 Good morning ladies and gentlemen. I am Lieutenant Commander Lauren Solo lead instructor of officer development school. On behalf of the commanding officer officer training command Newport welcome to the graduation ceremony for officer development school class 22010 consisting of 128 officers. Military guests in uniform this will be a covered ceremony. Guests are encouraged to take photographs from the viewing 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. Shortly Captain Mark Heisenberg United States Navy commanding officer of officer training command Newport and Rear Admiral Christopher French United States Navy Deputy Judge Advocate General will arrive. 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 class awards. Following the awards presentation the graduates will symbolize the completion of their training by returning the company guidance to their recruit division commanders. The class will then reaffirm the oath of office and remain standing for the playing of the service songs and final dismissal. Please rise for the arrival of the official party and remain standing for the national anthem and invocation. Officer training command Newport arriving Deputy Judge Advocate General arriving ladies and gentlemen our national anthem. Ladies and gentlemen Chaplain Butts will now offer the invocation. Let us pray eternal father we come before you thankful for this day that we can gather together to celebrate with each of these officers on this momentous occasion. For five weeks they drank from the fountain of instruction passed along by their dedicated class officers and RDCs. They spent long hours drilling doing physical exercise and learning about what it means to be a naval officer. They spent time building friendships that for some will last a lifetime. May they take all of this knowledge and experiences out to the fleet positively impacting those they will serve. We recognize the sacrifice and dedication they've given in choosing to serve our country. A new adventure awaits as they leave here to work in the respective fields of service to the men and women in the fleet. Be with each of them in the challenge of a PCS move wherever their orders take them. I pray oh God that their lives be guided by your light in our Navy values and attributes of integrity accountability honor courage and commitment keep each of them and their families in their loving care and protection throughout the coming days and forever amen. Ladies and gentlemen please be seated. Ladies and gentlemen Captain Mark Heisenberg officer training command Newport distinguished visitors officer training command staff family and friends joining us today both in person and virtually and shipmates of officer development school class 22010. Good morning. It is an absolute honor and joy for me to have this opportunity to welcome this class into one of the most prestigious challenging and rewarding careers in our nation that of a naval officer today my staff and I will bear witness his class 22010 renews a solemn promise to our nation reaffirming their oath to support and defend the Constitution of the United States as professional naval officers for the families joining us. I want to both thank you and commend you for the performance of your sons and daughters husband and wives brothers and sisters your love support and personal standards have produced the quality individuals seated here ones who not only chose vocations that help their fellow human being but who chose a path of service to their fellow citizens I can think of no finer group to go forth into the fleet than the officer seated here today they could not have gotten to this point without the careful guidance and support of family on behalf of the navy and a grateful nation please accept my most sincere thank you and well done to the class I am proud of you and all that you have accomplished while here as you depart here for your schools and duty stations remember that your oath carries to paraphrase joseph conrad's discussion of command at sea far more obligations than privileges you are about to be placed in a position to lead and mentor what are truly one of our most valuable national products the enlisted men and women of our navy those that volunteer to serve are a precious national resource so you must always treat them as such you must view well and faithfully discharging your duties as a sacred responsibility much as your outstanding class team here has felt that obligation to you the foundations we have laid here at ods are solid it is now up to you to build upon this you to build upon this as you enter the naval service for class 22010 i am very impressed with the effort you have expended over the last several weeks i want to thank you for all that you have done and will do in the service of this great nation of ours it is my pleasure and distinct honor to welcome you to the ward room as professional naval officers in the world's finest navy it is also my honor and privilege this morning to introduce to you our guest speaker rear admiral Christopher french deputy judge advocate general of the navy a graduate of the university of new hampshire he was commissioned through the judge advocate general's core student program in 1992 graduating in 1993 from the villanova university school of law he later earned a masters of law from georgetown university law center in 2004 at sea rear admiral french served as a fleet judge advocate to the commander us seven fleet staff judge advocate to commander carrier strike group five and legal officer aboard us's nimmits his other assignments include legal counsel for numerous major shore commands for both the navy and the joint service staff his leadership is essential to the continued success of the world's greatest navy and we are truly fortunate to have him here with us today to share his thoughts ladies and gentlemen please join me in welcoming our guest of honor today rear admiral christopher french good morning it is uh fumbling and inspiring to be standing up here uh in front of all you this morning so i want to say welcome to all our guests skipper to you and your team to the sailors and of course the new and serving naval officers i want to echo some of the comments that uh that the skipper made for the families we recognize the sacrifice that you've made to put these people in this seat to give them to service to the country and so i just want to express on behalf of our united states navy in the united states of america i want to say thank you for your sacrifice and support in making this happen sometimes military service can be dangerous we will promise to do our best to keep them safe keep them well trained and to love them for the graduating class if you remember one thing today please remember that your time in the navy is a journey your career is not the destination and my journey started right here in this room 28 years ago i sat out there where you sit here in k hall and my journey took me to the bridge of an aircraft carrier and the version gulf to the Balkans with special forces hunting war criminals who racked during the surge to the white house during the obama administration most recently on the joint chiefs of staff helping the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff navigate some of our country's most challenging experiences in recent in recent history and i never would have imagined when i sat there in your seats where my journey would take me so let's talk about where you are today at the start of this journey the united states is in a great power competition a competition with china and russia we're still threatened by violent extremists rogue nations such as iran north korea and that's the the world that you enter as you serve your country and where is the navy going where will the navy take you on your journey well right now we are and we intend to maintain our status to the world's greatest navy 296 deployable ships we're 445 thousand active and reserve forces it's important to take stock of where we are today and to think about the events of the last couple of months we put an end to ground combat in afghanistan and we've ended our armed conflict in iraq and so in to many degrees the united states navy the united states of america so give us a second sometimes sitting in formation is tough and so we're gonna make sure we're taking care of our shipmate here for those of you who can't see in the back we're sitting up we're getting some we're getting some fresh air i think we're gonna be okay hey so for the rest of you guys sitting in the front seat take your hands off your lap shake it out a little bit okay let's let's use the at ease like comes at you fast right you never know what's gonna happen so prior to prior to 9 11 the navy was a preeminent force of national power then after 9 11 we shifted to a ground combat focus so what you all should be thinking about as we end our ground combat is what's next for the navy and to have listened to the cno recently he'll tell you that the expectation is the navy will be called on once again as our ground forces return to garrison to be that preeminent force of national power because we're gonna be you know we are expeditionary and we are forward deployed and that will be the navy that you you will all join and you will all enter the other thing and i'm gonna guarantee you on your journey because i'm gonna guarantee you that there will be change when i sat in your seats in 1994 the berlin wall had just fallen we were still in the end of the cold war and i spent the first part of my career in a post-cold war environment where the where america didn't didn't wasn't threatened necessarily by great power competition and then 9 11 and we spent the last 20 years fighting extremists who attacked us on our homeland so you need to think about how you're gonna fit into all of this a changing world a changing navy you're all subject matter experts and i imagine that many of you have advanced degrees and that's a big part of why you're here today but let's put that in context you know looking back that's who you were students of the law medicine nursing healthcare engineering but this is no longer about you this is now about us your naval officers you'll begin your your career in support of our navy our family our sailors our country you need your experience and you will be called upon to provide your very best in support of our national defense how many prior listed do we have show hands hold them up high you need to take the experience that you have earned in your time in the military you need to share it with everybody else to serve with you guys put your hands down and for the rest of you i urge you listen to them listen to that experience listen to the experience of prior and current sailors they will help you through this so moving forward on your journey just a few words of advice first and foremost always do the right thing make sure that your moral and ethical compass is pointed due north my first day here going through what you just went through i walked into a classroom and the instructor walked in stood in front of the class crinkled up a piece of paper threw it at the trash can and missed and they looked at the trash sitting there on the floor next to the trash can he walked over and he picked it up he put it in the trash can he turned to us and said that's all you need to know about being a naval officer walked out of the classroom it's about doing the right thing when no one's watching and that lesson stuck with me for the rest of my career set the example be the leader you want to drive your climate you know even as junior officers others will be looking at you be proactive about relationships be proactive about communication words credibility and relationships matter protect them they will help you always speak truth to power tell seniors subordinates peers not what they want to hear but what they need to don't burn bridges over single issues you'll need to walk back over those bridges self-care is important get enough sleep eat well pt breathe and study make it a habit and do it the rest of your career you'll be better for it finally take care of each other just as we did 10 minutes ago right there when you turn to took care of your shipmate get help of people needed let me repeat that get help when people needed so again if you remember one thing remember this is a journey not a destination you're brought on the team for your expertise and your excellence but make no mistake you are naval officers this journey of service is one that very few americans choose to take thank you for raising your right hand and joining us on our journey congratulations on your graduation i wish you the best of luck i look forward to seeing you out in the navy have no doubt if i could change places with you and sit there and start all over again on this journey i would do it in a heartbeat congratulations thank you Admiral french and captain hazenberg at the conclusion of each ods class several students are recognized by their fellow classmates as well as staff for outstanding achievement during the five week course of instruction lieutenant jg elizabeth hersey front and center the honor student award is presented to the officer who best demonstrates an overall excellence in the areas of academics physical fitness and military bearing consistently setting the example for his or her peers throughout the many challenges faced at officer training command the honor student award goes to lieutenant jg elizabeth hersey lieutenant commander william hosick front and center the alfred award is given to the officer who achieves the highest military grade derived from personnel inspections room inspections and general military bearing this award is named after the continental sloop of war the alfred commissioned in 1775 the alfred served as the flagship of native road islander comodore esek hopkins serving as a role model for navy pride and professionalism maintaining the highest military standards and providing inspiration to all the alfred award goes to lieutenant commander william hosick lieutenant jg james weaver front and center the captain george towns and smith leadership award is presented to the officer who personifies the highest standards of personal example good leadership practices and moral responsibility officers were nominated by their peers and selected by the class team the captain george towns and smith leadership award goes to lieutenant jg james weaver ensign jesse mclean front and center the eddy award named for lieutenant thomas eddy united states navy recognizes the highest achievement in academic and military performance lieutenant thomas eddy emigrated from scotland and settled in rhod island where he was awarded the navy cross and medal of honor for his courageous efforts as a diver during the salvage of submarines ss-4 and ss-51 off the coast of massachusetts he was a member of the south eastern new england chapter the retired officers association at the time of his death in 1974 in recognition of this accomplishment in addition to a certificate of achievement the military officers association of america has also provided a three-year membership to the eddy award winner ensign jesse mclean for the past five weeks the class has learned that the company guidons are a symbol of spirit dedication teamwork and unit identity to symbolize completion of training the class guides will now return the guidons to their recruit division commanders senior chief aviation electricians mate hubbard gravelly and senior chief gas turbine system technician wan rosa class officer lieutenant mark mnuchel will now deliver the reaffirmation of the oath of office would all military personnel in uniform please come to the position of attention ladies and gentlemen the commanding officer of officer training command newport would like to present to you your newly reaffirmed naval officers we will now conclude the ceremony ladies and gentlemen please rise for the playing of the service songs and the final dismissal officer development school class 22010 upon graduation from officer development school you are ordered to detach and report to your duty stations where you will assume your duties and responsibilities by order of captain mark heisenberg united states navy commanding officer officer training command newport class 22010 dismissed on behalf of the commanding officer thank you for attending today's graduation all students are directed to move immediately for their class picture and awardees will report to the helm for photographs taken with the guest of honor and commanding officer ladies and gentlemen while this concludes the ceremony we ask that all guests remain at their seats until after these pictures have been taken thank you