A ceremony of United States Navy petty officers in Spain with a little angel

Naval Station Rota is a major joint military facility used by the Spanish and United States Armed Forces.

The beautiful caps with Spanish flags of the American destroyer USS Arleigh Burke
The vehicles of the US Military Police guarding the Spanish naval base in Rota

This base serves as home to a significant community of U.S. military and civilian personnel deployed in Spain. This Friday, the U.S. Navy held a ceremony to award its newest non-commissioned officers at this base.

The US Armed Forces multimedia portal DVIDShub.net published yesterday a series of photos of this ceremony. In it, the rank insignia that the non-commissioned officers wear on their shirts are presented. In this case, it is Engineer's Assistant First Class Jason White, of Naval Mobile Construction Battalion (NMCB) 1, the "Sea Bees" unit stationed at this base.

Another of the special moments of this ceremony is the presentation of the caps with the non-commissioned officer insignia. In this case we see Master-at-Arms First Class Michael Dicola, one of the Military Police of the US Navy in Rota.

Without a doubt, the most tender detail of this ceremony was performed by Chief Constructor Caleb Walters, another of the "Sea Bees" of NMCB 1, who we see wearing his new cap and holding his newborn son in his arms. A way to welcome a new US citizen and a new member of this small community of Rota. My congratulations to his parents for the birth of this little angel.

Here we see the new non-commissioned officers sporting their brand new insignia and caps. Congratulations to all of them on their promotions.

In this photo we can see a curious thing: a member of the US Air Force (on the right) wearing a Navy NCO cap. This is an honorary NCO, a way of recognizing certain people for their contribution to the US Navy.

The new non-commissioned officers receiving applause from their peers. In the stands are two honorary non-commissioned officers of the USAF among the new non-commissioned officers of the Navy.

I have left this photo of the beginning of the ceremony for last because one detail caught my attention. I show it to you in the following enlargement:

The Spanish flag always presides over the US military ceremonies in Rota, together with the US flag. In these ceremonies, the Spanish flag is always carried by Spanish sailors, as in this case. The curious thing is that, as we can see, this Spanish flag seems to have been made by the US military, following the same pattern with which they make their flags and with the same pole on the mast.