YOKOSUKA, Japan - Service members and their families at Fleet Activities Yokosuka celebrated the 237th birthday of the United States Navy during a Navy Birthday Ball held in the Purdy Fitness Center here Oct. 13.

Conducted annually, the Navy Ball is an event which is dedicated to the celebration of the heritage, history and the date that Congress created the Navy, Oct. 13, 1775.

The ball began with the playing of the national anthems of both the United States and host nation Japan by the 7th Fleet Band and the parading of the colors by the color guard. A traditional cake cutting ceremony was held with the youngest and the oldest sailors present while remaining true to the host nation by having a cultural Japanese presentation by taiko drummers. Taiko is an ancient Japanese form of percussion using drums of various sizes played in religious festivals and ceremonies.

Vice Adm. Scott H. Swift, commander, U.S. 7th Fleet, served as the guest speaker as well as the guest of honor for the ceremony. He began his speech by focusing on the long history and overall strength of the United States Navy in its present form, as well as emphasizing the importance of the role of forward deployed forces in the area of responsibility.

“Next year will mark the 70th birthday of 7th Fleet. Since our founding in 1943 here in the Pacific, we have been permanently deployed forward, ensuring regional stability is either maintained or regained,” said Swift. “This is particularly meaningful as the region has constantly grown in global importance. Three-and-a-half trillion dollars of maritime trade passes yearly through the South China Sea alone.

"Three-and-a-half trillion dollars is hard to put into perspective. The vast majority of what we own travels by sea: our furniture, our clothes, our stereos, our TVs, cars or parts to build them, gas to run them, gas to heat our homes, computers, cellphones, almost all the food in our commissaries all come by sea, while the physical impacts to that trade will be significant should the freedoms of navigation that we have taken for granted for centuries be impacted by these stabilizing actions.”

He continued to talk about the importance of region stability, the global economic impacts made in the long term and the responsibilities of the 7th Fleet.

“Our (7th Fleet) responsibilities to the United States, the region, and the world, to sustain stability here in Asia Pacific is significant,” said Swift. “Like nowhere else, if we get wrong here, recovering from the global impacts will be difficult and painful. This is largely a maritime issue and as such a responsibility of every sailor that serves in 7th Fleet. We have a critical role, both in getting it right, ensuring that stabilizing efforts are counter-balanced and controlled as well as making it right when instability takes through and re-establishing the security of the seas is required.”

Commander, Fleet Activities Yokosuka commanding officer Capt. David A. Owen was also in attendance as the host. Amongst other honored guest were Commander in Chief, Self-Defense Fleet Vice Adm. Yasushi Matsushita, Commandant, Yokosuka District, Vice Adm. Tomohisa Takei and Yokosuka District, Self-Defense Fleet, Command Master Chief Hideo Takahashi.

Swift then used his time on center stage to acknowledge what he deemed as the real reasons for everyone to be in attendance for the evenings’ festivities.

“But I am not here to talk about the role of 7th Fleet sailors in the region,” said Swift. “I am here to accomplish two tasks: the first is to thank sailors. Regardless of the Navy uniform they wear, for their service: service to country, service to fellow joint-war fighters, service to shipmates and service to self.”

“The second is to thank those that support us. Spouses, sons, daughters, fathers, mothers, extended families and friends. It is through their sacrifice that we are able to serve. Support for the sailor comes in many forms. It comes in direct support through ensuring in our absence that check books are balanced, finances are managed and children are schooled, counseled, coached and fathered. Support for those who serve comes in the form of mired of commitments: individually and collectively through organizations like Readiness Groups, Fleet and Family Services, MWR (Morale, Recreation and Welfare), Navy Marine Corps Relief, Navy League, our Ombudsman, Red Cross and many others.”

The admiral then provided his own perspective on how best to explain to friends and acquaintances outside of the Navy who ask why and how sailors are able to achieve the things they do on a daily basis.

“While we each have individual reasons for our service and sacrifice, collectively the answer is clear and simple: this is who we are, this is what we do. So this 237th birthday is about the collective us: those in uniform and those that support those in uniform. This birthday is about celebrating what has been accomplished, the examples set and the high standards achieved by those that have gone before us. It is also about recognizing we have continued to exceed those expectations and standards. We have been cut from the same cloth of our past which ensures future generations of sailors and their families will look back on us with the same admiration we look back on our predecessors. As sailors of the United States Navy and their supporters, tonight is about who we are and what we have been doing for centuries. Happy 237th birthday.”

Upon the completion of the admiral’s speech, all honored guest participated in a ceremonial toast conducted in honor of the United States and Japan.