 Ladies and gentlemen, the Defense Information Systems Agency and Joint Force Headquarters Department of Defense Information Network are proud to recognize all sailors, both past and present, for their selfless service to our nation. On the 13th day of October, 1775, 247 years ago, the United States Navy was established to defend our nation. The Chief of Naval Operations has stated that the Navy birthday is one of the two Navy-wide dates to be celebrated annually. In 1972, Admiral Elmore Zoomwalt designated the 13th October as a Navy's official birthday. This occasion is meant to enhance a greater appreciation of our naval heritage. The central theme of this year's Navy birthday and Heritage Week is on-watch 247 for 247 years, which highlights our Navy's enduring ability to remain ready to respond and effectively deter emanating threats. Starting with the establishment of our Navy in 1775 and continuing to our current modern fleet, our Navy has stood the watch. We continue to deploy forward as our nation's vital maritime maneuver force, persistent, versatile, and capable of winning any fight and ready for the challenges of an unpredictable future. Our host for today's ceremony is Lieutenant General Robert J. Skinner, Director, Defense Information Systems Agency, and Commander, Joint Force Headquarters, Department of Defense Information Network. We also would like to welcome our guest speaker for today, Chief Personnel Specialist Select, Timothy Darlington, Workforce Services and Development Directorate. Ladies and gentlemen, please rise for the arrival of the official party and remain standing through the rendering of honors, the national anthem by the United States Navy Band Washington, and the invocation. We will now have our invocation by Chaplain Sook Kim. Let us pray. Our Heavenly Father, in this anniversary celebration, we bow in prayer, not out of habit or mere formality, but humbly and sincerely, to claim your presence and to honor your name. We thank you for the goodly heritage of our country, for its proud history and noble achievements. Also, we are thankful for the honor and courage of the United States Navy, both past and present. We are grateful for the skill and determination of the sailors who have contributed to the continuation of that liberty and freedom. We are aware that those contributions have been made at great personal sacrifice. May those same values which have made the United States Navy strong, renewed as sailors celebrate this 247th birthday. We thank you for the privilege of serving in and being associated with the U.S. Navy, and pray that your rich blessings will be upon all of us. Enable each of us to renew our commitment to serving with efficiency and honor, grant us the determination to individually and collectively leave out our country's creed. One nation under God, with liberty and justice for all, for the glory of your name, we pray. Ladies and gentlemen, please be seated. Thank you, United States Navy Band Washington and Chaplain Kim. I would like to welcome distinguished guests in attendance, Rear Admiral William E. Chase III, Deputy Commander, Joint Force Headquarters, Department of Defense Information Network, senior executive leaders, our officers, senior enlisted leaders, shipmates, Navy veterans, and our DISA and JFHQ Doden family. Thank you for joining us for this special occasion. At this time, we ask that you please direct your attention to the screen for a special message from the Secretary of the Navy, the Honorable Carlos Del Toro, and the Chief of Naval Operations, Admiral Michael Gilday, together with Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy, James Honi, honoring the U.S. Navy's 247th birthday. For 247 years, our Navy has kept the watch. 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Our sailors and Marines stand the watch together, deterring our secretaries, extending power and presence on a global scale. Together, you preserve the accessibility, security, and stability of the sea lanes around the world. You defend our national security and protect our way of life during times of peace and war, so our citizens can remain prosperous and free. As your Secretary, it has been my honor to visit with you around the world, from the Indo-Pacific to Europe to our own hemisphere. Whether you are operating on an aircraft carrier, launching the next century of carrier aviation, sailing aboard a warship steaming independently, moving below the depths aboard the undersea platforms of our silent service, or serving as a member of our special operations force, your presence sends a message to the entire world. Presence strengthens our maritime dominance, allowing our team to fight and win decisively when deterring strategic competitors like China and Russia. Force projection helps keep sea lanes safe and furthers our ability to defend the rules-based international order that protects all nations and their people. From large-scale multinational exercises to crisis response, our Navy's ability to operate everywhere international law allows is thanks to you. That is why our Navy's greatest strength and strategic advantage will always be our people. Throughout all ranks and backgrounds, I have seen your leadership in building a culture of warfighting excellence where everyone is treated with dignity and respect. My wife, Betty, and I know that your steadfast dedication to service places extreme demands on both you and your family. It is an incredible sacrifice to stand the watch, both on the deck plates and on the home front. We thank each of you and your families for all that you continue to do for our Navy team. So to all our sailors, families, civilians and veterans, happy 247th birthday, Shipmates. It's a true honor to serve alongside you. Shipmates, C. and O. Gilday here with Mick Ponhoney. As we celebrate our Navy's birthday and we take a moment to recognize the strength, the resolve, and the dedication of those standing the watch. On, under, and above the sea, and on the land, our brave men and women have always been ready to defend our nation. They have also selflessly ensured the safety and prosperity of Americans and our allies and partners around the world. Together, we continue to stand the watch and prepare for combat 24 hours a day, seven days a week, as we have for the past 247 years. There has never been a more critical time to serve. Fierce competition is a reality and it's challenging our way of life in the rules-based international order. Our Navy remains on call as we always have, and on watch to protect the freedom of the seas that's vital to the stability of the world. And through every deployment and every mission, there's our family's help keep us grounded and during separations and shouldering the day-to-day responsibilities at home. They stand a different kind of watch and we are forever grateful. We would not be the world's greatest Navy we are today without them. So, while our ships, our submarines, and our aircraft bring that firepower, it's our sailors, our Navy civilians, and their families who bring our force to life. They are at the heart of today's birthday celebration. So, today, for the seen and unseen responsibilities, you all carry, and for the daily sacrifices you make. Thank you. Happy 247th birthday, shipmates, and we'll see you in the fleet. Ladies and gentlemen, it is my distinct pleasure to now introduce our host for today's ceremony, Director, Defense Information Systems Agency, and Commander, Joint Force Headquarters, Department of Defense Information Network, Lieutenant General Robert J. Skinner. All I've got to say is I want the Navy's marketing team as part of the agency in the headquarters. I mean, think about it. On-watch 24x7, 247 years. Not the oldest service, but think of why it was stood up to begin with, right? It was force projection. It was power. It had to do with ensuring that a blockade could not occur with our country, I'll say our fledgling country, as it was growing. Think about that. I mean, that's really what it's about. And if you think about power projection, well, I'll say Air Force has power projection. Army has power projection. The Marines are part of that power projection. Seeing an aircraft carrier or seeing a carrier battle group off the shore or in flight, but on the seas, that's pretty powerful. And that sends a strong message. If you think about President Roosevelt's white fleet, right? Sailing the white fleet around as power projection to show that the United States is around and we are here for our allies and partners. Now, I will tell you one thing I still don't understand, and that's been in the Navy for five years, this blue and what color blue really means, right? Because Navy blue is different than 99% of the blues that everybody else in the United States and across the world think of blue. But that shows some of the, I'll say, inter rivalry that we have and it's the family that we have together that really produces this joint force, right? Because you take what the Navy brings to the fight, you bring what the other services bring and you have a well-rounded and powerful force that I would offer is the best that we have ever seen. And so with that, I'd like to turn it back over to Ensign so that we can have our guest speaker, who is a chief select in what I would still call one of the most uncomfortable uniforms that you can wear, especially when the Navy decides to, on a particular date every year, it's not based on the weather, it's based on a date, and so when it's like 90 degrees in October and you're having to wear that, it's pretty uncomfortable. But I'll turn it back over to you and let's have a great celebration. Thank you. Thank you, General Skinner. Ladies and gentlemen, it is now my honor to introduce Chief Select Timothy Darlington, who will deliver special remarks in commemoration of this year's Navy birthday. Next week, Chief Select Darlington will be part of the newest cadre of Navy Chief Petty Officers. He currently serves in the joint support group where he provides personnel and career counseling support to all Navy and Marine Corps service members in the Defense Information Systems Agency and Joint Force Headquarters Department of Defense Information Network. Thank you, sir. It's nicer here that the air cools me down in this uncomfortable uniform, which is blue, General. Even though it matches my black shoes, this is blue. So thank you, sir. As stated, I am Chief Select Tim Darlington. I work in the joint support group. I help sailors transition duty stations and help them manage their careers. I only work collectively with two other sailors in my office, so it's really cool to see all the Navy folks here today, especially my fellow Chief Selects. It's difficult to display a heritage in a joint environment, so these kinds of ceremonies are important to remind us why we chose the service that we chose. This address is usually given by an admiral and, as I said, I am clearly not an admiral. It's pretty unique, but I'm on my way to being the next best thing. That's a Navy Chief. As the General stated, my title is Chief Select, meaning I am still in training, which is why when they told me I was going to be doing this speech, I definitely thought it was a joke part of this process. It's not a joke. Here I am. The transition from junior to senior enlisted is unique in your career. You begin to learn how to translate the big picture view that the officers and our leading civilians see and translate it into the task-oriented world where our junior sailors operate. So I'm going to attempt to translate how the Navy's mission impacts our service members, their families, and why maintaining that heritage is important. The Navy is unique among all the services. We deploy during times of peace. We deploy projecting our naval presence and projecting our sea power around the world, and it doesn't stop in times absent of war. We continue to deploy, and we continue to be away from our families, and we continue to stand the watch 24-7. This mission is actually pretty similar to what we do at DISA and JFHQ Doden. We maintain our watches with vigilance, and this vigilance allows the Navy to be peacekeepers maintaining the freedom of the seas. At DISA maintains our networks, and at JFHQ defending forward. This active forward defense in times of peace can be difficult and a draining task. We don't do this job for the sake of it. If you'll notice in the videos from the SecNAV, the CNO, and the MCPON, there were only two types of pictures they showed. There were sailors working and sailors with their families. We don't do this mission for the mission. We do it for our families. We do it so they can pursue their dreams without living in fear. We ensure this happens by putting in the hard work and making sacrifices. So on this Navy's 247th birthday, we remember that there are sailors out there right now, deployed and standing the watch. A piece of heritage that's going to be demonstrated today is the striking of the bell. Before we each had the ability to tell time to a punctilious degree with our phones or our personal risk chronometers, the Navy used the bell system to alert sailors of important information. So we talked about the why we do it. What about the other W's? So we used the bell to communicate who, what, where, and when. The who was the arrival and departure of high-ranking personnel, dignitaries, and plank owners of the ship. The what was important information such as fire, flooding, and medical emergency that we called casualties. Right after the casualty, which was five seconds of continuous bell ringing, we would get the where. They would do one bell strike for the forward part of the ship, two for the middle, and three for the aft. This would, excuse me, and finally the when. This is important because it would indicate when one watch would end and the next would begin. With noon as the starting point, it would be struck every half hour with a new bell being added for every additional 30 minutes. For example, 12.30 would be one bell, 1300, two bells, 13.33, so on and so forth. This would culminate in eight bells being struck every four hours. And as said, that would signify the end of one watch and the beginning of another. So as we leave today's ceremony and we get back to the grind of work, remember that all of us at Dissa and JFHQ, Doden, we stand the watch for our families and to support the deployed troops around the world who are not with their loved ones like we are. Let the sound from the bell remind you of its history, its function, and what the sound means to those who have gone before us in history. As we strike the bell to signify the end of the year, remember that another year ends but another 24-7 watch begins. Thank you, Chief Select. Ladies and gentlemen, now please rise and remain standing for the bell-ringing ceremony. As directed, the bell will strike nine times to commemorate the 247th birthday of the United States Navy. Eight bells used to signal the end of the watch represents the end of the current birthday year. Bosun, strike eight bells. As we celebrate our Navy's 247th birthday, our history and heritage forms our identity, telling us who we are and what we stand for. Our core values of honor, courage, and commitment have been passed down from our founders who charge the Navy with the solemn duty to serve as a shield of our Republic. The first real test our Navy faced was during the War of 1812. This war began at sea when the United States ships were ordered to heave to upon the high sea, and U.S. citizens were forcefully taken or impressed into the crews of another nation's ships. The great battles that followed proved the fighting medal of our sailors and the cutting edge of our ship designs. These battles established both free trade and free navigation as critical national interests of our country, interests that endure to this day. The warrior characteristics of cunning and boldness exhibited in 1812 inspire our sailors of today's Navy as they continue to serve around the world. The War of 1812 served as a critical turning point for our Navy. On this 247th birthday of our Navy we have the honor to serve in the greatest maritime fighting force the world has ever seen, but we do so with humility, continuing to build upon the framework those fighting sailors forged before us. History teaches us that with great power comes great responsibility. From the great captains and crews who fought single ship actions in 1812 to the commerce raiders of the Civil War, from the convoys of World War I to the major fleet actions at Coral Sea and Midway, from the War of 1962 to the rivering operations on the Tigris and Euphrates, our Navy has boldly and proudly put our shoulder to the wheel. We have championed peace and we continue to shield the Republic. Here's the 247 years of proud naval heritage and many more. The single bell, traditionally used to signal the start of a new watch, represents the start of a new year, our 248th. Gentlemen, please be seated. At this time, we invite Rear Admiral William Chase, our oldest sailor, and YN2 Emma Braverman. It's on the paper sir, I'm sorry. YN2 Emma Braverman, our youngest sailor and Lieutenant General Skinner to come up front for the cake cutting ceremony. The birthday cake is traditionally cut with a sword as a reminder that we are a band of warriors committed to carrying arms It is tradition that our oldest sailor serve as a facilitator of the cake cutting. At this time, Rear Admiral Chase, our oldest sailor, will cut the first piece and serve it to our youngest, signifying the passing of experience and knowledge, emphasizing the fact that we care for our young sailors before we look to our own needs. After serving the youngest sailor, the director will be served, followed by the oldest sailor. Thank you, Lieutenant General Skinner, you may return to your seats. This time, we now invite all sailors, both past and present, to stand and join in the reciting of the Sailor's Creed. The words can be found on the screen in the front. Attention to the Sailor's Creed. I, am a United States sailor. I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States of America and I will obey the orders of those appointed over me. I represent the fighting spirit of the Navy of those who have gone before me to defend freedom and democracy around the world. I proudly serve my Navy combat team with honor, courage and commitment. I am committed to excellence and the fair treatment of all. Ladies and gentlemen, please stand and join in the singing of the second verse of Anchors Away, The Navy Song. The lyrics are located on the screen and can be found in the back of the program. Ladies and gentlemen, please be seated. This concludes today's ceremony. On behalf of Lieutenant General Skinner, the Defense Information Systems Agency and Joint Force Headquarters Department of Defense Information Network, we would like to thank Chief Select Darlington for his remarks and the United States Navy Band Washington for their performance and give thanks to all who attended today's celebration. At this time, we invite all shipmates, Navy veterans and retirees to join Lieutenant General Skinner up front for a Navy group photo. Afterwards, please join us in the lobby for some of the best of our accomplishments. Thank you for attending and have a fine Navy day.