 Ladies and gentlemen, please stand for the arrival of the official party. Golden West and technical sergeant James Rodenberg, and a special thank you to the two NASA F-18s piloted by Mr. Jim Les and Mr. Sean Kern for that spectacular flyover. These aircraft are part of NASA's leading aerospace research team, revolutionizing air transport by making flights faster, safer, more efficient, and more sustainable. Like Buzz in his epic journey to the moon and back, NASA continues to explore the secrets of the universe for the benefit of all, from the skies to the stars. Please remain seated for the invocation. May we pray. Almighty and ever-living God, we give you thanks for Dr. Colonel Buzz Adrien, as we gather today to recognize that he is a true professional and a renowned astronaut who has all the leadership skills and experience to be promoted to the rank of Brigadier General in the United States Air Force. You have always been with him and blessed him with knowledge. You have always guided him to adhere to your biblical injunction to conquer the Earth by scientific discoveries and space explorations. As he is being specially honored once again today, we ask that you strengthen him in mind and body to continue to be a steady advocate for human space exploration. Bless his bride, Dr. Anka Adrien, and all his friends and colleagues who have always stood by him in his successful journey. Bless all our leaders in government and commerce who are present in this occasion. Bless our United States Air Force and Space Force leadership. Bless all our guardians and airmen, especially our commander, General Michael Goodland, who presides at this event. And lastly, Lord, we ask that you continue to lead Dr. Adrien and all of us in the world of excellence and integrity. In your holy name, we pray. Amen. We would like to recognize some very special guests joining us today. Please hold your applause until all guests have been introduced. First, we are honored to welcome Colonel Buzz Aldrin, United States Air Force retired, his wife, Dr. Anka Aldrin, his daughter, Janice, and son-in-law Bruce, his sons, James Michael, and Dr. Andrew Aldrin, and daughter-in-law Maureen, his grandson, Jeffrey, and wife, April, and buzzes three great-grandsons, Nathaniel, Benjamin, and Archie, Anka's son, Vlad, and daughter-in-law Haley, and their two daughters, Makali and Kaya. We're also fortunate to have many of Colonel Aldrin's nieces, nephews, cousins, and close friends in attendance. We are pleased to welcome our distinguished guests, Representative, 41st Congressional District, California, and Chairman of the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, Congressman Ken Calvert, Representative, 27th Congressional District, California, Congressman Mike Garcia, the Office of Congressman Ted Lu, 36th Congressional District, California, former United States Senator, New Mexico, and Apollo 17 lunar module pilot, Dr. Harrison Schmidt, Chairman of American Global Strategies and Formal National Security Advisor, Ambassador Robert C. O'Brien, retired. Secretary, United States Air Force, the Honorable Frank Kindle. Consul General, Dean of Los Angeles Consular Corps, Consulate General of Romania in Los Angeles, Cosmin Dumitrescu, Consul Consulate General of Romania in Los Angeles, Mirella Dumitrescu, Deputy Administrator, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Miss Pamela Melroy, Deputy Director, Policy and Strategic Communications Division, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Mr. James Miller. Among our distinguished guests in attendance, we are pleased to welcome the family of Lieutenant General Gutlein, his wife, Rachel, his daughter, Courtney, and her wife, Rachel, his daughters, Amanda, and Madeline, and his father-in-law, Mr. Tim Herring, Senior Enlisted Leader of the Space Systems Command, Chief Master Sergeant Willie Frazier III, Chairman, User Advisory Group, National Space Council and Director, General Dynamics Corporation, Board of Battelle, and KBR Corporation, General Lester Lyles, United States Air Force, retired. Admiral James Ellis, United States Navy, retired. Director of Staff, United States Space Force, Lieutenant General Nina Armanio. We also would like to thank all other family, friends, senior government officials, military members, international partners, industry leaders, and guests for joining us in person or online for the special occasion. Ladies and gentlemen, at this time, we invite Lieutenant General Michael Gutlein to come forward and say a few words. Quite dead tall. Colonel Aldrin Anke, thank you very much for being here today. This is a very special treat for all of us and probably a well-deserved promotion for Buzz. Secretary Kendall, thank you for flying all the way here from D.C. last night, and spending some time with us. It's always a great host to you, sir. General Lyles, welcome home. It's always good to see you. General Lyles used to be the SMC Commander here in Los Angeles and went on to be the AFMC Commander. Sir, welcome back to the family. Chairman Ken Calvert, sir, thank you for your team putting all this together. Thank you for coming all the way out here. It's great to have you as the Chairman of the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee and the Representative for California's 41st Congressional District to be here on our team, sir. It means a lot. Thank you very much. All federal, state, and local leaders that are with us today, thank you. Thank you for coming all the way out here to honor one of our own. To all the Airmen and Guardians, we have the privilege of witnessing this historic event. Thank you for being here today. And thanks for everything you do every day for our national defense. And a big shout out to my wife, Rachel, my four daughters, and my father-in-law, Tim, here who are always by my side here to support me. I am Lieutenant General Mike Gutlein, Commander of the Space Systems Command. And I'd like to personally thank every one of you for joining us today to honor Buzz's promotion to Brigadier General of the United States Air Force. I would argue it's probably the greatest Air Force on the planet. I'd also like to thank Dr. Anka Aldrin for being here today. So often we forget to recognize the hard work and the sacrifices of our families. And the loved ones that put all the work in behind the scenes that we couldn't do what we do without you. So thank you very much. And welcome to the Space and Air Force family. It is such an honor to be here today. As the commander of Field Command, I get to do a lot of special events. Really significant, unique, but one of the best are promotions. Promotions are amongst the best because they are an opportunity to recognize not only the accomplishments of our airmen and our guardians, but to personally thank the families for their contributions as well. I want to thank the entire team that pulled this together. It took a village to pull this off and it's magnificent. Thank you all very much. How about a round of applause for those folks? So we have a motto here in Space Systems Command. The space starts here. I can't think of a more fitting location to hold the ceremony today than here at Space Systems Command and at Los Angeles Air Force Base. The statue you see behind me is of General Bernard Schriever, the father of the Air Force's space and missile capabilities. He started SSC in this base in a small schoolhouse a couple of miles from here in 1954. Throughout the Cold War, our nation was facing a threat unlike we'd ever seen before. The Soviet Union hoped to advance the spread of communism across Europe and throughout the world. The objective was clear. They wanted to become a hegemy as the world's only, only superpower and to impose their ideology on the world's population. The United States had a near peer competitor who was aiming to utilize the space domain to gain dominance over us and to destroy our way of life. We had to adapt to a threat that was growing stronger every day and to an environment which was largely unknown. General Schriever was outspoken and passionate about the funding that we needed for the nation's space programs at a time when most Air Force leaders were slowly focused on aircraft and bomber development. It was here in Los Angeles where his team began the design of the systems and technologies which would fuel the nation's space exploration. His development of the Titan, the Atlas, the Thor and the Minuteman missile systems were critical in fulfilling the deterrent strategy so vital during the Cold War. Both the Titan and the Atlas vehicles that he architected here in Los Angeles were used to launch the Mercury and the Gemini manned spacecraft in preparation for the Apollo program. The Apollo program and the successful moon landing by Colonel Aldrin cemented the United States' dominance in space. Today we face a similar threat. Our adversaries are perfect not only capable and ambitious but also determined to utilize the space domain to reach their goal of becoming a single world power and imposing on the world's population their ideology. We are witnessing the beginning of a new space race. Like the last one, this is a race we cannot lose. We must maintain a mindset of enduring competition and we must ensure our nation is never caught by surprise. On the wall behind Schriever's statue you will see a quote by him which says the world has an ample supply of people who can always come up with a dozen good reasons why a new idea will not work and should not be tried. But the people who produce progress are a breed apart. They have the imagination, the courage and the persistence to find solutions. There is one person here today who has that caliber of imagination, the courage and the persistence which General Schriever spoke of. He is a person who produces progress no matter the challenge. That person is Colonel Buzz Aldrin. His contributions to the aerospace field and his contributions to our nation are immeasurable. General Schriever, he was at the forefront of integrating the air and space domains. His sacrifices, courage and tenacity ensured we continue to exist as a free and independent nation. Well, we only stood up the United States Space Force in 2019 and named our brave men and women guardians. I will argue that Colonel Aldrin was truly one of our first guardians willing to protect and defend this nation with all that we hold dear. The Guardian Spirit, published in April of this year, discusses the guardian values that we all hold dear. They are character above all, connection towards unity, commitment to mastery and the courage to be bold. It helps the answers, answer the questions. What does it mean to be a Space Force Guardian? I would argue Colonel Aldrin is one of the first true guardians. He is not one of the first true guardians because he walked on the moon. He is not one of the first true guardians because he is an astronaut and a rocket scientist. There is so much more to it than that. He is one of the first guardians because he lived a life which epitomizes the values we strive to live by today. We were on the brink of a nuclear war when he served. His character, connection, commitment and above all his courage were tested on a daily basis. When you look at the life of Colonel Buzz Aldrin, you see all these traits exemplified. Without the courage and dedication of Colonel Aldrin, we may never have been afforded the luxury of leading the lifestyle we all enjoy today. Over the past 54 years, since stepping foot on the moon's surface, Colonel Aldrin has been an inspiration to a nation and a tireless advocate for space exploration. Space started here at Space Systems Command and all of our nation's achievements in space certainly started thanks to the patriotism and courage of Colonel Buzz Aldrin. I cannot think of anyone more deserving of the promotion to Brigadier General nor a more perfect location to be commemorating this great event in the nation's history. At this time I'd like to invite Representative Calvert to come forward and say a few words. Thank you, Colonel. Today we are here to celebrate a man who flew among the stars and we honor him today by giving a star of his own. Buzz Aldrin, of course, is a living legend, American hero, and in my opinion, it's fitting and appropriate to commend him once again for being an air and space pioneer. I want to express my sincere appreciation to the Air Force, especially Secretary Frank Kendall and Defense Department of approving my request to honorably promote Colonel Buzz Aldrin to the rank of Brigadier General. I also want to thank the staff here at Space Systems Command, the L.A. Air Force Base, and everyone involved with making today's celebration possible. You made my colleague, Mike Garcia, very happy when he saw the F.A. Teens flying over. Buzz Aldrin is a man who has dedicated his life to causes greater than himself. First as an Air Force pilot, then later as a NASA astronaut. Buzz amassed a record of achievement and flight that is truly out of this world. At a relatively young age, Buzz was tested in the air as a fighter pilot in the Korean War. He passed that test with flying colors. Like many pilots in this era, Buzz said his heights higher humans inherently are attracted to the unknown. Buzz once explained that exploration is wired into our brains. If we can see the horizon, we want to know what's beyond. That desire is a guiding element of our American story. From the expeditions of European settlers to the westward journey of Lewis and Clark and the relentless innovation of the Wright Brothers, the future of our country has always been paved by explorers. While Buzz was studying, let's just call it space science at MIT, President Kennedy declared the start of the space race with the goal of sending Americans to the moon and back before the end of the 1960s. In his famous We Choose to Go to the Moon speech, JFK pointed out that this country of the United States was not built by those who waited and rested and wished to look behind them. This country was conquered by those who moved forward, and so will space. I can tell you from my experience serving in Congress that politicians make promises, but we rely upon American people to deliver on them. Congress can pass laws. We can approve a budget, hopefully. Direct funding. We can legislate innovation, courage, and sacrifice. This is especially true for both our military and space exploration. Thankfully for us, Buzz Aldrin was not a man who waited and rested. He applied to be an astronaut first in 1962, then again successfully in 1963. I think some historical perspective needs to be considered when we think about what it met to step forward and sign up to be an astronaut in the early 1960s. I think it's fair to say that even now, not everyone is eager to be strapped on top of a rocket with seven and a half million pounds of thrust that contains hundreds of thousands of pounds of liquid oxygen and hydrogen. But those of you in the Air Force and Space Force probably know there are indeed men and women who are actually eager to volunteer to do just that. Thankfully for the rest of us, Buzz was more than happy to carry the baton of American history of exploration and the process buckle in for what was to be one heck of a ride. His first mission into space was Gemini-12, where he performed a combined five and a half hours conducting extra vehicle activity or space walks. During that mission, Buzz was famously took the first selfie photograph in space. I'm sure it would have gone viral, but it was just a little bit ahead of its time. For the next journey into space, Buzz was selected to serve as the lunar module pilot and the crew of Apollo 11, the most famous, important and historic of all space missions. Walter Cronkite described the Apollo 11 mission as the greatest adventure in history. As exciting as that sounds, the stakes for those involved would not have been higher before Apollo 11 launched. Cronkite went on to say that the three men on board the Saturn V rocket were carrying the burdens and hopes of all mankind. As we know all too well, from decades of space flight and rocket launches, the margin between a successful mission and a disaster is razor thin. The Apollo 11 launch occurred a little more than two years after the Apollo 1 rehearsal test tragedy that claimed the lives of three astronauts. Despite the known and unknown dangers of Apollo 11 moon mission, Buzz, Neil Armstrong and Michael Collins bravely performed their duties to perfection. In many chapters of human history that have passed and hopefully infinite number to come, Buzz will always be one of the first two people to ever leave this world and land on another. For more than an hour and a half, he walked on the moon and explored what he called the magnificent desolation of the moon. After nearly 24 hours on the moon, Buzz and Neil departed. Left behind was the iconic American flag, but also a plaque that read, We came in peace for all mankind. After returning to Earth, the Apollo 11 astronauts embarked on a world tour commemorating their epic achievement. At its conclusion, the astronauts noted that during their visits to foreign countries, people frequently explained, we did it. Few endeavors have unified the globe like the Apollo 11. The impact of the mission on the course of human history is impossible to calculate, as are the invaluable contributions Buzz made to ensure its success. America's leadership in space is a direct driver of scientific, economic, diplomatic, and national security advancements. Buzz has rightfully been awarded a long list of awards and honors through his remarkable life, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the Collier Trophy, and the Hubbard Medal. Today we are here today to once again celebrate a man who pushed us further than we ever had gone before. Buzz planted his feet on a new frontier and laid his eyes on new horizons. Despite hanging up his spacesuit, Buzz has continued to serve as a tireless advocate for human space exploration. He has called himself a global statesman for space. While we have seen tremendous growth in the capabilities of commercial space companies and promising start to NASA's Artemis program, the fact remains that it's been half a century since man last walked on the moon. Of course, if you know dreamers like Buzz, you know they are thinking beyond the moon. And when that day comes and it may come sooner than you may think, people will call upon the next generation of explorers. As those courageous men and women prepare to blaze a path toward great unknown, I have no doubt that they will look to find inspiration and confidence in the examples set by soon-to-be General Buzz Aldrin. Thank you. Thank you, Congressman Calder. Our next speaker has a distinguished 35-year military career and extensive expertise in the field of aeronautics and astronautics. Please welcome General Lester Lyles. Good afternoon, everybody. Secretary Kendo, Congressman Calvert, Congressman Garcia, distinguished guests and especially the Buzz, Anka, and the Aldrin family. It's an honor to be out here, a Buzz thank you for inviting me and asking me to participate in this ceremony. This is, as General Geithland mentioned, this is like coming home from me. I've had three assignments out here in Los Angeles and all of them to some extent have been inspired, completely inspired by Buzz Aldrin. My first assignment was as a second lieutenant rocket engineer here in Los Angeles. We were across the street at that time and the name was not Space Systems Command. It was SAMSO, Space and Missile Systems Organization. Now, I dare say I can look at it in the audience and maybe two or three people may remember that, but I was inspired in 1969, especially shortly after getting here because it was after that, the summer of 1969, that Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong landed on the moon. And I can't tell you how much that inspired me and inspired everybody who's associated with space and particularly everybody out here in Los Angeles, both civilians in and military. My second assignment was as a colonel running the Space Laundry Company program. After the unfaithful and tragic Challenger accident, we were responsible for developing all the new family of launch vehicles, Atlas, Delta, Titan, you name it. We were responsible for that. And even though Buzz didn't have a direct hand in that, the fact that a Challenger, we lost seven astronauts, the astronaut name and the name of Buzz Aldrin was on all of our minds as we looked to develop the next family of launch vehicles for the United States Air Force, NASA and for the world. And my third assignment was here as a commander, General Gutlein mentioned, as a three star running this wonderful organization. And I dare say again, Buzz Aldrin inspired me. Like General Gutlein, like others, I had the opportunity to interface with Buzz on numerous occasions to talk to him on numerous occasions. And anybody knows who's been involved in the space world. When you talk to Buzz Aldrin, you mostly listen because he's the world's expert on literally anything associated with launch and space activities. The last few years, I've been blessed to have the opportunity to be a member of the National Space Council's user advisor group under the leadership, great leadership of Admiral Jim Ellis, who's here in the audience. Jim and a group of 29 of us were chosen by the previous administration to be the stewards, if he will, and stalwarts in support for space and all the different users involved. And we were blessed amongst all of us who had a chance to be part of that family and to have several astronauts, but two really stellar astronauts, Harrison Schmidt, and of course Buzz Aldrin. And every one of us looked up to the two of them. To show you, the council mentioned inspiration, to show you how much Buzz inspired all of us, as Jim Ellis does, one of the key things we had as our task was to evaluate the architecture, NASA's architecture for going back to the moon and eventually preparing to go to Mars. And we all know that today as the Artemis program, but even before that name, our task was to examine that architecture. And who did we turn to to make sure we got it right? We turned to Buzz Aldrin. In numerous meetings with NASA amongst ourselves, and certainly as Jim knows, numerous phone calls from Buzz to Jim, Buzz to me, Buzz to the NASA leadership, we all looked at and evaluated what it took to go back to the moon and was it the right architecture. I would never forget that fateful day where a group of us were in the conference room in NASA headquarters. Jim Bridenstine was the NASA administrator at the time. I was there, several leaders and CEOs of the major aerospace companies were there. Buzz couldn't be there, but he was on the line virtually. And we spent a whole day walking through the architecture with the NASA architecture leaders. And to us, victory. Victory was at the end of that day, I asked Buzz, what do you think? And he said, I agree. That's all we needed. We have our Artemis program. It was because of the great concurrence and support from Buzz Aldrin. So he's been an inspiration in everything. I think all of you recognize that. I daresay just one advice to Aukka and to the family. You may have noticed that when the head table, the audience, the leaders came up here on the stage. They were preceded by Ruffles and Flourishes. And then another encore after that. What usually follows that is the General's March. People are used to the Hail to the Chief after Ruffles and Flourishes. But there's also a General's March that's played when you come into a major survey. General Gutlein knows that very, very well. Secretary Kendall knows that very, very well. Buzz, I will whisper to you very openly here. I don't know if you'll have success with Aukka. I've tried to get my wife to play Ruffles and Flourishes. And the General's March, every time I come into the house, and I've yet to get that accomplished. So Aukka, just a hint. You never know. See, wave your hand. That might be good. There's at least one hand clap back there. Well, I just want to thank all of you again for being here for this wonderful, wonderful ceremony and honor. And Buzz, thank you again for all that you've done for not just me and others involved in the space community, but for the world. And I dare say a lot of people don't know. I did not do this during the National Anthem, but some of you know that in 2008, President George W. Bush signed a proclamation as part of the National Defense Authorization Act that came out in 2009. And it authorized veterans, veterans to give a hand salute to the National Anthem or in special occasions, even if they're in civilian uniform. So Buzz, if you don't mind, I would love to be the first person to salute Brigadier General Select, because we're a few minutes ahead. Brigadier General Select, Buzz Aldrin, and say, well done, God bless you, God bless Anka, and thank you very, very much. Thank you, General Liles. It's our pleasure to now welcome the Honorable Frank McKendall. Good afternoon. I was a bit blown away by the opportunity to come here and speak today. When the decision to promote Colonel Aldrin to General Aldrin came across my desk, it was probably the easiest decision I've made since I became Secretary of the Air Force. This is the second event, which has some historic significance that I participated in. The first one was the last toast for the Do Little Raiders last year. And I think this one will top that in some ways, at least for me personally. I tend to get emotional with these things, so I'll warn you ahead of time that that may happen. Chairman Calvert, thank you so much for your leadership in making this possible. Congressman Garcia, thank you for being with us and for your support for the Air and Space Forces. General Gertlein, always great to be with you. Thank you. All of our guests, Anka, the family of the Aldrin family, friends, airmen and guardians, it's terrific to be here with all of you and all our supporters to celebrate this day. I want to give a special shout out to 14 of our international partners who are here today. The accomplishment of landing on the moon was not just for the U.S. It was for all mankind. And our closest friends and partners are here with us today, and I'd like to give them a big hand. Please do that with me. You all know the story of Buzz Aldrin and his accomplishments. And you heard a great summary from Chairman Calvert. I'm going to do something a little bit... this is where I'm going to get emotional. Different today. I'm going to talk about one of the thousands, one of the millions of people who were inspired by Buzz Aldrin's accomplishments. In 1969, in July, there was a 20-year-old cadet at West Point. Buzz, you remember West Point, right? You know it's cool. And he found a way to watch the landing on the moon from one of the classrooms in Thayer Hall in one of the academic rooms. And on a greeny black and white TV, he got to see the first human beings on the moon. That person went on to graduate school. He came out here to go to Caltech. He didn't go to MIT, Buzz. And he got degrees in aerospace engineering. He was in the Army. He would have considered the Air Force, but he had bad eyes, so he couldn't fly. He went on to serve on active duty for about 10 years, working mostly in research and development, and then became a civil servant, and still working on defense research and development. And then up in the Pentagon, where he had responsibility for strategic defense programs, spent a time in industry as he became the chief engineer of a major aerospace company, and then back in the government and the Secretary of Defense's staff, and then out the industry again and then back in. Today, he's the Secretary of the Air Force, and he's going to promote Buzz Aldrin, the general officer today. And that's a pretty big deal for him. But the story doesn't stop there. This is a story that cuts across many generations. We have some of them represented here from the Aldrin family. My eight-year-old son is going to be watching today, and he's going to be proud of what his father's getting to do, but especially proud of the accomplishments of the man that we're going to recognize and promote today to bring it to the general. In my home, there are two newspaper front pages hung on the wall in frames. One of them is from the wall coming down from the Soviet Union, so. The other is the New York Times front page when we landed on the moon. And I'm going to look at that a little bit differently after today, and it's going to mean a little bit more to me. So thank you for the opportunity to do this, to meet you and to recognize your accomplishments. General Gertlein, I think we're going to promote the general. And I'm going to be the last person who gets to call Colonel Aldrin, Colonel Aldrin, and the first one to call him General Aldrin. Could you join me? Thank you, Secretary Kendall. Ladies and gentlemen, please stand for the reading of the promotion certificate. To all who shall see these presents, greeting, this is to certify that Buzz Aldrin, Colonel, United States Air Force, retired, is honorably promoted to the grade of Brigadier General, United States Air Force, effective the 7th of April, 2023 by odor of the Secretary of the Air Force. Ladies and gentlemen, please be seated. We now invite Brigadier General Aldrin's wife, Anka, his sons, Andrew, and James Michael, and daughter, Janice, to pin the new rank on his service dress. The star is the oldest continually used rank in the United States military. The use of the star is to signify the rank of a general officer, and can be traced to a June 1780 decree signed by George Washington during the War of American Independence. It is believed that General Washington chose the star as a symbol of general officer rank in honor of its use in Allied French Armed Forces. It is customary for family members or close friends to participate in the pinning ceremony to recognize their contributions to the promoter's success in achieving their higher rank. Let's give it up one more time. I invite General Aldrin's great-grandsons, Nathaniel, Benjamin, Archie, and Anka's granddaughters, Makali and Kaya, for a family photo. Lieutenant General Gutlein will now administer the reaffirmation of the oath of office to Brigadier General Aldrin. Please be seated. At this time, Chief Master Sergeant Frazier and Chief Master Sergeant Morgan will now unfurl and present Brigadier General Aldrin with his personal colors. The United States Congress authorizes general officers to display individual flags depicting their rank. These flags can be displayed at ceremonies when the general officer who it represents is officiating or participating in the event. Chief Master Sergeant Frazier will now post the general officer's flag. At this time, General Gutlein will now come forward to make a special presentation. Buzz Speaks. I have something else to share that's kind of exciting with you. On behalf of the Chief of Space Operations, General Chance Sultzman, in addition to be promoted to the one starting United States Air Force, General Aldrin is also being made the honorary Space Force Guardian. As I mentioned earlier today, Mr. Aldrin lived the life of epitomizing the Space Force Guardian's values of character connection and commitment and courage. He helped to set the stage for the eventual stand up of the United States Space Force. I can safely say, sir, you are one of the first, if not the first, Guardian. Thank you again, Brigadier General Aldrin. Ladies and gentlemen, please join me in a round of applause for General Aldrin. Ladies and gentlemen, it is our great honor to introduce Brigadier General Buzz Aldrin. Energy has gazed into the heavens and has been moved as was the author of the eighth Psalm. A Psalm which Mike Neal and I deposited on the moon which I brought upon our return. The Psalmist was moved to proclaim when I consider the heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, what is man that thou are mindful of him, then from Copernicus to Galileo and all who turn their eyes to the sky suffused with the sense of awe. Let us add the names of Hubble and Webb and Erot. We are privileged to live in those pesky bicycle mechanics Orville and Wilbur. Invented heavier than air flight in my own mother's and father's lifetime. In my own lifetime men and soon women have gone to the moon and return safely. I know because I've been one of them. After the beeping of Sputnik, we've sent probes to the outer planets and flew past the edge of our solar system. Billions and billions of miles away I was born in 1930. It has been an epic era. May that continue. Now spoiler alert. Let me at long last confess to just one of my epic character flaws. I was not a patient child. I had to wait two learned years in my crib before my father Edwin Alton took me on my first plane ride around Newark Airport New Jersey. I had to wait impatiently for another full seven years for jet propulsion to be developed. Then I impatiently waited for yet another eight years for Chuck Jaeger to break the sound barrier. I impatiently waited to get into then graduate from the military academy at West Point and then commissioned directly into the United States Air Force where I was trained to fly solo and dual pipelines having to wait to fly my 66 jet combat missions in Korea shooting down two MiG-15 aircraft thereafter my patience was strained again flying patrol missions in cold war Germany by and by President Kennedy vowed to make America the top spacefaring nation I impatiently waited for the opportunity to play a role in that I was accepted for astronaut training for Project Gemini where I was teased by my comrades as an a-head for having a doctor of science degree from MIT whose training in orbital mechanics contributed to the architecture of the Gemini and Apollo programs rendezvousing large objects space then we landed on the moon and returned safely in between later in between my sub surface down to the inspiring wreckage of the Titanic trekking to the pole and the south pole and many more explorations I reserved most of my impatience for restoring to sending astronauts beyond low earth orbit back to the further reaches of deep space for example pestering the giant general while we were serving on the National Space Council's user advisory group under the previous administration reprising my deep space advocacy as the keynote speaker for the first meeting of this administration's National Space Council Houston message from Tranquility Base that eagles that land on my shoulders long ago my stars I am deeply honored here honored here today grateful for the championship of representative Ken Galbert and Air Force Secretary Frank Kindel is that it is thrilling that I am still here to see NASA sending brave astronauts to circle and navigate the moon next year and land astronauts soon thereafter now that's space exploration I intend to impatiently pester Elon Musk a lot harder so that he and I will be waiting there on the moon to greet the NASA astronauts when they land enough of this hand waving it is my fondest hope that you here and all who my voice reaches will join me my dearest uncle my sons daughter grandson and three great grandsons adding your own impatient energy to the epic story of deep space exploration that I so briefly recount to you here today we return to the moon as a step to sending astronauts to Mars to other planets and the good lord willing to colonize the exoplanet circling black stars let the stars now placed on my shoulders help inspire humanities achieving its true destiny galactic colonization starting the Mars way God bless the United States Air Force NASA and the U.S. Space Force and God bless America at this time Brigadier General Aldrin would like to present Anka with the bouquet of flowers as a token of his appreciation for her love and support ladies and gentlemen please stand for the playing of the Air Force and Space Force songs this concludes today's ceremony Brigadier General and Dr. Aldrin invite friends, family and distinguished guests to proceed to a private reception thank you for attending and have a wonderful day