Adm. G Retires

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Sat, 28 Jul 2007 19:10:37 +0000

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Big names salute retiring admiral

J. Henson
The Cheneys watch at the ceremony.



Cheney, Rumsfeld, Rice, 2 justices at Naval Academy ceremony

By EARL KELLY, Staff Writer
Vice President Dick Cheney, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, two supreme court justices and a big blue and gold parrot named Sweetie Pie came to the Naval Academy yesterday.
They were here to honor the retirement of Adm. Edmund P. Giambastiani Jr., the seventh vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
The parrot, brought by Deputy Secretary of Defense Gordon England, was an inside joke between Mr. England and Adm. Giambastiani, who are close friends and work together almost daily.

“Ed is smart, he is ethical, he is a diplomat, he knows technology, he knows the Pentagon, he knows Washington, D.C.,” Mr. England told the crowd of about 600 well-wishers who were seated under tents on the academy’s parade grounds.

The joke, according to a spokesman for Mr. England, was that Adm. Giambastiani likes to tell a story about going to a barbershop where a parrot would sit on his shoulder and study his haircut, an experience Adm. Giambastiani sometimes found unnerving.

Mr. England figured, according to spokesman Kevin Wensing, that borrowing a parrot to bring to his friend’s retirement ceremony would make the occasion more memorable.

Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates, who spoke after Mr.

England, said that a parrot was a tough act to follow.

“I can’t possibly top that; I have no animals in the background,” he said.

Vice President Cheney spoke for about eight minutes, combining his remarks about Adm. Giambastiani and the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Mr. Cheney said he has known Adm. Giambastiani since his days in Congress, where he served on the House Intelligence Committee.

Adm. Giambastiani at that time commanded “a vessel carrying out very sensitive missions for the country,” Mr. Cheney said of the Cold War-era.

Mr. Cheney called Adm. Giambastiani “someone you can count on,” and praised his lifetime dedication to making certain our armed forces are fully prepared to function in the modern world.

“He reminds me of the submarines he has commanded; he runs silent and he runs deep,” Mr. Cheney said.

The vice president went on to affirm the White House’s commitment to fighting wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and called the effort “honorable.”

“America will stay on the offensive in the war on terror; our mission in the war is right and our cause is just,” Mr. Cheney said. “The United States has given its word and we will see this cause to victory.”

Mr. Cheney noted that Adm. Giambastiani has served during “one of the most eventful periods in American history.”

When Adm. Giambastiani’s turn to speak came, he referred to his time as Supreme Allied Commander for NATO as a way of kidding Mr. Cheney, his old friend.

“I often joked it is better to be the ‘supreme’ of anything than the ‘vice’ of everything,” he said.

He then apologized while the audience was laughing.

A solemn moment came when Adm. Giambastiani, Naval Academy Class of 1970, told of taking the oath of office on Induction Day in June 1966, and repeating it many times since.

He recited the oath in its entirety, and said that protecting the Constitution against all enemies must be our highest priority.

“The spirit of this oath can be summarized in ‘not for self, but for country,’” he said.

Adm. Giambastiani at one point recognized former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, who was in the audience.

“Thank you for your steadfast support of our men and women in uniform,” Adm. Giambastiani said to the controversial man who was forced out of office following the November elections.

Marine Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, briefly addressed the crowd, which included Supreme Court Justices Antonin Scalia and Samuel Alito, as well as Ms. Rice and Mr. Rumsfeld.

Adm. Giambastiani was slated to serve another two-year term as vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, but Mr. Gates announced last month that Adm. Mike Mullen would replace Gen. Pace as chairman.

The chairman and vice chairman generally come from different branches of the military. Marine Gen. James E. Cartwright will fill the post being vacated by Adm. Giambastiani.

Among his many duties during a 37-year career, Adm. Giambastiani commanded Submarine NR-1, the Navy’s only nuclear powered deep diving ocean engineering and research submarine. He also commanded Submarine Development Squadron Twelve, the oldest experimental unit of its kind in the Untied States.

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