All right, so without further ado, it gives me great pleasure to introduce this talk this evening on implementing the midwifery model of care. I'm delighted to introduce Dr Michelle Telfer, who is an assistant professor at Yale School of Nursing, where she teaches and practices full scope midwifery. Dr Telfer's research includes reducing unnecessary caesarean sections, supporting physiologic birth, exercise in pregnancy, and global maternal and newborn health. Her recent work includes establishing a partnership with Yale, Macarena University in Uganda, and Mother Health International that includes a National Institute for Health grant funding for collaborative learning research and clinical practice. Speaking with Dr Telfer as her co-presenter is Dr Joan Komalik. She's an experienced clinical midwife, currently employed as an advanced women's health research fellow in the VA Veterans Health Administration in the United States. She also holds a joint appointment as assistant clinical faculty at Yale School of Nursing. Her academic training includes a PhD and MPH from New York University. Her MSN, CNN was granted by Yale University and she has worked in full scope midwifery practice since completing her clinical training. Her research focuses on maternal outcomes, the midwifery model of care, and developing reproductive health services for women with mental health, comorbidities, and exposure to trauma. We're so very glad to welcome you here and I'm going to share the microphone with Dr Telfer. Great, thank you so much Jane for the lovely introductions and we're so excited to be here tonight and it's amazing to see people from all over the globe. I'm really looking forward to sharing the work that we've been doing and hearing, and most interested in really hearing your responses at the end of this. I hope you have lots of questions and feedback to offer us. So I wanted to start by giving a few thanks, because we could not have done this alone and first and foremost, this is Dr. Holly Kennedy, who is our kind of lead on this research and our mentor. And so I want to give her for that. Thanks to Yale School of Nursing and the Goldsmith Foundation that provided some funding for us. And we've also had support in the course that Joan is going to be talking about from the Yale University Porbu Center for Teaching and Learning. And that course also features videos from the Global Health Media Project. So before we get to the larger course that Joan's going to talk about, I wanted to give a little bit of historical perspective for how this course even came about. And it's been about three years that I was invited to develop a collaboration and a bidirectional partnership between Macquarie University, their Department of Nursing and Yale University's School of Nursing. And we were really building on kind of a more than 10-year relationship that Macquarie and Yale had developed through the School of Medicine. And they had had such good success with their partnership that they invited the School of Nursing to join in. And so we began that partnership. And through that we started to look around at what sort of these like a really good quality midwifery model of care would be, whether it's here in the U.S. or in Uganda. And we came across through some connections of colleagues, a model in northern Uganda in a town called Atyak. And it's from, it was developed by Dr. Rachel Zaslow through Mother Health International. And it's called that Nwa Mi Pooch Birth Center, and that means the house of birth and peace. And there are models there. I want to spend just a moment to talk about it. Dr. Zaslow, that's really her research and work. But what we found was it's a really well integrated birth center with a community of traditional midwives as partners in the birth center. And they're part of the care team, which is led by Uganda Nurse Midwives. They're partnering with the community and respecting the knowledge of not only the community and traditional midwives, but also respecting the knowledge of the women within the community and what their unique culturally specific needs may be. The birth center really has become a trusted community resource, and it's partly community owned. And it's really a beautiful midwifery model of care that addresses the three delays that many of you may be familiar with. And their outcomes are phenomenal, and it really shows that this model of care that it works. They've had no maternal deaths in over 12 years and over 10,000 births, and their neonatal mortality rate is better, not only than the rest of Uganda, but better than for a black woman giving birth in New York City here in the U.S. So their outcomes kind of speak for themselves. But we were able to forge a partnership with Macrary and Mother Health International. And part of that we'll talk about now. So this is an image. This is Dr. Rachel Dasso on the left. Dr. Rose Navarier, who is at the time the Dean of the School of Health Sciences at Macrary, and she's also a midwife. Holly Kennedy and myself. And so part of the aims of our collaboration were to establish collaborative midwifery educational and research. And to develop a collaborative curriculum that involves our students as well as Macrary midwifery students at the birth center. And we've actually started to expand that into our obstetrician residents and obstetric faculty as well. And then to develop sort of a wide reaching online educational course that would disseminate the midwifery model of care based on the Lancet series on midwifery and the model that we saw at the birth center. So to kind of talk a little bit about what that looks like for learning for students, and I know we have some students on here, which is wonderful because I think it's really hard as a student to go out into practice and to practice that you may not have actually had firsthand knowledge of. Many of us get experience in very high level, very busy tertiary care facilities, and we don't always get to see this model in real life. And so we wanted to see what it would be like for our students and Macrary students to be able to see this. So we had some of our students went last summer and they were prepared by a 14 weeks seminar that kind of gave them training in cultural humility, ethics, tropical medicine, things that they don't usually get in the training here in the US, which is the way of helping babies breathe and helping mothers survive for each birth. And so they were essentially there, they were there for six weeks and learning from the Ugandan midwives and the traditional midwives under some supervision with myself and another faculty member, and the director of the birth center, so that we were making sure we weren't causing an undue burden to the health system there or displacing students in Uganda as well. So I see this model in work. And one of the things we're working on is trying to see through research whether we can make this model transferable to other settings. And even here in the US we're working to sort of develop a similar kind of community engaged model within our larger health system. So for the online course that we was a pilot course, we developed this with the mockery faculty and with Mother Health International and it was really to disseminate information and evidence that was supporting the midwifery model of care to provide a no cost or low cost access to comprehensive evidence based research and to foster global connections and conversation between midwives and other women's health providers. We foster interdisciplinary community between the midwives, obstetricians and student learners, and to provide tools to advocate for and implement change in their own settings. And at the end of the course, it was at the end of the 14 week course was the Yale certification as a specialty credential. As I said, we've developed this with Macquarie and Mother Health International, and it was built around the Lancet series, and it was 14 weeks long. And this actually piloted in September of last year. And this is a picture of actually most of the faculty here, and some of the students, we all happened to meet up at the International Confederation and Midwives meeting in Namibia last fall, just as the course was getting started. So that was really nice to actually meet in person. It was hosted on the Canvas platform, and that's what Yale uses. And there were weekly readings, sort of from the latest evidence based practice, and based on the Lancet series, as well as other kind of formative landmark studies. The assignments were designed for the learners to apply the readings, kind of in their own settings. So not just taking the readings and getting the information, but actually applying it within the healthcare setting that they were either working in or as students were being precepted in. And there were discussion board postings, and that helped to foster collaborative learning and processing. And then there were five synchronous learning sessions, and we had six faculty in the first course, and there were about 18 students initially. So it was a high faculty to student ratio, but for the pilot we really wanted to have. And Ugandan faculty paired with one of our faculty so that we could sort of learn and collaborate as well. And it was a past failed course. And some of the challenges that we encountered with this initial course was really kind of learning this new platform. And there were challenges really for connectivity and for access to data from our colleagues that were in Uganda. And some of the students were master students that had been through Macquarie, and we're back in Lewanda where they work as midwives. So they had some challenges in just being able to connect. And then we had also challenges with navigating the time differences around geographies, the different time zones, and also people's work schedules, right? Because we're all still midwives or student midwives and everybody had different days of different shifts. Another challenge we found was only being able to use open access publications. And this is because many journals really charge an exorbitant fee to be able to share the articles. And while Yale faculty had access to those articles, it wasn't as easy for other students to be able to get those and to download them. And then cost and sustainability. So some of the things that we did learn that were very positive from this was that active discussion board postings. And this is where the students really engaged with one another as well as faculty and could really learn across the different settings between the US, Uganda and Rwanda. The synchronous learning was challenging, but it was also really lovely to be able to see people's faces and to talk and to see people in their work settings over Zoom, which I think a lot of us are getting a lot of experience more than we ever probably wanted with these days of being in lockdown. And the new knowledge that was gained around the midwifery model of care and best practices was another highlight. And really for everybody feeling connected and feeling empowered, which I think is something we're all getting from this virtual International Day of the Midwife. So just briefly some of the outcomes. It helped. This is from the students and faculty. The course helped me think about enacting change in my own work and studying and 67% strongly agreed with that. They felt connected to a broader community of midwives and other professionals involved in maternal and newborn care. Again, 67% strongly agreed. And again, 67% agreed that the course gave practical tools to help make changes in their own work or educational environment. And everybody felt that administrators and policymakers would be interested in such a course. And that really kind of leads up to Jones Talk, which will be coming right up. Just to give you some of the quotes from some of the learners. They learned what is right for one woman is not right for the other. And staff shortages should not compromise maternity care that women should receive. Women have the right to make decisions about the maternity care they receive. The course broadened my understanding of maternal and child health indicators, reading and interpretation of data. In addition, it enlightened me about how maternal and child health can be improved. It gave me good insight into team building and collaborative care, which is key to the attainment of goals and objectives of an organization. And above all, the course reminded me of the need to strengthen respectful maternity care in every facility globally in order to foster a change of attitudes among midwives and to improve the experiences of women while seeking maternity services. So without further ado, I'll let Jane come in and tell you about the course that has kind of grown out of this that we hope to offer by the end of the year to everybody. Thank you. Hey, thanks, Michelle. So my name is Joan come back and I want to have a special shout out to our attendant who's from the state of Iowa because that's where I'm from so hello to you and I'm glad that to see. It's really exciting to be here I had no idea there would be so many people from all over the world, very exciting. So that's exactly the sort of I think enthusiasm and audience that we wanted to capture with this course after we had the pilot which was intensive and deep and kind of a more traditional didactic style. We had the opportunity to to broaden it and the challenge really to widen the audience to something that, of course that was designed primarily for for clinicians to something that could reach policymakers and administrators activists and consumers. So, we decided to construct this massive online open course if everybody knows that that acronym MOOC and working with the Coursera platform which is through resources at Yale collaboration between Yale and Coursera many of you might be familiar with the Coursera platform. We, we rolled out a pretty similar course to review the evidence for the midwifery model of care, and combine with that advocacy and experience and action for for local national and regional level work. And to really bring forth the evidence for the role of midwifery and health system strengthening, especially now it's actually very topical the course has been delayed it was supposed to be out by this time but it was delayed by the coronavirus. There are some complications that we've encountered but that's exactly one of the points that we were hoping to make that in this time of climate change and changing disease patterns and massive human migration that health system strengthening, especially in maternity care is really really more vital and important than ever, especially if we hope to accelerate progress toward the SDG goals. So this time really bringing forward evidence about the foundational parts of midwifery practice of preserving and protecting normal physiologic processes and being grounded and respectful and patient centered care. The the course underdeveloped right now under development right now is an eight module course one of the exciting aspects about Coursera is that it's free and open access for anyone in any setting. It's easy to connect to and it can be completely free. The participant wants to gain a Yale Coursera certificate it costs $49 which also is not an exorbitant fee so it feels exciting to be involved in providing that really open access kind of opportunity for people who are interested in this field. One of the most exciting elements of the course right now is that it's not just me and Michelle who are teaching it. We have I think 14 different collaborators who are leading experts in the field. They're leading clinicians contributors to the Lancet series they work in different environments and low middle and high income countries. It really has turned into an opportunity to bring together all these really outstanding thinkers and movers in the field of maternal and newborn care. And it's really designed around the structure that was presented in 2014 by ran through at all the quality maternal and newborn care framework. And so this is sort of the outline. I'm sorry I apologize the numbering system is off here but so eight modules altogether the first grounds us in the status of maternal mortality and newborn survival and still birth kind of the state of the world today. And the second module really goes deeper into what's a midwife what's a midwifery model of care and kind of introducing the need for in the process of developing the quality and maternal and newborn care framework. Then the next five modules go further into those five components of the QMNC framework practice categories organization of care values philosophy and care providers. And the final module is really hearing from people activists and people working in policy and advocacy for the midwifery model of care. And I just wanted to show a little bit larger blown up view here of the QMNC framework this is a kind of novel application of the QMNC framework to structure this course around this but I think it really speaks to the strength and the applicability of the framework to use this comprehensive comprehensive view that the framework has developed. So student expectations for the courses. If if people are interested in getting the certificate they need to pass short quizzes they are asked to post commentary. Coursera actually has the capacity to sort of have interactive engagement if there's a enough participants in the course. You can post things and get responses so you can actually develop into a more real time dialogue, even though everyone is doing self study at their own pace. And so that pace could be probably a person could get through it in a week of more intensive study or they can take their time and do it in eight weeks, you know, or any amount of time that they want in order to finish it. But baseline is they need to show that they have understanding of the material covered and have is have engaged with it. And in terms of distribution. The strength of the Coursera platform is that they have over 30 million discrete users. Michelle and I are really hoping that there are 30 million people out there who are massively interested in the midwifery model of care but we'll be happy to get a smaller number. We are also advertising through professional organizations and the networks of the amazing contributors that we have as well as Yale we rely on several Yale faculty from the School of Business actually the School of Public Health and the School of Nursing. From the School of Medicine as well so there's a fair number of Yale faculty involved, and we will also provide continuing education credits I think it could be used even for a course at various university courses as a special global maternal and newborn care course. And we have the opportunity then to do as value evaluation as well not just enroll the number of people who enroll and the course ratings but really I think even more interesting or who are the people taking the course and what are they interested in is this useful to them. What is their preferred content and what other content would would be of interest to them. So that we can continue to refine the course as we go along and be responsive to that or also as a guide to developing other course material. So some of the challenges, however, and it has been a bit challenging. It's very labor and cost intensive for the initial development of a course like this. And it was a pretty steep learning curve for Michelle and for me, given that online learning the research around online learning shows that women shows that people actually learn in a different way than they do in a classroom environment so it tends to be, you know, shorter videos with really condensed information and then a moment to take a quiz or have a reflection or do a reading and then another seven to 10 minute video from, you know, another perspective or another short lesson. So it's been a steep learning curve to organize all of that. It would have been very, very difficult without the technical assistance from the poor who center for teaching and learning at Yale. They've provided all that we need to film people to make sure that the audio is okay to do the editing to let us know the capacity of the Coursera platform. So it's been an exciting challenge to work on that. And some of the highlights it's really been, you know, supported and exciting vision from the Dean and from the School of Nursing at Yale and supported with key funding support. Like I said, University resources were really important to support this development. And then the great thing is that once we get this up and running, actually the continued faculty investment or the continued investment in the course is very low because Coursera takes over on maintaining the student enrollment and, you know, sending out certificates and all of that. Actually it becomes really self sustaining after the initial development. We have the opportunity as I said to update it as needed or every few years it will be updated. And we can be responsive to learner needs and change it as it goes forward even. So our future plans around the course are just to try to evaluate the impact longitudinally we'd really like to see not just as I said like who's using this but how does it affect their care and their practice and have they been able to implement change in their local environments. We hope that this can be an exciting opportunity for developing other courses with a global perspective. I think that we have such power when we can communicate to each other with each other and I think as Michelle said we're overnight kind of getting a lot better about that so it feels like just all part of that same flow right now. And we hope you know ultimately to really foster a more global dialogue around quality maternal and newborn care. I just want to make reference briefly to another initiative of Holly Kennedy who was taking the lead on this on many of these initiatives. She has just recently posted and launched the quality maternal and newborn care website at www.qmnc.org. This will be an ongoing portal for midwifery education at Yale, but and it will also be a portal for this course. It is also a meeting place for researchers who are interested in quality maternal and newborn care. And I think in the first week of launching the program I think or the website I think it's now in its second or third week in the first week over 200 researchers and people who are interested in information registered at the site. And so it will really be a place where people can meet up and can collaborate and get up to date information. So it's a very exciting new element of the Yale midwifery world and also a portal as I said to this course. And again just the mission of the website is fostering research information and community. So just to sum it up. We're looking forward I think to your feedback whether this is a course that you would be interested in whether you have done similar work, whether you've had similar experiences and reaching out to midwives or or workers in that field globally and what your experience is.  You're sort of at that level or you're a person who's deeply into advocating for midwifery and the midwifery model of care we hope to provide the evidence needed to support your, your action and the information that you need. So that's all that we have for now and we'd love to hear your questions and feedback. So there's a question from Emily, the pilot included a six week in country immersion will this be available for those engaging in the MOOC. Yeah, that won't be for those in the MOOC. That was sort of a part of a pilot I mean it eventually that somewhat of a dream of ours to be able to reproduce that birth center setting. I don't know if it's such an individualized thing to replicate and we're not even sure we're able to do that yet, but we had the McLeary students did go up this spring to the birth center so they did start to learn in that model. But that got cut short due to Corona, but for this online course it's just going to be instructional only kind of an online learning it's not a clinical course. And Dacey, thanks for your question. The name will be quality maternal and newborn care. Well, I'm sorry global quality maternal and newborn care. Yeah, we were hoping to have the course launched by now but unfortunately with Corona hits and the team that usually helped us make those had to take a break to help the university put all their classes online. So it's a little bit delayed we're hoping maybe by the end of the summer. I would love to share your links on all our channels too. Wonderful. Does any I'm just interested in if anyone in the audience has had any similar sort of experience with class designed to reach a global audience. Well, I hope it'll be unique and exciting in that case. I hope we'll draw you all in. And really, you know, I want to emphasize the contributors who have participated are really outstanding so tune in to hear from the experts and leaders in the field. They're available in English. And if there's, if there's interest, Yale has the capacity to provide we do have a one Spanish speaking contributor I believe. But Yale does have the capacity to provide a translation down the road if that becomes something that people are interested in. We agree. I mean, connectivity and bandwidth was really a challenge. I think that Coursera is an easier platform to for people to engage with. I think one of the benefits of Coursera is that you're able to, if you do have connectivity, you can download all the modules, kind of at one time and work offline and then re upload once you get back into connect to a connection. So it's a little bit easier than the platform we were working on. I think as Michelle mentioned, we were all dearly attached to the synchronous learning learning sessions that we had with all of our students in the US and Rwanda and Uganda, especially the initial session had everyone in the course altogether including the six faculty and the 16 students and it was really exciting to see people's faces but the synchronous learning sessions were very, very challenging and there were several times when not everyone could connect. Interested in BlueJeans app. I haven't heard that. Does it work well? Yeah, it's very good for low bandwidth settings and this is Jane again, the facilitator. You'll probably realize now why none of us use webcams in this platform because we can't connect so many people if we're all in the West with the high resource countries using up all the bandwidth then our partners and other countries can't even get on the platform. Yeah, I think it in response to your comment about using in a midwifery program. I hope that you will check it out and see if it's appropriate for your needs. We found in our master's prepared students as well as those in Uganda and Rwanda that it was content that they felt they hadn't gotten and a kind of bigger theoretical perspective and that was reinforced by research that they hadn't gotten previously so we're hoping that it will kind of fill a particular niche that isn't a standard part of the midwifery curriculum. And I think we're hoping with this course to really reach people that aren't midwives and maybe it's physicians or maybe it's policymakers or someone in government to really get this model out there because even though it's midwifery model of care it's so applicable in so many settings and we know that this evidence works and to reach the SDGs we need to get this implemented and so we're hoping that this kind of more of a broader application of it will kind of get community activists and other people that maybe aren't midwives to really kind of see what this model is and why it works. Well, I think we're all so inspired with your presentation. I think we're all really looking forward to the course in Coursera. So, thank you again, Dr Telfer and Dr Comilik. We really enjoyed your presentation. Thank you for bringing all this information and we'll make sure when we get your links that we push out on our channels as well because it's really, really an important concept. And oh, sorry, here's your references. Sorry, I forgot you had references here.


I'm so glad you're here today. For this story, you might want to get a piece of paper and a pencil. My paper has a little mark on one side, but that's fine. It doesn't matter for this story. Just something to practice drawing on. Because the name of our story is called Miss McCaw Learns to Draw, and it's by Kathy Zimock. Dudley Ellington had trouble in school. He wasn't very good at paying attention, and it took him a long time to learn new things. When Dudley didn't know how to do his work, he'd think about racing cars and rocket ships, and he would fidget in his seat. Here he is, he's fidgeting. All the people are concentrating and focused, but he's distracted. Most teachers lost their patience with Dudley Ellington, but not Miss McCaw, the teacher in Room 10. She was the best teacher that Dudley ever had. When Dudley didn't understand something, Miss McCaw would explain it over and over until it made sense, and look how happy now he understands. They must have been doing something with math, they've got the unit blocks over here. And if anyone made fun of Dudley, Miss McCaw would ask them to stop. Miss McCaw taught her class about the moon and the stars, volcanoes, dinosaurs, owls, and butterflies. She was so smart that children in Room 10 thought their teacher knew everything. Until one day, they watched her trying to draw a person's face on the board. She tried and tried and tried some more. Squiggle, squiggle, squiggle. And finally she gave up saying, I just can't do it, I don't know how. Poor Miss McCaw. No matter how hard I try, she said sadly, I cannot figure out how to draw a face from the side. The children in Room 10 were stunned. They sat there looking at their teacher. No one knew what to do. Let me tell somebody called out. Don't worry Miss McCaw, I'll show you how. As the rest of the class watched in surprise, Dudley Allington and Miss McCaw changed places. He stood at the board with his heart beating fast. He had never drawn a person's face from the side before, but he knew how Miss McCaw felt and he wanted to help her. So he took a deep breath and said, When you look at someone's face from the front, you see both eyes and both ears. But when you look at someone's face from the side, you see only one eye and one ear. From the side you see a profile, the shape of a forehead and nose and lips and chin.  He drew two small bumps for the person's lips and a bigger bump for the chin.  I still don't understand, said Miss McCaw. Could you do it again please? So Dudley drew another face. This one had a flat forehead and a round nose.  But again Miss McCaw asked, Can you repeat that please? So Dudley Ellington went on drawing. He drew someone with a big forehead and a little nose. And he drew someone else with a little forehead and a big nose.   Dudley Ellington kept on drawing, adding hair and hats and glasses and freckles until the entire board was covered.  Any sort of forehead, you can do it Miss McCaw. Oh, he was encouraging her. When Miss McCaw hesitated a few kids giggled but Dudley Ellington asked them to stop and then very slowly Miss McCaw drew a face from the side.  Now, the teacher in room 10 was smarter than ever. She canceled the math test that she'd been planning for that afternoon. She handed out paper and pens and announced that the rest of the day would be dedicated to drawing. And look if they're all eager and enthusiastic they're showing each other's pictures. She's excited because she's got two pictures she figured out how to do. Thanks to Dudley Ellington. And look at she drew a picture of herself and it says, thank you. So on your paper, you can do this too. How does it start? Forehead and nose and some bumps for lips and boom, you have a profile. Have fun.


Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. It is my distinct pleasure to welcome you to Naval Submarine Base, New London, and to the commissioning ceremony of USS Illinois. I'm Lieutenant Commander Preston Gilmore, the ship's executive officer. On behalf of the crew, I would like to extend our sincere thanks for joining us here today. Before our ceremony begins, I would ask you to please silence your cell phones for the duration of the ceremony. Thank you. We are here today to celebrate the commissioning of USS Illinois, the fourth ship to bear the name of our 21st state. The first Illinois was a screw-sloop-of-war, whose kill was laid in 1864, but was never completed. The second ship was the lead ship in the Illinois class of battleships, and she served our Navy from 1898 and proudly carried the Illinois name until 1941. The third Illinois would have been an Iowa class battleship, but her construction was canceled prior to laying keel in 1945. The ship moored before you, affectionately referred to as a boat by members of the submarine service, will soon join America's silent service. Illinois is the 13th submarine of the Virginia class. With its sister ships, it represents a revolution in submarine design, construction and mission capability. Brimming with leading-edge technology and advanced engineering, this vessel brings versatility and firepower to the fleet. Illinois and the Virginia class are among the most effective platforms in the United States Navy, and this warship takes another step forward in advancing the superiority of our submarine force. Able to operate in the far corners of the world's oceans undetected, while connected to air, sea and land-based forces and key shore facilities, these submarines are equipped to wage multi-dimensional warfare around the globe. Illinois' adaptability makes it highly responsive to changing mission requirements and provides the nation with capabilities that range from auxiliary seawater undersea warfare, anti-submarine warfare and counter-mye warfare. Illinois will support surveillance, special operations and covert strike missions. Thank you for allowing each of us the privilege to serve our nation as a part of your Navy, while proudly bearing the name USS Illinois. Construction began on the submarine you see behind me in 2009, and it was christened on October 10, 2015 here in Groton. Today, she is complete and battle ready. We are all very proud to serve on the newest attack submarine in the United States Navy. Today's ceremony is a time-honored tradition that began with the commissioning of the Navy's first ship, a captured British schooner, the Margarita, in 1775. Since then, thousands of ships have undergone the transition from a silent hull to a fully alive warship. My shipmates are commissioning crew, hereafter known as plank owners, are in formation and ready. Ship's company, a tin putt! Will the guests please rise and remain standing for honors, presentation of colors, our national anthem and the invocation. Ladies and gentlemen, our platform guests. Lieutenant Guy Passmore, Chaplain Corps, United States Navy, our ceremonial chaplain. Captain Leonard Was, United States Navy, retired. Chairman, USS Illinois Commissioning Committee. Captain Jeff Hayden, United States Navy, Supervisor of Shipbuilding, Groton, Connecticut. Captain John McGunnigal, United States Navy, Commander, Submarine Squadron 4. Mr. Matthew Mulherran, President, Newport News Shipbuilding. Mr. Jeffrey Geiger, President, General Dynamics, Electric Boat. Rear Admiral Michael Jablis, United States Navy, Program Executive Officer, Submarines. Vice Admiral Joseph Tafalo, United States Navy, Commander, Submarine Forces. The Honorable Janine Davidson, Under Secretary of the Navy. Admiral Archie Clemens, United States Navy, retired. Admiral John Richardson, United States Navy, Chief of Naval Operations. The Honorable Joseph Courtney, United States Representative, Second District, State of Connecticut. The Honorable Richard Blumenthal, United States Senator, State of Connecticut. Ladies and gentlemen, our ship sponsor, Mrs. Michelle Obama, First Lady of the United States, escorted by Master Chief Petty Officer David DiPetro, Chief of the Boat. Ladies and gentlemen, the Honorable Dan Malloy, Governor, State of Connecticut, escorted today by Commander Jesse Porter, USS Illinois' perspective commanding officer. Ladies and gentlemen, honors to the Honorable Dan Malloy, Governor, State of Connecticut. Platform, hand salute. Platform, ready to advance the colors. Platform, hand salute. Platform, ready to. We would like to thank the Navy Band Northeast in Saluting Battery and the Silver Dolphins Color Guard for their participation in our ceremony today. Ladies and gentlemen, Chaplain Passmore will deliver the invocation. Let us pray. Almighty God, we come with honor and thanks to you this day for life and freedom that has been willingly bestowed upon us by your gracious hand. It is for the protection of that freedom that we celebrate this grand and historic day for the Illinois. Ladies and gentlemen, please crew the plank owners, the Navy, and ultimately our nation. May her travels be many, her missions successful, and those who serve her always be diligent in times of crisis and times of peace. As we now give recognition to our honored traditions, let us not forget those standing the watch on the front lines and the war on terror, to seek your protection for them and to achieve the worthy objective of peace in our world. No one bless our proceedings and all who share in this joyous occasion today, and may we commit ourselves to you and your will and recognize your sovereignty over the affairs of all people and the often uncertain days in which we live. For we ask this in your holy and worthy name. Amen. Thank you, Chaplain Passmore. Will the guests please be seated? Ship's Company, parade, rest. Ladies and gentlemen, the honorable Dan Malloy Governor, State of Connecticut. Good morning. It is indeed my great pleasure to welcome all of the official party and all of you to this great ceremony. I particularly want to welcome our first lady of the United States, Michelle Obama, to the submarine capital of the world, as we're known. What a great way to celebrate our 100th year as the submarine base for the Navy. I also want to take just one moment as I look over here and see Mr. Lincoln to remind everyone of the connections between our state, Connecticut, and Illinois. It was Lincoln who appointed Gideon Wells as his secretary of the Navy. During the time of the Civil War, Gideon Wells, along with the Navy, was responsible for growing the Navy tenfold. And we were proud to see much of that construction here in Connecticut. It is fitting that the Illinois is now turned over to the Navy as an official ship, fully staffed in this 100th year of our existence as the submarine capital of the world. Let me also say that we are proud of the men and women who serve on this ship in all ships, as we are proud of the men and women who build these ships in our state. We are blessed as a nation to have a great Navy, defending our beliefs across the world. This platform, a preferred platform for the Navy for many different uses, is vital in the defense of our nation and the gathering of intelligence as well. So once again, let me say to all responsible, we appreciate the great and hardy work done to get this ship ready, and we appreciate being a home of the Navy. And we particularly appreciate having the First Lady who has been at the laying of the keel, been at the christening of this ship when the ship, I understand, fought back, and now this day as it is turned over. God bless you and God bless the United States of America. Thank you, Governor Malloy. Ladies and gentlemen, Mr. Matthew Mulherrin, Corporate Vice President Huntington Ingalls Industry and President Newport News Shipbuilding. Good morning. Distinguished platform gas ladies and gentlemen, and most especially Illinois sponsor First Lady Michelle Obama. I am privileged to be here representing the 20,000 women and men of Newport News Shipbuilding. Shipbuilders who come to work each day to do their best and to be their best. Whether working on a submarine in a shop or at a desk being a shipbuilder isn't just what we do. It's who we are. One of our shipbuilders is Sharanda Stevenson, who buys material and equipment for Virginia class submarines. She sums it up best when describing what it's like to work at the shipyard. She says, it's a place where you're made. For many shipbuilders, including myself, this holds true.  It's a place that allows us to earn an honest living, raise a family, and make a difference. It's the place where we learn what the word quality really means. This submarine, USS Illinois, represents a commitment to quality by a team dedicated to continuous improvement, boat after boat, delivering each submarine ahead of schedule and under budget. Like her sister ships, USS Illinois is a technological marvel. She represents the very best of American manufacturing innovation and pride. She represents the very best of the US Navy and Commander Porter and his fine crew. But this submarine has something or maybe someone that her sister ships do not have. And that is the first lady of the United States. During the christening ceremony, Mrs. Obama imparted her strength, her sense of service, and her inspiring spirit into the submarine. And because of this, USS Illinois will always stand for freedom everywhere she sails, representing our nation's 21st state and the United States for many years to come. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Mulherrin. Ladies and gentlemen, Mr. Jeffrey Geiger, President, General Dynamics, Electric Boat. Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. First of all, I'd like to recognize today's distinguished platform guests, especially the sponsor of Submarine Illinois, First Lady Michelle Obama. Thank you, Mrs. Obama, for being here. Mrs. Obama's close involvement with Illinois and its crew traces back to June of 2014 when she laid the ship's keel and an exciting ceremony at our Quonset Point Rhode Island facility. I'll never forget when she began her remarks there with, wow, this is really cool. A little over a year ago, Mrs. Obama graced our grottin shipyard when she christened this submarine in a ceremony that was memorable and enjoyable. The officers and crew of Illinois couldn't hope for a more enthusiastic sponsor. It is my great pleasure to be here today representing the 14,500 women and men of General Dynamics Electric Boat. We are proud of the role we played in designing and building this 13th ship of the Virginia class, the newest and most capable submarine in the United States Navy fleet. Additionally, today's ceremony is an occasion of pride and fulfillment for our teammates at Newport News Shipbuilding, the United States Navy, the nationwide submarine supplier base, and our congressional supporters. Along with the rest of the Virginia class, this summer, bringing the Navy's undersea dominance for decades to come. We are grateful for the contributions of everyone who helped Illinois reach today's milestone. Together, we are working to ensure that the Virginia class program produces the finest submarines the world has ever seen. Finally, and most importantly, I want to acknowledge the contributions of Commander Jesse Porter and his outstanding crew who have brought this ship to life. I had the privilege to participate in Illinois' first initial sea trials and was greatly impressed and inspired by the performance of the ship and its crew. What this crew was able to do, only a few hours after leaving the pier for the first time, putting this ship through her paces, was an awesome demonstration of individual and collective skills. Commander Porter, your crew's level of performance is a testament to their tireless dedication to duty and commitment to excellence. And I know I speak for everyone here today when I extend my best wishes to Commander Porter and his ship's company for a fate, for a safe and distinguished tour of duty. May the USS Illinois serve you and our nation long and well. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Geiger. Ladies and gentlemen, the honorable Joseph Courtney, United States Representative, Second District, State of Connecticut. Thank you, Excell. First, I'd like to thank Captain Paul Weitzgarber of the Groton submarine base for hosting another successful commissioning at the submarine capital of the world, a center of excellence combining the Navy's 100-year-old base and electric boats nearly 120-year history of building the most complex and capable warships on the planet. Governor Moy's presence here today underscores the commitment of our state to the thousands of sailors, officers, and civilians who work here every day, as does Senator Blumenthal. Under Secretary Davidson and CNO Admiral Richardson, it's great to have you here highlighting the Illinois's importance to our Navy.  Commissioning a new submarine is always a special occasion, but today's event is particularly significant for two reasons. First, we are so honored to have the First Lady of the United States, Michelle Obama, as the sponsor of the USS Illinois. Having been to the Kielang, Christening, and now today's event, I have seen firsthand her graceful and sincere focus on Commander Porter, the crew, and most of all their families. As sponsor of the boat, she technically will be part of the ship's crew for its entire 30-year service, and thus will be a lasting part of the ship's history as it does great things in the service of our nation. What a lucky omen for this boat and its crew. Second, USS Illinois is part of a key unfolding story of growth and opportunity here in southern New England. In 2007, Congress passed the law increasing Virginia submarine production from one a year to two, reversing the years of stagnant investment in our undersea fleet. The Illinois, along with USS Washington to be commissioned early next year, represent the first submarines to result from the increased build rate, marking the first year since the 1980s that our nation bought more than one submarine in a single year. The impact of that milestone can be seen across this region from having five submarines under construction at the same time inside the EV shipyard, hundreds of openings for new trades and engineering jobs, and the growth of small business suppliers to the submarine program. As President and Mrs. Obama's time in the White House draws to an end, it is worth noting that this submarine, our shipyard, this base, and this entire region have been part of an under-recognized legacy of President Obama and Navy Secretary Ray Mavis. Together working with Congress, they doubled the number of ships under contract in the last eight years, 85 versus 41, stopping a decline in the fleet, and putting us on a path towards a 305-ship Navy. As a congressman who represents this district and the ranking member of the Sea Power Subcommittee, I want to publicly thank President Obama and the presence of the First Lady for making such a big positive difference to our Navy and to this region. Commander Porter, congratulations to you and your hard-working crew for getting this submarine ready to serve our nation. When the crew of the Illinois brings the boat to life, cast saw the lines, there will be no turning back, but we all know that you're ready to perform at the highest level. We thank you for your service and all you will continue to do protect our country under the seas. Thank you all again for being here today. Thank you, Representative Courtney. Ladies and gentlemen, the Honorable Richard Blumenthal, United States Senator, State of Connecticut. Thank you so much. How proud I am to be back here for another commissioning and another event at the site of the largest shipbuilding program in the history of the United States of America. And I want to join with my colleague as a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee in thanking President Obama for his dedication and diligence in making this day possible and the 13th of the fast attack Virginia class submarines. And welcome to the First Lady and to all who are here today, most especially, to our veterans. If I can just ask all the veterans who are here today to please raise your hand so we can thank you and salute you for your service to our nation. Thank you. Madam First Lady, as you probably know, the sponsor of this boat is an honorary member of the crew. And I am sure there are days when you wish you could disappear even briefly below the sea. But we are very proud to have you here today. And Jeff, if I could just correct one slight omission in your quote. When she was here, or actually at Quonset Point for the keel laying, the First Lady said, and I quote, all right, can I just break with protocol and say this is really cool? Well, if I may break with protocol, Madam First Lady, and say you are really cool. Thank you. We're here really to celebrate a technological wonder that will help keep us safe and safeguard our freedom. And as amazing as this boat is, brimming with technology, equally amazing are the men and women who make the boat and build it. The engineers and designers, the pipe fitters and the electricians, the welders, and all who come to work every day through the gates of electric boat just down the river and who work tirelessly and tenaciously with zero tolerance for error. We know that we will have the finest ableist men and women at sea on this boat built by the best and skilled working force in the United States of America who work at electric boat every day and we thank them for the great work that they do. Let us celebrate them as we do our men and women in uniform because they are equally important to our nation's defense. Our United States Navy keeps the peace and safeguards our freedom and the safety of our seas is essential to trade and to freedoms of people around the world as we project force there and it is essential to trade that aids our economy and creates jobs. So all of us can be thankful for the strength of our United States Navy and say thank you to today to the men and women who will take this boat to sea, make us proud, thank you to them and God bless our great country. Thank you. Thank you, Senator Blumenthal. Ladies and gentlemen, the Honorable Jeanine Davidson Under Secretary of the Navy. Governor Malloy, members of Congress, Sino Richardson, distinguished guests and flag officers and especially the first lady, Michelle Obama. Good morning. I am absolutely delighted and honored to be here today because yeah, this is really cool. This is about the coolest thing I get to do in my job. When the newest, quietest, most capable and most deadly submarine in the U.S. Navy is being named after the state known as the Land of Lincoln. I am reminded of a quote from our esteemed 16th President which strikes me as particularly appropriate for this occasion. The dogmas of the quiet past are inadequate to the stormy present. We must think anew and act anew. Indeed, into the stormy present we find ourselves contested in many different ways, in many different places across the globe. Some are hot conflicts, yet most are less combative and counter-intuitively may have more at stake strategically speaking. In such an environment, President Lincoln is absolutely correct. We must indeed think anew. Now I have visited with and conversed with our fleet commanders and I am confident that they are well engaged in this endeavor and certainly do think in new, creative and even nonlinear ways. In such an environment we must also act anew. The USS Illinois is the most capable instrument on the planet. Our nation's preeminent strategic asset with stealth, mobility, endurance and firepower in abundance. The beauty of such an instrument is that she allows us to act decisively through sea control, maritime security, presence and deterrence. We must utilize her and her steadfast crew with purpose and wisdom in order to calm the storm of which Lincoln spoke. Ladies and gentlemen, on behalf of Secretary of the Navy Ray Mavis, I wish to thank those who designed, built and launched this great boat. It is a product of the persistent and committed partnership between the US Navy, Electric Boat and Newport News Shipbuilding. A partnership which is tried and tested complex beyond measure yet refined to an art form which can only really be best described as a modern engineering marvel. All due credit goes to this team for delivering this boat ahead of schedule and yes, within budget, very rare metric these days. Well done. I wish also to thank First Lady Michelle Obama the sponsor of the USS Illinois. The all important role of sponsor is to bestow good luck and divine protection over the vessel and all who sail aboard her as well as to imbue it with her personality. This process started with the Keele Lange in June of 2014 and then during the christening in October of 2015. She breathed life into the Hulk and became, as it became a ship, an entity with a soul as our sailors like to say. Now at its commissioning the boat is ready to join the fleet to test its legs to become a United States ship and to begin its long and strategically important life in the service of this nation. First Lady Michelle Obama this boat and her crew are so lucky to have you as their sponsor. Thank you for your dedication to all the men and women who wear the cloth of this nation and to the families who also serve. For Commander Porter congratulations to you and your assignment as the first commanding officer. Good luck to you, your officers and your crew in the days and years ahead. May they be as challenging as well as rewarding to you as you protect this nation from all enemies. Once again from Lincoln beware of rashness but with energy and sleepless vigilance go forward to give us victories. To all our present here today be humbled and privileged to have been a part of this momentous occasion. May God bless the USS Illinois her crew, her sponsor and may God bless America. I'm not finished. And now it is my great honor and pleasure to introduce introduce my friends, my colleague and a fantastic Chief of Naval Operations John Richardson to give our promising first remarks. Well good morning everybody. It is so terrific to be back here in Groton my second home all of our submariners call this our second home and I would say that if you are in any way consider yourself a naval person a person interested in national security this is the place to be right now here in Groton. This is the spot. Thank you so much for making time to come out taking time out of your busy schedule just another indication of the dedication authentic attachment you have to this boat and her crew. Governor Malloy thank you so much for doing everything to host us here your strong support for all of the Navy and particularly the base here in Groton undeniable you just have to look around and see everything that's been done visible manifestations of the strong support you have thank you sir. Congressman Senator Blumenthal Congressman Courtney this would not be possible without you and the support of Congress this team that brings this whole boat together so thank you for your strong support Under Secretary Davidson thank you for the stirring remarks and for that terrific introduction leaders in industry could I have all the shipbuilders raise your hand please if you're a shipbuilder let's give them a rousing round of applause I will tell you that I get a chance often to go to see our shipbuilders around the country particularly those nuclear shipbuilders that build our submarines here in New England in a quonset point in here in Groton also down in Hampton roads at Newport News I truly wish that I could bring every American through those shipyards to see the amazing things that this country can do when it puts its mind to it it is patriotic and inspiring as anything you could do and we would not be here without those tremendous shipyards which as you've heard build this vessel thousands of tons down to precision that is measured in thousands of inches it is really really remarkable so to all of us veterans have been Senator Blumenthal recognize you another round of applause to our veterans particularly our submarine veterans sub-vets can you raise your hands there you go a lot of our submarine veterans here thank you so much for all of your support and your service and most importantly to this team right over here looking sharp at parade rest the crew of the USS Illinois do they look ready or what they have been waiting so long for this day to happen that team of shipbuilders other parts of the Navy with our congress with everybody involved with bringing us to this day nobody owns this day more than that crew and we'll have more to say about that later on and so I would say I propose that this is the place to be if you're in the Navy and interested in national security this day but you don't have to take my word for it when we want in the Navy when we want to confirm that we're in the right place we take a fix we shoot three lines of bearing that tell us where we are so I'm going to just walk you through three lines of bearing that I think will bear me out and confirm that this is the place to be first line of bearing cuts right through the historic and current significance of this town here in Connecticut of Groton, Connecticut the second line of bearing will cut through the state of Illinois and the historic and current significance and importance of the state of Illinois and then finally the third line of bearing through the strategic significance of the submarine force and particularly the Virginia class submarine and particularly the newest Virginia class submarine the USS Illinois so first line of bearing Groton, Connecticut it's so appropriate that we're conducting this ceremony here in Groton the home of the US submarine force the submarine capital of the world from David Bushnell the inventor of the very first sword of submarine the turtle the revolutionary war who was born just 25 miles west of here to the Holland delivered by the electric boat company in 1900 all the way to the Nautilus and today the Illinois Groton has been the hub the genesis of submarine innovation and war fighting tactics throughout our Navy's history electric boat build the first nuclear submarine here 62 years ago imagine the difference between that boat the USS Nautilus and the submarine that we are commissioning here today how fast we have learned about this incredibly incredibly complex mission set and the engineering challenges and talent that has risen to meet that mission and as we stand here today in Groton all of our submarine or second home at the confluence of the Thames and the Mystic Rivers near the sea business is picking up it's a complex maritime environment that our Navy secures around the globe our Navy and soon this ship will join it provides the foundation for American prosperity enhancing maritime access and maintaining our strategic influence in key areas around the world so Groton first line of bearing cuts right to where we are what about the USS Illinois and the state of Illinois the land of Lincoln and Illinois while one may think it's far from the ocean the Navy it has played a key role in our nation's maritime history and we are honored to name SSN 786 after that state today perhaps most importantly in Illinois is the quarter deck of the Navy naval station Great Lakes our only boot camp is located there in Illinois there through those doors we welcome 40,000 Navy recruits per year take them from all around the country and take them through that process of salarization as they come into the Navy and become sailors but I'll tell you there's much more to it Illinois has played a key role in the Navy throughout our history Naval Ordnance Station Forest Park built more than 19,000 torpedoes for the Navy through World War II and the Illinois Naval militia perhaps a forgotten but noteworthy effort Civil War veterans and former Navy men drilled and trained in the early 1900's on Lake Michigan they were tough they were bold and they were ready and within 48 hours of the United States entering into World War I the entire Illinois Naval militia had departed Chicago for the Philadelphia Navy Yard and some were actually at sea within a week of the declaration of war and they acquitted themselves with honor back home back to where we are today the first critical atomic pile became critical first underneath the stadium at the University of Chicago with Enrico Fermi the first step that led to the super advanced reactor core that will power the USS Illinois a core that will last for the entire life of the ship 33 years an engineering marvel she will never need to pull in for a gas and to get a sense of how Illinois is so key to our Navy's success one only has to appreciate that more than 60 ships have been named for Illinois its citizens its counties its cities including two Nimitz class aircraft carriers the Lincoln and the Reagan 22 Navy servicemen from the state of Illinois have been awarded the medal of honor including James Bond Stockdale one of our most courageous Naval leaders so the second line of bearing crosses right where we are now for everybody here I'll have to beg your forgiveness because this third line of bearing involves I'm going to direct my remarks directly to the crew the captain and his crew it is the third line of bearing that brings us here the crew of the Illinois here to strike fear into the hearts of our nation's enemies and bring warm reassurance to our partners and friends team there are many out there who have been waiting a long time to address you not as a pre commissioning unit not as a construction project but as a United States ship the USS Illinois a powerful warship our nation's leaders have been waiting they've been waiting for you to join the fleet our frontline war fighters have been waiting they've been waiting for the full range of options that you're going to provide no bird surveillance in peacetime to decisive firepower in wartime in service to our nation you will help us maintain our Navy's maritime superiority our allies and partners have been waiting because they know you'll be on patrol soon from the cold deep waters of the Arctic to the warm shallower waters of the tropics and they are reassured knowing that you're out there a force for good a force keeping the global economy flowing freely across oceanic trade routes but while there are many who have been waiting for this day waiting to address you as the USS Illinois it is not everybody who has been hoping this day would come there are those who would wish us harm there are those who would oppress their people deny them education deny them freedom of religion and other freedoms who would deny people freedom of the seas those who oppose our national interests in our calling to protect the right to life liberty and the pursuit of happiness and for them this is a day that will keep them awake at night trembling in fear and in a cold sweat Illinois is a ship that will haunt them in their dreams so to those who wish to do harm in our world captain soon they will feel your heat and the heat of your crew to those who would deny freedom their worst day will be when they appear in the crosshairs of the USS Navy and the USS Illinois so these three lines of bearing cut to a perfect fix this is the place to be if you are a Navy person if you are interested in national security here on this pier is where we belong and it's here on this pier that we have our ship's sponsor Mrs. Obama you embody all of this spirit you're a firm advocate for our military families all our military families thank you so much to this crew but thank you so much for what you do for all of our military families you provide an embrace that will forever give the crew of this ship a sense of family but make no spirit you also have a fierce spirit that will crush injustice and so captain the time is now make your team ready you're needed on station not a moment to lose and I know your team is up to the challenge you have toughened them for the fight you will be a reassurance to our friends a staunch defender of this great nation and a nightmare to our enemies and so with that I thank you I extend my warmest congratulations to the crew and captain of the USS Illinois thank you all for being here for the crossing of these three lines of bearing of history and place and service to our nation to celebrate the commissioning of this newest summary and in closing I'd just like to ask all of you one small favor at the end of this commissioning ceremony and after the celebrations have died down as you put your head down tonight I ask that you say a prayer for all of our sailors soldiers, airmen and Marines and particularly this day our submariners and the crew of the Illinois who are out there on watch around the world protecting our freedom God bless the crew and the USS Illinois God bless the United States Navy and God bless the United States of America thank you all very much thank you Admiral Richardson Admiral I would be honored if you'd now place Illinois in commission on behalf of the Secretary of the Navy and for the President of the United States I hereby place United States ship Illinois in commission may God bless and guide this warship and all who shall sail in her thank you Admiral Richardson and the colors and the commissioning pennant aye aye sir ladies and gentlemen please rise I direct your attention to the boat as we hoist the colors and the commissioning pennant Illinois Hotton quartermaster hoist the colors and the commissioning pennant aye aye sir captain the colors and commissioning pennant are flying over USS Illinois ladies and gentlemen please be seated please read my orders from Chief of Naval Personnel to Commander Jesse Porter United States Navy Subject Bureau of Naval Personnel Order Number 1612 of 14 February 2013 when directed detached present duty and proceed to pre commissioning unit Illinois report to submarine group 2 for duties in conjunction with fitting out upon commissioning of USS Illinois report for duty as her commanding officer Admiral Richardson USS Illinois is in commission and I am in command executive officer set the watch aye aye sir officer of the deck set the first watch aye aye sir the officer of the deck is the commanding officer's direct representative and while on watch is responsible for the safety and smooth operation of the ship the long glass is the traditional symbol of an officer of the deck's authority in a ship of the line to assist in this tradition Admiral Archie Clemens United States Navy retired will assist in setting the first watch by passing the long glass to our first officer of the deck Lieutenant Tim Dutton United States Navy from Derry, New Hampshire the petty officer of the watch is the petty officer first class the messenger of the watch is Seaman Stephen Faulkner from Largo, Florida and the boat's mate is petty officer second class Robert Danner from Las Vegas, Nevada set the watch on deck, section one the watch is set very well captain the watch is set very well we are delighted to have our sponsor Mrs. Michelle Obanema with us today Mrs. Obama Christend Illinois on October 10th in 2015 Mrs. Obama I would be honored if you would join me and give the order to man our ship and bring her to life hello everyone before I begin your chief of the boat asked me to say one word and he promised that you would know how to respond so let me give this a try fighting it continues to be very cool let me just thank you tonight thanks for your time I want to thank Governor Meloi under Secretary Davidson Admiral Richardson the officers of the Illinois commander Porter and master chief and all outstanding navy leaders as well as senator Langevin Courtney and of course Jeff our military families, our amazing military spouses and partners, and since we've asked people to raise their hands, I just want to find out how many military kids are here with us today. Let's give our kids a round of applause. And I understand this crew has been pretty busy since the crew was stood up. There have been 32 babies born and three more on the way. So way to go. Thank you for that. And one thing I just want to say to the military families, while you might not wear a uniform, I know we all know the nation knows that you serve and sacrifice right alongside of your loved ones. And we are so grateful and proud of all of you for your service to this nation. Now we're here today to commission the Navy's newest Virginia class submarine, the USS Illinois. And I have to say that this moment is a little bittersweet for me, because today marks our last event together, at least while I'm First Lady, the end of a journey that started more than two years ago. Back then this boat was in four components spread over three states. Today it's the most advanced ship in the Navy, a ship that's complicated to operate as a space shuttle. A ship that can carry out any kind of critical mission from search and rescue to scientific research. And all of this is a great credit to Jeff and Matt and all of the hardworking folks at General Dynamics Electric Boat and Huntington Ingalls Industries and Newport News Shipbuilding. Again, let's give them all a round of applause. Thank you so much for your hard work and dedication. Now Jeff and Matt will also be the first to tell you that it takes more than great materials to make a great ship. That's why today, in addition to commissioning the ship, we're also celebrating the outstanding sailors who serve on it. We already knew that you all had all the exceptional qualifications on paper, but then you went out in sea trials and showed that you're even better in practice. You didn't just deliver this boat on time, you also displayed the courage and knowledge to truly earn your dolphins. And today every single one of you can do everything on this ship. You can fight a fire, you can stop a flood, you all earned a perfect score on your weapons test and you passed your engineering certification on the very first try. That's my crew. Thank you all. From your head cook, Petty Officer First Class Joe White, who I hear runs the best mess in the business. Let's take a moment to honor the food. To Petty Officer First Class Ryan Mock, whose team of engineers oversees a nuclear reactor filled with over 450 degree water, which sounds like something out of Star Trek. This whole ship is just amazingly complicated to me. It's just incredible what this crew can do.  And speaking of excellence, I actually have the pleasure of making a special announcement today in recognition of his outstanding service. Ryan Mock's officers have selected him as this ship's sailor of the year. So congratulations to Ryan and to his family. We're proud of you. And that's really why Jill Biden and I started joining forces because we are proud of all of you. I can't say it enough. Working with our military community has been the biggest honor of my life. This is a proud moment for me. We wanted to rally all of Americans to serve you as well as you serve this country every single day. And I am thrilled by everything that we've achieved together over the past five years to ensure that you and your families have the jobs you deserve, the benefits you've earned, and the honor and support of our nation that you know that we love you. So today I want to end by once again telling you that I am beyond proud. Your commander-in-chief is also proud. Thank you for giving me the incredible privilege of being associated with you and your families and with the Illinois for the rest of my life. I will continue to keep you in my prayers every single day and keep you in my thoughts and know that you have a sponsor that cares deeply. And from this voyage until her last, may God bless and keep this ship and all who serve on her. And with that, it is my honor to give your very first order. Are we ready? Officers and crew of the USS Illinois, man our ship and bring her to life. Ladies and gentlemen, the crew of the USS Illinois Salute U. We are proud to serve in your great Navy. Ready to, ladies and gentlemen, please be seated. The ship is manned and ready. Admiral Tafalo, USS Illinois is manned and ready and reports for duty. Admiral Richardson, request permission to break your flag. Your flag, sir. Executive Officer Black, break the flag of the Chief of Naval Operations. Quartermaster, break the flag of the Chief of Naval Operations. Captain, the flag of the Chief of Naval Operations is flying over USS Illinois. Ladies and gentlemen, Commander Jesse Porter, United States Navy, Commanding Officer, USS Illinois. Governor Malloy, Mrs. Obama, Senators, Congressmen, Admiral Richardson, distinguished guests, friends and family of Illinois, thank you for traveling the great distances to be here. We are honored that you are with us today. Today is the commissioning ceremony of our ship, Illinois. Submarining is a team sport and today could not have happened without the great effort and enthusiasm of numerous organizations. The Illinois Commissioning Committee has been a steadfast supporter of the crew through their effort in making today memorable and through their assistance over the last several years to both my morale and recreation committee and the Illinois Family Readiness Group. Thank you. Clearly, Illinois could not be here without the great shipyards, electric boat and Huntington Ingalls Newport News and the fine craftsmen and engineers whom I've interacted with through the duration of this tour. Captains Grazdach and Hayden, Commander Pirella, Commander Walker, Suf ship Groton has enabled us to have everything we needed, when we needed to get our job done. Thank you for your support. Taking a ship to sea for the very first time is a monumental undertaking and we were able to leverage the experience of some of the best submariners out there. Commodore Waters and McGonagall and the staff at Submarine Squadron 4 as well as Captains Green and Gabriel at the TICOM representatives office has set the bar high for us in our certification and the Illinois crew members are better for it. Thank you. If you are the spouse of an Illinois crew member, please stand up. Speaking for my entire crew, you are our favorite hello and our hardest goodbye. While the crew is hard at work, on the ship, in shift work, on duty, underway, life continues at home. Whether we stayed late before coming home or didn't come home at all due to a last minute schedule change, your love and support and willingness to take care of the business that counts enabled us to do what we do. Thank you for always being there, giving us the encouragement and the ability to defend our nation. Your love and support sustains us and I cannot thank you enough. Since reporting in the summer of 2013, I've seen the Illinois go from parts on pallets and in packing crates to modules, and then finally to the fearsome warship you see before you today. While the equipment and technology is awesome, it is only an assembly of inanimate objects. It is the crew that brings the ship to life, animating every aspect of the ship. It's the crew that harnesses the technology, develops the plans, executes the missions that makes this the potent warship that it is. Over the past nearly three and a half years, as the ship was built, the crew came together. Starting as a disparate group coming from all over the world, they assembled here, and they have made me immensely proud. I've asked them to do some very, very difficult things, sometimes to the point where it was difficult for me to look them in the eye. They performed those and they have never let me down. I am immensely proud of every one of them. The submarine force and this ship will sail out and it will conduct missions all over the world, conducting covert strike, anti-submarine warfare, anti-surface warfare. These are things that the previous speakers have talked about and I have a hard time matching what they said. But I can tell you that we are ready. They're important missions, but we must also be mindful that just the mere presence of Illinois and that of our sister ships are a bulwark against the wider spread of conflict. I tell my crew that submarines sow chaos and indecision into the minds of their adversary. The submarine force has not been fully unleashed since World War II, and this is a good thing. We have been used sparingly as the destructive force inherent in these ships is immense. Just as in World War II, submarines today inspire a sense of dread that is pretty much universal. It is because our country's continued commitment to building and manning submarines like Illinois that our adversaries around the globe see our resolve in maintaining our way of life and freedom everywhere. It is because of the men and women who stand watch around the globe in each branch of the armed service that our country remains secure. Ladies and gentlemen, the Illinois has joined the fleet. The crew of Illinois has assumed our watch, a watch that will continue for the next 33 years, always waiting for the call and always ready. Thank you for making this a very special day. Ships company, but in hut, will the guests please rise. Chaplain Passmore will deliver the benediction. Let us pray.  May those who serve the ship now and in the future be equal to the standard set by those who have come before them. In times of war, may they be heroic. In times of peace, may they be generous and supportive others. In times of peril, may they be courageous. May her missions be successful, her troubled waters few. May those whose hands have built her in a nation who supports her look upon this vessel with pride as she executes her tasks with excellence, stands the watch with diligence and assists the less fortunate in our world as a beacon of survival, hope and compassion. Almighty one, bless this vessel of freedom with honor so that the light of peace and righteousness may one day triumph in your world. Let all who serve the ship say with that bright sailors gleam in their eyes, I served on the USS Illinois when they reminisce about the greatest achievements and proudest moments in their lives. Amen. Thank you, chaplain Passmore. Ladies and gentlemen, please be seated and remain seated until our platform guests have departed.


How's it going everybody? Dato Doi here with some very exciting news for Dragon Ball Fighters, as just recently we got the full patch notes for the upcoming balance patch that affects every single character in the game as well as some system mechanics. Now right away I do want to mention that these patch notes were published in Japanese and then translated by the great Fernman over on Twitter. Massive shout out to this guy, this is where most people in the community are getting these notes from and it really could not have been done without him. So big shout out to this guy for helping us out. With that said I do want to mention because of the sheer scope of this balance patch affecting system mechanics, adding game modes and affecting every character in the game, this video is going to be quite a long one at that but I am going to try to shorten it down by only covering things that I think really affect the status of the game. Let's start by covering these new modes that are going to be coming additionally with this balance patch. So we have the Fighters, Tenkaiichi Budokai, the Christmas Capsules and the Z Trophy Room. I've made a full video on these things in the past so I won't go too into detail and instead I'll jump right into the system mechanics. First up we have some incredibly huge changes to Super Dash, the lifeline of Dragon Ball Fighters. First off they fixed a bug where your character's position left or right affected the trajectory of Super Dash. Initially this one's not too important as the next two are a lot bigger than this starting with fixing Super Dash not ending immediately when it clashes with other moves. Having this happen sometimes led to it creating this weird situation where after you clash with a Super Dash you're not sure if it's going to continue or you'll get to act or whatever and it just leads to this overall feeling of the Super Dash being random. A huge example comes to us in the very next line which is fix Super Dash's trajectory acting strange when the opponent vanishes. I'm sure if you play Dragon Ball Fighters you've seen this before sometimes you'll click Super Dash the opponent will vanish or either jump over you and your Super Dash will just freak out and launch you into the sky and while this isn't exactly super common it also helps lend this feeling of extreme randomness to Super Dash. It doesn't list it specifically in the patch notes but hopefully this also helps fix that Super Dash cross-up situation as well. You can see that these changes to Super Dash are also making their way towards when you tag your character in under the vanish line as it says here fix z change trajectory becoming weird when vanished against. This is pretty much the same thing as the Super Dash line only it would happen when your character was coming in and then your opponent would vanish. But really though I would say the two biggest system changes listed in these patch notes come under the guard cancel change and the z assist change. Let's start with the guard cancel change. So now when you guard cancel it takes smash on hit it has increased recovery on hit and it has increased un-tech time on hit. The big one you want to look out for is that it takes smash on hit. From now on once this patch drops you'll no longer be able to guard cancel in hit the opponent vanish and then switch them out. This was huge at higher levels of play because it instantly put the game back in the person that was defending's control and without smash that vanish will still be able to hit but you'll no longer get that wall bounce which essentially takes away your ability to snap out the opponent. The z assist change is just a big deal because now you can no longer call and assist in the same situations where you cannot z change examples after blocking or taking damage. So now the general idea is that if you can't switch into your character then you can't call them out for an assist either. Again this is a big change because in some defensive situations when you can't change out your best option was to call in an assist to try to take the pressure off of you. So that's about it for the system changes in this patch now it's time to get into the character specific stuff and like I said at the beginning of this video if it's not too important I'll probably either breeze past it or just not cover it as much in detail as some of the other stuff. So let's kick things off with Super Saiyan Goku who lost the head property on his 2 3 6 L and M when he's on the ground. I'm glad we get to start with this as this is a running theme throughout the patch notes.  So basically this is a buff to Super Saiyan Goku as they can't just down heavy through his punch anymore but let's be honest you're not using that move on the ground a lot so Super Saiyan Goku is pretty much exactly the way he was before this patch. And I think the same can safely be said for Super Saiyan Vegeta as well who only got a little more horizontal travel distance added to his jumping down heavy. Now fully admit that as somebody that isn't a Vegeta player I know that he does have one combo where he spams his down heavy in order to carry himself over to his opponent and I'm really interested in seeing if this extra horizontal distance messes that up or makes that easier in any way because depending on this this could be seen as either a light nerf or a light buff but again didn't really move too far Super Saiyan Vegeta makes it out of this patch just fine. More interesting than these two characters though is Piccolo who I would definitely say comes out of this patch a real winner. His down special got decreased startup and an increased hitbox that move being he reaches out and grabs diagonal and up from him. His light demon elbow on the ground also wall bounces on hit now which could be huge for him allowing him to get more combos by himself without assist. It also turns this move into an actual threat which is a good thing. His jumping light and heavy demon elbow also got decreased startup and it changed the falling speed on hit. Both his 3 and 6s got an increased hitbox they both knocked the opponent back on hit and they also changed the effect on hit so I'm not too sure what that last part means. And the 3s alone also got decreased startup which I assume is going to make it about equal with the 6s. Overall it seems to me that Piccolo walked away from this patch with nothing but a couple of buffs and some could actually be extremely good. The next two characters listed here in the patch notes are Teen Gohan and Frieza both of which share similar qualities of not being entirely too interesting. Teen Gohan might have gotten a tad bit worse because it looks like he can't bait out a down heavy anymore but other than that he's still pretty much the same character. Same goes for Frieza other than the fact they changed the effect on hit if his death saucer hits on the way back. They also gave his off the ground level 3 a bit more damage and increased startup. After those two come Ginyu who got a decreased startup on his 5LL and in my opinion a little more interesting than that after his 5LL he can now cancel into S moves which are basically his Ginyu force moves during that combo. Not really a huge Ginyu player myself but I can definitely see this possibly opening up some more creative stuff but who knows maybe they have better strings than that already otherwise though otherwise though it looks like Ginyu just walked away with a tiny buff. Up next is Trunks who lost the head property from his 236L and H when he's on the ground that's the move where he leaps forward with the sword and slices him up and he also got an increase on his grab range for his level 3. Again not really anything that's going to spring Trunks up to top tier but decent buffs in and of themselves. The only change to sell in this patch is that the initial hitbox of his 2S where he flies at you with Keyblast got a bit larger and it blows the opponent back on hit. Same thing for Trunks this isn't really that big of a deal in Cell's game plan so Cell also makes it out of this patch pretty much the same in my opinion. Android 18 got an increase in size for both her jumping barrier and her assist barrier and now the barrier that she can do on her own can also protect Z assist that she calls in. This means that if you call in an assist and also barrier over them they are also immune to damage which is pretty interesting. Coming up next is Gotenks who is the popular pick to receive a decent amount of nerfs but he actually made it through pretty unscathed. His 2H got an increase hitbox on the bottom of the move for anti-airing small characters like Team Gohan and Krillin. His mouth beam got a small bug fix and the biggest nerf he received was after his level 3 he no longer has air options until after he lands on the ground. This was actually a pretty big thing for Gotenks as he could just as he could just use his front flip Keyblast and go right into some good oki. So while that is a pretty decent nerf Gotenks got out of here pretty scot-free overall so minor nerfs but Gotenks is still Gotenks. Up next is the boy Krillin who actually got something pretty cool his 214S or his solar flare got reduced recovery on whiff or block. This move was something that would lock Krillin in place when he did it and then you would only get to move a decent bit after you activated it. It was still pretty powerful on block strings if you paired it up with assist but now I'm even more interested in it as a tool for block strings so Krillin walked out of here with a light buff as well. After Krillin is Kid Buu who got increased startup on his Buu ball his 236L on the ground that is a nerf to Kid Buu that is a very strong move of his uh that's also getting nerfed so they're still gunning for Kid Buu out here and his jumping 236LM special or the special where he supermans through the air got increased startup if it hits on the way down and they made it cross up after hitting less often. Overall though I do think that 236L nerf is going to be felt by Kid Buu fans. Normal Majin Buu got the pushback reduced on his standing medium and the startup decreased on his standing five heavy. This also came at the cost of the upper hitbox being reduced. I don't think this isn't necessarily too big of a deal for Majin Buu uh he didn't really get changed all too much but maybe that decreased startup on his standing heavy will affect his combos in some way. Napa as well just got some small touches the total duration of his Saibaman were decreased. Napa now recovers faster from planting his light and medium Saibaman. He also got the startup of the second hit of his armor move decreased a little just making it a little faster. Again these are just small things but I do think Napa recovering faster from planting Saibaman will be a nice touch for Napa players. And now we're on to another top tier contender that being Android 16. So in this upcoming patch Android 16 got his block stun decreased on his assist which is super good for me. I always got opened up when I got hit by that move simply because of how long it locked you down. They also made his 214S a multi hitting move changing up the properties of that a little and the real big hit for him comes in the form of changing the distance of the opponent after Android 16 lands his level three. Android 16 landing his level three and then going into a mix-up after that was a very big part of his game plan since the game's initial release and it looks like that's going to be changing for him soon depending of course on how much that distance changes but I feel like they're mentioning it because they probably want to take out the cross-up is what I'm picturing in my head. And of course if that is the case that is a pretty sizable nerf. Up next is Yamcha and Tian who both pretty much made it out of this patch exactly the same as they were before although the level three for Tian did say they altered the damage distribution of the follow-ups so depending on what exactly that means maybe he starts out with a little smaller damage and then once he goes to two bars it increases and three bars extra of course then that increases but really that's something we have to wait until after the patch to determine if that is indeed a nerf or a buff but skipping over them we have a Dolt Gohan who once again is another top tier contender and this is actually pretty interesting so his five heavy or his neutral increased the pushback on block which moves them further away from them which moves the opponent further away from a Dolt Gohan it also says removes momentum which I assume uh stops Gohan from sliding forward like he used to in the current version of the game we have it also says here that his down heavy reduced the amount that Gohan moves and then the translator puts probably doesn't rise as high and if that's the case I don't really see how that's too big of a deal for a Dolt Gohan his level up special also got increased damage when he's charged up and he got a small bug fix on his level three overall that five heavy is definitely the most interesting thing about these changes to a Dolt Gohan but I will admit that I don't think any of these are going to be enough to stop adult Gohan from doing from doing adult Gohan stuff after adult Gohan is actually hit who has a lot of text here that from what I'm reading pretty much just means that his super got changed a little uh maybe got a tiny bit of a hit box increase above him and also changed the effect on hit when he hits it jumping but that's pretty much it for hit really not too many big changes just a lot of text talking about his one level one super differing from hit in that regard is Goku blue and Vegeta blue who both got very condensed text boxes and Goku blue actually interested me a lot so 214 medium and heavy that's the shocking god flash command grab now teleports before attacking depending on what that means that could be a huge buff to shocking god flash unfortunately though this is at the cost of increased startup and those moves were already slow to begin with if that teleport is really good then these moves could be looking at a buff his 236 LNM or his elbow charge also reflect Keyblast earlier now so that's also a small buff Vegeta blue much like his Super Saiyan counterpart just got some increased horizontal movement on that jumping down heavy and that's pretty much all and then moving on to another big winner of this patch which I never imagined I would say is Beerus who basically just got a lot faster a lot of decreased startup on a lot of his moves 236 s 214 s all of these things increase movement speed he also got an added armor property on 214 s which is that reversal move which was prior to this one of the worst reversal moves in the game because you could just super dash through it maybe this will solve that we'll have to see after the patch but if it does that actually gives Beerus a real reversal which is super cool he also got the recovery on hit for his level three decreased so Beerus walked out of this a lot faster than he was before which is very good for Beerus goku black got a few small changes to his supers that might actually end up being a nerf to him because his 236 LM super or his divine lasso got some increased damage but this comes at the cost of him losing his bomb loops most likely as it says they change the effect on hit of his bomb loops we don't know what that means but I'm guessing they wanted to cut the loops so we'll see what happens but that's what I think is going to happen to goku black android 21 got the push back on her standing medium decreased and also got and also got the recovery of her air level three decreased on hit it also blows the opponent back on hit now so nothing too crazy for her either and then bardock is another example of what happens when you have great oki after a level three bardock 16 go tanks all fell victim to this level three increased recovery on hit and change distance from the opponent basically this is a lot of words to say yeah that level three stuff we're gonna have to ask you to knock it out bardock depending on how huge this is this could be a decent hit to his popularity as a lot of people are playing him for that great wake up game after that level three that being said though bardock still has a lot of great tools so bardock players don't really have any reason to be super afraid that he's low tier out of nowhere after bardock is broly who will now have an easier time down having smaller characters and on various of his special moves his armor will kick in a little earlier not huge for broly but definitely a nice little change after broly we have a huge winner vegeto blue he walks out of this patch vegeto blue walks out of this patch with a jump cancelable jumping to a he can finally go the standard combo route with that thing this is going to give him a little bit more damage at the cost of building a little less bar i'm very interested in seeing what vegeto blue players are going to come up with and as a bonus he also got a damage increase to his 236 lm special in the air so vegeto blue big winner come on down sabasu fuse cannot be said the same about though he just got a little bit of movement speed on his standing medium which to be fair it's a pretty fast move already it only got faster very nice stuff base goku got a few changes but unfortunately all to his kaioken he now has increased buffer time on the follow-ups that will make it a little easier to hit and on his medium follow-up or the spin you have invulnerability during that spin so you are now fully invulnerable during that which is a nice change and his kaioken 2s and s follow-up have decreased startup making them a little bit faster unfortunately the kaioken is not really what's holding base goku back at this point but it is a nice touch base vegeta actually walked out with some decreased recovery on both his jumping key blast and his standing key blast which is very nice and base vegeta actually got the complete opposite jumping down heavy change he decreased the recovery decreased the active frames and decreased horizontal movement so they were really turning that back down and uh yeah a little scary for base vegeta's jumping down heavy and the last two characters aren't worth talking about since all they got were bug fixes those two characters being 17 and cooler so very sorry to 17 players still going to be a bottom tier for the time being and cooler still just cooler so that pretty much wraps up all of the dragon ball fighters patch notes i try to cover them as efficiently and as quickly as possible and try to get to the main points of what these changes really meant for these characters hopefully i did a good job hopefully you understood it uh if you didn't and want to read the patch was about me as always they'll be linked down below but as you're down there please let me know who do you play are you excited for these changes did they upset you how do you think your character is going to play with these buffs and nerfs and are you excited for the landscape of dragon ball fighters after this patch while you're down in the comments though make sure to hit the like button and subscribe if this video helped you out and make sure to share it with a friend if they want to get caught up on these patch notes i got a few videos on your screen right now where i'm actually playing this game instead of talking about it for an hour so if any of those videos interest you make sure to give them a watch as well i'm dato doya i'll see you in the next video