"The region is very important to us; we share so many things

with the region. Whether we're sharing cultures, common interests, values; all of those things are important," said Rear Adm. Joseph D. Kernan, Commander, U.S. Naval Forces Southern Command. Rear Adm. Kernan joined the DoDLive Bloggers Roundtable with Jim Dolbow of the U.S. Naval Institue, Boston Maggie, Andrew Lubin with Proceedings, Chuck Simmins from America's North Shore Journal and Paul McLeary with Defense Technology International to speak about the 4th Fleet, U.S. Navy South, U.S. Southern Command and Continuing Promise '08.

"... a rising tide of commerce floats all boats." Rear Adm. Philip H. Collum

"... 488 years later we're on our own voyage of discover but this one's different, it's about hemispheric partnership." Rear Adm. Philip Collum, Commander, Carrier Strike Group Eight said today on the DoD Bloggers Roundtable discussing the voyage of the U.S.S. George Washington and their participation in UNITAS 49 and the transit through the Straits of Magellan.

Joining us today was David Axe of War is Boring and Steeljaw Scribe.

Today on the Bloggers Roundtable

Wow, busy day today. Sorry for the late post but we had some technical difficulties this morning which threw the whole day into a bit of chaos.

Today we spoke with Rear Adm. James Stevenson, Commnader U.S. Naval Forces Southern Command about the stand-up of the U.S. Navy 4th Fleet. RDML Stevenson discussed with Galrahn and Greg Grant about the force structure, capabilities, infrastructure and focus of the 4th Fleet.

Also today we spoke with Brig. Gen. Dennis Rogers, Deputy Director of Operations and Facilities, HQ Installation Management Command along with Command Sgt. Major Debra Strickland the Command Sergeant Major for IMCOM about the recently released You Tube footage depicting problems with barracks for returning soldiers to Fort Bragg, NC. A very lively and enlightening discussion with John Donovan, C.J. Grisham, Bryant Jordan, Matt Burden, Brandon Friedman, Bruce McQuain, and Chuck Simmins. The transcripts and audio files will be posted soon.