Selectee has volunteered with the submarine community for over 30 years
WASHINGTON , D.C. — The Secretary of the Navy has named Mrs. Cindy Giambastiani of Arlington, Va., to be the sponsor for the submarine USS New Mexico (SSN 779), currently under construction at Northrop Grumman Newport News. Mrs. Giambastiani is married to Navy Adm. Edmund Giambastiani, who currently serves as the second-highest ranking officer in the armed forces as the Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
U.S. Navy ship sponsors are designated during the construction process and are a key element as the ship “comes to life.” The sponsor will officiate at the ship’s keel laying ceremony (or keel authentication ceremony in the case of a submarine), christen the ship when the ship is launched, and when the ship is commissioned and delivered to the Navy for active service, the sponsor gives the orders to the crew to “Man our ship and bring her to life!”
“I am so excited and honored to be the sponsor for USS New Mexico,” Mrs. Giambastiani said. “I have seen already that the state of New Mexico has a wonderful history with the Navy and the submarine community, and I know her citizens are excited about the Navy’s newest submarine being named for their state.”
Mrs. Giambastiani has been a strong advocate for the submarine community for over three decades. She was raised in a military home and graduated from Cornell University with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Nutrition before marrying and raising two children.
For more than 31 years, Mrs. Giambastiani has been serving in support groups and organizations in local military communities, to include numerous volunteer jobs supporting submariners and their families, as well as her children’s extracurricular activities. In July 2005, she was awarded the Distinguished Public Service Award for her continued dedication to military spouses and families. In July 2000, she was awarded the Meritorious Public Service Award by the Navy for her selfless support of the Submarine and Navy communities.
SSN 779 will have its keel authentication ceremony later this year at the Northrop Grumman Newport News shipyard in Newport News, Va. She is scheduled to be christened in 2009, and delivered to the Navy by 2010. She will be the second ship named for the state of New Mexico. The previous USS New Mexico was a battleship (BB 40) which served in World War I and World War II.
The naming of SSN 779 after the state of New Mexico was the culmination of more than five years of effort from state officials, veterans and Navy supporters in New Mexico. The New Mexico Council of the U.S. Navy League will be working closely with the crew and the shipyard to prepare for SSN 779’s entry into the Fleet.
“ New Mexico and submarines have a wonderful history together, despite our landlocked status,” said Dick Brown, chairman of the USS New Mexico christening committee and president of the Rocky Mountain Region of the Navy League. “ New Mexico’s landmark contributions to the development of nuclear power have made possible the technologies behind SSN 779, the most advanced submarine the world has seen.”
“The State of New Mexico has a long proud tradition of support for our military and that continues with the USS New Mexico,” said New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson. “From our earliest territorial days to Bataan, and right up to today’s conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, New Mexicans have always answered the call. We are proud that the latest addition to our nuclear Navy will bear our state’s proud name around the world.”
The commanding officer of the pre-commissioning unit (PCU) New Mexico is Navy Cmdr. Robert Dain, a New Mexico native. To learn more about SSN 779, USS New Mexico, visit www.ussnewmexico.net.
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