The Navy's top officer, in an open letter to the city of Chattanooga, said the service "will be forever grateful to the citizens of Chattanooga" for its response to the deadly July 16 shootings at a reserve center there.

Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Jon Greenert thanked law enforcement and the community for their support of the Navy and Marines in after the tragedy.

"The professionalism and outpouring of support continued beyond the initial response, from FBI investigators who kept us informed of developments, to the Tennessee Air National Guard who opened their doors, providing a workplace for our Navy and Marine Corps team," Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Jon Greenert said in an Aug. 9 open letter that was published in the Chattanooga Times Free Press.

"Support came not just from those in the public eye, but also those in the community who went out of their way to help the victims and families with prayers, counsel, meals and posting patriotic flags. The genuine caring within your community serves as an inspiration to our sailors and Marines," Greenert wrote.

Greenert closed the letter by expressing the Navy's gratitude for the outpour of support for the affected families.

"We will always remember our fallen, and we will be forever grateful to the citizens of Chattanooga who stood with our shipmates and their families," Greenert wrote. "We are humbled by your faith and inspired by your strength. Your Navy is proud to stand with you in this hour. On behalf of the entire Navy family, I thank you and salute you."

The shootings at the Navy Operational Support Center were the third such on-base shooting during Greenert's four-year tenure as chief of naval operations. The first was the Sept. 16, 2013, shooting at the headquarters of Naval Sea Systems Command on the Washington Navy Yard by a troubled contractor that claimed the lives of 12 Navy civilians.

The second was March 24, 2014, when security lapses allowed a disturbed truck driver onto a transportation worker was improperly granted access to Naval Station Norfolk. He disarmed the petty officer of the watch on the destroyer Mahan and fatally shot Master-at-Arms 2ndSecond Class Mark Mayo, a responding sentry, before who was chief of the guard that night, before being killed by the Mahan's roving sentry.

The Navy moved quickly to place armed security guards at the NOSCs around the country in the wake of the shootings.

About David B. Larter

David B. Larter was the naval warfare reporter for Defense News.

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