The U.S. Navy is 232 years old today! I have to admit, I never thought I'd be celebrating the Navy's founding in the company of a bunch of Army folks, but here I am enjoying the Sea Service's birthday in the middle of a desert!
October 13, 1775 is recognized as the day when the Continental Congress authorized two ships to be outfitted to interdict shipping and support General Washington's forces. In fact, Washington had already taken command of three vessels to support his operations so "approving" two more was quite an easy thing to do after the fact. From those humble beginnings and the Navy's mediocre performance during the Revolution, we have grown to claim unchallenged control of the seas today. Pretty awesome to think about it. And we even have time to loan the Army and Marines about 10,000 Sailors directly contributing to the ground war in Iraq and Afghanistan. I'm looking forward to the day when I'll see my fellow soldiers onboard a carrier for a deployment in the future, but I'm not going to hold my breath.
"When word of crisis breaks out in Washington, it's no accident the first question that comes to everyone's lips is: Where is the nearest carrier?" President Clinton
Go Navy!
Cheers, Pearl
