The Navy will commission the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Delbert D. Black (DDG 119) during a 9 a.m. CDT ceremony on Sept. 26 in Port Canaveral, Fla. The ceremony’s principal speaker is Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy Russel L. Smith. “Commissioning a ship after the first Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy is an honor without equal," Smith said. USS Delbert D. Black is named for the first MCPON, the highest possible enlisted rank and the enlisted representative to the Chief of Naval Operations. Black was the first Navy enlisted man to receive the Distinguished Service Medal. Mrs. Ima Black, MCPON Delbert D. Black’s widow and a former sailor, will serve as the ship’s sponsor. Mrs. Black served during WWII in the Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service (WAVES). The ship was built at Huntington Ingalls Industries in Pascagoula, Miss., and is the 68th Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer to be delivered to the Navy. (Source: DoD 09/25/20)
No comments:
Post a Comment