 Everyone, so much for attending today, for rotor heads in the room. We understand what a big day this is. Many of us have served our entire careers and are now in retirement and never got to see this day. It is truly a momentous occasion for the 40th helicopter squadron, the 550th helicopter squadron, Malmstrom Air Force Base and 20th Air Force and Global Strike Command. Senator Tester, General Bousier, General Nichols, General Newman, General Huescher, Chief Gamez, Ms. Jolivette, thank you so much for attending today and for all that you've done to make this new aircraft a reality. There are so many people in other organizations and agencies that made this helicopter happen. First of all, thank you to Boeing and to all the members of the Air Force Acquisitions community who brought us this new helicopter. There are some incredible acquisitions personnel and a good number of helicopter pilots who have labored away in cubicles for years to make this a reality. Thank you also to the air crew from the 4th, 13th test squadron and members of Global Strike Detachment 7 who have operated this aircraft already for the last four years and who have worked out all the wrinkles so that we can get a perfect aircraft when it arrives here at Malmstrom Air Force Base today. I particularly like to thank Colonel Little and all the members, all the men and women of the 341st Missile Wing for all that you've done to make this day possible. Your wing has accomplished some incredible logistical feats in the last two years to make sure we could access these hangars and these offices so we had a place to put this new aircraft. So thank you, sir. Finally I'd like to thank the civic leaders of the state of Montana and especially Grape Falls for being such wonderful partners and hosts and embracing the men and women of Malmstrom Air Force Base and for not just putting up with our rotor noise but often cheering it on. So thank you. Primarily I'd like to address the men and women of the 582nd Helicopter Group and our Defender Partners. Shortly after the terrorist attacks of September 11th, 2001, the ICBM Enterprise reassessed how it performed security and the mighty Huey quickly became a much more integral part of this mission. Beginning in 2004, numerous new security requirements were levied against these small helicopter flights at each of the missile wings across these northern tier bases. At that same time, the Air Force began in earnest to look for a new helicopter because the mighty Huey simply could not fly fast enough, fly far enough or carry enough defenders. Over the next decade, these small helicopter flights became squadrons. The air crew and our partners in the Security Forces Group and particularly in the Tactical Response Force worked tirelessly to develop new tactics and methods to employ the UH-1 to defend our ICBM fleet. All the while, our incredible maintainers kept this 55-year-old aircraft flying. In 2015, the 582nd Helicopter Group was created and shortly thereafter, the mighty Huey was armed for every nuclear convoy across every missile wing in the United States. The helicopter squadrons continued to grow and grow in size and the air crew and the defenders continued to improve, strengthen tactics and capabilities. Many of the people sitting in this audience today were those same air crew and defenders who improved those tactics, yet we still cannot fly fast enough or carry enough defenders and we just did not have enough helicopters. Today we began a new era in ICBM security. No more hashtag three to five years. We start now. We get to start today. To the members of the Security Forces Groups and the 582nd Helicopter Group, you have an incredible task and opportunity ahead of you. Very soon you will employ the MH-139 and revolutionize how the Air Force secures our ICBMs. You will quickly develop new tactics which this new helicopter enables and you will strengthen our nation's most deadly and strategic weapons. You will convert from the Huey to the Gray Wolf at a rapid pace and unlike almost every other Air Force aircraft, you will not have the luxury to pause the mission while you do that conversion. So embrace that challenge. You have an opportunity that few Air Force aviators and few defenders receive. So make the most of it. We have full faith and confidence that you will do it well. But as the helicopter group commander, I'm going to come here and fly with you every now and then just to make sure. So thank you again to everyone who made this event an aircraft possible today. General Bousier, the 550th and the 582nd are ready to fly this new aircraft. So I'd like to hand things off to you. Thank you also to the air crew from the 413 test water and members of the Goldstein Contest with 7. We'll operate on this aircraft not ready for the last few years. And we've worked out all things so that we can get the perfect aircraft for the rides here. Thank you like thank you to all the members from the Air Force We've reached the summit. We've traveled to just weeks in the last two years. To make sure we can access these hangars and the conferences. I'd like to thank the syndicators of the state of Montana, and especially Great Falls for making such wonderful partners that host an embracing people. Shortly after the terrorist attacks of September 11, numerous new security requirements. The air crew that our partners and the security forces group and particularly the tactical response on this. I'd like to invite you guys to come in to defend our ice center. Any people sitting in this audience today will confirm that you will be in Great Falls. Ladies and gentlemen, please join me in welcoming the commander of the Air Force Global Strike Command, General Thomas Bousier. Saturday? Someone should have told me there was going to be smoke coming off the helicopter. Senator, I just want to make sure that wasn't a fire. Senator, thank you for being here. Thank you for taking the time to come from DC and be part of this ceremony. It's really important that you're here on your base in your state and you recognize, and we can honor both your contributions and support for our Department of Defense, Department of the Air Force, Air Force Global Strikes Mission, and the men and women that serve at Maelstrom Air Force Base. So thank you, sir. It's a pretty big day, right? You know, if we look at the Huey, Vietnam Air 70s helicopter, and then we glance upon the gray wolf, it's a pretty big day for Wing One, and I'll kind of give you my thoughts on that in a second. Colonel Bryant, Colonel Williams, thank you for being here. Thank you for your leadership. No pressure? Okay, there's a little bit of pressure, right? To Colonel Bryant's comments, this is the only business in the Department of Defense where we transition from legacy to new across the fabric of the triad where we have to maintain full operational capability for our nation and U.S. Strategic Command while we do that. Nobody else has to do that. It's a privilege to have the opportunity to be stewards of two-thirds of our nation's triad, and it's the airmen in this audience and those in the missile fields right now or in the helicopters right now patrolling our missile fields that are maintaining our nation's most important mission. Period, pardon me. But make no mistake about it. We have to maintain full operational capability while we transition, and that's a task, quite frankly, that our airmen are up to. Colonel Nichols, thanks for being here. We performed this mission for U.S. Strategic Command and our nation's president and senior leaders in D.C., so thank you for representing General Cotton and the team in Omaha. And then Ty Newman has disinherited their responsibility for flowing out the entire portfolio for our recapitalization in Air Force Global Strike Command, so thank you for taking the time to come out here, Ty. And of course, the most powerful numbered Air Force Commander in the Department of the Air Force, Stacey Jo. Thank you for being here. It's pretty cool to see you in the seat what we are in a month or two. Thank you. To our local and state leadership, thank you for being here. Community and civic leaders, you all know that our lives are directly impacted by your support for our airmen and families. So we recruit, we train and hope to retain our nation's most talented airmen. But quite frankly, if we don't take care of our airmen and our families, they will vote with their feet. And I will tell you that Great Falls in Montana are great stewards of taking care of our airmen and our families, so thank you very much for that support. Thank you very much for being here today and thank you for the future support we're going to give to our airmen and their families as they field our nation's most important weapon systems. So it's not lost on me that the first ICBM silo that stood up on alert on the 27th of October in 1962 was Alpha-06. It's not lost on me that the first wolf to be delivered to Wing 1 is 006. KJ, I'm not sure if you plan to that way, but thank you. So think about the historical significance of what we are witnessing today as we are in the midst of the warriors that maintain the first capabilities of the intercontinental ballistic missiles right here in Montana at Wing 1. Where our nation was stressed in the 60s by the Cuban missile crisis, who did they call upon? Wing 1. Who stood the watch in 62 and looked down tyranny across the fabric of the world? Wing 1. And who's going to develop, train and field the Grey Wolf as it maintains the proper range, payload, speed, endurance and survivability required for operators and defenders to maintain security over our nation's most important mission, the Airmen of Wing 1. Right here in the great state of Montana. That's pretty cool, Senator. So thank you for being here today. Thank you for your support of our mission and God bless, Mark. Ladies and gentlemen, please join me in welcoming the Commander of the Army. It is a great day for the Mountain Air Force base. It is a great day for Great Falls. It's a great day for North Central Montana. It's a great day for Montana. And it is a great day for this nation. I want to say good afternoon to you all and thank you for allowing me to join you today. It is indeed an honor to be with some of our nation's finest airmen and women that serve right here at Mountain Air Force Base. I want to say that lightly. In fact, Mountstrom's missile wing, 12 missile squadron, and 40th helicopter squadron have combined for five Omaha trophies in the past 10 years. Not too bad. Congratulations. Showing yet again that the folks at Mountstrom go above and beyond. And it is a great honor to have General Boussier I get to meet a lot of the folks that have stars on their shoulders in our military. It is an incredible honor for me. And I will tell you that our nation is in good hands when it comes to our leadership in our military, regardless what branch of the military you want to talk about. And when it comes to General Boussier, I will say you are at the top of the heap. So thank you very much to all of you from all over the country. Before we talk about this new helicopter, I want to congratulate the folks here at Mountstrom for breaking ground on a new weapons generation facility that we just saw about an hour ago. This project after decades of collaboration is finally taking off and I'm proud to see it take hold. This facility is a fit for the modern mission and key storage and maintenance of the United States' ICBM warheads. Today is also a big day for great falls in the entire country as we work to modernize Mountstrom's helicopter fleet, something that I've been working on since I got in the United States Senate. It has taken collaboration between Mountstrom's leadership, the Department of Defense, Congress, and maybe most importantly Hangar today. I don't have to tell anyone how critical Mountstrom's mission is to our national defense and to keep our country safe. Mountstrom provides an unparalleled deterrent against our foreign adversaries. And for decades, airmen and women have carried out that mission using decades-old Vietnam era Hueys to get the job done. By the way, and many of you know this, the Vietnam War ended when I was in high school. But make no mistake about it, the folks here have gone above and beyond, even with antiquated equipment. So the modernization of this fleet is long overdue. The mission here is simply too important to be operating with yesterday's technology. And that is why for years we have worked to bring the MH-139 helicopters to this base. This aircraft, as state of the art, will ensure Mountstrom's mission will be able to carry on for decades to come. We live in a world where adversaries like China and Russia and North Korea and Iran want to do everything possible to lead us off, to knock us off as the leading military power in this world. We are a heck of a lot safer today knowing that we will continue to have Mountstrom as our ace in the hole. These new helicopters are a first step in ensuring it stays that way. We also have another project coming up called the Sentinel project. I happen to be the chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee on Defense. We need to make sure that project gets going and that we hold folks accountable to make sure it stays on track. As we continue to compete with our adversaries across the globe, it is imperative it is imperative that our national defense is prioritized. And guess what? Mountstrom is a centerpiece of that strategy. The Sentinel project will ensure that Montanans are safe and that this mission goes on. Together we're going to make it happen. Together we're going to make sure that the Great Falls community, the state of Montana and this nation grows stronger because of that Sentinel project. Now look, these projects don't happen overnight. They are a result of teamwork, problem-solving, and relentless effort. Frankly, I wish Congress would follow that same mission. So again, I want to thank the leadership at Mountstrom, the Great Falls community, the folks in Congress who helped make these projects a reality, and I am incredibly proud to have played a role in that on my defense appropriation subcommittee. We're going to always continue to make sure this country is the strongest country in the world, and we'll always continue to make sure that Mountstrom is a key piece of that strategy. Thank you for your good work, and God bless you all. Mountstrom Air Force, Montana, it's a great, great day for this nation. I want to say good afternoon to you all and thank you for allowing me to join you today. It is indeed an honor to be able to serve our nation as finest airmen and women and serve right here, and I don't say that much in good hands. The good senator said he was going to come up here in Howell, so when he forgot. It's really great to be here today. You know, it's like homecoming for me to be here in Montana. I grew up over the border there in South Dakota. To be honest, I was a little worried though that we were having this at the beginning of March. Being in Arizona now, coming back to the Upper Midwest is a little scary in March, but really fabulous to be here. So whoever ordered the weather did an awesome job. I'm excited to be here to represent the Boeing Company and the Leonardo Helicopters and the Vertical Lift Team that's based out of Philadelphia and Mesa, Arizona. What an exciting day to welcome the MH-139 Grey Wolf to its home. Today marks a momentous occasion with the nicknamed Pathfinders. It is only natural that you, the 40th helicopter squadron be the first to begin the journey with the MH-139 Grey Wolf. Being the first isn't always easy, but you get to set the standard of how you conduct and expand the mission and maximize the capability of this helicopter. With more speed, more range, and state of the art avionics systems, the MH-139 provides unrivaled operational capability. To the men and women of the 40th, it is important for the critical mission that you do every day to support our nation. Your mission to deter, detect, and defend the strategic locations and movements in a very challenging operational environment as a testament to your professionalism and skill as pilots and maintainers. It is important to me and my team to ensure you have the most technologically advanced equipment so you can effectively execute your multitude of missions and return safely home to your families. I'd also like to thank your families. They support you day in and day out. Having been both a soldier and a wife of a soldier, I understand and appreciate the sacrifices you make in defense of our nation. Getting to this milestone was not easy. I'd like to thank the Air Force, the PEO office for their partnership and really just hanging in there through some pretty difficult development times. We are honored to deliver the best product and capability to the US Air Force. And thank you, Senator Tester, for your support. Let's celebrate today but not forget this is just the beginning. This base will receive 10 more aircraft with Warren, Minot, Maxwell, and Andrews to follow. So congratulations again on welcoming the Grey Wolf to your home, Tim. Thank you. I've been in one of the four years thanking for the critical commission that you can do every day to support our nation. To deter, detect, and defend strategic locations and movements in a very challenging operation requirement. As a testament to your professionalism and skill, it is important to me and my team to ensure you have the most technologically capable base so you can effectively execute your multi-sumamitions and return safely from your families. I'd also like to thank your families. They support you day in and day out. Having been a focus soldier, I understand and appreciate you making the defense of our nation. Getting to this milestone is my reason. I'd like to thank the Air Force for the pretty difficult development times. We're honored to deliver the best product we can and thank you, Senator Tester, for your support and for your leadership. Let's celebrate today with 10 more aircraft and one I have on maximum standards. General Boussier, Senator Tester, Mrs. Jovalette, Colonel Bryant, commanders, SELs, distinguished visitors to the Wing One and Great Falls team. Thank you for attending this important and historic event today. Chaplain Kershaw and Ms. Fogarty, thank you for the excellent invocation and national anthem. Captain Flieger, Captain Soto, Tech Sergeant Billy Doe and members of the 580 Second Helicopter Group and Wing One, thank you for making this ceremony a reality. Thank you all for your hard work to not only prepare for this ceremony but also for the facilities, programs, and people were in place to prepare the MH139 to fly at Mountstrom. Today would not be possible without countless hours of hard work by members at MATCHCOM, NAF, Wing, Group, and Squadron levels. It culminates decades of effort towards fielding a UH1 replacement. Specifically, I'd like to thank members of the Corps Office, 550th and 40th Helicopter Squadrons for their expertise in painting, furniture removal, installation, and renovation to prepare for the aircraft arrival. After last week's furniture install, we're ready to start flying. Let's give them a round of applause, please. It's an honor and a privilege to be a part of this significant day, which marks another step towards the MH139 achieving initial operational capability to replace the reliable UH1 that was first flown in 1956. In fact, today marks 67 years, four months, and 16 days from that first flight. Having the distinction of being the only aircraft utilized by all branches of the Department of Defense, including the Coast Guard, the Huey has served reliably with over 7,000 flying in Vietnam alone. From aerosalt missions to cargo transport, to search and rescue, the Huey has served with honor. It's now time for the MH139 to continue that storied legacy. While we celebrate the MH139's ability to fly 50% faster, 50% farther, and execute the nuclear security mission with state-of-the-art avionics and out-of-flight capabilities, we realize the work is just beginning. In the coming year, members of the 550th and the 40th helicopter squadrons will work diligently towards training, seasoning, and posturing for both initial operational test and unit conversion. Both teams will be focused on building and developing the foundational knowledge, skills, and tactics to ensure the MH139 can achieve IOC in a safe, secure, and effective manner. In closing, thank you all for taking the time to attend this ceremony today. For MH139 Aircrew in the 40th and the 550th helicopter squadrons, it's time to get to work. Thank you.