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Taking command of HMS Portland is definitely the highlight of my 16 years in the Navy. It is a challenge that I am fully trained for and ready to undertake.

In my opinion, any navy less than that which would give us the habitual command of our own coast and seas would be little short of useless.

I'm a huge fan of the Navy. My father was a Naval historian, and I've been studying Naval battles forever.

The cooperation of navies from around the world promises high tactical value for the ships, aircraft, and divers involved; while demonstrating international resolve in defending maritime security against potential threats.

We got orders to strike the Marshall and Gilbert Islands. We had a task force with the Enterprise. We had two or three cruisers and probably eight or 10 destroyers.

Scaling back the U.S. fleet of 14 nuclear-armed submarines to eight would maintain a robust deterrent at sea while generating billions in savings and easing pressure on the Navy's shipbuilding budget.

I have had no concerns in the past and have none moving forward regarding the Navy's ability to effectively address any potential natural or man-made threat to Naval Station Mayport and any military asset located there, including any future nuclear aircraft carrier.

Ships are like children: they need individual attention.

The only kind of movement you could make in the Navy was to be a platoon leader or one of those kinds of things as you got more senior in your Navy career.

We have nine ships and in the next two years will have ten, eleven and twelve. So things are going very nicely and all because of that program that people thought was mindless and so forth.