Six crew members from the USS Wyoming are in Casper this week for the crew's annual visit to central Wyoming.

The group was expected to arrive on Sunday evening and include Chief of the Boat Mike Kelly; Chief Russell Hodges and enlisted men Daryl Richardson, Micah Rowland, Derek Atkinson and Gregory Laroche.

During the crew's visit to Casper, the schedule will introduce them to Wyoming, its history, culture and its people's unique lifestyle, according to Stan Lowe, area director of the Navy League of the United States.

This morning, the crew will visit the shipbuilder's model of the USS Wyoming at the Casper Events Center and entertain questions at a press conference.

Their full day of touring today includes the National Historic Trails Interpretive Center, the Casper Rotary Club meeting, the Oregon Trail State Veterans Cemetery, Fort Caspar Museum and the Wyoming Veterans Memorial Museum.

While at the veterans cemetery, the USS Wyoming crew will visit a monument dedicated to crew members lost aboard the USS Barbel during World War II. Lost boats were assigned one to each state for memorializing and the Barbel's is Wyoming's.

This evening, the crew will dine at Poor Boys Steakhouse as guests of owner Pat Sweeney.

On Tuesday, the crew will spend the day relaxing and boating at Alcova as guests of the Casper Boat Club.

Susan Thomas, widow of the late Sen. Craig Thomas, will speak to the group at dinner on Tuesday at the Casper Boat Club.

On Wednesday, the group will leave Casper to tour the Big Horn Mountains, stopping at the Veterans' Home outside Buffalo; Ten Sleep, Worland and Thermopolis. On Wednesday evening, they'll dine at the Wonder Bar, again as guests of Sweeney.

The submarine Wyoming is the fourth U.S. Navy vessel to bear the state's name. The Wyoming, typical of each of the other 13 boats in her class, is rated capable of more potential firepower than all the firepower expended during World War II.

Today's USS Wyoming was christened July 15, 1995, and commissioned at Groton, Conn., on July 13, 1996, the 17th boat of the Ohio class.

Since then, it has performed regularly scheduled highly secret undersea patrols, one manned by the Gold Crew and the next by the Blue Crew, alternating every three months.

The USS Wyoming is homeported in Kings Bay, Ga.