 I'm Captain John Rinko, Commodore Military Seal of Command Europe and Africa. Every year, on May 22nd, in conjunction with Memorial Day, our nation also celebrates National Maritime Day. This lesser known but very important holiday recognizes an outstanding group of civilians, our country's merchant mariners, who patriotically work alongside our military every single day to promote our nation's commerce and protect our nation's freedom. In my role, I have the distinct pleasure of leading hundreds of merchant mariners deployed across the European and African area of operations who conduct specialized missions and move military cargo and fuel and support of U.S. forces. I would like to take this opportunity to personally thank our mariners for their professionalism and dedicated service. Your hard work keeps our Navy forward deployed and ready across the globe. Thank you for your service.