Navy League Councils Sponsor Destroyer, Cutter Commissionings

摘要

Navy League councils around the country were busy in recent months sponsoring a spate of Navy ship and Coast Guard cutter commissionings. During the most recent, the Charleston, S.C., Council, and a crowd of about 2,000, welcomed the Navy's 53rd Arleigh Burke-class destroyer, USS Truxtun, to the fleet April 25.rnOne week earlier, the Santa Barbara, Calif., Council sponsored the commissioning of another Arleigh Burke destroyer, USS Stockdale, with former presidential candidate H. Ross Perot as a guest speaker. And in March, the St. Petersburg, Fla., Council sponsored its second U.S. Coast Guard cutter commissioning in four months, hosting a ceremony for the 87-foot Maritime Protector-class cutter Alligator.rnAdm. Gary Roughead, chief of naval operations, delivered the principal address at the Truxtun commissioning, noting that recent events had demonstrated the utility and importance of the Arleigh Burke class.