Cheney pays tribute to admiral at academy - Navy News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Navy Times

Cheney pays tribute to admiral at academy

ANNAPOLIS, Md. — During a period of leadership changes in the Pentagon’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, Vice President Dick Cheney sought on Friday to reassure members of the military that “America will stay on the offensive in the war on terror.”

The vice president spoke at the U.S. Naval Academy while paying tribute to retiring Navy Adm. Edmund Giambastiani Jr., vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

“Admiral Giambastiani has devoted every hour of his career to protecting the liberty and the lives of the American people, and in this time of transition every member of our military can be certain that America will stay on the offensive in the war on terror,” Cheney said.

Cheney, speaking of the war, said “the work goes on and it doesn’t get any easier, but our mission in this war is right.” He said Giambastiani “has spoken with feeling about the struggle our nation faces today and about the merciless tactics of our enemies.”

“We fight to remove deadly threats and to defend freedom against those who would destroy it,” the vice president said. “The United States has chosen an honorable course. The United States has given its word, and we will see this cause through to victory.”

Giambastiani, 59, is retiring after 37 years of commissioned service in the Navy, including two years as the nation’s second-highest ranking military officer. Cheney referred to him several times by his nickname “Admiral G.”

“Admiral G has stated it well: Our cause is to defend our way of life and to promote human ideals in the face of extremists that offer no hope, no program for the future and no basis for Democratic dialogue.”

The ceremony on a hot and sunny morning on the academy’s Worden Field in Annapolis drew a long list of top government officials. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Defense Secretary Robert Gates, former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Marine Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff were in attendance. Supreme Court Justices Justice Antonin Scalia and Samuel Alito also attended.

In June, amid divisions over the Iraq war — particularly in Congress — Gates announced that Adm. Mike Mullen would replace Pace as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, when Pace’s term expires Sept. 30. Gates has said he originally intended to name Giambastiani to a second two-year term, but Mullen’s selection foreclosed that possibility, because it is customary for the chairman and vice chairman to come from different branches of the service. Gates then offered Giambastiani another senior assignment, but the admiral declined the job. Gen. James E. Cartwright, commander of the Strategic Command, will be the next vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

During Giambastiani’s career, the 1970 Naval Academy graduate has commanded the Atlantic Submarine Fleet, a nuclear-powered research submarine, a fast-attack submarine and a submarine development squadron.

“Of those in the military or public service today it will be said that we served during one of the most eventful periods in American history,” Cheney said.

Cheney recalled meeting Giambastiani when he was a congressman from Wyoming serving on the House Intelligence Committee and Giambastiani was commander of “a vessel carrying out very sensitive missions for the country.”

“That day and ever after, I’ve known him to be a man of ability, a man of discernment and a man of character,” Cheney said. “He’s someone you can count on, and the nation has counted on him time and time again to accept the most demanding assignments.”

In addition to sea operations, Giambastiani’s responsibilities included the development of new technologies and experimental processes. Because of that, Cheney described him as “a visionary and a strategic thinker of the first order.”

“He will always be remembered as one of the military leaders who brought us into the 21st century with a clear understanding of the technological age and an absolute determination to preserve America’s competitive advantage in warfare,” Cheney said.

Deputy Defense Secretary Gordon England offered a bit of levity to the ceremony, when he introduced a blue and gold macaw, who had squawked several times from the bleachers while top defense officials were speaking. England and Giambastiani used to tell stories in the office about a barbershop, where a parrot kept a watchful eye on what was going on.

In a show of how much he would miss Giambastiani’s company and sense of humor, England had a macaw named “Sweetie Pie” brought out on the field.

“I hope she’s been a good girl,” England said, as he brought the macaw near the retiring admiral.

The macaw’s appearance prompted Gates, who spoke next, to concede: “I can’t possibly top that.”

“I have no animals in the background,” Gates said.