Month: October 2023

Source: United States Navy

The Nimitz-class aircraft carrier was joined in the port visit by the Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruisers USS Robert Smalls (CG 62) and USS Antietam (CG 54).

The ships, along with the squadrons of Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 5 and members of the embarked staff of Destroyer Squadron (DESRON) 15, make up Carrier Strike Group (CSG) 5.

“Dozens of Ronald Reagan and Strike Group 5 Sailors are from the Philippines, and they are truly grateful to return home and see their families and friends,” said Capt. Daryle Cardone, commanding officer, USS Ronald Reagan. “The entire crew is eager to sightsee, participate in community relations projects, and experience the rich culture, cuisine, and history here. The Filipino people have always welcomed the entire crew, and we are grateful to return.”

While in Manila, carrier strike group personnel will have opportunities to continue building personal and professional relationships in the Philippines, including through engagements aboard USS Ronald Reagan, as well as through volunteer work in the community and cultural exchange events.

The Ronald Reagan Carrier Strike Group is forward-deployed to the U.S. 7th Fleet area of operations in support of a free and open Indo-Pacific. U.S. 7th Fleet is the U.S. Navy’s largest forward-deployed numbered fleet, and routinely interacts and operates with allies and partners in preserving a free and open Indo-Pacific region.

Source: United States Navy

The event was attended dignitaries including The honorable Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the House Emerita, U.S. House of Representatives; Carlos Del Toro, Secretary of the Navy; U.S. Rep. Darelle Issa, California 48th District; U.S. Rep. Sara Jacobs, California’s 51st District; Dolores Huerta, civil rights activist; Rear Adm. Brendan McClain, Special Assistant wo Commander, U.S. Third Fleet; Steven Cade, Executive Director MSC; Capt. Micah Murphy, commander, Military Sealift Command Pacific, and Commander Task Force 33; as well as executives and employees of NASSCO San Diego and members of the Kennedy family.

“When we christen this ship, we are recognizing the tenacity and the spirit of Robert Kennedy,” said Pelosi.

The ship honors Robert F. Kennedy, an American lawyer and politician who served as the 64th United States Attorney General from January 1961 to September 1964, during his brother John F. Kennedy’s presidency, where he advocated for the civil rights movement, fought against organized crime and the Mafia, and involvement in U.S. foreign policy related to Cuba. Following his tenure as Attorney General, he served as a U.S. Senator from New York. In 1968, Robert Kennedy was considered a frontrunner for the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination. During a campaign event in Los Angeles, in June of that year, he was assassinated. A prominent member of the Democratic Party, Robert Kennedy has come to be viewed by some historians as an icon of modern American liberalism.

“Like the other great American Leaders honored by the ships of this class, Robert F. Kennedy contributed much to the freedoms we enjoy today,” said Cade during his remarks. “A champion of equality who sought to eliminate disparity and close opportunity gaps that plagued our nation during his lifetime. We are very proud to be associated with and eagerly look forward to sailing a ship in his name.”

The ship was officially christened, when Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, Robert Kennedy’s oldest child and ship’s sponsor, broke the ceremonial bottle of champagne against the ship’s hull.
“The Navy is a fighting force and a force for peace,” said Kennedy Townsend. “It is fitting that the Secretary of the Navy named a class of ship after civil rights leaders like my father.”

The 746 foot Kennedy is the fourth ship in the John Lewis-class previously known as the TAO(X). This class of oilers has the ability to carry 162,000 barrels of diesel ship fuel, aviation fuel and dry stores cargo. The upgraded oiler is built with double hulls to protect against oil spills and strengthened cargo and ballast tanks, and will be equipped with a basic self-defense capability, including crew served weapons, degaussing, and Nixie Torpedo decoys, and has space, weight, and power reservations for Close In Weapon Systems such as SeaRAMs, and an Anti-Torpedo Torpedo Defense System. The Lewis-class of oilers will replace the current Kaiser Class fleet replenishment oilers and they age out of the MSC fleet.

Source: United States Navy

As a part of the U.S. Navy’s globally-deployed forces, IKECSG will join the Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group in support of the defense of Israel and to deter aggression throughout the region.

By direction of the Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III, IKECSG will transit to U.S. Central Command to demonstrate its readiness to flex to any contingency. IKECSG remains committed to ensuring the security of allies and partners.

“Our arrival in the Mediterranean, en route to CENTCOM, provides reassurance to our allies and partners that we are committed to ensuring their security and well-being,” said Rear Adm. Marc Miguez, commander, Carrier Strike Group 2 (CSG-2), IKECSG. “Our presence, along with that of the Gerald R. Ford Carrier strike group, demonstrates the combat power and proficiency of the Navy’s deployed forces.”

The strike group is comprised of the flagship aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN69), the guided-missile cruiser USS Philippine Sea (CG 58), the guided-missile destroyers USS Mason (DDG 87) and USS Gravely (DDG 107) of Destroyer Squadron (DESRON) 22, Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 3 with its nine squadrons, and the Information Warfare Commander.

Squadrons of CVW-3 include the “Gunslingers” of Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 105, the “Fighting Swordsmen” of Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 32, the “Rampagers” of Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 83, the “Wildcats” of Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 131, the “Screwtops” of Carrier Airborne Early Warning Squadron (VAW) 123, the “Zappers” of Electronic Attack Squadron (VAQ) 130, the “Dusty Dogs” of Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron (HSC) 7, the “Swamp Foxes” of Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron (HSM) 74 and the “Rawhides” of Fleet Logistics Support Squadron (VRC) 40.

Source: United States Navy

Good evening, ladies and gentlemen! It is really wonderful to be here with all of you tonight … as do we take a few moments out of our busy lives to pause, remember our history, and celebrate the 248^th birthday of our great Navy.

Let me just start by saying “thank you” to our amazing Navy Band and Color Guard for setting the tone for tonight’s ball. Let’s give them a big round of applause.

And, another huge “thank you” to Townie, Mike, Julia, and the entire Navy League of the United States team for tonight’s spectacular celebration and for all you do – year-round – in supporting our Sailors, our Marines, and their families.

Commandant, CNO 31 – Adm. Richardson – MCPON Honea, flag and general officers, senior executive service civilians, and senior enlisted leaders, thank you for honoring us with your presence here tonight, and thank you for your life-long commitment and service to our Nation.

And, to our Coast Guard and Marine Corps, industry leaders, allies and partners, and, of course, most importantly, our Sailors, our Navy families, and shipmates, thank you for being here to celebrate and take pride in the work we do every day in this life of service.

248 years ago, members of the Second Continental Congress in Philadelphia voted to repurpose two sailing vessels with weapons capable of intercepting munitions and supply ships bound for America to arm British troops. With the lobbying of George Washington and John Adams, our Founding Fathers recognized that they needed to commission a naval force to counter Britain’s unchallenged command of the sea. They realized Britain’s naval superiority fueled its army ashore, and wreaked havoc on American commerce, and tightened King George’s grip on the thirteen colonies.

That fateful vote cast by the Continental Congress would become the Navy’s birth certificate … and that small, but formidable, Continental Navy would prove indispensable to the creation of our Nation. 

And since that day – as many others have noted tonight – the United States Navy has stood the watch … 24 hours a day … seven days a week … protecting our shores and promoting our interests around the world.

Since that day, in both peace and war, our Sailors have operated from seabed to space, so the world can live free and benefit from the rules based international order.

And, since that day, the United States Navy has delivered “248 years of Power, Presence, and Protection.” That’s the theme for this year’s birthday celebration, and really highlights the Navy’s historical and long-standing commitment to being forward-deployed, highly trained, and dedicated to defending American interests at sea, on land, and in the sky.

From John Paul Jones taking tall ships to sea in the Revolutionary War, to Old Ironsides going head-to-head in pitched battle with the Royal Navy in the War of 1812;

From Admiral Farragut storming through minefields in Mobile Bay, to the birth of naval aviation in 1911 by Eugene Ely; and, then from Admiral Nimitz sweeping across the Pacific with the largest fleet in history, to Admiral Rickover building the world’s foremost nuclear force, our Navy has always adapted and delivered warfighting advantage to our Nation.

For generations, our strong Navy has ensured American influence around the world, expanded economic opportunities for the American people, and safeguarded global security and prosperity. Each day, we have worked hard to preserve the peace, prepare for war, and win decisively, if called upon to do so.

It’s this timeless mission of promoting America’s peacetime national security interests and prosperity and providing prompt and sustained combat incident to operations at sea – that’s what continues today… unabated and undisrupted.

Right now, our Navy-Marine Corps team operates forward all around the world, providing options, flexibility, and decision space to our Nation’s leaders.

Right now, they operate at the point of friction with our competitors and the point of friendship with our allies and partners in every domain on, under, and above the sea.

Right now, they are responding to crises; deterring would-be adversaries, and safeguarding the world’s sea lanes of communication. They’re strengthening our maritime partnerships, and enhancing our collective ability to provide disaster relief and respond to emergencies all around the world.

And right now, from the Arctic to the South Pacific, they are executing and delivering on our Navy’s core enduring functions of sea control, power projection, deterrence, maritime security, and sealift.

And, right now, we have four carrier strike groups and an amphibious ready group with an embarked Marine Expeditionary Unit totaling about 30,000 Sailors and Marines deployed [and] underway.

The Vinson and Ike Carrier Strike Groups headed out now on routine deployments.

The Ronald Reagan Carrier Strike Group and the Bataan Amphibious Readiness Group continue their patrols in support of security and stability in the Indo-Pacific and in the Middle East.

And, then just this past week, the Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group moved to the Eastern Mediterranean to underscore the United States’ ironclad support for Israel’s defense and send a clear message to any malign actor seeking to take advantage of this situation. 

There is no other Navy in the world that could build, train and deploy such a lethal combat-credible force, operating in five different locations around the world.

Together with the Marine Corps, your Navy continues to deliver all-domain naval power to the Joint Force to deter would-be adversaries, respond to crises, and, if called to do so, fight and win decisively.

This is our calling. This is 248 years of power, presence, and protection. 

And, we are doing a lot more – much more – to build our fleet of tomorrow. To guarantee our Navy remains the preeminent fighting force out on the seas and the most powerful, flexible, and lethal instrument of our nation’s military power.

The Navy is investing in robotics, in unmanned systems, in artificial intelligence, enhance maritime domain awareness, and build maritime coalitions –

The Navy is testing and developing new networks, like Project Overmatch, to reliably connect forces and share information across all domains.

We’re revolutionizing naval aviation with F-35, providing the Joint Force an edge over our competitors and allowing our forces to project power deeper than ever before.

And, the Navy is putting more players on the field. Just last week, we commissioned our first Flight III Destroyer, the USS Jack H. Lucas, and just this morning, commissioned our newest Virginia-class fast-attack submarine, the USS Hyman G. Rickover.

There is no doubt that our Navy is as critical to our nation today as we were on October 17, 1775.

In addition to today being our Navy’s 248^th birthday, 2023 marks many other important, historic milestones in our Navy, and I’d just like to highlight a couple of them this evening:

The 130^th anniversary of the Navy’s Chief Petty Officer.

The 75^th anniversary of the naval nuclear propulsion program.

The 75^th anniversary of Racial Integration of the Armed Forces.

The 50^th anniversary of our All Volunteer Force.

The 50^th anniversary of women flying in naval aviation.

And, the 45^th anniversary of women serving aboard U.S. navy ships.

This year also marks the 50th anniversary of when the last U.S. combat troops left South Vietnam in 1973. I’d like to take a moment to pay a special tribute to our Vietnam veterans, and their families for their service, and their sacrifice.

And you’ve already heard tonight we have some very special guests with us, Admiral Robert Shumaker and Commander Everett Alvarez, right over there to my left. They are the living embodiment of our Navy’s core values of honor, courage, and commitment.

Both Admiral Shumaker and Commander Alvarez were jet pilots, and they were shot down over North Vietnam soon after the Gulf of Tonkin Incident on August 2, 1964. Commander Alvarez was shot down and captured days after, on August 5, and Admiral Shumaker, months after, in February 1965.

Both were held in captivity for over eight years – mostly in the “Hanoi Hilton” – the most notorious POW camp in Vietnam. Each day living in fear with hours of boredom, punctuated by moments of sheer terror. Every day relying on fellow POWs in the camp for strength and solidarity, and each day wondering if that day would be their last.

Despite the physical and emotional pain, and throughout their captivity, they were warriors, leaders, and patriots. And they embody the fighting spirit of America’s Navy.

Admiral Shumaker and Commander Alvarez, we honor your exemplary courage and commitment to duty and your indispensable, indisputable gallantry and valor. You are part of the roll-call of inspirational heroes of the United State’s Navy.

Let’s give them another round of applause.

As we look into the future and to the decisive decade ahead, I am confident that our team will continue to serve with honor, courage, and commitment … and build on the legacy of heroic men and women like Admiral Shumaker and Commander Alvarez.

Tonight, like each night for the last 248 years, our Navy is standing the watch, underway around the world, preserving the peace while being always ready for war. We underwrite the security of our nation, and we are doing so by staying laser-focused on sharpening our warfighting advantage, strengthening our Navy team, and fortifying our foundation.

And, this year, like each year over our storied history, we celebrate the birth of our service and take pride in being the world’s most powerful Navy. We commemorate our history, and honor our people, our Sailors and our civilians – who have answered the call to duty – to serve a cause greater than themselves, to wear the uniform that symbolizes freedom throughout the world, and to ensure America remains a beacon of hope and democracy for all to see.

To all the veterans and Sailors here today, I want to express my heartfelt thanks to you for serving our country. You have taken on the responsibility of supporting and defending the Constitution of the United States. You have earned the respect of our great nation.

And, to our Navy families – the loved ones, friends, and support networks here today – thank you for your steadfast dedication. I always say that our families are the glue that binds the Navy together. And we should make sure that it doesn’t get dried up. And so I say a big “thank you” to all of our Navy families.

Not only are they our support networks, none of what we do every day would ever be possible [without then].

I am so incredibly proud of our Navy team – our Sailors, civilians, and all of our families – and I am confident in their ability to meet the challenges of today.

So let’s sit back, let’s send a quick thought of thanks to all the Sailors and Marines who are standing the watch so we can enjoy this wonderful evening together.

Thank you very much and Happy 248^th Birthday, Navy.

Source: United States Navy

Good morning everyone!

Thank you, Under Secretary Raven, for hosting today’s event here at the Pentagon to celebrate and recognize the Naval Research Laboratory’s contributions to our Fleet, our Force, and indeed our nation over the last 100 years.

I would also like to thank Dr. Meink, the Principal Deputy Director of the National Reconnaissance Office for joining us today to highlight the importance of NRL’s contributions in space since our country’s earliest days in that domain.

Captain Black, Dr. Danly, thank you for leadership, and more importantly, your stewardship, of this storied organization within our Department. 

Finally, to the thousands of members of the NRL workforce, both current and former, thank you for your 100 years of excellence in the realm of science and technology development.  Our Fleet would not be as advanced as it is today without your dedication to this noble and worthy cause.

I personally know how dedicated the team at NRL is to their work in support of our nation, as I spent two years during my active duty career assigned to NRL.

During my time at NRL, I had the privilege of working with several talented scientists and engineers on a wide array of programs that were of great importance not just to our Navy, but to our nation.

And I am especially pleased that we are joined by one of those talented individuals here today — Mr. Pete Wilhelm.

By the time I met Mr. Wilhelm, he was already decades into his career at NRL — a career that saw more than 100 satellite launches with NRL projects he played a role in.

Mr. Wilhelm led the Naval Center for Space Technology at NRL since its inception in 1986, managing a team of experts whose work began by asking the basic scientific and engineering questions, in turn leading to the development of technologies that improved the capabilities of our Sailors and Marines to sense, communicate, and fight.

For me, and for several other NRL employees who worked alongside Mr. Wilhelm, he was a role model and mentor.

Mr. Wilhelm, please stand so that we may offer you our thanks for your career of service in support of generations of Sailors and Marines.

For 100 years, thousands of Americans like Mr. Wilhelm have answered the call to service as members of NRL’s workforce, transforming basic science and technology research into technologies that have truly changed the world.

Since its founding in 1923, NRL has had a powerful impact on our Navy, our Marine Corps, and indeed our Nation, supporting our Fleet and our Force in both times of peace and conflict — from World War II to the present day.

Its team has produced a wide-ranging portfolio of solutions to address challenges in every domain we operate in — at, above, and below the sea, as well as in space and cyberspace, demonstrating its workforce’s mastery of several unique science and technology disciplines, as well as their ability to innovate with speed.

The NRL team also knows when patience in technology development is required to deliver the Fleet with the right capability to ensure its advantage at sea. This was evidenced by their two decades’ worth of dedication to developing the RADAR our Fleet needed during World War II, which was critical in turning the tide of the Battle of the Pacific.

NRL also fundamentally changed our military’s relationship with the space domain even before the first GPS satellite was launched with the development of our nation’s first electronic intelligence collection satellite.

GRAB 1 was placed into orbit in June 1960, 52 days after a manned U-2 intelligence collection aircraft was lost over the Soviet Union.  During its time in service, it demonstrated how we could effectively collect critical intelligence on a scale like never before, providing our Joint Force with unmatched surveillance and intelligence collection capabilities, all while keeping our pilots safe from harm.

These are only two of the thousands of innovative technological developments over the last century that NRL has brought us, providing our Navy, our Marine Corps, and our nation with unique operational advantages that our adversaries simply cannot replicate.

We should also realize that for this tremendous work to continue, and to attract and retain a talented workforce, we must turn our attention to address the current physical state of NRL, where the average building age is 68 years old. 

I have visited the laboratory’s facilities, and I have witnessed first-hand the challenges some of our talented scientists, engineers, researchers, and other staff face as they research, develop, test, and build the technologies and capabilities that our Fleet requires.

We are committed to developing a feasible way forward on the much-needed recapitalization of NRL facilities to ensure the lab will be able to support our warfighters —and our nation — for decades to come.

You have my commitment to this effort.

And as we look towards NRL’s future, it is important that we reflect upon where we are today — across our entire naval innovation ecosystem — as to how we are addressing the technology and capability needs of our Fleet and of our Force.

And as we do so, I would like to take a few moments to share with you how exactly our Department is hard at work, across a myriad of commands, across several areas, including:

Conducting basic science and technology research

Forging new relationships across the DOD, government, academia, and industry, as well as with our international partners and allies

And addressing challenges in technology, adoption and scaling.

Alongside NRL, the Office of Naval Research continues to be a major supporter of basic science and technology research across several disciplines, through significant financial investments, the technical expertise of its workforce, and partnerships across academia and industry. 

And as we move into this decisive decade, ONR, through ONR-Global, is investing in science and technology projects alongside our international partners and allies, with each effort aimed at addressing common challenges we face as maritime nations.

In concert with ONR, NavalX is working to deepen our international and domestic relationships with industry.

Through its network of Tech Bridges here in the U.S., the United Kingdom, and Japan, NavalX is able to connect directly with companies and source commercial technologies that both complement and supplement our Fleet and our Force’s existing systems, tools, and research.

And as we explore how to further expand our engagement with companies at the leading edge of technology innovation, we recognize that innovation must include education.

With that in mind, the Naval Postgraduate School —located in close proximity to Silicon Valley — is home to the Naval Innovation Center, which was established this past December.

The NIC will enhance and accelerate the innovation process at NPS by driving “ideas to impact,” bringing research concepts out of the lab and into the field faster by empowering students and partners across the entire Naval Research & Development Establishment to work with the Naval innovation ecosystem and industry — in a whole-of-Navy approach — to speed the delivery of warfighting advantages to our Naval forces.

Furthermore, we are supporting the construction of a purposefully-designed facility to house the NIC at the Naval Postgraduate School, providing a space for collaboration, defense-focused experimentation, and demonstration of operational use cases to ensure the right technology is evolving. 

And while the NIC is primarily focused on addressing Fleet-oriented requirements, the Marine Innovation Unit — headquartered in Newburgh, New York — is focused on the identification, experimentation, and rapid fielding of technologies and capabilities to address gaps identified by our Marines.

MIU leverages the expertise and professional networks of our talented Reserve Marines to accelerate the development and fielding of key capabilities throughout the Force.

Their efforts are already reducing timelines between identifying needs and the delivery of warfighting capabilities in support of the Marine Corps’ transformational Force Design 2030, ensuring our Marines are agile, capable, and lethal.

When you consider the efforts of NRL, ONR, NavalX, NIC, MIU, our warfare centers and systems commands, UARCs, FFRDCs, and other organizations throughout our naval innovation ecosystem, the amount time, resources, and manpower dedicated to supporting our Fleet and our Force is absolutely incredible.

And as we re-focus our efforts on addressing the challenges we face in the maritime domain today and will face in the future, we must recognize that there are still organizational changes that must be made to ensure we are developing, adopting, and scaling at a rapid pace to deliver the technologies and capabilities our Sailors and Marines require.

And today, I am pleased to be able to share with you three new initiatives within our department that will complement our ongoing efforts in the innovation space.

The first initiative is the Department of the Navy’s Science and Technology Board, which was formally established last Friday.

Led by the Honorable Richard Danzig — the 71^st Secretary of the Navy — this board brings together an impressive group of thought leaders across several disciplines and diverse backgrounds, and will support the development of our department’s vision as to how we identify new technologies for rapid adoption throughout our Fleet and our Force.

This board also has a mandate to collaborate with similar groups across our entire government, for the pressing challenges our Nation faces today are not solely the business of our Navy and Marine Corps to address.

The second initiative is a pilot program at Program Executive Office Integrated Warfare Systems to evaluate its mission and operations from a portfolio perspective.

This effort will explore how our PEOs can operate under a new portfolio-centric construct to increase the rate of capability development and fielding over our present timelines, and will do so in a manner that leverages pre-existing authorities.

The lessons we learn throughout this pilot program will enable all of our PEOs to better address the emerging threats and requirements under their respective purviews.

The third initiative is the creation of the Navy’s Disruptive Capabilities Office, whose charter I signed out last week.

This new organization will push the bounds of rapidly delivering warfighting capability though the innovative application of existing and new systems, and harnessing today’s exponential growth in technology.

Through rapid experimentation and prototyping, the DCO will work collaboratively with stakeholders from across our department focusing on delivering solutions to our warfighters at a pace and scale to close our Fleet’s most critical capability gaps.

It will also work closely with the Marine Corps Warfighting Laboratory’s Rapid Capabilities Office, which is addressing the immediate and near-term needs of our Marines that require the rapid transition and integration of new and innovative solutions. 

The DCO and RCO will both help deliver on the Department of the Navy’s contribution to the “Replicator Initiative,” partnering closely alongside joint efforts like DIU to accelerate production and delivery of the capabilities our Joint Force needs at-scale.

These three initiatives will complement the ongoing work that is already underway throughout our Department to address how we innovate in response to an ever-changing technology landscape.

And I will emphasize to you that we are not alone in this endeavor to re-focus, re-imagine, and re-align the DON to ensure that we are innovating at the speed of relevancy.

Our Department is committed to ensuring our innovation efforts are synchronized with our partners across DOD.

Our commands that are focused on technology and capability development are collaborating every day with our sister services to ensure we are maintaining our enduring advantages as a Joint Force.

And we are working with our partners at Defense Innovation Unit and the Office of Strategic Capital to ensure our requirements for critical technologies are illuminated to both industry and investors for their consideration.

As the National Defense Science and Technology Strategy 2023 rightly acknowledges, our nation maintains a competitive edge in defense science and technology, and our Department is committed to ensuring this remains so.

To codify our efforts, I am directing our Chief of Naval Research to — within the next 90 days — provide me with a DON science and technology strategy.

This strategy will set forth our priorities and our approach as to how we invest our capital — both human and financial — to rapidly identify, develop, and field the capabilities our Sailors and Marines need today, and tomorrow.

As our Department continues to re-imagine and refocus our innovation efforts, I encourage all of you — our nation’s scientists, engineers, researchers, inventors, entrepreneurs, and problem-solvers — to join us.

We are indeed in an innovation race — and it is one we must win. Innovation must permeate every aspect of our Department’s approach to the delivery of the technologies and capabilities at a speed and scale necessary for our Navy and Marine Corps to confront the challenges of today and the future — just as NRL has done for over a century.

To the talented workforce of NRL — both past and present — congratulations again on your 100 years of achievement. 

For over a century, your efforts have contributed to peace, stability, and prosperity around the globe, and you should be proud of all that you have and will accomplish as you continue to advance our Navy, our Marine Corps, our nation, and indeed the world forward through your work.

Thank you all again for joining us this morning. May God continue to grant fair winds and following seas to our Navy, our Marine Corps, and our Nation.