At the recent 2025 Oceana Air Show, Navy pilots shared stories that link the service’s airborne innovation to a 250-year tradition of courage and adaptability.

As the U.S. Navy marks its 250th anniversary, the celebration is as much about the future as the past. For two and a half centuries, the Navy has evolved with every shift in technology and threat, adapting its ships, sailors, and missions to meet the demands of a changing world .

That tradition of adaptation remains its defining strength. When the first Continental Navy put ships to sea in 1775, they carried the nation’s hopes more than its hardware, with two small vessels representing the beginning of a fleet that would one day span the globe. Each generation has since expanded what it means to project maritime power, from the

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