 We would also like to acknowledge Brigadier General Carpenter's family for being part of this special occasion. In attendance today is his wife Dana, children Kylie, Courtney, Cammie, and Chloe, and also in attendance is General Carpenter's father Mr. Cecil Carpenter and his aunt Jean Courtney. Finally, we would like to give a special welcome to all commanders, chiefs, first sergeants, friends and members of the 182nd Airlift Wing, 126th Air Refueling Wing, 183rd Wing, and senior leaders from Illinois Joint Force Headquarters for being here to share in this event with General Carpenter. During the playing of the National Anthem, we asked that all military members in uniform stand at the position of attention and for civilians to stand, remove hats, and place their hand over their heart. Ladies and gentlemen, please stand for the arrival of our official party and remain standing for the posting of the colors and playing of our National Anthem by the 566th Air Force Band. Color Guard, present the colors. Ladies and gentlemen, please remain standing for the invocation by Chaplain Daniel Wilton. Heavenly Father, thank you for this gorgeous day. May you remind us of your glory and your goodness. We are privileged to be here. Thank you for your continued mercy and kindness to keep us in your safety. Know how blessed we are for your care and to be citizens of this great country. This morning I ask for your special blessing upon the entire Carpenter family. As General Carpenter continues his faithful military service in a higher rank, or please grant joy, continued perseverance to Mrs. Dana Carpenter. As she continues to sacrifice so much to see her husband succeed in each job or mission, that may take him away from family. May you also encourage their children, Kiley, Courtney, Cammy, Cameron, Chloe, and Kate, as they continue to navigate the unique challenges and complexities of being a military family. May no distance or difficulty diminish their love for one another. God, I also am thankful for General Carpenter's father Cecil and his aunt Jean, who represent other family members that have helped him get to where he is today. God, please be honored by our desire to see this promotion bring about a great good for our International Guard Airmen and their families. I pray this with hope from faith in your son. Amen. Ladies and gentlemen, please take your seats. At this time, I'd like to welcome Lieutenant General Michael Lowe, Director of the International Guard to make a few comments. All right, folks. This is about Guard family. It's a Guard celebration. Is this a great day or what? Yeah, we are looking at a true American and a true American hero and a multi capable airman. I'm going to take you through the DK story as I see it. You all have lived it. Okay, and I definitely need to acknowledge that this doesn't happen by himself. Especially with DK. It took probably everyone in this hangar to get him to where he was today in some way, shape or form. Because when you look at how long he has served in the military, almost 40 years, it'll be 40 years this year. He has touched the lives of so many people. He also has not done it without the love and support of his family. To include producing Guard members who are with us, and probably there also nine grandkids that will get a little bit of taste of the military life from Grandpa DK. So let me go through a little bit of this. I already talked about multi capable. But what got him to today is he's also been a lifelong learner and a problem solver. Those two things, the lifelong of learning and the problem solving. His military career, and went through this with his dad, started back in 1983 when he enlisted in the United States Navy. As a jet engine mechanic, and he went to see the world. 1983, the Ronald Reagan years, the Cold War years, the build up of the military. Nimitz class carriers rolling off the shipyards and going to sea as a jet engine mechanic. Great life, but it didn't bring him back home. What brought him back home was this unit in the Air National Guard. And after eight years he comes to join this unit. First as an F-16 jet mechanic. Then is the loss of F-16s. He goes with a couple folks to school, like one behind me. And a few other chiefs in this room, right down there. And he goes off to be a flight engineer. First in the mighty E model, and then in the H model. And then he says, okay, hey, I'm going to continue to learn. I'm going to continue to challenge myself. Gets a degree, goes off to the academy. That is the academy of military science, McGee Tyson. Becomes an officer, and he gets commissioned right here to be an intelligence officer. But before we can even send him to school, he comes back to where he started, and that's as a supply officer. So while he took a couple of courses in Intel, and he still can claim that he was hired as an intelligence officer, he really came back to supply. That was the first part of his career. And when you think about where the Guard and Nation was at that time, it was the end of the Cold War. We had the peace dividends. We were going through multiple, for the Guard in particular, multiple maturations of flowdown of equipment to finally get the H models that we have here today. 2001. 2001. We're talking now almost 19 years of military service, but barely three years as an officer. He becomes the 182nd maintenance squadron commander as a lieutenant. Pretty interesting. 9-11 hits. We all felt that moment. And for the next couple of years, he's on deployment. First to Ramstein in Germany, then to Oman, then to UAE. Going out there, delivering combat air power and setting up the Middle East for what would be our longest war in our nation's history. Right there at the forefront of that. Comes back to the wing as an executive officer, and then logistics readiness officer. Getting everybody ready to go off to combat. Then for three years, back on the flight line, aircraft system flight evaluator. And then because he must not have done it right the first time, he became the maintenance, what any second maintenance squadron commander. Now the commander. And when I look back at the Stanley Cup championships banners back there, and I go, okay, DK, you had it for seven years, by the way. But you also inherited an outstanding organization. Because in 2007 was the first year. You took over in 2008. And from 2008 to 2015, you never gave up the Stanley Cup championship. Now a seven-year squadron commander, something unheard of. And DK after three years, trust me, they got tired of your jokes. We've lived it. But those DK isms that we've all lived with the DK isms continued inheriting a great organization. And then developing and processing and doing lean six sigma events because he was getting qualified to do those things. And continuous process improvement kept you as a dynasty in this maintenance organization for seven years. And then I'm sure there is a mentor in this room. Somebody said, DK, you gotta leave Peoria. You gotta go do something different. You were going to, and the hook was, we're gonna promote you to Colonel. And we're gonna kick out the door to go down the I-55 corridor to a place called Springfield. And we're gonna make you a mission support group commander, a little bit outside your career field that you've developed. And for the next six years, it was two years each, mission support group commander, vice wing commander, and then wing commander. All while making a little bit over two hour back and forth drive each and every day. At that point, he had done just about everything you can do in the state. He had led multiple times. He had gone to combat multiple times, twice to bog them as a squadron commander. And that's when his path and my path crossed. Took one look at him and I go, you really need to come up to the guard bureau. I need some good people up there. I need somebody that knows the operation. I don't need a staff officer. I need a leader. I need a leader of a staff that can get some things done for me. So tell me what you can do and what your thoughts are. The accomplishments that he made in two short years are remarkable. And at a time when we're pulling out of Afghanistan and also coming out of COVID, when we're still doing operations both at home and abroad. There wasn't a piece of data that DK Carpenter couldn't get for me with the exacting amount of detail that I needed to actually move the ball through the National Guard as a whole. And when I say that, we're working for a secretary of the Air Force that on his door says, in God we trust, all else bring data. So I'd lean on DK and it didn't matter if it was data from the three, data from the five eighths. DK was the one that I could reliably get the data. And so I know it probably drove the wing commanders crazy across all our multiple weapons systems. Every time there was a new TCTO out for a grounding of a fleet or the safety aspects of this. DK was working tirelessly on your behalf between the SPO, AFMC, the operational units, the safety center, our own National Guard Bureau, and a lead badge comm either at Air Combat Command, Air Mobility Command, or AFSOC. Working to make sure that we stayed the leading edge and delivered combat air power anytime and anywhere. Additionally, DK did some things inside of the A4. He normalized the process for installations, for mil-con priorities and kept down. SRM priorities. Able to take money out of depots and bring it back to the operational force. Every one of your unfunded last couple years has been funded because he's been able to lean out the processes and make those things happen for all of our wings. Additionally, he started up what they used to call a SPA, which was a wire brush of maintenance, to a PAT, where every wing commander knew DK's name and said, come on out and take a look at our organization and how can we drive an aircraft availability rate higher. With some remarkable results. We had units that were quite literally getting crushed to units that had excess capability. Just from a week long time spent with DK and his team. Unbelievable results of what that drove. And then it was about six months ago when DK gave me a call and he goes, hey sir, you mad at me? No DK, why? Well I hear that you're getting another A4 up here. Yep, DK, you got two years. Everybody up there gets two years. Well am I getting removed because of because I'm not doing a good job? No, DK, you're the best maintenance officer and also the best director in A4 that I've personally worked with. And I've worked with all of them since 2010. He goes, okay, well what's in the future? I go, DK do me a favor, go back to your family because you've been geobatching the entire time. Ask Dana and the family how much runway you got left. Dana, thank you. The guard thanks you for having that conversation and saying yes. But he did come back with some caveats. It's got to be in the Midwest somewhere. I want to be a little bit closer. I can work with that. So working with that and looking at what I just talked about, his incredible experiences and everything that he's done for both himself but in order to build a big team, we in the United States Air Force gave him the toughest job that a maintenance officer could ever have. He's running global logistics for the F-35 program, the Department of Defense's most expensive fighter program in its history. And he's walking in at a time where we've had missteps with depots, late stand-up depots, missteps of parts, missteps with what it takes to sustain an F-35 across the globe. There are 16 international partnerships in this global enterprise. There are three services. There's over a thousand fielded with over a thousand more coming. He has a larger budget than he had, definitely at the National Guard Bureau, but a larger budget than most in the Department of Defense. And he all has to do that in a joint environment. I can think of no better general officer to lead the F-35 Sustainment Center than DK Carpenter. And neither could the Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force, the Chief of National Guard Bureau or the Secretary of the Air Force. So DK, with that responsibility comes a little bit more weight on your shoulders than another star. Are you ready to take that on? Great answer. If you didn't hear it in the back, he said Mrs. Carpenter and I are. All right, then DK, let's get on with the ceremony. Let's enjoy it. Let's have fun. Folks, this is a great American hero. Thank you. Now proceed with the promotion portion of today's ceremony and we ask all who are able to please stand. Attention to orders. The President of the United States, acting upon the recommendation of the Secretary of the Air Force, has placed special trust and confidence in the patriotism, integrity and abilities of Brigadier General Donald Carpenter in view of these special qualities and his demonstrated potential to serve in the higher grade. Brigadier General Carpenter is promoted to the permanent grade of Major General United States Air Force, effective 1 May 2023 by order of the Secretary of the Air Force. Ladies and gentlemen, please be seated. We invite the family of General Carpenter to please come forward to conduct the pinning. I'm getting out of their seats. They've got to go back. Ladies and gentlemen, please stand if you are able. Take your name. Donald K. Carpenter. You solemnly swear. You solemnly swear. That I will support and defend. That I will support and defend. The Constitution of the United States. Against all enemies. Against all enemies. Born and domestic. Born and domestic. And I bear true faith. And I bear true faith. And allegiance to the Senate. And allegiance to the Senate. And I take this obligation that I take this obligation freely without any mental reservations or purpose of evasion. And that I will well and faithfully. And that I will well and faithfully. To start the duties. To start the duties. Of a Major General. Of a Major General. One time about Daner. So help me God. So help me God. Please be seated. Ladies and gentlemen, the newly pinned Major General Donald Carpenter. D, shorter than me. And I don't know. Must be a General O'Fan. I'm afraid to move the mic. Hey, so I'm going to keep this short and sweet. General O'Fan, I'm honored and humbled that you came to Peoria for my ceremony. You've been a leader and a mentor to me. And I know General Neely understands. I know General McDonough understands, but I can tell you the 90 wings in this nation and the 108,000 that you lead in the Air National Guard, not all of them understand what you do day to day for our Guard. Not all of them understand that you could be working for United right now, making three times the money and have more time at home. Okay. Not all of them get that. I didn't understand that until I got to the Guard Bureau. And as you kind of mentioned, I was 24-7. And I know you expected that of us. Maybe some days off a little bit, but always on the phone. And so, sir, you know, I just think before we move forward, special applause for you. The director of the Air National Guard is a thankless job, especially what Mrs. Lowe does. She volunteers her time. I know most of you met her yesterday. She's a volunteer. She comes out here with General Lowe. She does that because she's the mother of the Air National Guard. So General Lowe, sir, thank you so much for what you do. I thank General Neely, General McDonough, Colonel Ballard for having me today, the support of the Illinois team. And allow me to do this back where my roots started in Peoria, Illinois. Thank you so much. Chaplin, great prayer this morning. I hope God's listening to you. So I will have to say, though, the hardest working job besides General Lowe's in the Air National Guard is the exact Adam Mollies, other known as Dex, right? Guy's homeless right now on the road 24-7. Stand up and wave. Do the wave. But we are looking for good folks at the Guard Bureau that want to learn and want to grow. And it's a great opportunity to do an Adosh year or to come out and learn what's behind and what's really happening and bring that back to the wing. So just remember that as I leave today that we need great people out at the Guard Bureau. You don't have to stay for four years. You can come out for a year, come back to the wing, and bring what you've learned back to the wing. So, you know, I was talking to General McDonough last night. Of course, when he got promoted at one point in time, he forgot to mention his wife. So I'm going to start off with that right away. So Mrs. Garvinder, or the Dana, as I would say at home, thank you so much for your support and support of me on this next go. So children of mine, all you crazies, all the grandkids, I love y'all. It's been a rough ride, you know. I know I got maybe two to three years left. Short of 61 when I retire, I'm looking forward to, you know, there's three things. MacArthur said, God, country, and family. I think he should have said Guard family, because that's what we all are. He missed that. So I'll quote that. I've got country pretty good over the last 40 years. I've not got God so good and family so good, although I believe I just haven't given it 100%. So I'm hoping, as I draw closer to retirement, that, hey, I get family better and I get God better. So as we draw towards retirement. So Dana, thanks for all you do for me and our family. Special special hoot hoot to Chloe J. I've missed the last two years over school here at Notre Dame Catholic School. And so I've not been there to life, hoping to get better at it with me in the Midwest here over the next year or two. So Chloe, thank you for your sacrifice as well. I know the other kids have sacrificed over the years, but I just kind of wanted to tell you I love you and I appreciate you. Wife told me not to talk too long. So I'm going to try to keep this short and simple. General Lowe hit it pretty well, my career. You know, I was always trying to improve or better myself. And by bettering myself, always open to the next door. So I will share with you, you know, Chief Ashley, bless his heart. It's passed away here with COVID a couple of years ago, old chief here. You know, I was a young enlisted flight attend here and we were getting off a bus in Louisiana and BuzzBeam was there, squad or commander at one time. And I said, you know, I'm going to be in BuzzBeam's job someday. And Chief Ashley said be careful what you ask for. Okay. And so but be careful what you ask for doesn't come without hard work and getting uncomfortable and doing things that others are not willing to do. So I share with you, you can stay status quo and your life is great. Or you can get outside the box and start growing a bigger and better future for you because there is a big world out there and there's a lot of opportunity if you choose to walk through the door. Unfortunately it comes with a sacrifice and that's what my family took over the years was the sacrifice. So be careful what you ask for. Springfield, thank you for coming. 126 is 126 here. I thought I saw an invite. We'll cross you off my will 126. You did ask about a minute here at the 182nd Bart Welker. He's a Saluki grad just to ask him he'll tell you. Destral engineer. He came in here as a group commander at one time talking all kinds of engineer, you know, they see shiny optics and I couldn't understand what he was talking about. So that's what really started my Lean Six Sigma path was trying to understand engineer talk because I was more like get off the toolbox, start working to make this happen. Right. So big, big part of growing me and helping me. I do want to share though, for those of you in the field out here in the chairs that don't know me or weren't around when I was around. Yes, I have a lot to do with those flags back there as well as bars as well as many others in here. Rico Gambas, the Bob Sherwoods, the Jody Lukers that are here and many more. The Lou Odoms in the back there, Brian Griswold, the old guys and gals under under under under Colonel Welker we we changed the look in the face of the 180 second maintenance and I'm very proud of these flags. You guys have a dynasty here. General Neely, you need to need in my opinion, sir, you need to take this dynasty, put it in a PA press and send it to the guard bureau for General Lowe to push to General Brown before he becomes the new boss. It's just great what Peoria has done here and what Peoria taught me and what we learned together I took to the National Guard Bureau and that's where the production assessment team's at and that's where the drive came with the A4 things that I learned here and or things that I saw other units weren't doing. So 180 second, you got a great thing going here. Keep up the dynasty. Father Reed, thank you for coming back. Bless me, son. Thank you. Anyway, to my family, thank you for coming. My old coach, Mike Manahan, wrestling coach there in a blue shirt. Raise your hand, Mike. He beat me when I was a kid. So thanks for coming, Mike. Neighbors, family, friends, Benny Ward went to war with him several times North Carolina here. So Sam Garmin, great American Marine woke me up this morning at 5.20. Hey, big day today, Mike. Thank you, Sam. So no, he didn't drop me. So Desert Storm veteran. Thank you, Sam, for your service. So anyway, I'm going to get off the podium. Did I miss anything, Dana? I did miss something, Dana. Kids, did I miss anything? Dad, thank you, Caroline, Gene, King Denise, family, thanks for coming. I wish you all the best in taking care of my wife while I'm in absence. So Lord knows she needs it. She does a great job at home. I don't think she needs me anymore, but I still come home. So Mrs. Carpenter, would you please come forward? This concludes today's ceremony. Immediately following, there will be a small reception in this facility to congratulate Major General Carpenter. Thank you for attending and please remain standing for the departure of the official party and the playing of the Air Force Song.