Naval Support Facility (NSF) Deveselu and Aegis Ashore Missile Defense System (AAMDS) Romania celebrated the Navy's 242nd birthday with their third annual Navy Ball, Oct. 13.

NSF Deveselu and AAMDS Romania are collocated on board the Romanian 99th Military Base and play a key role in the ballistic missile defense of Eastern Europe.

The event marked the third time the ball has been held with guests from the Romanian military, as well as civilian contractors and Romanian civilians who work alongside the Americans on base.

The evening kicked off with appetizers being served to the guests; the Sailors wearing their service dress blues and their Romanian counterparts in their dress uniform equivalent. Capt. Jon Grant, commanding officer of NSF Deveselu, opened the celebration thanking all hands for participating in and coordinating the event.

During his speech, Capt. Grant echoed this year's theme of sea power to protect and promote, noting that although the bases are landlocked, they still share many of the same functions and responsibilities of seagoing commands. Grant also stated how proud he was of the consistently professional relationship the U.S. Sailors have shared with the Romanian military and public. Grant concluded his speech by calling Command Senior Chief (CMDCS) Rodolfo Lopez, NSF Deveselu's CMDCS, to the front for his reenlistment in front of the guests.

The event was held at a local venue with more than 80 guests who were served multiple courses throughout the evening. One of the honored guests, Romanian Army Col. Gheorghe Stancu, the chief of staff for the Romanian 99th Military Base, spoke of his enjoyment of the continued success of the event to take time to not only honor Navy tradition, but Romanian tradition as well.

"Our presence and cooperation in the region is what gives us confidence that we can continue to rely on each other," said Stancu. "We have learned a lot of things from this work, and we thank you for that. With everything that we have done together, we have proven to be at the heart of our missions and trusted by our higher echelons. In closing, I wish you all to have an astonishing military career, amazing personal achievements in your lives. God bless the U.S. naval forces and bless the U.S.-Romanian relationship."

After dinner and speeches the evening continued with the traditional cutting of the Navy's birthday cake by the oldest and youngest Sailors in the room. The Sailors, civilians and Romanians finished the evening participating in a traditional Romanian line dance.

As the first Navy shore installation commissioned since Everett, Washington, in 1987, NSF Deveselu is located in south-central Romania and its mission is to provide installation facilities, resources and services to support and enable AAMDS Romania.

For more information and resources about Naval Support Facility Deveselu please visit http://cnic.navy.mil/regions/cnreurafswa/installations/nsf_deveselu.html and http://www.facebook.com/NSFDeveselu/.

For more information, visit http://www.navy.mil, http://www.facebook.com/usnavy, or http://www.twitter.com/usnavy.

For more news from Naval Support Facility Deveselu, Romania, visit http://www.navy.mil/.