CROSSVILLE — (Editor's note: The following was written by Vice Admiral Harry B. Harris Jr. by him as a way to highlight Tennessee's strong and long heritage with the U.S. Navy. Vice Admiral Harris was raised in Crossville and still has family in the Monterey area. He will be returning to Tennessee next week to participate in Chattanooga's Navy Week June 11-19.)

Navy Week in Chattanooga begins 11 June and it’s an interesting concept for a city whose closest Navy sea port is about 400 miles away.  However, like all Americans, the folks of Chattanooga have a vested interest in a Navy that is flexible, global and powerful – that is capable of winning wars, deterring aggression and maintaining freedom of the seas.  America is a maritime nation, and a strong Navy is essential to America’s place on the world stage.

George Orwell once wrote, “People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf.” That is what the men and women of your Armed Forces do 24/7.  Now, even though I’m a Joint Warrior, this is, after all, Navy Week and I’m a Naval officer, so I’m going to focus on your Navy.  Your Navy is globally deployed and globally engaged.  Your Navy is agile, mobile and, if need be, hostile, to defeat America’s threats from afar, so that those threats cannot do us harm here at home.  

In an unpredictable and often dangerous international environment, the Navy fights from the sea, providing the U.S. with enormous flexibility to act, unencumbered by sovereignty, geography and overland resupply.

 There is a “70-80-90-95” rule that I like to talk about:

About 70 percent of the Earth’s surface is covered by water;

About 80 percent of the world’s population lives near the coast; 

About 90 percent of all international trade travels by ocean.

Over 95 percent of the world’s telecommunications and internet traffic are carried by undersea cables.

Through sea power, your Navy gives America the ability to protect our global interests anywhere, anytime.

It should come as no surprise that Tennessee’s economy depends in no small measure on the freedom of the seas.  In fact, of 26 billion dollars of Tennessee’s export trade in 2010, 16 billion dollars worth went to overseas markets.  This was the 16th highest export total amount among all the states!  The U.S. Department of Commerce reported that companies from Tennessee sold products to nearly 200 foreign markets, including China, Japan, Russia, Turkey, India, Spain and Italy. These exports accounted for almost 10 percent of the Volunteer State’s gross domestic product.    

Because most of this trade moves over the seas in cargo ships, you can see the vital importance of keeping open those sea lines of communications, or “SLOCs.” When SLOCs are threatened, our national economy is threatened.

As our Chief of Naval Operations has said, “The oceans, the maritime domain, provide for our existence, provide for our prosperity.”

In fact, we work hard every day to enhance maritime safety and security globally. By working with our friends and allies, we all have a better sense of what is happening on the oceans.  This has a direct effect on commerce as there is no country in the world that does not depend on the flow of goods and resources from the sea.  The work that your Navy is doing to assure the safety and security of the high seas enhances America’s prosperity.  And Tennessee’s prosperity.

In Tennessee, your military is a large part of the fabric of your communities.  A few months ago, the East Tennessee Military Affairs Council (ETMAC) published a report which estimated that the Department of Defense provides about 862 million dollars of economic impact to the Knoxville area alone.  Knoxville is not known for a large military presence, but between military retirees, Department of Defense contracts, Veterans and small to medium military facilities like ROTC units, the economic impact is significant.

In Memphis, the Navy impacts the local economy to the tune (sorry, I couldn’t resist!) of over 300 million dollars a year due to Naval Support Activity Midsouth, based in Millington.  We employ almost 2000 civilians there -- which makes the Navy one of the top employers in Tennessee.  

The linkage between Tennessee and the Navy is not just economic. Six of our ships have been named “USS Tennessee”; in fact, we still have one in service - the Ohio-class submarine home ported out of Kings Bay, Georgia. And, we’ve had two ships called “USS Chattanooga.”  The first was a steamboat built in 1863 and used as a re-supply ship for the Union army in Chattanooga.  The second was a cruiser commissioned in 1904 which built a distinguished service record in World War I as it performed dangerous convoy duties across the North Atlantic.  After the war, from 1919 to 1921 she served as the flagship for the Navy in Europe which would have been analogous to the U.S. Sixth Fleet today!

We’ve also had many past and present leaders of our Navy hail from Tennessee and a few deserve mentioning today:

• Admiral David Farragut was born on 5 July 1801 in what was then Campbell’s Station, Tennessee.  He was our Navy’s first four-star admiral. In fact, Campbell’s Station was renamed Farragut, Tennessee in his honor. 

•Admiral Frank Kelso II, from Fayetteville, also rose to the ranks of four-star admiral and became the Navy’s 24th Chief of Naval Operations in 1990. 

•Admiral Joseph Prueher, from Nashville, not only had a fantastic career in the Navy, ultimately commanding the U.S. Pacific Command, he was later appointed as the U.S. Ambassador to China from 1999 to 2001. 

•Admiral Skip Bowman, who was Director of Nuclear Propulsion from 1996 to 2005, hails from Chattanooga.

•Vice Admiral Ron Eytchison, a legendary submariner and leading specialist in nuclear deterrence, lives in Chattanooga.

•Vice Admiral William Lawrence, also from Nashville, was a highly decorated officer, extraordinary pilot and prisoner of war for 6 years in Vietnam.  It was during his time in captivity that he composed a poem called "Oh Tennessee, My Tennessee."  This poem was adopted by the Tennessee State Legislature in 1973 as the state poem. -

•Today, we have Rear Admiral Nora Tyson, a native of Memphis, who is the Navy’s first female Carrier Strike Group commander – she and her George H.W. Bush Strike Group are currently underway and within my theater of responsibility in the Mediterranean.

•And Rear Admiral Donald Gintzig, from Murfreesboro, is currently the Deputy Chief for Medical Operations and Future Plans at the Navy’s Bureau of Medicine and Surgery.

As it has in all our Nations’ wars, the “Volunteer State” takes action and answers the clarion call of duty.  Today, we have over 11 thousand Sailors from Tennessee serving in our Navy.

All this said, let me emphasize that the raison d’être of a Navy is not the direct economic benefit it provides (however significant).  No, the Navy exists to defend our Nation, defeat our enemies and protect our vital national interests.

Today, over fifty thousand Sailors are deployed and 56 percent of your Navy is underway, where we aggressively combat terrorism and play key roles participate in campaigns such as Operation New Dawn in Iraq, Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan and Operation Odyssey Dawn in Libya.  Our SEALs are heavily involved in special operations worldwide.  Our Explosive Ordnance Disposal technicians go into harm’s way daily.  Today, we have five aircraft carriers and two expeditionary strike groups deployed.  We help NATO’s Operation Unified Protector preserve civilian lives in Libya.  We provide humanitarian assistance to countries like Japan, Pakistan and Haiti.  We provide ballistic missile defense to our friends and allies. Through our theater security cooperation efforts in Europe, Africa, Asia and South America, we build relationships and strengthen partnerships with programs such as our Africa Partnership  Station.  Through robust Naval presence, we shape a favorable security environment globally, and especially in the Western Pacific and Indian Oceans.

I believe that the Navy’s job is more important than ever because the challenges our country faces today are more unpredictable and dangerous than ever.  What your Navy is doing is vital to our national defense and to the protection of American citizens.  We stand ready on America’s behalf.

Your Navy is ideally suited to tackle the challenges of the modern world because we are manned, trained and equipped with the best people, the best training and the best equipment in the world.  Your brave sons and daughters who have chosen to wear the Cloth of the Nation inspire all who serve with them.  I am confident that they can meet and overcome any challenge that confronts them, and I’m proud to lead many of them.

Thank you, Tennessee.  I know our Sailors will have a tremendous time during Navy Week in Chattanooga enjoying some of that famous southern hospitality.  I am looking forward to returning home to Tennessee -- where my roots run deep.  I hope you have the opportunity to come out and join us and meet some of these exceptional Sailors who are working so hard in your behalf.

(Vice Admiral Harris is the Commander of the U.S. Sixth Fleet and is serving as the senior Navy representative during Chattanooga Navy Week.)