Adm. Daryl Caudle

Raleigh, N.C.

Commander, U.S. Fleet Forces Command

02 May 2025

• Thank you, CAPT Tanaka, and good morning, Piedmont Consortium veterans, family, friends, and soon-to-be newly commissioned officers.
• I’m thrilled to be back at my alma mater and honored to join you for what is a very special day for our Navy and Marine Corps, and, of course, a memorable day as you start a career of dedicated service to our Nation.
• As my first order of business, I’d like to recognize the staff at the North Carolina Piedmont Consortium NROTC – your collective guidance and mentorship are critical to the professional development of our future military leaders. Thank you for your commitment to excellence.
• It’s not often that I get to make a pilgrimage back to my college, and it’s an absolute pleasure to be here as we mark and highlight this important transition in the personal and professional lives of the outstanding individuals before us today: those who are on the verge of joining an elite force as commissioned officers as members of America’s naval maritime services.  
• This is a significant day for all of you – it’s a proud day…you’ve all worked hard, and you’ve overcome so many challenges in your journey so far. The fact you’re here today celebrating this special event is a remarkable achievement in itself but make no mistake…your real work starts today.
• Almost 40 years ago, when I stood in your shoes right here on this campus, the world was a very different place. One in which the U.S. faced only one superpower, and following the collapse of the Soviet Union and resulting “peace dividend,” our security environment refocused on regional, transnational, and violent extremists rather than global threats. 
• Our strategy refocused in response, emphasizing littoral warfare, maneuver, and support from the sea.
• Today, however, the world has changed yet again. We now face a competitor seeking to overwrite the rules of international order in the Pacific and beyond.
• The PRC’s naval force is growing ever larger, and we must pace this challenge while we simultaneously deter multiple threats around the globe.  And make no mistake, the seas have once again emerged as a primary focal point in peer competition.
• The future of America’s security and prosperity will be determined by our ability to dominate and project power from the maritime domain.
• Let’s be clear – today’s security environment is increasingly competitive, faster paced, and more complex than even four short years ago.
• And so, we are aggressively modernizing our Navy and building readiness to address today’s global threats.
• We are building new capabilities and shifting capacity in our Fleet to meet the needs of long-term strategic competition while ensuring we are ready to fight at a moment’s notice. We can no longer wake up hoping tomorrow looks like yesterday.
• We recognize the need to transform, to make hard decisions, to prioritize what matters, and to shed legacy processes, as we innovate toward a new force structure by setting high expectations with uncompromising standards.
• We’re doing this with a sense of urgency and newfound purpose, to prepare for the future.
• Which means, simply, you are joining the officer corps at an incredibly exciting – and perhaps, the most consequential time in last several decades. 
• As you embark on your careers as officers, the nation will depend upon you to quickly assimilate into your new assignments and immediately contribute to delivering integrated all-domain naval power focused on our core missions of sea control and power projection…and to maintain a clear-eyed resolve to compete, deter, and win today. We cannot afford to wait until the first salvos are fired in peer conflict to be ready to dominate from the sea.
• The teams you’re joining are elite and laser focused on absolute maritime lethality. The camaraderie we share amongst those in the sea services is born from the fact that we’re bound together by our mutual respect and awe for the sea, the very lifeblood of our planet. In that, we draw our most sacred commitment: the defense of our nation. 
• In a moment, you will take an oath committing yourself to the protection and defense of our nation’s most sacred ideal, our Constitution.
• And the moment you take this oath, you’ll recognize the weight and obligations of your new commission are immense and unyielding…but also immensely gratifying. 
• One of the great leaders in our Navy - Admiral Hyman Rickover - once said:
  • “Responsibility is a unique concept…you may share it with others, but your portion is not diminished.  You may delegate it, but it is still with you…If responsibility is rightfully yours, no evasion, or ignorance or passing the blame can shift the burden to someone else.”
• Personal accountability and responsibility – ownership for all that you do and everything you are part of at home and on station, is what defines our character, it defines us as leaders.
• Before you know it, you’ll be leading others – our nation’s finest Sailors and Marines - who will be looking to you for guidance and direction.
• And the leadership transformation of putting your team before yourself, of standing out there and being an example for everybody, depends on having strong character…the essence of our Navy and Marine Corps’ enduring values.
• We not only make our Sailors and Marines aware of these values through repetitive reminders in all that we do, but we also make sure that their behaviors and their character are consistent with those values as well.
• To behave with integrity, to behave with loyalty, and to behave with the highest levels of professionalism.
• We want our Sailors and Marines to show initiative, be creative, take risks, and at the end of the day, be tough with grit and tenacity…to have the fortitude to take a punch from any adversary, and to resiliently stand-up and return to the fight and deliver victory.
• You will be challenged.  Your intellect will be tested.    Your character will be tested.  You will get tired.  There will be times when you don’t have all the information you need.
• And it’s going to be those times when your training, experience, and judgment will be needed to solve complex and often high-risk problems far from the comforts our shores.
• I’ll guarantee you that all of you will make mistakes going forward.  It’s not a matter of if, just a matter of when.  However, it will be those times when you grow the most as a leader and a warrior.
• In the face of these inevitable and exacting professional demands, you will face numerous personal challenges as well.
• You will spend time away from your family and friends, you will endure long days in austere conditions.
• But even more important, you will also experience countless days marked by a sense of supreme accomplishment, unparalleled esprit de corps, and pure personal enjoyment. Most importantly, you will earn the professional satisfaction that results from knowing your efforts make a difference, in maintaining our way of life…of protecting our American dream and our values. 
• There are three hundred and forty-one million people in the United States who depend on the military to protect our way of life…and less than one half of one percent of the U.S. population is currently serving in uniform.
• The simple fact you are here, ready to commission, ready to serve your country, ready to make a difference sets you apart.
• You know that the nation, the Navy, and the Marine Corps can count on you to rise to the challenges ahead...and lead our Sailors and Marines, not only day-to-day, but to victory in combat, should our nation ask that of you.
• As we recognize your accomplishments that got you here today, we should be ever mindful that while this is a very important milestone - it is just the beginning of something much bigger.
• Regardless of which warfare community you join, you must never stop learning. Commit yourself to mastering your craft…which includes professional acumen and expertise, stewardship, followership, and ownership as lifelong learners.  
• In closing, and speaking from personal experience, as the years pass, and memories fade, it’s doubtful you’ll remember much of what I’ve said today.
• But if you remember anything…let me foot stomp these words from Fleet Admiral “Bull” Halsey:
  • “There are no extraordinary people, just extraordinary circumstances that ordinary people are forced to deal with.”
• That’s where you come in! That’s where you will shine!
• It’s up to you to be bold enough to leverage those extraordinary circumstances to bring out the extraordinary talent in the Sailors and Marines you will lead – and to find victory in the trials and tribulations you’ll face together as a team.
• After you leave this ceremony, and before you report to your first assignment as an officer, take time to think about the type of leader you’ll be. And as you progress, day-by-day, tour-by-tour, year-by-year, you’ll continue to grow, impact many lives, and experience what I have found to be the most rewarding and satisfying profession in our great nation.
• So, to each of you soon-to-be officers: Congratulations! I wish you the very best and I look forward to serving with you. Most importantly, I look forward to seeing you shape the future of our elite maritime fighting force.
• And finally, thank you to all our hosts and guests, the great families, and the many friends and supporters here to celebrate this special day. I offer my sincere thanks for all you do and for your continued support of our Navy and Marine Corps. 
• Alright, I’ve talked long enough – time to get busy. Let’s get to the most important part of this ceremony!
• May God bless you all, may God bless our Navy and Marine Corps, and may God continue to bless these United States.
• Thank you.