Posted on 03/08/2010 8:27:57 PM PST by ErnstStavroBlofeld
The Navy commissioned the newest guided-missile destroyer, the USS Dewey, to its fleet March 6 at a ceremony steeped in naval symbolism and tradition.
At the Naval Weapons Station here, Navy Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, delivered remarks to a crowd of thousands before the admiral's wife Deborah Mullen, the ship's sponsor, called the order that brought the $1 billion warship to life.
"You're getting a true gem: a ship as well built and well-tested as they come and manned by performance-proven, highly motivated sailors. May you deploy Dewey to the tip of the spear." Mullen said from a podium aboard its quarterdeck.
USS Dewey, the 55th Arleigh Burke-class destroyer, can conduct an array of operations, officials said, including the capability to fight simultaneous air, surface and subsurface battles. Considered part of the Navy's Aegis combat warship fleet, the Dewey can detect threats nearly 100 miles away.
For Mullen, today's event was something of a homecoming. The Los Angeles-native recalled serving early in his career on the USS Collett, which was stationed in Long Beach. But in the years since, the admiral said, the security environment in which the U.S. Navy operates has expanded to challenges that are "global in scope" and have required the military to adapt to change.
(Excerpt) Read more at dvidshub.net ...
Bump for later
Dewey, Cheetham and Howe?
Looks like one of those American - sized cans of whoop-ass.
May she serve with honor and bring her men home safely....
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