WEBVTT 00:02.420 --> 00:04.180 - Ladies and Gentlemen it is my great pleasure 00:04.180 --> 00:06.779 to introduce General Cooley. 00:06.779 --> 00:09.946 (audience applauding) 00:14.570 --> 00:18.000 - What an exciting day for the 711th Human Performance Wing 00:18.000 --> 00:20.103 and for the Air Force Research Laboratory. 00:21.520 --> 00:25.590 This is really an opportunity for us to pause 00:25.590 --> 00:29.890 and reflect on General Koeniger's time in the seat. 00:29.890 --> 00:31.830 He's been here for three years. 00:31.830 --> 00:36.210 When he got here he probably had no idea 00:36.210 --> 00:38.470 what he was getting into, how long it was gonna last 00:38.470 --> 00:39.303 and some of the challenges that they were 00:39.303 --> 00:41.870 going to go through, and I'm gonna recount 00:41.870 --> 00:43.510 some of those things. 00:43.510 --> 00:47.600 But this is a great opportunity to reflect on that 00:47.600 --> 00:51.520 and to introduce, my opportunity to introduce 00:51.520 --> 00:54.720 the incoming commander in General Dienst. 00:54.720 --> 00:56.860 And he's just moving into the neighborhood 00:56.860 --> 00:58.870 and we're getting to know him and very excited about that. 00:58.870 --> 01:01.600 But let me start off by saying first of all 01:01.600 --> 01:04.313 thank you to the families, especially Jo. 01:06.610 --> 01:11.330 His wife has stayed in the D.C. area at this time 01:11.330 --> 01:13.470 so they've done that geographic bachelor thing 01:13.470 --> 01:15.450 and again going back to that timeframe 01:15.450 --> 01:17.010 you never know how long it's gonna be. 01:17.010 --> 01:20.530 And so lots of frequent flyer miles 01:20.530 --> 01:23.130 between here and D.C.A. I imagine, 01:23.130 --> 01:27.610 and so this is an opportunity for him to get back to D.C. 01:27.610 --> 01:29.460 in another challenging job but at least he'll 01:29.460 --> 01:30.550 be able to come home at night. 01:30.550 --> 01:35.550 So Jo, thank you for loaning him to us for three long years 01:35.890 --> 01:37.440 and your son Marcus for being here. 01:37.440 --> 01:39.060 I appreciate that. 01:39.060 --> 01:44.060 Thank you Ralph and Charlotte for coming up 01:44.180 --> 01:48.260 from, let me try and stand down, from Pensacola. 01:48.260 --> 01:51.900 We had a short opportunity that Ralph is two years 01:51.900 --> 01:55.850 younger and so General Koeniger, Mark was always the 01:55.850 --> 01:58.433 older brother and kinda set the stage. 01:59.560 --> 02:02.040 I always like to go back and reflect on those 02:02.040 --> 02:04.240 childhood years because those formative years 02:04.240 --> 02:07.960 really give us insight into who we're dealing with 02:07.960 --> 02:09.710 and I think we all learn vicariously through 02:09.710 --> 02:12.090 those stories so Ralph had, 02:12.090 --> 02:15.330 well he confirmed what I think most people already know. 02:15.330 --> 02:17.050 And we'll get into that. 02:17.050 --> 02:21.220 And welcome, welcome not just to the command, 02:21.220 --> 02:24.650 but welcome as neighbors to Judy and Heidi. 02:24.650 --> 02:27.190 They're gonna be living right across the street 02:27.190 --> 02:30.373 from us, so we're gonna be able to keep a close eye on, 02:31.610 --> 02:34.920 so none of those late night parties and everything. 02:34.920 --> 02:36.640 But thank you for coming in, 02:36.640 --> 02:39.020 and they're living in box land and getting settled in. 02:39.020 --> 02:42.180 I also want to say thank you to the leadership 02:42.180 --> 02:45.640 across the 711th and Air Force Research Lab for being here. 02:45.640 --> 02:49.630 Prior leaders, Mr. Tom Wells, good to see you here sir, 02:49.630 --> 02:53.010 and in particular our community leaders. 02:53.010 --> 02:58.010 711th is, we employ a lot of folks in the community 02:58.740 --> 03:01.360 and we bring a whole bunch of young airmen 03:01.360 --> 03:04.020 through the 711th and USAFSAM and so 03:05.120 --> 03:08.350 you all help to make sure that they go away 03:08.350 --> 03:10.810 appreciating what a wonderful community this is 03:10.810 --> 03:12.360 so thanks for coming out today. 03:13.630 --> 03:16.010 So what I hope to do is spend a little bit of time 03:16.010 --> 03:18.380 and talk about General Koeniger. 03:18.380 --> 03:23.170 I do like to reflect back on the earlier years 03:23.170 --> 03:24.820 because it gives us great insight 03:25.813 --> 03:27.800 and sort of recount a little bit of his career 03:27.800 --> 03:30.060 but then focus on what was accomplished 03:30.060 --> 03:31.080 in the past three years. 03:31.080 --> 03:32.600 There's really been some important things 03:32.600 --> 03:34.330 that have happened in these three years. 03:34.330 --> 03:36.713 As we were recounting just ahead of this, 03:37.750 --> 03:42.130 both he and I, it's been a little bit of a turbulent time 03:42.130 --> 03:47.130 for our organization and 03:47.640 --> 03:50.050 but I really think that we are turning a corner 03:50.050 --> 03:52.340 and General Koeniger's done just a terrific job 03:52.340 --> 03:53.173 and I'm gonna recount some of that. 03:53.173 --> 03:55.250 Then I'm gonna spend some time introducing 03:56.270 --> 03:59.770 General Dienst and give you an idea based on some of 03:59.770 --> 04:03.133 those early years who it is that's coming in for command. 04:04.150 --> 04:07.300 So I always like to start you know not just when 04:07.300 --> 04:08.800 Mark was born, but the parents 04:08.800 --> 04:11.690 because that can be such an important factor. 04:11.690 --> 04:15.460 Mark's father immigrated from Germany in 1951 04:15.460 --> 04:19.500 through Ellis Island and his mother also immigrated 04:19.500 --> 04:20.970 from the Sudetenland in 1957. 04:23.194 --> 04:25.820 And so they both came over here, you know 04:25.820 --> 04:28.710 make their way in the United States. 04:28.710 --> 04:32.420 Well his father ended up in New York 04:32.420 --> 04:35.930 in like upstate New York in Rochester and then Iowa 04:35.930 --> 04:38.480 and eventually in New Orleans which is really where 04:39.928 --> 04:42.563 Mark and Ralph grew up. 04:43.690 --> 04:44.523 Excuse me. 04:46.170 --> 04:51.170 And he made his way making contact lenses, interestingly. 04:51.650 --> 04:55.480 So this was in the very early days of contact lenses 04:55.480 --> 04:58.320 and he had a particular skill 04:58.320 --> 05:01.640 and in fact their father had a number of patents 05:01.640 --> 05:03.470 on making contact lenses. 05:03.470 --> 05:07.140 Interestingly both of them ended up making 05:07.140 --> 05:09.640 you know when you work in dad's shop, right, 05:09.640 --> 05:11.403 so you make contact lenses. 05:13.630 --> 05:15.360 Just an interesting side note, I'm gonna get ahead 05:15.360 --> 05:17.440 of myself, guess what? 05:17.440 --> 05:21.470 General Dienst also made contact lenses growing up. 05:21.470 --> 05:24.020 So I'm not sure what that says about the two of you, 05:24.020 --> 05:25.620 don't know if you even knew that 05:27.528 --> 05:30.090 but that respect is what formed 05:32.716 --> 05:36.440 the beginnings of General Koeniger's life. 05:36.440 --> 05:40.110 So obviously he was successful in school 05:40.110 --> 05:42.000 and doing all the right things. 05:42.000 --> 05:43.690 Went off to the Air Force Academy, 05:43.690 --> 05:46.540 and he wanted to do one of two things, 05:46.540 --> 05:48.840 one or two things, it was sort of an and/or. 05:48.840 --> 05:51.090 He wanted to fly, and he wanted to go 05:51.090 --> 05:53.070 to medical school and be a doctor. 05:53.070 --> 05:54.880 So he kinda went to the Air Force Academy saying 05:54.880 --> 05:57.040 okay, I'm gonna you know do one of those things. 05:57.040 --> 05:59.393 Well, he had some, 06:00.380 --> 06:02.610 his eyesight wasn't perfect and so he had 06:02.610 --> 06:04.660 some medical issues that kept coming up. 06:04.660 --> 06:06.850 And I'm not sure what happened in those first two 06:06.850 --> 06:08.370 years but his grades weren't great, 06:08.370 --> 06:11.810 it's highly competitive at the Academy to get those 06:11.810 --> 06:13.870 very limited number of medical slots. 06:13.870 --> 06:16.410 So he did a calculus at the two year point 06:16.410 --> 06:18.380 and said you know what, I don't think they're gonna 06:18.380 --> 06:20.220 let me do either of the things I want to do 06:20.220 --> 06:21.990 so I'm gonna take a third option. 06:21.990 --> 06:26.990 So he transferred to LSU and went to Louisiana State. 06:28.150 --> 06:32.230 And completed there in three years and 06:33.570 --> 06:36.880 after transferring, but still wanted to do the same thing. 06:36.880 --> 06:39.923 Still wanted to fly, still wanted to go to medical school. 06:41.640 --> 06:45.860 Persistence, this man did not give up on that. 06:45.860 --> 06:48.750 So he went to the Air Force again to go to OTS. 06:48.750 --> 06:49.710 They wouldn't let him in. 06:49.710 --> 06:53.570 You're too tall, your sitting height is too high, right? 06:53.570 --> 06:55.980 Your eyesight isn't good enough and there was some 06:55.980 --> 06:59.820 other reason that the OTS kept turning him down. 06:59.820 --> 07:02.303 Well, he was a dog with a bone. 07:04.490 --> 07:07.620 He was after that and eventually convinced them 07:07.620 --> 07:10.340 to let him in to go fly. 07:10.340 --> 07:13.020 Because of his eyesight they let him in as a navigator. 07:13.020 --> 07:17.360 So he entered the Air Force in 1985, or 1984, 07:20.110 --> 07:24.380 yeah he was, 1984 but you didn't pop out until 1985 07:24.380 --> 07:28.193 because getting into OTS and the classes and all those 07:28.193 --> 07:29.026 kind of things. 07:31.401 --> 07:34.170 So that's right, in '84, so for four years he was 07:34.170 --> 07:37.090 a navigator flying AWACS missions. 07:37.090 --> 07:40.930 Over Saudia Arabia and at that time we were 07:40.930 --> 07:42.233 really all over the world. 07:43.120 --> 07:45.740 So when you see General Koeniger, 07:45.740 --> 07:48.760 you know normally you look at doctors and 07:48.760 --> 07:50.780 in terms of looking at all the ribbons they have 07:50.780 --> 07:51.990 and all that kind of stuff 07:51.990 --> 07:55.310 you go wait a minute he's a doc, right? 07:55.310 --> 07:58.080 So let me just give you some context. 07:58.080 --> 08:00.030 I had the staff look at this. 08:00.030 --> 08:04.580 Our four star commanding general, General Bunch, 08:04.580 --> 08:09.243 has four rows of ribbons, okay, four. 08:11.660 --> 08:16.030 General Dienst has five rows of ribbons. 08:18.950 --> 08:19.820 I have seven. 08:19.820 --> 08:22.630 I'm a little bit of an anomaly, in terms of serving 08:22.630 --> 08:25.000 overseas and doing a variety of things. 08:25.000 --> 08:27.905 General Koeniger has 13 rows of ribbons! 08:27.905 --> 08:31.072 (audience applauding) 08:35.200 --> 08:38.253 He didn't know I was gonna talk about that. 08:38.253 --> 08:39.110 But that was the point 08:40.395 --> 08:41.410 to most of you doing the operational stuff 08:41.410 --> 08:44.263 he was all over the place in that time period. 08:46.370 --> 08:48.100 So he got to fly. 08:48.100 --> 08:51.060 He still had this hankering to go to medical school. 08:51.060 --> 08:55.010 And so while on the AWACS flying around 08:55.010 --> 08:57.220 he studied for the MCAT. 08:57.220 --> 09:01.470 So he studies for the MCAT and 09:01.470 --> 09:03.760 does well enough and gets accepted. 09:03.760 --> 09:07.430 So he spends four years as a navigator so in '88 he goes out 09:07.430 --> 09:09.980 we send him off to go to the USUHS 09:12.060 --> 09:14.483 the medical school for the military. 09:15.390 --> 09:19.483 And so that kind of set the trajectory of his career. 09:20.380 --> 09:23.290 But while he was at residency, 09:23.290 --> 09:24.990 he was doing a residency at Eglin, 09:26.020 --> 09:27.870 so he's not married at this time. 09:27.870 --> 09:31.010 He's you know head down persistent at going after 09:31.010 --> 09:32.800 med school and that kind of thing. 09:32.800 --> 09:34.700 Well he meets this apparently very 09:34.700 --> 09:38.060 cute young lady and decides that he's going to ask her out. 09:38.060 --> 09:41.193 So he does, gets summarily turned down, 09:42.090 --> 09:45.000 asks again, same result. 09:45.000 --> 09:47.523 A third time, not doing it. 09:48.690 --> 09:53.000 And so finally he just confronts Jo and says 09:53.000 --> 09:54.900 look, what is going on? 09:54.900 --> 09:58.010 And Jo was a, pushing drugs. 09:58.010 --> 10:02.510 She was a pharmaceutical representative. 10:02.510 --> 10:03.860 I'm sorry. 10:03.860 --> 10:05.910 She was pushing drugs, yeah that's right. 10:08.560 --> 10:13.120 Well again, there's some persistence in this man. 10:13.120 --> 10:15.693 He was not going to take no for an answer. 10:16.880 --> 10:20.780 So they, shortly after that ended up 10:20.780 --> 10:22.130 dating and getting married. 10:24.470 --> 10:27.760 Then his career, it's in the bio, 10:27.760 --> 10:29.310 you know he did a whole bunch of assignments 10:29.310 --> 10:33.740 in terms of as a family doc and doing the medical 10:33.740 --> 10:36.700 kinds of things, building up those as well as command. 10:36.700 --> 10:41.240 And all the way up until he was selected for General 10:41.240 --> 10:44.530 and then came to be the commander of the 10:44.530 --> 10:46.860 77th Human Performance Wing. 10:46.860 --> 10:49.495 And I just want to hit on there's five things 10:49.495 --> 10:54.495 that I want to highlight as particularly noteworthy 10:54.950 --> 10:59.380 of contributions that General Koeniger has made 10:59.380 --> 11:00.870 since he's here. 11:00.870 --> 11:04.110 The first is in my mind probably the most important. 11:04.110 --> 11:07.640 And that is the 711th is 11:09.412 --> 11:12.340 or still is a pretty young organization. 11:12.340 --> 11:14.060 It is only stood up 11:15.710 --> 11:20.370 well under Todd Wells, let's see it was 2008 11:20.370 --> 11:24.160 part of Black 2005 and we closed down the San Antonio 11:24.160 --> 11:25.420 and meshed things here. 11:25.420 --> 11:29.630 So the first director was Mr. Wells 11:29.630 --> 11:33.710 and then General Jacks and then General Koeniger. 11:33.710 --> 11:37.600 And so it's a young organization that had these 11:37.600 --> 11:39.880 sort of different things that were mashed together 11:39.880 --> 11:41.820 and said okay you're an organization. 11:41.820 --> 11:46.120 And so it made sense but it's hard to gel. 11:46.120 --> 11:49.900 And Mark recognized that and he set forth to put in place 11:49.900 --> 11:52.490 a strategic vision that was going to drive 11:52.490 --> 11:54.720 the organization together and get on the same page. 11:54.720 --> 11:58.217 And so you know he put in place 11:58.217 --> 12:03.170 the three objectives that sort of drive the organization. 12:03.170 --> 12:07.380 Maximize airmen availability, optimize, or no. 12:07.380 --> 12:09.313 Maximize airmen availability, 12:10.240 --> 12:12.550 optimize resources and 12:14.030 --> 12:16.943 enhance airmen performance. 12:18.011 --> 12:19.330 You see I knew I was gonna get a lifeline. 12:19.330 --> 12:21.760 So that just goes to show you right? 12:21.760 --> 12:24.013 Although he may have been a plant so, 12:24.013 --> 12:25.769 (audience laughing) 12:25.769 --> 12:29.800 but those three things are universal across the 711th 12:29.800 --> 12:32.730 and really drive the organization together. 12:32.730 --> 12:34.850 And he's done a remarkable job of doing that 12:34.850 --> 12:38.338 strategic planning and visioning to drive the organization 12:38.338 --> 12:41.283 under that banner. 12:42.450 --> 12:45.400 But it wasn't all about visioning and strategic 12:45.400 --> 12:48.360 real world things happen and the 711th is the place 12:48.360 --> 12:49.910 that's gonna solve the problem. 12:51.804 --> 12:53.640 And I'm just gonna think somewhat chronologically. 12:53.640 --> 12:58.640 First thing that I was aware of was this UPE issue. 12:59.380 --> 13:03.020 This Unexplained Physiological Events. 13:03.020 --> 13:05.690 Pilots are flying around in training 13:05.690 --> 13:09.330 and they get woozy or dizzy or whatever 13:09.330 --> 13:10.660 and then they land and they say 13:10.660 --> 13:14.670 hey there's something going on we think it's the system, 13:14.670 --> 13:18.250 the OBOG the system that provides oxygen 13:18.250 --> 13:21.340 because we had another issue when Mr. Wells was here 13:21.340 --> 13:24.190 we sorted through that on the F-22, the OBOG system. 13:24.190 --> 13:25.980 And so, but we didn't know what was going on 13:25.980 --> 13:28.500 and it was intermittent and interspersed. 13:28.500 --> 13:33.110 Well, this was being debated on the Hill 13:33.110 --> 13:35.770 and the halls of you know the Pentagon 13:35.770 --> 13:38.090 all the senior leadership were getting asked questions 13:38.090 --> 13:40.510 and testimony what are you doing about this? 13:40.510 --> 13:42.660 You're putting our pilots in jeopardy. 13:42.660 --> 13:46.510 Well, the experts (speaker mumbling) 13:46.510 --> 13:50.700 and they came to this organization to help sort that out. 13:50.700 --> 13:52.950 And we got a lot of help. 13:52.950 --> 13:55.050 We got a lot of help and a lot of visitors 13:55.950 --> 14:00.870 but the team that Mark was leading 14:00.870 --> 14:04.320 and it clearly was a team rose to the the challenge 14:04.320 --> 14:06.010 and answered the mail. 14:06.010 --> 14:09.810 So that was kind of the second big thing. 14:09.810 --> 14:11.780 The third one that comes to mind 14:12.731 --> 14:17.110 is more about the organization and how we manage 14:17.110 --> 14:21.317 science and technology and I think with Dr. Geiss 14:21.317 --> 14:23.120 and the team of saying look 14:23.120 --> 14:27.180 there's two different pots of money that 711th has. 14:27.180 --> 14:31.120 Some of it is from the health agency side 14:31.120 --> 14:35.297 and some of it is from the line, if you will, 14:35.297 --> 14:37.780 to do research and development. 14:37.780 --> 14:40.620 And they were managed very differently and sort of off 14:40.620 --> 14:45.530 in different directions and the team said 14:45.530 --> 14:46.760 look, we've gotta sort this out. 14:46.760 --> 14:49.820 And Mark I think was instrumental in saying 14:49.820 --> 14:51.438 yep, that's the right thing to do, 14:51.438 --> 14:54.572 let's go figure that out. 14:54.572 --> 14:57.720 And I think that you know even though it's just 14:57.720 --> 14:59.760 been implemented within the last several months 14:59.760 --> 15:01.890 or whatever, I think it's the right thing to do 15:01.890 --> 15:05.743 and we're off on good footing to do that much better. 15:07.470 --> 15:08.950 In terms of real world things 15:08.950 --> 15:13.950 if you recall about two years ago we were 15:15.770 --> 15:18.540 I hesitate to say close to a conflict 15:18.540 --> 15:21.220 but it was not clear if we were gonna end up 15:21.220 --> 15:23.840 in a conflict on the Korean Peninsula. 15:23.840 --> 15:28.200 And as a result, readiness got a lot of attention. 15:28.200 --> 15:31.280 Well what happens if we actually got into a conflict 15:31.280 --> 15:32.710 a shooting match over there? 15:32.710 --> 15:35.440 And many people who, probably lots of people in this room 15:35.440 --> 15:38.640 have been to Korea and you know that there's huge 15:38.640 --> 15:41.600 number of artillery within Seoul 15:41.600 --> 15:44.490 and it would be a very very 15:47.230 --> 15:50.600 challenging potential conflict with a lot of casualties. 15:50.600 --> 15:55.010 And so the spotlight was again on the medical community. 15:55.010 --> 15:56.170 Are you ready? 15:56.170 --> 15:58.810 Do we have the folks trained and ready 15:58.810 --> 16:01.430 if we ended up getting into a conflict? 16:01.430 --> 16:02.810 Well guess what? 16:02.810 --> 16:04.000 The answer was sort of no. 16:04.000 --> 16:06.520 We didn't have anywhere near the number of people 16:06.520 --> 16:08.400 trained and ready to go. 16:08.400 --> 16:12.230 And so you know the training that we do 16:12.230 --> 16:16.660 at USAFSAM to get those aeromedical specialists 16:16.660 --> 16:17.900 trained up, all the 16:19.690 --> 16:22.810 docs nurses and technicians that are flying 16:22.810 --> 16:26.630 in the back of aircraft and taking care of wounded 16:26.630 --> 16:28.630 were pretty small numbers and they weren't current. 16:28.630 --> 16:32.387 And so there was a huge surge to train those folks 16:32.387 --> 16:35.730 and that landed right in the 711s lap to sort that out. 16:35.730 --> 16:40.730 And I think that the entire team led by General Koeniger 16:41.110 --> 16:44.200 stepped up and definitely delivered 16:46.052 --> 16:49.900 to say yeah we're ready, we have the medical teams 16:49.900 --> 16:50.733 ready to go. 16:53.810 --> 16:55.451 I was gonna look at my 16:55.451 --> 16:56.470 there was one other one I wanted to 16:56.470 --> 16:57.483 oh of course, 17:00.212 --> 17:01.900 the KC-46. 17:01.900 --> 17:05.330 So we just bought a tanker. 17:05.330 --> 17:08.033 We just bought a brand new tanker from Boeing. 17:09.150 --> 17:12.750 Lot of debate, lot of drama going through that. 17:12.750 --> 17:15.460 And we get it, it turns out the visioning system 17:15.460 --> 17:16.860 doesn't work quite right and 17:18.660 --> 17:23.080 the guys that actually do the tanking can't use 17:23.080 --> 17:26.170 the system very well and then we get into a 17:26.170 --> 17:28.880 because it's a fixed price contract with Boeing 17:28.880 --> 17:29.790 we get into a 17:31.800 --> 17:34.990 argument I'll just say, a discussion with Boeing 17:34.990 --> 17:36.320 as to who's gonna fix this 17:36.320 --> 17:39.253 and how and what was needed and what's good enough. 17:40.270 --> 17:42.930 Well, in this particular case 17:42.930 --> 17:45.180 it's actually quite interesting because 17:45.180 --> 17:47.700 this is a great example of where the 17:47.700 --> 17:50.290 Air Force Research Laboratory, the 711th and the 17:50.290 --> 17:53.840 subject matter experts that we have came to the rescue. 17:53.840 --> 17:57.480 Because we rolled in the subject matter experts 17:57.480 --> 18:00.860 on visioning and being able to sort of do 18:01.940 --> 18:04.930 in 3-D depending on where the eyesight was 18:04.930 --> 18:07.530 or where the cameras were and those kinds of things. 18:07.530 --> 18:11.500 We had experts that far exceeded anything Boeing had. 18:11.500 --> 18:13.630 And they had no chance. 18:13.630 --> 18:15.150 They had to fold and it's like okay 18:15.150 --> 18:17.760 they had to listen to us and say okay got it 18:17.760 --> 18:19.200 we're gonna do what you guys say 18:19.200 --> 18:21.500 and the expert teams. 18:21.500 --> 18:26.380 But again this is at the Secretary of the Air Force level 18:26.380 --> 18:30.141 we're getting questions from the Hill and Congress 18:30.141 --> 18:31.850 and in the press and all of those kind of things 18:31.850 --> 18:35.040 and attention from the MAJCOMs. 18:35.040 --> 18:38.220 Huge amount of pressure to deliver and it was 18:38.220 --> 18:42.510 the 711th that stepped up and solved that problem. 18:42.510 --> 18:44.810 And so those are you know in three years 18:44.810 --> 18:47.320 there's dozens and dozens of other things that happened 18:47.320 --> 18:49.960 but those are the top five that come to my mind. 18:49.960 --> 18:52.700 And so I think it's worth at this time 18:52.700 --> 18:55.320 sort of reflecting back at you know yeah those were 18:55.320 --> 19:00.320 a lot of major challenges at the most strategic level 19:01.100 --> 19:04.740 in our government that 711th stepped up and led the charge 19:04.740 --> 19:07.600 and solved some really difficult problems. 19:07.600 --> 19:11.480 So these things are a team sport 19:11.480 --> 19:15.490 and I think maybe the most important thing that 19:15.490 --> 19:18.390 General Koeniger is leaving as he moves on 19:18.390 --> 19:21.210 to this next assignment is the team. 19:21.210 --> 19:24.240 And the professionalism and the culture 19:24.240 --> 19:28.800 that have been put in place across 711th to bring this 19:28.800 --> 19:32.700 very large organization, some 2000 folks doing all 19:32.700 --> 19:36.600 sorts of different missions, bring it together as a team. 19:36.600 --> 19:41.560 And so, General Koeniger I want to say on behalf of the 19:41.560 --> 19:44.550 Air Force Research Laboratory and the men and women 19:44.550 --> 19:46.690 of the 711th, thank you for your leadership. 19:46.690 --> 19:48.803 You've done just a phenomenal job. 19:53.330 --> 19:55.770 And so we'll get him up here in a minute, 19:55.770 --> 19:58.310 he'll have his say but let me talk a little bit 19:58.310 --> 19:59.923 about your incoming commander. 20:02.100 --> 20:06.400 So General Dienst, I just have been getting to know him 20:06.400 --> 20:07.933 a little bit as neighbors. 20:09.703 --> 20:11.030 He grew up in Kansas 20:12.783 --> 20:17.150 in a very small town in Kansas and then around Wichita. 20:17.150 --> 20:19.910 His graduating class was 25. 20:19.910 --> 20:23.200 Okay, so just to calibrate, right? 20:23.200 --> 20:24.263 It was pretty small. 20:25.280 --> 20:29.400 But he was out there in farm country. 20:29.400 --> 20:31.540 So when your growing up in farm country, 20:31.540 --> 20:32.520 what do you do? 20:32.520 --> 20:36.160 Well you work on farms, you get to know farmers. 20:36.160 --> 20:38.420 And guess what, it's hard work. 20:38.420 --> 20:42.410 I lived when I was growing up I lived up in 20:42.410 --> 20:46.250 sort of Northeast Kansas, he was in Southeast Kansas. 20:46.250 --> 20:47.470 So I can relate to that. 20:47.470 --> 20:51.130 Going out and it's a challenge and you get a work ethic. 20:51.130 --> 20:54.600 But his father was an optometrist. 20:54.600 --> 20:58.220 So his father and his uncle were both in the business 20:58.220 --> 21:01.660 of making eye glasses and then getting into contact lenses. 21:01.660 --> 21:05.800 So like I said, he made eye glasses growing up, 21:05.800 --> 21:08.803 that's what he did, you know helping out dad. 21:10.530 --> 21:13.910 And in addition to all the work ethic 21:13.910 --> 21:17.290 that you get from farming. 21:17.290 --> 21:19.260 But General Dienst was a little different. 21:19.260 --> 21:23.300 So he went to you know high school, 21:23.300 --> 21:26.425 college there in Emporia, Kansas. 21:26.425 --> 21:30.209 Got his doctorate in Ophthalmology 21:30.209 --> 21:31.160 at the University of Houston. 21:31.160 --> 21:32.910 So he was sort of on the same track 21:32.910 --> 21:37.420 following his dad in optometry. 21:37.420 --> 21:40.820 Came back, spent five years in private practice 21:40.820 --> 21:43.740 you know supporting his father, being an optometrist. 21:43.740 --> 21:48.740 And then the first Gulf War happened in 1991. 21:50.260 --> 21:52.950 And you know he's watching that and it's like 21:52.950 --> 21:54.950 you know maybe there's some other things 21:54.950 --> 21:56.870 that he ought to be doing and serving. 21:56.870 --> 22:00.210 So that started him on a process of engaging 22:00.210 --> 22:02.300 with the Air Force Reserves and getting in 22:02.300 --> 22:06.400 and he finds himself, well gets into the Air Force Reserves 22:06.400 --> 22:11.400 as a BSC, Biomedical Sciences Corps. 22:12.930 --> 22:16.490 And in '95 comes active duty. 22:16.490 --> 22:20.440 And from there does what we do with optometrists. 22:20.440 --> 22:23.740 Starts serving the various 22:24.940 --> 22:28.100 medical posts around the Air Force 22:28.100 --> 22:33.100 and in 2005, so just six years after doing this 22:33.670 --> 22:36.733 he kinda gets pulled into the readiness world. 22:37.650 --> 22:39.680 And kinda spent the rest of his year. 22:39.680 --> 22:42.840 So if you want a prescription for eyeglasses, 22:42.840 --> 22:45.747 I recommend you not go to General Dienst. 22:47.830 --> 22:52.173 Because he hasn't done it for what, 17 years now. 22:53.940 --> 22:56.720 But he's been engaged, but he's had lots of commands 22:56.720 --> 22:59.630 and engaged in planning, readiness, and all the challenges 22:59.630 --> 23:04.520 and I think that culminated in his last job 23:04.520 --> 23:09.520 as the commander of the Air Force Medical Operations Agency 23:09.610 --> 23:11.970 AFMOA down in San Antonio. 23:11.970 --> 23:16.670 Responsible as you probably saw in the bio 23:16.670 --> 23:20.080 for all of those medical facilities around the Air Force. 23:20.080 --> 23:21.220 Every single one of 'em. 23:21.220 --> 23:24.690 All of the medical services were 23:24.690 --> 23:26.343 managed through that agency. 23:27.310 --> 23:30.510 I can just imagine a few headaches coming through there 23:30.510 --> 23:33.990 and challenges and fighting the resource battles 23:33.990 --> 23:34.940 and all those kind of things. 23:34.940 --> 23:37.010 But yes, a very good understanding of the readiness 23:37.010 --> 23:41.580 and he also spent some time at the Defense Health Agency 23:41.580 --> 23:43.430 which is sort of taking some of those 23:43.430 --> 23:44.900 mission responsibilities over. 23:44.900 --> 23:47.610 So he has a very good understanding of the joint world 23:47.610 --> 23:49.390 and the partners who are going to be 23:49.390 --> 23:50.653 responsible for this. 23:52.090 --> 23:56.050 So General Dienst has an excellent record 23:56.050 --> 23:59.810 of command and the staff type jobs 23:59.810 --> 24:03.230 that give him insight into the challenges that we face 24:03.230 --> 24:04.660 as the organization moves forward. 24:04.660 --> 24:06.440 The big organization of the Air Force 24:06.440 --> 24:09.630 medical community moves forward. 24:09.630 --> 24:13.180 I'd also like to share some personal things 24:13.180 --> 24:16.120 just to give all the folks who are 24:17.050 --> 24:18.833 wondering whose coming in here. 24:20.230 --> 24:25.230 Well General Dienst and Judy have five children. 24:25.580 --> 24:29.240 Four of them are out and married and scattered 24:29.240 --> 24:31.850 all over the mostly the east coast, 24:31.850 --> 24:34.793 North Carolina and whatnot. 24:36.340 --> 24:38.620 And enjoy outdoors and those kinds of things. 24:38.620 --> 24:41.923 But I also found out that General Dienst is an oil painter. 24:45.032 --> 24:47.320 I'm looking forward to seeing some oil paintings 24:47.320 --> 24:48.920 in your office as well as your house 24:48.920 --> 24:51.170 when we're wandering around the neighborhood. 24:52.760 --> 24:55.760 So he's excited to get here and it's a great opportunity, 24:55.760 --> 24:57.300 you have the right leader at the right time 24:57.300 --> 25:00.950 to come in here and lead the 711th to the next level. 25:00.950 --> 25:04.670 And so with that let me turn it over to 25:04.670 --> 25:08.650 your parting commander, General Mark Koeniger, Sir. 25:08.650 --> 25:09.870 (audience applauding) 25:09.870 --> 25:11.916 - Thank you Sir, I appreciate it. 25:11.916 --> 25:12.916 - Thank you. 25:21.020 --> 25:23.650 - Okay, I have some notes because my memory 25:23.650 --> 25:26.313 is not nearly as good as General Cooley's. 25:35.909 --> 25:39.610 You know these types of events are not easy to plan. 25:39.610 --> 25:41.780 There's a lot of moving pieces that go on 25:41.780 --> 25:44.130 and so what I'd like to do up front 25:44.130 --> 25:49.130 is to recognize some people who have put in a lot of work 25:49.531 --> 25:52.240 to pull this all together. 25:52.240 --> 25:55.427 So the project officer Captain Jen Wedlen, 25:56.680 --> 25:59.200 Ms. Paula Butler, Mr. Shane Frasier, 25:59.200 --> 26:03.950 Staff Sergeant Katie Longbrake, Tech Sergeant Allison Soper, 26:03.950 --> 26:08.453 Master Sergeant Ashley Fuquai, and Ms. Karen Pernell. 26:09.820 --> 26:13.270 Also thanks to Chaplain Keylala 26:13.270 --> 26:16.250 and the Band of Flight. 26:16.250 --> 26:18.379 Please join me in a round of applause. 26:18.379 --> 26:21.546 (audience applauding) 26:26.270 --> 26:28.660 Distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, 26:28.660 --> 26:31.150 members of the Human Performance Wing, 26:31.150 --> 26:33.720 I thank you very much for coming. 26:33.720 --> 26:36.350 You know it's hard to believe that I've actually 26:36.350 --> 26:38.820 been here for three years. 26:38.820 --> 26:41.043 The time really has flown by. 26:42.030 --> 26:45.630 I remember when I arrived I was thinking that 26:45.630 --> 26:49.980 wow, I don't really have, as a family practice doc 26:49.980 --> 26:53.680 flight surgeon, I don't really have a research background 26:53.680 --> 26:57.150 and I wasn't quite sure how things were gonna go here but 26:58.660 --> 27:01.770 you know then I met Tim and Janet 27:01.770 --> 27:04.860 and they did a lot of hand holding up front. 27:04.860 --> 27:08.400 The first few months, making sure that I didn't do anything, 27:08.400 --> 27:11.130 head off in the wrong direction. 27:11.130 --> 27:13.230 You know there were times that they'd knock on the door 27:13.230 --> 27:16.740 and they'd come in and they'd say now Mark, 27:16.740 --> 27:18.390 well maybe they said General, but 27:20.740 --> 27:24.100 you know, they would say you might want to consider 27:24.100 --> 27:27.710 you know and I learned very quickly to trust their advice, 27:27.710 --> 27:29.520 thank you both. 27:29.520 --> 27:34.360 They have since moved on from the wing to other jobs 27:34.360 --> 27:35.993 where their talents were needed. 27:37.040 --> 27:42.040 And you notice that I said they moved on to other jobs 27:42.540 --> 27:45.411 I didn't say they moved on to better jobs. 27:45.411 --> 27:48.070 (audience laughing) 27:48.070 --> 27:51.080 So in all seriousness though, thank you both 27:51.080 --> 27:54.130 for everything that you did during the two years 27:54.130 --> 27:56.010 that we worked together you provided 27:56.010 --> 28:00.100 lots of good advice for me 28:00.100 --> 28:04.410 in terms of trying to decide in some very difficult 28:04.410 --> 28:06.923 circumstances what we would do going forward. 28:10.130 --> 28:14.570 To Darrel and Michael, you two really haven't missed a beat 28:15.520 --> 28:18.930 in stepping in and filling their shoes 28:18.930 --> 28:23.930 and again helping me navigate the wing. 28:23.980 --> 28:27.780 You are going to be two great assets to help 28:27.780 --> 28:30.590 General Dienst as he takes the helm 28:30.590 --> 28:32.160 to move the wing forward. 28:32.160 --> 28:37.110 So thank you for the advice that you have given me 28:37.110 --> 28:41.160 as well and for being willing to step up into 28:41.160 --> 28:45.010 those positions as you have both found out 28:45.010 --> 28:47.700 it takes a lot of time and effort because 28:47.700 --> 28:50.493 there are a lot of things that the wing is involved in. 28:53.250 --> 28:54.733 When I first arrived, 28:55.970 --> 28:58.280 actually it was probably before I arrived 28:58.280 --> 28:59.610 I asked for a whiteboard 28:59.610 --> 29:03.020 and a large pad of paper in my office. 29:03.020 --> 29:06.460 The staff, particularly the Plans and Programs 29:06.460 --> 29:09.880 Michael Stropky and Todd Nelson and Jennifer Sears 29:11.700 --> 29:14.300 just to name a few people quickly figured out 29:14.300 --> 29:18.170 that I'd spend the weekend scribbling on the board 29:18.170 --> 29:22.240 and the paper and then Monday morning 29:22.240 --> 29:26.080 I'd say hey, do you guys have a few minutes to come in? 29:26.080 --> 29:29.600 And it was never just a few minutes, 29:29.600 --> 29:33.702 and again those folks typically walked out with 29:33.702 --> 29:35.653 a list of things to go do. 29:36.840 --> 29:41.440 But thank you to you all, but thanks to the entire 29:41.440 --> 29:44.970 Plans and Programs team for being patient with me 29:44.970 --> 29:48.850 and for helping the leadership team of the 711th work 29:48.850 --> 29:53.850 through a lot of challenging issues as General Cooley 29:53.850 --> 29:56.687 outlined just a few minutes ago. 30:04.310 --> 30:08.520 So when I came here I was excited to learn about 30:08.520 --> 30:10.150 the research enterprise. 30:10.150 --> 30:14.310 Not my background but I heard stories about all 30:14.310 --> 30:17.313 the cool stuff that the 711th was doing. 30:18.391 --> 30:22.397 It didn't take long for me to learn that there really was 30:23.240 --> 30:26.900 a lot for me to pick up on 30:26.900 --> 30:29.590 and to learn how the research, 30:29.590 --> 30:31.790 how research was done in the Air Force, 30:31.790 --> 30:36.490 how research was done within the Human Performance Wing. 30:36.490 --> 30:39.190 The chief scientist's office was actually crucial 30:39.190 --> 30:42.313 to make sure that I didn't break anything in that domain. 30:43.320 --> 30:47.180 So Rajesh, David, Nancy, Julia, Nicole, and Tammy 30:47.180 --> 30:49.293 all helped keep me on track. 30:50.200 --> 30:52.680 They helped plan and execute the merger of the 30:52.680 --> 30:56.160 two research enterprises within the 711th into 30:56.160 --> 30:59.240 one research enterprise. 30:59.240 --> 31:01.610 There was consternation and heartache that occurred 31:01.610 --> 31:04.930 during that time because change is hard 31:04.930 --> 31:07.330 but to the men and women affected by the move 31:07.330 --> 31:09.100 thanks for your patience. 31:09.100 --> 31:13.670 Also thank you to the FH and RH leadership team 31:13.670 --> 31:16.510 for planning and executing the move. 31:16.510 --> 31:19.973 We had a great ribbon cutting ceremony last month. 31:21.780 --> 31:24.516 Three other people I relied heavily on 31:24.516 --> 31:27.380 were Dr. Kevin Geiss, Colonel Alden Hilton, 31:27.380 --> 31:29.160 and Colonel Phil Preen. 31:29.160 --> 31:31.630 As I mentioned earlier I had no background in research 31:31.630 --> 31:36.290 so I really counted on Kevin's advice in this area. 31:36.290 --> 31:38.650 Didn't take long for me to realize Kevin's deep 31:38.650 --> 31:41.570 expertise and strong leadership skills would allow me 31:41.570 --> 31:45.873 to focus on other areas in the wing, thanks. 31:47.100 --> 31:49.460 There is a tendency for people to spend time 31:49.460 --> 31:53.360 doing what they know best and because of my background 31:53.360 --> 31:58.360 Alden had to put up with me engaging a lot in USAFSAM 31:59.790 --> 32:02.283 certainly an area that I felt comfortable with. 32:03.120 --> 32:06.260 SAM is a diverse and complex organization that has 32:06.260 --> 32:09.450 enough work to keep quite a few people busy. 32:09.450 --> 32:12.550 Alden, I appreciate you allowing me to help you 32:12.550 --> 32:14.483 shape SAM going forward. 32:15.390 --> 32:19.590 And then the final mission lead, Colonel Phil Preen 32:19.590 --> 32:23.120 I actually poached him from the medical group 32:23.120 --> 32:24.933 a few years back. 32:25.810 --> 32:28.110 He definitely had his hands full with a couple of 32:28.110 --> 32:32.890 very high visibility programs, namely BOMC and HSI. 32:32.890 --> 32:37.310 I appreciate you getting your folks engaged 32:37.310 --> 32:40.870 on those two programs and you know when you took 32:40.870 --> 32:45.600 over BOMC it was clear to the entire AFMS 32:45.600 --> 32:48.363 that your team was the right team to lead that. 32:50.330 --> 32:53.440 No organization can succeed without a solid 32:53.440 --> 32:55.430 front office team and I can attest 32:55.430 --> 32:58.610 that the 711th has a great one. 32:58.610 --> 33:00.840 Over the past three years we've been fortunate 33:00.840 --> 33:03.710 to have some sharp people rotate through. 33:03.710 --> 33:06.230 The current team of Matt Smith, Todd Overman, 33:06.230 --> 33:10.590 Ashley Fuquae and recently retired Jay Culvan 33:10.590 --> 33:13.910 and the newest addition Patrice Earl have continued 33:13.910 --> 33:17.003 to de-conflict travel schedules, track new work, 33:17.970 --> 33:21.590 and stay on top of routine day to day work. 33:21.590 --> 33:23.960 It's been a hectic three years, 33:23.960 --> 33:27.150 but especially busy this last year since I 33:27.150 --> 33:29.960 picked up the Medical Corps Chief duties 33:29.960 --> 33:33.510 which just made things a little crazier. 33:33.510 --> 33:35.113 I appreciate your support. 33:37.270 --> 33:39.180 The 711th Human Performance Wing 33:39.180 --> 33:41.140 couldn't have accomplished all it did without a 33:41.140 --> 33:43.910 great deal of support from other organizations. 33:43.910 --> 33:47.400 First and foremost on that list is General Cooley 33:47.400 --> 33:49.563 and the AFRL front office. 33:50.480 --> 33:53.210 Again, the wing is a unique organization 33:54.120 --> 33:58.400 in AFRL you have a bunch of directorates and then the Wing. 33:58.400 --> 34:01.790 And again, AFRL is focused on research, 34:01.790 --> 34:06.470 so when DVs come to the wing, General Cooley 34:06.470 --> 34:10.830 was never shy about letting the folks know 34:10.830 --> 34:13.170 that there are medics within the Wing 34:13.170 --> 34:15.880 and the role, the critical role that those medics 34:15.880 --> 34:18.300 played for the Air Force. 34:18.300 --> 34:20.720 General Cooley, thank you so much 34:20.720 --> 34:22.683 for always having our back. 34:30.430 --> 34:31.683 Let's see. 34:37.320 --> 34:40.370 Colonel Ryder, despite the unique relationship 34:40.370 --> 34:44.080 to your office, you and your staff have been great partners. 34:44.080 --> 34:46.380 Colonel Fautsch, the 88th Med Group Commander 34:46.380 --> 34:48.140 has supported the Human Performance Wing 34:48.140 --> 34:51.690 on numerous occasions and I'm glad we've been able 34:51.690 --> 34:54.070 to reciprocate at times. 34:54.070 --> 34:56.363 And then finally, NAMRU-D. 34:57.880 --> 35:01.190 Although NAMRU is officially a separate organization 35:01.190 --> 35:04.200 the interaction of the personnel is more like that 35:04.200 --> 35:05.943 of a single organization. 35:08.010 --> 35:12.620 Captain Hebert, Matt, I appreciate all you and your team 35:12.620 --> 35:15.660 have done to foster that relationship 35:15.660 --> 35:19.070 and I know that you all will continue to work 35:19.070 --> 35:22.393 very well with the Human Performance Wing. 35:23.380 --> 35:27.150 I appreciate your support of the Wing 35:28.876 --> 35:32.933 and again, you've got a great partner with the Navy. 35:35.490 --> 35:38.610 To the men and women of the 711th Human Performance Wing 35:38.610 --> 35:40.523 a heartfelt thank you. 35:41.590 --> 35:43.940 Those two words just don't seem like enough 35:43.940 --> 35:47.850 based on all you have accomplished the past three years. 35:47.850 --> 35:50.480 I know I've asked a lot of all of you 35:50.480 --> 35:52.063 and you've always delivered. 35:53.220 --> 35:57.550 People have at times complained about hosting DVs 35:57.550 --> 35:59.860 and that it takes them away from their primary 35:59.860 --> 36:01.713 duties and responsibilities. 36:02.670 --> 36:05.900 But those visits are important because people 36:05.900 --> 36:08.840 need to understand what you all do to support 36:08.840 --> 36:11.223 the airmen and the mission every day. 36:12.950 --> 36:15.880 The word definitely got out on the great work 36:15.880 --> 36:18.590 that you all do because DV visits actually 36:18.590 --> 36:22.323 ramped up fairly significantly over the past three years. 36:23.410 --> 36:26.900 The first six months I was here we had 14 DV visits 36:26.900 --> 36:31.900 during that time followed by 31 visits in 2017, 36:32.160 --> 36:36.620 34 visits in 2018, and in the first six months 36:36.620 --> 36:39.423 of this year we've already had 20 DVs. 36:42.720 --> 36:46.960 Those DVs included Senators, Congressmen, Mayors, 36:46.960 --> 36:51.150 the SecAF, the Chief of Staff, the Vice Chief of Staff, 36:51.150 --> 36:54.100 Admirals, and a host of other people. 36:54.100 --> 36:56.620 And I can tell you that every single one of them 36:56.620 --> 37:00.573 left impressed by what you all do each and every day. 37:07.970 --> 37:10.660 That work is at least partially reflected 37:10.660 --> 37:12.423 in the awards that you win. 37:13.420 --> 37:18.420 In 2018 Wing members won almost half of AFRLs quarterly 37:18.520 --> 37:23.160 awards and a quarter of the annual awards. 37:23.160 --> 37:26.610 Nine Wing members were selected as MAJCOM Medical Award 37:26.610 --> 37:30.653 winners and one was selected as an Air Force winner. 37:31.570 --> 37:34.520 We also did well in Direct Submit competitive awards 37:34.520 --> 37:38.066 where we had five AFRL winners, and one winner 37:38.066 --> 37:40.200 at each of the following levels: 37:40.200 --> 37:45.200 AFMC, Air Force, DOD, National, and Federal. 37:46.360 --> 37:48.770 I could go on but I don't want this ceremony 37:48.770 --> 37:50.263 to go into the evening. 37:51.110 --> 37:55.004 I am humbled to have been given the opportunity to lead 37:55.004 --> 38:00.004 this organization filled with so many dedicated airmen. 38:02.130 --> 38:05.240 Jim, you are taking over a wing filled with 38:05.240 --> 38:07.850 bright, dedicated people who care deeply about 38:07.850 --> 38:11.823 the mission because the mission is about airmen. 38:13.320 --> 38:16.160 It will take some time to get spun up but you have 38:16.160 --> 38:19.840 a great team to help you through the transition. 38:19.840 --> 38:21.670 I don't have to tell you to have fun 38:21.670 --> 38:23.593 because there's no way that you won't. 38:25.290 --> 38:26.163 Best of luck. 38:27.270 --> 38:30.030 Now before I close I would be remiss if I didn't 38:30.030 --> 38:32.870 thank my family for putting up with the separations 38:32.870 --> 38:34.073 and long hours. 38:35.220 --> 38:37.170 To my brother Ralph and his wife Charlotte 38:37.170 --> 38:39.636 they made a long drive from Pensacola 38:39.636 --> 38:42.793 just to be here for this ceremony. 38:43.640 --> 38:44.773 Appreciate you coming. 38:45.790 --> 38:47.930 My daughter Erica couldn't be here because she's 38:47.930 --> 38:50.020 doing an internship for her Master's degree 38:50.020 --> 38:51.193 down in Houston. 38:52.720 --> 38:55.020 But I am blessed to have my son Marcus here 38:55.020 --> 38:57.093 as he's got some time off from school. 38:58.350 --> 39:00.793 Finally, to my wife Jo, what can I say? 39:02.340 --> 39:05.110 You've maintained your patience through 27 years 39:05.110 --> 39:08.233 of marriage to me and to the Air Force. 39:09.980 --> 39:12.930 You've endured three deployments totalling 18 months, 39:12.930 --> 39:17.150 two geo-separated assignments totalling five years 39:17.150 --> 39:19.043 and countless TDYs. 39:20.100 --> 39:22.853 Through all of it you've kept our family together. 39:24.140 --> 39:25.790 But now I'm coming home for good. 39:32.200 --> 39:33.033 I love you. 39:35.820 --> 39:39.013 Thank you all again for a wonderful assignment. 39:40.312 --> 39:43.479 (audience applauding) 40:06.660 --> 40:07.710 - [Host] Thank you General Cooley 40:07.710 --> 40:09.683 and General Koeniger for your remarks. 40:10.600 --> 40:12.320 Ladies and gentlemen we will now proceed 40:12.320 --> 40:14.120 with the Change of Command Ceremony. 40:15.730 --> 40:17.070 Oh you guys are ready for this, 40:17.070 --> 40:19.693 I don't even have to ask you to come up, that's awesome. 40:20.570 --> 40:21.403 Appreciate it. 40:22.610 --> 40:25.160 The passing of the colors symbolizes the passing of command 40:25.160 --> 40:27.560 and is done in a ceremony so that all may witness 40:27.560 --> 40:30.220 the changing of leadership responsibilities. 40:30.220 --> 40:32.057 Brigadier General Koeniger will relinquish command 40:32.057 --> 40:34.850 of the 711th Human Performance Wing 40:34.850 --> 40:36.960 then Brigadier General Dienst will assume command 40:36.960 --> 40:38.940 of the 711th Human Performance Wing 40:38.940 --> 40:41.000 from Major General Cooley. 40:41.000 --> 40:43.410 Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for rising 40:43.410 --> 40:45.260 for the Changing of Command Ceremony. 40:47.208 --> 40:48.900 - Call us to order. 40:48.900 --> 40:51.077 - [Host] Attention to order Department of the Air Force 40:51.077 --> 40:54.330 Brigadier General Mark A. Koeniger is relieved from duty 40:54.330 --> 40:57.310 as Commander 711th Human Performance Wing 40:57.310 --> 41:00.220 effective 21 June, 2019. 41:00.220 --> 41:02.910 And Brigadier General James H. Dienst is assigned 41:02.910 --> 41:05.870 as Commander 711th Human Performance Wing 41:05.870 --> 41:08.403 effective 21 June, 2019. 41:12.972 --> 41:15.368 - Sir, I relinquish command. 41:15.368 --> 41:16.368 - Well done. 41:37.455 --> 41:40.080 - Sir, I assume command. 41:40.080 --> 41:40.913 - Welcome. 41:52.751 --> 41:54.615 Officers about. 41:54.615 --> 41:57.782 (audience applauding) 41:59.181 --> 42:00.426 Well done. 42:00.426 --> 42:01.426 - Thank you. 42:03.048 --> 42:06.215 (audience applauding) 42:12.170 --> 42:14.220 - Ladies and gentlemen, please be seated. 42:15.470 --> 42:17.230 It is my pleasure to introduce 42:17.230 --> 42:19.180 Brigadier General James H. Dienst, 42:19.180 --> 42:21.873 Commander 711th Human Performance Wing. 42:22.980 --> 42:26.147 (audience applauding) 42:29.177 --> 42:32.650 - All right well, first of all I want to hand out 42:32.650 --> 42:34.770 some thanks, so thank you General Cooley 42:34.770 --> 42:37.060 for having the confidence in me to take this opportunity. 42:37.060 --> 42:39.040 I know that you're part of the process for selection 42:39.040 --> 42:41.950 so I thank that, and thank you for your personal remarks, 42:41.950 --> 42:45.660 that was very touching and our family appreciates it. 42:45.660 --> 42:48.960 Thank you Mark for all you've done here. 42:48.960 --> 42:51.130 Outstanding, I'll talk a little bit more here 42:51.130 --> 42:53.430 in just a minute but while watching this organization 42:53.430 --> 42:56.260 from afar, outside in, I knew they had a great 42:56.260 --> 42:58.070 leader at the helm, I knew Tim Jacks, 42:58.070 --> 43:00.930 I didn't know the first one but I'll get to know you. 43:00.930 --> 43:05.508 But it's always off the charts impressive work 43:05.508 --> 43:08.150 that the Wing's done here so I'm very much 43:08.150 --> 43:09.330 looking forward to being a part of that. 43:09.330 --> 43:11.680 But thanks for handing off a great organization. 43:11.680 --> 43:13.640 We'll continue to do that and try to take it 43:13.640 --> 43:15.950 to the next level as all leaders try to do 43:15.950 --> 43:17.693 and I appreciate it, so thanks. 43:18.610 --> 43:21.320 Senior officers in attendance, the team, 43:21.320 --> 43:25.170 the leadership team, Rob Marks thanks for coming, 43:25.170 --> 43:28.330 and friends and family, I see some friends out there 43:28.330 --> 43:31.890 Roger and Peggy and then there's probably some more 43:31.890 --> 43:35.070 I'm sorry I have a bad memory. 43:35.070 --> 43:37.360 But thanks for coming. 43:37.360 --> 43:38.890 The people who put this together I just want to 43:38.890 --> 43:40.840 foot stomp that again that's a lot of work. 43:40.840 --> 43:43.880 It started out months and months ago. 43:43.880 --> 43:47.170 Lots of details, to Paul and the team and everybody 43:47.170 --> 43:51.030 thank you for the band, that was impressive as always. 43:51.030 --> 43:53.190 The chaplain, I could have taken your speech 43:53.190 --> 43:56.160 and used it as mine, I didn't think of it until just now, 43:56.160 --> 43:57.623 but thank you for that. 43:58.680 --> 44:01.170 Again as I said I've been watching the organization 44:01.170 --> 44:04.410 from outside in and as a senior leader boppin' around 44:04.410 --> 44:07.520 the Air Force and DOD one thing I always knew 44:07.520 --> 44:10.740 is that the 711th was just this rockstar organization 44:10.740 --> 44:13.350 that had a lot of things going on behind the scenes. 44:13.350 --> 44:16.237 Much of it's classified, can't tell you what you know 44:16.237 --> 44:18.270 we don't know kind of thing until you get here 44:18.270 --> 44:22.140 but from the pre-immersions that I've had 44:22.140 --> 44:24.890 both down at the lab at Fort Sam and just up here 44:24.890 --> 44:27.670 it is off the charts, I'm tellin' ya. 44:27.670 --> 44:28.733 It's impressive. 44:29.750 --> 44:33.110 To the aforementioned I'll steal this from the thing 44:33.110 --> 44:36.110 but leading the discovery development integration 44:36.110 --> 44:39.450 of warfighting capabilities to defend America 44:39.450 --> 44:43.010 and I love this part, by unleashing the power of innovation 44:43.010 --> 44:45.210 of air and space technology. 44:45.210 --> 44:48.360 I mean, that's a bumper sticker I'm gonna get 44:48.360 --> 44:51.330 I mean I'll tell ya, nothing says more than that. 44:51.330 --> 44:54.980 I love the idea of unleashing the technology and innovation, 44:54.980 --> 44:56.620 letting people run free. 44:56.620 --> 44:58.890 I'll bet you know, let the innovation, 44:58.890 --> 45:01.710 you know push the envelope, think without a box, 45:01.710 --> 45:02.860 all that kind of thing. 45:02.860 --> 45:05.470 It's all happening here at the 711th. 45:05.470 --> 45:07.833 So I can't wait to be a part of that. 45:08.870 --> 45:11.660 The Human Performance Wing's goals 45:11.660 --> 45:14.070 that Mark and others have established, 45:14.070 --> 45:17.510 I love it you know maximizing airmen availability. 45:17.510 --> 45:20.490 You talk with a SecDEF and teams like that 45:20.490 --> 45:23.000 talking about enhancing lethality, 45:23.000 --> 45:26.900 deployment availability, all that stuff is 45:26.900 --> 45:29.230 the common lexicon we're hearing every day. 45:29.230 --> 45:30.190 How do we do that? 45:30.190 --> 45:32.370 How do we do that across the enterprise? 45:32.370 --> 45:35.910 Sounds easy, briefs easy, executes hard 45:35.910 --> 45:37.790 but then how do we do that across the military 45:37.790 --> 45:39.253 health system too? 45:40.140 --> 45:43.810 Optimizing resources, General Goldfein, 45:43.810 --> 45:45.710 Secretary Mattis when he was in, 45:45.710 --> 45:48.730 all those alignments looking for efficiencies. 45:48.730 --> 45:51.350 Zero base budgets that we're living through 45:51.350 --> 45:54.120 but to increase our capability it's not more with less 45:54.120 --> 45:57.390 it's doing better things with the same or less perhaps. 45:57.390 --> 45:59.320 But I think we're up to that challenge. 45:59.320 --> 46:00.780 So I love that as a goal, Mark. 46:00.780 --> 46:02.890 Enhancing airmen performance. 46:02.890 --> 46:06.620 A lot there, you know Human Performance Wing, 46:06.620 --> 46:08.160 what it's the art of the possible, 46:08.160 --> 46:11.950 what's the technologies in this mergence of innovation 46:11.950 --> 46:14.210 across lots of different venues, 46:14.210 --> 46:15.410 how could we do that better? 46:15.410 --> 46:17.510 And that's the challenge that we all have. 46:19.320 --> 46:21.360 The thing that we'll put those together with 46:21.360 --> 46:23.700 and Sir we talked a bit about that too 46:23.700 --> 46:27.900 is you know what is the over the horizon future look like? 46:27.900 --> 46:30.630 We don't know right, but how can we kinda say 46:30.630 --> 46:33.300 skate to where the puck's headed which might 46:33.300 --> 46:35.289 be popular up north here, I think hockey is more 46:35.289 --> 46:37.646 popular than in San Antonio. 46:37.646 --> 46:39.540 But what does it look like? 46:39.540 --> 46:42.120 What does that look like, how do we get there? 46:42.120 --> 46:43.950 How do we meet the mission over the horizon? 46:43.950 --> 46:45.420 How do we know we're ready? 46:45.420 --> 46:49.240 General Roudebush at the SG, Air Force SG at one time 46:49.240 --> 46:53.890 when I was working directly for him at Air Staff 46:53.890 --> 46:57.120 he used to talk in audiences and I love this thing. 46:57.120 --> 46:59.500 He said he'd ask you are you ready for today, 46:59.500 --> 47:01.650 and people said yeah, hell yeah we're ready for 47:01.650 --> 47:02.920 yeah, got it sir. 47:02.920 --> 47:05.510 But he said the bigger question, are you ready for tomorrow 47:05.510 --> 47:06.810 and what does tomorrow look like? 47:06.810 --> 47:10.120 And then everybody kinda looks at their shoes for a minute. 47:10.120 --> 47:12.330 And so that's the kind of thing we need to look at 47:12.330 --> 47:16.440 and I will be very much part of that 47:16.440 --> 47:18.880 and very honored to be part of the organization 47:18.880 --> 47:21.070 that's looking at what is the art of the possible 47:21.070 --> 47:22.460 for over the horizon. 47:22.460 --> 47:25.590 How do we bring all this together as a team? 47:25.590 --> 47:27.177 I would say all these goals that we have here 47:27.177 --> 47:29.590 are in perfect alignment where we need to be headed 47:29.590 --> 47:32.330 again for over the horizon challenges. 47:32.330 --> 47:34.820 I've had the opportunity to travel around the world 47:34.820 --> 47:38.170 quite a bit, different jobs as General Cooley said 47:38.170 --> 47:41.710 you don't want me checking your eyes I guess. 47:41.710 --> 47:44.370 Even though I stay licensed in Texas. 47:44.370 --> 47:48.550 But no, I've had incredible opportunity, 47:48.550 --> 47:52.580 been in warfighting planning, I meet Phil Preen 47:52.580 --> 47:54.840 down at the CSAT when I was at Airwar College 47:54.840 --> 47:56.840 in the Blue Horizons program, 47:56.840 --> 47:59.260 and we got to travel all over the place. 47:59.260 --> 48:02.390 And one of them was here and I told my wife at the time 48:02.390 --> 48:05.570 I said man, you do not believe what's going on at 48:05.570 --> 48:07.410 Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in AFRO 48:07.410 --> 48:09.000 I was just blown off the charts. 48:09.000 --> 48:12.400 And when my wildest imagination had ever dreamed 48:12.400 --> 48:14.720 that I would actually could have a chance 48:14.720 --> 48:16.180 to be at the Human Performance Wing 48:16.180 --> 48:18.237 so that's funny how things work out. 48:20.320 --> 48:22.140 But I do have a pretty good feel for the 48:22.140 --> 48:23.673 threats that are on the horizon. 48:23.673 --> 48:26.060 That we face as a military Hill system, 48:26.060 --> 48:28.420 we talked about Korean challenges, 48:28.420 --> 48:31.880 you know geographic limitations, same with Africa 48:31.880 --> 48:32.930 and these kind of things. 48:32.930 --> 48:35.420 What does that look like, what does the next medic 48:35.420 --> 48:36.530 need to look like? 48:36.530 --> 48:38.560 What does an airman need to perform at 48:38.560 --> 48:43.230 you know levels both in medics and non-medics? 48:43.230 --> 48:45.110 What does that look like? 48:45.110 --> 48:47.390 But I'll say I understand what other nations are 48:47.390 --> 48:49.500 developing and what challenges 48:49.500 --> 48:51.370 and what capabilities they bring to the fight. 48:51.370 --> 48:54.770 And I would say that there is no other organization 48:54.770 --> 48:56.730 like here at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base 48:56.730 --> 49:00.370 both in AFRO and the 711th which are together 49:00.370 --> 49:02.740 that have the capability, the focus, 49:02.740 --> 49:05.980 the skilled professionals, the dedication resources 49:05.980 --> 49:09.173 to do what we are doing and what we must be doing. 49:10.044 --> 49:13.100 It's off the charts that what we're doing here. 49:13.100 --> 49:15.190 So I'm quick and brief on these things. 49:15.190 --> 49:19.212 So very proud to be here, part of this organization. 49:19.212 --> 49:24.120 And last things I want to say is thanks to my family 49:24.120 --> 49:26.836 Judy and I were counting up on our fingers and toes 49:26.836 --> 49:29.870 in the car how many moves we've had. 49:29.870 --> 49:33.942 This is our 15th move in 23 years. 49:33.942 --> 49:38.070 And it seems like it's what normal people do in 49:38.070 --> 49:39.880 summers is they move right? 49:39.880 --> 49:42.490 We didn't know what normal people do in the summer vacation. 49:42.490 --> 49:45.760 But last job we were there for about 11 months 49:45.760 --> 49:49.173 but hope to get to settle in here a little bit more. 49:50.540 --> 49:53.290 But thanks to my wife and family, the kids, 49:53.290 --> 49:55.690 most of them couldn't make it here, but thanks honey, 49:55.690 --> 49:58.393 I love you, and Heidi. 49:59.610 --> 50:01.070 Okay, well thanks to the team, 50:01.070 --> 50:03.250 look forward to knowing kinda the front row here, 50:03.250 --> 50:07.020 getting to lead with you 50:07.020 --> 50:09.973 and be part of this world class organization, thanks. 50:10.860 --> 50:14.027 (audience applauding) 50:20.640 --> 50:22.690 - Thank you General Dienst. 50:22.690 --> 50:25.310 The men and women of the 711th Human Performance Wing 50:25.310 --> 50:27.940 are proud to have served with Brigadier General, 50:27.940 --> 50:30.080 we wish him and Charlotte good luck 50:30.080 --> 50:32.630 and Godspeed in your future endeavors. 50:32.630 --> 50:34.830 We also welcome Brigadier General Dienst 50:34.830 --> 50:38.600 and his spouse Judith to the 711th Human Performance Wing. 50:38.600 --> 50:41.150 Sir, we look forward to serving under your command. 50:42.570 --> 50:44.860 Ladies and gentlemen, please stand and join us 50:44.860 --> 50:47.830 in the singing of the first verse of the Air Force song. 50:47.830 --> 50:50.560 The words are printed on the back of your program. 50:50.560 --> 50:52.820 Upon the conclusion of the Air Force song 50:52.820 --> 50:54.790 please stay in place for the departure of the 50:54.790 --> 50:57.830 official party and remain in place until the ushers 50:57.830 --> 50:58.680 release your row. 51:00.419 --> 51:04.026 (Air Force band music) 51:04.026 --> 51:07.664 ♪ Off we go into the wild blue yonder ♪ 51:07.664 --> 51:11.386 ♪ Climbing high into the sun ♪ 51:11.386 --> 51:15.070 ♪ Here they come zooming to meet our thunder ♪ 51:15.070 --> 51:17.421 ♪ At 'em boys, give 'er the gun ♪ 51:17.421 --> 51:18.844 ♪ Give 'er the gun ♪ 51:18.844 --> 51:22.515 ♪ Down we dive, spouting our flame from under ♪ 51:22.515 --> 51:26.075 ♪ Off with one helluva roar ♪ 51:26.075 --> 51:30.099 ♪ We live in fame or go down in flames, hey ♪ 51:30.099 --> 51:34.000 ♪ Nothing will stop the U.S. Air Force ♪ 51:34.000 --> 51:37.250 (Air Force band music)