of the fair. In addition to the Leap Frogs, planned Navy Week attractions at the fair include a real Navy flight simulator, Navy Band rock concerts and exhibitions showcasing SEAL Desert Patrol Vehicles.

Although naval presence at the Utah State Fair is considered the anchor event of Navy Week, sailors will also be giving presentations at schools, meeting with politicians and visiting the local veterans medical center.

The University of Utah and Brigham Young University will be among the institutions hosting sailors for informational addresses.

"We're going to take some time to go over to the University of Utah and BYU, speak with some of the college kids and engineering (students)," Mann said. "Our flag officers, our admirals, have an engineering background. It's really good to talk about what the Navy has to offer in terms of engineering."

Navy Week visits 20 U.S. cities annually, but this will be the first time it has come to Utah since 2007.

"Some of the cities are going to remain the same year after year," Mann said. "But in order to move around and get as many people involved as possible, each year (some cities change) to somewhere else that doesn't necessarily see that Navy presence on a continuing basis. …

"It is about reaching the masses and being able to share. If you're going to put that message out, let's be effective in that message and make sure that the right amount of people hear it so we can get maximum exposure. Salt Lake City — why not?"

A primary goal of many Navy Weeks is familiarizing Americans in landlocked locales like Utah with the U.S. Navy, Mann explained.

"We're looking forward to really highlighting the Navy and showcasing what the Navy is about," he said. "We have these Navy Weeks to show people around the country just where their tax dollars are going and show what the young men and women of this country are doing out there in uniform and what they're doing in the Navy."

e-mail: jaskar@desnews.com