In 1992, the new Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer USS Barry was commissioned. A powerful warship of over 9,000 tons, she is still in service and carries a formidable array of offensive and defensive weaponry. The commissioning motto, which the crew selected and was put on the ship’s crest, was “Strength and Diversity.”

I was the second commanding officer of Barry, and without question that opportunity — to serve as captain of a marvelous crew and deploy to vital missions off the coasts of Haiti, the Balkans and the Persian Gulf — was central to my career.

Many years later, when I was supreme allied commander of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in 2011, she again served under my command in combat operations off the coast of Libya, conducting an arms embargo under UN Security Council guidance. Barry is now homeported in Everett, Washington after years assigned to Yokosuka, Japan. Even now, I still check in on the ship constantly.

It was therefore a shock to see that on the website of Naval Surface Forces Pacific, the ship’s original motto had been changed, with the word “Diversity” scrubbed out. While an image of the ship’s crest with the full motto does appear, the site’s explanatory text describes it as: “On a scroll Azure, the motto ‘STRENGTH’ in Gold letters.” (An archived version of the page from last April shows “diversity” used in three places, now all wiped.) One has to assume the online erasing of history is part of the larger purge of all things associated with “diversity, equity and inclusion” (DEI) programs in the Department of Defense.

But here’s the irony: When the motto was selected, “Diversity” was referring — quite correctly — to the wide-ranging combat power of the ship across all domains of warfare. Barry can conduct combat operations against land targets with her Tomahawk missiles; shoot down incoming cruise missiles with the formidable AEGIS air defense system; find and destroy submarines; attack enemy warships with guns and missiles; and use powerful electronic warfare to jam the enemy. Her lethality is incredibly diverse.

Changing the motto would be unfortunate in two ways. First, the ship has proudly served with both strength and diversity for decades, winning the Battenberg Cup as the top ship in the Atlantic Fleet three times, conducting combat operations around the globe, and serving as home to thousands of sailors over the years.

A second irony is that when I was commanding officer in the mid-1990s, Barry was selected as one of the first destroyers to have a mixed-gender crew. Roughly 20% of the company — officers, chief petty officers and enlisted sailors — were female. With this crew, Barry won not only the Battenberg Cup in 1994, but also the Battle Effectiveness Award, the Golden Anchor for crew retention, and numerous other fleet-wide commendations. We demonstrated that gender diversity is a proven winner.

Barry will always be a ship that embodies both strength and diversity to me. I suspect the vast majority of my former shipmates feel the same way. Let’s hope the original motto can hold fast in this period of uncertainty at the Pentagon. I don’t plan to scratch any words off my ship’s plaque anytime soon. Sail proud, USS Barry.

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This column reflects the personal views of the author and does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.

James Stavridis is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist, a retired US Navy admiral, former supreme allied commander of NATO, and vice chairman of global affairs at the Carlyle Group.

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