 Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen. I am Captain Brooke Balding on behalf of the presiding official General James B. Hecker Commander United States Air Forces in Europe and Air Forces Africa welcome to today's ceremony This afternoon Major General Derek C. France will pass command of the third Air Force to Major General Paul D. Moga Today's ceremony is considered an outdoor event Therefore headgear should be worn and outdoor protocol should be followed Military members should salute during the national anthems and During the ceremony there will be several occasions when you will be given cues to stand and be seated Before we begin we would like to recognize some of our honored guests attending today's ceremony Please hold your applause until everyone has been introduced Spouse of the presiding officer Mrs. Terry Hecker spouse of Major General Mrs. Amanda France Spouse of Major General Moga Mrs. Amanda Moga and their children Maddie and PJ Representing the 21st Theater Sustainment Command Major General Ronald Reagan and his spouse Mrs. Brandy Reagan Representing the community surrounding Ramstein Air Base. Mr. Ralph Liz Meister County Commissioner of Kaiser-Slaughtern Mr. Ralph Heschler Mayor Union Community and City of Ramstein Miesenbach Representing the community surrounding Spangdalam Air Base Deputy Mayor Klaus Rodens Representing the institutions of the state of Rylan Falls, Mr. Marcus Klein and Representing members of the Rylan Falls State Parliament. Mr. Heligay Schwab Representing all airmen of United States Air Forces Europe and Air Forces Africa command chief master Sergeant Randy Kwiatkowski We would also like to recognize all commanders directors chiefs first sergeants all other distinguished host nation host nation representatives fellow airmen family and friends. Thank you all for attending The ceremony we will witness today is a military tradition rooted in history dating back to July 3rd 1775 When General George Washington drew his sword under an elm tree in Cambridge, Massachusetts to assume command of the Continental Army The acceptance of the command flag is a visible demonstration of the continuity of command From ancient times armies throughout the world conducted ceremonies to commemorate victory over the enemy To honor comrades in arms and to celebrate special occasions History reveals that in the Middle Ages It was not uncommon for soldiers in the field to be unaware of who their commanders were or what they looked like With the introduction of the formal change of command ceremony troops were afforded the opportunity to witness the proceedings and see their commanders and It was the Continental Army of the United States that conducted the first official ceremonies in America Which serve as the inspiration for the ceremony? We will see today Announcing to all the authority of the incoming commander The senior non-commissioned officer of the organization is traditionally Responsible for the maintenance and care of the colors and so today the command guide on is entrusted to command chief Master Sergeant Stephanie Cates Symbolically expressing the special trust and responsibility afforded to the commands enlisted members Ladies and gentlemen Please stand for the arrival of the official party and remain standing for the singing of the anthems of the federal public of Germany and the United States of America by Staff Sergeant Kassoul and the usafie band Following followed by the invocation from chaplain Barclay Oh Holy God, it is a privilege to come before you today and express gratitude for life's experiences. We are blessed to serve in this part of the world. We are humbled by the goodness of partners and allies that stand alongside us to uphold the causes of freedom. God, we also get thanks for the amazing leadership of Major General Derek Frans and for his sacrifices as the 3rd Air Force Commander. Thanks for refining him over the last 36 years of wearing our nation's uniforms so he could be compassionate and selfless and a humble individual gifted at leading our Air Forces in Europe and Africa and those in these complex times. I ask that General Frans and Amanda find your continued guidance and blessings in their impending assignments. Oh God, thank you for also preparing Major General Paul Mogad to lead 3rd Air Force in the days ahead. I pray that you will endow him with the exceptional wisdom necessary for this new role. Guide his efforts to provide inspiring leadership and wisdom to the wings. Headquarters, you safeguard Africa and with our partners as the demands upon peacemakers and peace seekers are increasing exponentially around the world. I also pray for his wife Amanda as many will turn to her as well. In closing, God empower each of us to do our part to uphold peace and liberty and please bless all those who have need of your divine intervention. This I pray in your holy name O Lord. Amen. Thank you Staff Sergeant Cazul, you safety band and chaplain Barclay. Ladies and gentlemen, please be seated. It is my pleasure to introduce our presiding official for today's ceremony, General James Hecker. Well, good afternoon everybody. It sounds a little weak. Can you guys hear me in the back? You're all good? Okay, thank you. Well first, welcome everyone. We appreciate you all being here and I can't thank everyone enough who is responsible for putting this together. Obviously, this was a very short notice change of command because we had some issues with getting some people confirmed for a while in the United States. So we put this together. I'm just going to do it this way. So we put this together in about a, I don't know, two weeks maybe, a little less than that, but I'm glad that it happened and I like to thank Chaplain Barclay for his invocation. When I was here 22 months ago on this stage, I was accepting the flag and it was a gorgeous day and the hangar walls were open so we could see out into the mountains and I could see the majestic German side here. In Chaplain Barclay, everybody didn't pray enough because we didn't get a day that is as nice as the day that we had 22 months ago, but maybe next time you can hit it, right? Also Staff Sergeant Kozl, great job on the National Anthem, very well on both of those. I'd like to give a special thanks to all our DVs in the front row that are here today. I'd like to thank Mayor Hetchler, Commissioner Lice, Mr. Mayor Rodin's, Mr. Klein and Mr. Schwab for being out here. You have a tremendous community and you love your military and we love you guys. So thanks to everything that you guys do to make us welcome and hopefully we do the same for you. Today we're here to witness the change of command. We're Major General Trapper France reluctantly relinquishes command of Third Air Force to Major General Max Moga and we appreciate everyone for coming out for this historic event. Trapper would be the first person to say that this wouldn't be possible without his wife Amanda and I think you know that too, but thanks for all the sacrifices you've made in the past and everything that you're going to make in the future if you guys move on. But thanks and sorry that we did this on short notice and your three daughters couldn't be out here, but I'm sure maybe they're watching out in visual land. Trapper it's been about four years that you've been here before his current job. He was the A3 did that for a couple years and then he moved on to Third Air Force and during that time he's witnessed some very significant events. When he was the A3 we had this withdrawal from Afghanistan which came quite hastily and we weren't really prepared for it, but due to the work that he did here we housed several thousand Afghan refugees that came that were helping the United States, helping NATO at the time and if you looked out on this ramp it was full of tents and a large reason why that happened was because of Trapper and the work that he did as the A3 to do all the logistics to make sure that they were housed properly, etc. and there's he got help obviously from the entire not only Ramstein Air Force base from the community as well to make that happen and make sure that they were taken care of. You know he's in charge of 10 wings, 32,000 people and these wings go all the way up from the UK all the way down into Africa and he's in charge of all of them and he's done a great job making sure that everybody was taken care of. Then we had this thing as he took over Third Air Force that happened in February 24th of 2022 when Putin decided to invade Ukraine and prior to that happening we were trying to make sure that NATO stayed safe. We were pretty confident that Putin was going to invade but we didn't know how far he'd go and him and his wings as well as our NATO counterparts put up a bunch of defensive counter aircraft all along the borders in the Baltics and Poland and Romania to make sure that Putin didn't make a mistake and try to go any further and after two years so far it succeeded and we hope that it will exceed some more but we'll see what happens with Ukraine but keeping them out of NATO was very important and as you know NATO is fully supported Ukraine as we move forward and we'll continue to support Ukraine into the future. There's been other things that have gone on during trappers command a couple coups whether it's Sudan whether it's Niger Niger still going on for everyone else a coup is something that you watch on TV and you go up there's been a coup in this country not so easy when you're the third Air Force commander all the contingency plans that you have to do you know do we have to evacuate the embassy in Niger do we have to evacuate the people in the country do we have we have to protect our personnel that are there our military personnel all that takes a lot of planning and quite honestly a lot of weekends that are spent making sure that all that happens and that's not seen out in the public but behind the scenes there's a lot of work that goes into that and I can't think trapper enough for the work that he did making that happen and then getting ready for the future if Russia does decide to keep moving forward we have to make sure that we're ready and I put together some priorities and trapper turn those priorities to the wings and they made sure that they are taken care of and he's trained and increase the readiness of the wings significantly over the last two years of his command particularly he made sure that they knew the concept of agile combat employment to make sure that we could move before Russia knew where we were and that their bombs come in our way or their missiles come in our way or their one-way UAVs coming our way would fall on no aircraft to make sure that we are agile enough to move around that they could not stay inside of our movements with their targeting cycle and he did that he also fulfilled a very important role in the community as a Kaiser slaughtered military community commander where he represented Ramstein on several different occasions making sure that the relationships between the local communities and the base were doing very well and he did a great job at that but he is moving on to bigger and better things I wouldn't say better but he is getting a third star which is well-deserved he's going to be what's called the absent commander and that's central command and that's if you pay attention to the news with everything that's going on in the Red Sea everything that's going on in Israel everything that's going on with the Houthis he's going to be in charge of all that and it's going to be a very busy job the good news for him is Third Air Force supports a lot of that and he knows what we're capable of and what we're not but tell you what if you need our help be sure to give us a call and we'll do the best we can to get you what you need for that next job Terry and I wish both you and Amanda great success in the future thanks for everything that you've done during your four years here at Ramstein and then everything you're going to do for our Air Force in the world your next job at Centcom now we got Max Moga who's going to be taking the reins here in a little bit Max doesn't know but the way that you figure out who the next commander is going to be is their spouse has to have the name of Amanda so we got another Amanda that is going to join us and I think Max would tell you that Amanda has been there every step of the way and I had the opportunity to meet Amanda when she was Lieutenant Amanda at Tyndall Air Force Base as a maintenance officer starting up the F-22 program and she did a great job there subsequently she's gotten out of the Air Force and has two great kids Maddie and PJ obviously who've made a lot of sacrifices with several moves throughout the years thanks for all your sacrifice and Amanda thanks for everything that you've done and will do into the future I've known Max for quite a while he's got the perfect pedigree to take over Third Air Force I've been on several assignments with him the first one was in 2004 at Tyndall Air Force Base where I was learning to fly the F-22 he was an initial instructor in the F-22 I went to Langley Air Force Base he ended up going out there as well and he was our demo pilot for the the first demo pilot for the F-22 then we kind of departed ways for a little bit and then it wasn't till Shepard Air Force Base where I was a 19th Air Force Commander where we hooked up again because he was the Vice Commander there at Shepard and then selected him to go take the wing command of one of the the first F-35 squadrons there at Eglin Air Force Base where he did a tremendous job Academy graduate flew F-15s F-22s F-35s over 2,600 hours obviously combat capable capable of command did squadron command at Elmendorf Air Force Base did vice command as I said at Shepard and then wing command at Eglin Air Force Base has NATO experience was the exact to the Chief of Staff of UCOM had a hardship tour where he had to go be the NATO Defense College in Rome Italy so it wasn't too much of a hardship I don't think and then lastly the last year he's been the Chief of Staff of USAF Africa I know that the MOGA team is going to be great for Third Air Force and great for the Kaisersladen community and we really look forward to welcoming you as the Third Air Force Commander thanks for everything you're going to do and everything your family is going to do you're definitely the right guy at the right time for the right job so with that said I think what we're going to do is we're going to give a medal the trapper here for his four years of service so if everyone could please stand and we'll give them a medal here in just one second attention to orders the President of the United States of America authorized by an act of Congress on July 9th 1918 awards the Distinguished Service Medal to Major General Derek C. France for exceptionally meritorious service and duties of great responsibility General France distinguished himself as commander Third Air Force and as Director of Operations strategic deterrence and nuclear integration headquarters United States Air Forces in Europe and Air Forces Africa Ramstein Air Base Germany from 30 June 2020 to 3 April 2024 during this period General France commanded 32,000 airmen across 10 wings stationed in three continents and two areas of responsibility focused on theater combat readiness he synergized assets from two major commands to execute coordinated agile combat employment maneuvers across five countries these efforts ensured initial operational capability which he quickly put to use by pivoting these forces in response to the Ukraine crisis and set conditions for air defense of Europe's Eastern flink as the commander of the Kaiser-Soltern military community General France built trust and exceptional partnerships as the interface between the United States Armed Forces and German government his steadfast devotion bolstered support for both the host nation and the 54,000 American citizens residing in the largest American military community outside the United States the singularly distinctive accomplishments of General France reflect the highest credit upon himself the United States Air Force and the Department of the Air Force ladies and gentlemen please be seated it is my pleasure to introduce the commander third Air Force Major General Derek France good and talk my name and Aaron and Herschelich Willkommen thank you all commanders distinguished guests senior enlisted leaders and airmen of third Air Force I would normally say thank you for making the time to be here today but for this week since we gave you about three days notice thank you for making the time to be here today I know that many of you had to rearrange your schedules this week and over the course of an Easter weekend so thank you for being here as mentioned to our project officers Steve Brinkley sharing from protocol we sat down last week for our first planning meeting and they presented me the checklist for a change of command and it said things like at the four month out point do x y and z at the two month out point do these other things and we are at the one week out point already but they made it happen existing loves a challenge so thank you for working the countless details for this to come together proving that if your boss only gives you a minute and it takes the last minute it only takes a minute I didn't say that exactly right but you know what I meant to our honor guard our national anthem new safety ban thank you for being here today as I see the flags of our two nations marching shoulder to shoulder it does my heart good to know that our nation stands shoulder to shoulder in defense of freedom every day and its reminder of our alliance our mutual trust and our respect that our nation share as personified in these communities and thank you for reminding us in our U.S. national anthem that we are a nation born in battle and that whether it's at the height of prosperity or our darkest hour we stand ready to defend it with our allies for my maintenance team thank you for letting us borrow this hangar on short notice for those that are responsible for the static displays you can see through the windows because it's March and it's Germany and it's cold out there machines look awesome this hand looks great it is a special place for our families as well our daughter graduated from high school and so thank you for bringing bringing that making a reality on short notice to chaplain Berkeley thank you for reminding us that God sovereignty is far beyond any of our efforts and plans and our personal note thank you for reminding me about his strength and endurance that I hold dear those that wait upon the road shall renew their strength and they shall mount up on wings as eagles general Hucker and Terry so thanks for the trust and confidence and allowing me to lead the greatest airmen in our Air Force your vision your support for the wings and the rear command are steadfast and truly appreciated for Max and Amanda and a Maddie and PJ in a few minutes I'm gonna hand over this flag and while we will pause for a photo one of the reasons I'm pausing is I hesitate to let it go but the reason that I will is because I made a general Hucker will soon put it in very capable hands with General Moga and he will in turn turn and give it to very capable hands and Chief Kate's who's been a tremendous wingman for me and for the airmen of Third Air Force over the years so max you have a rock star team waiting on you they're ready to work for you and for the wings so get ready for an awesome two years my friend it'll go fast you are absolutely the right pick for this job all the best to you and Amanda and Maddie and PJ in the years ahead to my teammates on the air calm staff and across the joint force in the KMC run thank you for being here today I have to say that as a third Air Force Commander in Staff one of our rules is to connect the wings and the staff and you know it made it easy your communication your support for the wings has been outstanding and our personal note thank you for your friendship and your hospitality and the things you've taught me just watching you lead to my joint friends and civic leaders thank you again for being part of this my role as the KMC commander has been rewarding based on the rich bond of trust and respect that our communities share I've seen several community engagements across the United States Air Force in the in the United States and this is the gold standard the support you give our airmen and the mission is second to none a man and I will truly miss Germany and the KMC here we've enjoyed exploring the history the culture fashing parades I know how to say hello and max you get a lesson in keg tapping from this man right here but don't worry I've set the bar very low so be ready for that however it is the people that we have met that has made this place special and they're sitting in these rows right here and countless in the community as well our time has been enriching beyond words because of you so thank you very much to Amanda and my girls and now my son-in-law which is in addition since I've been here I can't tell you how much confidence it gives me knowing that we can tackle any challenge as a family for our daughters a night in clear they're not watching their college age and it's like 6 a.m. so they're not dialed in but watching them with the punches of military life managing to thrive and grow become the young women they are makes me extremely proud Amanda thank you again for being such a positive part of the community from driveway and garage yoga classes to countless hours advising the bizarre committee I don't say it often enough and not in front of this large audience but your love your support your patience are what every day keeps me going having you as a partner in command and more importantly in life not to mention our 17th PCS is something I don't take lightly and I won't take for granted I love you more every day I'm excited about this next chapter in our life so please if you really take these flowers you the flowers as an inadequate demonstration of my love for you will enjoy them for the next 72 hours before we get on an airplane so thank you today I'm in form is a third Air Force we've got several wing commanders here you and your command chiefs are absolute rock stars thank you for making the trip down for the ceremony today your leadership in the wings your focus on the mission your care of our airmen is inspirational in watching it as your commander I've learned a ton just watching you lead and working through the challenges that the typically we deal with you thank you and your families for what you do every day to the headquarters staff the small but mighty team your dedication teamwork your positive attitude your can do attitude are incredible and make this a special place to work thank you for your support personally to me and to the wings that are part of third Air Force and for the entirety of third Air Force your writing history your service your innovation your attitude your sacrifice our keys to defending NATO to developing each other personally and professionally and delivering airpower when and where it counts you truly are freedoms guardians thanks for what you do every day and so as Amanda and I will talk to you and get ready for takeoff we consider ourselves both blessed for the opportunity to learn from each one of you and grateful for the rich experience and the many many friendships we have made blue skies and Godspeed ladies and gentlemen please stand for the change of command attention to orders under the provisions of Air Force instruction 51 tack 509 and in accordance with general order G 24 11 dated 0 3 April 2024 major general Paul D. Moga is appointed commander third Air Force effective 0 3 April 2024 by order of general James Hecker commander United States Air Force is Europe United States Air Force is Africa please be seated ladies and gentlemen it is my honor to introduce to you the commander third Air Force major general Paul Moga okay well again good afternoon Newton Tog thank you all so much for being here to support this significant day for third Air Force and a very special day for for me and my family I'd like to echo my thanks to those that pulled this event together today third Air Force staff 86 headquarters staff chaps safety ban honor guard across board these things are tough enough to pull off with a month's notice let alone a week so fantastic job and much appreciated thanks to all the distinguished visitors and attendants general Reagan great to great to see you look forward to working with you commanders chiefs headquarters staff representatives from our allies partners and certainly host nation to the members of the KMC thanks for being here as well the German-American partnership here is stronger and more important than ever before I believe that's what KMC their gold standard is them under a full gun cune and I'm sure you make up Jesus on my bike meeting in Allen John Hacker sir sir thank you again for your words for this opportunity is not one that I take lightly and thanks again for remaining leader that people want to follow not because they have to but because they want to and by the way no lieutenant Amanda stories please Joe France trapper and Amanda third Air Force in its in its successes are a clear reflection of your dedicated tireless leadership and efforts to support the missions and the airmen that accomplish them congrats on yet another successful command I'll do my best to maintain the met the momentum that you two have established inside a third Air Force and trapper congrats again as well on your imminent promotion and your next job at absent they will flourish under your leadership I have no doubts don't forget your UA roots when those tough GFM and stop decisions show up on your desk to my wife to my family my wife Amanda kids Matty and PJ you know people say all the time in changes of command that we would not be here without word not for our family so I won't say it but I will say that that statement could not be more true for me personally for a thousand different reasons so if you haven't met my family I hope you take a couple minutes today to introduce yourself I think our kids are pretty cool both are avid ice hockey players down in Swybrookin my wife Amanda is an extraordinarily talented genuine individual and she cares deeply about airmen and their families she's going to bring a lot to third Air Force whether she knows it yet or or not I love you very much I love I love the three very much honey kids please please accept these gifts as as my first of what will likely be many bribes in this new job it's it's in there to you mom Alice Iris Nick Dave Michael Alice hope you're watching on zoom love you all too and I wish you could be here we've got some nice Minnesota weather going on outside right now okay lastly for the past eight months albeit with a slight degree of separation as General Hecker's chief of staff I have had the absolute pleasure of observing third Air Force who they are what they do and more importantly how they do it impressive is an understatement every challenge no matter how big or small is tackled with conviction distinction and an absolute will to win to the men and women of this command I'm proud to be joining your ranks as we continue our steadfast efforts to develop defend and deliver in the relentless pursuit of excellence in the business of all things airpower anytime anywhere thank you again thank you General Moga