 In telling the story of one of its most distinguished wartime leaders, Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz. The Nimitz story is not simply the account of an outstanding naval officer who rose to a position of greatness and honor. It is also the chronicle of our modern navy. It's coming of age and its greatest triumph in the epic struggle for the Pacific during World War II. This is a project that's been underway for quite a while and the true significance of it is a connection of the history of the navy during one of the most important parts of the very definitions of the freedoms that we have today back to that period of World War II where Chester Nimitz was involved in the planning and the actual execution of how the war was fought in the Pacific. The Grey Brook is an amazing historical treasure. It's a rare, very rare survival of the decision-making and the top leadership in the Pacific. Nimitz looked at this every day and records every day the situation that he faced. It has his orders, it has the intelligence that he had in front of him, it has the movement of the Fleet units. Everything brought together in a very succinct way so that he could make a decision about it and know exactly what the Fleet was doing. The highest level of decision-making in combat was something called the running estimate of this situation and that's what this document is. To my knowledge it's the only one that survived anywhere from this period and actually been used in combat. I think in closing the significant takeaway message here is that I would invite everybody to visit the new naval historical collection website, examine the Nimitz Grey Book, not necessarily to find a key to unlock some hidden treasure but more view it as an account of the events of the unfolded. Try to see it as Nimitz sought with all the engagement of a Fleet admiral, drawing out the truth and sharing what you find with others and we do this with the hopes of enlarging our understanding of what the Grey Book means and what our perspective of what this Grey Book is all about. As a military history buff myself, I cannot wait to dig into this online and I encourage every sailor, marine, navy, civilian to check it out. Under Admiral Nimitz's leadership, the war in the Pacific turned in America's favor and today our naval presence in the Indo-Asia Pacific helps maintain an international system of well-established norms that promote security, stability, prosperity and peace. Working closely with allies and partners in this region is vital to America's ongoing Pacific rebalance. This whole of government effort is based on a wide range of shared issues including economics and trade, people-to-people ties and security. This is an effort that I believe that Admiral Nimitz here would appreciate if he were with us today.