Submitted by YN1 (not verified) on Thu, 10/07/2010 - 7:38am.
I am in the Navy and work for one of the Admiral's invited to the event. The average crew compliment of a destroyer is just under 300 personnel. Both Officers and crew will easily spend $200 to $1000 per person over the couple of days there, not to mention that Norfolk is only 5 hours away, so a lot of them will be bring family down for the commissioning. Yes, this is an invited event, however, the average Admiral or senior executive coming to this event will spend about $2000 just on travel expenses alone. Additionally, Wilmington will be showcasing it's tourism to a lot of people who live within driving distance - you should see the hundreds of cars leaving Norfolk on any given Friday in the Summer going to the Outer Banks. Wilmington will see a return on its investment.
Commissioning of the USS Gravely
I am in the Navy and work for one of the Admiral's invited to the event. The average crew compliment of a destroyer is just under 300 personnel. Both Officers and crew will easily spend $200 to $1000 per person over the couple of days there, not to mention that Norfolk is only 5 hours away, so a lot of them will be bring family down for the commissioning. Yes, this is an invited event, however, the average Admiral or senior executive coming to this event will spend about $2000 just on travel expenses alone. Additionally, Wilmington will be showcasing it's tourism to a lot of people who live within driving distance - you should see the hundreds of cars leaving Norfolk on any given Friday in the Summer going to the Outer Banks. Wilmington will see a return on its investment.