 Distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, good morning and welcome to the United States Army Training and Doctrine Command Change of Command Ceremony. The commander of troops for today's ceremony is Lieutenant General Maria R. Jervais, Deputy Commanding General, United States Army Training and Doctrine Command. We would like to welcome the Secretary of the Army, the Honorable Christine Wormuth, the Sergeant Major of the Army, Michael Greenstone, the United States Army Forces Command Commanding General Andrew Papas, Headquarters Air Combat Command Commanding General Mark Kelly. We would also like to extend warm greetings to General Officers, Commanders, Command Sergeant Major, and members of the Greater Virginia Peninsula. The troops arrayed on the field include the United States Army Combined Arms Center, commanded by Lieutenant General Theodore Martin, and his Command Sergeant Major Stephen Helton. The United States Army Center for Initial Military Training, commanded by Major General John Klein, and his Command Sergeant Major Scott Beeson. The United States Army Training Center and Fort Jackson, commanded by Brigadier General Jason Kelly, and his Command Sergeant Major Philson Tavenier. The United States Army Cadet Command, commanded by Major General Johnny Davis, and his Command Sergeant Major Jeremiah Gann. The United States Army Recruiting Command, commanded by Major General Kevin Vareen, and his Sergeant Major John Foley. The Maneuver Center of Excellence, commanded by Major General Curtis Buzzard, and his Command Sergeant Major Derek Garner. The Fire Centers of Excellence, commanded by Major General Kenneth Camper, and his Command Sergeant Major Stephen Burnley. The Maneuver Support Center of Excellence, commanded by Major General James Bonner, and his Command Sergeant Major Randolph Delpina. The Sustainment Center of Excellence, commanded by Major General Mark Simerly, and his Command Sergeant Major Marker Torres. The Intelligence Center of Excellence, commanded by Major General Anthony Hill, and his Command Sergeant Major Tammy Everett. The Cyber Center of Excellence, commanded by Major General Paul Stanton, and his Command Sergeant Major Delia Quintero. The Aviation Center of Excellence, commanded by Major General Michael McCurry, and his Command Sergeant Major James Wilson. The Medical Center of Excellence, commanded by Major General Michael Talley, and his Command Sergeant Major Victor Largian. The Non-Commissioned Officer Learning Center of Excellence, led by Command Sergeant Major Jason Schmidt. The 80th Training Command, commanded by Major General Boland Bowles III, and his Command Sergeant Major Christopher Luschinger. And the 108th Training Command, led by Brigadier General Jeffrey Farris. Also participating in today's ceremony, the Tredoc Band, commanded by Major Day Kim. Seeking the national anthem is Mr. Ron Henry. The Color Guard is comprised of non-commissioned officers from the 128th Aviation Brigade, led by the United States Army Training and Doctrine Command Sergeant Major, Command Sergeant Major Daniel T. Hendricks. The Salute Battery is comprised of soldiers from Bravo Company, first of the 222nd Aviation Regiment, and is led by Sergeant First Class Siliavo Lutalu. This morning, General Paul E. Funk II relinquishes command of the United States Army Training and Doctrine Command to General Gary M. Britto. The host for today's ceremony is General James C. McConville, 40th Chief of Staff of the Army. Ladies and gentlemen, please direct your attention to the adjutant as she begins the ceremony by directing the band to sound attention. Ladies and gentlemen, please stand for the arrival of the official party and honors to the host performed by the Tredoc Band and Salute Battery. General McConville has deferred honors to General Funk. Please remain standing for the invocation by the Tredoc Command Chaplain, Chaplain Colonel Gregory Edison. General McConville is accompanied in the official party by the outgoing commander, General Funk, and the incoming commander, General Britto. The invocation offered today is from the Tredoc Chaplain, Chaplain Colonel Edison. Will you please join me for a word of prayer? In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, we invoke your divine presence on today's ceremony between General Funk and General Britto. We express our sincere gratitude for an American soldier, General Funk, and his strength of character, firmness of purpose, and unwavering commitment. His command has been one of emotional intelligence, innovative leadership, and genuine care. Whereas his emotional intelligence has made us smarter professionals, his innovative leadership elevated Tredoc's recruitment, training, and education functions and capabilities. And as genuine care has left an indelible mark, may your peace, prosperity, and protection be with General Funk and Dr. Funk as they dawn the soldier for life jersey. We ask now your blessings upon General Britto as he once again assumes a sacred mantle of leadership. Grant him divine favor as he emphasizes the army values, exercises discretionary judgment, and leads Tredoc to the next phase of shaping our army to remain the nation's force of decisive action. Please grant that General Britto and his wife, Michelle, experience unlimited divine success and fulfillment in command. Victory starts here for God and country, amen. Ladies and gentlemen, at this time, please be seated. At this time, Staff Sergeant Shane Civetillo is presenting a bouquet of red roses to Dr. Elizabeth Funk, a tradition symbolizing her support and contributions to the soldiers and families of Tredoc. Red is the color of the heart and reflects the love and concern she has shown the soldiers, families, and civilians of the command. The roses are in full bloom, symbolizing the fulfillment of her time with us here at Tredoc. Flowers are also being presented to General Funk's mother, Mrs. Danny Funk. At this time, Staff Sergeant Tonielle Ivory is presenting a bouquet of yellow rose buds to General Britto's wife, Mrs. Michelle Britto. Yellow is the color of new beginnings and friendship. In time, the rose buds will open, symbolizing relationships that will blossom over time here at Tredoc. Coins are also presented to General Britto's sons, Mr. Matthew Britto and Captain Patrick Britto. To commemorate this special occasion, First Sergeant Robert Mitchell will now present General Funk a shell casing which commemorates the last round fire during today's ceremony. Ladies and gentlemen, please stand for the national anthem performed by Mr. Ron Henry. Oh say can you see by the dawn's early light What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight O'er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air Gave our flag one The colors under which a military unit exists symbolize its very soul. The colors record the unit's achievements and have been used by armies for centuries. In 17th century Europe, their different colored flags identified regiments. The colors led the regiment into battle despite often heavy casualties suffered by the color bears. To capture the enemy's colors was the highest achievement the victors could claim. Today, the colors are passed to the new commander by the outgoing commander, symbolizing the changing of command. Since each individual soldier cannot be passed to the new commander, the unit's flag is used to represent the change and identify the new commander to each soldier under his charge. The command sergeant major is the guardian of the unit colors and represents continuity during the change of command. By authority of Army Regulation 600-20, the undersigned assumes command of the United States Army Training and Doctrine Command, signed General Gary M. Britto, United States Army Commanding. Ladies and gentlemen, the Chief of Staff of the Army, General James C. McConville. Well, good morning and victory starts here and yes it does and our Army winning matters and that's why it is so important what happens here. You know every day is a great day to be in the United States Army because we serve with the world's greatest soldiers who are represented before us today. And today is a especially great day here at TRADOC because we recognize the achievements of this command and we celebrate the leadership of Paul and Betfunk and we welcome back Gary and Michelle Britto. But before I get started, I'd like to welcome our distinguished guests, our secretary, the Honorable Christine Warmouth. General Mark Kelly, I think from the joint team is here, thanks for joining us. General Drew Pappas, Force Comm Commander, Sergeant Major of the Army, Grinston, Miss Yvette Buzico, Mr. Michael Formica, Lieutenant General Butch Funk, Paul's Dad, sir, thank you for being here and General Kip Ward, sir, thank you for being here. And I think our classes, Miss Braswell and Mr. Flanagan are here, thank you and I think we have some goals to our families here and thank you also. Fellow general officers, commanders, command sergeant majors, DA civilians, senior warrant officers, non-commissioned officers, soldiers, local civilian leaders, family and friends, thank you for being here for this extremely important event. I'd like to give a special welcome to the Funk and Britto family members who are here, many who have traveled from Texas to the great state of Massachusetts, little bias there, Florida, Georgia, and thank you all for making it here today and making this ceremony so special. You know, as we all know, the United States Army exists for one purpose and that is to protect the nation by being ready to fight and win the nation's war, wars as a member of the Joint Force. And we are living in very challenging times and for me, probably the potentially most dangerous in recent history. You know, take a look at what's going on in Russia, in Asia, threats from North Korea and Iran have not gone away and neither has violent extremism. And we're still down with COVID in upcoming natural disasters and on top of it, we're working through a very challenging recruiting environment. But these may be challenging dangerous times, but our entire army and especially TRADOC remains ready to meet these challenges so we remain the world's greatest fighting force. And what this command has done over the last few years under the leadership of General Paul Funk is truly remarkable. You know, during the COVID-19, and you know, right now we're here, no one's wearing masks, people are sitting together, but it wasn't too long ago where we had to work through a situation where we had to recruit virtually, we had to figure out how are we going to train in a very dangerous environment. And TRADOC never stopped. Paul and the TRADOC team adapted and they found innovative solutions so we could continue to recruit and train our soldiers because the dangerous situations in our world had not gone away. And under Paul's steady leadership, you know, TRADOC figured out how to modify our procedures so we could safely continue basic training and institutional education across the army. And all the while, TRADOC continued to evolve by doctrine, our education, our leader development, and our training. You know, our army, as all you know, is undergoing the greatest transformation in over 40 years as we transition from two decades of counterinsurgency and counterterrorism to refocus on large-scale combat operations like we're seeing in Ukraine today. And TRADOC has enabled us to move forward in that transformation under the outstanding leadership of General Paul Funk. And the talented civilians and soldiers across TRADOC, the five subordinate commands and the ten senators of excellence that are standing before you today. And when Paul took over TRADOC, the multi-domain operations was a concept. And under his leadership in your hard work, its evolution is becoming doctrine and we'll publish that doctrine in October with Lessons Learned from Ukraine. He operationalized the Army People Strategy, focusing on building positive command climates, reducing harmful behaviors and driving change across our army. Changed the way, you all changed the way we look at fitness under the Holistic Health and Fitness Program, which is allowing our soldiers to serve without getting the injuries they have in the past. And you all and he have championed countless initiatives to include revamping basic combat training, modernizing the captain's career course, and building the Army Combat Fitness Test. You've had the creation of our Project Athena Lead Development Tool to prepare army leaders for our Commander's Assessment Program, transforming the selection process of our most consequential leaders in our army, our battalion and brigade commanders and sergeant majors. And although we've faced some recruiting challenges, TRADOC has created the Future Soldier Preparatory Course at Fort Jackson, which is going to allow us to maintain standards and to invest in American youth and I believe will transform the way that we bring American youth into the Army. We will invest in them, we will not lower standards and we will get them to meet our standards. And so for me, TRADOC is the people command. For every one of us in uniform, this is where it starts and I said before this is where victory starts here. And that's why we have the world's greatest army because what you all do to bring in great soldiers and to train those soldiers so they can be part of the Army team. And the army would not be what it is without the hard work of all the soldiers and civilians that are here. When you think about it, TRADOC trains and educates over half million soldiers, non-commissioned officers, warrant officers and officers every single year. They recruit and assess tens of thousands of soldiers every year. They train every single sergeant to be the backbone of our army. They train over 20,000 cadets in ROTC every single year. And when those cadets become officers, TRADOC trains them to assume their first mantle of leadership. Also, other servicemen and women across the Joint Force along with our allies and partners go through the training that TRADOC conducts. So the impact of TRADOC is not only on our army but the Joint Force and land forces all around the world. So again, thank you all for what you do every single day. You know, we recruit soldiers but we retain families. So I'd like to thank all the families of TRADOC for their support and commitment to our soldiers in our army. And Paul, while we'll celebrate your retirement in a ceremony tomorrow, I would like to say a few words here. I'd like to thank your family, especially your parents, Lieutenant General Retired Butch Funk, the first. And Mom, Danny, for your service and your commitment and for inspiring Paul to serve this country so well. You ought to be real proud of the young man that you all have raised. And Paul, thank you and Beth for over 38 years of distinguished service to the nation and what you have done for our people here. You are leaving behind a legacy of service, a legacy of taking care of people, and I can't leave out the legacy of Funk's fundamentals, all 40 of them. You are the leader of our army needed, a leader who understood that you don't have to choose between taking care of people and keeping our army strong and ready to protect the nation and its allies. We wish you and Beth good luck and Godspeed on your well-deserved next rendezvous with Destiny. You know this morning we promoted Gary to four-star in front of his family and friends. He has all the qualities we are looking for in our leaders today. The competence, the commitment, the character and the utmost care for people. I have complete trust and confidence that Treydoch is in good hands with him and Michelle. He is the right person at the right time to lead this organization. And I know he will continue to lead our army's transformation and continue to take care of our people. And you know in our army it's about people first, winning does matter and that's why victory starts here and that's how we remain army strong. Thank you and God bless each and every one of you. Ladies and gentlemen, General Paul E. Funk II. Well good morning everybody. You couldn't ask for a greater day and Grace, I gotta tell you the flyover was a little early. But I appreciate you backing it up with the geese. Thank you. That's why we're a joint base by Golly. So when I first got here at the Treydoch I didn't have to put these glasses on. Now I do. So good morning everyone to the distinguished guests, family, friends and soldiers and civilians of the Treydoch team. Welcome. My name is Funk and I'm an American soldier. Secretary Wormwood, General McCombill and Maria, Sergeant Major Grinsen and all of my four-star friends. Thank you for being here today. Special shout out to our family for traveling once again. As part of another transition, you truly honor us with our presence. And I think my Uncle Bill may get the record for coming all the way from Roundup, Montana. So how about a big round of applause to my incredible team that I recognized last week. You know how important you are to me and how much our service together matters. It would be too hard to recognize everyone but I'd like to give a special shout out to the distinguished alumni from Montana State University, Brian and Tom and also to my good friend John Miller and his wife Polly and Mike Tars as well. But John Miller is my longest serving teammate as we played high school football and baseball together. Thanks for being here today. What a great day. What a great day it is to leave the helm of the United States Army's training and doctrine command in the incredibly capable hands of our good friends Gary and Michelle Britton. I know ceremonies like this are difficult to plan and execute. So if you would, please give a big round of applause to everyone who worked so hard to make this world-class event and special recognition to our ESO team. And there are far too many world-class leaders for me to mention. But I can't go any further without mentioning Command Sergeant Major Dan Hendricks and his wife Christina. Their focus on people first has been extraordinary and we are a better organization because of it. And to Christina, thanks for being a great friend to my back. When I assume Command three years ago we the Centers of Excellence Commanders and Command Sergeant Majors, the Assessions Command Team, Recruiting and Connect Command, the Center of Military History, the Soldier for Life Program, and Fort Jackson, which is now the gateway to the Army. Took a hard look at how to structure TRADOC's efforts to drive change. And from that we developed the TRADOC campaign plan. Our five lines of effort acquire people, improve, build and reform are not complete lists of everything we do, but rather a framework for what TRADOC does. Many people are unaware of all that TRADOC does for our nation, so today I want to brag on these men and women right here. Our acquire line of effort is our main priority. It's no secret that the current Assessions environment is tough, but we, just like the rest of the nation, are in a competition for talent. Our acquisitions enterprise led by the indomitable Lieutenant General Maria Gervais is all about preserving the all-volunteer force and giving America's youth the opportunity to serve. And we're doing everything to expand that opportunity through the future Soldier Prep course. And I was at Fort Jackson just a few weeks ago and I saw the future Soldier Prep course in action. I looked in the eyes of those young men and women attending and it was clear that they knew that they had to meet our standards and were willing to work hard to do so. We want young men and women who will go the extra mile. We want young men and women who are resilient and know how to overcome challenges. I truly believe that the future Soldier Prep course is creating opportunity and it's going to change how we recruit. To me, it's the essence of what TRADOC does. It gets young men and women opportunities and it changes lives. Our second line of effort is the very foundation of the campaign plan. After all, according to Fundamental Number 25, the Army is a people business. People first is all about training and that's exactly what the Army Holistic Health and Fitness Program is all about. It's more than just the Army Combat Fitness Test. It's revolutionizing how we look at fitness. We need to be able to fight outnumbered and win and that's why we exist. And exactly why we've invested tremendous time and resources into the Army's Holistic Health and Fitness Program. We focus on changing culture, focus on our values and holding each other accountable, treating each other with dignity and respect. We are America's Army. Our strength is our diversity. And we've used our monthly leader to professional development program to have some incredible conversations. We're leading the Army on identifying ways to break down barriers to continued service for all soldiers to our women's initiatives team. And we had the privilege of hosting the Warrior Games on behalf of the Department of Defense. The Warrior Games were nothing short of extraordinary. A true world-class event to celebrate the recovery journeys of our incredible warrior athletes and their families. Also I'd be remiss not to highlight our tremendous civilian employees led by Mike Formica. We've made incredible strides in our civilian accession efforts. Our intern program is phenomenal. It's injected enthusiasm, youth, vigor throughout the enterprise. And it highlights that serving in uniform is not the only path to serve. Our third line is to build, focus on TREDX role, leading the Dottlem integration to build the Army of 2030. CAC, led by Lieutenant General Ted Martin is doing a magnificent job. Doctrine is our foundation and right now FM 3.0 multi-domain operations is setting the way we'll fight for the next generation. And our G2 team, whose efforts have led across the threat doctrine are nothing short of world-class and prove that the G2 work is used across the Army. Fourth line is to improve and is so important to our organization. The COVID pandemic gave us an opportunity to improve our training, leader development and education programs at an incredible speed. We changed over 1200 courses in just two and a half years. I'm immensely proud that TREDX only paused for two weeks to set the medical conditions and then got right back to training during COVID. In fact, organizations from across the world came to learn how to combat the pandemic and continue to grow and develop. Remember, fundamental 15. No idea, a good idea is only great when it is shared. Our fifth line of effort is reform and it's all about TREDX getting better at producing the best soldiers in the world. We needed to move our processes from the industrial age to the information age. And that's exactly what we're doing. I'm really excited about how we changed basic combat training. Transitions are the biggest point of friction in any organization. So we had to adapt the way we bring young men and women into our team. The first hundred yards, thunder run, into the breach. These are NCO-led and NCO resources, exercises that begin to build the journey of trust. And these things are making people excited about the team they're joining. And as a result, the young men and women we're putting out on the field are much better prepared to do their soldier tasks. Since the initiatives I mentioned are just a few of the hundreds of amazing things this organization has accomplished. If I had to summarize our impact over the last three years, it would be how TREDX is driving positive change for our people. We learned, we grew, we adapted and we did it together. It's been the honor of my life to wear the cloth of our great nation for more than 38 years. And as I close out my career, there are many things I'm proud of. But none more than serving in the 17th commanding general of the United States Army's training and doctrine command. The most important thing I am leaving here is that I'm leaving here with that beautiful lady in the blue dress for 38 years. By my side, out front and leading our teams. Honey, you're amazing and I love you to death. Can't wait for the next chapter. The funks are so grateful to everyone for grabbing an oar and rowing. So from us to you. Thank you. Thanks for changing lives. Thanks for being part of something bigger than yourself and taking on these tasks. My family and I recognize just how amazingly talented you all are. And we'd love being on our team. Gary and Michelle, Beth and I are proud to hand over this world class team that is ready to continue driving change. And we can't wait to see where you lead them. As I said when I started, my name is Funk and I'm an American soldier and victory starts right here. Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, the commanding general, United States Army Training and Doctrine Command, General Gary M. Britto. General Funk is my first day. I'm already wearing glasses. So good morning everybody, everyone to the distinguished guest mentioned in the opening remarks, families and friends. And so wrong speech. Shouldn't have thought that way. First page anyway. Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, distinguished guests, fellow general officers. Thank you for attending today. Secretary Warmeth and Chief again. Thank you for your trust and confidence. And I am extremely humbled and honored to serve our army as the 18th commanding general of the Training and Doctrine Command, Tredoc. And joining a great team, a great team of soldiers and civilians. Thank you, General Funk and Dr. Funk, Paul and Beth, for two things. One, for your distinguished and outstanding leadership, sir. Two, for your unwavering support to the soldiers, civilians and families of Tredoc and our army. Your impactful and enduring contributions to this fight, and as you mentioned, for over 38-plus years of dedicated service to our great nation. And I thank you for that as do the soldiers and civilians that these soldiers on the field represent. And Paul, I'm not sure which fundamental it is, but as you would say, thank you for leaving your jersey and a better place. I'd like to give a collective shout out to one big group of soldiers. That's the firing battery, the band, these guide-on bearers, and Ron, who's saying that amazing rendition of the natural anthem. Let's take five seconds to give all of them a round of applause. Ron, I don't know if I wanted to re-enlist or go to church, but that was amazing. Well done. To my wife, Michelle, and sons, Matthew, and Patrick, in addition to what was mentioned earlier this morning at the promotion, I know that I am not on this journey alone, and I appreciate your support in being the epitome of the army family. And, boys, I mentioned your accomplishments earlier. I just can't express the pride I have and the love I have for you and your mom, and thank you for all that you do. Team trade-offs' efforts are essential and foundational to ensuring our army remains the most lethal fighting force in the world, now and into the future. And I, and I, being part of this team, promise you that we are committed to that very end. And as the Chief mentioned, our motto, victory starts here. It indeed has some meaning and meat behind it. And I would like to share just a few personal thoughts. Victory. Victory. It is the most essential thing that our army exists to do, to fight and win our nation's wars. We owe it to our country, we owe it to the American people, and to the soldiers, civilians, and families who fill its ranks. We must, and will, turn every challenge into an opportunity in order to prevail, because as the boss said, winning matters. Starts. Trade-off is where the army life begins, period. It is where we make and maintain contact with the communities we serve. Where we help those willing to serve find a path to be all they can be. It is where we transform civilians into soldiers. Where the warrior ethos is forged, and experts and leaders are built. It is where theory, big ideas, design and requirements are codified into real practice, doctrine, training that guides our army now into the future. We are the foundation. We are the start. Here, victory starts here. Here is all of us. It is in the halls and the closets of the Ten Centers of Excellence across this nation. It is in the 33 army schools, the hundreds of ROTC and JROTC programs. The 1400 plus recruiting stations, and represented by the commanders and command sergeant majors on the field today. More importantly, the here is the 40,000 soldiers and the 14,000 civilians that make our mission happen every day. So trade-off, you drive this engine. We are the here, and victory starts here. And team, I am honored and humbled and excited to lead this great command and be part of a great transformational team at a great transformational time in our army and our nation and our army's history. Thanks for the pleasure of your company this morning. People first, winning matters, army strong, and victory starts here. Thank you ladies and gentlemen. Ladies and gentlemen, please rise for the playing of the army song and remain standing for the departure of colors. Words to the army song are included in your program. We invite you to sing along. Ladies and gentlemen, this concludes today's ceremony. Please feel free to meet General and Dr. Funk in the front of the event stand. The receiving line begins to the Funk's right. General Britto will host a reception inside the Fort Eustis Club for invited guests. Thank you for attending today's ceremony. Victory starts here.