 To my friends at the Nimitz Association, it's an honor for me to once again be a small part of this annual gathering. And although I'm at sea and unable to join you all in person, I wanted to provide this message as an update on what the Old Salt has been up to in the past year. But first, I want to thank you for your support. Your continued involvement with the history of Nimitz and its current operations is felt on the deck plates and helps to carry forward the rich traditions you have passed on to us. We're certainly a stronger and more capable ship because of all of you. Shortly after the last reunion in 2021, Nimitz completed its planned incremental availability, an extended maintenance period that usually follows deployments. Since then, it's been full steam ahead with returning Nimitz to sea and preparing for future operations. After a short sea trial period, the carrier's first opportunity to validate work and ensure material readiness of the ship, Nimitz spent her time at sea without any aircraft, preparing for and participating in the command assessment of readiness and training, known as CART 2. CART 2 primarily assessed the ship's training teams, certifying that they're training the crew properly and in accordance with Navy standards. After passing flight deck certification, Nimitz was able to host training squadrons to begin our primary mission, launching and recovering aircraft. When Nimitz pulled back into port on March 25th, the ship had conducted almost 1,700 arrested landings over the course of three weeks, fired over 26,000 rounds of ammunition in live fire exercises, and conducted over 400 drills across all of its training teams. And we didn't stop there. In May, Nimitz departed for another underway period, spending several weeks training and validating the ship and crew's warfighting capabilities. This period tested the ship's abilities and the crew's knowledge on combat systems, damage control, medical readiness, navigation, and more. Nimitz was able to return to port June 25th, enjoying the 4th of July with family and friends, before returning to sea July 7th to assist west coast based pilots in earning their initial carrier qualifications. The crew was able to enjoy over a month ashore after returning to Bremerton, undergoing many repairs and modifications before a final evaluation. COM-2X, which is why Nimitz is currently sailing south to San Diego. Once we pick up the air wing, Dezeron, and the strike group, we'll begin high intensity, scenario based training that replicates what our upcoming deployment may look like. After a very busy year, we're almost to our final goal, to deploy and sail west. As Admiral Nimitz is famously quoted, it is a function of the Navy to carry the war to the enemy, so it is not fought on US soil. I can assure you that this ship and crew is ready for whatever lies ahead of us. I hope to see you all soon, and again, thank you for your continued support.