With the sunken USS Arizona as a backdrop, 27 members of the armed forces re-enlisted Saturday aboard the retired USS Missouri in Pearl Harbor.

The ceremony, held in partnership with the Battleship Missouri Memorial, took place on the forward main deck under Gun Turret One, allowing the participants to look toward the USS Arizona Memorial as they recited their oaths.

Among the 27 was Chief Master Sgt. Paul Koester, 58,

the Air Force’s oldest current active-duty member.

Officiating was Rear Adm. Alma Grocki, deputy chief of staff for fleet maintenance for the Pacific Fleet. Grocki was born and raised in Honolulu and was the first woman from Hawaii appointed to the Naval Academy, graduating in 1981.