 Good afternoon and welcome to the United States special operations command change of command ceremony in which general Richard D. Clark United States Army will transfer command to general Brian P. Fenton United States Army We are honored to have the Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark A. Milley join us for today's ceremony Secretary Austin will serve as the presiding official We would like to welcome representatives from our foreign partners special operations forces members of the diplomatic corps interagency and senior leaders of the federal state and civilian community Thank you to all the former SOCOM commanders and senior enlisted leaders for attending today's ceremony We are honored to have a number of distinguished guests in attendance this afternoon Please hold your applause until all of our distinguished guests have been recognized The Honorable Joni Ernst US senator from Iowa The Honorable Kathy Caster Congresswoman 14th district of Florida the Honorable Steve Womack Congressman 3rd district of Arkansas The Honorable Stephanie Murphy Congresswoman 7th district of Florida The Honorable Michael Waltz congressman 6th district of Florida the Honorable Jason Crow congressman 6th district of Colorado Lieutenant General HR McMaster United States Army retired former national security advisor the Honorable Mark Esper 27th Secretary of Defense The Honorable John Tien deputy secretary of the Department of Homeland Security The Honorable Christine Wormuth secretary of the Army The Honorable Joe McGuire the former acting director of national intelligence The Honorable John rude the former undersecretary of Defense for policy The Honorable Lewis free the former director of the Federal Bureau Bureau of Investigation General James Mcconville chief of staff of the Army General Eric Carilla commander United States Central Command General Chris Cavoli commander United States European Command and a Special welcome to the class of 84 u.s. Military Academy classmates that we have with us today The United States Special Operations Command was formally established as a unified combatant command at Mcdill Air Force Base, Florida on April 16th 1987 Congress established us so come to address the unconventional threats posed by the world's increasing complexity The World War two era office of strategic services or OSS was the fundamental building block for us so come Today us so come synchronizes the planning of special operations forces with persistent Networked and distributed capabilities to assist the geographic combatant commands in order to protect and advance our nation's interests US so come service component commands are the Army Special Operations Command located at Fort Bragg, North Carolina The Naval Special Warfare Command located at Coronado, California The Air Force Special Operations Command located at Herbert Field, Florida and the Marine Forces Special Operations Command Located at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina Each component provides the capabilities needed to meet worldwide national security demands providing reconnaissance counter proliferation counter terrorism military information support operations counter insurgency Security Force assistance for an internal defense and civil affairs You said us so comes eight sub unified commands are the seven theater special operations commands supporting the geographic combatant commands and the joint special operations command as Evidence by the global support we provide the world is truly our area of responsibility Ladies and gentlemen Please stand for the arrival of the official party and the rendering of honors to the Secretary of Defense Ladies and gentlemen, please remain standing for the presentation of the colors the singing of our national anthem and the invocation Was so proud let us pray Almighty God we invoke your divine presence upon our change of command ceremony today That honors two exceptional leaders committed to service of nation and the defense of freedom We are grateful for the accomplishments of general Richard D. Clark as our so-com commander His enthusiastic spirit and notable professionalism Served as an inspiration for those who were privileged to work with him and Providing an example of encouragement and motivation throughout the entire special operations enterprise We now ask your blessing upon general Brian P. Fenton as he assumes command Bring success and achievement to his efforts as he continues to work through the many Extraordinary and demanding challenges before him may he continue to be a source of inspiration for his fellow service members and For everyone within the so-com community Watch over all of us now as we celebrate this transition and May our new leadership and our continued commitment to freedom Bear the fruit of security Liberty and peace in your holy name. We pray Amen Ladies and gentlemen, please be seated Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff general Mark Milley You all for being here today and it's truly a big day Earlier We retired rich Clark and I was falsely accused of giving a 40-minute speech and that was fake news and Brian Fenton reminded me earlier of what I had said to him earlier about to get his burger dress lasting two minutes and Caesar stood up here and gave a two-hour dress and he was murdered by his friends. So I Cut my remarks way down here So hey, but this is a big day and thank you all for making time for being here As we celebrate the great work of rich Clark and what he's done Over the last three years here. It's so common what Brian Fenton is about to do and so thank you all There's many many Dignitaries here senators congressman general sergeants majors all kinds of folks and in the words of Carter ham all protocols are observed But there is one group that should be recognized a little bit more and that is Sitting over here to my right. You're left and that's the families the gold star families of our fallen who represent a greater community They really represent hundreds of thousands of fallen soldiers sailors airmen marines. This is the founding of our nation who have given their lives on the altar of freedom and I want to Recognize them and they know that there's no words that I can say and those of you are at the Retirement ceremony heard the same thing. There's no words. I can say or anyone else can ever say To ease the gaping wounds that are in your hearts They will be there all of your life But what we can do and what we will do is always remember you're fallen We will always honor them with our service and we will always honor their sacrifice for all of our freedoms They gave their tomorrows for our today's and we know that and we will honor them for the rest of our Days so to you each of you Thank you, and I know that it's difficult. This is a particularly difficult time and I know without naming names that One of the garb garb gold star mothers here lost her son at Abbey gate a year ago and This is extraordinarily painful and the memories swell up But she's an inspiration to every single one of us She and every gold star family shows us the way they show us the way forward. They show us How to put one foot in front of the other how to persevere In the face of hardship So to each of you, thank you. Thank you for your example. Thank you for your service and thank you for your sacrifice He recognized Rich Clark and Brian Fenton today. This ceremony is really about something much bigger than either one of them It's about the command. It's about so calm and so calm as we know creates and develops the most elite forces from across the Joint Force and integrates their skills into all the domains of space and cyber air land maritime and subsurface So calm provides globally integrated capabilities for every geographic combat and command and this capability is Not something that you can create very quickly There are no shortcuts special operations personnel and units are built through rigorous selection Incredible discipline excellence and all the fundamentals of war fighting tremendous leadership and flat-out hard demanding and dangerous work That requires exceptional courage so calm is in fact The world's most credible and capable force There is no other organization with the extraordinary talent and skill found in United States special operations forces and Rich Clark led so calm He led them in building partner capacity strengthening relationships with our allies and partners building capable incredible fighting forces and Currently so calm has over 5,000 troops deployed in 80 countries under riches command So calm teams rescue the u.s. Citizen in Nigeria Just 96 hours after capture They eliminated Soleimani beg daddy And most recently in the last 48 hours. They recovered another hostage They finished off Isis. They've constantly led the CT fight around the world in Afghanistan Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Somalia and Elsewhere Under rich Clark's leadership this command played a significant role in the largest military air evacuation in history With a hundred and twenty four thousand Afghans are free today Because of the United States military and the incredible capability of our special operations forces And as we know that came at a heavy price And no one knows that better in the United States Marine Corps The United States Navy the United States Army and United States special operations forces every soldier sailor airmen Marine And special operator that has ever served in Afghanistan Should always be proud of their sacrifice That protected our country for 20 consecutive years from terrorist attack And we gave unprecedented hope to millions of Afghanistan and the fight continues the so-called leading the way Providing over the horizon capabilities not only in Afghanistan But all around the globe And this command is also shifted To meet the significant challenge of China and Russia as part of the SEC deaths integrated deterrence strategy Today We are at day 188 Since Russia unlawfully and illegally invaded the sovereign territory of Ukraine a country that has been free and independent to the fall of the wall so com teams are Providing necessary training to Ukrainian special operations forces so they can counter this aggression this command in fact Additionally, so comp forces a building partner capacity with all the NATO allies all rich and so calmer accomplishing all of this direct an amazing friend and partner in Suzanne first 34th anniversary this December how you rich as you know as a an amazing friend and partner in Suzanne High school sweethearts from Germany They'll celebrate their 31st 34th anniversary this December how you put up with him for 34 years is amazing if anyone deserves a If anyone Suzanne deserves a medal at this ceremony be you As we all know Suzanne is a resource to our families as well as our soldiers and has Spent countless hours helping others. She has comforted our wounded. She is Grave with the families of the fallen She's been fully committed to this mission from the very beginning She's passionate about supporting our military families and she helps you address their every challenge And she does it all with character compassion and grace And all the while she has raised two amazing adults Madeleine and will I Instantly knew Madeleine and will were a force to be reckoned with as they both left home immediately and went to Boston Madeleine graduated from Tufts recently and and now is Working some doing some great work up there in the Boston area and will is attending northeastern as a rising senior and is Currently interning in LA at a law firm. So just what we need another lawyer will thank you You know our family sacrifice way more than we do Will and Madeleine are representative of all the children of those of us in uniform and when we Go off to war we deploy anywhere It is they who deal with the stress the uncertainty the many moves of military life And clearly they're constantly concerned about whether their soldier will come home Will and Madeleine, thank you Thank you for supporting your father Thank you for supporting your mother and thank you for your own sacrifice over so many years of service Sacrifices known all too well to the members of this command 11 years ago this month We lost 38 killed Just a few miles outside of Kabul Their Chinook extortion 1-7 shot out of the sky by a rocket propelled grenade It was a single deadliest event of the war in Afghanistan And they were killed while supporting a rage or root-out terrorists The daily freedoms we all have and all enjoy We the living Is paid for in the blood of our fallen And one year ago as I previously mentioned we lost 13 11 Marines one sailor And one soldier staff sergeant can house of this command All were killed at Abbey gate in a brutal terrorist attack as they were trying to save Afghans Fling from the tyranny of the Taliban So calm is always at the intersection where freedom meets fear Special operations forces are always at the point of the spear They are literally at the edge of liberty Our enemies around the world take note of what our operators do it gives them pause It changes their calculus Well, we ask our special operations soldiers sailors airmen and Marines to do is amazing These men and women execute some of the nation's most complex and dangerous missions that most will never hear about They do it at night. They do it in horrible weather. They do it against fanatical enemies And they're risking it all on every objective And the bloody crucible of ground combat Sometimes you may hear about the mission or what they accomplished and oftentimes you never will And they don't do these missions for glory They do it for you They do it for us They do it for America And they do these missions consistently and routinely without complaint And while our special operators are very successful at what they do We can never stop improving. We're not perfect And the way we fought wars for the last 20 years is not the same way. We're gonna fight wars in the future The special operations maximum of the human is more important than the hardware will always be true But we must arm our operators with the right equipment We must arm them with the right intelligence. We must arm them with the right sensor fusion and data analytics We must arm them with the right relationships and partners And right now we are an inflection point an historical inflection point And while the nature of war does not change the character of war does And right now the character of war is changing rapidly How we fight the doctrine we fight with The organizations that we fight with the weapons we fight with The enemies we fight In the locations All of that is changing It's changing fast and it's changing in a very real fundamental way And it's changing at a pace that's unprecedented in history Information is flowing much more rapidly at the strategic operational and tactical levels Autonomous systems and artificial intelligence will be foundational to the conduct of future war And like the last 20 years so calm will lead this nation So calm will lead this nation in the next 20 years and beyond point For our joint force as we adapt to the changing character of war And brian fenton is the right leader He's the right leader at the right time and the right skills To lead this command like rich clark brian fenton has the perfect blend of character competence and courage He has all the right expertise and knowledge to take what rich has done And take it to the next level brian understands service He's led soldiers on 10 deployments in bosnia iraq afghanistan and across africa and the pacific Throughout his time in special forces. He commanded at the the troop the battalion squadron brigade levels and his Commanders the general office of various Special mission units to include jaysoc brian knows how to lead high performing organizations. He knows How to build effective teams to maximize your strength and accomplish their mission And he's led special operations forces for over 30 years across five continents in peace and war and together With his spouse dawn brian's an example for his children His daughter nor commissioned in 2021 As a collection platoon leader in the army reserve and their second daughter cc Is starting a junior year at Notre Dame and as an army r or tc so norah cc and dawn to each of you know that brian could not have done what he has done without your Unconditional love and support over so many years And i can tell you he's going to need it again he's going to need it In spades in the next several years Without your support brian fenton will not make it He's hard. He's tough, but he needs every ounce of it Sacrifice is inherent in this line of work Everyone in uniform knows that Everyone of us knows that we raised our right hand and we committed an oath to an idea the idea that is america and defending That idea will always Be dangerous Hundreds of thousands Have paid the ultimate sacrifice to keep our nation free in the last two and a half centuries Each of them gave The last full measure of devotion so that our nation Would remain free Special operations forces answer that call every day They fight for the same cause And every one of us is prepared to give our lives To support and defend the constitution In our american values What this command has done for 20 years Protecting our country from terrorists will be forever enshrined in military history The challenge does not end We must continue to look forward and focus on the threats of our future The threats to our constitution Will always be there And it will always be met by the courage Of our special operations forces So let me take a moment now To introduce our secretary of defense He's a man of incredible character and integrity He leads with honor and compassion. He's a man that I have known for 25 years I have personally seen him lead In combat under fire We are very fortunate To have Lloyd Austin leading us ladies and gentlemen The 28th secretary of defense Lloyd J. Austin the third Well, good afternoon everyone I thank you general milley for that introduction and for all that you do for our military And I join the chairman In honoring the wounded warriors and the gold star families who are here with us today Your loved ones extraordinary bravery and service And sacrifice it's something that We can never repay And we will never forget I'm also pleased to welcome members of congress And so many current and former military and civilian leaders You know, it's great to be back in Tampa When I served in uniform I've spent a lot of time at McDeal and in this community So being here always feels like coming home Now today we're celebrating general Clark for his leadership of this command And his lifetime of service And we're welcoming general fenton who I know will do an exceptional job. So This is a special day That's special operations command But it's also a day for reflection Today we mark one year since the end of the war in Afghanistan And I remain enormously proud Of the u.s. military's professionalism and bravery Over 20 years of war Proud of the work our nato allies and partners Who supported our hope for a better future for the afghan people And proud of this command's relentless fight Doing only What special operations special operators can do You know, it was a quiet professionals of socom who were among the first on the ground in afghanistan In 2001 And when I led troops in afghanistan and iraq and served as a sent com commander I relied on special operators and support teams For your skill For your precision And for your bold determination To confront any threat Anytime And you remain vigilant every day For socom the mission ahead Will also require your expertise as We focus on today's security environment One where china's aggression is our number one pacing challenge And where russia remains an acute threat, especially after president putin's reckless invasion of ukraine At the same time special operations forces will maintain the watch To protect our country from terrorists Soar in afghanistan this command has been instrumental into being For the horizon counterterrorism approaches And No one Should doubt the resolve of the united states to protect our homeland The world saw that back in february In the successful mission that took out The global leader of isis And again just to have been working closely with the interagency And with our strong network Of allies and partners around the globe Every day You are helping us realize that vision for our security So so com is hard at work here in tampa And at theater special operations commands And in more than 80 countries around the world They're working hard to Set the conditions to prevent conflicts before they start And to create multiple dilemmas for our adversaries And to deliver the right effect At the right place At the right time And for decades so com you have supported Interoperability with our sof allies and partners around the globe And at so com You also know that how you do what you do matters So you've embraced civilian oversight with your counterparts at solid And when military and civilian leaders share a true partnership That's a powerful combination And that's how we'll make sure that special operations forces have the broadest range of resources and technologies And the best people To succeed in today's security environment So we are enormously proud Of the men and women of so com So ladies and gentlemen, please join me in a round of applause for the men and women of so com It is clear that so com has done vital work these past three years and that's a testament to the principled And dedicated leader that you've had in general rich clark and military service runs deep in the clark family And so I want to add my appreciation to all of them For their dedication To our country I also want to thank susanne for all the work that she's done With military families over the years And a special thanks to the clark children Who as a chairman pointed out are not really children. They are Full adults And doing well Will and madeline we are grateful for your sacrifices You have been by your dad's side for every move and supported him During every deployment over the last 38 years So thanks for your sacrifices And again susanne thanks for all that you have done On behalf of our families And in support of rich, you know rich is also the product Of the west point class of 1984 Rich is also the product of the class the west point class of 1984 Okay rich, I think some of your classmates are in fact here today, so Welcome classmates Now according to those classmates at the academy Rich was considered the least likely to stay in the military for more than five years And at the time staying in for five years was in fact rich and susanne's plan But then a ranger regimental commander invited rich to try out for the rangers And that changed everything In the rangers rich found a team Living by their creed To move further And faster And fight harder And not for personal glory But because as rich has said when you push yourself to the next level Every ranger to your left and right Will meet you there now that focus on character and on excellence has Formed general clerk's leadership style ever since Is what has defined his Two decades of command Two decades of command And it's what made him such a successful commandant at west point Those are significant accomplishments, especially when you consider That he was a guy that was only planning to stay in for five years And I would note And instead of the least likely to stay in the military Today general clerk retires as the last member of the class of 1984 In continuous active duty service I actually saw general clerk's relentless pursuit of excellence for myself When I was a sent com commander At the time general clerk was leading our effort to train and equip iraqi soldiers As a commander of the famed 82nd airborne division And as they were preparing for the battles of ramadi and muzzle I pushed him in the 82nd airborne division to speed up their timeline And true to form Rich and his team Worked hard And moved further And faster And they fought harder And they absolutely got the job done Here it's so calm General Clark has made this command more resilient He's improved the quality of special operators And he's strengthened so coms fear force and families Rich I want to Personally thank you for all that you've done to keep america safe And to serve all those under your command You have done a magnificent job And I wish you and susan all the best in a well deserved retirement And so as we say farewell to one outstanding leader at socom we are welcoming Another in general brian finton Now if you had to pick a few words to sum up brian They would be god country And Notre Dame a couple of Notre Dame guys in the crowd too Notre Dame brian's love for the university of Notre Dame began at a young age And he said that wanting to go to college there was What prompted him to fill out an rotc application Now that application set him on a path to spend the next 35 years in uniform And general finton has served in and commanded at Every level of special operations forces He's been a part of operations in nearly every region around the world And general finton has built up extensive expertise in the endo pacific In fact He managed to get Four consecutive assignments in hawaii Four assignments in hawaii And it culminated in general finton becoming the first special operations officer to serve As a deputy commander At us endo pacific command Now brian following your time in hawaii. It must have felt like Your luck had run out when you had to leave surfing behind And you took your next assignment at the pentagon As a senior military assistant to the secretary of defense But when I walk into the office on my first day I have to say brian. I was really glad to have you there To as one of the first people that I met I will be forever grateful for your steady leadership Through historic challenges And for the spirit of teamwork that you instilled and for your sound judgment and wise counsel I also want to echo the chairman's recognition of your wife don Who has served has served right alongside you for the past three decades and your two daughters Who has who have done amazing work in their in their lifetime as well Your daughter nor graduated from Notre Dame in 2021 and she is in the army reserves Your daughter cecilia is a junior at Notre Dame and also enrolled in army rotc Now brian, I want hazard a guess On whether it's the army Or the Notre Dame part of their resumes that make you The most proud Now what makes general finton ideal for this command is his focus on people Everywhere he's worked he's created the kind of environment where people want to perform He's invested in his teammates and trusted them to get the job done He's embodied the sof truth truths that guide everything that you do here So general finton congratulations, and I know that you will take this command bravely forward Now I know that your sof truths Are unique to this command But they also drive at something that's fundamental to our entire military And it's this United States has the strongest fighting force in the world And it's not because we have superior weapons, although we do Is not because we have better tactics though we have those two Ladies and gentlemen, we are the world's strongest fighting force because our people and the values That our people stand for are far and beyond What everybody else brings to the table Our strength is our people and it's so calm I'm proud of the way that you prove that every single day Thank you for all that you do in the service of our great nation And may god bless you and keep you safe And may god continue to bless the united states of america. Thank you very much Thank you secretary austin and general milley Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome the 12th commander of the united states special operations command general rich clark Hey to the many many many friends and teammates And to the distinguished visitors Thank you all for joining today Mr. Secretary and chairman I'm sincerely grateful for the trust and confidence That you provided to me This command And most of all to our special operations forces Thank you for your leadership And most of all thank you both for your example Mr. Secretary as you mentioned, you know, we work we first worked closely together when I was commanding in iraq Underneath you as the sent com commander And every single day you pushed Me and you push the 82nd airborne To drive faster To make you know to get the iraqis, you know make the iraqis successful And I got to watch your personal courage and leadership For that for that year long period and I'll tell you it mattered But thank you for driving this department to change in defending our nation Succeeding through teamwork And most of all taking care of our people And thank you for raising your hand again After military retirement to serve And what I would argue is an even increasingly More demanding position today To my family Suzanne Madeline will I love all you dearly You care just as deeply about this nation and so comes families as I do Thank you for serving alongside me these many years To our Tampa community And so many incredible leaders Suzanne and I'd relished our time here And we're sad to go Few communities support the men and women who protect this nation Like champa bay My deepest thanks to all of you To my predecessors, many of them here the loyal team of former socom commanders You have always made yourselves available to me and for that I will always be appreciative Luckily many of you love Tampa dearly And mayor castor I see you there Thanks For you all to make make Tampa your home And if I can find a good real estate deal later, uh, I will be back here too To my fellow socom leaders Pat McCauley, Greg Smith, Tony Bauerfine, Tim Samansky, Colin Green, Marcus Evans And our subordinate commanders like Jim Slife, John Braga, Jim Glenn, Fran Bedette And I counted up almost 20 TSOC commanders During the three and a half years that I've been in command I couldn't have wished to serve with a better group And a finer group of leaders You and your and your command senior listed leaders care deeply about our special operations community today But more importantly as we've talked about Every time we get together care about Our special operators in the future I am thrilled To welcome and turn over this great unit to Brian and Don Fenton Brian, congratulations No one Let's say again. No one is more ready to lead our special operations community than you There have only been two socom commanders that commanded both the TSOC And JSOC And the other guy was a name a guy named McCraven. Some of you may have heard of Brian is the second one With a depth of experience in the Pacific You're already poised for our most pressing security challenges But more importantly, I have watched you lead with enthusiasm and positivity You have the vision you have the experience And most of all you live and breathe our first soft truth Humans are more important than hardware Our people are without question the unmatched advantage of this command They're innovative. They're problem-solvers. They are absolutely committed to keep Americans safe at home And our nation free So this afternoon I'm going to tell four brief stories about them about the people in our special operations formations First story started with a phone call the chairman General Melly Pulled me into a conference call at four o'clock in the morning on the on the morning of february 24th In those early morning hours russia had begun its unprovoked unjustified and brutal invasion of ukraine When he called I was actually in west africa I've been visiting our special operations Our special operators who had been partnered with 10 african nations and allied nations for the annual flintlock exercise The largest so-called exercise on the african continent Our men and women were working with partners to counter the persistent threat of island extremism that continues to threaten regional stability But even as the chairman made that call our special operators in europe Were already prepared for russia's act acts of aggression They had already trained as mentioned for the for the previous eight years with the ukrainian special operations forces Where they had increased both their capability And their capacity doubling the size of the ukrainian special operations forces They had already established those deep relationships with our other ally special operations forces long term Trusted relationships with our allies our nato allies That we had been fighting shoulder to shoulder with in afghanistan And iraq for the previous 20 years Business all of us know you cannot surge trust in crisis We also know relationships are what enable our partnerships And those and our people are the foundation of those relationships And those partnerships I want to thank our interagency partners here today Represented by just a few of a few select individuals deputy secretary tian from dhs Former director louis free from the fbi And so many others The level of integration between soft and our interagency today is the strongest it has ever been I thank our international partners Our fearless j3 international directorate with liaison exchange officers from 28 nations That serve directly in our headquarters As well as many of our fellow special operations commanders That are that came from around the world to be present here today Your attendance means a great deal And speaks to the power of partnerships And lastly I want to thank our joint force partners my fellow combatant commanders past and present And service secretaries and chiefs like secretary warmeth and my old friend jelma convo Our force is ready to provide strategic options and asymmetric advantages to our joint force To ensure that our nation prevails If and when threatened Through it all so com's people are our unmatched advantage It's those partnerships which generate credible options in crisis And allow us to defend freedoms across the globe The second story that I want to share is about courage The courage of our men and women on the battlefield Last June I had the honor of recognized one of our soft legends Colonel retired ralph puckett President biden awarded colonel puckett our nation's highest battlefield honor The congressional medal of honor But he did this at the age of 94 Where he was recognized for his actions in 1950 leading Our rangers Against with along with korean partners when they were being overrun on the battlefield For me That serves as a reminder that our special operations warriors have been displaying courage Since their very inception Long before this command came into being in 1987 The last two decades Since 9 11 were no different Since 9 11 12 12 special operators Have been awarded the congressional medal of honor And three of those still serve on active duty today I would argue that's unprecedented And it speaks to the courage of our men and our women And it's only a fraction of the countless valorous awards That this unit has received since 2001 This past april We celebrated and recognized another milestone in our history We recognized the 35th anniversary Since socom was found in 1987 when congress Congress Courageously created this command against The recommendations and advice of the joint chiefs of staff I want to thank many of our congressional leaders and He wasn't he wasn't here then He gentlemanly would have voted for it as a green beret But I do thank our congressional members that are here today many of them who serve On our subcommittee senator erntz a good friend representatives castor will mack murphy waltz and crow Thank all of you for being here. Thanks for your steadfast support You represent our freedom our democracy and most of all you remind us of the oath That we have taken to support and defend the constitution The last two stories i'll share are about a different bit of courage They're about courage when faced with the steep cost of defending freedom And the chairman and the secretary both already you know address this but I want to make it a little bit close in person As already mentioned one year ago last week army staffs are in ryan canals Our one of our special operators lost his life in a suicide bombing in afghanistan He was the last member of this command to lose their life in combat When I had the honor of officiating The funeral at arlington for ryan his family told me this ryan generally loves serving this country He started his service in the 82nd airborne division But he especially wanted to strive to come and love serving in our special operations forces His family including his mother paula who is here today Remind all of us of the gold star families who have sacrificed so much for this country They are the epitome of courage They reflect the selflessness of our men and women In uniform and we must never forget But my final story today Is one I shared when I took command three years ago But it was only part of the story I first met cori remsburg as a motivated young army ranger specialist in first ranger battalion When an ied changed his life in 2009 cori battled back as he recovered from his ruins Much with the assistance of his mom and dad craig and an thank you But just last week I got to see cori competing at the warrior games in orlando as one of our so-com athletes yet again Cori is charged as challenged himself year after year competing with team so-com And with so many other wounded to teammates Cori you are still the same motivated somewhat irreverent Army ranger That I met so many years ago With your dad craig By your side you exemplify the spirit of sacrifice of all of our wounded warriors and our so-com families You and your family have given so much for this country cori You have been To most of my changes of command I was at your retirement in savannah It is only fitting That I recognize you Yeah, thank you all for saving me with that applause Is what I was going to finish It's only fitting that I recognize you on my last day in uniform You inspire me and you remind all of us of the of the undaunted Undaunted courage of our operators That spirit Is why I'm hopeful Your courageous example Is why I'm hopeful For you and the gold star families and all of our wounded warriors you make me proud You make me honored to have served in this uniform For almost 30 for over 38 years As I close today, we must always remember The almost 5000 men and women from the special operations community overseas in over 80 countries As we speak about keeping our nation free While providing a forward defense at all times What I love Is that they probably don't know And I truly hope they don't care About this change of command And we should not want them to care Because what we want them to be right now Is 100% laser focused On the mission at hand listening to their nco's listening to their seniors To defend the freedoms That we all hold dear It's been the honor of my career To serve alongside them May god continue to bless this great command And this great country Rangers lead the way. Thank you very much Thank you general clark. Ladies and gentlemen, please be seated The change of command is a military tradition that is rich with symbolism and heritage dating back to medieval times Soldiers often carried staffs or standards in a battle that identified them as a unit Throughout military history unit colors have marked the position of the commander on the battlefield and served as a rally point Soldiers would follow the standard or guide on of their leader most often found at the forward edge of battle All others within the organization might perish, but the colors live forever In more recent times the colors represent not only the heritage and history of the unit But also the unity and loyalty of its service members Wherever the commander is there also are the colors Today united states special operations command continues this tradition as secretary austin general clark and general fenton Join command sergeant major shorter for the exchange of the united states special operations command colors Please remain seated The senior enlisted leader represents the importance of non commission officers to the armed forces of the united states And within united states special operations command At this time command sergeant major shane shorter will pass the colors to the outgoing commander general clark General clark now relinquishes the colors to secretary austin Thereby signifying the conclusion of his time in command Ladies and gentlemen, please stand for the reading of the official orders attention to orders by the authority of title 10 united states code section 164 and 167 The undersigned assumes command of the united states special operations command mcdill air force base florida effective 30 august 2022 Signed brian p fenton general united states army commander Secretary austin presents the colors to the new commander general fenton Charging him with the responsibility for mission accomplishment and the welfare of his force general brian fenton assumes command and returns the colors to command sergeant major shorter Signifying his acceptance of command Responsibility and the continuation of the mission Ladies and gentlemen, please be seated And now please welcome the 13th commander of united states special operations command general brian fenton There's only one book left up here. I guess it must be mine. It's probably the longest one Good afternoon everyone Thank you so much for being here today and for traveling from so many places near and far You honor the socom team with your presence And the gift of your time I'll start my remarks by thanking the teammates who made this change of command possible We all know these events don't just happen They take a lot of time and effort by some really incredible people So if I can I'd like to get a round of applause for the socom protocol team The 82nd airborne element and how about miss jasty sullivan for her rendition of that national anthem and all the other heroes How about that? I also want to recognize our wounded warriors and gold star family members in the audience You are national treasures You've given so much to this nation And your strength and resilience are a source of inspiration to us all Thank you so much for honoring us with your presence And reminding of us of our sacred obligations Could I also ask for a moment of silence in memory of our us service members And international teammates Who have made the ultimate sacrifice? Thank you very much for that Now there's a military custom that says If you are coming in as the new commander You should be brief Be brilliant and be gone in your remarks I understand that general carella doesn't think this is possible for me At least to be brief part. So I'll try to prove them wrong But it will be tough eric a lot of folks to thank And while we've already welcomed the vip's The vvip's And the dvs here in this room. I would like to call out a couple notable guests Mr. Secretary chairman Thank you for officiating today's ceremony You all must be the busiest people on the planet Yet you honor so com with your presence today And we're extremely grateful for that presence Your trust and your confidence in this command. Thank you Rich and Suzanne Clark You along with greg antena smith Have done an amazing job Leading the so com force and families these last three years Thank you for your steadfast commitment to our enterprise And for your 38 years of service to this nation Dawn and I and the whole so com team wish you fair winds and falling seas our friends And welcome as well to all the family friends and colleagues of the clarks and fentons You make this day very special for us And to my immediate family dawn norah and cc. Thank you for everything. You know, I love you very much But most importantly I want to welcome the men and women of so com Those in this room today Those listening via broadcast And those who are deployed Otherwise standing the watch for our nation This is really your day In a command Where humans are more important than hardware This is a day to pause for a moment and recognize Those exceptional men and women who make up the united states special operations command Along with their incredible achievements A day to pause And to note that these so com teammates These quiet professionals who work tirelessly at home and abroad to keep our nation safe Are the comparative and competitive advantage of this command They answer the call every day forging enduring relationships with partners and allies Responding to crisis countering terror Or whatever else our nation might require This team has been and will continue to be Called upon to protect our country And even more so now at this crucial time With the national defense strategy outlining challenges with china Russia Iran al-Qaeda and isis to name but a few Yet your special operations forces were born for challenges just like these It's in our dna and has been since the beginning Because for more than 70 years Special operations forces have delivered the department and our nation Exquisite solutions to some of the most vexing problems one could imagine From facing down communism during the cold war Where special operations forces contested and campaigned in the gray zone Competed in a manner similar to what we will ask of them today And tomorrow To responding to crisis when the nation called To more than 20 years of combat experience in the fight against terror All the while being a small but incredibly lethal force Consistently delivering high return on investment Because of this your special operations forces are ever more ready Ready to provide unique asymmetric capabilities And options to confront strategic competitors such as china and russia Ready to counter persistent threats from terrorist organizations And other actors like iran Ready to respond rapidly to crisis when called And ready If required to provide a range of options for high-end conflict as part of our unrivaled joint force And do so as part of a whole of us government team And with an incredible network of allies and partners So software ready Ready to compete Contest Campaign and win to advance us national security objectives But we couldn't do this without Our special operations families Their commitment resolve And most importantly their trust Form the bedrock the strength of our force Special operations families. Thank you Thank you for being such a critical part of who we are as a team So comp team having grown up in your ranks I'm extremely grateful for the opportunity to serve again alongside the soldiers Sailors airmen marines space guardians civilians contractors and families Of this remarkable command And i'm honored to be your commander Thank you for what you do for this country each and every day Thank you in advance for what we will do together going forward And i'll end where i began By expressing my gratitude to everyone for taking the time to be here today And honoring the so comp team with your presence May god bless everyone in this room Our military Our whole of us government team Our incredible allies and partners and the united states of america The oppressor libert Thank you general fenton Ladies and gentlemen, please remain standing for the playing of the armed forces medley and the departure of the official party We ask that you remain in place as the ushers escort the families to the receiving lines