 Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the U.S. Naval War College graduation ceremony. I am Captain Patrick Keyes, the Dean of Students and will be serving as the MC for today's ceremony. You're welcome to take photos at any time throughout the ceremony. We have official photographers taking pictures today and you will find these photos post on our Flickr site, found in the back of the program for you to download. At this time, as a courtesy, please put your cell 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 2nd Class Rachel Vennell from the Navy Band Northeast. Stripes and... Commander Nathan Solomon, chaplain of the Naval Chaplaincy School and Center will deliver the invocation. Please join me in prayer as you are inclined, wise and far-seeing God. This morning, we ask you to be present amongst us for these proceedings. As you stand outside of both time and space, please bear witness to what happens here this morning. For the past 12 months, these your people gathered here have labored in reading, discussion, argument, and writing. They were challenged to sharpen their thinking and broaden their perspectives. And now they have, hopefully, gained wisdom at that place where experience and increasing knowledge intersect. We, the nation, have asked these men and women to do this not only for the joy of learning, but also in the hope that this world would ultimately become more peaceful, just, and safe for us all. Today we honor their work and pray that their efforts here will not be in vain. We give thanks for the dedication of instructors, the wisdom of the college's leaders, and the tireless efforts of everyone on the staff who supports everything that happens here. Now at this time and this last act before they depart for duty stations throughout the nation and around the world. Bless what happens here. May it inspire us to rededicate ourselves to the high ideals of liberty and justice for all that first led us into this life of service. In your name we pray. Amen. Please be seated. It gives me great pleasure to introduce the members of our official party. Radma retired Michael White, Dean, College of Maritime Operational Warfare. Radma retired Margaret Klein, Dean, Leadership in Ethics. Professor Walt Wilderman, Dean, College of Distance Education. Professor Tom Kalora, Dean, Center for Naval Warfare Studies. Professor Rob Winnig, Deputy Dean, International Programs and Maritime Security Cooperation. Dr. Phil Han, Dean of Academics. Dr. Louis Duncan, Provost, United States Naval War College. Dr. Timothy Schultz, Associate Dean of Academics. And Radma Shoshana S. Chatfield, the 57th President of the United States Naval War College. Several years ago we began a tradition at the U.S. Naval War College of allowing the graduating student body to nominate their guest speaker from amongst all the talented professionals at the college. I would like to ask graduating student Lieutenant Commander Noah McBurnett to introduce your faculty guest speaker. Noah, come on up. So Dr. Tim Schultz was selected by our class to be our guest speaker. I think he embodies most of what we all strive to be. He's an academic, he was a warfighter, retired colonel, U-2 pilot. He brought us lectures that combine art, science, culture, pop culture in ways that really made us think differently about how we view the world. So that's really all I have to say because he's going to say it better than I can. So Dr. Tim Schultz. Thank you, Noah. And to Admiral Chatfield, Provost, Deans, our distinguished flag-ranked faculty members, our visiting flag officers, our graduates, and most importantly our families, thank you for being here today. There's no higher privilege than interacting and learning together with people like the ones in this room. And I've been looking forward to this one last engagement with you, the final gathering before the scattering. First, a quick message to your family members. Let us enjoy this together to the family of our graduates. This is your time. We are indebted to you. Don't be shy about the formality of this ceremony. If at any time you want to come down closer to the stage and get a picture of your graduate as he or she walks across the stage, I welcome you to do that. Even if you're blocking the view of some of these general officers who are sitting right here, that is an okay thing to do. You are permitted to do that. Don't be shy. We have many faculty here today. A lot of them are actually in class right now doing what they love. But for faculty, graduation is our crystallizing moment. You have given these graduates a new life of the mind. One book at a time, one lesson, one seminar, one war game, one tutorial, one red ink-covered page at a time. And we are indebted to you. A poet said that a professor is one who talks in someone else's sleep. So the best professors, they change your thought life. They speak to you in your dreams. So graduates, you have that to look forward to. It'll be like having Milan Vagos' 1492-page book on operational joint warfare as your pillow. And you will be visited in the night and engaged with pillow talk with professors like Dr. Mark Genest and Dr. Tom Nichols. So you have that to look forward to for decades to come. So recently I learned a couple of new words. Lapidary and tortuosity. Lapidary is something that is etched in stone or someone who etches things in stone. Tortuosity is a technical term. It's used by meteorologists to describe the degree of zigging and zagging of a lightning bolt. So your education here has been both lapidary and tortuous. But in a good way, engraved in stone and full of unpredictable power. And I'll come back to these two words, lapidary and tortuosity in a bit. But first I want to voice a little bit of dissent in this storied institution of higher learning. And I just noticed Admiral Chatfield started to stare directly at me. We talk a lot about being lifelong learners. That's good. But it is not good enough. I expect more of our graduates. I want you to be dedicated lifelong unlearners. Dedicate yourselves to the higher and more elusive art of unlearning because unlearning is the mark of true learning and true wisdom. Think of the things we humans have had to unlearn in the past. We had to unlearn and it took centuries. We had to unlearn that the earth is the center of the universe. Doctors had to unlearn that leeches are usually a good prescription. The cavalry had to unlearn the value of the sword and then unlearn the value of the horse to remain relevant in the 20th century. Navies had to unlearn the battleship mindset. Airforces had to unlearn the idea that the bomber always gets through. Gary Kasparov, the great chess champion, had to unlearn how to play chess after he was defeated by a machine. Noah mentioned I spent some time as a U2 pilot. In that role, I had to unlearn my old 35,000-foot world view and perceive how the earth curves, how its borders blur, and how its inhabitants compete under a thin veil of atmosphere. And it changed my perspective. So think of the things that you may have to unlearn in the future. Quantum computing may require you to unlearn our traditional cryptology and our method of keeping secrets. You may have to unlearn the AI-constructed deep fake images that appear on your screens and infiltrate your minds because they're not true. You may have to unlearn the traditional limits of human capability. In general, we must all unlearn the pretensions that have set themselves up as truth. In my office, I have a table of disruptive technologies and it looks a lot like an old-fashioned periodic table. It includes elements like wireless energy transfer and biohacking and about 100 different things. We constantly discover elements that disrupt our status quo understanding of the world. What new forms of expert knowledge will your future require? No one knows, but the first step will be to unlearn some of the old forms of expert knowledge so that you can lead in the modern world. In that sense, unlearning is a process of creative destruction. Lincoln said, and if you harken back to your very first day here when I met with you, I used this same quote from Lincoln. Here it is again. He said that the dogmas of the quiet past are inadequate to the stormy present. It is hard to unlearn dogma, but you must. Ralph Waldo Emerson, who is a contemporary of Lincoln, said, as many of you have heard before, a foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds. But in that same poem, he advised, speak what you think now in hard words and tomorrow speak what tomorrow thinks in hard words again though it contradicts everything you said today. These are the practices of lifelong unlearners. They seek hard truths and speak and write hard words. Remo Grace Hopper, who is a pioneering intellect in computers, she had a clock on her wall. It told the correct time, but it moved counterclockwise. Why did she want that clock on her wall? She used it to demonstrate that the argument of we've always done it this way is a refuge for the complacent. She was an unlearner. So I'm not advocating change for the sake of change. All of us have seen that fad come to go from time to time. I'm advocating for thinking that is simultaneously rigorous yet unbound by convention. And developing that ability demands time and energy because it is inherently inefficient. So it's easy to visualize your education as something that is efficient like a ladder. You expend some energy in a predefined direction and you'll get to the next rung. It's a one-size-fits-all approach and it pretty much does the same thing for everybody. In a very basic sense, in one sense, you've done that here. When you climb these steps, you'll be stepping up a rung. That's great. We are celebrating that aspect today, but not just that because real learning, true education is much more. Let me make a different comparison than a ladder. Learning and unlearning are less like a ladder and much more like climbing the face of a cliff or climbing a rock wall. The rock wall is the unknown. You find your own way up grasping new things and contemplating new directions. You've done some free climbing this year with your electives, your papers, your research, your presentations, your discussions with each other as you've developed your own intellectual strengths and abilities, you've gripped new ideas. Now you're moving on to a steeper face, no safety ropes. So here are some things about climbing a rock wall that are similar to the life of the mind and your ongoing education. There is no straight line. It requires agility, mental agility. It requires tenacity and focus. It requires taking risks. It requires a high index of suspicion. Is that handhold as good as it appears to be? Will it support as much weight as I think it might? Your assumptions literally may not hold. They may be fatally incorrect. They may have to be unlearned. So this requires innovation. That means there may be some trial and error and some false moves that reveal better moves and if you're not making mistakes, you're not moving far. And think about it just as there are hazards to navigation at sea, there are hazards to navigation on that rock wall. One of them is thinking that you know more than you actually do. Stephen Hawking said that the greatest enemy is not ignorance, it is the illusion of knowledge. The ancients called this hubris and all of us in this room suffer from it. Another hazard is a lack of ideas. If you only have one idea, one method, one technique, you'll get stuck and you'll get passed by. And an inability to think a few moves ahead poses another hazard. And so it is comfortably clinging to that familiar idea because when you cling to doctrine, it becomes dogma. So when you leave here today, you'll be making it up as you move up. There's no set path. But what you've learned here will provide traction. They are the grips and toe holds and ledges that you will use to climb higher. And here's where this idea of lapidary comes in. You have had an immersive lapidary experience here. It takes time and energy and focus for things to etch into stone. And those are the ideas that you've grappled with. They're lapidary. They are engraved in. Sometimes they are pounded in. There are anchor points in the rock wall, things that you can find, grasp and find purchase. So your professors won't just be speaking to you in your dreams, but during your climb as well. You can recognize their influence by your familiarity with the unfamiliar, your ability to grapple with complex problems. And as you learn, you can etch more ideas, your own ideas into that rock. Create your own friction points. Use them to move in different directions. So your effective education and effective one is lapidary. And people who climb rocks and face the unknown also know something about threading a new pathway from point to point. From strength to strength. Often an unpredictable pathway. And here's where that word tortuosity comes in. Remember a lightning bolt is measured by its degree of tortuosity. Step back and look at the path a climber ends up taking. Maybe it's similar to the pathway you've navigated here. It's very likely zigs and zags is tortuous. It has tortuosity. That is because education is not a straight line. Education is inherently inefficient. It's tailored. No two pathways towards wisdom are the same. And that, like a lightning bolt, is a mark of power. It's a symbol of creative destruction. Your climb may seem random and wandering to an observer below, but to you it has its own internal reasons and external influences and it's a display of energy that you are gathering and harnessing for a future purpose. Your lifelong learning and unlearning should create heat, light, and fire. And it will etch your mark into the rock. So yes, you have climbed a ladder here. You have now a much better view. But more importantly, you've spent some time on the face of the rock testing new ideas while you yourselves have been tested. So think of your education in these terms. It's a commitment to unlearning. It's lapidary. It's carved. It's etched into you. It lets you see and explore those different directions. It has tortuosity. And lifelong learners don't care that much about ladders. They prefer to free climb mountains. They prefer to discover. And this is a constant struggle. There are effective ways to cultivate your mind, but none of them are really super efficient. There is no straight path of least resistance. In some sense, your education is a bit like war. You've learned that in war, there are no easy solutions. There are no shortcuts. It's the same with learning. Both are difficult and messy and unpredictable and reactive. In war and in education, the results are never final and you are never home by Christmas. It is never what you expect. So as you climb your rock wall, as I conclude, your struggle is against more than the pole of gravity. You struggle against what the ancient Greeks and the Olympian gods struggled against. The constant pole of hubris. Pride in dearly held pretensions. A resistance to a greater truth and a satisfaction with a lesser one. An unwillingness to unlearn. The modern technological interconnected world that you inherit only strengthens these forces against which you must climb. They must be fought and overcome in your minds and in the future that you will create. And so what if you fall? So as the great visionary, novelist Ray Bradbury said, if you fall, then build wings on the way down. That is your only option. So now go forth, act justly, love mercy, walk humbly, confront evil, unlearn and climb on. Thank you. Dr. Schultz, on behalf of the students, staff and faculty, I thank you for your comments and your ongoing contributions and service to our country. Thank you. For each graduating class, one student is selected for recognition as the president's honor graduate. Recipients of this award are chosen based on their outstanding achievement across a spectrum of disciplines, including academic performance, participation in Naval War College activities, participation in civic and community activities, and promotion of armed and government services in the public interest. For the College of Naval Warfare, the honor graduate of the November 2019 graduating class is Commander Tim Oswald. Would you please come up to the stage of your award? Commander Oswald finished number one of eight in addition to being the JMO seminar leader, a member of EEMT program, and the James Forstall Award winner for excellence in strategy development and force planning. Along with the certificate, he is receiving an engraved weems and plath compass from the Naval War College Foundation. You can clap, it's okay. For the College of Naval Command and Staff, the honor graduate for the November 2019 graduating class is Lieutenant Commander Patrick Bouchot. Would you please come up to the stage to receive your award? Lieutenant Commander Bouchot finished number one of 32 in CNCS in addition to being a member of the Holloway Advanced Research Project, JMO seminar athletic coordinator, and the recipient of the 2018 Atlantic Fleet Naval Flight Officer of the Year. Along with the certificate, he is also receiving a compass from the Naval War College Foundation. At this time, we'll allow our honor graduates a few moments to address their fellow graduates and classmates, so if I could call Commander Oswald up, podium jurors. So I was thinking, after Captain Key's called me and let me know that this was being recognized as the honor grad for CNW, first thing I did is what every red-blooded warfighter, naval officer will do. I called my mommy. And I said, I told mom what I was being recognized for and she said how proud she was, which is what I wanted to hear. And then she said, but Tim, did I ever tell you about your first parent-teacher conference? No. So apparently, in the first grade, my teacher was Virginia Cordell, who'd been around for many years and taught many, many people back in a small town in Kansas. Apparently, my mom walked in, sat down for my parent-teacher conference. Virginia opened up my file, looked at it for a second, and just started laughing. That's it. She just sat there and laughed for a couple of minutes. Didn't really explain to mom what she was laughing about, but then she went on to tell mom that I was doing okay and she thought my progression was as it should be. And apparently that stuck with my mom all these years that Virginia Cordell just laughed at my parent-teacher conference. Well, I'm telling my mom now, nobody in any of my seminars during our midterms just sat and laughed at me. They all gave me constructive criticism, which I definitely needed. But it got me to thinking, as I reflect on this, what did we learn here at the Naval War College? I'm going to say it's three things. We should do it in rule of threes. First one was the folks out here that I went to school with. Amazing military knowledge from all of the services, from all of the branches inside the services. That's the first thing. Tons of experience that I learned and shared with my fellow classmates. Second was the amazing whole-of-government perspective that we get from our interagency partners that are here. I'm not sure how many there are this year, but I've had at least a half a dozen different agencies represented in my seminars and my electives. And learning from them and how they approach things differently than we do was a great learning experience. And the third thing was the world view that comes from our foreign students. When you all leave today, look at the flags just above the door as you walk out. Those are the countries that have been represented here at the War College. And many of them, the students here have gone on to be heads of their services. So the world view and experience that comes in from that has been absolutely amazing. Now the academics are pretty good too. Don't get me wrong. I've learned something there as well. But I really think it's that continued broad experience is what really makes a Navy War College as impressive as it is. So one of the fellows that we study, you may have heard of him, a guy by the name of Sunsa, says, know thyself. It's one of the things he adds. Now Grant, his quote, goes on to other things, but know thyself. I believe that over the last year, and I'm going to speak for the rest of the grads that are sitting there, I know myself. I believe they know their selves better than they did coming in here a year ago. And more importantly, I think I know how to represent the profession of arms that we were called to better than I did a year ago. So thank you very much to the staff and the faculty for what you have provided us. Thank you, Admiral Trappfield. Dean Juan, Dean Schultz, Dr. Duncan, distinguished chairs, and esteemed guests. Captain Keyes, thank you as well for this singular honor. This is actually the first of two speeches I have to make this week with the other being on Friday to my son's pre-kindergarten class. And truthfully, I'm a little more nervous about precocious four- and five-year-olds asking me about war and mortality than I am speaking to you all today. Leaving the house this morning, my wife had asked my youngest son to say congratulations because I was graduating today, to which my four-year-old Ryan says, congratulations, Daddy, what song are you singing? If you haven't been to a pre-school graduation, they usually line up and sing songs. So I won't be singing a song. This past year has been an amazing experience and I immensely enjoyed each of the three courses. The world-class education that the war college provides would not be possible if not for the incredible work of the faculty and staff who teach with a depth and breadth of passion, experience, and knowledge that has reinvigorated my interest in learning that I had long since forgotten. I would especially like to thank some of the wonderful mentors I've had here while at the war college. Dr. Orlando Johnson with the College of Leadership and Ethics, Colonel Chris Kidd in the Joint Military Operations Department, Colonel John Kikko with the Strategy and Policy Department, Drs. Nicholas Vasdev and Mary Thompson-Jones in the National Security Affairs Department, and finally a special call out to the Russia Maritime Studies Institute and in particular doctors Mike Peterson, Rick Moss, and Captain Pat Kulakowski. I'd also like to say thank you to my family and especially to my wife, who absolutely hates moving and will suffer through two in a year, so I could come here to further develop myself intellectually and professionally. Finally, I'd like to say congratulations and thank you to my friends and classmates who are joining me and graduating today, being surrounded by such diverse and talented individuals is what makes this esteemed institution a special experience and the experience truly amazing. Sadly, we don't have any Air Force officers graduating with us today, so I can't make any quips about there being no golf course on the base or why we don't need air conditioning for the whole summer. However, we do have eight land-loving U.S. Army officers joining us in graduation today. Despite being aboard this naval command, for a year it is my fear that you may leave this maritime institution without the proper understanding and respect for naval jargon, slang, and sangs. And for today, I'd particularly like to discuss the time-honored naval blessing of fair winds and falling seas. The mistakenly used synonymously with goodbye, you wish someone fair winds and following seas at the start of a voyage, not at its conclusion. To have a fair wind does not necessarily mean to have the wind at your back, making for a speedy trip, but rather to have a safe journey. Indeed, a fair wind to a surface warfare officer, maybe a gentle breeze, keeping the seas calm, whereas a naval aviator would prefer a strong wind to the face in order to help them aloft. And finally, some mariners are weird and they don't care about the wind at all. To bless a fair wind though, you're in effect saying, I wish you good fortune wherever your sails may take you. A following sea is when the direction of the waves matches that of the ship, and when combined with a fair winds, it bids the sailor a comfortable voyage with the ship in tune with the waves. So to my friends and fellow graduates, again congratulations, and as we all embark on our separate voyages armed with the knowledge and skills provided by this wonderful college, I bid you all fair wind and following seas. Thank you. A master of arts degree in national security and strategic studies, or defense in strategic studies as appropriate will not be conferred to the graduates. Will the graduates please rise and remain in place? Bre Admiral Chatfield, please approach the podium. Admiral, I have the honor to present the November 2019 graduates of the United States Naval War College candidates for the master of arts in national security and strategic studies in defense and strategic studies. They have been thoroughly examined and approved by the faculty. Therefore, by the power vested in me by the Secretary of the Navy, the accreditation of the New England Commission of Higher Education, and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, I confer upon you all appropriate degrees and diplomas. Ladies and gentlemen, please join me in saluting with our applause the November 2019 graduates of the United States Naval War College. Thank you, Admiral. Graduates, you may now 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, please proceed to the stage as your name is read. Guests are welcome to come forward to take photos at any time. Please try to hold your applause until all names have been read. Brad Mulchatfield, Dr. Schultz, Dr. Duncan and Dean Hahn, please rise. Presenting the graduating members of the College of Naval Warfare and their next duty assignments. Lieutenant Colonel Richard P. Sipro, Jr., United States Army National Guard, Joint Forces Headquarters, Massachusetts Army National Guard. Colonel David A. Clark, U.S. Army Reserve, Army Reserve Sustainment Command, Birmingham, Alabama. Commander Jeffrey A. Gehring, United States Navy. LCS Crew 116, Mayport, Florida. Lieutenant Colonel Keith A. McGee, U.S. Army Reserve, 200th Military Police Command, Fort Meade, Maryland. Commander Stacy L. O'Neill, United States Navy, USS San Antonio, Norfolk, Virginia. Commander Timothy A. Oswald, United States Navy, with distinction. Naval Air Station, Whitby Island, O'Carbor, Washington. Lieutenant Colonel Alicia Monique Rackston, U.S. Army Reserve, 84th Training Division, Fort Knox, Kentucky. Lieutenant Colonel Michael Racks, Steinbushel, U.S. Army National Guard. Joint Forces Headquarters, Maine National Guard, Camp Chamberlain, Augusta, Maine. Presenting the graduating members of the College of Naval Command and Staff in their next-duty assignment. Commander John G. Berry, U.S. Navy. VAW 116, Point Magoo, California. Lieutenant Commander Dominique M. Bennett, U.S. Navy. Joint Analysis Center, Molesworth, U.S. Air Force, Molesworth, United Kingdom. Lieutenant Commander James Bouchot, U.S. Navy, with high distinction. VFA 32, Virginia Beach, Virginia. Lieutenant Commander Jason Bruce, U.S. Navy, U.S. Africans, Stuttgart, Germany. Major James B. Burke, U.S. Marine Corps, First Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Pendleton, California. Lieutenant Commander Brandon Collins, U.S. Navy, Naval Air Station, Whitby Island, Washington. Lieutenant Commander Michael Frederick Demet, U.S. Navy. JFCC IMD, Shriver Air Force Base, Colorado Springs, Colorado. Lieutenant Commander Lauren Elizabeth Fleming, U.S. Navy, U.S. Naval War College, Newport, Rhode Island. Lieutenant Commander Brian Edward Foyt, U.S. Navy, VR-59, Joint Reserve Base, Fort Worth, Texas. Lieutenant Commander Michael P. Heddinger, Jr., U.S. Navy, with distinction. Naval Oceanographic Office, Dennis Space Center, Mississippi. Lieutenant Commander Matthew P. Holliday, U.S. Navy, with distinction. Strike Fighter Wing Pacific, Naval Air Station, Lamar, California. Major Joshua P. Hollensworth, U.S. Army, 25th Infantry Division, Schofield Barracks, Hawaii. Lieutenant Commander David James Holm, U.S. Navy, U.S.S. Ronald Reagan, Yacusca, Japan. Lieutenant Commander Brett J. Jasonowski, U.S. Navy, U.S.S. Fitzgerald, Yacusca, Japan. Lieutenant Commander Matthew Sharrohu Casioca, U.S. Navy, VAW 116 Point Magoo, California. Commander Wesley Kennerly, U.S. Navy, VFA 211, Virginia Beach, Virginia. Major Timothy P. Lewin, U.S. Army, 4th Infantry Division, Fort Carson, Colorado. Lieutenant Commander Noah L. McBurnett, U.S. Navy, with high distinction. USS Oregon, Groton, Connecticut. Lieutenant Commander Matthew Sennett Paul, U.S. Navy, with distinction. Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron II, Norfolk, Virginia. Lieutenant Commander Michael P. Riley, U.S. Navy, VFA 106, Virginia Beach, Virginia. Commander Thaddeus Rusanik, U.S. Navy, HSM 40, Jacksonville, Florida. Major Sean S. Scott, U.S. Army, 1st Calvary Division, Fort Hood, Texas. Lieutenant Commander Brian Conley-Spinth, U.S. Navy, Navy Region Hawaii, Joint Base Pearl Harbor, Hickam, Hawaii. Lieutenant Commander Michael Gordon Stingle, U.S. Navy, VAQ 129, Naval Air Station, Whitby Island, Oak Harbor, Washington. Lieutenant Bradley C. Turbeek, U.S. Navy, Naval Submarine School, Submarine Officer Advanced Course, Groton, Connecticut. Lieutenant Commander Scott Thornberry, U.S. Navy, with distinction. Indo-Paycom, Honolulu, Hawaii. Lieutenant Commander Aaron Michelle Thorpe, U.S. Navy, U.S.S. George H.W. Bush, Norfolk, Virginia. Commander Gregory T. Vassiloff, U.S. Navy, VAW 113, Point Magoo, California. Major William D. Wilson, Senior, U.S. Army, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division, Fort Campbell, Kentucky. Congratulations to all the graduates. Let's give them one big final round of applause. Brea Admiral Chatfield will now issue the charge to the graduates. podium is yours, ma'am. Let me just start by welcoming our distinguished guests, generals, admirals, our distinguished C&O fellows who have imparted so much of their experience and knowledge. George, thanks for being here. Mr. George Lange from the Naval War College Foundation who has supported so many of our activities here. Thank you to our faculty and staff and to our wonderful keynote speaker today, Dr. Tim Schultz. Thank you for preparing this class so well. Today you see in front of you the fruits of your labor. Your efforts in educating and developing these leaders will pay dividends in their contributions to our nation and our national security in the future. Thank you for your service. Now to our families and our friends, thank you so much for being here. I know that the graduates were standing outside and you never really think it's going to hit you the way it does when pomp and circumstance starts playing, but like today actually happened and you walked and you're holding in your hand your diplomas and they're signed and congratulations. You could not have done it without your family and friends supporting you in those late nights, the revisions of the papers, and just the new ideas as they sort of connected inside your brain housing group. So family and friends, thank you for your support. And now to the graduates. Upon your arrival here in Newport, you began your intellectual journey and it may have been a journey the likes of which you had not ever experienced before or expected. Early on you were charged to think critically, to analyze, to strategize, and to innovate. You were tasked to study and study the material through a lens of leadership and ethics, of history, of strategy, of strategy and policy, of operational art, and of diplomacy. And through another lens, you were asked to tackle the myriad challenges that lie ahead for our great nation. Together, drawing from your diverse backgrounds, your professional paths, you answered that call. You challenged your faculty and thank you for that. You challenged each other. Please keep doing that. And most importantly, you challenged yourselves. You have emerged as a class of scholars with a commonality of purpose. You should be rightfully proud of your accomplishments individually and as a class. Congratulations. Your charge now as you prepare to re-enter your operational world is to take with you what you learned here. A different lens to view the challenges that you will inevitably face in the future and we're facing many now. Now that you have learned new ways to influence the future here at the Naval War College, you are duty bound to take your strengthened intellect and your expanded perspective and to lead and advise well. Our Secretary of the Navy has identified a culture of learning as an essential element of our warfighting development as much as any hardware or system we could purchase. It is our own internal software, our critical thinking, integrated and iterative processes and the innovation that follows that will deliver us critical advantages in the cognitive age. Today, you join a large yet distinguished group of Naval War College alumni. By the way, our alumni director is sitting right there. Julie, please raise your hand. Alumni director, there's the name and face for you and she will be reaching out to you. So you join that group of war college alumni whose membership has endured for 135 years. As those who have gone before you, it is now your responsibility to think critically and lead well as you serve in this profession of arms. You were given the gift of time here to develop those skills, a gift that we all know you won't necessarily have in the future. And so you're charged to use that gift wisely. Create the space to continue your own growth and create the space for the intellectual development of those you lead. Be a steward of our chosen profession and as you leave here, commit to the attribute of continuous learning and unlearning. Godspeed to you and your families and good luck in your operational assignments. Thank you, ma'am, for those remarks. Please rise for the benediction. Please join me in prayer again. Gracious God, a year ago, disparate personalities combined for a short season to create a rich world of thought and learning. Friendships were forged in a fellowship of study and service that necessarily fractures today. Therefore, may those who depart from here in the coming hours take what they have learned and apply it to create a more perfect union in a world where freedom and peace reign. May they nurture the relationships they have built for only you know when and where we might call on one another in an hour of need. And now as we depart this place, we ask that you watch over our sisters and brothers who are at this very moment standing to watch in our stead around the globe, sustain them with your strength, grant them your wisdom, and return them home safely. May it be that we carry out our duties in such a way that you would continue to bless the United States of America, both today and far into the future. Amen. Please remain standing for the departure of the official party. Ladies and gentlemen, this concludes our graduation ceremony. Thank you for joining us this morning and safe travels.