 We welcome and in honor to have many distinguished visitors here today serving both civilian and military positions Please allow me to recognize several of our guests at this time Ambassador Abdullah Al Khalifa Ambassador Ashok Mepire Ambassador Jalil Jalani the Honorable Ashton Carter the Honorable Buck McKeon Congresswoman Madeleine Boddio the Honorable Ten Murphy the Honorable Robert Work the Honorable Ray Mabus the Honorable Paul Ignatius the Honorable BJ Penn the Honorable Robert Peary General Martin Dempsey Admiral Ed Giobostiani General Joe Donford Admiral Thomas Hayward Admiral Carl Trouse Admiral Gary Ruffad General Frank Grass General Boyd Rutherford Lieutenant Governor Mallon Ambassador Asif Chaudhry Admiral Eduardo Vial Ferreira Admiral Lee Shi Min Admiral Bernard Rogel Admiral Nielmo Burma Admiral Masahiko Sugimoto Admiral Hiromu Ferreira Admiral Shayk Siso Ko Admiral Karee Takenin and Admiral John Mendoa Today's sub-boys are sales who have served with the Admiral Greenert in the past Bozen, post the sub-boys Ladies and gentlemen, please rise for the arrival of the Fisher Party our main standing for the advancement of colors the National Anthem and the invocation Please be aware that with the arrival of the Secretary of Defense there will be a 19 gun salute Admiral United States Navy arriving Naval operations arriving Navy arriving Defense arriving Bozen, retire the sub-boys Advance the colors Pre-exam, arms Ladies and gentlemen, please join us in the singing of the National Anthem led by MU1 Kenny Ray Horton U.S. Navy Band Ladies and gentlemen, please join me in the singing of the National Anthem Oh say can you see by the dawn's early light what so proudly we at the twilight's last gleam Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the pale O'er the ramparts we were so gallant Chief of chaplains were now offered the invocation Guests, please be seated If you would, please pray with me Gracious and almighty God The one who is greater than any pomp and flourish Exhibited here in this magnificent hall And who pre-existed the centuries of history represented We humbly ask that you would preside over the ceremony Here our gratitude for having set before us two exceptional men Admiral Jonathan Greenert And Admiral John Richardson Whose wisdom and acumen, experience and knowledge Reflect their awareness of your presence And their obedience to your will Through this event, consecrate these lives well lived And speak into the charge of command That it would be rightly transferred Allow this conclusion of over 40 years in uniform To reflect your eternal blessing On the illustrious tenure of Admiral Jonathan Greenert Truly, you have given him the courage of conviction And the wisdom to stand on the bridge To face the challenges and make the decisions That have come with navigating these years Of stormy weather and tides of change And we would ask that you would hear our deep gratitude For his leadership and for the added blessings Of the Admiral's incredibly gracious, loving And supportive spouse, Darlene For theirs and their family's generous Even sacrificial service to you, our Navy And this country, we pray now your benediction May they hear clearly your own well done And receive the full measure of your care And keeping in their transition We now commend our words, our actions Our lives and our future to you And pray in the strength of your name Amen Ladies and gentlemen, the Honorable Ashton Carter Secretary of Defense, 40 years ago 40 years ago, the son of a steel worker Was commissioned as an ensign in the United States Navy Having come from the blue collar town Of Butler, Pennsylvania, he'd chosen To wear a blue collar of a different sort That of a midshipman here at the United States Naval Academy And when he graduated, the Academy's yearbook Predicted that, and I quote, With his personality, good looks Really dubious, receding hairline, low Low, low, still not come And quick wit, and here's the part That was definitely right He is bound to be a success And as anyone who knows, John Greenert Will tell you they're absolutely right Today, we return to the same story To Academy, to thank that man For his career of service To honor the naval forces he led And to welcome aboard his relief Passing our Navy's con From one great leader to another Ladies and gentlemen, distinguished guests Leaders of the Navy and the Defense Department Past and present, good afternoon Thank you for joining us here today For this celebration of two Of America's great sailors The 30th Chief of Naval Operations Admiral John Greenert Born to be 31st CNO, Admiral John Richardson I'd like to recognize Admiral Greenert's family here today As John likes to say, and I know the feeling He married up When he and Darlene began life together Over 30 years ago Having served as a naval officer herself I'm told they first met when they were stationed In Hawaii together Darlene has always been deeply committed To the Navy, its sailors and their families And we're deeply grateful to her for that Together, John and Darlene raised a family That shares their commitment To service and our defense mission Their son, Jonathan, their daughter Sarah Their son, Brian And Brian's very young son, Leland Where did Leland go? That's a cute kid Who's the first Greenert grandchild Congratulations, they're all here today Thank you all for supporting John Some of you may recall, and I recall very vividly I was present at the beginning of John's tenure In this job, in this very place And now that we've reached the end I'm pleased to tell you that as CNO He has been a tremendous leader For our Navy over the last four years Four years that have been critical for our military And for the country Marked by an ever-changing security environment And persistent budget turbulence But also by magnificent performance By the Navy under his leadership With Admiral Greenert standing the watch America's soldiers and Marines Have been where it matters, when it matters Rebalancing to the Asia Pacific Where much of America's future Will be written Reinforcing our long-standing NATO allies Supporting our forces assure In the turbulent Middle East And providing humanitarian assistance And disaster relief the world over In a way that only America can And does do Indeed, from Fukushima to the Gulf From the Black Sea to the Philippines The Navy has lived its chiefs This chiefs Three tenants Warfighting first Operate forward And be ready But beyond the present Beyond the present John's also made sure to focus on the future This is important Four years ago He was among a small group in the Pentagon Who began to recognize the advanced capability gap That could develop between the United States And our high-end potential opponents John was one of the first people in the Pentagon Looking on that problem And I worked on it with him He understood what was happening early on Well before it became mainstream And he's been someone I've looked to In the years since As CNO, recognizing DOD must invest in innovation To stay ahead of new threats He emphasized payloads over platforms And created the CNO's rapid innovation cell Empowering junior leaders to find And rapidly feel the emerging technologies And capabilities to solve Some of the Navy's most pressing challenges Thanks to John's leadership This has already made a lasting impact Advancing breakthrough ideas from information dominance To cyber defense To putting 3D printers on ships That enable sailors to swiftly manufacture Many things they might need while underway Training aids, models, medical devices You name it Without having to wait for resupply And of course, foremost always An Admiral Greenert's mind was the welfare Of his sailors You see it in how he puts them at ease Whether it's out on deck during a ship visit Or speaking at a hailing farewell Always says, hey, what's your favorite sports team? John's of course always the Steelers Which I'm a Philadelphia boy So I resent slightly, but it's okay Before talking easily About this statistic or that statistic Or that player he's always admired Or whatever the team it was You see it also in how he's led the Navy's personnel Enabling the service to innovate And be on the leading edge And how it manages its talent So we can keep recruiting and retaining in the future The kind of magnificent men and women Who make today's U.S. military The finest fighting force the world has ever known John, those men and women are gonna miss you I'm gonna miss you We all are Because as you leave the Pentagon For safe harbor in your cottage Off the shores of the Chesapeake Where I know you'll enjoy spending time With that little grandson and also your dog Golden Retriever You've also left America's Navy Well positioned for success We're very grateful for that Because in the months and years ahead America's Navy will continue to be called upon With global challenges that span every domain Not only the sea, but also the air, land, space And cyberspace The Navy is critical to our military's ability To project power around the world Protect the global commons And flow ready forces wherever they're needed Given the advanced systems being fielded By other nations today This will include helping ensure our forces Can access denied areas Our Navy has long been a linchpin Of global security and prosperity Ensuring the free flow of commerce That has enabled many nations to rise and prosper And that won't change As our sailors, naval aviators And submariners continue to sail, fly And operate wherever international law allows From the Arctic to the South China Sea Our military is first and foremost A war fighting force And while we seek to deter wars We must also be prepared to fight and win them This means that overall The Navy's strategic future will require Focusing more on posture Not only on presence And more on new capabilities Not only ship numbers And the Navy is more than up to this task Under Admiral Greenert's leadership The Navy has already begun investing In research, developing and acquiring What we need to stay ahead of emerging threats And to sustain our military's technological superiority This includes submarines, long-range anti-ship missiles The electromagnetic rail gun Numerous unmanned undersea surface and aerial vehicles Some autonomous With human controllers and other man systems And a wide variety of payloads From weapons to electronic warfare systems Meanwhile, the Navy has also been developing Innovative operational concepts To use existing capabilities in new and creative ways Like using flocks of swarming drones For several different missions Adapting our Tomahawk missiles To be used against moving targets In a maritime environment Using smart projectiles that can be fired From a destroyer's 5-inch gun To defeat incoming missiles At much lower cost per round Continuing and building on all this work Will be critical going forward And Admiral John Richardson Was a clear choice to carry it out Like Admiral Greenert, he's exceptional Strong, quiet and centered He's a bold and innovative thinker A tremendous leader And the go-to officer For many of the Navy's tough issues In recent years He's been its best troubleshooter From handling problems of integrity and ethics To preparing for the Ohio-class Replacement ballistic missile submarine To leading the Navy's advanced capability efforts And we need to get all of that right In the years ahead I know he'll be the man to do it He is, of course, in high demand I had to wrestle him away from the Secretary of Energy But as anyone who's worked with John Will tell you he's worth the fight I told Ernie Moniz that if I could clone John Richardson, I would And he could have one and I could have the other But I couldn't do that So I was stealing him Because he'll do an excellent job Of leading and steering our Navy in the future John, too, cares very deeply About the sailors he'll soon lead He learned that from his father Who's here today A retired Navy captain And a Submariner like his son Captain Richardson, thank you For your decades of service For raising such a fine officer John draws strength from your legacy From his entire family His wife Dana We thank for her service and support of John And also their five kids Also here today as well There's Nathan, who's a Navy Lieutenant Also Daniel, Rachel, Veronica And Matthew To each of you, thank you Thank you for the love you've given your dad Over the years I'm sure raising you has kept Your parents on their toes Works like that But I know it's also prepared your dad To help me build the force of the future Where we'll make sure we continue Attracting new generations of talented Americans To contribute to our mission So John, Darlene, other John Dana, both of your families We thank you for your many years Of service to our country We look forward to your continued success And we wish all of you A favorable winds, the safest of tides And the calmest of seas in years ahead Thank you Ladies and gentlemen, the Honorable Ray Mavis Secretary of the Navy I sit in my speech I'll relieve you all There we go We are here today Mark the change of command And one of the most storied Most historic, iconic posts In the military or in any military The Chief of Naval Operations A job held by Leahy and King By Nimitz and Burke Zumwalt The very title implies action Chief of Naval Operations It's a title and a position Which our CNO, Jonathan Greenert Has brought energy and dedication Skill and compassion, intellect and vision The three tenants that he established When he took command are timeless And yet timely And can be taken as a mission description For our Navy And for the job of CNO Before fighting first Operate forward Be ready Now it's very fitting That this ceremony take place Here at the Naval Academy Where the Navy legacy and legend For both our outgoing And incoming CNOs began Admiral Greenert, Class of 75 Admiral Richardson Admiral Richardson, Class of 82 It was here four years ago As SecDef said that Admiral Greenert Took the con as CNO So I wanted to know a little bit more About our current CNO And his start on the path to greatness So I did some research on his time Here at the Academy That was your roommate that just said I'm sorry First I learned that when he showed up As a kid from just outside Pittsburgh At the Academy Had misspelled his name And I learned that he evidently Was called Nurt here Really Now he did have a keen eye for fashion Even though everybody wore the same thing He set himself apart With those photo gray glasses The one that turns darker As you go out into the light And I understand that his fellow mids Were so envious of those glasses That they resorted to name calling And mean descriptions to hide that envy There was also evidently a fellow mid here Who looked exactly like Jonathan Greenert Even wore the same glasses Hard to believe Who was constantly getting into trouble So that Nurt was often punished For somebody else's actions But that's his story This mysterious other mid never finished And we can't find any evidence of him But wherever he is I know he's sorry for getting you into so much trouble So I think it can be fairly said That early on He was very adept at hiding those talents Which led him eventually To be the Navy's highest uniformed officer There were glimpses though Of what was to come While other mids were throwing pennies at Tecumseh To make sure that they passed Admiral Greenert wrote Tecumseh a check For one million dollars Good training for spending money you don't have And he was and he remains Ahead of his time in technology It was in his second class year He was studying for a double E exam When he and his roommates Deciding they were already pretty accomplished engineers Had the idea to wire their alarm clock To their coffee maker With the goal of waking up to the smell Of fresh coffee instead of the buzz Of an alarm clock What they woke up to Was the fire alarm And the smell of smoke As this homemade device caught fire At the desired time But apparently Even with that Midship and second class Greenert Made it to his exam on time And finally there's this line from the yearbook Tec Def quoted one of them I'm quoting another John could often be seen With a cup of coffee Pulling late nighters studying And wondering what life at Penn Was like Never one to refuse An invitation to good times John's weekends were almost Were always colorful And almost religiously Non-academic Admiral Greenert held his first command here Commander of 14th Company But many many more followed USS Honolulu SSN 718 Submarine Squadron 11 US Naval Forces Marianas 7th Fleet Fleet Forces Command He's held an incredible number Of Offices of high responsibilities On his way to this ultimate role Deputy Chief of Naval Operations For integration capabilities And resources In 8 Deputy Commander of Pacific Fleet Vice Chief Of Naval Operations He's needed all this experience During these last four years They've been a lot of things Exhilarating, successful Maritime Sentry Challenging But they have not been easy Or predictable He's had sequester A government shutdown Hiring freeze Furlough He's had to operate within An uncertain and shrinking budget Environment And more in need than ever Of the United States Navy He has dealt with all of this With calmness Great good humor Grace Steadfastness And sheer overwhelming Competence Countless times I've seen him take a very difficult Complicated issue To still it down to its essence And then explain it In understandable terms And have a thoughtful solution To it He came up with a metric For what percentage of our fleet Was forward deployed And where and what percentage Was at sea Because he knows from long First-hand experience The value of that presence Those gray hauls on the horizon Are usually the only thing That reassures our friends To have all adversaries And have the ability to respond Immediately to whatever comes Over the horizon from high in combat To a regular warfare To disaster relief And humanitarian assistance He's been A crucial part Of our Navy's keeping the sea lanes open And ensuring freedom of navigation Which has As the Secretary of Defense Noted in large part Kept the world's economy stable For so long At every congressional hearing I've seen his world map That he passes out to members With the little bow ties Highlighting maritime choke points And I've seen members React in an incredibly Positive way to this very Straightforward explanation of the Navy's value And of the necessity of having So much of our fleet forward deployed And what that means We've worked together on growing the fleet Because the importance of These great ships Needing to be around the globe Around the clock But he's also worked on the optimized fleet Response plan to make deployments And maintenance And sailors' lives More certain and predictable John Greenert Has infused Navy leadership With new and innovative initiatives He's understood Where the future of technology lies Spearheaded new concepts And undersea Electromagnetic maneuver Cyber warfare Expanded the use of unmanned systems Across all domains He deployed laser technology For the first time Pushed the electromagnetic railgun For at sea testing And we saw the future Personally together The first carrier landing And aerial refueling Of an unmanned aircraft He understands, as I know we all do And particularly the Secretary of Defense That getting these new capabilities Into the hands of our warfighters faster Has got to be a priority If we're going to remain The world's most advanced Fighting force He's accelerated Speed to fleet initiatives Stressed innovative uses For adaptive force packaging Initiating an experimental time period That allowed Navy to maximize The use of every Fleet asset As a weapon He's made sure That in the coming years And decades The transition of America's Undersea deterrence force Those platforms Will be seamless And through it all He's kept his eye and his attention On the greatest edge that we have Our sailors He's been a fierce advocate For those sailors Filling personnel gaps at sea Opening up educational opportunities Overseeing the expanding opportunities For women and submarines And in special warfare Now one of my enduring memories Of John Greenert And one which shows Both the high standards Of his assets and his personal concern For sailors, most of whom he calls Kitto I saw on the USS Nimitz During the impact of 2012 We were on board together And we were doing an all hands call And near the end of his remarks Emma Greenert Went into why no one Should use illegal drugs And he was stern And he said that if a sailor Used these drugs That the navy would Find them Punish them And remove them from the navy He got every one of those sailors Attention And then without pausing at all He said, so who's got a birthday this week Now most sailors thought that was a trick question But hands began to go up And he invited them all up And we all sang happy birthday To those sailors Those sailors were moved They were touched They were motivated But they were also reminded Of the responsibility That they bore And on a very personal note John Greenert has been an absolutely Wonderful partner In running the navy Having a leader like him Who's enthusiasm for embracing innovation For knocking down bureaucratic barriers To progress Having flexibility of thought Respecting tradition But not being bound by it Combating constrained resources With thinking and acting differently Recognizing the strength Of diversity Has made us all better And made me better at my job And has given America A stronger navy I trust him Without reservation I know he will give me His very best advice And most can do the advice I also know he's willing to Change his mind If there's contrary evidence And he's willing and Maybe a little eager To challenge conventional thinking Now it hasn't all been Tough Mr. Chairman I Apologize for this But C&O has never Had to oversee navy During his time as C&O But of course that's true During his time as Vice C&O Leap forces command Seventh fleet commander But I run on So I said this And I say this at every change Of command for the C&O And the commandant Out of respect for those offices I never call the C&O Or the commandant by their first names And one of the happy points Is after this ceremony I'll be able to call My friend John Admiral Greenert, David Ted Talk Where he spoke about the elements He viewed as essential to leadership Trust, integrity, Dignity, respect Based on this great definition John Greenert is An exceptional leader He is trustworthy In all his actions He makes decisions with the utmost integrity He leads with dignity and respect For every single sailor Civilian and family member All right It's enough about John Greenert Darlene Greenert And Brian and Jonathan and Sarah This day Is as much about and for you As it is for This person sitting on the stage The farewells The homecomings The terrible nights Without him The years of letting the United States of America Have your husbands, your fathers Precious time Are not lost on us So thank you By my calculations he owes you about 40 years Our Secretary of Defense Has and the C&O I know will Go into way more detail about this But Darlene Your work with Navy families You have done so much To make our Navy a better place For sailors Their families And Brian Jonathan and Sarah It's no secret how Proud your dad is of all of you In fact I met Jonathan Before I met Admiral Greenert He was on my NCIS security detail On the first trip I made to Japan Over six years ago I can personally testify how good He is as his job But I have no doubt That the years that your fathers dedicated To our Navy and to our country Has from time to time been very hard On you as well Thank you for the love And support that you Have as a family And that is so clearly evident Toward your dad And toward What you've all done Your father's career Is one for the history books And he's done a magnificent job Of leading the world's greatest Navy And you Have done a magnificent job As a family And in the Bitter Street tradition Of a change of command As we say one Farewell to one great officer And family Admiral John Richardson As you've heard Like his father A submarine With his wife Dana And their five children Nathan, Daniel, Rachel Veronica, Matthew As you've also heard he comes to us From naval reactors And during his time At INR I've given him some of the hardest Jobs in the Navy In the battle of duties Including leading the investigation Into the attack at the Washington Navy Yard two years ago No matter how hard the task He was always up to it With the calm professionalism Which seems to be there in all our Submariners but particularly in John Richardson Tries I could I could not find a task To discourage let alone defeat John Richardson Well it's always hard to say Farewinds and following seas To someone into a family That you've come to trust and respect So deeply as we all have With John Greener I'm confident John Richardson is ready For whatever awaits him In our country And I look forward To another great partnership So Admiral Greener Today you conclude Incredibly distinguished Amazingly accomplished 40 year Career And think how far We've come I'm pretty sure today Most coffee makers have a timer built in But you've always kept that Creativity And determined energy with you And that is reflected in this Indescribably great naval career So to John Darlene, Brian, Jonathan, Sarah You will remain as you always have been A vital part of the Navy family The Navy And the nation Are lucky to have had John Greener Service And our Navy family Has been lucky to have you as a part of it May all your future weekends Be religiously Non-academic Godspeed Well so you remain seated For the presentation of awards The award of a Master Chief Yeoman Hilton Owens Who has served as CNO's flag writer Since Admiral Greener was selected As a flag officer 17 years ago The Secretary of the Navy takes pleasure In presenting Distinguished Public Service Award to Darlene Greener For Distinguished Public Service In support of the United States Navy The Department of Defense and the nation Mrs. Greener's tireless devotion And commitment to sailors and their families Significantly improved the quality of life For thousands serving across the globe Mrs. Greener has been at the forefront In fostering a climate of trust and cooperation Throughout the U.S. Navy While serving as an ambassador For the U.S. Navy for about three decades Mrs. Greener served as a board member For the Navy Marine Corps Relief Society To ensure the organization remained Aligned with the needs of sailors Marines and their families In times of disaster and crisis In addition, Mrs. Greener was a key participant In the Navy's highly successful Continuum of Resources and Education Program Dedicated to empowering the Navy's spouse Educating the Navy family Promoting the Navy lifestyle By her superior commitment Exceptional judgment and deep devotion To sailors and their families Mrs. Greener reflected great credit upon herself And upheld the highest traditions Of the United States Navy Service Signed Ray Mavis, Secretary of the Navy Please be seated Ladies and gentlemen, at this time The Arnold Ashton Corridor, Secretary of Defense Will like to recognize Amal Greener As a 30th Chief of Naval Operations The President of the United States Take pleasure in presenting the Distinguished Defense Distinguished Service Medal To Amal Jonathan Greener Amal Greener distinguished himself By exceptionally distinguished service As a Chief of Naval Operations From September 2011 to September 2015 His acquisition and resource Decisions restored stability To the critical industrial base And major procurement programs As well as investment in unmanned systems To shape the military of tomorrow He recognized the operational imperative For information dominance And raised it to the forefront Of the Navy's 21st Century Arsenal He provided invaluable oversight In the preparation and execution Of several successful joint operations Including operations in Durham Freedom New Dawn and Inherent Resolve The distinctive accomplishments Of Amal Greener culminated In a long and distinguished career In the service of this country The United States Navy And the Office of the Secretary of Defense For the President signed Ashton Carter Secretary of Defense At this time the Secretary At this time the Secretary May be selected to do a special gift To the CNO Amal Greener also received The Distinguished Service Medal Of the Army, Air Force and Coast Guard Ladies and gentlemen The 30th Chief of Naval Operations Amal Jonathan Greener He's been doing something every single day Today while you relearn many things Most of us do There's no such thing as delete And people say I'll never talk about this And it's in the vault that's all lie People talk about anything about you all the time We all know that By the way that jersey was signed by Dan Rooney The chief of The chairman of the Pittsburgh Steelers Secretary Carter thank you very much For the award and for your kind words You and Stephanie lead by example What you do for our military families I mean you walk the talk What you do for the military, for our families And for our wounded or injured Is extraordinary and I thank you very much for that Doing business in the Pentagon Any meeting with you has always been It's been transparent, inclusive And analytic and for any service chief Or any member working there You can't ask for any more Thank you so much for that Secretary Mavis I want to thank you For your willingness to choose And trust me so many long years ago Four years ago almost to the day Amazing you had the confidence To delegate things to me And I truly felt I was in command Working with you and for you Thank you very much a great partner I got the experience of command Because of your willingness to do that You encouraged my initiatives when I came to you And after in 2011 I said I want to do this You said we'll get going And that meant a lot to me I thank you very much Your commitment to sea power Your commitment to the future of sailors And your commitment to sustain war fighting Is extraordinary and long lasting And I'm very proud to have been your partner So thank you so much You heard just a piece of our band Here at the beginning they've got One other song to go They are our best ambassadors Our Navy bands around the United States And actually around the world Get us into countries we can't get into No matter what and it's true Of all of our bands they're extraordinary Please put your hands together for M.U.1 Kenny Norton and our Navy band Thank you for the band So This really old sailor And a little younger sailor Who get to come home to the naval academy And have a change of command In the office of the chief of naval operations Is wonderful and I thank the academy Ted Carter is out, Linda is here But Ted is out running around There's so much going on at the academy But we were able to get this in To be able to come and end my career Where it started is truly a dream Come true, excuse me To my executive assistant Who I said, hey I know Bull It's really busy being the CNO's And you got another coming in But you're running the change of command Congratulations and director of protocol So much going on, thanks Bull Thank you for what you did And thank you Wendy Buller Wherever you are she's running around Getting things done out there So that brought us in and will say goodbye They are an extraordinary Group and very close to us So master chief Todd Owens Has been with me for 17 years I will never run for office without checking with him He knows he's been in and around the family So much and he's truly a member Of our family, Mark Dosey Master chief Mark Dosey Who's been with us since 2007 Running the house and houses And actually the two best Master chief petty officers of the navy Rick West and Mike Stevens Are here today doing being the side boys And Joe Tafalo, Nancy Norton Jesse Wilson and Tom Ishii My executive assistants who are now Three, two and one and In rearmful selects So thank you very much for that And that's who those folks are So family, friends and Classmates and ladies and gentlemen I wanted to, hey where's my prop Sorry for that delay It's really difficult to 40 years of service And in four years as the chief of naval operations In such a short amount of time And I won't spend all that much more time And I thought well how do I explain All that went on there And so I got the staff and they said Hey we're going to help everybody out So we created a set of DVDs For all of you Alright 750 speeches or Remarks that I've given during my time All brought together In a five DVD set Now these are These will be available on your way out For $19.99 And if you get them today There's no shipping, no special handling And all that goes with it You can imagine the stocking stuffer Of all of this But if I can Seriously, I'll put this down Before I get serious There's only probably two things To talk about in the time that we have remaining When you take a career and when you take a time As a service chief People ask me all the time How did you get to be the C&O And I'm not sure if they were saying How did you get to be the C&O Or how did you get to be the C&O But whatever, the inflection of that voice And number two, what did you learn During this time, this career So a little bit about it Number one, I'll tell you about how I got here That all with everybody And it's all kind of laid out And it's all true But first of all, you got to have a good foundation You got to have a strong family And you got to have good friends And we were honored and privileged To have Hank and Eileen Greener Who took care of us, our six kids Who taught us the simplicity How to be humble, to be honest And to be grounded And around our dinner table If anybody got an ego, boy, that thing was That was taken care of pretty quickly And that's important And you have to have good friends And my mother said, watch who you run around with And so she screened all of our friends And two came through all the way through And Mike Abraham and Chris Romney Who are with me today and have through all the time And they helped me stay out of trouble Mostly You have to have opportunity And I had good guidance counselors Who said, you know, there's something in this kid I'm not sure what it is But we got to get them out of this town And it led me here to the United States Naval Academy You got to have good roommates And so having Mike here And Mark here and Tom here And Al here and Ken here Is terrific And you got to come from the greatest class That this institution has ever had The best class The mighty class of 75 All of that But in all sincerity And once you heard, you got to have second chances And I had a lot of second chances And I'm honored and privileged I had a chief like we all did That made anything of ourselves A chief that saw me when I walked on the Good Ship Ta-Ta-G and said, again, there's something in this kid This is raw material, but I'll go to work on it A department head who was so patient And a commanding officer, Corbin McNeil That said, there's something with this guy, Greener I'll give him another chance And then another chance And we did that And anybody that feels they're successful Or at least they're happy Has to know That the most important thing That any man can do Is find the woman that he wants And needs And if you find the woman you want That's also the woman you need You're in Nirvana You have almost perfection And that's what I have That's what I have in Darling To say I'm married up Is in consequential It doesn't describe it Everything that taught me so much She saw in people things I didn't see As a nuclear trained officer And then I became a financial manager And that's not a good cocktail Darling would see the practical things The endearing things The things that mattered And all of you who are out there And at least a flag officer And probably any leader know You have to turn to your spouse For that kind of advice Honey, you've given me that so long You're wonderful children Who are my role models today I turn to my adult sons Most of the time and I say Man, you are so far ahead of where I was And my sweetheart Sarah Has the practicality of her mother The beauty of her mother And the common sense of her mother So I have a few small things to present First, Sarah for you Sarah, of course you get the flowers Because you are my flower And I thank you very much for that Here's the other major Now boys You are magnificent to me You've taught me so much And you've given me great advice A lifetime with you has been Magnificent and the advice you give me today You tell me dad, we're out of beer The boat's almost out of gas We left the cottage and the grass Is getting long What more could a man ask for? Thank you so much for that You need to have great bosses Here today and there are too many of you to mention it But I had great bosses again Willing to take a chance on me Steer me in the right direction And I think you've got to be willing to take jobs That good people advise you That are outside your comfort zone Many years ago I had the opportunity To serve on a research submarine The officer in charge was soon Admiral Ed Giambastiani And people said you're out of your mind You're out of the mainstream, goodbye for you And yet I got to see the ocean floor I got to see undersea volcanoes I got to see parts of the world I would never see They said you're going to Washington And get into financial management And they said it's a palm And I thought that was pre-overseas movement But it was something very different And people said again well good luck to you You're going to be a bean counter And life was different But I learned so much in that And then people said we're sending you overseas And people said you're crazy But I went, I got to go to Japan Work for Admiral Bob Natter And my aperture was widening the world The great world, the great Japanese people And what this country And what the world depends on For this country and leadership I got way back in 1998 And then I got the honor and privilege To go back and command it All those things kind of shaped this sailor In those times So what did I learn or relearn Or validate during this job People are this country's And the service is asymmetric advantage And we talk a lot And I do often about the sailors But I learned in this job It's also the civilians It's clearly the families And in many cases it's the contractors Who go to work in and among our people And among our sailors and military All of that wrapped in one Our great Americans willing to do the job And the tragedy we had in the Navy Yard taught me a whole bunch of things They just don't like you No matter who you are And we are one people working together One job in security sometimes And that's our asymmetric advantage And I learned that So Mr. Secretary Carter Your idea of the force of the future We get the people right We'll be fine no matter what the challenge I think you are right on there I learned that the moral Component of leadership Is truly the foundation Bond Stockdale wrote a lot about that He had it exactly right Integrity, trust, unconditional trust The unconditional trust allows us To submerge a submarine, start up a nuclear Power plant in a submarine That allows people that would jump out Of an airplane and not wonder Boy I hope they packed this parachute right Again launch and recover aircraft Unconditional trust That's the foundation of us And that moral component of leadership Issues are transitory They come they go Principles will get us through all of that I learned that in the job Of being an executive in Department of Defense It's all about relations Internal relations and external relations Internally as a member Of the Joint Chiefs It's a team sport And our captain was Marty Dempsey And he, boy did he marry up with Dini Absolutely And Marty You ran a great team Captain, and I learned so much from you Thank you very much for that Working with you, with Sandy Who is the brilliant diplomat Working with Ray Ordeano Jim Amos, Joe Dunford, who will be our chairman Nordy Schwartz, Mark Welsh Who loved their airmen Bob Pap and Paul Zunkoff Our shipmates in the sea services And Craig McGinley and Frank Rass Was here today, thank you very much A great team and it was a wonderful Opportunity and privilege Out there among us is What I call a global network of navies Years ago we talked about A thousand ship navy Well I'll tell you what, we did some counts There's almost a thousand ships Of the freedom loving nations around the world They're about almost a thousand under way At any given day And our job is to coordinate that Toward the stability around the world And represented here today As we think through that From maritime security And our great coordinated carrier ops Are representatives from France Finland, Brazil, Colombia Taiwan, Japan India, Senegal, and Cameroon All heads of navy Who are dedicated to this And I learned so much, working with them That we truly have to have a global Network of navies, one country can't do it all Two, three, even An organization, we have to all work Toward that common, find that common denominator Represented here today Also ambassadors from key and critical countries And they do their part as well From Pakistan, from Bahrain And from Singapore, thank you all very much But there's even more Another important element The citizens of the world People, businessmen, and civic leaders Who are willing to take the time And be concerned about that Is important And in Japan, we wouldn't have Probably a nuclear carrier, if not for the Efforts of Mr. Yoshiro Ito So on, thank you so much for today Without you, we just wouldn't be what we are In Japan, and Mr. Shuji Ando Thank you, you're always there with us You and the people and the organizations You represent I learned that C-Power Requires partnership It requires a partnership of the congress Represented here by many today Industry and us, their customer Working together, being frank Being candid with each other And understanding what we need to do in the future Lastly, I kind of relearned it But I learned To work with it in earnest The Marine Corps is our number one joint partner We are the finest expeditionary Fighting force in the world And we are unbeatable when we work together And I had the honor and privilege To work with Jim Amos and Joe Dunford On that and his team, and it was Remarkable So, when I started the watch in 2011 I said, hey, there's storm clouds Out there on the horizon And the clouds are forming, but you know Ladies and gentlemen, there's no place Better to be than on the bridge If you're going into a storm You can see things coming and it's kind of frightening But you don't want to be down below Where you get seasick You want to stay up there where you're driving And I'm glad I was able to do that Challenges remain It's an evolving security landscape Fiscal uncertainty is out there The Navy needs a strong leadership team And that's exactly what we're going to get And John and Dana Richardson They are just exactly what we need To take this situation and carry forward John has all that it takes But he also has what it takes He has Dana And they are truly up to the task For this So, today Darlene and I We'll have a chapter closed in our lives But another one's going to open right away We will go ashore for the final time With our family and it'll be great I have fond memories, I'm very happy To have you on the old goat Dabble Mark Ferguson from the class of 78, good for you Mark Congratulations I am privileged to have served It's been a great honor and a remarkable Remarkable time that I shall never Obviously forget Thank you all very much I will now read my orders Will the guests please rise Sorry about that From the Undersecretary of Defense To Admiral Jonathan Greener From the Undersecretary of Defense Personal Readiness Effective one October 2015 You will be transferred to the retired list In the grade of Admiral Detached in September 2015 from duty As Chief of Naval Operations Captain Halsey Hold down my flag Aye sir Hold down Admiral Greener's flag Admiral Jonathan Greener would now be presented His personal flag by Master Chief Peter Elson Navy Mike Stevens From the Undersecretary of Defense To Admiral John Richardson When directed by a reporting senior Detached from duty as Director of Naval Reactors And report for duty as Chief of Naval Operations Captain Halsey Break my flag Aye sir Break Admiral Greener's flag Guests please be seated Ladies and gentlemen, Admiral John Richardson The 31st Chief of Naval Operations Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen Thank you for being here today I'm going to take my phone off of silent To ring here Maybe to vibrate You know It's just Terrific to be back here at the Naval Academy Whose mission is to prepare midshipmen Mentally, morally and physically And this is where it all began Admiral Greener talked about The importance of choosing Being part of the right class I would argue that I was And just Say great thanks for everybody In the great class of 1982 for coming today A team that has traveled a long way Shocked and surprised Just wanted to make sure that this happened You know We also are privileged to have so many Of our good friends who have come to join us For this day Who have picked up the mantle of that mission Of preparation They have come from all over the world So thank you all for joining us The family cannot be overstated Our family characterizes The statement that Quantity has a quality all its own We Advocate The principle of mass We are big And loud And we have come from all over the world Uncle's aunts, cousins From Italy, Hawaii Oregon, Texas Virginia, Maryland All around The potter familious of the whole thing Is my dad As you've heard He got us all started in this Navy business And my brothers have also served Dad you got us You showed us how it should be done Thanks so much today I'm wearing your sword And I know mom would love to be here And I know she's here in Siberia So thank you And all of our brothers And my brothers and sisters are here today It's not too often that all six of us get together And so You know the after party is going to be explosive Let me just say that You know I was thinking about This ceremony and You know about everybody joining us You know both Joining both the Greenerts And the Richardson's for this event This change of office and I thought You know we could do this many ways I mean we could literally do this We could just go to Secretary Mabas's office Admiral Greener and I could exchange a salute And it would be done It would be completely official And when I mentioned this to Superintendent Amal Carter on the way And he says well now you think of this right I mean It's like 500 meetings And rehearsals and everything else Thanks so much for that great idea But But you know the truth of the matter is That we're here, we're here in force Over 1200 people That brings us here today Why do we gather like this And I would argue that most of us Are here for one or more of three reasons First and I think everybody Is here for this reason is to pay tribute To see you know Greenert and his family You have heard so much already About his service And his leadership of our navy But for my part I can bring a very personal perspective To have the chance to work And be with Admiral Greenert He and Darlene as friends and mentors Is like being A member of the immediate family And we go back some ways As you heard He commanded USS Honolulu And so did I And Admiral Haynes here today Was the commanding officer In between the two of us And so the best Of my knowledge I don't think that's ever happened before Where three COs Of one ship have ever made Four stars Fast forward a little bit When I first made flag I was a brand new one star Admiral Greenert was the commander of fleet forces command A four star with a mentor Responsibility And even amongst all of that He took the time to call me over Have lunch with me personally And welcome me to the flag ward room He said hey look You're the junior guy in the flag ward room So you're going to be making some coffee Don't get too shot in the ass just yet But it's a pretty good ward room And I'm ready to be your mentor So And I will tell you I don't want to spoil Anybody's legacy or headlines But Cianard Greenert was way out in front Predicting our need to rebalance To the Pacific Before his time at 7th Fleet even He's led the way in strategic thinking And most recently He and Darlene have spent hours And hours working to Turn over with Dana and myself They have been incredibly generous With their time as I said Like family So the takeaway here is That my true talent is that I Have become an expert at following Admiral Greenert Just finding the right wake To tuck into try and Maintain close distance And match their speed So you know Greenert and Darlene Will take you from all of us As you look behind You will see thousands Of protégés in your wake And we all thank you very much And I thank you for what you've done For Dana and myself, thanks A second reason people might come here Is to honor the meeting of this ceremony To witness the formal passage Of authority And in a time when many are fleeing Accountability we come together To mark a salute Of authority and responsibility We take full ownership for our job And we welcome scrutiny And accountability These have been features of Admiral Greenert's tenure As CNO and they will remain Features of mine Third, I believe that many are here In the recognition that America Since its conception has been A maritime nation We were reliant on our oceans For our prosperity As we grew to become And as global power Our appreciation of the seas As the unifying system That connects the world grew as well And as fluid as the oceans are And movement over the oceans is Travel at sea is not uniform There are parts of the ocean That have almost no traffic And then there are heavily traveled Lanes that connect countries To their markets and to their resources Lanes that traverse through defining Geographic straits and channels We've heard them called choke points And they're called that because They can choke off a nation's life blood If passage is restricted The first ships of the United States Navy Went to the Strait of Gibraltar One of those choke points to protect The passage of our goods From the Barbary pirates And so we've always been A maritime nation and I believe That's another thing that brings us here today It's in our national DNA And I think also today The urgency that we feel That goes beyond just a historical Appreciation of these things I think that deep in our gut We sense a shift in the world And we sense that once again It will be vitally important to protect Our interests on the seas Things are changing There are regions and countries that are growing Economic centers of gravity That are shifting As it has been forever When nations become strong enough That it's only a matter of time Before they turn to the sea To enhance their prosperity And their security And so today perhaps for only the second time In the last 70 years Things are getting sporty For us and other nations Who have global ambitions Things are getting sporty on the sea As they go to sea to achieve their aims And so we're brought here by a sense Of our DNA as a maritime nation And a sense of change And a sense of urgency And then also a sense that for the first time In human history perhaps The systems of the oceans and seas Is not the only one that connects us globally We now live in the information age Where we have a global information system That connects us as fluidly As the world sees We cannot replace the oceans But this information system Is clearly global It's vital to our prosperity And it moves at the speed of light Incredibly fast How many of you received Your invitation to this ceremony By email today Many, most That's a shift from four years ago As an aside Looking forward four years, I'd appreciate it If you would all not change your email address Okay? You just can't appreciate how many bounce backs We get. I'll send it out four years From now to the same address So please don't change that And so these and other These factors unite us today We're a maritime nation That maritime domain Is something we must continue to attend to To protect our prosperity And the undeniable emergence Of the information age It's a challenging time to be sure Dr. Kissinger has remarked That we have lived in perhaps the most Challenging time since the end of World War II And as an American And as your CNO I am very optimistic Because this is exactly the environment In which Americans thrive And we will thrive As an American, I'm optimistic Because there's something uniquely creative And innovative about us We find a way to succeed Under any circumstances And we are at our best When the chips are down And the stakes are high And they are very high indeed right now As an American, I'm optimistic As part of a strong and growing network Of allies, partners and friends We will not be on our own At home we have our brothers And sisters in arms Our closest relative Is the United States Marine Corps As you've heard Worldwide we have allies and friends And together we share common interests In preserving the systems That have led to our common prosperity And can enable future prosperity For all I am very optimistic Because there is nobody more creative Nobody more resilient Nobody who learns faster Who adapts quicker Who shows more initiative And there is no better partner And there is no more dangerous competitor Than the United States sailor They are magnificent Under any circumstances In any situation Any crisis and certainly In any fight To win They and I feel such a privilege To be part of and to serve And lead this magnificent team We will give everything we have Our last molecule of energy And in closing I would ask you just one favor As you put your head down tonight Before you go off to sleep Take a moment to say A quick prayer for our nation Our Navy and our sailors At sea around the world A prayer for the greeners As they move into the next phase of their life Thank you and God bless you Will the guests please remain standing for the benediction And departure of the future party Chaplain Kevin will now offer the benediction Would you pray with me Now as you have placed definitively The mantle of responsibility For the United States Navy On Admiral John Richardson We pray that you would grant him The strength of mind Body and spirit That comes with this historic And critical position Of leadership and service Annoyed Admiral Richardson and Dana With the encouragement of your spirit When they are inclined to doubt Steady their faith When they are tempted Make them strong to resist And if they should miss the mark Give them courage to try again Guide them with the light of truth And keep before them the life Of him by whose example Is the trust to obtain the answer To these prayers And now call upon each one of us Who continue to serve America's Navy To honor the authority you have placed Before us That with willingness and enthusiasm We would remain stalwart in our support For our newest chief of naval operations And emulate the honor And faithfulness of our leaders He now leads Keep us ever mindful of those Who this day stand watch over the waters And span the globe May their welfare be our motivation May the security of this nation Be our ambition And may our service to you Be our inspiration Amen Post it, post it, boys Ladies and gentlemen, while we have you standing Given that we're here at the United States Naval Academy, if you would Would you join us in singing Navy blue and gold? Bandmaster? I'm on our naval tradition. Admiral Greenert will now be piped for shore Accompanied by Mrs. Greenert and their children. Admiral, United States Navy, retired And family, departing. Please remain standing at your seats For the departure of the official party. Defense, departing. Navy, departing. Naval operations, departing. Dismissed aside, boys. Ladies and gentlemen, this concludes the ceremony. Thank you for joining us today. Please join us at a reception.