FLEXIBLE AND READY FOR 230 YEARS

PAAUZYUW RUENAAA0967 2801530-UUUU--RHMFIUU.
ZNR UUUUU ZUI RUEWMCS3625 2801945
P R 071530Z OCT 05 ZYB MIN ZYW PSN 247513K22
FM CNO WASHINGTON DC//N00//
TO NAVADMIN
INFO RHMFIUU/CNO WASHINGTON DC
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BT
UNCLAS //N05000//
NAVADMIN 265/05
MSGID/GENADMIN/CNO WASHINGTON DC/N00/OCT//
SUBJ/FLEXIBLE AND READY FOR 230 YEARS//



GENTEXT/REMARKS/1.  IT WAS CONSIDERED BY AT LEAST ONE DELEGATE TO THE
CONTINENTAL CONGRESS "THE MADDEST IDEA IN THE WORLD."  THE CREATION
OF AN AMERICAN FLEET IMPLIED INDEPENDENCE AND SOVEREIGNTY.  IT
SIGNALED A READINESS FOR WAR THAT NOT ALL THE COLONISTS WERE
PREPARED TO ACCEPT, AND YET ON 13 OCTOBER 1775, CONGRESS VOTED TO
ARM TWO SMALL SHIPS AND SEND THEM ON A CRUISE TO INTERCEPT BRITISH
TRANSPORTS.  WITH THE STROKE OF A PEN, THE CONTINENTAL NAVY WAS
BORN.
2.  HOWEVER MODEST THAT BEGINNING, THERE CAN BE NO QUESTION OF THE
VITAL ROLE PLAYED BY THE U.S. NAVY IN DEFENDING FREEDOM THROUGHOUT
OUR NATION'S HISTORY.  IN WARS LARGE AND SMALL, AT SEA AND ASHORE,
AMERICAN SAILORS HAVE PROVEN TIME AND TIME AGAIN THE ENDURING VALUE
OF STRENGTH FROM THE SEA.
3.  WE PROVE IT YET TODAY.  THE NATION IS AGAIN AT WAR--A LONG AND
TREACHEROUS WAR--AND WE ARE AGAIN STEPPING INTO THE BREECH TO FIGHT
IT.  FROM THE MOUNTAINTOPS IN AFGHANISTAN TO THE WINDSWEPT SANDS OF
KUWAIT AND IRAQ, FROM THE WARM, STILL WATERS OF THE NORTH ARABIAN
GULF, TO THE BROAD EXPANSE OF THE PACIFIC RIM, WE ARE TAKING THE
FIGHT TO THE ENEMY.
4.  LET THERE BE NO DOUBT THAT WE ARE WINNING.  AFGHANISTAN IS FREE.
DEMOCRACY IS BEING BORN IN IRAQ.  AL QAEDA, THOUGH POTENT, IS
WEAKER.  EVEN THE DEVASTATION WROUGHT BY NATURAL DISASTER ON OUR OWN
SHORES--AND TO OUR OWN FAMILIES--IS EASED.  THE LIVES OF MILLIONS OF
PEOPLE ARE BETTER BECAUSE OF OUR EFFORTS AND THE SACRIFICES OF OUR
LOVED ONES.  THERE IS, OF COURSE, MUCH WORK YET TO DO AND CHALLENGES
YET TO FACE, BUT I AM CONVINCED THAT THIS GENERATION OF SAILORS--AT
THIS CRITICAL TIME IN OUR HISTORY--WILL MAKE ALL THE DIFFERENCE.
5.  IT MIGHT ONCE HAVE BEEN THE MADDEST OF IDEAS, BUT TODAY THE NAVY
DOES NOT JUST IMPLY INDEPENDENCE, SOVEREIGNTY, AND READINESS, WE ARE
THOSE THINGS.  IN THE STEEL OF OUR SHIPS AND THE IN THE HEARTS OF
OUR SAILORS, WE TAKE THEM WITH US WHEREVER AND WHENEVER WE GO.  WE
MAKE THEM REAL AND WE BRING THEM RIGHT BACK HOME AGAIN.
6.  AS CAPTAIN NORA SCOTT TYSON, FORMER COMMANDING OFFICER OF THE
USS BATAAN PUT IT, "WE KNOW THERE IS A REASON FOR WHAT WE DO,
WHETHER IT IS THE GLOBAL WAR ON TERRORISM OR HUMANITARIAN RELIEF.
IF YOU ARE NOT FLEXIBLE AND YOU ARE NOT READY, YOU ARE IN THE WRONG
BUSINESS."  WELL, I HAVE SEEN IT FIRSTHAND.  YOU ARE FLEXIBLE, YOU
ARE READY, AND YOU ARE DEFINITELY IN THE RIGHT BUSINESS.  JOHN PAUL
JONES AND STEPHEN DECATUR HAVE ABSOLUTELY NOTHING ON YOU.  I AM
THRILLED JUST TO WEAR THE SAME UNIFORM.
7.  HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SHIPMATES.  ADMIRAL MIKE MULLEN.//
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