 Hey, good morning ladies and gentlemen. I'm Captain Lavin, Chief of Staff for Second Fleet. Welcome aboard USS George H.W. Bush this morning, the establishment ceremony of Commander Second Fleet. The official party is about to arrive. Will the guests please rise for the arrival of the official party and remain standing until completion of the invocation. Vice Admiral, United States Navy, arriving. Fleet forces arriving. Naval operations arriving. Pray the colors. Chaplain Thames will now deliver the invocation. As the soul, Mr. Wrights, blessed be the Lord, my rock, who trains my hands for war and my fingers for battle. Let us pray. Almighty God, look with favor upon the United States Second Fleet. From the founding of this nation you raised up sailors who took to the Atlantic to fight for the sovereignty of a people and defend the sanctity of an ideal. Today we stand in the heritage of the likes of John Paul Jones, Edward Preble, Stephen Decatur and countless others whose service we honor and whose legacy we pledge to uphold. Nimbue in Vice Admiral Andrew Lewis, the wisdom, skill and determination to forge this fleet into a finely honed instrument of war and an indefatigable bold work for security, stability and peace. Lord God, may it please you to temper the steel of our lethality with the discipline of duty marked by excellence. May it please you to calibrate the moral compass of our conscience to the ideals for which we stand ready to fight. May it please you to embolden our spirits with the grit to prevail over every enemy and the grace to stand before you as humble warriors. In your holy name we pray. Amen. Will the guests please be seated. Ladies and gentlemen, Commander U.S. Fleet Forces Command, Commander U.S. Naval Forces Northern Command, Admiral Christopher Grady. Good morning. On behalf of all of us here on the dais I welcome Congressman Scott, General Mercier, Admiral Nielsen, Admiral Flanagan, Admiral Keaton, Mayor Alexander, Mayor Fram, and our many distinguished guests and elected officials. Active and retired flag officers, senior executives, government civilians, families, friends, shipmates, welcome back to the Norfolk Waterfront. I'm also delighted to see many important allies and attendants this morning as well. You honor us with your presence here today. And a special welcome to all of our veterans here in attendance. All of us owe all of you a huge debt of gratitude. Whether you serve for four years or for 40 years, your dedication and devotion to your Navy and nation is recognized here today. And when we look back at the architects of the Rock Salad Foundation, the excellence upon which we stand, it is our veterans who deserve this worthy recognition and we're honored to have you in attendance today. Now certainly you couldn't have asked for a better morning for today's ceremony. And I'm not certain who ordered up the weather, but well done. But I'd like we should give credit to the captain and crew of this magnificent worship. So how about a round of applause for the team that pulled this together? Whether here today to formally establish or re-establish the second fleet here in Norfolk, I think it is worth noting what has driven us to this event today. What was the catalyst? And to me it is clear. Our nation and Navy is once again being challenged at sea. Our sea control and our power projection, two vital elements of our national security are being challenged by resurgence of four powers, namely Russia and China, both seeking to supplant the United States as the partner of choice among free and prosperous nations. And we as a Navy, as a nation, have not had to confront such peer competitors since the Cold War ended nearly three decades ago. Simply put, the days of competition at sea and challenges to our maritime security and superiority have returned. As our former second fleet commanders here with us today, Admiral's Flanagan, Williams, Chanuk and Holloway, all veterans of the Cold War will certainly tell you, near peer high-end competition demands much of us. At the top of that list is an elite lethal force and culture of professional surface undersea air, intelligence, information warfare, logistics, special operators, all operating with a sharp and focused mindset centered on excellence and lethality. It demands steadfast leadership and dedication to the mission of credible deterrence and when required, prompt and sustained combat operations and victory at sea. And speaking of leadership, our second fleet will be led by a proven combat aviator and esteemed naval officer, Vice Admiral Woody Lewis. You know, in the Navy, we put a high premium on something called local knowledge, knowledge of the local tides and currents, the surface, subsurface and air traffic, local trends, history and relationships. Woody Lewis represents that local knowledge. He is certainly no stranger to the Norfolk waterfront as he has executed multiple tours in the Hampton Roads area and if I counted correctly, I think it's seven tours here in Norfolk. Clearly the right man at the right time. Indeed, Vice Admiral Lewis's experience with the challenges of the Atlantic coupled with his key knowledge of our AOR and indeed the entire globe is the right answer at the right time to command the second fleet. So Woody, Christine and I welcome you and Mary back to the Norfolk War Room. Your challenges will be many. However, given your dedication and proven leadership, I know that you are up to the task and indeed it's great to have you alongside and I look forward to our future endeavors together. Now ladies and gentlemen, it's my very distinct pleasure and great honor to welcome another tremendous warfighter and leader as our presiding officer and guest speaker today, our boss and the leader of the United States Navy. Please join me in welcoming our 31st Chief of Naval Operations Admiral John Richardson. Good morning everybody and it is wonderful to be back here in the Norfolk waterfront. The best thing about the weather today is that it shines so brightly and clearly on the fleet that's out there and so really you kind of want to ask everybody to turn around and look that way because that's where all the action is out there and you see all these warships pointed to sea and you get a sense for what we're here for today. You really get that tangible sense. Chris, thank you so much for that terrific scene setter that you provided in that warm introduction and as we stand here on the deck of the USS George H.W. Bush, which is in such great shape Captain, thanks so much. You do get a sense for the gravity of this moment. I got to tell you as the Chief of Naval Operations it is not a bad day when you are standing up a fleet. That is a good day and so we'll take some time this morning even with the brilliant efficiency of this ceremony we'll take some time to just appreciate what this moment means. Congressman Scott, as you know, we've been down here Norfolk a bunch and we've had a number of these changes of command and you have been present for everyone. I think it's a symbol of the support, certainly your personal support, but also the support of Congress which has done so much for the Navy and the nation and even here in the Hampton Roads area. So, sir, thank you very much for being here. It's wonderful to see you again. And for all of our allies and partners, thank you so much for being here and especially to the former commanders of the Second Fleet waiting for this moment probably in fact in the reception before they said it's about time, right? I mean, it's really kind of been a little bit too long, right? So thank you very much for coming. I will tell you why are we here? Why do we take this moment to stand the Second Fleet back up? And I think that at the most fundamental level this is the U.S., the United States and the United States Navy's dynamic response to a dynamic security environment, an environment that was very well laid out by Admiral Grady and an environment that is clearly articulated in our national defense strategy. And if we just pause to appreciate that environment, you start to appreciate also what is called for in response to that environment, to meet that environment at the relevant levels of speed, capability, and capacity, all right? It will require every ounce of our tenacity, our ingenuity, and our fighting spirit to focus on this mission and focus on how we can best accomplish the mission. And the Second Fleet will be our spearhead doing that for the Atlantic. Maintaining America's maritime superiority that will lead to maintaining our security, our influence, and our prosperity around the world. And dynamic response really is nothing new to Second Fleet. If you think about the history of Second Fleet, it's got a history of adapting to rapidly changing circumstances. It originally stood up in 1950 in response to the changing dynamic after World War II and the beginning of the Cold War. And so one of the very first missions of the Second Fleet is when President Kennedy charged the Second Fleet Commander to address the situation that we now know as the Cuban Missile Crisis. And so here we are, the emergence of the Soviet Union in the early 50s, the realization that we needed to adapt to stand up a force to confront this threat in the Atlantic, to appreciate the Atlantic as a continuous operational space. This was the original mission of the Second Fleet. And to address that Cuban Missile Crisis, Second Fleet went right to the very highest end of naval warfare, commanding three carriers at the time, the Essex, the Enterprise, and the Independence. This was one of the Enterprise's very first missions that she took on when she went down to do duty in the Cuban Missile Crisis. And then, you know, things changed, right? This has been some of the most rapidly changing security circumstances in our nation's history over the last 50 years. Soon, you know, fast forward, it was the Second Fleet that responded to urgent fury at the order of President Ronald Reagan and the invasion of Grenada. It was the Second Fleet that trained and certified all the forces that went forward to fight in Desert Shield and Desert Storm. And so when you think about that context, that it, you know, adapting to change, confronting this rapidly dynamic security environment, nothing new for Second Fleet. And as Admiral Grady alluded in his remarks, this new dynamic, prompted in part by a resurgent Russia, the National Defense Strategy made clear that there are countries, once again, competing to define this area, not in the interest of opportunity and equality for all, but on their very restrictive terms. And once again, the nation and the Navy is responding. U.S. naval forces operate globally from the sea floor to the stars and in the information domain to deter aggression and to peacefully resolve crises on terms acceptable to us and our allies. But make no mistake, if that deterrence fails, our fleet, now the Second Fleet included, will conduct decisive combat operations and bring that to a close, a quick close. For our Navy to achieve the objectives in the National Defense Strategy, we must embrace every avenue to gain and maintain the competitive advantage to maintain our maritime superiority. The United States, as I said, is a global power. And when we think about achieving and maintaining that competitive advantage, we've got to think globally, and that includes the Atlantic, particularly the North Atlantic. And so the creation of the Second Fleet, this recreation of the Second Fleet, represents the establishment of a well-forged fighting force with a fighting mindset, restoring a large-scale ocean maneuver warfare formation dedicated to the Atlantic Ocean, responding, restoring dynamic maneuver in response to a dynamic challenge. Now, dynamic maneuver, what is that? Well, I think there's sort of three types of dynamic maneuver. First, there is maneuvering up and down the spectrum of conflict, and the Second Fleet will be doing all of that. From partnership building, from conducting exercises with our partners and allies, from being present at those very important and influential parts of the world on one end and the competitive end, ready to transition, if necessary, from competition to confrontation and to conflict. This maneuver, up and down the spectrum of competition to conflict with agility, will be one of the hallmarks of the Second Fleet as we move forward to make our Navy more supportive for our allies and partners and impose more cost on our adversaries. Another type of dynamic maneuver is simply geographic maneuver, all right? The new Second Fleet increases our strategic flexibility to respond from the Eastern seaboard to the Barrett Sea. The Second Fleet will approach the North Atlantic, as I said, as one continuous operational space and conduct expeditionary fleet operations where and when needed. And in doing so, it will enhance our alliances, make them stronger with our NATO partners and other European security partners through exercises and combined operations, particularly at the high end of naval warfare. The third type of dynamic maneuver is the maneuver and agility in developing new capabilities and new concepts. And as an organization, Second Fleet will have a central role in pioneering new and experimental concepts of operation and capabilities, restoring this sense of exploration and curiosity that has been a hallmark. It's in the DNA of the United States Navy to be a learning organization. And I look forward to seeing the Second Fleet experiment with and learn from our allies in this regard as well. And in doing so, we'll ensure that we are learning and adapting faster than our adversaries around the globe. So the combination of these three types of dynamic maneuver, the maneuver up and down the scale of competition, the maneuver geographically across the Atlantic as a unified operational and fighting space, and conceptual and capability maneuver up and down technologies and concept development. This will be the hallmark of the Second Fleet here in Norfolk. It will enhance our responsiveness, invigorate our historic alliances and strategic partnerships, and contribute to a much more lethal force. That's exactly what is called for in the National Defense Strategy. As a prime example, as a precursor to what lies ahead, we need no further than what we are seeing and what we are employing with the USS Harry S. Truman Strike Group, conducting now a working port visit in Norfolk during her deployment, which has included conducting strikes against ISIS, conducting major force exercises with our partners to improve our combined punch at sea, and has experimented with new concepts and capabilities, again at the high end of naval warfare, as part of her certification to go and deploy. There is much more to come. More to come with Harry S. Truman Strike Group and much more to come with Second Fleet. Now, I tell you, a dynamic security environment and a dynamic fighting organization requires dynamic leadership. And we are fortunate, so fortunate, first and foremost to have Admiral Chris Grady here at the helm of U.S. Fleet Forces Command. And since we announced the intention to stand up Second Fleet at his change of command earlier this year, Admiral Grady and the Fleet Forces team have steamed at all ahead flank to bring us to this day to establish all of the infrastructure and do the spade work to bring us here today. And we also have dynamic leadership in Admiral Woody Lewis, the new commander of the Second Fleet. As you heard, a distinguished combat aviator and seasoned warfighter, but I would also say an eagerness and insatiable curiosity to learn to get better with every day and a deep professional humility which characterizes Woody in terms of his approach to leadership, realizing that he is not the source of all good ideas and that most often the good ideas are resident somewhere in his team and he is an absolute master of drawing those good ideas forward to the betterment of everybody involved. And Woody was also fundamental to the intellectual work to stand up Second Fleet. It was, you know, up on the Op-Nav staff that he did all of the hard work to conceptualize it. He made this bed and now he's got the privilege to sleep in it. So Woody, it's so great to have you here. Mary, also wonderful to have you here. Although I did get, well, and daily dressed down by my wife Dana that somehow I let Mary slip out of the Washington, D.C. area and come on down here to Norfolk, but it's in the best interest of the nation. Okay, I promise. Okay, in conclusion, let me just say that as this day has approached there has been a lot of speculation that the stand up of Second Fleet means that the United States Navy is posturing or even looking for a fight. And I'll tell you what, nothing could be further from the truth. But as our first president, George Washington said, to be prepared for war is one of the most effective ways for guaranteeing and preserving the peace. We're not looking for a fight, but the best way to avoid a fight is to develop the most powerful and deadly and competitive Navy possible while strengthening our combined naval power within our alliances and expanding our maritime partnerships. And so if called upon, have no doubt. We're not looking for a fight, but if we need to the Second Fleet will conduct decisive combat operations to defeat any enemy. They will be at the lead of those efforts. So to the team taking the watch of Second Fleet, your efforts are absolutely critical to maintaining our Navy's fighting edge. To the sailors who will operate from sea floor to space in the information domain under the command of this fleet, you sail to defend freedom as soon as you clear the sea buoy and the challenges hit you right away as soon as you go feet wet, as soon as you rig for dive. You will be out there on the vanguard at the pointy end of the spear defending this very fragile thing that we call freedom. So let's get to it. Thank you all very much. God bless the Second Fleet, God bless the United States Navy, and God bless the United States of America. Ladies and gentlemen, Vice Admiral Andrew Lewis. Will the guests please rise? I will now read my orders from Chief of Naval Operations to Vice Admiral Andrew L. Lewis, United States Navy. Subject CNO Order 1808 when directed by Reporting Senior, Detached in July 2018 from duty as Deputy Chief of Naval Operations for Operations, Plans, and Strategy, Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, Reporting out later than August 2018 for duty as Commander of the U.S. Second Fleet. Captain Lavin, break my flag. Aye aye sir. Officer of the Deck, break the flag of Commander Second Fleet. Bandmaster, sound off. Your flag has been broken. Very well. Will the guests please be seated? Ladies and gentlemen, Commander of the U.S. Second Fleet, Vice Admiral Andrew Lewis. Good morning, everyone, and I'd like to add my welcome to everybody that's in attendance here. It is great to see a bunch of old friends, and I hope to be making new friends as we re-establish ourselves here in the Hampton Rose region. I am grateful to the good Lord for the opportunities that this day is giving you. The primary calling on this earth is as a husband, a father, a son, a brother, and a friend. It is with great humility that I stand here representing you this morning. Thank you for being here. It is truly a blessing to be able to earn a livelihood in service, service to our families, our communities, the Navy, and the country. CNO, thank you for your trust in me. For over 70 years, our world has enjoyed unprecedented freedoms. Freedom from hunger, disease, oppression, freedom of the seas, freedom to pursue education, and freedom of speech. Those freedoms were established by an American-led system and enforced by her military. As Americans, we consider those freedoms to be birthrights, and indeed they are. But they are not free and cannot be bought. We must continue to earn them the willingness to sacrifice and be prepared to fight for them. There are some bad actors on the world stage. We call them competitors in our strategic documents. They intend to undermine and rewrite the order that America established at the end of World War II and threaten the very birthright freedoms that we hold sacred. Over the last 20 years, we have become complacent, even in our native. CNO recognized that and one of the decisions he has made is to re-establish a second fleet. Second fleet has a storied history and will honor that legacy. However, we will not simply pick up where we left off. We're going to aggressively and quickly rebuild this command into an operational war-fighting organization. We will challenge assumptions, recognize our own biases, learn and adapt from our failures so as to innovate in order to build a fleet that is ready to fight. A couple months ago, I ran into Secretary of Defense in the Pentagon. After I managed to stumble through my greeting, I reminded Secretary Mattis that I was the officer that he approved to command the second fleet. He acknowledged my comment in true Mattis style, he simply stated. He makes sure that fleet is ready to fight. That's pretty clear guidance. Second fleet will be ready to fight so we don't have to. Our mission is to operate the fleet as a maneuver force. To do so, we have to train as we fight. A football coach I admire very much likes to say, there's no such thing as a gamer. Someone who shows up thinking he is ready to perform on game day without putting in the time during practice. That is particularly true in fleet operations. What does train like we fight mean? What does it look like in the context of naval operations? In a couple days' time, about 60 feet above your head, the flight deck on this mighty warship will be humming with activity. Launching and recovering aircraft day and night in all weather. During a typical fly day, the carrier will launch and recover 100 missions. There's no place on earth more dangerous and no other country in the world can safely execute carrier operations with the same intensity and tempo the US Navy team has been doing routinely for 80 years. Because it is so loud on the flight deck, every sailor and marine wears a different colored shirt. All with critical roles. The plane captains wear brown. The tractor drivers that move the aircraft around are in blue. The sailors that fuel the aircraft are in purple. We call them grapes. Ordnance handlers wear red. Maintenance personnel wear green. And safety and medical personnel are in white. Finally, the yellow shirts are called directors. And they are the quarterbacks of the flight deck team. Perhaps more appropriate the conductors of the orchestra. The average age is 22 years old. I've had the great honor of attending yellow shirt meetings on numerous occasions. And the intensity is akin to a Super Bowl locker room. The difference is that if one of the players on the flight deck misses a blocking assignment, the risk is more than a loss of yardage. It is a risk to life and limb. These meetings are extraordinary to witness. On September 9, 2001, I was an F-18 pilot assigned to the USS Enterprise. As we transited through the Strait of Hormuz, the maritime choke point at the exit to the Persian Gulf, on our way home from a peacetime deployment. On September 11, things changed. We were extended and I led a strike in Afghanistan from the deck of the Enterprise from the Indian Ocean. Operations on the flight deck were exactly the same that night as during training missions. That's what training like we fight looks like. We've been charged with building a fleet that can perform in perfect harmony in the same manner. The men and women of the Second Fleet are the yellow shirts of the fleet. These individuals have proven their competency and have been chosen because of their warfighting ethos. Second Fleet's mission is to maneuver and operate all assigned units with the same precision, intensity and tempo of the yellow shirts who direct flight deck operations. The elements that comprise the Second Fleet will be tactically independent, but synchronized with a unity of effort assured by clear commanders intent. Second Fleet starts with a sailor who manned the warfighting units up and down the East Coast and includes the organizations and individuals readying our Navy ships, aircraft and submarines for high-end warfare. Second Fleet includes our Marine Corps brothers and sisters. We will work closely with the Second Marine Expeditionary Force in training and operations. Second Fleet includes the military sea-lift command and her merchant mariners who on a daily basis provide crucial critical logistics, strategic sea-lift and specialized mission support 365 days a year. Second Fleet will operate in the Atlantic in coordination with the Fourth Fleet in Mayport, Florida and the Sixth Fleet in Naples, Italy. The men and women of the Second Fleet will regularly work with the Army, Air Force, Coast Guard as well as hand-in-hand with our allies and partners to ensure freedom of the seas are maintained. All of you here today will directly contribute to the success of the new Second Fleet. We cannot do what we do without the support of our family and friends. Your support matters now more than ever. As we move to employ our forces more dynamically, our friends and families will have a bigger role in that fight. Second Fleet is an example of where we are mobilizing the Navy to meet the challenges of the global security environment. And Second Fleet is nothing more than an element in our global Navy readying for one fight led by Commander United States Fleet Forces Command Admiral Chris Grady. Every sailor and marine around the world, whether at home, underway off the coast of Norfolk and in North Atlantic, transiting through the Panama Canal or on Liberty in the road of Spain is in the fight. The security environment we are in is a competition, but it's not a sport. Our globe is not divided in courts or end zones. It is not defined by periods, halves or quarters. And there are certainly no TV time-outs. We must be vigilant. We in the Navy are America's away team and Second Fleet stands ready. We will take our place on the team, be ready to fight so as to maintain the peace. In conclusion, as we re-establish our new legacy going forward, I'm reminded of what President John F. Kennedy once said, Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and the success of liberty. Freedom we will prepare to fight for our freedom. Prepare to fight so that we do not have to. Sino, Admiral Grady, put the Second Fleet in. We're ready to fight. God bless you all. God bless the U.S. Navy and God bless America. Thank you. Will the guests please rise for the benediction and remain standing for the departure of the official party? Let us pray. Lord God, bless, preserve and keep the United States Second Fleet. May your infinite wisdom instruct us. May your boundless spirit embolden us. May your mighty hand strengthen us for the hour of battle. May your inexhaustible mercy receive us when our duty is well and truly done. Bless the men and women of Second Fleet that we may serve with honor, courage and commitment. And bless our Navy, these United States of America and all who will stand with us as beacons of liberty and justice for all. To you be the glory. Amen. Bosen, post the side boys. Hey, the official party will now depart. Naval operations departing. Fleet forces departing. Second Fleet departing. Ladies and gentlemen, on behalf of Admiral Grady and Vice Admiral Lewis, thank you for attending today's ceremony. You're cordially invited to reception in Hangar Bay 1 to your right. After a brief media event, Admiral Lewis is looking forward to meeting you in the receiving line. Also, for guests interested in taking a tour of the carrier, there'll be tour guides provided on the other side of the Hangar Bay door. Thank you.