 Good morning ladies and gentlemen on behalf of the deputy commander 7th Air Force Brigadier General Ryan Keeney Welcome to the 607th Air Operations Center change of command ceremony where Colonel Jason Hokai will relinquish command to Colonel Matthew get cute We are pleased that you are with us today to share in this important ceremony. I am technical sergeant Jocelyn Smith your narrator for today's event The change of command ceremony is deeply rooted in military tradition and dates back to Roman times The ceremony symbolizes a transfer of command responsibility and accountability from one individual to another This transfer of command is physically represented by passing the guide on from the outgoing commander to the new Ladies and gentlemen, please stand for the arrival of the official party the playing of ruffles and flourishes The presentation of the colors and the singing of the Republic of Korea and United States national anthems Followed by an invocation by chaplain Tullock Oh say can you see By the dawn's early light What so proudly hailed Had the twilight's last gleaming Whose broad stripes and bright stars Through the perilous fight Or the ramparts we watched were so gallantly Street stars Most virtuous God originator of knowledge that climbs beyond the heavens and tumbles through the multiverse May your continuing presence be a witness to the changing of command for the 6th of 7th AOC today Pour your peace and your calm and rest upon each member with grateful hearts We recognize the remarkable character and quality of Colonel Jason T. Hokai Thank you for his skills to build a humane culture and empower all to all levels He is a precious treasure that has been a blessing to all as he moves forward may he find abundant goodness restoration and joy a Divine one. Thank you for the professionalism and beautiful compassionate leadership of Colonel Matthew C. Getki As the stressors of the 6 of 7th missions space pace ever increase the creativity and nefarious intent ever wavering May Colonel Getki and his phenomenal AOC team be granted all resources Training ingenuity to be successful every time Inspire us all to serve each other with commitment and drive Oh, holy one also bless the families of these two men for they have not journeyed this alone Bless dawn and Kathy and Milana and Harris and Megan and Anne and John and all their loved ones May they be protected and given patience and tons of fun Be our guide to lead us all back to our loved ones complete in mind body and spirit Amen Thank you base honor guard staff sergeant Watson Grant senior Airman Hurst and Chaplain Tullock ladies and gentlemen, please be seated Before we begin I would like to take a moment and recognize a few of our special guests The spouse of the commander 6 0 7th Air Operations Center Mrs. Dawn Hokai and their children Milana and Harris The spouse of the incoming commander the commander 51st operations group Colonel Catherine Getki Their children Megan Anna John her parents Joe and Nancy Knopp and their family nanny Anna Lynn Barra Yuga Attending virtually the parents of the incoming commander mr. And mrs. Jean and Lisa Getki and Attending virtually the parents of the outgoing commander retired Colonel Dave Hokai and his spouse Carol Hokai I would also like to take a moment to introduce our distinguished guests The commander Korea Air and Space Operations Center Brigadier General select Lee Hyunhee The commander 51st fighter wing Colonel William McKibbin and his spouse mrs. Amber McKibbin The vice commander 51st fighter wing Colonel Paul Davidson and his spouse mrs. Megan Davidson The command chief 51st fighter wing chief master sergeant Joshua Trundle and his spouse retired senior master sergeant Valerie Trundle The commander 51st maintenance group Colonel Todd Widera and his spouse mrs. Ratana Widera The commander 51st mission support group Colonel Kyle Grego The commander 51st medical group Colonel Jennifer Vecchione The commander third battlefield coordination detachment Colonel Jeffrey Mun The commander air support ops group Colonel Scott Morgan The commander Space Forces Korea Lieutenant Colonel Joshua McCullion and finally we would like to take this opportunity To welcome all commanders good neighbors chiefs first sergeants and Republic of Korea partners We are glad you could join us today Ladies and gentlemen, please join me in welcoming the presiding officer Brigadier General Keeney Good afternoon everyone and welcome beautiful Friday here Love to spend with the sabers of the 607th Air Operations Center Today I'm standing for the commander 7th Air Force Lieutenant General Scott Pleuese who really wishes that he could be here he'd much rather be here and And be able to celebrate with coach and radar than be in meetings But on his on his behalf today we get to change out saber one as we pass from From coach to radar I'd like to take a moment to recognize all the the leadership from across the Korean Peninsula that's with us here are our partner minus one Brigadier General Lee to our 7th Air Force and and C2 and our and 7th Air Force and AOC teammates Who are here as well as all of our our commanders our partner organizations our army teammates commanders chiefs shirts distinguished guests and Our good neighbors who who have joined us. Thank you for coming out today Especially like to thank dawn Colonel Hokai's wife who's here today with their two kids one and Harris who are joining us I'd also like to thank the parents who were joining us from long distance Dave and Carol Who are watching from sunny niceville, Florida? Arizona Arizona, okay So to all of you thanks for your support and for the many sacrifices you made for our nation Especially dawn thanks for for Helping coach out here. I know that this has been a challenging schedule coaches has worked standard Korea hours Which I don't know what we call that 6 a.m. To 6 p.m. Sometimes calls at night Well dawn has been working on kind of conus hours, so they've been like they've been phase shifted for for quite a long time dawned actually Separate from the Air Force here last she used to fly up 16s as well last flight was in the fabulous flying fiends about I Don't know a couple years ago. I'll just say a couple years ago. How about that? but like many military spouses she's had to to put her career on hold on times At times and and make sacrifices To not only support coach, but support the family obviously the two of you successfully navigated those strange schedules And we're awesome parents to Milana and Harris So I recently got to go to the graduation of Osan Middle High School where coach was the featured speaker I think his bio lasted longer than his speech, but it was amazing Where Milana was is a proud graduate of the class of 2023 This next year. She's gonna be taking a gap year to spend time with the family Learn how to drive work on cars pursue acting and learn real estate Which just sounds awesome to me and Harris is gonna be a sophomore starting at niceville high school Hopefully in the band if anyone's ever been based at Eglin nice will is like one of the premier high schools in our United States And their band is awesome Supposedly going to the orange pole parade this year, which we'll all be watching it'll be at like 4 30 a.m. On a Monday here but looking forward to seeing the Harris marching in the parade I know these last two years have been quite a challenge for the family, but I'm convinced that All three of you the love and support that you gave your dad and your husband played a big part in a successful Commander next let me move on to the the gackies so to taboo as well as Megan Anna and John and John Who are here with us for today's ceremony? It's great to get to spend another two years with you And thanks in advance for all the support that you guys are gonna give to your dad over the next couple of years And most importantly to the men and women of the 607th their operation center. Thanks for joining us on this special day There really is a saying about all the air and space operation centers if you've seen one of them You've seen one of them, right? They're all handmade wooden shoes. They're all They're all unique. They have all had their own individual characteristics But I have to say there's there's something truly special about the 607th AOC here at Osan that sets it apart You truly are the heartbeat of our air component our combined air component here on the Korean Peninsula Supporting six bases nine department of defense facilities and making sure that we really are ready to fight tonight We're charged to deter aggression maintain the armistice to defend the Republic of Korea And if necessary defeat any attack against the Alliance For 70 years the United States and the Republic of Korea has ensured the peace and security Korean Peninsula in Northeast Asia This past year we witnessed the highest number of missile launches ever out of North Korea and despite these provocations The 607th AOC maintain their cool composure Y'all remain mission focused adapted and took any means necessary to protect the 51 million civilians who live across South Korea. I Can absolutely say with confidence that the combined air power The rock app and the use app is the asymmetric force that keeps our neighbor to the north at bay and The AOC is the conductor that we is in the multi-domain effects of that combined air power Under the leisure leadership of Colonel Hokai you've had a busy year Keeping the 607th ready Coach under command you led the team to create the first integrated Multi-domain tasking order which got all the components across the Korean theater operations on the same page and increased targeting efficiency You truly are an innovation a champion innovation created a novel cyber protection program Which allowed that AOC to fuse intelligence and operations protection protection on their networks and Secured the 56 million dollar AOC weapon system. I won't try to say the whole name of it Your championing of innovation has truly set the standard for the United States Air Force network defense and you led the center of air command and control for four major theater wide exercises Leading over 2,000 permanent and deployed personnel and executing over 40 air tasking orders Which provide valuable training not only to our combined forces command, but all the other Sporting components and finally you set up a series of real-time in real-world exercises to work on The entire kill web enabling us to get combined readiness training. We need to be able to fight tonight And you did this in the only truly Combined AOC on the globe working across two languages cultures and leadership change Your leadership helped build partnerships with the Rock app and stood as a visible sign of our ironclad commitment to the alliance between the Republic of Korea and the United States of America All that to say coach Thanks for your outstanding leadership and vision your command of the 607th AOC is ensured a truly incredible Conclusion to your Air Force career and left a legacy not only here in Korea But across all the airmen and families who have been positively positively impacted by your leadership We wish you and your family the best of luck as you retire to retire first retirement to sunny, Florida Where he'll get to continue flying vipers as the chief pilot for top aces I'm I'm jealous you may get more. I don't know if you're gonna get more flying hours there here But we wish you blue skies and good luck And it's my absolute pleasure to welcome To the 607th AOC Colonel radar get key as a career at 16 pilot with over 2000 flying hours and 600 combat hours in Iraq Afghanistan He's got an incredible reputation not only as an expert aviator, but a broad operational background and a proven kid Capability for leadership both in the cockpit and non-staff He's got a deep background in Korea last seen in command of the 51st operations group here at Osan before he handed it over taboo and Now I ask you remember all those times that you said I wish the AOC would do X Yes, well now you get to fulfill your wishes and make it happen I've got no doubt that the leadership and innovation you've shown throughout your career Will continue here as you lead the 607th Air Operations Center to new heights And additionally, I'd love to welcome the the get key family to the Saber family as well. So Thank you Taboo, I don't know how you and radar do it. I don't know how you balance your two just amazing careers your three children It's just amazing the many sacrifices that you all have made to support Ray radar Megan Anna and John and I want to say thank you to Megan and in John Thank you for letting us borrow your dad for the next couple of years You guys are the why that he continues to serve to create a better world for you to grow up in Say we're one you're about to embark on the greatest and most rewarding adventure of your life Today you get to take command of the legendary 607th AOC the only truly combined AOC in the world and an amazing team I've complete confidence in your ability to lead the Sabers to deter defendant if necessary to feed our enemies I know you're going to make an amazing partner for Brigadier General Lee and Our other rock app partners as we continue to build the strength of our Alliance on The 70th anniversary year of our defense treaty our commitment to the eye to the Alliance remains ironclad The strength of this alliance is the partnership between our rock app brothers and arms I know you'll carry on the legacy here at Osan Congratulations. Thank you and kapsi-kapsi dot Ladies and gentlemen, please stand as Brigadier General Keeney presents the Legion of Merit to Colonel Hokai Attention to order This is to certify that the Legion of Merit first Oak Leaf cluster has been awarded to Colonel Jason T. Hokai Colonel Hokai distinguished himself by exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding service the United States as commander 607th Air Operations Center 7th Air Force Osan Air Base Republic of Korea from 7 July 2021 to 23 June 2023 During this period Colonel Hokai led his team to create the first theater integrated multi domain tasking order Creating a shared understanding of the battle space across all military components and increasing targeting efficiency by 92% Additionally Colonel Hokai's leadership was crucial to the creation of a novel cyber protection program Improving the ability of his organization to fuse intelligence and operations to proactively defend friendly computer networks Against known threats securing the 56 million dollar air operations weapon system and further developing into the standard for United States Air Force network defense Furthermore Colonel Hokai directed the worldwide distribution of 607th Air Operations Center operations Across six bases in nine facilities with minimal added cost Increasing the survivability of his organization by 46% Furthermore Colonel Hokai led over 1900 combined members in four peninsula wide exercises to produce and execute over 10 air tasking orders Providing valuable training to combine forces command senior leadership and over 13,000 military and government participants Finally Colonel Hokai's leadership was pivotal in standing up a series of real-time and real-world exercises of the entire kill web Enabling intelligence controllers and operators to practice and improve on actions They would be expected to perform in critical time-sensitive fight tonight scenarios Sharpening the alliance between the Republic of Korea and the United States of America the singularly distinctive Accomplishments of Colonel Hokai culminate a distinguished career in the service of his country and reflect great credit upon himself and the United States Air Force Please remain standing for the Rock-Aff Award presentation at this time Brigadier General select Lee Hyunhee the commander Korea Air and Space Operations Center will present a Republic of Korea chief of staff of the Air Force letter of appreciation and plaque to Colonel Hokai This letter of appreciation and plaque are being presented in recognition of Colonel Hokai's contribution as commander 607th Air Operations Center, especially in reinforcing military cooperation and promoting friendship between the Republic of Korea and United States Air Forces with exceptionally distinguished service and dedication Thank you Brigadier General select Lee Ladies and gentlemen, it is my pleasure to introduce the commander 6th to 7th Air Operations Center colonel Jason Alright, it's Friday There might be some audience participation required We'll see whether we can liven this up just a little bit Anyway, so when you when you give these speeches you're always going to forget somebody to think so I've got some people written down But major cook Projo master sergeant bill bows Where there we go back in the back Obviously these things don't happen in a vacuum and they're not easy. So thank you for that. Oh son protocol. Oh son PA This is changing command season. Yes. Thank you very much Sergeant Smith. Thank you for the excellent narration chaplain to look wherever she went I know she's got other changes. There we go other changes of commands to go to Sergeant Watson Grant. Thank you for the anthems Or anthem and sir. I'm rehearsed. Thank you for the anthem. All right Taboo Megan Anna John. Thank you for being here You guys are amazing and you're continuing on a fantastic journey. Mr. Mrs. Knapp Nice seeing you again. Yes. We were we did a Halloween thing way back in the day So that's awesome. Mr. Mrs. Getkey. Thank you for joining us virtually and sir Thank you very much. Well, not thank you, but I'm glad to hear that you're doing better For your general select lead sir. Thank you. You honor us by being here Let's see mr. Shim our lead good neighbor Unfortunately couldn't be here today also for a Medical issue, but I want to thank him and I want to thank our good neighbor team That has been truly amazing and grown only Stronger since I've been here Not due to me. I'm just saying from mr. Shim's point of view Front row shady amber. Thank you. Nice to see you again. Who do Megan nice to see you chief We just met this morning. Nice to see you again Ma'am we haven't met but nice to see you Group commanders Jeff thank you for being here sergeant major. Thank you We've got space for somewhere in the house. There we go. All right. Um, so I think I've got that all down Uh, general Keeney, thank you for the uh, the very kind words and I really want to thank uh, lieutenant general poise I know he couldn't be here today, but uh, this is my second time serving for him There was going to be a joke about this so far. Lucky is winning Uh, a previous change of command there might have been an indoor ceremony. Maybe the commander of troops passed out twice But so far that hasn't happened. So we're good and I'll try to keep this short Uh to my family Dawn Milana Harris, I would not be standing up here without you. I appreciate your Your encouragement. I appreciate your support. I'm looking forward to spending much more time with you So thank you for that So 607th aoc for the past two years our vision has been pioneering the future of command and control by dominating all domains through rapid synchronization of joint and combined effects Our mission has been synchronizing all the main effects by providing the right information to the right people at the right time In order to achieve decision superiority And our values are we are a family of families that fight and win together We are committed to service built on a foundation of trust with the culture of respect Turning challenges into opportunities and adapting The 607th aoc team you guys are truly amazing Uh, the accolades that you hear up here are not mine. They are yours Uh, so I want to say this has truly been an honor Being your commander while the aoc's job is to provide for command and control People usually think about that as ordering airstrikes From combat aircraft, but we do so much more We order everybody around if you didn't notice multi domain. Yes army navy marines guardians. Yep You're under our sights But getting the right information to the right people at the right time It sounds very simple, but it is not easy But you have made it look easy So i'm going to highlight a couple things through the squadrons as well as uh through the divisions Acoms you are the foundation of what the aoc does We cannot make this fight happen without the support computer support network support tactical expertise for the falconer weapon system Uh, got it Anyway, uh, but acoms you guys have been truly amazing even before I got here There was a question on whether we could push a full ato through our systems by the time we did that first exercise We had already you had already solved that problem Uh, and you just kept on going again things already highlighted in the uh, Previously by general keney and the legion america Cobra 621st Okay, we did a newcomers yesterday. There was about Half of the people in the newcomers brief were cobra. So Um, anyway, I know that there's older cobras here. So cobra 621st There we go fight song All right, you have pushed the envelope of tactical c2 in your own version of the talk light I will always remember sitting out on the flight line Seeing an amrap a humvee and then this cool-looking bongo truck that was just so inconspicuous Put some radio strapped in the back and some computers in the front Six people rolling around the korean countryside able to control air That was truly amazing continue to push the tactical edge of the command and control envelope amd the mighty but smallest probably well not probably but it is uh shop within our AOC You have probably partnered with our rock af partners more seamlessly than any other division out there because we own no aircraft It is all rock af aircraft and through your help The rock af is now flying a very capable kc 330 and also refueling us air force aircraft You have also helped Continue to experiment with and as well as exercise air medical evacuation and specifically With your expertise have helped our own 51st med group as well as our own Folks within the AOC for real world a emissions But what I most remember is the last exercise probably the the biggest exercise that had a Air mobility focus for some reason somebody somewhere decided to not send the brigadier general director of mobility forces Meat coston is sitting out there Double d so our amd chiefs at the time So they these guys acted as that individual And did flawless flawless work fantastic work wonderful work, but what i'm really proud of is a meme hallway A meme hallway my friends that was just a joy to walk down because we were getting beat down every single day By how the exercise planners were changing the exercise so that the air component could not play Literally domes of fog that you could not take off from at all you could land, but you couldn't take off Amazing how that happens in an exercise world But that just goes to show how powerful And a submit an asymmetric threat the combined air component is All right, so that's amd sard strategy division working exercising stretching all of us To include our joint coalition partners to think broader working with our partners to make that happen And then taking the steps to make all of us better cpd Making distributed ops a reality in real time moving an air tasking order and a multi-domain tasking order Many of the things i'd like to talk about are beyond the classification of this room But the bottom line is you have made our fighting force more effective More efficient with limited resources my hats off to you cod Combat ops division where the rubber meets the road if there's ever any screw-ups in the rest of the planning process somewhere up the line Cod is where they have to fix it If there's things missing or overlooked it's cod that has to fix it make it happen You happen to be also the most popular location in the aoc what hasn't been mentioned yet is that yes We had two presidents inside the aoc president biden president yoon at the same time Looking at the cod floor in our beautiful wall of knowledge if you will Thank you for your tireless efforts to make that happen and continuing the next level of communication ISRD always there the unblinking eye of intelligence um I can't say enough about how proud I was of the k-pop exercises They've already been mentioned But to actually do real-time intel collect and do that com link all the way through to a Combat aircraft to get a strike on a target is absolutely amazing I don't know that we do that anywhere else in the world the same way we do it here WSI A division of civilians our bedrock if you will of continuity You are also the backbone of this organization because you are the support network through training Exercises and basically taking all those ancillary type of things that must happen to make an organization work and you make it work And then finally last but not least I want to mention two kind of odd Organizations if you will not necessarily organizations and not really officially Anything the fangs of war Yep the aOC Cobra and really all-inclusive scooter club. Yep. We went on many rides. We had many adventures. Nobody has died Okay, nobody has died. Maybe some scooters lost some parts, but those are the weak parts Who needs an exhaust? We love to burn the weeds. We don't need roads. Who needs roads? Anyway, but the fangs of war personally for me our scoots were definitely A welcomed reprieve from the stress of this job And I really appreciated it and then finally Last but not least the 05 30 CrossFit crew. Yep. Thank you guys very much It was always that was the easiest time. I was able to protect in my schedule So we made it happen and you guys always inspired me And taught me a lot of great things. So with all that being said, I've always had a quote Usually from Malcolm Gladwell. This will not be any different The key to good decision-making The good decision-making is not knowledge. It's understanding and combining all of that together What I want to say is that this aOC and kind of alluded to by journal kini This aOC has the ability to navigate not one But multiple cultures and by one I mean united states air force, but it's not just that it's rock af It's usfk It's cfc And all of the permutations and we are able and you as a team have inspired everyone To make and take knowledge and make it understanding So that we can move better faster and more efficiently to take the fight north if we ever had to Savers you do this better better than any other organization. I've ever been a part of and I'm proud and honored to serve you And finally radar we have good history together Um, thank you so much for being here taboo again. Thank you for being here and the kids as well Uh, I know the aOC is going to continue to grow and drive under your leadership The get-key household is never quiet As again, we've talked about two commands wing level command group level commands simultaneously with three kids If what I said is simple, but not easy. None of that is simple and none of that is easy So my hat's off to you As a prior joint spouse, I can understand those challenges and we appreciate it So this saber family is ready to accept you and you are ready to take it to the next level Radar my hat's off to you. I really appreciate it savers. Thank you very much in one final time This is an audience participation now Get ready savers To them now The seventh air operation center would like to offer one final salute out of respect for the outstanding leadership provided by kernel loci Ladies and gentlemen, please stand for the official change of command. What was your Attention to order special order number ag-081737 by order of lieutenant general scott poise commander seventh air force Colonel jason hokey relinquishes command of the sixth to seventh air operation center osan air base republic of korea to colonel matthew get-key effective 23 june 2023 The sixth to seventh air operation center colonel matthew get-key I'm going to start we had a conversation before before we began that something was going to go wrong In these ceremonies because something always does Um, and i'm not sure if i've actually seen it yet. So i'll just remind myself in the words of ted lasso to be a goldfish There's a reasonable chance that two-year-olds are going to come running up here any second I'm going to be brief because we're almost out of uh of fruit snacks Pro just thank you for putting this together squawk and sardin bilbo Thank you for the anthem singers chaplain sardin smith. Thanks for narrating the uh can't Can't can't do that one well enough lucky. Thanks for uh leading the formation Doing it well. Thank you to the honor guard. I'm sure they've departed to the next thing Uh, general select lee. Thank you for being here sir. I look forward to to working with you As well as the the good neighbors Mr. Lim, uh, miss kim and uh, uh, mr. Lim my old good neighbor. Thank you for being here as well Mustang one and we'll just say the bobs from team osan army asog AOC Seventh air force staff working my way farther back there space force Um, we're pretty far back at that point. Thank you all for being here. Um, I truly appreciate it. Um, thank you Let's see taboo Megan and john Looking at you john right here Thanks for starting a new adventure for uh with us. We've got a new uh sign counter sign to learn So y'all are used to the ops group haramph pill song and breathe and fire So now it's saber shoot him down. You heard that right? So we got to work on that one. We'll add it to the repertoire I'm proud to be an air force family with you And yes, uh one more time. There will be cake afterwards. So tighten up john Miss aniline. Thank you for doing us. We couldn't do it without you Joe and nancy. Thanks for traveling to to all of these ceremonies. Thanks for extending your stay this time To see this one and during the stomach bug that came with it I think they're over it. Um, just in case anyone shakes their hand afterwards mom and dad I know you wish you could be here. My dad's recovering from uh from surgery But i'm glad that recovery is going well general keeney, uh and on And general poise. Thanks for the confidence in me And the trust particularly because you know me. I find that a little surprising, but I will do my best Coach This is the the second time i've gotten to work with you In the last few days i'm struck again by your relentless Care for people and so thank you. I have I have worked in organizations led by coach. Okay, um, and i'm proud And humbled to accept the baton from you In the 607 Sometime we'll get together and get and get all the old cars together Down in florida. I look forward to that and I wish you don. I'm along and here is the best In your transition to beach life in florida. Okay, as I wrap up I'm reminded that 73 years ago on sunday the korean war started Today we stand as part of a long line of joint war fighters That are stood shoulder to shoulder with our allies here in south korea An alliance that has been mentioned is seven years old this year And stared down An adversarial regime to the north. I'm proud today to join this team and continue that legacy Cops, cops you down. Let's get after it. This time the members of the 607th air operations center would like to render their first salute To the new 607th air operations center commander colonel getki. Thank you colonel getki Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for joining us today for the 607th air operations center change of command And keeping with air force tradition Please stand and join us in singing the air force song and remain standing for the departure of the official party Please join us for a reception and light refreshments welcoming colonel getki and his family to the side of the seating area