 The Graf and Beer training area was first established by Prince Louis de Polde of Bavaria in 1907 to train the Bavarian Third Corps. The first artillery round was fired here at 0800 hours on the 30th of June 1910. Sound! Attention! At this time, General Williams along with Brigadier General Hilbert and Brigadier General Carpenter will assume their positions on the parade field. The colors are the commander's symbol of authority, representing his responsibilities to the organization. Wherever the commander is, so are the colors. The custodian of the colors is the command sergeant major as the senior enlisted soldier in the unit and principal advisor to the commander. The passing of the colors symbolizes the transfer of command responsibility and authority. The ceremony begins as command sergeant major Morgan passes the colors to Brigadier General Hilbert for the last time. Brigadier General Hilbert will then pass the colors to General Williams, thereby relinquishing his responsibility and authority. General Williams will then pass the colors to Brigadier General Carpenter, charging the new commander with the same responsibilities and authority. By authority of paragraph 2-5, Army Regulation 600-20, the undersigned assumes command of the 7th Army Training Command, effective 20 June 2023, signed Stephen P. Carpenter, Brigadier General, commanding. As his first act as commander, Brigadier General passes the colors back to command sergeant major Morgan in trusting the command sergeant major with the responsibility of the colors. So good and tired, my name is Adam Haran. Hello, Grafen there, General Hilbert, General Carpenter, distinguished guests, allies and partners, teammates and supporters, soldiers and families of the 7th Army Training Command. It is a real privilege to be here this morning to recognize and thank General Hilbert for his awesome leadership at the helm of 7th ATC. Thank you also to your family, to Beth, thank you for your service, for your dedicated support of Joe, support which has enabled his service and leadership. Godspeed on your return home. But it's not all that 7th ATC has achieved under Brigadier General Hilbert's leadership. He's been instrumental in widening our engagement with allies and partners through exercises like Allied Spirit, Combined Resolve, Dynamic Front, Sabre Junction and of course Defender. And he's brought the spirit of competition to through strong Europe Tank Challenge and the best sniper competition. One thing that we recognize here in 7th ATC is all those accomplishments that General Williams mentioned, all the things that have done, we don't do this alone in 7th ATC. We do it because of a powerful team in Europe and there's some folks I'd like to thank. I'll start with our adjacent units. Starting with 5th Corps with General Kuleshevsky, sir, thanks so much for your leadership and partnership. You've pushed training and interoperability in a way we only imagine and it's just been a pleasure working alongside your team to do what you've been able to do here in Europe. We've really just moved the ball forward. The General Agudo, as I mentioned, the training of the Ukrainians and the partnership that we have with the Security Assistance Group Ukraine, it's an honor to be in direct support of your effort and an honor to build that training. For the 56th Artillery Command, I think we mentioned General Moranian is here. What they have done with Dynamic Front and what I've seen happen over the years and pushing that exercise to build interoperable fires for Europe, fires that can deter our adversaries and reinforce our allies. Sir, thanks for that. Mr. Tommy Meis, great support from Insulation Management Command Europe, supporting the three garrisons under 7th ATC, Stuttgart, Ansbach and Bavaria. You do make Europe a hometown and we appreciate it. And then finally, General Smith, the former commander of 21st TSC, my partner now, General Reagan in 1221. It doesn't happen in Europe without Team 21 and we couldn't do what we do without the support, whether it's supporting our movements out to the training sites or it's supporting the training that we've got. It's a great team here in Europe. It's not just because of the location. It's because it's an incredible team and teammates like you. So, thank you for all of you. We also couldn't do this without our allies and partners. I think breeder Mark Wilson from the Collective Training Group UK was supposed to be here. But truly the collective effort of trainers with our allies and partners across Europe from the Joint Force of Training Center in Bitkos, Poland to the host of national training centers, whether it's Wild Flicking for the Bundeswehr or Chimpy down in Romania. Our allies and partners have incredible trainers and we're stronger together because of the efforts that they've put into building the train environment here. I have loved being an American soldier for the last 27 years because the Army is a people business. The ultimate team sport. The ultimate performance profession. Where winning matters because in this game there is no middle ground. In this game there are no moral victories. In this game you're either winning or you're losing. Better said you're either winning or you're dying. Especially as we've seen in large-scale combat which is absolutely unrelenting. My favorite part of this profession is building and contributing towards high-performing, cohesive teams who are willing to put in the work, prepare to win and helping soldiers and their families achieve their personal and professional goals. The Carpenters are honored to stand here as part of 7th Army Training Command serving U.S. Army Europe and Africa soldiers, their families, our NATO allies and partner nation countries.