105th NOAA Basic Officer Training Class Graduation

Back ||NOAA Home

105th NOAA Basic Officer Training Class Graduation
VADM Conrad C. Lautenbacher, USN (Ret.)
U.S. Merchant Marine Academy, Kings Point, NY
Thursday, June 3, 2004, 6:00 p.m. - 10:00 p.m.

Thank you very much for inviting me to your graduation of the NOAA Corps' 105th Basic Officer Training Class (BOTC). I am both delighted and honored to be here to participate in this grand occasion. Tonight, 15 NOAA ensigns are embarking on their careers. Most importantly, I thank the Class President, Ensign Michael McCracken, for inviting me to participate in this very special evening. I also recognize RADM Nick Prahl, Deputy Director of the NOAA Corps and NOAA's Office of Marine and Aviation Operations; and CDR Jon Bailey, the Director of Commissioned Personnel who are here tonight. I also thank VADM Joseph Stewart, the Superintendent of Kings Point, for hosting NOAA on this campus and for the superb support we receive from the Academy. A big thank-you to RADM Chris McMahon, Director of the USMMA's Global Maritime and Transportation School who is currently serving in Iraq as the Senior Transportation Attache'; the current Director CDR John Hanus and his staff who have been responsible for coordinating all BOTC training. I know they put a lot of time and effort into teaching these officers the skills they will need as soon as they report aboard. I also offer special thanks to Captain Thomas Dorr, the master of the training ship KINGS POINTER. Going to sea with a gaggle of green ensigns can be a hair-raising experience for all but the most capable mariners. And last, but certainly not least, I am delighted to recognize the families and friends that are here today to celebrate the beginning of a journey for these young men and women that is full of promise and adventure. As someone who spent 40 years in the United States Navy, I know what it's like to put on a uniform and start a new way of life. And I know how much family support means to a successful and a personally satisfying career and achieving this great honor says as much about you as it does about them.

To the members of BOTC 105, I congratulate each one of you on achieving this milestone in your careers. Wearing the uniform of the United States of America and serving in the NOAA Corps is a privilege and an honor. You can be justifiably proud of your achievements today as you have been highly successful in a very competitive and demanding process from selection for the NOAA Corps through completion of BOTC tonight. As NOAA Corps officers, you will be a critical part of the web of science and management that form the foundation of NOAA exploration and observation missions. You have demonstrated that you have the discipline to succeed, and that you have the esprit de corps that builds strong teams.

You've spent the last 13 weeks here at the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy, learning seamanship, navigation, rules of the road, safety, and the magic of radar. And you've spent significant time underway on the academy's small boats as well as time in radar and bridge simulators. The small boat, lab, and classroom activities led to several underway evolutions aboard the KINGS POINTER. Under the watchful eye of Captain Dorr, you safely navigated the academy's training ship, KINGS POINTER, during round-the-clock operations where you practiced real-world navigation skills in real-world weather conditions. And of course, most importantly, you've already been using NOAA charts and NOAA weather reports-products that our entire nation uses and products that you will soon be responsible for developing.

NOAA has 6 sister ships to the KINGS POINTER, the 6th just recently acquired from the Navy, so this training will serve you very well. This all sounds nice, but let's tell our guests here what you really experienced. Things like waking up at 3:00 AM and going to work in a completely darkened ship's bridge, bumping into people and trying to operate those red flashlights. Like relieving the watch and interpreting a complex radar screen and determining which end of a bearing circle to sight through. Like being wet to the bones, red in the face and covered in soot as you learned to fight oil fires at firefighting training. Some of you are probably wondering "What have I gotten myself into?" The answer to that is "a whole world of adventure."

You will be conducting missions critical to the homeland and economic security of our nation. For example, NOAA touches 30% of the Nation's GDP directly - largely from data and observations that you will generate. People do not move without all the things that NOAA does, and you'll be part of that. About a year ago, I was preparing to travel to Norfolk for our commissioning of the NOAA ship THOMAS JEFFERSON. When I mentioned to several folks that I was traveling to Norfolk for a ship commissioning, some asked whether I was going for the USS RONALD REAGAN commissioning which happened to be around the same time. I told them "No", I was going for the commissioning of another ship named for a president-the NOAA Ship THOMAS JEFFERSON! "And let me tell you," I said, "the RONALD REAGAN doesn't get underway without the nautical charts produced by the officers and crew of the NOAA Ship THOMAS JEFFERSON and NOAA's Office of Coast Survey!" Needless to say, your country will be depending on you and I personally couldn't be more proud that you will be serving it.

These are exciting times to be joining the NOAA Corps. The President's Commission on Ocean Policy recently released their preliminary report on the state of the oceans and their recommendations for managing them. This is only the second time in history that a Presidential report has been commissioned on oceans policy and the last time it happened NOAA was created! In much the same way as the last one, this report will define how oceans policy and research are conducted for a long time. The report is not only generating a lot of awareness for the importance of our oceans, but it is also helping build support for NOAA's missions and ultimately the work you will be doing. These are exciting times because the NOAA Corps will soon have new leadership with new ideas on how to fulfill the Corps' critical roles within NOAA. These are also exciting times because, as RADM Prahl noted in his remarks, we have a tremendous amount of renewal going on in the NOAA fleet right now. I am delighted that he mentioned the metric about the age of the fleet and how that age is declining. We need metrics like this to compete successfully for the resources NOAA needs. The fleet is the bedrock of what NOAA does, and the NOAA Corps is essential to the success of NOAA. Finally, these are exciting times because even though you will soon begin your career adventure with travel to Woods Hole, Charleston, Norfolk, Pascagoula, Seattle, Kodiak, Ketchikan, San Diego, and Honolulu your impact will be felt far away from those places.

I've already talked about the impact your work has on the economy and security of the country, but as new graduates you are going to be some of the first key players in a new global observation system. By way of background, in April some 47 countries and the European Commission agreed to integrate all of their weather and climate data and other earth observations into one interconnected network. You will be one of the primary sources of data collected and are therefore one of the key components to making this system work. I truly believe this will change the way we see the earth and our environment in much the same way as the internet fundamentally changed the way we do business. I encourage you to take advantage of every opportunity your first assignment offers, and also to learn everything you can about the broader context of NOAA. At no time in history has there been such an important need for a broad science base like we have in NOAA, and as NOAA Corps officers, you will have the opportunity to be involved with all aspects of this agency, and with each of our strategic goals. Don't lose sight of the opportunities that are there, because they may not come back. At sea you are a part of an operational NOAA involved with supporting all of our shore-side line offices from weather to fisheries to research. Ashore, your operational experiences will serve as a vital integrating function across all of NOAA. No matter what specific research you may be supporting, you will be required to call upon experience in all these fields in order to be successful.

I think it is safe to say you will not be getting bored with your job anytime soon. Once again, congratulations to each one of you for reaching this pivotal milestone in your careers. I'm delighted to be with you at this time. In closing, I offer the traditional parting from one mariner to another: May you always have fair winds and following seas! Thank you.