Naval war college change of command

Naval War College Review, Wntr, 2004

Admiral Rempt has acknowledged our VIPs, and I just want to say it's wonderful to be here in Newport. It's always fun to come up here and see great friends. If I started going through the honors and acknowledging all of them, it would take longer than [we have]. There are a lot of them here this morning. I'm here because I believe that this tradition, this event that we are here to observe is very important to our Navy, this thing called the change of command.

Admiral Rempt, Rod, I'm grateful for and I thank you for inviting me to be here. I wouldn't have missed it for anything. That's a fact. This ceremony is important to our institution. In our Navy, we have taken great care to preserve the principle that's embodied in this change of command ceremony. This Naval War College is now a joint war college, and each of the services does this event in its own unique way. For us, it highlights a sacred trust that we give to individuals in command in our Navy, to commanders, to leaders. In this case, we are here to acknowledge Admiral Rod Rempt and that sacred trust that he has held here for the last twenty-three months as the president of this institution.

Of course, trust is an important word, and with trust comes a trust in his abilities. We laid it on his shoulders. I never apologize for that. In fact, I'm proud of the fact that we give authority to individuals and assign them responsibility. Sometimes the other part of that leadership triangle that people like to shy away from is the accountability part of it. But we believe in it. Rod, we're very proud of the job that you have done up here in Newport. You have absolutely performed superbly.

By my calculations, I've been to this site more than any other in the Navy since I've been the CNO. I appreciate the history, the people. But most of all, when I come up here, I love seeing the powerful teamwork that occurs and exists here in Newport, Rhode Island, and that exists here in this world-class institution. I often speak about the asymmetric strength of the United States Navy. Too often we speak in terms of the capability of our enemies, but our asymmetric strength is the selective genius of our people. The Naval War College is the nucleus of that genius, a place where leaders stretch their minds to improve themselves and our Navy and other services. The College has formed leaders like Nimitz and Halsey.

But equally important, it has formed thousands of leaders around the world today who are fighting the global war on terrorism. I'm very proud of what the War College does, because it creates leaders and operational concepts needed to face the challenges that we all are confronted with in this twenty-first century.

Now, we birth future leaders of commands around the United States, places like Great Lakes Officer Candidate School, Naval ROTC--seventy-one universities around the United States, by my count--and, of course, the Naval Academy. These places create beginnings for our people, our bedrock. The Naval War College, on the other hand, is a place for our people to grow and mature and create the vision of who we will be, the future Navy. This place is very, very important to our Navy. I've come to believe that leaders serve an institution and that part of that service requires the establishment of a vibrant legacy. The Naval War College does exactly that. It educates. It inspires naval, joint, international leaders. It broadens their horizons and exposes them to new ideas. The students here of every service are the men and women who will lead our institution when people like me and these two individuals, the principals of this ceremony, are long gone, and I'm thankful for that.

Now, to the officers in our Navy, I frequently say things like, "If you're not growing, you're dead." The Naval War College brings life into the officer corps of this institution. It's vital to the intellectual health of our Navy. So this morning, I just want to be on record as saying: The importance of the Naval War College cannot be overstated. Our future leaders also need the tools, the warfighting capabilities. Let's see. I was here in June last, when I described a road map for the future Navy called Sea Power 21. Since then, I didn't know you were going to call it Team Newport, but Team Newport has worked nonstop to move that vision to reality. The synergy here in Newport between the War College and the Navy Warfare Development Command and the Strategic Studies Group is incredible, and it's unique within the Navy.

In summary, the Naval War College is a national treasure. The output of this institution is vital to our nation--not just to our Navy but to our nation. While we're very proud of your accomplishments here, I believe when we look back on your leadership, we'll talk about it as a time remembered for great team building marked by incredible spirit of enthusiasm. Under your leadership, this institution has taken its place as the center of strategic thinking. I like to say that as leaders we get to talk about policy and put structure and mechanisms in place. You've created mechanisms and forums to advance our visions, and you've stretched the minds of hundreds of young Americans and leaders of other nations of the world. These are the tools that our Navy must possess to remain the greatest Navy that has ever sailed the sea.