 Ladies and gentlemen I'll begin with a quote from a song Have you heard of the 173rd Airborne Brigade with boots on the ground and dirt on your face? We'll defend your freedom any time any place That song the song of the 173rd Airborne Brigade Something we know here We like that song in Estonia We also believe in it as we ourselves have proven in forward Operating base why he deep in the middle of Taliban territory in Helmand promise province in Iraq Where we too have defended the freedom of others today in Mali and next week in the Central African Republic We will continue to do so So warriors, let me welcome you all to Estonia Hosting the 173rd Airborne Brigade company here in Estonia is as you can imagine Important for all of us The transatlantic link is not something that Estonians take for granted Rather, we see it as a vital element of security in an unsecure world This is why we so appreciate Allied boots on the ground here Estonia is a country that has always appreciated and liked the United States of America American and Estonian soldiers exercising here together Raise the visibility of the transatlantic alliance Both for people living here and for those living elsewhere It makes NATO less an abstraction and reinforces the commitment we all share in the alliance The hundred and seventy-third has had a remarkable history and history is being made here today For a quarter corner of Europe where so many thousands were killed deported Suffered or fled from the horrors of Nazism in Communism and with a longing for the site of Western parachutes that would free people from tyranny became folk This day is a milestone Where we finally witnessed what so many Seven decades later, we no longer need to be liberated But the site of you here is still significant and powerful History is being made Welcome to Estonia