 Good afternoon. I'm Professor John Jackson, the chairman of the College's 9-11 committee, and it's my pleasure to serve as master of ceremonies for this important event. Today marks the 19th anniversary of the cowardly attacks on the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and the grassy field in Pennsylvania. Much has happened to the world since this fateful day, and it is highly appropriate that we pay our respects to the patriots and others who have perished in this long fight over nearly two decades. We're conducting this virtual ceremony today due to the ongoing pandemic, but the college was determined to conduct a suitable ceremony regardless of the unique circumstances in which we find ourselves this year. Looking back on September 12, 2001, we first learned that one of the Naval War College's fleet seminar students had died in the terrorist attack on the Pentagon. The committee was established that day to commemorate the sacrifice. In the days and weeks that followed, we learned of other students and of college alumni who also perished in this tragic event. As word of these losses circulated within the Naval War College family, donations of money, material, and services quickly began to be received by the Naval War College Foundation. The memorial was dedicated in September 2002, and is the end result of their generosity. The focal point of the memorial is a broken fragment of limestone from the west facade of the Pentagon, which was carefully conveyed to Newport by a team of Navy Seabees. This stone, though damaged, is standing upright, signifying a restored and strengthened Pentagon building and the continued strength of the United States Armed Forces. The final tally from the cowardly attack showed that three students who were actively enrolled in the fleet seminar program and eight Naval War College alumni had been killed while on the job serving their country. Their names are inscribed on a bronze memorial plaque, and their memories along with those of the thousands of others who were killed that day are enshrined in the hearts of all Americans. I invite Rearimal Shoshana Chatfield, the 57th president of the Naval War College, to offer her thoughts on this solemn occasion. Admiral. Thank you, Professor Jackson. I would like to first recognize the Deconto family from Cape Cod, who normally come to the Naval War College every year in memory of their son and brother, Navy Captain Gerald F. Deconto. He graduated in 1998 and was in the Pentagon during the attacks on 911. Joining us virtually today is his mother, Mrs. Pat Deconto, his sisters, Ms. Marie Deconto and Ms. Dale Chote and her husband, Mr. Tom Chote, his brothers, Mr. David Deconto, and Mr. Ray Deconto, who came to the campus this morning to participate in our annual memorial service. Thank you, Ray, for your touching words. I would like to also recognize our Naval War College Foundation, who graciously provided a ceremonial wreath for the occasion. I'd like to welcome our Naval War College community, our Naval Supply School community, our Navy Band Northeast, and our families and friends. Today is an important day. It has been 19 years since we were attacked on American soil at the heart of our economic trade and the very soul of our national defense. We suffered two different types of loss that day. One was tangible, the heart wrenching loss of human life, and the immensity of material from within the buildings that fell. The other was symbolic. The Twin Towers and the Pentagon represent two of the most iconic and recognizable buildings in the country. They stand for strength, success, and the vitality of our great nation. We were stricken at our core that day. Our resolve was tested that day. First responders, school teachers, politicians, students, men, women, and children stood together. We shouldered the grief together, and we rebuilt from the ashes together. We suffered a tragic loss, but are as a result standing here today stronger than we were before, together. Mother, father, brother, sister, husband, wife, son, daughter. Those that perished on that fateful day were called by these names by the people who loved them. We each may not have lost a friend or family member on September 11, 2001. And we may not have been first responders or direct witnesses or one of the 6,000 survivors. But I am sure that, like me, we all who were alive on that day remember where we were when we first heard of the attacks. We remember what went through our minds as we watched the news reports, the panic, the confusion, the sadness, and the anger. We are all sons and daughters, someone. Many of us, also brothers in arms, shipmates, squattermates, classmates, friends. We can all put ourselves in the shoes of someone left behind on that day. We can all imagine what it must have been like to call, to leave a voicemail and to call again. Voicemail after voicemail, checking in on someone who would never call back. Tragedy and loss are not reserved for the unlucky. One day we will all face our death, whether we are ready for it or not. And the reality is death is hard. And it is often tragic. 2,977 people died that day, of which 10 were from this family, our family. Graduates, former faculty, or staff who once called the Naval War College home. It is important that we never forget their sacrifice and that we honor their memory. They were patriots who believed in what this country and this institution represents, and on wavering defense of freedom. Freedom has never been free. It has been paid for over and over again with sacrifice and countless lives. The brave men and women of this nation have stood tall and bravely walked that line for centuries to protect our citizens, our rights, and our God given freedoms. Shortly after 9-11, sitting President George W. Bush addressed the nation with a formal statement. He said attacks can shake the foundations of our biggest buildings, but they cannot touch the foundation of America. These acts shatter steel, but they cannot dent the steel of American resolve. We are a country of warriors made strong by our interwoven history, our varying ethnicities, our cultural heritage, and each individual story. Here at the Naval War College, we educate the next generation to go out and lead their countries as war fighters, as diplomats, and as public servants. Brave men and women who may one day lead the charge on the battlefield, or as our comrades did 19 years ago today, as heroes under siege. It is our duty as fellow Americans and fellow service members to not let their sacrifice ever be in vain or to be taken for granted. It is our duty to stand up for what is right, to stand for justice, peace, and equality. To reject those elements of an international system that would permit harboring or enabling of actors who would strike without honor a civilian population at home in their cities. We honor the memory of our lost lands by continuing to that fight by being first and sometimes by being the only ones sailing upwind into troubled waters. Always protecting our citizens and the promise of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, which we believe are the core of universal human values. We will never forget the date, September 11, 2001. We will never forget the debt we owe our fellow war college comrades, all who gave their lives for freedom. Our compassion for their families must never fade. Our courage to carry on must never waver. On this 19th year of remembrance, may God bless those lost, their families, and our great nation. Thank you very much for those stirring remarks. I'd now like to take just a little bit of time to talk about each of the Patriots that we're saluting today. Captain Gerald F. Deconto. Captain Deconto was a 1998 graduate of the College of Naval Warfare. Following his commissioning from the US Naval Academy in 1979, he served in a wide array of engineering and operations assignments on surface combatants, culminating in command of the guided missile frigate USS Simpson. He was serving as director of the current operations and plans branch in the Navy Command Center at the time of the attack. I will mention we're honored that members of the Captain Deconto's family are with us here today on this Zoom session, and Ray Deconto will be offering his remarks in just a few minutes. We pause to remember Captain Gerald F. Deconto. Lieutenant Commander Robert R. Elseth completed his war college studies through the fleet seminar program here in Newport, Rhode Island. A graduate of the Ohio State University, he served on surface combatants and engineering and weapons positions for a decade before transferring to the Naval Reserve. He was a reservist serving on active duty in the Navy Command Center at the time of the attack. We pause to remember Lieutenant Commander Robert R. Elseth. Captain Lawrence D. Getzfred completed his naval war college studies in 1990. He enlisted in the Navy in 1963, completed aviation officer candidate school in 1972, and then served as a naval flight officer in the patrol aviation community. He served in a number of leadership positions, including command of patrol squadron 40. He was in the Navy Command Center when it was attacked. We pause to remember Captain Lawrence D. Getzfred. Miss Angela Marie House was a student in the college's fleet seminar site in the Pentagon. She was a civilian employee of the Department of the Navy, and had been recently promoted to senior day analyst in the chief of naval operations intelligence plot. The youngest person military or civilian to ever hold that post. She celebrated her 27th birthday on September 6th aboard a Navy frigate during an orientation cruise and perished in the Navy Command Center. We pause to remember Miss Angela Marie House. Lieutenant Commander Patrick Jude Murphy completed his studies at the college's fleet seminar site in Great Lakes, Illinois. He attended the Navy Nuclear Power School graduating in 1986. He subsequently served aboard both fast attack and fleet ballistic missile submarines. He was serving a three week active duty assignment in the Navy Command Center at the time of the attack. We pause to remember Lieutenant Commander Patrick Jude Murphy. Lieutenant Jonas Martin Panic was studying national security decision making at the college's fleet seminar site in Annapolis, Maryland. While a student at the Naval Academy, he excelled as a football player and a power lifter. After graduating in June 1997 he completed the Naval Intelligence Officer's basic course. He was assigned as fleet intelligence briefer within the chief of naval operations intelligence plot and was on duty in the Navy Command Center at the time of the attack. We pause to remember Lieutenant Jonas Martin Panic. Captain Jack D. Punches US Navy retired, graduated from the College of Naval Command and Staff in 1985. A naval aviator for 27 years, he retired from active duty in 2000 and was serving in a senior civilian position as deputy head of the Navy Interagency Support Branch at the time of the attack. We pause to remember Captain Jack D. Punches. Commander Robert A. Schlegel completed his studies at the college's fleet seminar site in Norfolk, Virginia. As a surface warfare officer he served aboard cruisers and destroyers including a tour as the executive officer of the destroyer USS Arthur W. Radford. He was serving as the deputy current operations and plans branch head at the time of the attack. We pause to remember Commander Robert A. Schlegel. Commander Dan Frederick Shanauer was a fleet seminar student and a naval intelligence officer, having served in a number of assignments both afloat and overseas. In May 1997 his article freedom is not free was published in the US Naval Institute. In the article he recalled the death of four shipmates a decade earlier aboard USS Midway. A quote from his article has been incorporated into the memorial. He was serving as officer in charge of the chief of naval operations intelligence plot at the time of the attack. We pause to remember Commander Dan Frederick Shanauer. Lieutenant Colonel Kip Taylor graduated from the College of Naval Command and staff in 1998. The son of a career army officer he was a member of the Army Adjutant General Corps with extensive experience at administrative and personnel matters. In September 2001 he was serving as military assistant to the deputy chief of staff for personnel, Lieutenant General Timothy Maude, who also died in the attack. Kip was posthumously promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. Kip's wife Nancy gave birth to a second son months after the attack, and then passed away from cancer the following year. Kip's brother is raising the boys. We pause to remember Lieutenant Colonel and Mrs. Kip Taylor. Captain John D. Yamnicki senior US Navy retired was a graduate of the Naval War College class of 1967. He was aboard American Airlines Flight 77 when it destroyed the West facade of the Pentagon. At age 71 Captain Yamnicki was the oldest person to die during the Pentagon attack. In his Naval Academy class of 1952, he served with distinction as a Navy fighter pilot, test pilot and astronaut candidate, ultimately serving as director of the Navy test pilot school in Pax River, Maryland. We pause to remember Captain John D. Yamnicki senior. I've heard this list includes officers and civilians, men and women, active duty and reserve officers, Navy and Army personnel, junior officers just beginning their careers and retired officers still serving and civilian jobs. It is a cross section of our military forces and evidence that patriotic sacrifices not limited to any one group or category of Americans. In favor, Admiral Chatfield and Mr. Ray D'Conto placed a wreath at the 9-11 memorial here on campus. We will now share a video of that ceremony. Captain Ray D'Conto's brother, Captain Jerry D'Conto's brother Ray will now offer his reflections on the events of 9-11. Good afternoon. First, on behalf of the D'Conto family, we extend our thanks to the Naval War College, especially Admiral Chatfield, Professor John Jackson and Professor Tom Gibbons. For extending invitation to my family for the past 19 years to attend the 9-11 ceremony at the War College. It is our honor and privilege to attend the ceremony to honor these fallen heroes. Captain Joe D'Conto was my older brother. Now being brothers, we're always trying to build each other's character. In 1979, I remember helping Jerry in this endeavor when he graduated from the Naval Academy and decided to go surface warfare. I said something like, doesn't Admiral Rick Over say something like, there are two types of vessels, submarines and targets? This was not that well received, but I clearly remember when Jerry turned to Newport in 1998 as commander of the Fast Frigate USS Simpson, FFG 56, he took particular delight in showing me the anti-submarine sonar ray. So much for surface ships being targets. Now the Simpson's efficiency rating was not all that good when Jerry took over command, but by the time he turned over to the next commander, the ship had the best efficiency rating for fast frigates in his squadron. That is not to say he was all business or he didn't have fun and he clearly did not take himself too seriously despite his accomplishments. He would refer to himself as the head Homer. This was an homage to the Simpson's TV show and of course Homer Simpson who was the mumbling dad in the show. Today we take time to reflect on those nearly 3,000 lives that we lost on 9-11. Here at the War College we especially remember those eight graduates and the three students who perished on that day in defense of this great country. As it states on the 9-11 memorial, freedom is not free. Which brings me to a subject that frustrates my family. I suspect that there are many in the audience that are not familiar with the name Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. Mr. Mohammed was apprehended in March of 2003 and is the accused mastermind of the 9-11 attacks. It is incomprehensible that he has and his four other alleged conspirators have not yet been brought to trial in 17 and a half years since their apprehension. For comparison, following World War II at the Nuremberg trials, run by four countries, the government was able to try and complete this trial in just under a year. I hold some of the members of the government accountable for this failure to bring these alleged murderers to justice. Political agenda has mired the progress of this trial and not the pursuit of justice. Time is running out for the current older generation of family members that would like to see closure on this painful chapter in their lives. In closing, I'd like to remember those who fell in the service of this country and made the ultimate sacrifice and I would like to thank all those folks in the armed services that protect and defend the Constitution of the United States. I pray for peace, for justice, and for the safety of our military. Thank you. Well, thank you very much Ray for those outstanding remarks and we've been honored to have you and your family on campus every year since 2002. This concludes our ceremony. Thank you all for joining us this afternoon and honoring the memory of these great Americans. After a brief pause Admiral Chatfield will commence the Naval War College Town Hall meeting. Thank you very much. Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you Professor Jackson for being the emcee of the ceremony and thank you Mr Ticanto for attending and participate participating as you always do. Before we begin the town hall I'd like to remind everyone to please submit your questions via the chat function. I will be moderating today's town hall and helping manage the questions and answer. For those new students who don't know me, I'm Captain Joe Gerard. I'm the Chief of Staff of Naval War College and I wasn't here for the last town hall. So I'm happy to be here for this one and look forward to the questions and answers and hearing from all of you what your concerns are. So with that I'll turn it over to Admiral Chatfield. Hello and good afternoon. I'd like to begin this town hall meeting with a moment of silence as we have done so many times in the past. On this day in particular we know that many hearts are heavy, and many people are still experiencing grief and remembrance of their lost loved ones. We know that there are others in our country who are suffering from sickness and from the devastating consequences of COVID-19. And others still who are engaged in raising our awareness across this country of social injustice that they and their families and members of their community have experienced over time. And so I ask for just a moment of silence today. Thank you very much. It's a real pleasure today to be in front of you and to engage with you again at a town hall meeting. And I would like to start by turning the meeting over to our Chief of Staff, so that he can explain some of the changes that have happened in our current testing of a new way for us to determine who may enter into the building. And so Chief of Staff, Captain Gerard, I really hope that you'll walk us through what some of those changes are and what we're learning. Thank you, Admiral. Many of you already know some of you don't. We have recently transitioned from a mission essential personnel only posture to what we're calling phase two of our reopening. And now the transition to phase two carries with it a delegation of approval access for entering campus buildings. So while we were mission essential, we had people who were on a on a list that were identified as mission essential personnel that could access campus, and anyone else who needed to enter campus needed to get my permission for a brief and temporary trip into campus materials in their offices or or that sort of thing with the switch to phase two. I am getting out of the business of approving access, and that has been delegated to the dean's level. So, so each dean will be managing for their staff and faculty, their physical footprint on campus. We're going to continue utilizing telework as much as we can. We're also going to continue with delivery of education via online mechanism zoom and blackboard collaborate and the tools you're already using. So in some respects this shift to phase two is not a significant increase in our physical footprint. But what it's designed to do is to begin allowing us to exercise a proficiency at spending more time on campus. A proficiency is going to help us with following all the coven 19 mitigation measures that we have in place to practice all those things that we need to do to keep our workforce safe and healthy and to enable us to achieve our mission. While we're in phase two. I'd like you to know that the threat working group is hard at work on looking at what phase three looks like. The primary feature of phase three, and I'm sure many students are eager to hear this is some limited measured face to face interaction on campus in your seminar groups. We're mapping out what this looks like. We're mapping out how we manage it. Rest assured, where we are now with all online education and where we intend to go in the future which is back in person in residents. With all of this education. This is a transition process and we're deliberately taking our time with it so that we can learn from any mistakes or missteps along the way to prevent health issues and to allow us to successfully achieve our mission. There will be some very technical challenge we have to overcome because as an example, if we have a seminar that's meeting on campus. And one of the seminar members is ill or not feeling well, and, and we therefore want you to stay away from campus. In that case, we need to have a mechanism for that seminar member to be able to remotely connect to their seminar discussion. So that's just one of the many challenges we're working through. We're taking our time. And one of the questions that actually came in earlier today was about when when we're going to reopen. And so I'm addressing that right now, what this looks like, but we need to be very deliberate. We'll begin with a small group of small number of seminars periodically meeting so that we can evaluate some of these technical challenges before we begin opening the aperture. So that's the plan on the seminar meeting piece. And I suspect later on today, Dean Han might kind of address that from his perspective as the Dean of academics. I'm, I'm more addressing it on the technical level on the tactical level as the chair of the threat working group, as we work through some of these challenges. On the student side, we have a beta test in progress right now for granting a limited number of students access to our learning commons in order to have a quiet place to study, reflect, read and write. So this is outside of your normal seminar discussions. And the, the bar we put in place for who qualifies for this access is still a little high, but we intend to reduce that over time as we learn more about how we can manage the, the comings and goings of the students during a morning or an afternoon session, based on when their core curriculum is meeting. We'll continue to push out information through the Dean of students about that program. And we also have again on a very limited basis for those moderators who observe students that are having a very difficult time, keeping pace with the seminar discussions based on bandwidth issues potentially, or based on learning environment issues with with moderator input. We're allowing very limited number of students to access classroom space for use during the seminar discussion. Again, the bar is quite high on this. We are really looking to help find the resources we need for those students who might be struggling extra hard during this time. One of the things in the question that I received earlier today. One of the quick one of the questions was, hey, Rhode Island's opening. The Rhode Island schools are opening. Why can't we open. And I've made this point before. One of the unique aspects of adult learning models is that we have a greater ability to accomplish our educational mission. We have to learn remotely than do elementary, middle and high school students, especially on the elementary school students. It is just so difficult for kids to get their education remotely. We've learned that over the last six months. And that's why they're such an imperative to to open up our schools. We have the luxury of having the technological tools in place to allow us to continue the virtual classrooms that we have now. We have to be carefully and deliberately make plans and preparations to return to in residence education. Admiral with that I'll turn it over back to you and I'll begin going through the questions that are coming into the chat. Thank you, cause, and I'll pause here because I know that Dean Han may have something to add to what you just said. So Dean Han if you'd like to come on. Hi, how do you have me. I'm clear. Yep. Welcome. Welcome Naval War College family. I just want to give a shout out to the cause for his leadership and all the individuals on the threat working group have been working so hard. Over the last few weeks and months to try to put us in a position where we are. We can consider the next steps for more student engagement. In terms of our priority, the first step has been this beta test to be able to allow students who really need the time and space access to the campus and the pay to test. There's been a lot of work going on with library to have this beta test to be able to provide that space. The next step, and this is all based upon conditions being safe to do so is to allow for some limited face to face contact. You can think of in terms of tutorials one to one meetings with faculty and students, but also in terms of the mission of the war college to educate leaders. The primary means by which you learn is our students learn from each other. That's why they're here. That's why they're mixed in joint classrooms and the ability to get to know each other and develop networks that will last their professional career is critical to the joint PME construct for education. We're looking right now for ways to make that engagement. We've reached out to the faculty and a lot of the faculty feedback to be honest with you is it's working right now we're teaching well why would we risk right now what we're doing. And the point is we're not risking right now. What we've learned is it takes several months to put into place the conditions to be able to transition. And so if we don't begin looking at where it's possible to engage now, we won't be able to engage in the winter or even in the spring depending on conditions we have to figure out right now. Now there's a couple of seminars that are actually doing some tests for us. I give a shout out to CNWS and the Halsey group for their engagement that's given us some data. We know that Moz will soon be doing some classified classroom work. It'll give us a little bit more data. And as we begin to transition and and towards a more physical footprint we have to realize that we're a resident education. We're a resident program. You know we are faculty was built our curriculum was developed for face to face engagement. This virtual environment which we've been in for six months I get it. It's easy to get comfortable doing it the way that we do it but that's not what this college is about. We're in a position to safely get there. We're going to transition back to the best environment for our students learning which is our number one priority. Now given that the presence been very clear and I am to that the number one objective is our people safety. And so we're not going to do anything that's going to risk that safety, but also there is a in any type of decision a risk reward type of trade off. And so I just want to command again, Captain Gerard and the threat working groups effort to begin this discussion and move forward so that we can get back to the type of teaching and learning that all our faculty and students want to get back to over. Thank you Dean Han. And I want to echo what you said about the threat working group and the many hours, the robust discussions, the great expertise, and the, the effort collective effort that's gone into assessing the risk and keeping us safe. So thank you again. I'd like to take a moment here before we shift over to questions to make an announcement, because we've had a selection for two of our endowed chairs. And I'd like to announce to you that Dr. Peter Dombrovsky has been chosen as the next William B. Ruger national security economics chair. So I'm going to get my virtual claps up. And congratulations to Dr. Dombrovsky. And I'd also like to announce that Dr. Christopher just borrow has been chosen as the next captain Jerome e levy chair of economics, economic geography and national security. So congratulations to both faculty members for your selection what an honor, and we are so proud to have you move into those endowed chairs. And I'll turn it back over to the chief of staff who may have some questions coming in from our, our community. Thank you ma'am. First, I appreciate the acknowledgement of the threat working groups efforts so far. And I'd like to really deflect any thanks that's coming to me and make sure that it's going to the team. And really on we recognize that no one person is going to be able to figure this out. And that we need for our collective heads together to work through these really difficult challenges, come up with ideas, poke holes in the ideas to figure out where things aren't fully thought out. And again, we couldn't do without the whole group of about 3035 people on any given day so thank you, threat working group for helping us sort through this. I have a couple questions ma'am. And I think several of them actually would fall to me to answer based on kind of my recent comments about the, about the shift to phase two. Two of the comments have to do with the impending foul weather that we're going to see right as we approach winter time, the weather is going to get worse. And one of the concerns is, are we going to expect a flu shot X. And the answer is that the clinic, our naval medical clinic is developing plans for delivering a flu vaccination. They don't have it yet. And they're also developing a plan that's going to be different than a normal flu shot X, which tends to cycle many, many people through a very quick process to get as many doses delivered as possible. And obviously that's not very conducive to the COVID-19 environment. So the clinic will distribute their plan when they have it. In the meantime, yes, we are planning on delivering flu vaccine. The other winter weather question is one that is also vexing my children. And that is the question of, wait a minute, if we have all this online education set up. That means there's no more snow days. And the answer is snow days might be a thing of the past. You know, we'll figure out what that looks like, but we have these, the tools in place to allow us to continue moving forward, even when there is a snow event. So, unfortunately, we may have to think of snow days in the past tense. There was a very good question about metrics that were used to assess the shift to phase two. And I think the following question is what's what are the conditions going to be to shift to phase three. And really what I've talked about repeatedly is the idea of three things really being in place. First, we've got the plans and preparations in place to move to the next step in a in a safe and effective manner. Second, we've developed the proficiency with our existing COVID-19 measures. Jumping week by week from phase one to phase two to phase three would not allow time to develop that proficiency and build those habit patterns of good social distancing and mask wearing and hygiene and all the very detailed COVID-19 measures that we have in place that are actually different at different locations in the college because each kind of local area on campus has its own unique mission requirements and physical context. So we've had to really do a lot of planning to make sure we're doing this that fits in every location. And the third thing is the external conditions. Right now, knock on wood. Rhode Island is experiencing quite favorable conditions relative relative to some other states. We've got a low positivity rate. We got a relatively low number of new cases per 100,000 people in our in the state. And so those are all positive factors that would would lead us if those external conditions continue would lead us to continue moving forward based on, as I said, the plans in place and the proficiency developed those habit patterns to implement the measures well. So that's that's an answer that question. I also received a question about how can a seminar volunteer to be a test case. That's an excellent question. And as a threat working group reaches a point where we've got tentative plans in place enough. We'll be reaching out through Dean of academics and the department shares to identify who might be a good candidate to execute a test so thank you for that question. We're not ready yet, but we certainly are thinking about it. Admiral, many questions and comments have come in. So, if possible, I'd like to turn it back over to you, or maybe to Commander Brown, Frank Brown is representing even students to hear an update from them, and then I'll be able to help moderate the follow on questions. Okay, I'll go first. Before Frank goes, and it is, it goes without saying that even as we look toward the future. And we are hopeful and optimistic that we also have to prepare for another outbreak, or an increase in cases. And so I've asked threat working group through the Chief of Staff to make sure that we have red lines in place that we know when we need to actually fall back. So we are preparing for all the eventualities. I have spoken with Marine Corps University who is back face to face but at 50% density. And I have spoken with General Hacker, who is at Air University and who has fortunately for him and for his community access to medical testing that we do not. So there are a number of factors that each of the colleges have to take into account. And we are in communication with each other, as well as with our Naval Postgraduate School and the United States Naval Academy. All who face different types of community spread and other factors with their student bodies. So thanks for that question but we are talking a lot with our peer institutions. And now over to you, Frank. Thank you for the opportunity this afternoon and great ceremony earlier outstanding. I did see a question come in from one of our students about some travel. Captain Dieter lead put out some good information about that but yes our local proximity area for travel is still 175 miles as considered the local so if you are looking to go outside of that as students go our military students that that's applied for through your service directors and then we consider that as an exception to policy. So work through your service advisors and send those requests up and we consider them on a case by case basis. Thank you for that question. And as the cause mentioned it was very exciting to have some students on campus that had been rather lonely in the corridors for the last several months but I was very enjoyed getting to do face to face with a couple of our students as a task as it were to give them will be the lay of the land with the library Commons and next week will also be having some students come outdoors to campus to do their student class student photo and to receive their access badges as we're hoping to provide more access as we go forward. But as the cause mentioned we are still very restrictive in the access. Through moderators and professors within your seminar groups. If you do have Internet connectivity issues or serious issues with a lot of traffic in your household as it may be. Voice those up through your moderators and professors by your seminar group and get them to your services advisor and then into us and the Dean of Students Office and we propose those up the chain of command as an exception to policy to commend during this beta phase. And we do have about four students taking advantage of the classrooms at this point, one per classroom, and then we have other several other students that are accessing the learning Commons for some quiet study time and research space to write their papers. So again, great to see the students and we look forward to continue that going forward, but thank you. Admiral I'd like to add on to the answer about what the other service colleges, what the other war colleges and what they're doing. One of the things that that complicates our activities here at the naval war college is the simultaneous intermediate and senior level courses and the real complication comes in our elective program. Our ILC right now is in TSTM and seminar stay together. And so there's a very real possibility that each of those seminars could be considered isolated cohort and isolated pod that if we can keep that isolation. We might be able to build in an opportunity for them to interact. And the same goes for our senior students in the jam jam. Our elected program are open to all students. So the real difficulty for in person education right now would be each elective would represent a merging, if you will, for exposure purposes of many different cohorts. So the idea of pods and isolated cohorts would break down entirely with our way we manage our electives. That's different than a lot of other war colleges. For example, the Army Army has their senior sort of college at Carla barracks and their intermediate courses in 411. So they're able to have those run in isolation from each other. So I just want to add into that. That also ties into one of the questions that did come in via chat about can our can our electives meet in person off campus. So as the threat working group is evaluating what phase three looks like the approach we're taking is based on minimizing the risk of what I just talked about mixing cohorts. And so early on what we're seeing is the strong possibility that we're going to continue electives fully virtual as a way to prevent any of that sort of cross exposure between the various seminars within ILC and SLC or even across those two courses. That being said, if we are able to come up with a method that allows seminars to conduct their seminar meetings in person on campus, we would be doing it with those two courses with TSDM and with JMO. If simultaneously if electives are choosing to meet in person off campus, we've kind of defeated the purpose of maintaining that cohort isolation. So again as a threat working group evaluates this, I'd asked for any educational opportunities that are going to happen in any mode, other than virtual, we really need to ask the question first, and then evaluate how we can do. As an example, we recently approved one of our electives to conduct a single in person tour of the Newport area as they evaluate war at sea in the age of sale as part of our graduate certificate maritime history. So a very important part of the course and they have planned out in depth how they're going to mitigate risk and we looked at it carefully and evaluated that the measures in place we're going to be adequate to help prevent any kind of possible exposure between students and so we've approved that but again that request was was made we did some deliberate risk mitigation planning and we said yes we'll do that. Again, I would ask any anyone who's wanting to meet off campus in person to please a think about what that means for your fellow students and be asked permission so we can figure out if that's okay. Another question that came in had to do with contact tracing. With cause before you move on I'd like to just interject something because I did see in the chat there are some questions about moving activities to off campus so we've got a restriction on campus so let's just move them off campus. And let me just assert that for sanctioned events, including class experience events that are related to the United States Naval War College, ultimately I own that risk. And so I know it might seem just easy to say well we'll just move it off the campus since the campus has the restrictions. Please don't neglect to understand that the United States Naval War College provides the overarching administration and stewardship of each of our students as they come here from their home agencies and home services and home countries and that aggregated risk is mine to bear. Thank you. Yes, thank you. So a couple of questions that have come in, probably while I was talking one of them is about how this mixing or breaking of cohorts affects LPA. Now LPA is unique because it's one of our core courses. But it's delivered in the mode of our electives. So as as the threat working group evaluates what that looks like, we're more than likely going to keep LPA virtual for now as we work through figuring out what how to get into phase three. But ultimately we'd like to get everyone in person, which is going to take time conditions have to be favorable, and we have to do our jobs individually and collectively at implementing all the coven 19 measures. So one question about SCI electives, and I'd say classified electives in general, how those will happen and I think Kim Schultz, I'd like to turn it over to Tim Schultz to address where we are on working through that. Yeah, thank you, cause I appreciate it for our classified electives to SSI electives, we will consider offering those in the spring if conditions permit. But right now we've arranged the schedule for this academic year. So we are not including classified electives beyond the advanced research projects that are already ongoing. So keep it in mind to that possibility, keeping in mind that skip spaces are limited. They're smaller, and they are already used to some degree so the ability to use those in a socially distanced environment will be a significant obstacle. Now we've backed away and we'll from our classified electives, and we'll keep a weather eye on slowly integrating those back into the lineup as conditions permit. Thanks very much Tim. Let's see. Another question that came in was one that I, I think I started to get to. And it was about contact tracing. And the answer is yes, all of us individually have responsibly to keep track of where we've been. So that in the event that there's a COVID-19 case in or in and around our areas or, you know, potentially individually us. We're able to answer those questions that the Rhode Island Department of Health is going to ask about where you've been and who you had close contact with, which remember is less than six feet for greater than 15 minutes. So yes, that continues and it's the responsibility of all of us within campus activities. It's even more important to make sure you're keeping very good track of where you are where where you went for what time periods so that again we're able to in the event we have a COVID-19 case on campus we're able to minimize the risk to as to as much of our team as possible. So question, are there any students who are part of the threat working group. But that's an excellent question and the answer is, we recently had a student who was a recent graduate as part of the threat working group and he's had to move on to other responsibilities. But other than that, no, we don't have students who are part of the threat working group, but please rest assured that your equities are well represented by the dean of students. They are the deputy dean of students than dean of students are there at every meeting. They are your voice. They are your champion, and they're very loud and vocal and looking after your concerns so you do have representation even there are no students on the threat working group. A question about wearing masks on campus. Wear your mask on campus. The only time you can't wear or you can remove your mask is if you're working in your office by yourself, in which case you should have your mask ready, so that if someone needs to enter and talk to you can quickly don your mask. And the other time would be if you are temporarily taking a sip of your coffee or whatever or water or whatever you have with you. And of course you would just very quickly lower one loop to take your sip and reseal your mask. Otherwise, you have to wear your mask on campus at all times. And I think, I think that's the, I've covered all the questions that have come in. I know we want to be respectful of everyone's time it's 1300, little after 1300. And so Admiral, I'd like to turn it back over to you and maybe you can close us out. And let's, unless I get an urgent question at the last minute, you're on mute ma'am. Sorry, I turned that off because my grandfather clock. But I wanted to say thank you to all. Thank you to the chief staff for being an excellent moderator to our wonderful deans and senior leaders around the college for though very hard work that you're doing to make sure that we're able to deliver education in this environment. And that we have a stable platform from which to do so. And for all the work that goes on from our staff to keep the machine running. I really am grateful and to students who have come here and are really just up and on step now, deep into the studies and deep into the challenges of getting to all the material and putting your best, best synthesis and understanding forward in the classroom I'm just really grateful to be here at the Naval War College to see all of this come together and to see our constant improvement in this environment. Great job to all have a wonderful weekend. And I really wish you all well on this day, Patriot Day in the United States of America, a day that is so significant for us and so meaningful to many among us who have known of someone who was lost some family that has suffered and just wanted to share each other and be good to each other today and into this weekend. Thank you.