MILLINGTON, Tenn. – U.S. Navy sailors from across the fleet are headed to Kentucky for Lexington Navy Week, April 6 to 12, to volunteer in the community and discuss why the Navy matters to the Bluegrass State.
While many of the sailors are from all over the country, this Navy Week will carry special meaning for visiting sailors from the area, including Master Chief Petty Officer Elizabeth Clements, a native of Georgetown.
Clements graduated from Scott County High School in 2004. Upon joining the Navy, Clements quickly found that many of the skills and values forged in Georgetown were the same as those needed to succeed in the Navy.
“One thing I learned growing up in Kentucky is that your attitude about a situation will color your experience,” Clements said. “If you are scared of something and never try it, you will always be afraid of it. When you volunteer for the hard job but look at it through a lens of learning and positivity, you will most definitely come out of it having accomplished something epic, learned some lessons and carry it with you forever. Don’t miss out on something potentially incredible because it seems scary at first.”
Clements, who joined the Navy 21 years ago, is assigned to the Bureau of Naval Personnel.
“I joined the Navy in 2005 to see the world, earn college money and give my life direction,” Clements said. “I’ve lived in six states, been to six continents, earned two college degrees and traveled the world with my best friends on seven deployments. I’m so proud of everything I have accomplished, but now I continue serving to help every sailor I work with have the same opportunities I did and be better sailors than me.”
While serving, Clements earned an associate degree in meteorology from Thomas Edison State University in 2014 and a bachelor’s degree in natural resource management from Oregon State University in 2020.
Clements is part of the first Navy Week to be hosted in Lexington. Navy Weeks are a series of outreach events coordinated by the Navy Office of Community Outreach (NAVCO) designed to give Americans an opportunity to learn about the Navy, its people, and its importance to national security and prosperity.
“Navy Weeks give sailors a chance to share our world with communities that don’t see the Navy too often,” Clements said. “Yes, people can watch TV shows like ‘Carrier’ and get a pretty good idea of our living and working conditions, but it’s so much more than that. We are a giant family bonded together, and we love sharing that bond and our stories with those back home.”
Today, Clements serves as an aerographer’s mate and is an enlisted community manager.
“Currently, I manage the aviation boatswain’s mates (flight deck sailors) and aerographer’s mate (meteorologists) communities for the entire U.S. Navy, about 12,000 sailors in total,” Clements said. “We say how many people can be promoted, file for retirement, change jobs in the Navy and how many new sailors we need every year to join each community.”
Clements has had many opportunities to excel in the Navy and sees military service as more than just a job – it represents a chance to become a better person.
“After 20 years of service, the thing I am most proud of is getting to help sailors and naval officers with any problem,” Clements said. “Having someone ask you for your genuine opinion about what they should do with their Naval career or a certain problem, and follow your advice, knowing you potentially just altered so many lives, is scary but so rewarding in the end.”
Clements is grateful for the Georgetown community and for those who helped make a Navy career possible.
“I couldn’t have accomplished any of this career without the constant love and support of my parents, Bob and Gloria,” Clements said. “Their encouragement to keep taking the hard jobs and push myself to be my best every day is why I continue to serve sailors and the Navy.”
Since 2005, the Navy Week program has served as the Navy’s flagship outreach effort into areas of the country without a significant Navy presence, providing the public a firsthand look at why the Navy matters to communities like Lexington.
“Lexington Navy Week is about building lasting connections,” said Cmdr. Julie Holland, director of NAVCO. “We’re not just here to showcase what the Navy does, but to engage directly with the community, inspire future generations, and demonstrate the values of service, teamwork, and leadership.”
Throughout the week, sailors will participate in a wide range of events across Lexington, including Keeneland Spring Meet, community service projects, athletic engagements and live performances. Navy Week also provides a platform for Lexington residents to learn more about career opportunities in the Navy, including paths in STEM, law, cybersecurity, music and special operations.
For a list of public events, visit https://outreach.navy.mil/Navy-Weeks/Lexington-2026/.