 Good morning U.S. Navy Facebook fans, I'm Lieutenant Amberlynn Daniel and I am back once again from the Sea Air Space Expo for our final broadcast here at the Expo and joining me this morning I'm very excited to introduce you to Dr. J. Thomas from Navy History and Heritage Command. How are you doing this morning? I'm great, thanks. Good morning. Good morning. Alright, so to kick it off for our Facebook fans, can you tell them a little bit about what Navy History and Heritage Command is? The Naval History and Heritage Command is sort of the Navy's corporate memory. We have the Navy Department Library, we have historians, we have a large classified archive. We manage the Navy's museum system all over the country and then my part of it, the collection management part is the Navy's historic artifact collection, the Navy's art collection and then the Navy's collection of artifacts associated with underwater archaeology. We also manage the sunken ships and aircraft that the Navy has all over the world. Well it sounds like you have a pretty cool job. What is the favorite part of your job? Well my favorite part is working with a remarkable array of individuals who know so much about their collection, who know so much about the Navy, I learn something from them every day. Within the collections we have things like a trumpet that was recovered from the wreck of USS Houston, which was lost off the coast of Indonesia in 1942. A diver picked it up, shouldn't have, but he returned it to us and so it's in conservation. We have art that dates back to the beginning of the Navy actually and then particular artifacts that just, it's hard to choose a favorite. They're all my favorites, but there are some that just have particular power. We have a laptop that was in the Navy Command Center on 9-11 and so it's just a black laptop that's melted around the edges and coming apart a little bit, but that artifact, it does what artifacts are good for and that is carry so much emotional power connected to that event that is a recent event, which just highlights that the Navy makes history every day. It's a really important part of our history and speaking of that, Sina was talking earlier this week about maritime superiority. Can you tell me how our history plays a role in our maritime superiority? Well, I think the Navy's been doing maritime superiority for a long time and not just in the context of war either. The Navy, after the Second World War, for example, the Turkish ambassador to the United States died while he was in Washington and so the government shows to return his body to Turkey aboard the battleship Missouri, which then made a series of portcalls throughout the Eastern Mediterranean at a time when the Soviet Union was trying to expand its influence into that part of the world and so the Navy was able to reestablish the U.S. presence there at a time when it was really necessary using a ship to return the body and make that case. We've been doing humanitarian assistance for decades, for centuries, the Great White Fleet. As it was passing through the Mediterranean, there was an earthquake and the Great White Fleet was able to stop and provide humanitarian assistance sort of accidentally and of course we've been doing that ever since. But I think, for me, one of the most remarkable examples of the Navy providing maritime superiority was almost the entire year of 1942 because Pearl Harbor, of course, the attack on Pearl Harbor was in December of 1941, but within three months the Navy was supporting the raid on Tokyo and five months later engaged in battle with the Japanese in the middle of the Pacific and by the end of the summer, landing forces in Guadalcanal, landing forces in North Africa, just within eight months of Pearl Harbor, just a remarkable mobilization of people and force and planning and industry to begin the road back, to begin the road back towards victory. That also reminds us too that when bad things happen, you use the forces that you have at the beginning. You don't often have a lot of opportunity to say, okay, hold on for a little while, we need to build back up again. All of those forces that were doing all of that great work in 1942, the Navy owned in 1941 on Pearl Harbor Day and so it's important to be ready because you never know one of the great lessons of history is you never know when you're going to need the things that you've got. Absolutely and here at Sierra Space, all week we've been talking about our present and our future, but certainly our past plays a part as well. Can you tell me how history plays a part in shaping our future? Sure. I think the past is good for several things for people who are practicing naval officers or sailors or civilians. First of all, it helps us to remember what we've done right over the years. We've done a lot of things right. There have been a lot of examples of individual heroism and valor that are, of course, important to remember. It's also important in that it reminds us what we did wrong sometimes and how not to repeat those mistakes and that's important. Of course, we'd rather make our own mistakes and not repeat past ones. And then just the Navy is a part of the country. The Navy is a part of the United States and most people who are in the Navy come to the Navy and do a hitch, do four years, do their obligated service, and then return to civil life and become the veterans who provide such great support. And that's been happening for the entire history of the Navy. And so it's important for them to remember their service, to commemorate their service, and to think about it all as a part of the larger history of this institution, but also the country that we're a part of. All right, so for our final question for the Sea Airspace Expo, we've been talking about why history matters. And I know we've got a ton of people that are looking to join the Navy. We've also got sailors following these broadcasts. Can you tell me why history matters to our sailors and also to those that are interested in joining the Navy? Sure. I think it matters because a lot of the parts of being a sailor never change since the beginning of the Navy, you know, just the sea itself has not changed. A lot of the experience of being on a ship have never changed. But importantly, one of the things that hasn't changed is that you have a chance to make a difference both in your life, both to your country, but also to your shipmates and to your ship or to your squadron. One of the things that you pick up at boot camp or in your commissioning accession source or something is that you're a part of the team from the day you step on board. From the day a new sailor steps on board a ship, you're a part of the damage control team. If three months later something happens to your ship like USS Cole, if something happens to the ship, everybody aboard needs to be a part of the solution. And people wonder, naturally, everybody wonders if they'll be able to rise to that occasion. Now, I truly believe that every generation rises to the challenges that they've been given. And I truly believe that every sailor has the chance to do great things if they're called upon to do it. And that's the opportunity to look back and learn from the stories of people who have been through that as recently as Cole, but as far back as the Revolutionary War, reminds us, reminds everybody who serves that they're part of a large, long family that has been doing great things since the very beginning. And we can't be reminded of that often enough. Absolutely, sir. I couldn't have said it any better myself. So Dr. Thomas, thank you again so much for joining us. And to all of our Navy Facebook fans that have been following us all week, we really appreciate you following us. If you missed any of our broadcasts, be sure to check us out on the Navy Live blog. And hopefully, we'll see you again here next year.