{"id":36987,"date":"2022-04-03T13:54:52","date_gmt":"2022-04-03T13:54:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/uncategorized\/2022\/04\/03\/biden-says-sub-he-commissioned-will-enhance-us-security\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T18:56:12","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T18:56:12","slug":"biden-says-sub-he-commissioned-will-enhance-us-security","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/your-military\/2022\/04\/03\/biden-says-sub-he-commissioned-will-enhance-us-security\/","title":{"rendered":"Biden says sub he commissioned will enhance US security"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In a public ceremony delayed two years by the pandemic<\/a>, President Joe Biden on Saturday commissioned the USS Delaware, a nuclear attack submarine, saying it would enhance national security, though he made no reference to the global turmoil from Russia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAs the commander in chief, I believe it is our sacred obligation as a nation to prepare and equip those troops that we send into harm\u2019s way and to care for them and their families when they return home,\u2019\u2019 he told a crowd of invited guests and dignitaries assembled on a sunny but chilly spring day on a restricted part of the dock in Wilmington.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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President Joe Biden speaks at a commissioning ceremony for fast-attack submarine Delaware at the Port of Wilmington in Wilmington, Del., Saturday, April 2, 2022. (Carolyn Kaster\/AP)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

This latest Navy ship to carry the Delaware name, the president said in brief remarks, \u201cis part of a long tradition of serving our nation proudly and strengthening our nation\u2019s security … not just us, but our allies and partners around the world as well. In fact it\u2019s already been doing that for some time.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In April 2020, with the coronavirus pandemic spreading across the United States, the Delaware was commissioned while underwater, a first for a Navy vessel. Since then it has been in training.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After the ceremony, the president took a private tour of the Delaware. He did not respond to questions from reporters about Ukraine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

First lady Jill Biden<\/a> is the submarine\u2019s sponsor, a role meant to bring a vessel luck. During her remarks, she exclaimed: \u201cOfficers and crew of the USS Delaware, man our ship and bring her to life.\u201d The crew responded, \u201cAye aye, ma\u2019am\u201d and, as she applauded, sailors in dress uniforms ran behind the crowd, then down onto the submarine and lined up on the deck.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Saturday\u2019s commissioning comes amid the war in Ukraine and after Biden announced a budget blueprint that proposes spending $795 billion<\/a> on defense, which would mean an increase for the Pentagon.<\/p>\n\n\n\t