 Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the academic convocation of the U.S. Naval War College. We are pleased to welcome a total of 525 students to include 308 in our intermediate-level college, from our armed services, civilian employees of the federal government, and military officers from around the globe. Please be seated for the academic procession led by the Marshal, Professor Charles Chadbourne, and Dr. Phil Han, Dean of Academics. Ladies and gentlemen, please rise for the arrival of the official party and remain standing for our National Anthem and the invocation. The National Anthem will be sung by musician second-class Daniel Weber from the Navy Band Northeast. Can you see what's so proud that the twilight's last gleaming? Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the parts we watched were so ga- Commander Richard Smothers, Command Chaplain Naval Station Newport, will deliver the invocation. I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? My help comes from the Lord who made heaven and earth. Almighty God, today we give you thanks. You have brought each student, instructor, and staff member here for a time of incredible opportunity and challenge, personally and professionally. As the demands of their studies increase, may each student receive renewed determination to learn, grant each instructor and staff member of the Naval Staff College and the College of Naval Command and Staff skill and joy in teaching. Lord, you have brought the members of Class 2022 from 60 nations and a rich variety of military and civilian services and agencies. Many are far from home and loved ones. May they experience each day your grace and peace while they are apart and bring them back together with renewed stories. Lord, bless those who will speak to us in this hour and give each of us ears to hear, eyes to see, hearts full of courage, hands and feet ready to serve and lead. This we pray in your holy and mighty name. Amen. Ladies and gentlemen, please be seated. On the stage this afternoon are Captain Christopher Rohrbach, U.S. Navy Chair Joint Military Operations Department, Dr. Kevin McCraney, Chair, Strategy and Policy Department, Dr. Derek Reverend, Chair, National Security Affairs Department, Dr. Peter Dutton, Interim Dean, Center for Naval Warfare Studies, Rear Admiral retired Michael White, Dean, College of Maritime Operational Warfare, Professor Walt Wilderman, Dean, College of Distance Education, Rear Admiral retired Dr. Margaret Klein, Dean, College of Leadership and Ethics, Professor Thomas Mangold, Dean of International Programs and Maritime Security Cooperation, Dr. Phil Han, Dean of Academics, Dr. Thomas Gibbons, Associate Provost, U.S. Naval War College, Rear Admiral Shoshana S. Chatfield, President of the U.S. Naval War College. Will the members of the Naval Staff College and College of Naval Command and Staff please rise? Commander Mark Yell, Director, Naval Staff College will present the 60 nations represented in this year's class. Albania, Algeria, Angola, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Benin, Brazil, Cameroon, Bulgaria, Colombia, Croatia, Djibouti, Dominican Republic, Egypt, Estonia, Gabon, India, Indonesia, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Kenya, Korea, Latvia, Lithuania, Madagascar, Malaysia, Maldives, Mexico, Montenegro, Morocco, the Netherlands, Nigeria, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Philippines, Poland, Romania, St. Kitsinevis, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Seychelles, Singapore, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Taiwan, Tanzania, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United States of America, and Vietnam. They will be joined in class by members of our College of Naval Command and Staff, which includes students from the United States Air Force, Air National Guard, Army, Army National Guard, Coast Guard, Marine Corps, Navy, Space Force, and civilians representing Central Intelligence Agency, Defense Intelligence Agency, Department of the U.S. Army, National Geospatial Intelligence Agency, Naval Sea Systems Command, Naval Surface Warfare Center, U.S. Department of State, U.S. Special Operations Command. Please be seated. On October 6, 1884, Secretary of the Navy William E. Chandler signed General Order 325, which began by stating, A college is hereby established for an advanced course of professional study for naval officers to be known as the Naval War College. The principal building on Coasters Harbor Island, Newport, Rhode Island, will be assigned to its use and is hereby transferred with the surrounding structures and the grounds immediately adjacent to the custody and control of the Bureau of Navigation for that purpose. The college will be under the immediate charge of an officer of the Navy, not below the grade of commander, to be known as the president of the Naval War College. He will be assisted in the performance of his duties by a faculty. A course of instruction embracing the higher branches of professional study will be arranged by a board, consisting of all members of the faculty and including the president, who will be the presiding officer of the board. The course of instruction will be open to all officers above the grade of Naval Cadet. Commodore Stephen B. Loose has been assigned to duty as president of the college. Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, it is a great honor to speak to you today and one that I highly appreciate. If you would permit me, I would like to say something about the aims and objects of this college. Although called a college, this institution differs from all other seats of learning. A moment's consideration will show why this must be so. As its name implies, the principal object of the college is the study of the science and art of war. Now, war is a very large and comprehensive subject and it would be the height of presumption on the part of the college to undertake to teach officers of mature years, any branch, whatever of their profession, even the most elementary. All that the college can do, all that the college professes to do, is to invite officers to come to it and to offer them every facility for pursuing the study of the highest branches of their profession. All here, faculty and class alike, occupy the same plane without distinction of age, rank, or assumption of superior attainments. All are pursuing one and the same end, the advancement of their profession. We speak habitually of the science and art of war. As a science, it recognizes certain general principles which are just as applicable today as they were in the time of the great Athenian Admiral Themistocles. A strict adherence to those principles has not always ensured victory, it is true. But a violation of them, either through ignorance or neglect, has almost invariably led to defeat. Military writers have been careful to warn us that although war in its most extended sense may be called a science, it is not an exact science. As an art, war is governed by rules which vary from age to age. Art, it has been well said, may be learned, but it cannot be taught. This is particularly true of the art of war. It cannot be taught. Accepting in so far as one may teach oneself, and it is to offer every officer the opportunity of teaching himself that the college doors are open. That war is the best school of war is one of those dangerous and delusive sayings that contain just enough truth to secure currency. He who waits for war to learn his profession often acquired his knowledge at a frightful cost of human life. Change. Continual, unremitting change is the law of the universe. Stagnation means atrophy and death. It is not enough for us to keep abreast of the times. This college must be in the very front rank of the advanced guard of progress to obtain some perception, however dim of the future we must study the past. This teaches us that the civilization we now enjoy was brought about by war. The proud position that we as a nation now occupy was rendered possible only by wars and future problems in the destiny of man will be worked out through the instrumentality of the sword. There is no escaping it. Now, we are no apologists for war, heaven forbid. We simply regard it from a common sense point of view as one of the many evils. Flesh is heir to war. War is a dreadful scourge we all admit. It is a relic of barbarism. We admit everything that can be said against war, but after all has been said, no student of history, however superficial, can deny that through that same dreadful scourge ultimate good has been brought about. It has been so in the past, and as far as human discernment can go, it must be so in the future. However, war may, in certain instances, be averted, but mark this well. It may be averted in one way, and one way only. And that is to be fully prepared for it, and that, ladies and gentlemen, is the meaning of this college. It is an instrumentality for the prevention of war by being prepared for it. To be prepared for war is the role of the naval strategist. To be in the right place at the right time and with adequate force means success by checkmating your adversary in the first few moves. Campaigns have been won without firing a shot, simply by skillful, strategic movements. It is true. It is the true mission of this college to study all the various problems of war as they may affect this country. Now it is quite unnecessary to explain to such an audience as I have the honor of addressing that this college itself has no power whatsoever to act. Nor does it have authority to formulate naval policy. Its aim is simply to invite officers to meet together to discuss questions pertaining to the highest branches of their profession, and to enable each one, according to his or her, own inclinations to prepare themselves for the highest and most responsible duties that can devolve upon a naval officer. One thing must be borne in mind. At the firing of the first gun proclaiming war, the so-called inspiration of genius may be trusted only when it is the result of long and careful study and reflection. If attendance here will serve in any degree to broaden an officer's views, extend their mental horizon on national and international question, and give them a just appreciation of the great variety and extent of the requirements of their profession, this college will not have existed in vain. Thank you and good luck. Thank you Admiral Luce. Now that we've been inspired by the still relevant remarks delivered in 1903 by our founding president, it gives me great pleasure to introduce our current president, Rear Admiral Shoshana S. Chatfield. Good afternoon. Oh, it's great to hear that. I would like to start by acknowledging today the presence of our CNO Distinguished International Fellows, Admiral Guillermo Barrera, Admiral Nirmal Verma, and Rear Admiral Lars Saunas. I'd like to also acknowledge and extend a warm welcome to our gracious and engaged Naval War College Foundation, represented here today by retired Captain George Lang. To all our distinguished guests, our interim Provost, Dr. Hickey, represented here today by Associate Provost Tom Gibbons, to our deans, our faculty, our families, and most of all to you, our students. Welcome to our convocation for academic year 2021-2022. I am honored to stand in front of you today as we celebrate this time-honored tradition of convocation and its ceremony to mark the beginning of your new academic chapter. Together, we are about to embark on a journey that will expand your knowledge and your understanding in a vast array of subjects, building on your various levels of expertise, experience, and previous scholarship. Our travels together will take place synchronously and asynchronously through virtual and in-person classroom experiences, through textbooks and your side reading, lectures, discussion boards, faculty feedback on papers, and more often than you would predict today through interactions with other students. This year will fortify our knowledge of history, which can prepare us to understand the context and challenges of tomorrow, and we will also consider important issues facing us in the present day and in the future. The diversity of the people in this room is one of our greatest advantages. We are all unique and represent our different services, professional backgrounds, races, ethnicities, and genders, and we all deserve to be acknowledged and appreciated for who we are and what each of us brings to this community. For each of you, the year apart from your home institution will allow you to focus on yourself, your study habits, your ability to perceive nuances in literature, policy, and doctrine, and most importantly, to understand and be informed by the perspectives of others. I'm going to ask you today to look after each other. During this year, an academic experience like this one may also be accompanied by the time and the headspace that will allow you to feel emotions that have been carefully compartmentalized for years. You may encounter triggers here that activate responses you are unfamiliar with or that you've struggled with for some time. The past 18 months have presented many complex situations to everyone in this room. Issues of social justice, equality, and fair treatment under the law, hatred, and extremism were brought to the forefront of our awareness in this time frame, through many examples, not the least of which was the murder of George Floyd. That has awakened our American society and societies globally to challenges faced by people and communities in their homes and in their work lives. This coming 20 year commemoration of the attacks on America and the ending of a 20 year military operation in Afghanistan has touched many of your lives. A global pandemic placing restrictions on our physical activities and perceptions of threats to individual freedoms have introduced friction into all levels of discourse. These and many other stressors can impact the quality of your lives and your mental health. Please do not suffer in silence. Our command master chief Joe Farney, our medical team here on the campus of HM1 Gordon and HM1 O'Brien, our dean of students, our faculty here, your course moderators are all here to support and enable you this year and to help direct you to resources should you need them. We are united together in our common goal for this academic year to expand our intellectual engagement with each other and the course material and to represent our countries, services, interagency and international partnerships. You are all peacekeepers and defenders of freedom around the world. Together, through inquisitive conversations, differing viewpoints and approaches to problem solving, you will become enlightened to new ways of thinking and you will begin and build on your enduring relationships. Your success will be measured less by what you accomplish in your time here and more by what you do when you leave here, whether it's as an action officer and advisor to a senior decision maker or an advocate for maritime peace and prosperity. The best way that we can preserve peace is by becoming experts in history, methods and execution of war. You will be reminded of this every day as you pass through the Stansfield Turner Memorial Walkway from the quarter deck. Since wars begin in the minds of men, it is in the minds of men that defenses of peace must be constructed. This college and our talented staff and faculty is informed by the vision of the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff. Our work is to facilitate your journey as each of you further develop into strategically minded operators and joint war fighters capable of thinking critically and creatively to inform national strategy, apply military power and conduct globally integrated operations under conditions of disruptive change. You are being challenged by our maritime service chiefs to act with urgency to integrate and modernize our forces as we prepare for the challenges ahead. The boldness of our actions must match the magnitude of the moment. The security of our nation depends on our ability to maintain advantage at sea. I challenge you to examine what our world class faculty offers you and to ask you to meet this academic year with determination to complete and accomplish the task at hand. It will not be easy. But your performance here sets the tone for your future of solving adaptive challenges where there are no known solutions or too many possible solutions with no clear path. I encourage you to engage in stimulating conversations with your peers to learn new ways of approaching things. Deliberately question your own assumptions. Respectfully listen to one another. Keep an open mind and do not be afraid to explore new ways of framing problems and considering others proposed solutions. Mark Twain wrote, History does not repeat itself, but it rhymes. Studying history deeply at the graduate level helps apply historical insights to current challenges. Studying and understanding the past assists in guiding our decisions in the future. Here in this academic environment, you will have that opportunity of time and space to consider what was and what might have been. You are the future commanders, future diplomats, future advisors, future managers and future lawmakers. Through a variety of modes of learning, you will grow as leaders, learning new ways to build and develop trust, instill teams with confidence and operate across joint forces. To integrate efforts from allies and partners. As you embark on this year's course of study, be mindful that today's students are tomorrow's leaders. What will your paths look like to those who follow you? What lessons will you pass on to prevent future conflict? My hope is that you will become skilled integrators that see the world through a lens of ethical leadership. I envision you as capable operators who harness wisdom from your time here and continuously integrate it with the environment around you to initiate changes that have a substantial impact on the world in which we live. Your efforts now will serve to protect people in times of war and promote a path to peace for all future generations. Nelson Mandela in a visit to Madison Park High School in Boston said education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world. This is why you are here because education is a force multiplier. You, the future alumni of the United States Naval War College will be honing your abilities to think critically and creatively through global integrated operations and fight under conditions of disruptive change. And I challenge you to maximize this force multiplier and research war in all of its facets and all its many domains, paying special attention to the study of deterrence, joint war fighting, war termination, diplomacy, reconciliation, advocacy, inclusion, tolerance, and even hope. I entrust each of you at the end of your own time here with the responsibility to influence the future be it through policy strategy or operations to recognize and interpret change and to work to ensure enduring peace for all nations. We at the United States Naval War College are committed to educating and developing leaders who will go on to support your organizations and services in an era of great power competition while strengthening global maritime partnerships. Your individual roles and missions will vary, but you will all be charged the same responsibility to promote ethical leadership across the force. While the U.S. Naval War College holds a significant place in our U.S. history, it is up to each of us to carve out its relevance in our own lives. We represent many nations bound by a commitment of public service and a deep tradition of understanding the importance of free and open commerce and communication on the seas. We come from many countries with diverse backgrounds and represent a multitude of uniforms, yet we will come away from this year with shared goals and common purpose. Your achievements and marks on history will be studied by generations to come. They will celebrate your triumphs. They will learn from your mistakes, and they will follow your examples of ethical leadership. Prime Minister Winston Churchill stated success is not final. Failure is not fatal. It is the courage to continue that counts. Over the next year, you will grow in ways you may not have thought possible. You will leave this college with the courage to be bold, unafraid of change, strengthened by the knowledge of centuries of study, ready to rise to the challenges that each of you will face in the future. And you are in good hands. Our faculty hail from across the military, academia, government and private industry. They will challenge your learning style and push your intellectual capacity in order to prepare you for the future. They will provide you with cutting edge strategic and operational research, concepts, plans and technologies. They will facilitate your outreach, enhance your interoperability and enable you to foster that network of lifelong friends. I know that each of you draws strength from your dedicated family and your most trusted friends. Each of you students have families who have been there for you in your careers and now prepare with you for this chapter. Appreciate them, honor them, love them and be gracious with them. We've all had a difficult year. For those of you on this journey who are not supported by a traditional family unit, I know how hard it is sometimes to be a single sailor, a single marine, a single guardian, coast guardsman, soldier. You have found a way to make meaning of your service and you have worked hard to build supportive networks and friendships that are sometimes not acknowledged. And I want you to know that we appreciate your efforts and those networks to our spouses, significant others, children and supportive friends of our service members. I know that it is never easy to sacrifice time away from your loved one. While I am grateful for you that there will be no deployments in the coming year, I know that it will still be challenging to share your service member in the days, evenings and sometimes late nights ahead. Your efforts are so very meaningful to your loved one and to our global security and our nation. I know we hear it often, but I want to tell you with heartfelt sincerity, thank you for who you are and what you bring to this year. As the 57th President of the United States Naval War College, it is my distinct honor and it is my duty to declare the 2021-2022 academic year officially in session. Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, please rise for the benediction and the departure of the official party. Let us pray. Eternal Father, as this convocation comes to an end, we feel the anticipation of things to come. May every conversation, every assignment, every event these students and instructors share become a mighty stream of incredible learning and service to others on land, sea, in the air, in space and beyond. Keep us ever mindful of your good purposes, your presence, power, wisdom and goodness throughout this year, for we humbly and confidently ask all these blessings in your mighty name we pray. Ladies and gentlemen, this concludes our ceremony. Thank you for joining us this afternoon.