 Good morning ladies and gentlemen. On behalf of the commanding officer, Captain Alcorn, welcome to the graduation ceremony for Officer Candidate School, Class 10, Tech 23. Over the past 13 weeks, the class team has been responsible for developing today's graduates to serve as professional naval officers worthy of special trust and confidence. The 10, Tech 23, Class 10 includes Class Officer Lieutenant Steinke, Class Officer Lieutenant Geraldi, Class Recruit Division Commander, Chief Gardunio, and Class Drill Instructor, Staff Sergeant Magical. Guests are encouraged to take photographs from the seating area at any time during the ceremony, except during the playing of the National Anthem. The order of events for today's ceremony is as follows. At 1000, Captain Alcorn, commanding officer, officer training command Newport, United States Navy, will arrive. The guest of honor is Rear Admiral Edward Cashman, United States Navy, retired Dean, College of Maritime Operational Warfare. Guests will be asked to rise for the arrival of the official party and remain standing for the playing of the National Anthem and invocation. The commanding officer and guest of honor will address the graduating class and administer the oath of office. The graduates will then be recognized through their presentation of their commission by the commanding officer and guest of honor. Guests will be asked to rise for the playing of the service songs and the final dismissal. Ladies and gentlemen, please rise for the arrival of the official party and remain standing for the National Anthem and invocation. Officer Training Command Newport arriving, but will now offer the invocation. Let us pray, O heavenly king, the comforter in spirit of truth, who art in all places and fills all things. Treasury of good things and giver of life, we give you thanks for this day of celebration. We are thankful for the life you have given us, the parents who have loved and nourished us, and the numerous friends and family members who have encouraged us on the journey of life and helped each one to arrive at this hour. We give thanks for the dedicated staff here at Officer Training Command, who helped develop each one of these sailors into our newest naval officers. Vice Admiral Stockdale wrote, character is probably more important than knowledge. We ask that you give each one of these officers the courage to be leaders of impeccable character, models of integrity, and give them the strength they will need to weather the rough seas of leadership. May they hold themselves accountable each day, staying true to the values that guide them. Today they follow in the wake of the greatest naval leaders of history, selfless men and women of character who fought for the freedoms that make our country great. May they continue to carry on that legacy as they head to the fleet. Be with us today and forever. Amen. Ladies and gentlemen, please be seated. Ladies and gentlemen, Captain Ever M. Alcorn, commanding officer, officer training command Newport. Ladies and gentlemen, Dean Cashman, Captain Banke, Captain Conner, Captain Parente, distinguished guests, veterans, officer training command Newport staff, family members and friends, and most importantly, the soon-to-be commissioned officers of Class 10, TAC 2-3. Good morning. I'm excited to welcome our 49 newest graduates into one of the most challenging and fulfilling careers, that of naval officer. To the family and friends joining us, I applaud you for your great work you did preparing these individuals. Your love, support and encouragement have produced the impressive individuals seated here. It has enabled them to make sound choices. We are grateful to these graduates for their choice to serve. They could not have gotten to this point without the careful guidance and support of family and friends. On behalf of the Navy and a grateful nation, please accept my most sincere thank you to the graduates here today. As commanding officer, officer training command, I am proud of each and every one of you. You all had many options other than to serve your country, yet you chose this path. I thank you for your patriotism and your willingness to serve. I assure you that a life of service holds many rewards and will bring you great fulfillment. You have completed rigorous military, academic and physical training. You've overcome obstacles, nothing was handed to you except opportunity. Opportunity to make something more of yourself, to learn, to grow and to lead. You've seized that opportunity and today you reap its rewards. I congratulate each and every one of you for the significant and memorable achievement. It's now time to embrace a new opportunity to lead sailors in the fleet. In the years ahead, your knowledge and leadership skills will be tested often. You'll be standing watch and working alongside fellow officers and sailors around the world, around the clock. Know that you're going to be doing significant and meaningful work for our country. Work hard. Learn the warfare and professional skills of your designator. Strive to be the best and give your country a hundred percent effort because nothing else will suffice. The nation and the Navy expect the best from you, the highest standards of personal and professional conduct, excellence in leadership and a strict adherence to the Navy's core values, honor, courage and commitment. I applaud your accomplishments and perseverance. You're about to embark on a great adventure, one in which I hope you find both professional success and personal fulfillment. It will be unlike any job you have ever had. And regardless of how long you serve our nation, it will most assuredly be a time of your life upon which you will look back with much pride and satisfaction. Congratulations to each and every one of you. I wish you fair winds and following seas. It is my honor and privilege this morning to introduce you to our guest of honor, Rear Admiral Edward Cashman, United States Navy Retired, Dean, College of Maritime Operation Warfare at the U.S. Naval War College. Dean Cashman is a native of Brockton, Massachusetts, and a graduate of MIT in Cambridge where he received a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering. He holds a Master of Science in Nuclear Engineering from the University of Maryland and a Master of Arts in National Security Studies from the Naval War College. He's also a fellow at the CNO Strategic Studies Group here in Newport, Rhode Island. At sea, he commanded the USS Mustang DDG-89, operating as part of the four deployed naval forces from Yakuza, Japan. He also commanded the Storia Squadron 50, four deployed in Manama, Bahrain. As Deseron 50, he commanded Task Force 55 under US Fifth Fleet and served as Deputy Commander, Coalition Task Force 152 as part of the combined maritime force operating in the Arabian Gulf. Earlier sea assignments include Main Propulsion Assistant USS Arkansas, Operations Officer USS Merrill, Main Propulsion Assistant USS John C. Stennis, Executive Officer USS Valley Forge, and Deputy Operations Officer Carrier Strike Group III. A shore, tours included in the Pacific Fleet Nuclear Propulsion Examining Board, the Joint Staff Strategic Claims and Policy Directorate, and the Future Operations Directorate at US Fifth Fleet. Following Command of Deseron 50, he served as Chief of Staff and Maritime Operations Center, Director at US Naval Forces Central Command. Flag Officer Tours included Director Joint Integrated Air and Missile Defense Organization, Commander Joint Task Force Guantanamo, and Commander Standing NATO Maritime Group I. After retiring in 2020, he's worked as a consultant in Saudi Arabia and he joined the Naval War College as Dean of the College of Maritime Operational Warfare in May of 2022. His leadership is essential to the continued success of the world's greatest Navy. We are privileged to have him here with us today to share his thoughts. Ladies and gentlemen, please join me and welcome our guest of honor today, Edward Cashman. Captain Alcorn, thank you very much for inviting me to join you today. Officer Candidate School, Class 1023, congratulations as you begin your service as commissioned officers in the United States Navy. Friends, family members, OCS staff, thanks very much for giving me the opportunity to join you today. I'll take just a few minutes to let you know why I think the work, the service you are about to embark on is so important. I've found over time that when people understand the why, why their time, their sacrifice, their work is important, there's nothing that they can't accomplish. As you swear the oath of office and as you administer that oath to others in the future, it's important to understand what you're swearing to, what commitment you're making. We make our oath not to a person or a commander or even a government, but to the Constitution of the United States. Article 1, Section 8 of the Constitution says Congress shall have the power to provide and maintain a Navy, and Congress did that. Title 10 of the U.S. Code states, the Navy shall be organized, trained, and equipped primarily for prompt and sustained combat incident to operations at sea. It is responsible for the preparation of naval forces necessary for the effective prosecution of war. Pretty dry stuff. Our first president was much more eloquent and inspiring when in a letter to Lafayette he said, it follows then as certain as night succeeds the day that without a decisive naval force we can do nothing definitive and with it everything honorable and glorious. For almost 250 years people have chosen to serve the nation in the Navy. I'll come back to that word to serve in a minute. They have established an honorable and glorious tradition. Jones indicator, Perian Farragut, Nimitz, and Spruance. Countless others. Today you are joining that tradition and you are assuming responsibility for preserving and earning that heritage. Two words, service and responsibility. We often hear from people from family members and friends about their sons and daughters or brothers and sisters, cousins being quote in the service. We older folks are sometimes asked were you quote in the service. I think this is more meaningful than we think because you are embarking on a career of service, service to the nation and the Navy, service to the Constitution and our values, and most importantly service to the people you will lead. Make no mistake, leadership is service. Many of you will rise through positions of increasing complexity, authority and responsibility, but you will maintain a servant. You will remain a servant to the people entrusted to you by the nation and the Navy. Those young men and women, those sailors who have also volunteered to serve the nation, far from home in dangerous circumstances, potentially to be asked to risk everything, even their lives to fulfill their oaths, they will shortly be your responsibility. One definition of responsibility is the state or fact of having a duty to deal with something or having control over someone. Those young people will put their trust in you, they will follow your orders and directives, they will figure out ways to get the mission done. Always remember you serve them. You owe them your loyalty, your dedication, your hard work, your honesty and integrity. Don't try to be asked them, you can't and it will only take them off if you try. Treat them with respect and generally understand that leadership is service, even when the mission requires that you ask them for long hours, months away from family and loved ones, challenges to achieve some seemingly impossible task or to make great sacrifices, they will move mountains for you and it will be the greatest honor of your life to serve with them. So lead them well with confidence and humility, with courage and integrity, they are the most important national assets you will be entrusted with. There are challenges ahead, long nights, difficult trials, great successes and some failures, nothing worthwhile is ever easy, but stay positive, keep working and never give up. When you can, stop and take a moment to take pride in what you've done and what you're doing. To this day I can remember more than 30 years ago, not long after I left this very same hall, a long walk down a rainy and windswept pier at about two o'clock in the morning. I'd gotten up from a warm bed, left my home and my wife and headed into my ship. I had duty, I had watches, an engineering officer of the watch for a reactor startup that morning. I remember being cold and wet and tired and then I remember thinking I'm going into work to start up my ship's nuclear reactor. This is pretty darn cool, not a lot of people get to do this. So take a moment from time to time and enjoy a sense of justifiable pride in the work that you do and the responsibilities that you hold without losing that essential humility. In his great book, Man's Search for Meaning, Victor Frankel notes that life is not primarily a quest for pleasure or a quest for power but a quest for meaning. Aside from being an old and funny Monty Python movie, what is the meaning of life? All around us these days we can see unhappy, the unhappiness of unfortunate people who have no meaning in their lives. Frankel points out that it is not life that owes us an answer to this question but rather our individual responsibility, our responsibility to our lives to decide what that purpose is and then to take action to give meaning to our lives. These decisions, these actions can come in many forms, commitments to community, to faith, to causes and family. Your service to the Navy and the nation can be part of that answer, part of the answer to how you choose to give meaning to your life and therefore part of the way you find happiness. I sincerely wish this for all of you. Captain Alcorn to you and your fantastic team I'd like to say thank you. To all the people who worked so hard and taught, supported and mentored these graduates so that they are prepared to go out and take on the nation's challenges. Thanks for your dedication and professionalism. The work you do every day is incredibly important. You're helping to build the future of our Navy. Thank you. To the families and friends of today's graduates, thanks very much for being here and the support you provided to these young people to get them here. A career of service is not possible without the support and assistance of family and friends. Those who bear the brunt of long deployments, frequent moves, uncertainty and stress. Thanks for all you've done and all you will do in the coming years. I can tell you that these graduates are joining the greatest Navy not just in the world but in the history of the world. They will have the best training and preparation, the finest equipment and they will lead the finest young people our nation has to offer, United States Navy sailors. Their leaders will challenge them and mentor them. They will set incredibly high standards for performance and professionalism and they'll help these young people achieve more than even they think they're capable of. I'll wrap up where I began. Congratulations to the graduates of class 10-23. Thank you for the choices you've made to work in service to our Navy and our nation. This is an incredibly important work at a critical time in our nation's history. The world is becoming more dangerous again. There are real challenges growing again to the security of the United States, our allies and the international order instituted in the middle of the last century and which survived the Cold War. Every person of good conscience sincerely hopes for peaceful resolution to the increasingly complex challenges being faced by our nation. Coming full circle back to our first president in his first address to Congress, he said to be prepared for war is one of the most effectual means of preserving the peace. This is now your task. President Lincoln in his second State of the Union address said the dogmas of the quiet past are inadequate to the stormy present. The occasion is piled high with difficulty and we must rise with the occasion. We cannot escape history. We'll be remembered in spite of ourselves. The fiery trial through which we pass will light us down in honor or dishonor to the last generation. We shall nobly so save or meanly lose the last best hope of earth. You are inheriting a glorious tradition, a legacy passed down to us and now to you by generations of flawed and fallible human beings as we all are but who saw and did their service to the nation and its ideals. That tradition is now in your hands. Congratulations, good luck and may you have fair winds and following seas. The graduating class will now receive the oath of office. Would all military personnel in uniform please come to the position of attention on zero attack through three raise your right hand. I state your name having been appointed an officer in the United States Navy. Do hereby accept such appointment and do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies foreign and domestic that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same that I take this obligation freely without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter so help me God. Congratulations. Ladies and gentlemen, please be seated. Distinguished graduates assembled will now be recognized by the commanding officer and guest of honor for their achievements while undergoing training here at officer training command Newport. Anson Stogen has been awarded the Commander Jack Levitt leadership award having been chosen by her peers as the candidate who most inspired her class and personifies the highest standards of personal example sound management practice and moral responsibility. Anson Stogen has been designated as a student naval aviator and has been assigned to naval introductory flight evaluation in Pensacola, Florida. Anson Fitzgerald has been awarded the Lieutenant Thomas Edie honor award for achieving the highest average in academics military training and physical fitness. Anson Fitzgerald has been designated as a student naval aviator and has been assigned to naval introductory flight evaluation in Pensacola, Florida. Anson Fitzgerald is a distinguished naval graduate. Anson Paul has been awarded the Rear Admiral Stephen B. Loose academics award for obtaining the highest academic average while attending officer candidate school. Anson Paul has been designated as a student naval flight officer and has been assigned to naval introductory flight evaluation in Pensacola, Florida. Anson Rosenberg has been awarded the Chapel Clardy United States Marine Corps physical fitness award for earning the highest overall grade in physical fitness. The award is presented by the Marine Corps League. Anson Rosenberg has been designated as a surface warfare officer and has been assigned to DDG-101 USS Gridley home ported in Everett, Washington. We will now recognize the remaining graduates. Anson Cheaton has been a designated as a surface warfare officer and has been assigned to DDG-57 USS Mishter home ported in Norfolk, Virginia. Anson Fitzgerald has been designated as a surface warfare officer and has been assigned to LPD-22 USS San Diego home ported in Sasebo, Japan. Anson Rudisil has been designated as a student naval flight officer and has been assigned to naval introductory flight evaluation in Pensacola, Florida. Anson Samones has been designated as a surface warfare officer and has been assigned to DDG-67 USS Cole home ported in Norfolk, Virginia. Anson Manor has been designated as a student naval aviator and has been assigned to naval introductory flight evaluation in Pensacola, Florida. Anson Propst has been designated as a nuclear surface warfare officer and has been assigned to CG-64 USS Gettysburg home ported in Norfolk, Virginia. Anson Ruder has been designated as a surface warfare officer and has been assigned to CG-60 USS Normandy home ported in Norfolk, Virginia. Anson Otridanzo has been designated as a supply officer and has been assigned to Navy supply core school in Newport, Rhode Island. Anson Teo has been designated as a civil engineer core officer and has been assigned to Amphibious Construction Battalion 1 in Coronado, California. Anson Fanyarsveld has been designated as a supply officer and has been assigned to the Navy supply core school in Newport, Rhode Island. Anson Balayo has been designated as a supply officer and has been assigned to the Navy supply core school in Newport, Rhode Island. Anson Kaplet has been designated as a surface warfare officer and has been assigned to DDG-89 USS Mustang home ported in San Diego, California. Anson Carmona has been designated as a student naval aviator and has been assigned to naval introductory flight evaluation in Pensacola, Florida. Anson Chang has been designated as a nuclear submarine officer and has been assigned to Naval Nuclear Power School in Charleston, South Carolina. Anson Cho has been designated as a surface warfare officer and has been assigned to DDG-112 USS Michael Murphy home ported in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Anson Cohen-Casado has been designated as an intelligence officer and has been assigned to Information Warfare Training Command in Virginia Beach, Virginia. Anson Danko has been designated as a supply officer and has been assigned to the Navy supply core school in Newport, Rhode Island. Anson Del Fiero has been designated as a surface warfare officer and has been assigned to DDG-115 USS Rafael Peralta home ported in Yacuzco, Japan. Anson Dobbins has been designated as a student naval aviator and has been assigned to naval introductory flight evaluation in Pensacola, Florida. Anson Irwin has been designated as an information professional officer and has been assigned to Information Warfare Training Command in Virginia Beach, Virginia. Anson Fletcher has been designated as a student naval aviator and has been assigned to Naval introductory flight evaluation in Pensacola, Florida. Anson Gray has been designated as a supply officer and has been assigned to the Navy supply core school in Newport, Rhode Island. Warren Officer Hernandez has been designated as a student aerial vehicle pilot and has been assigned to Naval introductory flight evaluation in Pensacola, Florida. Anson Hicks has been designated as a nuclear submarine officer and has been assigned to Naval nuclear power school in Charleston, South Carolina. Anson Joe has been designated as a student naval flight officer and has been assigned to Naval introductory flight evaluation in Pensacola, Florida. Anson Joe is a distinguished naval graduate. Anson Jolly has been designated as a nuclear surface warfare officer and has been assigned to DDG 68 USS the Sullivan's home ported in Mayport, Florida. Anson Kenner has been designated as a supply officer and has been assigned to Navy supply core school in Newport, Rhode Island. Anson Kenner is a distinguished naval graduate. Anson Kent has been designated as a surface warfare officer and has been assigned to DDG 54 USS Curtis Wilbur home ported in San Diego, California. Anson Kimmel has been designated as a surface warfare officer and has been assigned to LPD 22 USS San Diego home ported in Sasebo, Japan. Anson Cruz has been designated as a supply officer and has been assigned to the Navy supply core school in Newport, Rhode Island. Anson Cruz is a distinguished naval graduate. Anson Crussell has been designated as a nuclear submarine officer and has been assigned to Naval nuclear power school in Charleston, South Carolina. Anson Luyando Flusa has been designated as a surface warfare oceanography officer and has been assigned to LHA 7 USS Tripoli home ported in San Diego, California. Anson Mitchell has been designated as a surface warfare officer and has been assigned to DDG 80 USS Roosevelt home ported in Rota, Spain. Anson Mitchell is a distinguished naval graduate. Anson Revet has been designated as a surface warfare officer and has been assigned to LPD 18 USS New Orleans home ported in Sasebo, Japan. Anson Rios has been designated as a surface warfare officer and has been assigned to DDG 81 USS Winston S Churchill home ported in Mayport, Florida. Anson Slatcher has been designated as a surface warfare officer and has been assigned to DDG 65 USS Benfold home ported in Yacuzka, Japan. Anson Schmitz has been designated as a surface warfare officer and has been assigned to DDG 66 USS Gonzalez home ported in Norfolk, Virginia. Anson Sanias has been designated as a civil engineer core officer and has been assigned to facilities and acquisition division in Okinawa, Japan. Anson Slakta has been designated as a nuclear surface warfare officer and has been assigned to LPD 21 USS New York home ported in Norfolk, Virginia. Anson Zabo has been designated as a supply officer and has been assigned to the Navy supply core school in Newport, Rhode Island. Anson Washington has been designated as a surface warfare officer and has been assigned to DDG 91 USS Picney home ported in San Diego, California. Anson Welton has been designated as a student naval aviator and has been assigned to naval introductory flight evaluation in Pensacola, Florida. Anson Whitehurst has been designated as a special warfare officer and has been assigned to naval special warfare group 2 in Little Creek, Virginia. Anson Williams has been designated as a civil engineer core officer and has been assigned to public works department Newport in Newport, Rhode Island. Anson Smith has been designated as a surface warfare officer and has been assigned to DDG 53 USS John Paul Jones home ported in Everett, Washington. Ladies and gentlemen, please join me in recognizing the United States Navy's newest officers. To conclude the ceremony, ladies and gentlemen, please rise for the playing of the service songs and the final dismissal. Please remain in your places until after the graduating class has taken their class photo and remember the only authorized visitor locations are Kay Hall and Nimitz P.T.