 This is Assistant Secretary of the Navy, Juan Garcia, coming to you from the Pentagon. The Office of Civilian Human Resources, or OCHR, would like to provide an updated message to the Navy and Marine Corps civilian workforce in a short video that will be placed on the OCHR and Navy.Mail websites. The Don civilian employees play a critical role in keeping the Navy and the Marine Corps team operating forward to protect American interests around the world. The Don civilian workforce is among the most technologically savvy and innovative civilian workforces across the globe. Dedicated to public service, serving the nation and America's warfighting, ensuring 24-7 rapid response, helping to solve fleet issues, developing and manufacturing critical specialty ordnance systems, repairing and maintaining nuclear submarines and ships, and researching and inventing game-changing technology and equipment. The Don civilians have been vital in sustaining the demanding operational tempo of the last decade, the longest sustained combat operations in American history. The Don civilians operated more than 558 occupations across the globe and in every state. Veterans to include wounded warriors and disabled veterans comprise more than 50 percent of the Don civilian workforce. Our civilians manage our $155 billion operations for the Don. More than half of the Don civilians are engineers, world-class scientists and researchers, logisticians, mathematicians, acquisition professionals, and information technology specialists. Another 7,000 serve in the medical community. For the fifth consecutive year, the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers ranked the Navy's patent portfolio the best in the world, ranked up against all other government agencies. The past several years have been challenging. Civilian employees and their families faced unprecedented fiscal challenges. Pay freezes, furloughs, hiring freezes, a government shutdown, and most dramatically, the tragedy at the Washington Navy Yard. In fiscal year 2013, hiring freeze also reduced our ability to hire wounded warriors and veterans by approximately one-third. We have, and will continue to work through these issues to mitigate as much future risk as possible to the workforce, their families, and the support of the warfighter. Department of the Navy's civilian force is a critical piece of the puzzle to the overall mission of our department. We appreciate your service and understand that without the dedication of our civilian workforce, our mission would not be able to be accomplished. Thank you, and we'll see you in the fleet.