Tom Carper: “I rise today to express my strong support for the nomination of ADM Lisa Franchetti to serve as the Chief of Naval…”

“I rise today to express my strong support for the nomination of ADM Lisa Franchetti to serve as the Chief of Naval Operations. As some of my colleagues know, I was 17 years old when I raised my right hand to take the oath to defend our country and Constitution, Navy ROTC midshipman at Ohio State at the height of the Vietnam war. We had no women in our Navy ROTC unit at Ohio State or at any other Big Ten college, no women in the ROTC units. In the service academies, no women served in those roles, training roles. How things have changed. How things have changed. We are here today to actually put a really strong marker on that change and to applaud it. I spent, all in, 23 years in Active and Reserve duty, and I am the son of a Navy chief petty officer, the nephew of a Navy chief petty officer, and the nephew of a deceased 19-year-old Navy veteran who was killed in a kamikaze attack in World War II on a carrier in the Pacific. My grandmother is a Gold Star mother. In my family, we bleed Navy blue. I can tell you firsthand, folks, that we have before us a terrific, terrific nominee to serve as Chief of Naval Operations. She spent practically her whole life in the Navy, serving our country around the world in places including Italy, South Korea, as well as a number of posts here closer to home. Admiral Franchetti's career has spanned nearly every theater of engagement, every level of service--commanding ships, squadrons, strike groups, and fleet levels.…”