 Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Naval War College graduation ceremony. I'm Captain John Griffin, the dean of students, and will be serving as the emcee for today's event. You're welcome to take photographs at any time throughout the ceremony. We have official photographers taking pictures also today, and you'll be able to find these photos posted on our Flickr site found in the back of the program for you to download. At this time, as a courtesy, please put your mobile phones on silent or vibrate. Please remain seated for the student procession. Please rise and remain standing for the arrival of the official party, National Anthem, and the invocation. The National Anthem will be sung by musician's second class, Laura Carey. Oh, say can you see what so broad as broad stripes and Commander Douglas E. Rosander at the Naval War College Chaplain will deliver the invocation. Let us pray. From ancient scripture, an intelligent heart acquires knowledge, and the ear of the wise seeks knowledge. Merciful God in heaven, we ask for your presence with us today. Graduation marks a milestone in the life of each one being recognized for their many months of hard work and perseverance. These students have been stretched, challenged, and tested. Thank you for their diligence and success. As a result of their time here, may they be better equipped to lead, serving our nation, and benefiting others. Thank you for their instructors and mentors, as well as their families and friends, who have encouraged them along the way. And Lord, our thoughts and prayers go out to our friends in France and elsewhere. Please make your gracious presence known through those who provide aid. Now please be with those being recognized today for their achievements, and bless them in their endeavors. By your grace, amen. Ladies and gentlemen, please be seated. It gives me great pleasure to introduce the members of our official party. Professor Walt Wilderman, Director, College of Distance Education. Captain Richard Lebranche, Chair, Joint Military Operations Department. Dr. Michael Pavkovic, Chair, Strategy and Policy Department. Dr. David Cooper, Chair, National Security Affairs Department. Dr. Tim Schultz, Acting Dean of Academic Affairs. Dr. Sally Payne, Strategy and Policy Department. And Dr. Louis Duncan, Provost. Also in attendance today is Ms. Anne Jocelyn. She is the great grandniece of Stephen B. Luce, Founding President of the Naval War College, from 1884 to 1886. Ms. Jocelyn is a resident of Newport. The President of the Naval War College, Ramo Howe, could not be here today. The CNO asked that he participate in a discussion with members of Congress and other senior military officials on the role of professional military education in developing our nation's leaders. And he's in Washington, DC. Although critical in germane, he regrets he cannot join us and sins his very best. Good day and welcome to all the guests at today's ceremony. Several years ago, we began a tradition at the Naval War College of allowing the graduating student body to nominate their guest speaker for amongst all the talented professionals at the college. I would like to ask graduating student Major Ryan Kinney to introduce your faculty guest speaker. Ryan. Good morning, distinguished guests, graduating students, and the family and friends here in Spruance Hall and viewing this event online. I have the distinct privilege of introducing our guest speaker today, Dr. Sally Payne. As a class, we nominated Dr. Payne to offer her parting wisdom, advice, and shots as we transitioned from this ivory tower back into the ships, planes, tanks, and rucksacks of our typical military life. We chose Dr. Payne from amongst the exceptional body of intellectual capital here at the Naval War College because she distinguished herself as an exceptional thinker, communicator, and extrector during our time here. Dr. Payne joined the Naval War College's faculty after the end of the Cold War in 2000 and has witnessed the transformation in military thought since the tragic events of September 11. She holds a PhD in Russian and Chinese history from Columbia University, a master's in international affairs from the Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs with certificates from both the Russian and East Asian Institutes. She also has an MA in Russian language from Middlebury College Russian School and a BA with a special concentration in Latin American Studies from Harvard University. Dr. Payne has spent nearly a decade living abroad with particularly long since in Taiwan, Japan, China, Russia, and Australia and has mastered a number of languages so that she can study the histories of the Far East firsthand. I'm pretty sure she can quote Klausowitz, Mao, and Sun Tzu in their native tongues. She is a distinguished author with numerous published books and articles to her name. Bottom line, she is an impressive figure. However important these accomplishments may be, these factors were not the primary reasons why we chose Dr. Payne to speak here today. We asked Dr. Payne to address us because of who she is and not just what she has accomplished. Dr. Payne is passionate about her work and it showed in her outstanding lectures and seminar discussions, she cares about this institution, the military in the United States and she's continued to ask why throughout her life and has remained driven to find the answers to bottom questions of national security and she shared those with us during our time here. With that, please help me in welcoming Dr. Payne to the stage. Shakespeare writes that brevity is the soul of wit and I understand that officers lead by example so I'll see what I can do. Today is a celebration of family, a milestone of accomplishment and also a parting of the ways. And I'm gonna start with family and most egocentrically with my own. My great, great, great, great grandfather, I guess mathematically speaking, that would be great to the fourth power or something. Robert Treet Payne served as a prosecutor on the trial against one Captain Thomas Preston and his soldiers accused of committing the Boston Massacre in 1770. You would have think, given the prevailing anti-British sentiments of the time that a conviction would be a no-brainer. Well, John Adams served as the defense. And he won the case. Adams, as you know, went on to become the second president of the United States while my great grandfather to the fourth power didn't. So I guess the point is that in life there are no sure bets. Adams prepared the battlefield by packing the jury with those reliant on British business connections and he also used rhetoric that soared. He addressed the jury, facts are stubborn things and whoever, and whatever may be our wishes, our inclination or the dictates of our passion, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence. Pretty good prose, better than mine, something to aim for. Elegance is powerful. The faculty has tried to empower you in the use of words, analysis and critical inquiry. Logic is the great leveler, which gives no quarter to misrepresentation, inaccuracy, let alone falsehood, but defers only to reason. This playing field has no special place for rank, let alone pretense, and we, the faculty, have tried to empower you to play on this field and play to win. Our country depends on your ability to express yourselves to your peers, your subordinates, your superiors, and as you rise and rank to the highest levels of authority in this country, and by extension, I guess that means the world. John Adams used logic and eloquence in the service of this country, you will too. Today is also a milestone of accomplishment and you may see it as an ending. You've just completed one year of formal education, but actually it's a big beginning and here's the question for you. How do you intend to continue your education informally? And this brings me to the subject of middle age, something I have considerable expertise in. Middle age, in the pejorative sense, means someone stuck in their rut and proud of it. Some people are middle aged in high school with a full life of disappointment ahead of them. Other, you've seen them, that's why you're laughing. It's tragic. All right, others, like my 90 year old great aunt, she never reached middle age. She retained a sense of wonder and joy till her dying day. She was always the youngest at heart in the room. The moment you stop learning, you invite middle age and the moment you shut your mind, old age isn't far away and I mean old age in the bad sense. New ideas often come in the form of the written word. Reading will make you smarter. I'm a case in point. My eldest brother is brilliant. He's an organist chemist. He can run 10 experiments simultaneously without thinking his mind clearly runs in multiple dimensions. Well, mine doesn't. Indeed, he knows more facts about Russian history than I do and then I have a PhD in the subject. Yet classmates who seem so terribly smart in high school and haven't turned a page since, after 10 years they didn't seem so smart and 20 years on they seem deep into arrested development while others made up for whatever any lacking gifts with hard work. Indeed, brilliance without hard work is barren while hard work can substitute for more IQ points than you might think. And hard work is an equal opportunity skill equally available to all. Accomplishments that come through sweat are meaningful. Those that come effortlessly are not. In my case, my husband and I embarked on an intellectual journey in graduate school initially to learn about Russia's relations to China but then we soon realized that couldn't be had without learning about Japan too. We traveled the world in backpacks and jeans. We visited Eastern Europe as the iron curtain fell. In Russia as Gorbachev fumbled in Hong Kong before the British left. In Taiwan during martial law and after. In China a half year after Tiananmen which delayed our fellowships. And then in Japan shortly after Emperor Hirohito died ending an era. After we had children and had to upgrade the accommodations we spent two years in Japan one in Tokyo another in Hokkaido and a year in Australia. Experiences which broaden our children's educations as well as our own. It has been a process of lifelong learning that I have tried to share with you in seminar and at the podium. Books will take you places and introduce you to people that will open vistas and possibilities that you had never imagined. And now for the parting of the ways. It is both an honor and a responsibility to be one of your teachers. Because the responsibilities that you face are portentious. You and I have followed different career paths. You in the military and also government service for some of your classmates. Mine in research and education. Research entails the examination and expansion of knowledge. Education concerns its transfer from one generation to the next. Education serves as an intellect multiplier. Done right it positions the next generation to go places and do things that your teachers can only imagine. It is about positioning you and by extension our country to succeed. This hall has been not only your place of learning but also of mine. Most of you know me through my presentations and I'm guessing this may be why you invited me here today. Ideally each presentation constitutes original research not our stale recitation of somebody else's work. For those events batten the hatches and pass out the no-dos. Original presentations made to a backdrop of slides that are burning about one per minute connect abstract thoughts with vivid images to lock the information in your minds both verbally and visually. These presentations both teach you and also develop the evolving discipline of strategy which is not taught this way anywhere else on the planet. Others may imitate but the mother tree grows here in Newport. Before we part I would like to share with you what I've learned teaching here and attending the presentations of my colleagues. When I came to the college 15 years ago my expertise was in two continental powers China and Russia. But then since then my colleagues and your predecessors have taught me about the ways of maritime powers. And they represent two fundamentally different and antithetical global orders. The continental one which prevailed prior to the industrial revolution and the maritime order that has been gradually taking over ever since. The continental order focuses on territorial confiscation and you can see this in real time. In Crimea, Ukraine, Syria and in the East and South China seas. In contrast the maritime order focused on commerce and on the minimization of transaction costs through a growing body of international law and institutions. The continental paradigm destroys wealth while the maritime paradigm creates it. The former offers a negative sum global order in the fight for conquest while the latter offers a positive sum order in the promotion of economic growth. The differences in the sums of this compounded interests and growth rates explains why the maritime order has been expanding and the continental powers have been failing. Mr. Putin offers his neighbors nothing but trouble. The West, the epicenter of the maritime order offers trade laws and institutions that protect the weak from the strong with a global alliance system which you can watch as it's being invoked on behalf of France. These differences explain why those fully vested in the maritime order have numerous allies while those set in their continental ways have none. Most Americans, even those knowledgeable about foreign policy do not understand that their country is a maritime power let alone the strategic implications of being one. It would not occur to most Americans that their livelihoods depend on freedom of navigation. They don't get on boats, right? They get on planes and if they get on a boat it's to go around in circles on some Caribbean carous, right? They don't get it. 90% of global trade goes by sea, you know this. You also know that ours is a world of networks, constant communications, global transportation, real-time transactions. If the goods don't go, the growth is not gonna happen. Americans assume that freedom of navigation is the natural course of events. You know all the hard work that goes into keeping the commons open for all. Your service in the Air Force, Army, Coast Guard, government, Marines and Navy listed in neutral alphabetical order, no complaints. Together keeps the oceans open for all. It is a collective enterprise. Each service is insufficient in itself but your combined efforts are powerful indeed. Part of your year here has been to learn about each other, to break down the stovepipes that limit your potential and by extension our countries. As Mahan observed, not all countries can become maritime powers. Good luck China with the 20 neighbors and the cluttered near seas. Bordering hostile neighbors preclude it because of the neighbors ability as Corbett observed to launch an unlimited counterstroke across the shared border. The United States is a maritime power by the great gift of geography, that wonderful moat and our two wonderful neighbors. Imagine China as an immediate neighbor or better yet Russia or Russia and China which have each other, poetic justice. The United States is a maritime power not only by geography but also by inclination are commercial proclivities and decision to fund the most powerful Navy and Coast Guard. Finally, it is a maritime power by economic structure. Our country prospers from its connections with others the great maritime air and cyber commons over which people, products and ideas flow. Our moat and our friendship with our immediate neighbors have allowed us to focus on life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness rather than on the defense against imminent invasion, Ukraine's problem. In the lawless world of continental powers as Thucydides observed, the strong do what they can while the weak suffer what they must. Some in Russia and China and ISIS would drag us back into this continental world and you and our numerous allies are not going to let them. Thank you for your vital service to this country and to a global order under which we all can prosper. Thank you. Dr. Payne, on behalf of the students, staff and faculty I thank you for your inspiring and educational comments and your ongoing contributions and service to our country. For each graduating class, one student is selected for recognition as a President's Honor graduate. This award is presented to the student who best displays the high standards of academic performance, Naval War College activities, participation in civic and community service and the promotion of military services in the public interest. For the College of Naval Warfare, the honor graduate for the November 2015 graduating class is Captain Mora McCarthy. Captain McCarthy is graduating number five in her College of Naval Warfare class. She served as a seminar leader, participated in President's Cup Polo, the first ever student exchange to the People's Republic of China and served as treasurer for Valoran, a nonprofit organization founded in 2014 that brings communities together through running events to honor the U.S. military women who served our country in the global war on terror. Along with the certificate, she's receiving an engraved weems and plath compass from the Naval War College Foundation. From the College of Naval Command and Staff, the honor graduate for the November 2015 graduating class is Major Alan Van Saan. Major Van Saan is graduating number one in his College of Naval Command and Staff class. He served as a seminar academic representative, played on the winning Army team in an annual Army Navy flag football game, won the Foreign Area Officer Association Riding Award for Best Research Paper and was hand selected to represent the Naval War College at the Mellon Foundation simulation exercise in Annapolis, Maryland. Also, along with the certificate, he is receiving an engraved weems and plath compass from the Naval War College Foundation. We will now give our honor graduates a few moments to address their fellow graduates and classmates. I was a little worried that Griff was gonna be too tall for me to use this podium, but it's gonna be okay. And even though I was told to wing it, I did write something down. So good afternoon. First, because as much as we say family first, we tend to thank them last. Thank you to my family and friends, especially my daughter Ila and my son Liam. You guys are the best of the best. But as a whole, my family and friends are the people who inspire me to serve and whose love and support make it possible for me to serve. Second, we had a tremendous year at this very unique institution, a college that straddles worlds of the military and the academic. There is an almost palpable tension between the two as real world experience, real world constraints, real world leadership, drive up against political, strategic, and operational theory. I was consistently impressed by the high level of engagement my classmates and moderators brought to the seminars and electives I was fortunate to be sorted into. Those individuals broadened my perspective, challenged me to work a little harder, and increased my desire to learn and continue learning. However, the experience that truly was the icing on the cake and those of you who know me, it's not polo, was the field China studies trip. A week in China, Beijing, Nanjing, Shanghai, without personal electronics, which meant we really had to interact with each other. A week of total immersion and exchange of ideas with Chinese academics, party members, and fellow naval officers. A once in a lifetime adventure and once in a lifetime friendships. My final thought is that when we walk out of here today, the Naval War College will be our alma mater. That's for you, the Latin. A place only as good as her reputation. So I throw down two challenges. First, to the Naval War College's staff, faculty, and administration to continue developing the Naval War College as a world-class institution. Attract and keep the best and brightest military and academic minds. Encourage professors to publish and pursue fellowships. Continue to host events like the Women, Peace, and Security Conference, and this week's International Law Department, Syria Conference. The second challenge to my colleagues is to prove the value of a Naval War College education throughout your own adherence to excellence. Maintain your ties to each other, your friendships. Remain engaged with the college through the graduate network and the foundation. Use the skills you've honed this year to be critical, adaptive thinkers. Always bring your A game. I wish you all fair winds and falling seas, and thanks again to my family. As was noted one year ago after signing into the Naval War College, I participated in the annual Student Army Navy Flag Football Team where we defeated Navy and ended a 10-year losing streak. Combine that with this honor today and I can comfortably say that I'm 2-0 against Navy. Now if only the real Army football team would follow my lead. Thank you very much for the opportunity to stand here and represent the graduating class from the College of Naval Command and Staff. It is truly an honor. I would like to use this opportunity to first thank my wonderful wife Brooke and all of the spouses and family members in the crowd for your unwavering support during our time here. Like all of our assignments, the work we do as military professionals would not be possible without the support and sacrifice made by our spouses and families. So I want to say thank you for what you do every day and I ask the graduates recognize your spouses as well with a round of applause. As I reflect back on the last year there are a variety of lessons and themes from our studies that help me mature both personally and professionally. There are the prominent lessons like my new appreciation for our profession of arms, understanding the relationship between policy and strategy, how to conduct operational level planning, the importance of levels of analysis and of course the ability to quote obscure passages by classmates. All of these lessons and course objectives certainly armed us with the capabilities we will need as we move forward as field grade officers and senior leaders. What equally important are the relationships we built among peers and professors. It is often said in both government and corporate world that the real meeting is the one that occurs just before or immediately following the planned meeting. I discovered that maximum to hold true with our seminars as well. Like many of you I typically arrived early each morning to fight for a parking spot, read the news or grab a cup of coffee. It was during this time that I also learned the most about the incredible capabilities of our joint force. After spending the last 11 years in the tactical fight contributing to my small part of the mission, I truly took for granted the vast strengths and unbelievable missions being conducted across all of the services on a daily basis. I gleaned knowledge from firsthand accounts of air combat missions, operations at and undersea, land deployments to all corners of the earth as well as diplomatic and intelligence missions from our inter-agency partners. It was during these pre-class sessions or the class before the class that I was quickly humbled by and in awe of the peers with whom I get to serve. The relationships I forged with each of you, students and professors alike is what will be the most lasting for me. Thank you again for this great honor. Best of luck to everyone in your future assignments and I look forward to seeing you on the next ridgeline. Thank you. Might have to take that compass back. John, are you okay with that? The Master of Arts in National Security and Strategic Studies or Defense in Strategic Studies as appropriate will now be conferred to the graduates. Will the graduates please rise in place? Provost, I have the honor to present the November graduates of the Naval War College, candidates for the Master of Arts in National Security and Strategic Studies and Defense in Strategic Studies. They have been thoroughly examined and approved by the faculty. By the power vested in me by the Secretary of Navy. The accreditation of the New England Association of Schools and Colleges and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. I confer upon you the appropriate degrees and diplomas in Strategic Studies. Ladies and gentlemen, please join me in saluting with our applause the November graduates of the United States Naval War College. Thank you Provost. Graduates, please be seated. Beyond the requirements for graduation, certain individuals have distinguished themselves through academic excellence. For those in the top 5%, they are receiving a diploma with highest distinction. Those in the next 15% will receive a diploma with distinction. Graduates will now receive their diplomas. Graduates, from the College of Naval Warfare, please proceed to the stage as your name is read. Guests are welcome to come forward to take photographs. Please try and hold your applause until all names have been read. Dr. Duncan, Dr. Payne, Dean Schultz if you would please rise. Presenting the graduating members of the College of Naval Warfare and their next duty assignment. Commander Charles Robert Allen, U.S. Navy with distinction. Joint Staff, Pentagon. Captain Timothy K. Atmagian, Medical Corps, Flight Surgeon, U.S. Navy. Commander Naval Forces Korea. Commander Robert G. Baumgartner, U.S. Navy. VR-1, Joint Base Andrews. Commander Nicholas C. Cromwell, U.S. Navy, Naval Reserve Command, 10th Fleet. Commander Samuel Fletcher DeCastro, U.S. Navy, Commander Sixth Fleet, Naples, Italy. Commander Michael C. DeWalt, U.S. Navy, NATO Combined Joint Operations C, Norfolk, Virginia. Commander Robert E. DeCody, U.S. Navy, U.S. Naval War College, Newport, Rhode Island. Commander Stephen R. DuPourquet, U.S. Navy, Naval Reserve Pacific Fleet Maritime Operations Center, Debt 501, Coronado, California. Lieutenant Commander Nicholas S. Hampton, U.S. Navy, Joint Staff, Hampton Roads, Virginia Beach, Virginia. Lieutenant Colonel Bradley J. Harms, U.S. Marine Corps, number one in his class, highest distinction, U.S. Special Operations Command, Tampa, Florida. Lieutenant Commander Judson Matthew Robert Kirk, U.S. Navy, U.S. Special Operations Command, Tampa, Florida. Captain Mora Elizabeth McCarthy, U.S. Navy, with distinction, Naval Reserve NATO Supreme Allied Commander for Transformation Detachment, Washington, D.C. Commander Thomas P. O'Donnell, U.S. Navy, USS Tucson, SSN 770, Port Harbor, Hawaii. Commander Mark E. Postal, U.S. Navy, Coastal Riverine Squadron III, San Diego, California. Commander Linsworth A. Samuel, U.S. Navy, Hopper Information Service Center, Suitland, Maryland. Lieutenant Commander Noel Allen Sawoski, U.S. Navy, Ucom Joint Analysis Center, Molesworth, U.K. Commander Joseph M. C. Berger, U.S. Navy, Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base, Fort Worth, Texas. Captain Milton James Singleton III, U.S. Navy, Navy Operational Support Center, Long Island, New York. Commander Robert D. Stansel, U.S. Navy, Comsubron 16, Kings Bay, Georgia. Commander Jake T. Wadsley, U.S. Navy, With Distinction, orders pending. Commander Matthew I. Weber, U.S. Navy, With Distinction, Office of Secretary of Defense, Arlington, Virginia. Lieutenant Commander Stephen V. Yenis, U.S. Navy, U.S. Afrocom, Stuttgart, Germany. And presenting the graduating members of the College of Naval Command and Staff in their next duty assignment. Lieutenant Commander Hiram Andrew, U.S. Navy, U.S. Central Command, Tampa, Florida. Lieutenant Commander Jennifer M. Bagnell, U.S. Navy, Chief of Naval Personnel, Washington, D.C. Lieutenant Commander Daniel A. Butros, U.S. Navy, With Distinction, U.S. Special Operations Command, Tampa, Florida. Lieutenant Commander Michael S. Brock, U.S. Navy, Naval Computer Telecommunications Center, Atlantic, Norfolk, Virginia. Lieutenant Commander David B. Kennedy, U.S. Navy, HSM 72, Jacksonville, Florida. Lieutenant Commander Julian M. Santanara, U.S. Navy, CNO Strategic Studies Group, U.S. Naval War College, Newport, Rhode Island. Lieutenant Commander M.E. Kavika Chang, U.S. Navy, HSM 74, Jacksonville, Florida. Lieutenant Commander Robert K. Elizondo, U.S. Navy, U.S. Paycom, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Lieutenant Commander Eric E. Erhard, U.S. Navy, Opnav in 99, Arlington, Virginia. Commander Clifton M. Gibson, U.S. Navy, USS Carl Vincent, San Diego, California. Lieutenant Commander Bentley T. Hall, U.S. Navy, Navy Operational Support Center, Lehigh Valley, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Lieutenant Commander Christopher S. Hathaway, U.S. Navy, With Distinction, VFA-122, NAS LeMore, California. Lieutenant Commander John Austin-Hilburn, U.S. Navy, With Distinction, U.S. AFRICOM, Special Operations Command, Stuttgart, Germany. Lieutenant Commander Bo D. Huffstetler, U.S. Navy, Commander Naval Air Forces Reserve, Norfolk, Virginia. Major John C. Entile IV, U.S. Army, 18th Airborne Corps, Fort Bragg, North Carolina. Lieutenant Commander Jamie A. Kelly, U.S. Navy, VT-35, NAS Corpus Christi, Corpus Christi, Texas. Major Ryan K. Kinney, U.S. Army, Highest Distinction, CNO Strategic Studies Group, U.S. Naval War College, Newport, Rhode Island. Lieutenant Commander Danielle Helene Kirsten, U.S. Navy, Naval Reserve Pacific Fleet Debt, 0322, Joint Base Lewis-McCord, Washington. Lieutenant Commander Mark K. Crozel, U.S. Navy, Surface Warfare Officer Schools Command, Newport, Rhode Island. Lieutenant Commander Robert R. Littman, U.S. Navy, With Distinction, Northcom, Colorado Springs, Colorado. Lieutenant Commander Keith E. Marenix, U.S. Navy, Commander Naval Special Warfare Group I, Coronado, California. Major Michael J. Martin III, U.S. Army, 835th Transportation Battalion, Okinawa, Japan. Lieutenant Commander Patrick D. Morley, U.S. Navy, Defense Technology Security Administration, Alexandria, Virginia. Lieutenant Commander Daniel M. Murphy II, U.S. Navy, U.S. Cybercom, Fort Meade, Maryland. Lieutenant Commander John William Nelson, U.S. Navy, MDA National Test Facility, Colorado Springs, Colorado. Lieutenant Commander Paul Peter Orbono, U.S. Navy, VR56, Virginia Beach, Virginia. Lieutenant Commander Adam R. Parkinson, U.S. Navy, Sub Base, New London, Groton, Connecticut. Lieutenant Commander Reginald N. Preston, U.S. Navy, Historic Ship Nautilus, Groton, Connecticut. Lieutenant Commander Nicholas P. Saunders, U.S. Navy, U.S. Africom, Stuttgart, Germany. Major Jeffrey M. Shore, U.S. Army, With Distinction, First Infantry Division, Fort Riley, Kansas. Major Stephen B. Smith, U.S. Army, U.S. Army, PPMA, Alexandria, Virginia. Lieutenant Commander Stephen L. Steinmetz, U.S. Navy, HSM 41, San Diego, California. Lieutenant Commander Ralph Stevens, U.S. Navy, Commander Carrier Strike Group 5, Yakuza, Japan. Lieutenant Commander Jason E. Tippett, U.S. Navy, U.S. Northern Command, Colorado Springs, Colorado. Major Alan E. Van Saund, U.S. Army, Number One in his class, Highest Distinction, Third Special Forces Group, Fort Bragg, North Carolina. Lieutenant Commander Ryan G. Vest, U.S. Navy, With Distinction, U.S. Naval War College, Newport, Rhode Island. Lieutenant Commander Bradley R. Wittington, U.S. Navy, Headquarters Allied Maritime Command, Northwood, England. Lieutenant Commander Michael D. Orrell, U.S. Navy, VFA 87, Virginia Beach, Virginia. The following student could not attend today's ceremony, Lieutenant Commander Luke J. Swain, U.S. Navy. Ladies and gentlemen, please join us in a round of applause for our graduates, honorees, and their families. The Provost will now issue the charge to the graduates. Dr. Duncan, if you would, proceed to the podium. It's now my honor to bring these proceedings to a close. Dr. Payne, thank you for your thoughtful remarks today, and for your continued strong passion for our educational mission and dedication to our students. To the Naval War College faculty and staff, all of you, today we again bear witness to the results of your efforts. For 130 years, you and your predecessors have labored to develop and educate the leadership of our nation, the Navy, and our allies. And once again, you've succeeded, producing yet another cohort of enlightened and informed leaders. As well-prepared as we are able for the increasingly complex and challenging security environment we face, the challenges are manifest as the tragic events of the past week have reminded us. And so, to our faculty, our most sincere gratitude and acknowledgement of your dedicated service to the nation and to the global community. To the families and colleagues of our graduates, thank you for joining us. Your presence not only makes this ceremony more memorable to our graduates, it recognizes your role and the accomplishments we celebrate today. Life in the military is indeed a team effort. Your love, encouragement, patience, and devotion helped each student maintain a proper balance between mind, body, and spirit during their intellectual journey here in Newport. Thank you all for your support. And now to the graduates. Congratulations on completing your course of studies here at the Naval War College. As you all head back to the operational forces and reflect upon your time in Newport, I'd ask you to keep three things in mind. The remarkable gift you have been given here, the responsibility you've inherited, and the profession which you serve. This year of in-residence education has truly been a gift from the nation to you. As you continue to grow in rank and responsibility, you will find that there is no more precious commodity than time. And you've just been given a gift of a year of study, reflection, and debate, a gift of time to grow intellectually and to prepare for the challenges that await. Do not take this opportunity that has been given you for granted. I believe the best way to ensure that you fully appreciate this gift is for you to consciously acknowledge the responsibility that you've inherited with it. The responsibility to critically and in thoughtfully employ this education as you move forward. You are all headed back into a world of present shock where the strategic horizons often get compressed to days or weeks, and your daily agenda will often be eclipsed by headlines and your overflowing email inbox. As you come face to face with this world, you have a responsibility to remain strategically minded, a critical thinker to proactively lead with independent creative thought, not reactively simply to survive with simplistic conventional wisdom or comfortable thinking. Reflect, think, and lead. And as part of this responsibility, I'd also ask that as you move into your next assignments that you pay it forward with a deliberate focus on the leadership development of those within your charge. With this educational experience, you have much to offer in developing young leaders across the fleet and the other services. Don't just wait for opportunities to present themselves, actively make opportunities to engage with them, to share your thoughts and perspectives, and to shape their habits of mind, their thinking skills, and their leadership potential will be a better military and a better nation for your doing so. And finally, as you depart today, keep in mind the profession in which you serve, the profession of arms. Never forget the trust the nation has placed in you as a member of this profession. Never forget your obligation to uphold that trust. Never forget the professional ethics that guides our actions at home and garrison in the field and underway. Continue to grow as a true steward of that profession. From all of us here at the U.S. Naval War College, you will forever be a member of our family. Good luck and Godspeed, and we wish for each of you fair winds and following seas. Chaplain Rosander will now deliver the benediction. Please stand. Let us pray. Eternal God, for these men and women, a rigorous and challenging academic year is now to close, but their voyage continues. As they go from here, serving on land, sea, or in the air, here and around the world, may their knowledge, skills, wisdom, and friendships be fully utilized in maintaining and spreading peace and security. Enable them with honor, courage, and commitment in all things, and protect them as they serve. I also ask that you would watch over those who serve today in harm's way. Please be near to their loved ones and also to those recovering from the effects of war. Now, bless these men and women as they go forth to do great things. Thank you for the service they render to our nation. Please be with them and their families and loved ones as they depart for new destinations and challenges through the one who saves. Amen. Ladies and gentlemen, please remain standing for the departure of the official party. Thank you all for attending today's graduation. This concludes the ceremony. Yeah, good on you.