 Howard Harris, and it is my honor to be your narrator for today's event. As a reminder, this ceremony is conducted as an outdoor ceremony. During the playing of ruffles and flourishes, military members in uniform will face and salute the individual being honored. During the singing of the national anthem, military members will render a salute while civilian attendees will place their hand over their heart. To preserve the dignity of this event, please silence all electronic devices at this time. Please stand for the arrival of the official party and remain standing for the playing of ruffles and flourishes, the presentation of colors, and the singing of the national anthem by technical sergeant Denver Murphy and then the invocation. By the dawn's early, what so proud, at the twilight's last gleaming, Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the burial-loss fight, O'er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming, And the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air, Gave proof through that our flag was still there. O say does that star-spangled banner yet wave Chaplain Kalko will now deliver the invocation. I invite you to join with me in a moment of prayer. Father of the heavens, in your providence you have called your children to strive for justice, peace, and freedom. We give you thanks for the men and women of space operations command who have faithfully answered your call. For their courage, commitment, character, and connection, as they boldly strive to accomplish their mission, we give you thanks for each and every one of them and the sacrifices they make to serve. Guide of our lives today, we pray for the leadership of Space Operations Command in your providence you called Lieutenant General Stephen Whiting to minister to and lead this command. He has led Space Operations Command with a brilliant determination, setting a course toward the stars. We give you thanks for his wife Tammy, who has diligently supported and ministered with General Whiting during the challenges and joys of command. As we welcome the Miller family into a new role in ministry with Space Operations Command, we pray for your blessings and strength for them as Lieutenant General Miller assumes command. As he takes the guide on and the mantle of leadership, give to him the wisdom of Solomon, the courage of David, and the faithfulness of Abraham as he leads Space Operations Command into a bright future. Lord of hosts, watch over our deployed members and those who stand the watch this day. Guard them with your holy angels, guide them with all wisdom and having completed their missions, return them home to families, friends, and a grateful nation. Bless now our nation, our service, and to you, Eternal God, in whose name we pray be our praise and our thanksgiving above all. Amen. Thank you, High Frontier Honor Guard. The United States Air Force Academy Brass Band and Technical Sergeant Denver Murphy for that beautiful rendition of the National Anthem. And also thank you, Chaplain Coughlin, for those inspiring words. Please be seated. We are fortunate to have a number of distinguished and special guests with us today. Please hold your applause until each group has been recognized. Spouse of the Commander, Space Operations Command, Ms. Tammy Whiting. Mother of the Incoming Commander, Space Operations Command, Ms. Linda Miller. Spouse of the Incoming Commander, Space Operations Command, Lieutenant Colonel Samantha Miller, United States Air Force retired, and their children, ABL, David III, and Dawson. Lieutenant General Miller's sister, Gian Miller, and his father, Senior Master Sergeant David N. Miller Sr., United States Air Force, retired. We would also like to welcome the spouse of the Chief of Space Operations, United States Space Force, Ms. Jennifer Saltzman. Additionally, please welcome Chief Master Sergeant of the Space Force, Chief Master Sergeant John Benavigna, and his wife, Kathy. Spouse of the Vice Commander and Deputy Commanding General of Operations, Space Operations Command, Ms. Alicia Pepper. Senior Listed Leader, Space Operations Command, Chief Master Sergeant Caleb Lloyd and his wife, Mary. Commander, United States Space Command, General James Dickinson and his spouse, Angie. Command, Chief Master Sergeant... Command, Senior Listed Leader, United States Space Command, Chief Master Sergeant Jacob Simmons. Former Commander, Air Force Space Command, General Kevin Chilton, United States Air Force, retired. Former Commander, Air Force Space Command, General William Shelton, United States Air Force, retired. Prior Vice Chief of Space Operations, United States Space Force, General David D.T. Thompson and his wife, Mary. Deputy Commander, North American Aerospace Defense Command, Royal Canadian Air Force, Lieutenant General Blasey Frally. The Deputy Commander, United States Northern Command and Vice Commander, North American Aerospace Defense Command, Lieutenant General A.C. Roper. The Deputy Commander, United States Space Command, Lieutenant General Thomas L. James and his spouse, Nicole. The Commander, Space Forces, Space, Lieutenant General Doug A. Chess and his spouse, Debbie. Former Deputy Chief of Space Operations, Strategy, Plans, Programs, Requirements and Analysis, Lieutenant General William LaCourie, United States Space Force, retired and his spouse, Amy. Former Deputy Commander, United States Space Command, Lieutenant General John Shaw, United States Space Force, retired and his spouse, Tanya. The former Director of the Space Warfighting Analysis Center and the Space Security and Defense Program, Mr. Andrew Cox, SES-3, retired and his spouse, Stacy. We are also honored to have with us today, Former General Counsel, United States Department of the Air Force, the Honorable Thomas E. Ayers. Former Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Manpower and Reserve Affairs, the Honorable Sean Massasco, District Director for Congressman Doug Lamborn's office, Mr. Dennis Heize. A special welcome goes out to all of our community leaders and industry partners for attending today. Your continued support is greatly appreciated as well as your attendance. We would also like to extend a warm welcome to all other general officers, senior executive service members, commanders, senior enlisted leaders, joint, combined, allied and inter-agency partners, community leaders, military personnel, friends with us in person and virtually today. It is now my great honor to introduce the Chief of Space Operations, General B, Chance Salsman. Devin, you want to put them in these? Please do. Well, good morning, everyone. I guess it's afternoon now. Did we change the time today? To all the generals, commanders, chiefs, community leaders, distinguished guests, as we say in Kentucky, I'm happy to have all y'all here. So thank you very much for joining us today. It's always great to be here in Colorado, not because you could be shoveling a foot of snow in the morning and then wearing shorts and sandals in the afternoon, which we've seen transition over the course of the last two days, but it's just an honor to be here with the leadership of Lieutenant General Stephen Whiting as he transitions to U.S. Space Command and recognizes Lieutenant General David Miller Jr. as he takes command of Space Operations Command. To Tammy and Sam, I'm excited to be here to celebrate with you and your families. Thank you both for sharing your husbands with us over these many years of service, but more importantly, having known both of you for nearly a couple of decades, of course we appreciate all that you do to support Stephen and Dave, his and this nation. But thanks for just being great people. Thanks for being fun to be around and just making every room you're in a little brighter. Thank you so much. Let me give a warm welcome to all the proud members of the Whiting and Miller families who are with us today and joining us online. It's wonderful to have you here to celebrate this special occasion. And as always, it's great to be here with the exceptional men and women of the Space Operations Command. You are combat-ready forces, trusted with the crucial responsibility of addressing and responding to the strategic challenges of the domain and you are ready to protect America and our allies in, from, and to space now and into the future. You are America's space war fighters, always ready, always innovative, and always above. Because of you, I remain confident that we are well positioned to out-compete our rivals, deter aggressors and defeat our enemies. Without you, there is no space force. So let's have a round of applause for these incredible work the men and women in Spock are doing. Ladies and gentlemen, as most of you know, we just celebrated our fourth birthday in the U.S. Space Force. A lot of things have changed in the service since December of 2019. The service has a new emblem, a new flag, a new uniform, which are visual reminders of the four new core values which represent who we are as guardians. And we have stood up new units, brought on new missions, all with the mission of securing our nation's interest in, from, and to space. But in the last four years, a few things have remained constant. First, the space force continues to protect the security and prosperity of the domain for all who wish to use it. Second, space operations command forces. And third, Spock has been led by its first and only commander, General Stephen Whiting. However, in a few moments, we will bear witness to the mantle of leadership transferring from one great leader to another. All the authority, responsibility, and accountability will pass from General Whiting to General Miller with a simple salute. And this is a huge responsibility. Spock generates, presents, and sustains combat-ready intelligence, cyber, space, and the combat support forces. These guardians provide combat power projection, information mobility, space domain awareness for this service and for the joint force. This team's many historic achievements in three short years since it stood up are a testament to the leadership of your commander, General Stephen Whiting. I have known and worked closely with Stephen for nearly 20 years. We were side by side in the Joint Space Operations Center in 2007 when the Chinese demonstrated their infamous destructive anti-satellite missile capability. At the time, we knew the world was changing, and that that test would be a key date in the modern military space history. What we didn't know at the time was that it would set in motion discussions and activities that would culminate in the establishment of the Space Force. Over the past three years, SPOC has accomplished some pretty incredible feats, milestones that would take other organizations decades to complete. SPOC was able to field combat-ready forces by activating 13 new space deltas, over 50 detachments and squadrons. Organizations solely focused on functions and missions in order to streamline operations, all while continuing to oversee space operations and serve as the service component to the United States Space Command. And during that time, SPOC operationally accepted two space-based infrared missile warning satellites, two advanced extremely high-frequency MIL-SACCOM satellites, two G-SAP Space Domain Awareness Satellites, and four GPS satellites. They also consolidated all military satellite communications and missile warning missions in the entire Department of Defense under our single military service. These capabilities represent a service prepared to control the space domain with force, if necessary, as part of a joint force. And none of that would be possible without the talented and innovative guardians from SPOC and the leadership of General Whiting. To go a step further, those units have created a warfighting culture based upon actions in the domain and support provided to the joint force. In 2019, this dedicated team tracked a Russian destroyer to deploy a secondary object which moved in close proximity to a high-value U.S. satellite. After seven months on orbit, that second satellite launched the third satellite, a tactic now that we talk about as the nesting doll. In 2020, SPOC Guardians detected multiple missiles from Iran targeting Al-Assad Air Base in Iraq, where U.S. troops were stationed. Before those missiles impacted, Guardians had delivered life-saving warning to U.S. units on the ground where more than 300 Americans were warned resulting in zero loss of life. Finally, in response to Russia's unprovoked invasion of Ukraine in 2022, SPOC Guardians forward deployed to the United States European Command Theater in support of NATO. Additionally, SPOC surged forces, capabilities to report missile warning, battle space awareness, and technical intelligence to U.S. European Command and U.S. Space Command. The space-based infrared platforms provided intelligence and minute-by-minute updates to the intelligence community, national decision-makers, and our NATO allies. The timely reporting allowed U.S. leaders to share intelligence vital to the Ukrainian resistance. This is just a small list of some of the phenomenal things SPOC has done over the past three years. Stephen, your dedication, strategic vision, and unwavering commitment to excellence has propelled SPOC forward, setting a remarkable precedent for all of us to follow. And Tammy, I know Stephen believes you deserve enormous credit, maybe all the credit by providing him the support he needs to lead, serve SPOC, and our space force so faithfully. Along the way, you both raised two wonderful children, chased an alley, and I know you're both incredibly proud of their accomplishments, both to their family and the national community. Stephen, I want you to know that your efforts as the inaugural commander here made a real difference in where the space force is today. And all SPOC's successes are because of your steady hands. For those in the audience, I think you will struggle to find a finer officer, mentor, and teammate than Stephen Whiting. Now as we bid farewell to one era, we eagerly welcome another. Today we inaugurate a new chapter in the history of the space force as we address the responsibility of leading SPOC to General David Miller Jr. With a proven track record of accomplishments and a steadfast dedication to our mission, ROC embodies the qualities and values needed to lead SPOC to the next stage of evolution. I first met ROC in 2001 at the U.S. Air Force Weapon School. At the time I was an instructor and ROC was a student. For those of you that don't know, the Weapon School is a very intense six month course of experience. ROC is a group of expert instructors charged with integrating space into warfighting operations. In an environment like that, relationships between students and instructors can be, let's just say, intense at times. But it's evident, even way back then, that ROC had a very bright future ahead of him. He was thoughtful, dedicated, and responded to pressure with grace and poise. I always enjoyed sharing a heated debate with you who haven't known ROC as long as I have. In his youth, believe it or not, he was not as patient, reserved, and mild-minded as you see him here today. I don't know if that's true or not. I've had many loud, heated discussions with him over the years, only to realize that we were in complete agreement on the topic. But always behind the passion, ROC demonstrated deep analytic skills and a commitment to excellence that cannot be ignored. Since our days at the Weapons School, he's proven to be successful as an operator, as an instructor, commander, mentor, and leader. He is ideally suited and fully prepared to pick up where General Whiting is leaving off, and I am confident that he will continue to advance SPOC toward its goals. In his recent assignment as Director of Operations at U.S. Space Command, ROC provided advice, counsel, and expertise to the combatant commander and other staff directors. His influence also helped the Space Force enhance the way it organizes, trains, and equips forces. He also pushed the bounds of integrating space policy and guidance, coordinating space-related activities for his command, the service, and the Department of Defense. And this makes him the perfect choice to lead the generation, presentation, and sustainment of combat-ready intelligence, cyber, space, and combat support forces as the new SPOC commander. We welcome ROC, his wife, Sam, their incredible children, and the rest of the extended family that flew in to celebrate. You all deserve to be extremely proud of all that Dave has accomplished and for the trust the nation has placed in him to lead this important organization. The challenges before us are immense, but so too are the opportunities from advancing our technical prowess to enhancing our capabilities in the domain. We must remain at the cutting edge of innovation, our ability to adapt, to stay ahead of emerging threats, and to seize new frontiers will be instrumental to maintaining our superiority in space in this era of great power competition. These challenges will be expertly addressed because of our guardians and the missions they execute under the SPOC. ROC, you're charged with taking SPOC to the next level, building on the accomplishment Steven and his team cultivated while finding innovative ways to build combat-ready forces, amplify the guardian spirit, and partner to win. I have every confidence you'll do just that carrying out your duties with character, commitment, connection, and courage. You have demonstrated all of those every day of your career, I expect nothing less. To the Whiting and Miller families, along with the men and women of SPOC, thank you again for your dedication to the mission of securing our nation's interests in from and to space, and for your continued service to the space force and to our nation. Semper-Supra. Thank you, General Saltzman. Please stand for the presentation of the Distinguished Service Medal. Attention to orders, citation to accompany the award of the Distinguished Service Medal Second Oakley Cluster to Stephen N. Whiting, the President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress 1929-1918 awards the Distinguished Service Medal to Lieutenant General Stephen N. Whiting for exceptionally meritorious service in a duty of great responsibility. General Whiting distinguished himself as Commander, Space Operations Command, Peterson Space Force Base, Colorado from 11 October 2020 to 8 January 2024. During this period, General Whiting's leadership was instrumental in presenting and sustaining space and cyberspace forces for every combatant command. His consolidated legacy of Air Force functions under a unified operational structure for the Space Force, enhancing warfighting capabilities, seamlessly integrating emerging technologies, and cementing the stand-up of Space Operations Command, the first fuel command in the nation's newest military service. As the Space Operations Command's first commander, General Whiting led over 19,000 guardians and airmen with oversight of a $100 billion portfolio, including missile warning and defense, electromagnetic warfare, satellite communications, satellite positioning, navigation, and timing, satellite control network, space domain awareness, command and control, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance, and cyber capabilities. He fostered collaboration with sister services, 31 international partners, and 115 international partners strengthening alliances and advancing shared mission objectives. He oversaw component planning and operations underpinning advanced systems for contingency operations worldwide. Moreover, General Whiting prioritized personnel resiliency measures, champion diversity inclusion, and led a highly effective response to the coronavirus 2019 global pandemic, ensuring that the Space Force continued critical missions during a tumultuous time in history. His exceptional devotion to the mission and people led Space Operations Command to become a model for innovation and readiness ensuring guardians and airmen are ready to protect and defend the space domain when the nation calls. The singularly distinctive accomplishments of General Whiting reflect the highest credit upon himself, the United States Space Force, and the Department of the Air Force. Please be seated. It is now my privilege to introduce the Commander, Space Operations Command, Lieutenant General Stephen N. Whiting. General Pepper, please put the formation at ease. Well, General Salisman, General Dickinson, Federal General Officers and Flag Officers, Chief Bintabania, Chief Simmons, Chief Lloyd, allies, mission and joint partners, civic and community leaders, guardians and airmen of Space Operations Command, good afternoon, and thank you all for being here on a beautiful day in Colorado, although it certainly is a bittersweet day just being for General Miller and Samantha when I say that we appreciate you all being here to honor Space Operations Command and our two families by attending today's ceremony. I am so grateful to General Salisman for officiating today's ceremony and for as many years of friendship. Sir, thank you for those kind words and for your leadership of the Space Force. We're fortunate to have you as our Chief of Space Operations and I look forward to continuing to work with you as I enter the Republic of the United States Space Command and your friendship. Thank you for racing back from your excellent tour of Vandenberg and Redstone Arsenal. It means a lot to Tammy and I. I must also acknowledge my peers, friends, advisers and mentors over the years, Jay Raymond, D.T. Thompson, Willie Shelton, Nina Armanio, Doug Schess, Deanna Burt, John Shaw, Sean Bratton, Jake Simmons, John Bintabania, Caleb Lloyd, Mike Gutlein, Devin Pepper, Todd Moore, Tim Shava, Brian Keele, Brian Sidari, Greg Gagnon, Chad Franks, Kyle Paul, Kevin Whale, Bill Le Corre, Tom James, Kevin Chilton and so many, many others who are all remarkable leaders and people with whom we've served alongside during our time in Spock and throughout our careers. Working with you has not only been immensely rewarding but it has also challenged me to run as hard as I could to be my best just to keep up with all of you. I am filled with gratitude to be serving in the space force with leaders like you who carry me along. To our allies, mission partners and joint teammates, your unwavering support and partnerships have been instrumental in the success of our shared mission. Thank you for standing beside Spock to help ensure we were successful in our efforts to defend America and our allies in from and to the future. To our local civic leaders, thank you for being here as well. You welcome our guardians and airmen and all the joint teammates here in Colorado Springs into your communities, schools, houses of worship and places of business. We could not execute our missions without your support and we love living here in the Pikes Peak region. Thanks for making this our home. And finally to the men and women of space operations command, the most important mission today. To say a mere thank you is not enough to recognize your outstanding work over the past three years to get us to this point. Let's be clear it's the decades of faithful, dedicated and excellent space operations that you and those who have come before you have provided which are the foundation of all our success. Certainly you are our most important asset to advancing Spock's critical mission. A mission the entire joint mission. With that, Tammy and I extend our thanks to each one of you and your families for your unwavering commitment, sacrifice in service. It is truly a special day as we welcome to the Spock family Lieutenant General Dave Miller and his wife Samantha and their children, Abiel, David and Dawson. Having known Dave for many, many years, I can assure you that Spock is in great hands. Dave, you are exactly at the right time for this job and this command will benefit greatly from your thoughtful vision and from your powerful leadership. Dave I'd be remiss, however, if I didn't tell you about the caliber of individuals you will be leading in just a few minutes. So before I turn over the keys to the mansion, or building one as we call it and by the way, I'm going to be your tenant now. So I'll try not to be a noisy neighbor but be a good landlord. Allow me to humbly brag about the accomplishments of the guardians and airmen of Spock. Over these past three years we've witnessed Spock's unique role unfold inside our new young service. In space, when a star comes to the end of its life, it can explode and create a nebula, a giant cloud of dust and gas in space from which new stars are birthed. Similarly, when Air Force Space Command ceased to exist or went supernova, if you will, from its remnants a new service was birthed and a new field of command, Space Operations Command, was created that would ultimately give birth to additional commands as new mission areas matured. As the Space Force's operational war fighting arm, we've created and aligned our functional mission areas into Space Delta's. Support squadrons assigned to the old mission support groups were reassigned to new organizations called Space Space Delta's. We've also fully implemented a deputy commanding general structure with subordinate mission area teams focused on direct support to Spock Delta's and SBD's. Spock was the birthplace for Space Training and Readiness Command by way of StarCom Delta, and we are so proud to watch what StarCom continues to do today. Concurrently Spock transferred the operational launch enterprise and installations to Space Systems Command, and we're amazed by what they continue to do. Up until last month, as the CSO said, Spock also served at the nexus between the Space Force and U.S. Space Command, a role now assumed by United States Space Force's space, the service's newest component field command, and another command birthed out of Spock, and we are so proud of what S4S is doing. By onboarding over 600 new guardians into Spock who started their careers in services other than the U.S. Air Force, we've transferred the U.S. Army and Navy satellite communication units, marking the Department of Defense's broadband, wideband, and protected band satellite communications. The U.S. Army's Joint Tactical Ground Station Missile Warning System mission also officially transferred, adding a squadron and four detachments across the globe to Space Delta 4, allowing the Space Force to consolidate all the DoD units accomplishing theater and strategic missile warning. Furthermore, the activation of Space Delta 18 as the National Space Intel Center, our service's foundational intelligence has strengthened our ability to deliver timely, game-changing, foundational intel unique to the space domain. We've also laid the groundwork for the Space Force to deliver space defense command and control, data sharing and intelligence cooperation through the activation of Space Delta 15 at the National Space Defense Center, and we appreciate the partnership with U.S. Space Command on that. Acknowledging that intelligence drives space operations and that cyberspace is the soft underbelly of the Space Force, we've embedded intel and cyber professionals into our mission deltas and built out our full tactical intelligence enterprise to include new analysis, targeting and exploitation squadrons. Lastly, we've established two integrated mission deltas for the electronic warfare and positioning, navigation and timing mission areas. In General Saltzman, I think the IMDs are the right vision for further enhancing our readiness, operations and capability delivery across our various mission sets, while reducing gaps and seams between operators, engineers, developers, and sustainers. I know more Spock deltas are ready to transform into IMDs in the near future. But make no mistake, these achievements are wholly due to our people. Without Guardians and Airmen, we would never be the Space Force our nation needs. Consider, for instance, the Guardians sitting watch right now, monitoring for missile launches around the world and operating our constellations of satellites, monitoring for threats to our own orbit assets and defending our systems in the cyber domain. Or consider the Air Force Security Forces Defender guarding a radar, right now, 700 miles north of the Arctic Circle at the Dufik Space Base Greenland. Or consider our civilian teammates at Spock headquarters who have seen 10 reorganizations in the past decade but consistently kept the mission on track. And I could name so many others as well who have worked tirelessly to ensure both the operational missions and base operations of the U.S. Space Force and Spock continue to be executed successfully despite all the change around us. They are the bedrock upon which all that we are doing rests. They are. You are the foundation of the Space Force and the cornerstone of our mission. You are my heroes and you motivated me to show up every day at work to do my very best. And as we part ways, I know that I am immensely proud or please know that I am immensely proud of you and look forward to witnessing the amazing things you will do under the leadership of Lieutenant General Miller and Chief Lloyd for the nation. Dave Spock's guardians and airmen strive to be beacons of character, connection, commitment and courage every day. Leading them has been an absolute honor. And counting their successes has been to counting all the trackable objects on orbit, a monumental task that keeps expanding with every passing day. Under your leadership, Dave, an experience I am confident that Spock will continue delivering world-class combat power for the joint force and our allies and will reach even greater heights. Once again my sincere congratulations to you and your family. Well done, my friend. Thank you again to General Salzman. It is truly a privilege to be a part of this revolution. Moreover it is a privilege to be a plank-holder of space operations command with all the men and women who make up our units. Those who are guardians of the United States Space Force and those who are airmen of the United States Air Force. Those who are here in Hangar 140 with us today and those stationed in far-flung outposts like Niger, Qatar, Estonia, Fatoufik and Diego Garcia in the middle of the Indian Ocean. Or in the dozens of other locations where they are serving right now. God bless them all and God bless Space Operations Command. Thank you. Lieutenant General Whiting will now receive his final salute as the Commander Space Operations Command. Leading the formation is the Vice Commander and the Deputy Commanding General Operations, Space Operations Command Brigadier General Devin Pepper. Commence with the change of command General Salzman, Lieutenant General Miller and Chief Lloyd please come forward and join Lieutenant General Whiting. This transfer symbolizes the continuity of command in the armed forces. Chief Master Sergeant Lloyd will stand proudly with General Salzman, Lieutenant General Whiting and Lieutenant General Miller as representation of the importance of the enlisted force and his leadership within Space Operations Command. By order of the Secretary of the Air Force, attention to orders Department of the Air Force, Space Operations Command, Special Order Gulf-2401 by direction of the President, Lieutenant General David N. Miller Jr. is Appointed Commander of Space Operations Command effective January 9th 2024. Thank you General Salzman, Lieutenant General Miller, Lieutenant General Whiting and Chief Master Sergeant Lloyd. Ladies and gentlemen, please be seated. At this time, Tech Sergeant Jacqueline Hudigie will present red roses to Miss Tammy Whiting, wife of Lieutenant General Steven Whiting for her devotion and dedication to the service members and families of Space Operations Command. Red is the color of the heart and reflects the loving concern Miss Whiting has shown for the command of their families. Her roses are in full bloom symbolizing the beauty and fulfillment of her time within Space Operations Command. Now, a bouquet of yellow roses are being presented by Tech Sergeant Hudigie to Miss Samantha Miller, wife of Lieutenant General David N. Miller Jr., welcoming her to the Space Operations Command. Yellow is the color of friendship and symbolizes her arrival as the new lady of the command. In time, the rose buds will blossom as will Miss Miller's relationship with Space Operations Command and their families. It is now my privilege to present our commander, Space Operations Command, Lieutenant General David N. Miller Jr. Devin, go ahead and give him a parade or at ease, please. Well, greetings and thank you. Let me just say welcome to all the distinguished guests. As the CSO noted a short time ago when we did the promotion, we can't go through that list again. There's so many distinguished business. So let me simply say welcome. Thank you, General Dickinson, sir, and good to see you again as well. This is this is a really big day for the Miller family. As you can see up here, I got the best-looking family in America right now, at least as far as I could start. And of course my son picks up his hand and waves to everybody. Just say you know he's mine, right? I got to start out by saying, first off, thank you to the Secretary and to the CSO for giving me the opportunity but mostly for your trust and confidence in leading this outstanding team of guardians, airmen, civilians, and families who make up space operations command. I'm simultaneously humbled and in awe of the opportunity, but mostly I'm in awe of the awesome teammates that I've got and the opportunities that we've got on the horizon. Boss, I've particularly got to say thanks to you and Jennifer. As you noted today and we're dating ourselves, we're approaching a quarter century of friendship and I appreciate all you've done and most importantly I'd say I appreciate all the support you've given Samantha and myself. It's been a long time coming. I didn't cover this as much because as you saw in the promotion I was getting... there was a lot of rain in the room that's what was happening. But this CSO throughout his career at every command opportunity has checked in on me, has given me opportunities that I didn't even see before, has pushed me and even still to this day just a few weeks ago I got to spend time with him and Jennifer. I appreciate you both. I really do and I appreciate your leadership. SimSif, thanks to you and your spouse for your leadership of the service as well. I need to take a moment if you will to thank my family again. I got my mom here, obviously Samantha, there's no bouquet of flowers big enough. My three kids my dad sitting there chilling as I expect and my sister sitting here who's not here is my baby sister, my baby brother they're over 50 now but they're still babies to me but they're watching on the net. They're both prosecutors one in New York and one for the federal government in Los Angeles and you just can't get around people doing bad stuff so they got to do their job. I am blessed with the greatest core family the greatest extended family and friends and family many of them are sitting here and I want to say thank you to all of you for coming. I've needed and continue to rely on your mentorship your patience and support and I just want to say thank you thank you again. I appreciate it. I also want to say thank you on behalf of Samantha and I to the Whites Tammy sir you've made this about as great a transition as it could be. You've been gracious as you've always been. I've commented before that there was a couple of years there where I was like the special duty one star in the Department of the Air Force and General Thompson knows what I'm talking about it's like every job that nobody wanted came to Miller and in addition to the normal job and the first person who showed up or sent me a note or gave me thoughts or offered their support was General Whiting and he always had things that I still keep to this day the things that you told me so I was thinking how do you say thanks for someone who's really not just turned over the flag to you but simultaneously he's helped develop you so I have an idea boss you may not like it but I'm going to break a recommendation you know I was thinking because I could do like my boss, my former boss was an Army soldier and I just couldn't say Hua because that's an Army thing and the Marines you know they got that wounded dog sound and I don't want to use that either so I'm coming up with something new but I'm going to need some audience participation and we're going to do it until we get it right I was watching Who's Seen the Last Dance with Michael Jordan okay my generation again anyway this is the greatest of all time LeBron can't hold a torch to him and it's a story of his six world championships and how he's led the bulls right I think General Whiting is at about that size of an impact on my service as Michael Jordan has had on the Chicago Bulls and frankly on basketball when you think about it he has been here four plus years in Colorado Springs preceding the space force establishment he was the deputy commander at the time we had General Thompson out forward in the Pentagon he took over and if you recall when the service stood up it was General Raymond and General Raymond by himself and then a couple of months later Mr. Ayers is shaking his head because he was working on the legal documents with Mr. Manasco but a couple of months later we brought the SimSif on and it was two and General Thompson was chomping at the bit to get in there but we had processes to go through the entirety of the staff of the United States space force the rest of it was here and it was being led from here remotely with a forward presence it wasn't until that summer that I think General Thompson came in as the first three star in the space force then you factor in three plus years of command in space operations command he deserves something and it's not just hula and urr so what it is if you're paying attention when Michael Jordan is doing that dunk you know what he did from the free throw line come on now you all want to talk about ok there's a guy there's a guy in the side and he says big ups and that's because Michael Jordan was elevating above where anybody had seen before the second thing and my son does this when he's working people are wearing over in gaming and he's just got through putting two through the round of somebody on some first person shooter game he says you heard so we're going to make an acronym out of that for the space force big ups and you're heard and it's called booyah so this I'm telling you I need some audience participation we're going to on the count of three give the team whiting a big booyah because they've made that big a difference on my service and on this nation you with me ok one two three there you go that's America right there we're prototyping obviously it's up to you I'm just saying it sounded good but we're opposite seriously though to the men and women of space operations command I'm really humbled at this opportunity I think I owe you what I think our charge is over the next couple years and I'm going to give you some G and I real quick if I can as I see it our task from the secretary and the CSO is pretty clear and it's to build on as the boss said but also build out the combat space power of this nation there are three things we're going to have to focus on in order to do that and if you'll indulge me I'll go through them pretty quick the first is no question we are in an era of great power competition and the rules based order that ensured the peace and prosperity of this nation and our allies is at risk both from belligerent actors and the threats that you see every day on the news but also from autocratic regimes becoming increasingly more aggressive history has shown time and again and president Reagan said it best when he said that peace is indeed the highest aspiration of the American people but that peace is assured by one thing predominantly in my view and that is the capability and will of this nation to generate power to defend that peace it is the currency of deterrence and it is our down payment on our investment in conflict so these three things that we're going to talk about I think will underscore and reinforce our readiness for that because ultimately that is what deters threats like we are seeing right now and belligerent autocratic regimes like we are seeing right now the first is absolutely your core task is generating, presenting and sustaining space combat power I'm going to add an I and that's called improve the founding proposition of our service in 2019 was that the work we had done was not enough to defend this nation so much so that they asked to create a new service it took six tries I think Mr. Ayers once told me in legislation to even get considered the Army Air Corps to transition to the Air Force we did it in one year in a few months that's the urgency of the now it's also the reason why we are going to focus on improving that combat power each and every day we are going to stand up as the demand for space power increases and if you are reading the news clips from today our Army teammates are prepping for a vision for increased reliance and build out of their formations in space power our Navy teammates are doing the same as that demand increases we need to provide a United States Space Force service force provider to coordinate, prioritize recommend to our CSO combat sourcing solutions to solve the joint forces problems the third thing and that includes by the way our weapon system infrastructure more so than almost any other service we fight from our bases David Hanson and your cops are my cops that protect our mission we need to preserve and improve our weapon system infrastructure and source that combat power finally we need to elevate and institutionalize our role as United States Space Force combat force proponent what do I mean when I say that up until now and historically even in the time of Air Force Space Command we would wait until some almost arbitrary milestone decision in an acquisition program before we got involved to transition that to operations that is too late the requirement is in helping our CSO define the future force the warfighter's voice needs to be present