The United States Navy commissioned its first coed submarine on Saturday, in a ceremonial event that the vessel's commander called "a truly historic moment."

"Today, we commissioned our ship, and she is the fastest, most advanced, fully integrated fast-attack to date," said Cmdr. Steve Halle, the commanding officer of the USS New Jersey.

"Our superior professionalism is enhanced by our crew integration and our diversity," Halle continued as he spoke about his crew being the first to be fully integrated on a fast-attack submarine.

The ceremony marked the conclusion of a years-long process to commission the USS New Jersey, which is the third Navy ship named after the U.S. state, succeeding the BB-62 battleship that sailed in World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War, according to the Navy. The event for the fast-attack submarine took place at Naval Weapons Station Earle in Middletown, New Jersey, the military branch said.

"USS New Jersey (SSN 796) is now commissioned and ready for service!" the Navy said in a social media post unveiling the sub. "The Navy's latest Virginia-class submarine joins the fleet."

In a video accompanying that post, the Navy described the USS New Jersey as the "first fully integrated submarine built for male and female sailors" in the history of submarines, which stretches back roughly a century. It said the vessel is "a symbol of progress" that is "breaking barriers as it protects our shores."

A female crewmember appeared in the video and spoke to the value of this milestone for inclusivity.

"It is an honor that we are the first to have this slice of that particular narrative," she said. A narrator' voice added that the USS New Jersey is "a testament to the strength that diversity brings to our Navy."

Cleanup of 51,450 gallons of firefighting foam and PFAS-contaminated water continues at a Navy-owned, privately leased hangar and its surrounding area in Maine -- the second accident in two months involving stockpiles at active and former military installations.

A fire suppression system in a hangar at the former Brunswick Naval Air Station was triggered by mistake on Aug. 19, discharging 1,450 gallons of aqueous film forming foam, or AFFF, and 50,000 gallons of water into the building, nearby stormwater drains, sewer systems and drainage ponds at what is now part of Brunswick Executive Airport.

The Navy had planned to remove the foam, which contains PFAS chemicals – per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances – in October, according to Washington, D.C.-based advocates the Environmental Working Group.

The Brunswick discharge followed a spill in July of more than 7,000 gallons of water contaminated with PFAS at Cannon Air Force Base in New Mexico. According to a news release from installation officials Aug. 30, the water, which contained AFFF, had been removed from emergency vehicles as part of the Air Force's effort to remove PFAS-based foams from its systems.

After the Brunswick discharge, Jared Hayes, senior policy analyst at the Environmental Working Group, told Military.com that the prospect of spills has been "looming over communities across the U.S.," especially those near active and former Defense Department bases.

"Some of the biggest spills in the country in the past have been from military installations because they have such a concentrated and large inventory of [AFFF]," Hayes said in an interview Aug. 29.

The fiscal 2020 National Defense Authorization Act required the Defense Department to stop using AFFF for training and operations after Oct. 1, 2024, except on ocean-going vessels, where uncontrolled fires pose a significant threat to equipment and personnel.

As a result of the deadline, the services have started removing their stockpiles from more than 1,500 facilities and 6,000 pieces of portable equipment and vehicles.

The DoD announced in July, however, that it needed a one-year waiver to extend the deadline because, while it had made "significant progress" in meeting the law, it needed time to remove AFFF from all of its assets and additional time to install systems that use an alternative foam.

"DoD is committed to eliminating AFFF for use for firefighting operations across its installations," officials said in a briefing July 1.

KAAAWA, Hawaii — Ryan Wesley Routh portrayed himself online as a man who built housing for homeless people in Hawaii, tried to recruit fighters for Ukraine to defend itself against Russia, and described his support and then disdain for Donald Trump — even urging Iran to kill him.

“You are free to assassinate Trump,” Routh wrote of Iran in an apparently self-published book in 2023, “Ukraine’s Unwinnable War,” which described the former president as a “fool” and “buffoon” for both the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riots and the “tremendous blunder” of leaving the Iran nuclear deal.

Routh wrote that he once voted for Trump and must take part of the blame for the "child that we elected for our next president that ended up being brainless.”

Routh, 58, was arrested Sunday after authorities say he stalked the GOP presidential nominee as he golfed in West Palm Beach, Florida, with an AK-47-style rifle in an apparent assassination attempt thwarted by the Secret Service.

Three officials who identified Routh spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the ongoing investigation and search for a motive.

Through his voluminous online footprint, public records, news interviews and videos, a picture emerged of Routh as a man with a criminal past, plenty of outrage and shifting politics.

His over 500 posts on X showed his views ranging from the left to the right, including support for politicians such as Bernie Sanders, Tulsi Gabbard and Nicki Haley, as well as Trump.

Voter records show he registered as an unaffiliated voter in North Carolina in 2012, most recently voting in person during the state’s Democratic primary in March.