 assumed command today, bless him as he seeks to be an inspiration to the sailors of the boat, strengthen Commander Grover, encourage him and empower him to command as you would have him command. Finally, Lord, we ask that you will be with all of us today, that this ceremony will not just be another event on our calendar, but a benchmark of excellence for us all to follow as we seek that to be all that you have called us to be and all that our country needs us to be. In your precious and holy name we pray. Amen. Good morning ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the Alabama Blue Change Command ceremony. Senator Justin Grover is the leader of the Captain Larry Argo today. The change of command ceremony is rich in naval heritage, including traditions such as the sideboys, veils, piping award, members of the official party. Today, we acknowledge the presence of our distinguished guests and visitors, annual Tilbrook, fellow warfarin triads, and special guests in friends and family of Captain Argo and Commander Grover. Postal, post the sideboys, odd to ancient, guests please stand for the arrival of the official party, remain standing until the completion of invocation. United States Navy, arriving, United States Navy, arriving, Suburban 17, arriving, parade the colors. Ladies and gentlemen, our national anthem. Let us pray. Eternal Father, we begin this ceremony by recognizing your presence in the course of our lives that has begun by your gracious hand. Even as we navigate the seas of earth, we hear your voice calling us to serve as sailors and submariners, as true warriors of the deep, who stand firm in the face of adversity, a final bulwark over and against so much darkness, to even stand against the evil that threatens our existence. This is the call that has been answered by USS Alabama. Let our eternal love and gratitude for Captain Larry J. R. Buckle be evident and may he take that gift with him as he sails over this horizon to new waters of great adventure. And in the midst of that rough work, you have called another to lead and so the mantle of leadership as commanding officer USS Alabama passes from Captain R. Buckle to Commander Justin R. Grover. As it does with the support of family and new friends, we ask your continued grace upon the lives of both men. We pray that in difficult times, you would fill them with strength and guidance, teach those in command to lead just as you teach those under their command to follow. The demands for Commander Grover will be no less. So we do ask for the grace, the wisdom and the strength necessary for this mission. Allow him to continue to be a man of honor that inspires sailors as well to meet their mission with excellence. In your holy name we pray. Amen. When not contrary to law regulation, delegate authority to support us for the execution of details, such delegation of authority shown in no way believe the commanding officer, but continued responsibility for the safety, well-being, deficiency of the entire command. Today's guest speaker is Captain Murray. He serves as the division officer of the U.S.S. Wyoming, weapons officer on USS Georgia, executive officer on U.S. Tennessee and his commanding officer on U.S. Wyoming. He currently serves as the director of maritime operations for Commander Task Group 114.2. Please welcome Captain Murray. Thanks, Exo. Good afternoon and welcome Admiral Tilbrook, distinguished guests, family and friends of Captain Marbuckle and Commander Grover, our local submarine family and the incredible crew of USS Alabama Blue. It's my absolute honor to be here today and to participate in the changing of command for one of our nation's most critical assets, a ballistic missile submarine. For those that know me, it should come as no surprise that today I'm going to talk about the significance of our mission, the SSBN itself and most importantly the crews. When I was at Stratcom, the Army and the Air Force constantly wanted to talk about their equipment, how cool their tanks were, how neat their stealth bombers were. They're okay, I guess, but for me, the rest of the Joint Force didn't really get SSBNs. They didn't understand just how cool this piece of equipment is. So I had to find a way to put it into perspective for them and I found a way to paint a visual that seemed that even the Army and the Air Force could understand. So here's how it goes. Your submarine at 560 feet long is nearly two football fields long. The missiles each way the same as an Abrams tank. So now picture those 24 tanks stood up down the length of two football fields and that's what our sailors operate submerged and undetected all over the world every day. The modern SSBN is an engineering marvel made up of complex and interconnected systems employing nearly every engineering discipline in its design. But despite all of that design and technology, the only thing an Ohio class submarine can do on its own is sit at the pier and rust. To do every other thing that it's meant to do and needs a highly trained crew, it needs exceptional leadership to be able to go to sea and act as that ever present strategic deterrence for the United States, our partners and allies. And that's why we're really here today. I've had the pleasure of knowing Captain Larry R. Buckle and working with him over the past several years has spent extensive time with him during the perspective commanding officer pipeline and some lonely nights for me at Naval reactors while he was much smarter as a served engineer. It was during that time in the pipeline though that I got to know him well. Some stories about cigar nights in DC that I won't bring up here and what I can tell you is that Larry is the exact kind of guy you want on your team. His exacting standards exceptional technical expertise and incredible capability as an officer only surpassed by the fact that he's just a great person. What I learned from Larry is I worked next to him during the pipeline was you have to be confident in what you're good at and at the same time completely willing to acknowledge the things you're not and go after those and work on them hard. I had plenty of areas to work on to be a great Submariner and he didn't miss any opportunities to point those out to me and I really appreciated that but at the same time he was right there to help me right there to make sure that I could get better every day and I'm confident that my time with him is the same thing that the crew of Alabama blue soft always willing to get in the ring with you always willing to make you better. So Larry thank you for the advice and the mentorship that you provided me and I'm sure your crew as well. I want to give you a couple cigars as a small token of my gratitude and a reminder of some interesting nights and downtime during the pipeline. I also want to congratulate and say thank you to your family Ashley Madison Parker Grayson and Hadley your service and sacrifice during this time and through your whole time in the Navy is greatly appreciated. We give a round of applause to the family please. As I said a few moments ago the success of the SSBN force is not based on the submarine itself. It's based on the drive and expertise of our sailors that take those boats to sea. With that in mind I want to take a moment and thank the crew of Alabama blue and remind you and our guests of what it is that you do for our nation every day. It's no secret that the strategic deterrence mission is the number one mission of the Department of Defense. The primary mission of Alabama and her crew is to deter existential threats to the United States of America. That mission is the foundation of every other military mission across the globe and further it enables assurance and extended deterrence that we provide our partners and allies. So here's my take on the mission that the crew of Alabama blue executes for us day in and day out. As SSBN sailors each time we commence our operations we once again grasp the torch of freedom and carry it silently into the dark. We're tasked to perform a mission that's frankly impossible to really wrap your mind around. In most military specialties they're tasked to train rehearse in peacetime and be ready to execute if they're ever needed in war. For us it's different. For us the mission exists every day. For us the peacetime mission of strategic deterrence is the primary mission and we use our ballistic missile submarines and our amazing crews to do it every day. Failure to execute our primary mission of strategic deterrence puts the lives of every one of the United States at risk. Our mission quite literally is to be so feared and respected that any potential adversary chooses not to escalate to nuclear war because they know that they can't win. Our mission doesn't wait until they decide to fight. Our mission doesn't start when nuclear weapons are headed towards our family. Our mission is right here and right now and if we do it right then we return home from each patrol knowing that it's because of us that our families our friends and our countrymen live in peace every day. The mission matters more than I can express in words and the consequences of failed strategic deterrence would change the world forever. Each time you get underway please recognize that what you do matters and it matters on a level that is so profound that most of the world just takes it for granted. Peace is our profession and I thank you for the sacrifices that you and your families make every day to provide that peace for our world. Commander Grover as you take command of Alabama blue never forget that it's the sailors and not the submarine that make our nation great. You and Nina have gone through a lot to get here today but it's not the finish line. It's just the start of an incredible opportunity. So remember to lead this crew and their families with passion intensity and humility. These sort of these sailors definitely deserve it. As you walk out of here today I hope that your head is held a little higher knowing that you and the crew of Alabama blue are what make our SSBNs credible reliable and survivable. Congratulations Captain Arbuckle Commander Grover. I wish you all the best. Congratulations to crew of Alabama blue ladies and gentlemen. Captain Larry Arbuckle Commander and Officer of the USS Alabama blue. Hey thank you XO. Thank you Captain Murray. It was an honor to speak here today Captain Murray. I can tell you that you have been an inspiration to me since the moment that we met and I've used you as a role model throughout both of my command tours now. Thank you for speaking here today. Admiral, shipmates, friends, family, fellow commanding officers. Again thank you for being here today. I'd also like to thank the men and women of the many organizations that enable our Pacific Fleet SSBN force and specifically have worked so hard to make my patrol with USS Alabama so successful. The Trident Training Facility always provides meets in response to the needs of the fleet and provides high quality high fidelity training to the operational force. Trident refit facility Banger took amazing steps to ensure our ship was ready for sea and material issues developed while underway sent an expert to meet us at sea and keep Alabama underway while providing quality training to our sailors. Strategic Weapons Facility Pacific, Naval Base Kitsap and Submarine Readiness Squadron 3-1 provide outstanding support to the warfighter. I'd like to express my gratitude to the staff of Submarine Squadron 17, Submarine Group 9 and Commander Task Force 114.3 for support and getting Alabama to sea and supporting our underway operations. More than any other submarine is a team sport and Team Banger exemplifies this fact and doing the work to defend our nation. I'd also like to thank our command on Budsman. This is Molly Strong for for being here today and for the incredible hard work that you put in supporting the families of the USS Alabama sailors. Thank you for that Molly. For most, I could not have been successful aboard Alabama without the support of my loving family. Ashley, I've asked so much of you. I have spent years of our marriage sailing the high seas and working long hours when ashore. You have always been amazing at not just keeping the family on track in my absence, but in always running the show with such grace. Always while going above and beyond to support the families of our sailors. I gave you no warning that this command tour was coming, but you jumped in with unbelievable energy and just did the work that you always do. Thank you for standing beside me all these years providing the support that I never deserved. Madison, I'm so happy that you could be here today. I think you for tolerating all the many times I could not be there for you over the years and for helping mom to get through all the challenges that that you guys face together. I am so proud of the woman that you are and are continuing to grow into. I would also like to recognize the irony of the many times that I would send you a picture of this particular warship with our iconic, if not official slogan. And I know that your emotional response was driven by deep seated competition. But I do thank you for the grace at which you joined the at the Bama family and its own. But with that I will give you now a Hotty Toddy. Parker, grace and Hadley. Thank you for taking time away from school to be here today. I know that was pretty hard for you. And thank you for willingly giving up our time together so that I could accomplish this this tour. Park your drive amazes me. I love the energy you bring to everything that you do and your love of all things Navy. While I'm sure that you would prefer that this would be an aviation squadron that I was addressing here today. Nonetheless, I appreciate the support that you you provide to the submarine force. And I have no doubt that you'll be standing in the spot soon enough if you continue to want to serve in the U.S. Navy. Gracen, you're such a kind hearted loving person. I'm inspired by your drive to always do the right thing. Help others when you can and I love our time building things together. Hadley, I have no idea where you get all of your energy from. But I am so pressed impressed by your drive. I've loved watching you blossom into an amazing self sufficient young lady always putting your whole heart into everything you do. Thank you guys. For the crew of the Alabama. We began this journey together in less than ideal conditions. But you rose to every challenge presented to you. Your dedication to the mission and drive to improve our war fighting readiness made this tour incredibly personally rewarding. You fought through many material issues to get our ship to see and then keep her there. Every department faced these challenges and every one was met with steadfast resolve to remain on our nation's watch bill with technical rigor and war fighting tenacity. During our time together, you completed a first ever logistics demonstration, multiple ocean transfers and straight transits, tactical development exercises to strengthen the whole of Navy readiness and executed a rigorous training plan to ensure that Alabama is ready to fight tonight and on her coming patrols. You also rapidly responded to casually situations with professionalism and dedication. Many that we inserted for training and many that Bama inserted all on her own. I am humbled to have served with such a professional and tenacious group of American sailors. I will cherish the memories we built together aboard our deployed warship. Because of each and every one of you, I will forever be proud to say that I was a part of the Alabama family. Justin, I know the next few years are going to be exceptionally rewarding for both you and Nina. You are going to lead this ship and crew into her finest days and I'm sure of that. And I just want to say I stand by what I said a couple of weeks ago. I think you're the luckiest man on earth and I'm just a bit jealous. All right. With that Alabama, I'll leave you with one final statement as your commanding officer. Go Bama. I will now read my orders from commander submarine squadron 17 when directed detached from USS Alabama and report to the commander submarine squadron 17. I shall now read my orders from commander Navy personnel command to commander Justin Grover, Vupers order two seven to two when directed by reporting senior detached from op nav Washington DC and report to Alabama blue commanding officer as his relief. Thanks. So you guys hear me in the back? All right. Good afternoon. Admiral Commodore distinguished gas family friends, shipmates airmate and everybody else who was able to make it today, especially families and crew of the Alabama blue. So 20 years ago, this summer as a much, much younger mid shipment. I had my first exposure to the fleet during a summer training cruise block and during that train training cruise block is when I first got underway on a submarine and that submarine happened to be the USS Alabama compared to some of my experiences earlier that summer. I was truly taken aback by the awesome nature and power of that vessel, just capable carrying at the time 24 three stage rocket delivered nuclear weapons across the globe powered by a nuclear reactor capable of submerging and operating unseen and unheard for an extended period of time. But most significantly, I was truly impressed with the professionalism, technical competence, camaraderie and pride demonstrated by her crew. So looking back that young midshipman who got his picture taken with a Polaroid posing at the Periscope would have never imagined that he be here on the stage taking command of that very same warship. So I'm sincerely humbled that the Navy has provided me this honor to serve you as commanding officer, lead this extraordinary team as we continue to execute one of our nation's highest priorities, integrated deterrence by providing president with a reliable and survivable strategic deterrent platform. Alabama's been silently conducting her mission nearly for 40 decades or correction, four decades. She is no less lethal today than the day that she was put to see. And I'd argue that her lethality is only increased because of you, the true professionals that man her watch. So to my shipmates, airmate here today to include my first commanding officer, Captain Jim Doody. Thank you for your personal leadership, mentorship and patience to my family. Thank you for your unending support and unconditional love to my wife Nina. Thank you for being eternally by my side since day one of this adventure with ever enduring challenges, challenges, challenging assignments, demanding schedules, 13 Navy moves back and forth across the country and doing all this with a positive attitude and your own personal sacrifice. Kat Marbuckle, my sincere thanks for jumping into this assignment and truly going all in under challenging circumstances committing to lead this amazing crew on a very successful trajectory. I wish you enjoy your well deserved night off before reporting to your job as deputy Commodore to Ashley and the kids. Thanks for unexpectedly giving up your husband and dad to fulfill to answer this call of duty and for integrating yourselves into the Alabama family during that time. And finally to the family's crew of Alabama Blue, I commit to give everything that I have to bring us closer together as a team of highly capable war fighters and to continue building upon the sex successes demonstrated in the last patrol. As I mentioned earlier, this is truly truly honor of my lifetime to be assigned as your commanding officer. So excited to serve you over the next cat or as a cat move over the next few years. Go Bama. Let us pray. Almighty Father, in every generation, you have raised up from the children of men protectors of the innocent, true warriors with righteous hearts and keen minds, defenders of freedom. You trained their hands for war and their fingers for battle that darkness not consume the Earth. As they take on their new duties and responsibilities, we ask for continued blessings upon Captain Larry J. Arbuckle and Commander Justin R. Grover. We thank you for the faithful service rendered by Captain Arbuckle during his time in command. Thank you for all that he has done for the USS Alabama and for the United States Navy. As they shift their focus and energies to other things, we pray that you will continue to bless him and his family in the days ahead. We know though that Commander Grover's commitment to the Navy and to the United States of America will not change and we thank you for this as well. We also ask that you will be with Commander Grover as he assumed command today. Bless him as he seeks to be an inspiration to the sailors of the boat. Strengthen Commander Grover, encourage him and empower him to command as you would have him command. Finally Lord we ask that you will be with all of us today that this ceremony will not just be another event on our calendar but a benchmark of excellence for us all to follow as we seek that to be all that you have called us to be and all that our country needs us to be and your precious and holy name we pray amen.