 The fifth lead, US Naval Forces Central Command, operates in the most strategically significant part of our planet. The global economy rests on the free movement of maritime traffic through three critical choke points that reside in this theater. The Suez Canal, the Strait of Babel-Mondev, and the Strait of Hormuz. The US Navy has had a continual presence in the maritime of the Middle East, the Gulf, the Arabian Sea, the Red Sea, for more than 60 years. At the end of World War II, our national leaders, including Ambul Chester Nimitz, saw imminent value in this region and great partners in the people here. Our presence, our commitment has endured and will endure for many years to come. 70% of the Earth is ocean, 80% of the world's population lives near the ocean, and 90% of the goods we consume spend some time in transit on the ocean. Finding the maritime means security for the entire region. That starts here with us. We are implementing many new systems here. Unmanned air systems, unmanned underwater vehicles, advanced sensors, and cutting-edge weapons. It is a thrilling time to be forward to see these systems flowing into our Navy platform. In addition to our continuous strike group deployments, we have forward deployed minesweepers and coastal patrol craft, as well as on a float forward staging base. That grows our mine countermeasure capacity here. It grows our maritime patrol capacity. Overall, it enhances our ability to protect the maritime and the critical infrastructure surrounding us. The fifth fleet sailor is a highly motivated, highly trained, agile sailor. These are hard-working sailors in this AOR, the best we have. There is a strong signal here that this region is so important to everybody that everyone needs to contribute. Everyone needs to make that statement that this part of the world is of central importance globally. A sailor is a sailor. There is more that joins us than ever separates us. And anyone who applies their trade or has a profession that takes them over the water, under the water, or on the water, has a sort of invisible bomb. They all understand the environment and they all understand the risks involved and they understand the dedication required to prosecute their mission. And that's something that I can map that across any one of those nations. And it's something that instantly binds us before we even talk to each other. This is a very complex maritime environment. No one nation can provide maritime security by themselves. We have to have partners in this endeavor who are able to assist in the maritime mission with us and that are able to team with us to integrate with us. We operate forward as a core tenant to our maritime strategy. That means meeting threats at far away places before they have a chance to reach our shores. That is what the Navy does for our nation. That is what we do here at Fifth Fleet.