 The chief of chaplains for Admiral Margaret, Margaret Kibben will now offer the invocation. Will you pray with me, Almighty God, for whom one hundred years are but a blink of an eye, and every day a precious gift of your own creation? Thank you. Thank you for the significance of this day as we reflect on one hundred years of the office of the chief of naval operations. We are extremely grateful for the grace of your divine guidance and the certainty of your own private counsel given to Admiral William Benson and to all thirty men who have worn the title. We ask now that as we embark on another century of service that each CNO from this time forth prove worthy of the mantle of responsibility you have placed on their shoulders. Continue to endow those who step into the Sustained Office to lead with your wisdom that they would see beyond the limited scope of daily decisions to the future you have gained for our nation. And grant those who continue to serve America's Navy to honor the authority you have placed before us that with willingness and enthusiasm we will remain stalwart in our support for our leadership and dedicated to the security and well-being of our country and the steadfast protection of the freedom of its citizens. We ask then your blessing over this day and over our futures and we pray your grace over our endeavors. It's in the strength of your name we pray. Amen. Please be seated. Secretary Mavis, Admiral Greener, General Dumford, General Graves, Admiral Zunkoff, Admiral Howard, Admiral Holloway, distinguished guests, shipmates, family, and friends. Good morning and welcome to the commemoration of the centennial anniversary of the Office of Chief of Naval Operations and the Oknav staff. I am Chief Courtney Williams and I will be your master of ceremonies today. The Office of the Chief of Naval Operations and staff was established as a statutory position on 11 May 1915 as a replacement to the position of aid for naval operations. The CNO reports directly to the Secretary of the Navy for the command, utilization of resources, and operating efficiency of the operating forces of the Navy and of the Navy's shore activities assigned by the Secretary. By the authority of the Secretary of the Navy, the CNO also designates naval personnel and naval resources to the commanders of unified combatant commands. The CNO is also a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and is a Naval Advisor to the National Security Council, the Homeland Security Council, the Secretary of Defense, and the President. Both strike eight values have been completed. At this time it is my pleasure to introduce the 75th Secretary of the Navy, the Honorable Ray Mavis. Thank you all for being here this morning. CNO, as I told Arlene earlier, you look remarkably good for a hundred. And we recognized every distinguished guest, but I want to recognize one in particular. And that's the Commandant of the Marine Corps. Commandants ought to become Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, which is great for the country. But it's going to leave big shoes to fill with the Navy Marine Corps team. For God's sake, commandant. Now you, if you've listened to any of my speeches, and if you have my apologies, you'll hear me say it a lot. But especially on the day where we're celebrating our rich history surrounded by stories of our beginnings, and it bears repeated. When our founders were putting together the Constitution, they gave Congress the authority to raise an argument. But they mandated Congress to maintain the Navy. And that not-so-subtle difference lies exactly what makes America's Navy and Marine Corps so vital to our nation's security. It's our presence to be where it counts, when it counts. And we uniquely provide that presence, around the globe and around the clock. Insurance stability, deterring adversaries, providing the nation's leaders with options in times of crisis. The Navy and Marine Corps are America's away team, because sailors and marines deploy equally in times of peace and war. They are not only in the right place at the right time, but in the right place all the time. We get on the station faster, we stay longer, we can bring whatever we need with us, and we don't have to ask anyone's permission to get the job done. But what you see today in this Navy and Marine Corps, is everything from our ability to respond to the President's call for strikes against ISIS, to being on station for ballistic missile defense in the Pacific and in Europe, is begun by our strong leaders working every day to ensure the fleet is ready to answer the nation's call. Now, Admiral Greener is going to talk to you about the story of how the position of CNO came to be 100 years ago. It came under the longest serving of my predecessors, Josephus Daniels. So I'm not going to step on the CNO's history about that, but I do have one aside about Josephus Daniels. While the establishment of the office of CNO was undoubtedly one of his greatest achievements, he's far better remembered for taking alcohol away from the U.S. Navy. And after it was replaced with coffee, sailors would various sarcastic say, let's go get a cup of jelly, which is where that expression came from. I know that Admiral Greener and I are curious, although we'll never know what they'll be saying about us 100 years from now. I'll add a more serious comment. The presence we provide right now requires us to have sailors, Marines, and platformers that are ready to perform missions at any moment. And that's what the CNO makes happen. If you have been in the Navy as I was 45 years ago, the one name you never forget is the CNO that you serve on. And it's pretty incredible if you stop and think about how far our Navy has gone in 100 years because of the partnership between the office of the Chief of Naval Operations and the Secretary of the Navy's office. It's part of the genius of our system that civilian and military leadership are so closely connected. I've been lucky enough to work with two remarkable CNO's, Admiral Gary Ruffin and Admiral John Greener. I've learned so much from both of them as my predecessors did from their CNO's about what it takes to keep those big gray hauls on the horizon. I've been lucky to work with these extraordinary individuals, and the nation has been lucky to have them in this century-old position. And to John Greener, just personally, I cannot imagine a better CNO. I cannot imagine someone more dedicated to the service of his country and more dedicated to the future of the Navy and the Marines and America. So let me take this great day, the 100th anniversary of the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations and the Navy's staff, to say thank you and happy anniversary to the sterling leadership we have here today and to a legacy of officers who are instrumental in ensuring that we have the most advanced and powerful expeditionary force the world has ever seen. Super force, always courageous. It is now my honor to introduce the 30th Chief of Naval Operations, Admiral Jonathan Greener. Good morning, Mr. Secretary. Thank you very much for those kind words. I don't know if they're going to say about us either, but starting out with 10 sub-ray, that's not so bad for starters. That's a little moniker that the folks up in New England, in particular, Congressman Courtney referred to the Secretary of the Block of Submarines that we built recently. And so he is known as Two-Sub Joe, so we've extended that to 10 sub-ray. So how do you get what I'm saying? Go with me on this way. This is the first in a series of events as we commemorate the 100th anniversary, not only of the Office or the person of the Chief of Naval Operations, but in the Office of Op-Nav. And Admiral Holloway, I want to thank you so much for being here today. When I took the watch, of course I started reading up on my predecessors, and I find that your tenure was extraordinary as we were changing things from a Vietnam War and we were taking on a very, very amazing challenge, the Soviet Union. And the changes that you put in place, your tenure, during your tenure as the Chief of Naval Operations, are with us today. Now thank you very much, not only for your dedication then, but for your solid mentorship when we've had conversations. And thank you for being here today. It's very, very, very important to me. To my shipmates, Frank, thanks for coming today, General Grouse. It's very nice of you to be here today. And of course, Joe, thank you so much for being a great shipmate during that time. And Paul, thank you so much, our Sea Service leaders, for having you here today. Ladies and gentlemen, historians, I appreciate you being here today. And what you've done during my tenure and what you'll do to capture the heritage and the legacy of the Chief Naval Operations and others is we're surrounded here by relics of the past. We have reminders of change all around here. Ships, weapons, technology, grooming standards. And if you're not sure about grooming standards, go back and look at the USS Little Rock. Some time ago, look at Lieutenant J. G. Mabus. You'll get what I mean. I'll leave it at that. You can come to your own conclusion. But it all reminds us of how we got here. And before 1915, what the Secretary of the Navy had was four uniformed, they were called AIDS then, to the Secretary of the Navy. And they coordinated the work of the various bureaus that worked underneath the office for the Secretary of the Navy. But there was a desire for a greater understanding of warfighting and for an ethicist on warfighting that needed to come up. They needed more military expertise to support the civilian leadership and strengthen that team there. And they realized that the Department of the Navy was not just about industrial activity. And we see some of that today. We have to remind ourselves about what we're really about. I view us warfighting first. So at that time, 1915, World War I was sort of looming out there. The nation was preparing for war and it needed to be ready for an event that was perhaps inevitable. And it was critical that they had a single uniformed advisor near the top, somewhat empowered and appropriate, and had appropriate authority. So the Congress took action after put in place by some uniformed people who wrote this up for the Congress. And in 1915, the Naval Appropriations Bill directed the creation of the Chief of Naval Operations position to serve under the direction of the Secretary of the Navy with statutory responsibility and authority of war plans, readiness, operations of the fleet. Kind of similar to it today. The office has played major roles ever since and we know that. For example, Admiral Benson really oversaw the very first, you know, oversaw the larger shipbuilding program in history at that time and that was the expansion of our Navy in preparation for World War I. Admiral Everly integrated air power into the fleet. Admiral Stark prepared to fight what became the two-ocean war in World War II. Admiral King guided us through the Second World War as the Chief of Naval Operations. Admiral Arleigh Burke, after World War II, introduced nuclear power in what we call today the sea-based strategic deterrent. And then Admiral Anderson helped enable the quarantine during the Cuban Peninsula crisis, a very key part of our naval history. After the Vietnam War, Admiral Holloway overcame the post-Vietnam shortages that we had and, as I mentioned before, helped us address what was a significant threat at the time, the Soviet Union. To throw out all of these folks in the past, we modernized, we planned, and we prepared for war as necessary. But the Sianon hasn't done it alone. He has an Oknav team, as I have an Oknav team, represented by some of the folks here behind you today. When it all started, the CNO had three subordinates. So that was the Oknav staff. And it wasn't enough, clearly. And in 1916, there was legislation to remedy this. And it said, enlarge the staff to, quote, no less than 15. Well, we've taken that to heart. We definitely have, we don't have less than 15. So what is Oknav today? Well, let's just, it's safe to say we won't drop below that 15 mandate anytime in the future. But the office today defines the requirements for the future fleet, and it does it pretty darn well. It resources for production, and it knows that its job is to organize, train, and equip. And I'm very proud to lead the Oknav staff today. And what you do today is important, and the fleet knows that you are here for them. It helps us be ready for war. So today is just the first event to mark this 100th commemoration. And I thank you for taking the time to mark the event with us to preserve or serve our heritage, and to celebrate our legacy. Thank you very much.