Below is a transcript of the message:

Shipmates, CNO here at sea aboard a destroyer in the Baltic Sea. 

As our Navy continues to operate and adapt to an increasingly competitive security environment, we must never forget our past.  We need to learn from it.

Five years ago today, our Navy lost seven shipmates when the USS Fitzgerald collided with a container ship.  While we pause to reflect, to remember and to honor the legacies, let us also re-commit ourselves – every one of us – to ownership and watch-standing principles. 

While we have fixed shortcomings and focused on building competent and professional mariners and watchteams since this preventable tragedy, we must continue to evolve to meet the threats ahead.  

So, we owe it to our fellow shipmates to protect one another and to be able to fight… and be able to win. As we do this, we must prioritize taking care of ourselves and one another.   

Thank you – thank each and every one of you – for everything you do to make our Navy the greatest in the world. 

I’ll see you in the Fleet.