A proud heritage to a limitless horizon

Change of Command ceremony, Andrews Air Force Base, Md., Sept. 2, 2005

Thank you for being here today on this beautiful morning at Andrews Air Force Base.

Andrews Air Force Base is named for a great American. Frank Andrews who was one of our Air Force's founding fathers and a man Douglas MacArthur called one of our few great captains. Like Hap Arnold, Ira Eaker and Tooey Spaatz, he knew this business. He understood the challenges, the sacrifice, the perseverance required. His war, World War II, lasted 1,347 long days. Today marks 1,426 days we've been engaged in combat since the beginning of Operation Enduring Freedom. We've been fighting the global war on terror now for two and a half months longer than World War II. And from the day Desert Storm kicked off on Jan. 17, 1991, your Air Force has been flying combat missions continually over Southwest Asia. Since that time our enemies have shot at us and for these 14 years we've returned the favor.

Those 14 years have been marked by the leadership of John Jumper. I had a chance to talk to the Chief the night before H Hour of Operation Iraqi Freedom. B-2s were airborne out of Whiteman (AFB, Mo.), aircraft were launching from 38 expeditionary airfields and five carrier battle groups, from the Balkans to the Horn of Africa, across the entire Southwest Asia theater.

I called the Chief first off just to hear his voice. But second, to tell him, Chief, you gave us a good Air Force. With that Air Force we'll do some work here tonight and for the next few days and we'll make you proud of us.

Today we're having that same chat. Chief, you've given us a great Air Force. We will all make it our life's work for you to be proud of us and to continue on the path that you have given us.

As we face this resourceful and ruthless enemy, 60 years ago that greatest generation was led by visionaries and dedicated leaders like Frank Andrews. Today's generation has that same grit as their predecessors, and thankfully, the mantle of Mitchell, Arnold, Andrews, Kenney, Spaatz, Vandenberg, and Schriever have been passed to a new cadre of leaders. First among those is General John Jumper. He has guided this magnificent Air Force of ours through this difficult period while at the same time making sure we are ready to fight in the future, for making the Air Expeditionary Force a way of life, to instituting effects-based planning, to his focus on revolutionary command and control, to his every-day focus on taking care of the magnificent Airmen, Air National Guard, Reserve, civilians that make up this great Air Force, to his focus on warfighting space.

I've been fortunate to follow in General Jumper's footsteps in four different jobs--as the 57th Wing Commander at Nellis; on the Joint Staff as a Deputy Director for Political/Military Affairs; as the 9th Air Force Commander at Shaw Air Force Base, South Carolina; and U.S. Central Command Air Forces in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia; and now I'm blessed to remain in our beloved Air Force as your successor.

Chief, you've been a phenomenal role model, mentor, commander, flight lead, and friend. We are a better fighting force, we are a better joint fighting force, we serve this country better because of you, your leadership, your vision, your attention to detail, and your combatant spirit.

You could not have made it so far along without the support and sacrifice of a family. Ellen, you are an equal partner in the progress of this magnificent Air Force. I don't know that I would say anything better than Dick Myers has said, but you have mothered us all and we are better for it.

This family business is the same for me. Jenny, you've been my foundation, my best friend, the family's anchor and my partner throughout this entire 33 year journey. I've got something for you--33 yellow roses. How could it be any different for two people from Texas?

Charlie Willman is here. Sir, you are an awesome person. You're an example for all of us, whether it is school board volunteering, whether it is hospital board volunteering, whether it is serving as a county commissioner, whether it is being a dad, whether it is being a father-in-law, whether it is taking care of a herd of beautiful limosine cattle and worrying about an orchard of pecan trees right now while you're not there to watch them. Thank you for being a dad, and thank you for letting me marry your daughter.

Trisha, you are a great young woman, a brilliant teacher and the best daughter any parents could ask for. You've been in this Air Force journey from the beginning and I'm not sure even as a civilian school teacher you've ever got over the notion that about every 18 months it's time to move. We are so proud of you and your choice of the teaching profession.

Heather, we are also so proud of you and glad you are now a member of our family. You're the best daughter-in-law parents could have, and we are so proud that you picked our son to be your partner.

Greg--Captain Moseley--you don't get flowers. As proud as 1 am to assume this position I am even more proud of you and your professionalism and your choice of what you do. You've deployed multiple times to Southwest Asia and Operation Iraqi Freedom, to surface-to-air missiles and flak over the major Iraqi airfields in Baghdad, to Operation Noble Eagle with multiple deployments and hours on watch over this nation's capital and New York, in a variety of locations visited by the President and the Secretary of Defense, to the Western Pacific with winter training cycles and time away from your family, and now to continuous alert commitments in Alaska. I want the first of the new Chief Coins to go to you. Thank you, son, for what you do as a representative of our Air Force's junior enlisted and junior officers. You're awesome.

Ladies and gentlemen, this magnificent Air Force is engaged across the globe. As the Chief just mentioned, we have over 100,000 Airmen deployed in support of U.S. European Command, U.S. Southern Command and U.S. Pacific Command. Here in the States, Airmen are working in U.S. STRATCOM manning intercontinental ballistic missiles as the strategic backstop for our nation and flying hundreds of satellites, providing intelligence, communications, warning and precise navigation 24 hours a day. As we speak, Airmen as members of a magnificent joint team assigned to U.S. Northern Command alongside Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve Command, Air Force civilians are performing humanitarian relief in the tragic aftermath of the hurricane on the Gulf Coast--working with local and state officials from Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida.

This morning as we gather we have 30,000 Airmen deployed to the Middle East under the command of U.S. Central Command and U.S. Special Ops Command. There they proudly serve daily alongside Soldiers, Sailors, Marines, Coast Guardsmen and Merchant Marines. We fight together, we sacrifice together. And in the not so distant past in these endeavors, we used to think in terms of just deconflicting between services during combat and in combat, but those days are gone. With General Jumper's leadership we've moved from simple deconfliction, quickly through integration into a world that we live in now which is truly interdependence. Relying on each other to succeed, to make this interdependent team successful we must continue to be the masters of our respective professions. It is our continued promise, Mr. Secretary, that as part of this incredible joint team we Airmen will be the best in the world at what we do--dominating air and space.

The success of our great Air Force hinges on these wonderful Airmen that you see in front of you and who are listening and watching this across the globe. They are our greatest resource and our greatest power. Whether it is an Alabama Air Guardsman commanding the western desert fight in Operation Iraqi Freedom or a West Virginia or South Carolina Guardsman commanding main operating bases in the Arabian Gulf, or an Alaska Air National Guardsman building those bases so well that he had a chance to build another and stay again and command another expeditionary air field, whether it is an enlisted joint terminal attack controller directing strikes for troops on the ground as they are doing as we speak, a crew flying a C-130 laden with cargo into the Sunni Triangle or into the storm-ravaged Gulf coast, a captain controlling satellites hundreds of miles above the surface, a flight lead striking insurgents with 500-pound bombs and 20mm gun, or a reservist flying multiple C-130 missions into the wall of a CAT-5 hurricane to provide as much early warning and information as possible to save lives. These Airmen are what makes the Air Force the most powerful air and space force in the world.

And our nation and communities are proud of each and every one. And the communities that support these magnificent Airmen mean so much to us. You can see that in the places that we live. They are locations like Biloxi, Miss.; Sumpter, S. C.; Cheyenne, Wyo.; Columbus, Ohio; San Antonio, Texas; and Las Vegas, Nev. These communities make us feel welcome and appreciated and support this great Air Force in so many ways.

From young Airmen to not so young senior officers, each of us has taken that powerful oath to defend the Constitution.

Leaders of courage and vision have brought us to this point. John Jumper is one of our great captains. Chief and Ellen, thank you again for your service. We wish you all the best in your new life. Chief, you've got new cabinets, you have new refinished floors, you have stockpiles of lumber and sheetrock, and you have a collection of new power tools that Ellen has provided to ensure that the home projects remain on her timeline.

Secretary Rumsfeld, thank you, sir, for being here today. Thank you for your trust and faith in the United States Air Force. These Airmen will not let you down.

To the Airmen here and deployed every day, you build on a distinguished heritage. As we assist the citizens in the challenges on the Gulf Coast, and as we work toward a more secure, more peaceful tomorrow, look around, because behind us you will see a proud rich heritage and in front a limitless horizon.

Since January 1991 these Airmen have been in continual combat and operations and you have made this look easy. You are the best. From the Lafayette Escadrille to the Tuskegee Airmen to the Doolittle Raiders, to those flying over Afghanistan and Iraq this morning, you are truly the best.

In the future we will continue to serve proudly alongside our joint brethren to defeat the enemies of freedom and provide top cover to this great country.

Let me close by saying it is an honor to continue to serve with each of you--the men and women of the United States Air Force. Jenny and I look forward to every day ahead of us.

For all those here this morning, thank you for honoring the Jumpers, the Moseleys and the U. S. Air Force. God bless this United States and our great Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen Marines, Coast Guardsmen, Merchant Marines deployed this morning.

Mr. Secretary, thank you again. We're ready to go to work.

Air Force Chief of Staff General T. Michael Moseley

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