Navy Week kicks off Monday in St. Louis region, with three events planned for O’Fallon

The 2016 St. Louis Navy Week — a weeklong celebration — kicks off Monday and runs through Sunday, May 15. St. Louis is one of 15 cities selected to host a 2016 Navy Week, one of the Navy’s signature outreach programs.

St. Louis Navy Week provides opportunities for local residents to meet sailors face-to-face and learn about the U.S. Navy, its people and its importance to national security and prosperity.

Almost 100 public and private events are planned throughout the week, including speaking engagements with the Navy’s top admirals; jumps by the Navy parachute team, “Leap Frogs”; Navy band musical performances; demonstrations by the Navy Divers and by the Navy Explosive Ordnance Disposal Team with Robots; and community service activities. In addition, St. Louis Navy Week will conclude with the Spirit of St. Louis Air Show and STEM Expo.

Three events, all set to take place in O’Fallon, are planned for the Illinois side of the river:

☆ Tuesday, May 10: USS Constitution Historical Presentation at Amelia Carriel Jr. High: 8-11 a.m., 451 N. Seven Hills Road. Sailors will be in historic uniforms from the 1800s – these are the sailors who serve aboard the USS Constitution, the world’s oldest commissioned warship afloat. They are also available for interview.

☆ Wednesday, May 11: USS Constitution Historical Presentation at Fulton Jr. High School: 8-11:45 a.m., 307 Kyle Road

☆ Thursday, May 12: Explosive Ordnance Disposal Team and Navy Divers Presentation at Amelia Carriel Jr. High: 8-11 a.m. Members of the Navy’s explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) mobile unit will have EOD robots, bomb suits, and example dive gear that they use for their missions. Students can test out the robots for themselves. The EOD team will offer dynamic presentations that integrate what students learn in the classroom with the real-worlds demands of these exciting Navy professions utilizing STEM. Below are some photos to give you an idea of the robots and suits.

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Veterans Affairs Secretary Bob McDonald warned this week that House appropriators’ plan to trim $1.5 billion off his department’s annual budget request will “hurt veterans” if it becomes law, according to Military Times.

This is the second consecutive year that House lawmakers have proposed a smaller-than-requested VA budget, albeit still a sizable increase in department spending. It’s also the second consecutive year McDonald has called the idea harmful to veterans seeking medical care and benefits.

“It will impede some critical initiatives necessary to transform VA into the high performing organization veterans deserve,” he told a crowd at a Center for Strategic and International Studies speech on Wednesday. “We’re encouraging Congress to fully fund VA at the level requested.”

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CNN is reporting that Americans' perceptions of the U.S. military's fight against ISIS are becoming more positive, though a majority still view the effort as going badly, according to anew CNN/ORC Poll.

Still, more Americans are now saying they think the military effort is going well, and fewer feel ground troops are necessary.

Overall, 45 percent say the military action against ISIS forces in Iraq and Syria is going well, up from 38 percent who said so in early December. That's the most positive reading since shortly after the military effort began in the fall of 2014.

A majority of 54 percent say things are going badly, but the share saying it's going very badly has dipped from a peak of 31 percent in October of last year to 19 percent now.

At the same time that American attitudes on the military effort are improving, however, more now see ISIS as a very serious threat. Nine in 10 say the group is at least a somewhat serious threat, and almost three-quarters call it “very serious.” Concerns about ISIS continue to outpace fears of Iran, North Korea, Russia and China by large margins.

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A 110-year-old Louisiana man who enlisted in the Army during World War II to serve his country has died, according to ABC News.

Local television station KPLC-TV in Lake Charles reported that Frank Levingston died Tuesday.

Multiple media outlets described him as the country's oldest World War II veteran but that could not be independently confirmed.

Levingston was born Nov. 13, 1905 and grew up in northern Louisiana.

ABC News reported that he enlisted in the army on Oct. 6, 1942, less than a year after the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor and launched the U.S. into the war raging in Europe and the Pacific.

In December, Levingston was part of a group of veterans who traveled to Washington, D.C., for a ceremony marking the Dec. 7, 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor.

This story was originally published May 6, 2016 at 12:15 PM with the headline "Navy Week kicks off Monday in St. Louis region, with three events planned for O’Fallon."