Good afternoon, everyone. How wonderful to gather here today to celebrate everything good about our Navy and our Blue Angels.

Vice Admiral Davids, thank you for that kind introduction. Thank you, as well, for hosting this event and for your service to our alma mater—you truly have earned the title of 64th Superintendent of the Naval Academy, and I couldn’t be prouder to serve with such an immensely impressive leader and example for all our midshipmen.

But let us not forget that even while we’re here today—and this week, while we congratulate the Class of 2024 on Friday—that nearly a third of our Fleet and 30 thousand Marines are deployed around the world on any given day.

Just Sunday, I was in Mayport to welcome home the crew of the USS Carney (DDG 64)—named in honor of Admiral Robert Carney, a Veteran of both World Wars who would go on to serve as the 14^th Chief of Naval Operations—after their eight-month deployment to the Fifth, Sixth, and Second Fleet Areas of Operations.

As many of you know, since October 7th, our Fleet and our Force have defended against nearly daily missile and drone attacks from the Iranian-aligned Houthis in Yemen.

The operations of the Bataan Amphibious Ready Group and the Eisenhower and Ford Strike Groups—exemplified by Carney—have proven time and time again the professionalism, expertise, and bravery of our Sailors and Marines.

Our people—including the pilots and crew of the Blue Angels, the Naval Academy’s Class of 2024, and indeed all the Midshipmen here at USNA—truly represent the best this country has to offer.

Their actions have also proved that we have the best, most capable ships in the world, defending our allies and partners against threats both at-sea and in the air.

And the backbone of our air defense fleet, the Aegis Combat System, first became a program—then named the Advanced Surface Missile System—60 years ago this year.

And 51 years ago, the first model of SPY was installed on USS Norton Sound (AVM 1).

These air defense systems our ships have used to engage scores of anti-ship cruise missiles, ballistic missiles, and lethal and non-lethal drones can be traced back to decisions made by visionary naval leaders—and Naval Academy graduates—like Admiral George Anderson Jr. and Rear Admiral Wayne E. Meyer in the 60s, 70s, and 80s.

Still, it is hard to believe how much these systems have grown and changed—and become yet more capable—in the past sixty years.

Late last year, we commissioned the first Flight III destroyer, USS Jack H. Lucas—the most technologically advanced surface combatant ever built.

And the destroyers that came before it in Flights I, II, and IIA have created an already storied legacy of defending American interests and promoting peace around the world.

And now I have a very special announcement.

I am incredibly grateful and proud to be able to announce that our next two destroyers will bear the names of two other truly extraordinary naval leaders.

The future DDG 143 will be named USS Richard J. Danzig, and the future DDG 144 will be named
USS Michael G. Mullen.

Secretary Danzig and Admiral Mullen are visionary leaders in the mold of the greatest naval leaders that came before them. Together they devoted nearly 100 years of service to our Nation.

While the challenges we face today are different than the challenges faced by the Department of the Navy, our Fleet, our Force, and indeed our Nation during Secretary Danzig and Admiral Mullen’s time at the helm, our priorities remain similar.

For Secretary Danzig, that meant emphasizing—as he wrote for Proceedings in 1999—improving “how we work, how we fight, and how we live.”

And for Admiral Mullen that meant—as he said in an All Hands Call at Naval Station Norfolk in 2007—prioritizing efforts to “get it right for our people, operate our fleet, and build the fleet for the future.”

Both Secretary Danzig and Admiral Mullen worked tirelessly to ensure our Sailors and Marines had the resources, technologies, and capabilities to succeed in warfighting and times of peace.

And after they both left naval service, they continued providing significant national security counsel to future CNOs, Commandants, and Presidents of the United States, which they still do to this day.

DDG 143 and DDG 144—once built and commissioned—will be the most technologically advanced warships ever built, just as Jack H. Lucas, Carney, Arleigh Burke, and each of their predecessors in the long and storied life of this class.

And these ships will carry on the legacies of public service that Secretary Danzig and Admiral Mullen personify, and will be crewed by the most capable young men and women our nation has to offer.

Gentlemen, thank you both for your incredible service to our Nation, and may God continue to bless our Sailors, Marines, civilians, and their families with fair winds and following seas. Thank you.