 The 21st Century Sailor and Marine Initiative is celebrating its one-year anniversary. The initiative is a combination of new and old programs aimed at improving readiness, inclusion, continuum of service, safety and physical fitness. Assistant Secretary of the Navy, Juan Garcia, talked about last year's implementation of the program. Well, it was March 5th of 2012 when the Secretary of the Navy, the CNO, McPond, Commandant of the Marine Corps and Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps, stood together in the hangar bay of the USS Patan and rolled out the 21st Century Sailor and Marine Program. And it was built on this premise that we knew ten years into the longest sustained combat operations in American history, and with the then freshly rolled out national strategy that was about the rebalance to the Asia-Pacific, and that by any objective analysis was a sea service-centric strategy that was based on the Navy and Marine Corps. We also knew that we'd be down one carrier when Enterprise retired and we waited for the Ford-class carrier to come on board, to come on into the force. So we knew that the operational temple that our folks had experienced over the last ten years was likely to stay exactly the same if not be heightened. And that's why what led to this program. Garcia also talked about how important the programs under the initiative are during the current fiscal uncertainty following sequestration. The need for support programs to ensure our folks have the tools they and their families need to succeed and excel in the coming decade has never been more important. To find out more about the 21st Century Sailor and Marine Initiative, visit 21stCentury.navy.mil. From the Defense Media Activity, I'm Petty Officer Brandy Wills.