SUFFOLK, Va. – The Hall of Heroes at the Suffolk Federal Compound was filled with Sailors, civilians and contractors from Naval Information Forces, Navy Cyber Defense Operations Command and Naval Network Warfare Command, who celebrated the 247th birthday of the United States Navy October 13, 2022.

The central theme of this year’s commemoration is “On Watch – 24/7 for 247 Years,” which highlights the Navy’s enduring ability to remain fully ready to respond to and effectively deter emergent threats.

Capt. Harold Cole, NAVIFOR’s deputy director, Information Warfare Readiness, was the guest speaker for the event. During his remarks, Cole gave personal recounts of his nearly 27 years of service in the Navy and how many notable world events that shaped his journey.

“The Soviet Union had fallen in late 1991; the American-led coalition routed Saddam Hussein’s Iraqi Army and freed Kuwait; open warfare erupted on the European continent in the Balkans; the U.S. Navy stared down China’s attempt to intimidate Taiwan; the EP-3E collision and landing on Hainan Island occurred; and finally the attacks of September 11th, 2001, and subsequent conflicts in Afghanistan, Iraq, and many other places across the globe over the past 20-plus years,” said Cole. “Throughout those world-changing events, daily risk of collision at sea, aviation accidents, mechanical casualties, and unforgiving seas were realities faced by Sailors every day.”

Cole also recounted the times that he was influenced and shaped by the officers, the chiefs, the Sailors and the civilians during his career and who made him the officer he is today.

“All along the waterfronts in Norfolk and San Diego, Sailors are learning, chiefs and officers are teaching and mentoring, and knowledge is being transferred in a timeless tradition,” said Cole. “Now, multiply by millions of people the number of Americans who have answered the call to serve in our nation’s Navy over the past 247 years, and you can begin to grasp the magnitude of impact our Navy has made on the world for nearly a quarter of a millennium, on and throughout all the world’s oceans and seas, on continents, in the air, and into space.”

The Navy is 100% on watch 24 hours a day, seven days a week—and has been for 247 years. Since the Nation’s founding, through peace, war, and every challenge in between, the U.S. Navy has stood the watch to protect America’s economic vitality, sustain the Nation’s influence, support its Allies and partners, deter conflict, and when called upon, defended the nation’s freedom through combat.

“Before you leave this room today, take a moment to reflect on your service, and on those who came before you, who mentored and trained and shaped you,” said Cole. “For some of you, this is a journey back in time like mine. For others, you are at the beginning of your Navy journey, but no doubt you will soon meet that person who will challenge you, teach you, and shape you. My challenge to each of you is that you continue to carry on our proud heritage as you train your reliefs, even as you stand the watch.”

For generations, a strong Navy has ensured American influence across the world, expanded economic opportunities for the American people, and guaranteed the rules-based order underpinning global security and prosperity.

According to the Naval History and Heritage Command website, a 13 October 1775 resolution of the Continental Congress established what is now the United States Navy with “a swift sailing vessel, to carry ten carriage guns, and a proportionable number of swivels, with eighty men, be fitted, with all possible despatch, for a cruise of three months….” After the American War of Independence, the U.S. Constitution empowered the new Congress “to provide and maintain a navy.” Acting on this authority, Congress established the Department of the Navy on 30 April 1798.

In 1972, Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Elmo R. Zumwalt authorized official recognition of 13 October as the birthday of the U.S. Navy. Since then, each CNO has encouraged a Navy-wide celebration of this occasion “to enhance a greater appreciation of our Navy heritage, and to provide a positive influence toward pride and professionalism in the naval service.”

NAVIFOR’s mission is to generate, directly and through our leadership of the IW Enterprise, agile and technically superior manned, trained, equipped, and certified combat-ready IW forces to ensure our Navy will decisively DETER, COMPETE, and WIN.

For more information on NAVIFOR, visit the command Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/NavalInformationForces/ or the public web page at https://www.navifor.usff.navy.mil.