Ladies and gentlemen , welcome to this
morning's ceremony . Today's ceremony
will be an outdoor ceremony so cover
should be worn throughout the ceremony .
You will be given cues to stand and be
seated at the appropriate times as an
outdoor ceremony saluting during honors
and the national anthem is required for
all military members . Our civilian
guests are invited to place their right
hand over their heart and all veterans
in attendance have the option to salute
again . We request that you silence all
electronic devices for the duration of
today's events . Once again , thank you
on behalf of the Chief of Staff , the
United States Air Force . Welcome to
the headquarters , Pacific Air Forces
Change of Command . Thank you for
joining us today . You will witness a
rare event in which multiple
authorities and responsibilities are
transferred through the change of
command ceremony with eight simple
words and the passing of the flag , the
command of Pacific Air Forces and the
responsibility of commanding the
Pacific Command Joint Air Force
Component will transfer from General
Kenneth S Wilsbach to General Kevin B .
Schneider , simultaneously Chief Master
Sergeant Kathleen M mccool will assume
responsibilities from Chief master
Sergeant David R Wolf as the Pacific
Air Forces Command chief , serving as
senior enlisted leader to General
Schneider . The presiding officials for
today's ceremony are General David W
Alvin , chief of Staff , United States
Air Force and Admiral John C Aquilino
commander United States Indo Pacific
Command . The ceremony you will witness
today is a time honored tradition
dating back to the 18th century during
the reign of Frederick , the great of
Prussia . At that time , organizational
flags were developed with color
arrangements and symbols unique to each
particular unit to this and its
commanders , the soldiers of the unit
would dedicate their loyalty and trust .
When a change of command was to take
place , the flag was passed to the
individual assuming command . This
gesture was accomplished in front of
the entire unit so all could see and
witness their new leader assuming this
dutiful position . The leader who
possessed the flag also held the
soldiers allegiance . This symbolic
tradition has survived throughout
military history . At this time , we
would like to recognize some of our
distinguished guests . Please hold your
applause till the end with us . Today
is Admiral Aquino's wife , Laura
General Wills Bach's wife Cindy General
Schneider's wife , Lordy Laurie ,
apologies , General Schneider's
daughters , Analise and Abigail General
Schneider's parents , Mike and Maureen
Schneider . General Schneider's sister
Megan performing the duties of the
undersecretary's Jones and her husband
Harry , the Commander United States
Pacific Fleet , Admiral Samuel Paro ,
the commander United States Army
Pacific General Charles Flynn and his
wife Kathleen , former Chief of Staff
Japan Air Self Defense Force and
president of the Japan America Air
Force goodwill Association General
Marumo Yoshinari , Japan Air Self
Defense Force retired and his wife
Midori , former Chief of Staff Japan
Air Self Defense Force General Izutsu
Shunji , Japan Air Self Defense Force
retired and his wife Yuko , former
commander , United States Army Forces
Command General David Bramlett , the
United States Army retired and his wife
Nora , the Commander , United States
Marine Corps Forces , Pacific
Lieutenant General William Journey and
his wife Sue representing the air ,
representing the Japan Air Self Defense
Force . The Commander Air Defense
Command , Lieutenant General Suzuki
Yasuhiko representing the Republic of
Korea Air Force , the Air Combat
Commander , Major General Kim Joon Ho ,
former Commander Air Support Command ,
Lieutenant General Yamada , Masashi
Japan Air Self Defense Force retired
and his wife Mitsui Pacific Air Forces
also welcomes all generals , flag
officers , consul generals , community ,
civic leaders , our military leaders ,
friends and family who have traveled
here today to witness this memorable
occasion .
Ladies and gentlemen , please stand for
the arrival of the official party , the
playing of military honors ,
presentation of colors , singing of the
national anthem and Hawaii Pono . E
present the colors .
Oh they can
by the dawns feel like
what so told me
at the twilight last
gleam whose brought stripes
and bright stars I
five or
watch were so
G street and the
it's mom's
birth .
Yeah . Oh no ,
God was
um days .
Thank God .
Hm .
Bye bye . Oh , no .
Oh , oh ,
ma on ,
come in ,
Mark . Oh , Lord ,
come
the command chaplain , Colonel James
Hamill .
I invite you to join me in prayer ,
gracious God . We ask your blessing
upon us , gathered here to witness the
change of command between General
Kenneth Wilsbach and General Kevin
Schneider . The commander of
Pacific Air Forces wields the
bluntest instruments of peace .
Billions of people in this region of
the world are beneficiaries of their
steady resolve . We thank General
Wilsbach for his passion , his focus
and his humanity be with him and
Cindy as they move on to lead and care
for the great airmen of air combat
command . Shower your
wisdom upon General Schneider as he
assumes the mantle of leadership here
in the Pacific . May he and
Laurie continue the security of this
command and the resiliency of our pac
af airmen . Lord bless our
country , our elected leaders
and our military leaders . May we
continue to be the peacemakers ? You
call us to be , we ask this in your
holy name . Amen .
Please be seated . Thank you , chaplain
Hamel , ladies and gentlemen , the
commander of the United States , Indo
Pacific command , Admiral John C
Aquilino
Aloha , uh
First Cruiser and Cindy . I'm honored
to be able to be a part of this today .
Thank you for letting us come . Thanks
for letting Laura and Jess uh witness
as well . This is really uh an amazing
day for both uh Indo Pacific Command
for the Wilsbach family , for the
Schneider family and overall for the
PAC AF team . There's so
many and if I miss you to recognize you
personally , you can beat me after the
ceremony . But there are certainly a
few that have to be recognized today .
Uh First to my brother in arms chief of
staff of the Air Force , Dave . Uh Let
me just start by saying , thank you for
sending the best of the best to Indo
paycom . Madam secretary . Good to see
you and your husband . Thanks for
coming . It's really incredible .
Where's General Suzuki ? Raise your
hand , Suzuki San . It's good to see
you . Thanks for coming out to
recognize your brother in arms and our
great team . There's a variety of
ally and partner support who made it
all the way to witness and recognize
Cruiser as well as Gumby , but also
from Japan General uh uh Zuzu , sir .
Good to see you General Marumo
and spouses by the way . So this is a
family event , General Goku
Yamada . Thank you for coming ,
Major General Kim from the Republic of
Korea Air Force . Thank you for
spending time today with us and to the
rest of the allies and partners that
have arrived . General Bramlett and
Nora . I know you're always at these
events . So my welcome and thanks to
you for coming today and recognize it ,
sir . Good to see you both the consular
and diplomatic corps who are critical
to our actions and activities here on
Oahu . Thank you for spending time with
us . I also have the greatest fighting
force of commanders that exist on the
planet . The Combatant Command , my
combatant command components are all
here today supporting their brother .
Thank you guys for coming today as well
to the Hawaii leadership and the
community that always supports us and
our sailors , service members and
families . Thank you for coming today .
And as I said , the most important
group that's here today are the members
and team of the Pacific Air Forces .
Thank you for all you do each and every
day . Ok . Cruiser is
interesting , but let's talk about
Cindy for a minute , Cindy . Thank you
very much . I was honored to be able to
surprise Cindy with a public service
award yesterday for her tremendous
effort in taking care of airmen around
the Pacific half the globe , 33 nations ,
uh your tireless efforts , Cindy and
support for Cruiser cannot go
unmentioned . And in my notes ,
somebody told me uh in a 40 year
career , 23 moves
around the globe . Cindy . I can't
thank you enough for all you've done .
I said your job's not done either . You
got to go take care of AC C . So we're
going to miss you . Thank you very much
for your dedicated sacrifice and
service to our nation , please . A
round of applause .
Ok . I'll talk a little bit about
Cruiser just for a second . But when I
said before that , that uh Dave sends
the best of the best out here . Boy ,
it hit me like a ton of prey . I was
like , well , why could that be ? Why
does he keep sending the greatest
airmen on the planet to the Pacific ?
And then I went back and I looked at it .
Well , number one , we have the most
challenging set of adversaries . Number
two , we cover the largest span half
the globe and as a theater Joint Force ,
air component commander , he's
responsible to provide combat air power
across half the globe at an instance .
Call and I
went back and I'm like , well , that
was easy except then I realized why
they really are the greatest . They're
both the sons of Navy , uh navy
families , both of their dads were in
the navy , madam secretary . Thank you
very much .
Uh All kidding aside , service is go
strong in both their families for
cruiser . Uh I can't thank you enough
for all you've done for the team .
Three years ago , when I got here , we
got here almost together . We worked to
integrate the joint force . You drove
air combat power to be able to be
delivered anywhere . Anytime you've
moved forward on the , on the ace
concept to be able to be successful in
this theater . And for everyone who was
here for the last , what seemed like 50
days , but was , I guess about 10 , we
just completed the largest , most
complex exercise called Keen edge . And
we did that with our partners from
Japan and Australia . And I've been in
this , I've been here six years
straight and I've been here for eight
of the last nine years or 10 years
in this theater doing this work . And
it was the greatest demonstration of
what a integrated synchronized joint
force can do enabled by joint air
power , integrating all
domain operations under sea on the sea ,
above the sea , on the land , in space
and in cyberspace , it was
incredible to watch and the leadership
of the component commanders , the
leadership of my Japanese and
Australian partners and the leadership
of the theater air component commander
was flawless . I can't thank you enough .
Now , Cruiser is going to leave us ,
but his job is not done just like I
said , for Cindy . So the Air Force
understands how important Cruiser can
be to this fighting formation and he's
going to send them back to AC C to be
able to continue to contribute to the
joint air power that's needed . And for
the next wave of leaders that will end
up out here as well . Cruiser , we go
back a long way . It's been fun . I'm
gonna miss you . The fact that you're
still gonna go fly makes me hate you ,
but I'm jealous and I can't thank you
enough for being a great partner . A
round of applause for Cruiser
Gumby Laurie . Welcome back
again , the best of the best . Now ,
from when you were here last time . It
is not the same . The
adversary has changed , the environment
has changed . Our force has changed and
guess what ? Nothing got easier .
So I can't be more happy to have you
both back out here . I do want to
recognize Megan Gumby sister . Thank
you for coming out , take care of mom
and dad , Mike and Maureen Gumby's
parents . It's great to see you .
Thanks for all you've done to develop
that and give them back to me . Thank
you very much . Let me
make sure that I recognize Annalise and
Abby as well . Uh I always say this
every time . So Gumby raised his right
hand and swore an oath . None of you
did , but we've asked a lot of you .
Thank you for your sacrifices . Uh We
talk about moving around 13 moves for
Laurie and 12 for the girls . That is a
challenge that very few . Understand .
But let there be no doubt he would not
be here today with or were not for you .
So for the Schneider family , welcome .
Thank you . And let's give them a round
of applause , please .
Laura your deep service uh is also
commendable and we thank you . Uh We
will ask more of you to take care of
airmen around Pacific Air Force A or so
welcome . You're gonna get a lot of
miles under your belt . All right ,
Gumby , welcome back . It's good to
have you here . Your experience in this
theater was critical for us knowing
what you're about to take on . And like
I said , it is different from when you
left , whether it be from us FJ or from
the chief of staff position at Indo
Paycom . Uh But boy , it is on the
right trajectory . So I'm ready for you
to take us to new heights and
synchronize and pull together ,
continue to integrate the joint force ,
link it with our allies and partners
and there's no one that can stop us .
The guidance remains the same
deliver air combat power to the joint
force whenever needed . I know you're
going to be relentless in the pursuit
of this goal . You know what it looks
like , you know how to do it . I'm
happy to have you back on the team .
Lastly to the tire entire JFC
team and PAC AF team . Thank you for
everything you do each and every day
for your nation and for our joint force .
Uh Again , I'm honored to serve amongst
each and every one of you and thank you
very much for all you do .
Congratulations to you both . Thanks .
Thank you , Admiral Aino ,
the Chief of Staff , United States Air
Force General . David W Alvin .
Well , good morning , I had the great
honor earlier this morning of promoting
Gumbi 24 star general and that was a
very , very proud moment . But I really
want to thank uh first of all ,
Chaplain Hamill for the invitation uh
for amongst other things . I've known
Chaplain Hamill for , for a couple of
decades now . But in fact , reminding
everyone that Will's Box's first name
is Ken and Snyder's first name is Kevin .
Because I'm afraid if we said we're
going to pass the guide on from , from
Ken to Kevin , people would know what
we're doing . But we know MS Cruiser
and Gumy , but they're both fine
leaders and have been , uh , the best
that our Air Force has to offer . I
won't repeat , but I want to echo Amir
Ao's appreciation . This is family
business and it starts with a personal
family extends to the air force ,
family extends to our joint family
expend , extends to our interagency
family , to our allies and partners and
to the local community . This is family
business and we're all here because we
know what's at stake and we know we
have to get this right . So I could not
be more proud to stand here in front of
you today and oversee this transition .
Let's talk about transition for a
minute . Transition is a movement from
one to another . An inherent in
transition is a gap or scene .
You have to shift from one to another
or at least that's the definition . My
responsibility to the commander of
Inter Paycom command is to make that
transition as seamless as possible .
Why ? Because securing a free and open
Indo Pacific and advancing our national
defense strategy and our national
security interest is not seasonal
business . This is not something you
can do . Take a break from and come
back to and pick it up later . The
stakes are too high . The challenges
are too great . The opportunities may
be too fleeting . And if we miss that
opportunity because we're adjusting
because of our transition , I believe
we're failing our air force , we're
failing our combatant commands , we're
failing our nation . But I can tell you
right now , I stand here today and say ,
I feel very confident that transition
is going to be as smooth as possible .
It's going to be as smooth as one can
imagine because of the caliber and the
quality of the leadership that is
currently in the position and the
leadership that's gonna take over that
position . You know , honor Aquilino
who by the way , if you don't know is a
demanding combatant commander
rightfully . So he puts his heart and
soul and energy into making sure that
people understand what's at stake . And
so when he speaks so , so highly of
cruiser was back , you can believe it .
And of course , as , as always he
mentions it correctly . It's not just
cruiser , it's a team , it's a team .
And what that team has done is really
advanced this command in support of the
combatant command at a critical time .
You know , as we're adjusting to the
National defense strategy and adjusting
our air force and our joint force to
meet the challenges . There are new
concepts required , new schemes of
maneuver that we need to investigate
and mature and bring to the field . And
one of those as Admiral A Leno
mentioned was Azure Combat Employment .
It's a new approach . It's the path to
the future . But when cruiser took over ,
it was just starting to be beyond the
concept but not really implement other
than an idea with some good thought
behind it . Well , that was on him . He
had to advance that . He and his team
need to move that forward . And I will
tell you , they have done a remarkable
job for me advocating for the resources
in a building that's like blood out of
a turnip to get extra money . But
advocating and showing the rationale
behind the things needed to make a
combat employment real that was on his
leadership and developing the concepts
and maturing them in a way that we can
now see it . Now , we know we have more
work to do , but without his work , we
wouldn't secure the one plus billion
dollars that's going to support that
scheme and maneuver . That is critical
for the air component to support indo
paycom in this theater . I was cruising .
That was his team , that was his
leadership , but cruiser and Cindy also
know this is again , it's family
business . You can have all the stuff
in the world . But if you don't have
the team that feels this team , the
families , all of them behind you and
able to , to live in a manner befitting
them . Then you've missed the boat at
the end . It's people who do the
business and their advocacy for
uncomfortable things , like additional
attention to mental health ,
understanding , pediatric psychology .
And those are the things that keep a
family together in a challenging time .
They championed that in a way that has
been best practiced throughout our Air
Force . And we actually stole a couple
of the ideas that they piloted here in
Pac Af and are accepting them to be the
standard practice in our United States
Air Force . This is family business ,
the people we see in front of them and
the families who make them successful
that was championed by team wills bond
could not be more proud . He also knows
it's about joint teamwork , assembling
the component commanders together to
develop a battle rhythm , to enable us
to understand things as a joint team
and not get disconnected in a manner
that is unfitting with the combatant
commander requires service components .
That's the leadership cruiser was back ,
allies and partners , Pacific Air Chief
symposium , which I was uh honored to
be able to participate , showed that
there is an appreciation and
understanding of the strengths and
opportunities that exist in the allies
and partners in this theater towards a
common goal to bring that out to
elevate . That is something that Kruger
did with a plumb . It was amazing .
All those things have advanced this
command in support of inter paycom have
made Pac Gaff , a leading command in
understanding the future of warfare and
how the air component fits into that .
That's a remarkable feat . That is
amazing . And you and Cindy have done a
fantastic job at that and that's why
we're not done with you yet . They got
more gas in the tank . So as a Lock
Williams said , we're bringing them
back to command . Air combat command
who better if this is the theater and
with which the pacing challenge exists ,
who better to come back and understand
what readiness needs to be where , how
much when than someone who's just come
from the theater . Our air force is
going to greatly benefit from your
experience and your energy and your
capacity to continue to lead that .
Thank you so much for that . So
transition in a relay race , a four
by 100 relay race sometimes it's , it's
measured in 10th of seconds on who wins
and who loses sometimes maybe hundreds ,
which means you can have the fastest
runners in the world . But if they
cannot pass the baton smoothly , that's
the difference . And we cannot afford
to miss any opportunities to maintain
momentum in this theater with the
challenges here and the primacy that we
have in the in the Pacific . So team
Snyder is perfect as admiral a willing
has said they have experience here to
put a finer point on it out of every
three years that Kevin Gumby Snyder has
served in our Air Force out of every
three years , over one of them has been
in this theater . There's several
installations throughout several
commands throughout . He gets the
theater . He understands the value of
the partnerships that need to be
sustained and enhanced . He understands
air power in the Pacific . He
also understands the building . I
understand the Pentagon and the
challenges and sometimes the
frustrations . But he also , he also
understands that there is a way that
one can work with the Pentagon to
ensure that we continue the momentum to
provide what this theater needs . And
he and lawyer are going to do that in
fine fashion . I have no doubt if not ,
we would have looked elsewhere , but we
need not look elsewhere because this is
the transition team . The baton will be
passed smoothly . I will Aquilino , we
will not slow down , we will not have
disruption , momentum is key and this
is the team to do it . So again , I
could not be more proud to stand here
today at this place in this time of
consequence to be able to pass the
baton from one fantastic leader to
another as we continue to journey to
help defend our nation . Thank you very
much . Congratulations to both of you
and let's get on with the change of
plan .
Thank you , General Alvin . Please
stand as General Alben presents the
distinguished service medal to General
Wilsbach ,
the President of the United States of
America , authorized by an Act of
Congress July 9th , 1918 awards , the
distinguished service medal to General
Kenneth S Wilsbach for exceptionally
meritorious service and duties of great
responsibility . General Wilsbach
distinguished himself as Commander
Pacific Air Forces and Joint Forces Air
Component Commander for United States ,
Indo Pacific Command , Joint Base ,
Pearl Harbor Hickam Hawaii from 8 July
2020 to 9 February 2024 .
During this period , General Wilsbach
led 44,000 airmen across three numbered
air forces , 10 wings and 15 locations
in support of the Department of
Defense's largest geographic combatant
command . In response to growing
coercion from the Indo Pacific General
Wilsbach redefined the command's
contribution to the Indo Pacific theory
of victory which substantially changed
the air force narrative , its
resourcing strategy and its operational
exercise focus as well as further the
integration of allies into an
operationally relevant force . His
actions and leadership reinforced
deterrence and identified the
criticality of the kill webs , anti
ship warfare and agile combat
employment . General Wills Bach's
constant and consistent advocacy
energized the United States air force
enterprise , compelling substantial
investment changes to munitions , air
superiority and kill web portfolios .
His advocacy also drove the Air Force
Warfare Center to develop essential
tactics , techniques and procedures in
support of the theory of victory .
General Wilsbach also underpinned the
service's agile combat employment
concept , delivering initial
operational capability , improving an
array of airfields and securing
substantial war , material investments
in support of operations plans . Just
as critically . General Wilsbach led a
substantial growth in allies and
partners integration into the command
exercises and activities , forging a
more cohesive coalition air component
together his extraordinary
accomplishments and vision for the
future postured Air forces to be ready
to deter or prevail in major conflicts
and ensure a free and open Indo Pacific .
The singularly distinctive
accomplishments of General Wilsbach
reflect the highest credit upon himself .
The United States Air Force and the
Department of the Air Force .
Ladies and gentlemen , please be seated .
The Commander Pacific Air Forces
General Wilsbach
Aloha . But before I
get started , Gumby better late than
never . I know you've been
anxious for this day and uh while
you've been anxious , we've been
enjoying what you see in front of you .
Uh And so it's , it's all about
perspective , isn't it ? Um But uh what
a beautiful morning . Um It's so good
to be here uh with everybody . Thanks
uh for all of you attending . Uh madam
Secretary uh chief uh wish Gina was
here with you . Uh Glad that skip is
here . And uh Amir Aino glad you
brought uh Laura and Jess over uh to
the ceremony uh to uh my fellow
component commanders uh over here ,
which I'm going to talk about here in a
bit as well as other flag and general
officers . And uh and we have some
flagging general officers from uh
several other countries here and your
presence here uh means a lot to General
Snyder and I , and so thank you for
being here , uh both active duty and
retired . Um And then of course , uh
the men and women in formation
representing all the men and women in
Pack Af um and especially uh the senior
enlisted chiefs that are here as well ,
I want to recognize , but uh thank you .
It's been the honor of my life and a
huge blessing uh for Cindy to be able
to serve here for the past 3.5 years .
And if you would just uh indulge me a
bit , I have a few thank yous uh to ,
to get through . And so uh first of all ,
to um our Secretary of the Air Force ,
as well as um the three of the current
chief and the two previous chiefs . Uh
Thank you for uh letting me uh serve
here and uh just giving me such a
privilege to be able to uh lead the ,
the men and women of Pack af and to a
Aquilino uh Same . Thanks for letting
me uh lead here . But uh more
importantly , uh thank you for your
bold leadership . You , you're right
when , when we first started this thing ,
it was different and now it's not and
the reason it's not is because of your
leadership . And then we're in a much
better place to address the challenges
in this theater than we were before .
And that's all that's all on you . And
uh we thank you for your leadership and
we thank you uh for uh you and Laura's
service um all these years and um it's ,
it's been a pleasure serving with you
uh in the Pacific and uh taking on a
big challenge . Um I do wanna uh start
off with one other . Thanks so early in
my thank you is to , to thank Cindy and
uh the team has uh has something if you
could bring that forward for Cindy .
But um I , I just wanted to uh thank
you for all the service uh that you've
um exhibited the whole time . We've
been married because I've been in the
Air Force the whole time . And um I
just wanted to um just acknowledge
um your service uh while we've been
here and the number of events that
we've had um at our house , um if
you've been to our house , you know ,
it's um a hospitality fair . Uh and you
know , that , uh uh you may not know ,
but it's Cindy's behind all of that .
So the menu , uh the decorations , the
theme , uh everything about , uh the
event is all , is all in her mind and
she does that because she wants to
honor our guests . It's her way of
honoring you . When you come to our
house . There was hundreds of those uh
types of events uh and uh and , and
then the traveling and uh as you might
know , all of us uh as a part of our
jobs travel . And um
she's representing our country now .
She gets a huge salary for that , right .
Um , so she's doing that all , um , via
Gratis . And , uh , and you're serving
your country because you love me . Uh ,
you love , um , our service and our
country . Um , and , uh , you , uh ,
you just did that with such grace and
elegance and I just want to thank you
and I know we applauded you earlier and
would like to do that again . Thank you .
I would also like to thank the team
that put this together . Uh The Maine
guys that towed all the jets over .
They look fantastic to Lieutenant
Colonel . Our who is the project
officer in your team . I don't know
where you got off to , but , uh , thank
you for , for leading uh , the ceremony
and putting it together . These are
always , uh , hard to do and then our
protocol team , you know , no , no
offense you guys over here . But the
pack a protocol is the best , best
protocol team , uh , on the planet .
And unfortunately , Robin , our chief
of Protocol is out today . Um , and we
wish her well . Um , but , um , she
leads an amazing , amazing team and ,
uh , they've done a great job . I'd
also like to thank the , uh , numbered
Air force commanders that are here
today . Uh Lieutenant General Ricky
Rupp and Charlotte , what a great team ,
uh , leading our air forces in Japan
and he's also the US Forces Japan
commander and they're just the , the
right team at the right time , uh , in
Japan for us and they're doing a great
job . Um , and then also , uh , Poison
Iverson Jenny's still back in , uh
Korea . Um , but , uh , he's been
leading there for just over a week and
so he's already got everything fixed
and , uh , and , but doing a great job
and also the right guy in , in Korea .
Uh , and then also , um , Abu Naho ,
Lieutenant General Abu Nahom and his
wife Kim , uh up in Alaska . But uh
really uh commanding all of our forces
in Alaska , Hawaii and Guam are just uh
innovative , bold leader , uh
doing a lot of the things that we
talked about with a , that that came
out of 11th Air Force , a lot of it .
Um And so he's doing a , he , he and
Kim are doing a great job uh up there .
And then all the wing commanders that
are associated with all uh those
numbered Air Forces , those wing
commanders and their senior enlisted
leaders , they're the ones who are
doing all the hard work . So , uh those
operations that uh you have us doing ,
admiral , they are the ones they're the
ones executing and they're doing it uh
with , with such amazing
professionalism and then our staff at
the headquarters . Um I tell them all
the time that people come to me and
they tell me , boy , the PAC A staff is
really a good staff . And , um , I , I
tell them , I know , I work with them
every day and um that kind of a
reputation when other people , you know ,
travel to your staff or when they , you
know , they , they interact with them
from somewhere else and they , they get
the sense that um they're , they're
about getting the job done , but
they're about collaborating and cooper
operation . Uh that , that's really
healthy for the staff and I'm
appreciative of them um to uh
Lieutenant General Jacobson and Air
Vice Marshal Newman , the two pack GF
deputy commanders . Uh Thank you guys ,
uh amazing deputies and um I was TDY a
fair amount and um they , you know ,
they , they had to stick and they were
flying the jet while I was gone . And
um there was never a question . Uh You
guys are that good and you , you might
have noticed the maybe unfamiliar rank .
Air Vice Marshal Newman is not from the
US , he's from Australia . And um
that's the first time that PAC A has
ever had a deputy commander from
another country . Um And uh just
stating that you have a deputy
commander is the easiest part , you
know , incorporating uh somebody from
another country and uh allowing them to
have access to the information . That
was the hard part . And we , we tackled
a lot of that uh uh during the time
that Air Vice Marshal Newman was here .
And I'm , I'm greatly uh thankful that
you're here . And um , like I said ,
last night . Um On this first day , we
proved out the reason why we wanted to
do this and um he continued to do that
every single day . And so , uh Billy ,
thanks for being here . Well , um I'd
also like to thank uh my fellow
component commanders and I'm gonna talk
a little bit about the challenges in
this theater here in a bit . Um But if
you've heard of inter service rivalries ,
they don't happen here . They're ,
they're not existing in this theater .
And we , the PAC fleet commander ,
Admiral Porro , the URP , a Commander
General Flynn , the Mar four pack , uh
Commander General journey and the space
force , Commander General Mas Deli ,
we're tight . So let me just uh give a
message to anybody that would ever
think about challenging us . We're
tight , don't mess with us . And uh I ,
I just want to thank you guys uh for
the collaboration and uh for the cooper
operation and getting along and , and
uh executing what the boss had us to do .
And um I tell people often that I've
been in this theater for more than 20
years of my career and we've never been
more joint . That's a good thing .
And uh we used to , you know , do
things that uh were maybe on the same
day in a different spot and we say ,
yeah , it was a joint operation when it
really wasn't integrated . Well , it's
100% integrated now and there's massive
strength in that . And it's , it's
because of those guys that are sitting
over there and their , their dedication
to their , their own component , but
also the dedication to us as a team .
Uh So fellas , uh , it's been an honor
to serve with you and thank , thank you ,
uh for your cooper . Well , a little
bit about the theater and then I'll ,
I'll close . But , uh , and , and
really if you , if you just think about
the theater , you only have part of the ,
of the story because in the last year
and a half or so , the , the world has
become a very dangerous place . And we
all know the headlines between Russia
and Ukraine , um Israel and Hamas ,
it's now boiled over , um you know , to
Yemen and other places . Uh And in the
meantime , you know , we , we have uh
significant challenges in this theater .
Um You , you can start with North Korea ,
of course , Russia is a Pacific nation
as well . Uh There's issues in the
Arctic , uh there's even forces in
Antarctica . You might not know that ,
but we have airmen that are on the ice
today . Um And then of course , we have
China and China has been very clear
about their intent . Uh their writings
and their rhetoric are such that they
want to control Taiwan . They'd love to
do it uh peacefully , but they'll do it
by force if they have to . And if
you've watched what they've been doing
with their military they've been
preparing to do it by force and our job
is to convince them that that's not a
good idea . It's called deterrence .
And um I'm very proud to say that um in
the differences that you talked about ,
Admiral Colino , um I believe that
we're offering that deterrence . And um ,
and I know that uh General Snyder uh
under his leadership will continue to
take Pac FF in , in that direction ,
but it's not just us , I've talked
about our joint team here , but our
allies and partners and some of them
are represented here . Um They make a
huge difference and they're like-minded
with us . And I think you all know that
they want a free and open Indo Pacific
just like we do . Um And they're with
us on that and uh we see that in
exercises , we see that in conferences ,
they're sending their best here to
participate . Uh They're sending their
top line troops
and units to exercise with us . They
want to be interoperable with us and in ,
in most cases , they are . And uh we've
been working on that for the last three
years and I know Gumby you're going to
continue . Uh And in the last aspect
and it's been mentioned before , but um
this , this notion of agile combat
employment and um all of the components
have a version of this , the Air Force
one is called agile combat employment .
But when I first got here right after
we declared initial operating
capability and we didn't quit there and
we're not gonna stop . Uh , we're gonna
continue to expand , uh , that , uh ,
envelope and it's the , the men and
women of PAC af and their innovation
and their leadership at the , at very
low levels . And , and we've pushed
down that authority to captains and
tech sergeants and kicked them out to
islands and said , beat it , make it
happen and they're doing it and it's
extremely impressive . And so it's been ,
it's been really fun to watch and I've
been so impressed with that , uh ,
innovation and , and leadership . Well ,
as I close , um I , I told General
Snyder earlier and you may or may not
know this , but the pac A commander
doesn't get to decide who their
successor is . You know , that's the
chief and that's the secretary . Uh ,
but if I could have picked my successor ,
I would have picked General Snyder . Uh
And , uh , he and Laurie have so much
experience here in the theater . Uh
He's , he's uh served in Japan , he
served in Korea , he served here uh on
the island in various commands . And ,
um , he has the experience to be able
today uh to start taking this command
to newer , higher , higher heights .
And I know you'll do that . And , um ,
I'm so thankful uh for y'all service .
Uh And I'm glad that we're passing uh
the flag today uh to somebody who's
ready , who's ready . And so we're so
happy for you . Well , listen ,
everybody , thanks again for uh coming
out . Uh uh Thanks uh to the men and
women of PAC af uh for uh supporting me ,
their commander . It has been the honor
of my life . Um I wish everyone the
best and I say , God bless America and
God bless you . Thank you .
The men and women of the Pacific Air
Forces are honored to salute our
commander General Wilsbach for the last
time .
Got it .
The Pacific Air Forces Command would
like to say Mahalo Nui Loa to Mrs
Wilsbach for her dedication and many
contributions to Pac APP airmen ,
spouses and their families . She will
now be presented a token of
appreciation .
Ladies and gentlemen , please stand for
the change of command ceremony and the
command chief assumption of
responsibilities .
How much do you order attention to
order according to special order number
GK 160 General Kevin B . Schneider
assumes command of a Pacific Air Forces
effective 9 February 2024 . By order of
General David W . Alvin , chief of
Staff of the United States Air Force
and the Department of the Air Force
Headquarters , Washington DC .
Ladies and gentlemen , please be seated .
General Schneider will receive his
first salute from the command .
Ladies and gentlemen , General Kevin B
Schneider , Commander Pacific Air
Forces .
Hey , Jack , I'm gonna violate the uh
manual on drill and ceremony . Just
have the team shake it out for about 30
seconds . Reset to your current
positions if you would .
I have stood on this floor a few times
in hangar 19 . I know it's not an easy
thing . Yeah , just take 30 seconds and
I , I will start talking again and like
an awesome commander of troops . He
actually just checked his watch
again . Thank you for doing that . You
look really sharp . I just want to
start by saying , thank you to
Secretary Kendall to General Brown and
General Alvin for your faith and trust
in me and for selecting me to be the
commander of Pacific Air Forces . It is
an honor and it is an awesome privilege
to take the reins of this command and
to lead the airmen that do so much
across the expanse of this theater and
the responsibilities and the critical
importance of PAC A mission are not
lost on me . I also want to express my
thanks to Admirals Harris Admirals
Davidson , Admiral Aquilino , the three
commanders during my tenure at paycom
and Indo paycom , your leadership ,
your council and your access afforded
me an unmatched education about war ,
fighting about deterrence and the
importance of allies and partners . And
I still take lessons from that
education to this day . I thank you for
all the doors that you opened for me in
my career . And I recognize that
without the time both up on the hill at
Camp Smith and at us forces , Japan , I
probably would not be standing here
today . So thank you very much . I also
want to offer my sincere thanks to the
PAC A commanders that I worked with
directly for and with in recent years ,
General Laurie Robinson , General TJ
o'shaughnessy , General CQ Brown Junior
and General Ken Wilsbach . You have all
evolved this command and the
capabilities of our incredible airmen
in the face of growing challenges
throughout the Indo Pacific region .
And I have been tremendously fortunate
to what you lead and to learn from your
collective successes . And I will
always appreciate the time you've spent
teaching me . But more so than that , I
will always value the friendship
General Wilsbach . I am in awe of all
you have done in your tenure and words
really cannot do justice to the impact
that he has had on the region . 3.5
years , over 3.5 years as the PAC af
commander and then four years as
numbered Air Force commanders , both in
Alaska and Korea . Before that ,
obviously , my biggest challenge is is
to keep up with the pace that you have
set and living up to your standard of
excellent . You leave very large shoes
to fill . But thank you for that . I
wish you and Cindy all the best as you
head east to Langley Air Force Base .
And I look forward to working with you
as you assume command at Air Combat
command later this month . And to the
many other friends who I have worked
with and learned from over the years .
Some of you going back 40 years , I am
truly honored by your attendance today .
You make a special day even more so
special . I also want to thank our
wonderful hosts , hosts in our local
communities here on Oahu . And we
recognize the efforts that you make for
us and it is appreciated . Being good
guests , requires us to do right by
those who offer up their homes on our
behalf . I want you to know that your
concerns are our concerns and your
successes are our cause for celebration .
Thank you for your continued support .
And the last on my list of thank yous ,
it is actually first on the list of
importance and that's to my dad , Mike ,
to my mom , Maureen , to my sister Meg .
Thank you for all that you have done to
love and support me over the years . I
would not be here today without the
countless sacrifices you have made for
me since the day I was born . And you
set amazing examples with work ethic ,
character , faith , compassion to my
wife , Laurie and our girls , Annalise
and Abby . I just cannot say enough .
You are the ones who have borne the
burden of P CS moves Tdys , combat
deployments , remote tours , countless
Miss family events , Laurie has given
up her professional career multiple
times to take care of me and to raise
two additional Children and to um along
the way , uh my dad recently reminded
that it's easy for me to Google or
someone can Google me up on the , on
the internet . Look at my bio , look at
things that I have done and the same
necessarily isn't true for Laurie .
Laurie's work her impacts her
sacrifices will not show up on an inter
net search , but they are far more
consequential than mine . So to my
lovely wife and amazing Children , your
love and ending support has kept me
going and allowed me to pursue this
course . Thank you for letting me wear
the uniform . Thank you for letting me
serve the nation and thank you for
putting up with me . So in November of
19 91st Lieutenant Schneider arrived at
Osan Air Base first operational
assignment while the mission of my
squadron was laser focused on the D pr
K . We still paid attention to the
region's issues and the security
challenges and that squadron deployed .
We went to the Philippines , Singapore ,
Malaysia , Alaska , Japan , and we
worked hard with the Rock a at home
station , but we also flew and trained
with air forces from around the Western
Pacific in events like Cope thunder red
flag Alaska while finding every
opportunity for bilateral deployments ,
buddy wing exchanges , cross servicing
engagements to develop our skills . And
since that first tour in 1990 I have
served in the Indo Pacific many times
and over the decades , I have watched
the security situation in the region
change . It has become more
interconnected . It has become more
challenging has become more severe and
it now carries a far higher potential
for volatility . And that is because we
face actors today who work to undermine
that rules based international order .
They do it through economic coercion ,
political bullying and military
aggression and the costs and impacts of
those malign actions can be sig
significant for those around the region .
It comes with loss of sovereignty ,
comes with loss of transparency in
government , loss of economic freedoms
and encroachment on human rights . I am
no economist . My grades from the
academy will prove that but I am aware
enough to see the positive impacts of a
free and open Indo Pacific that rules
based order underwritten by the
presence and the actions of the United
States military and those of our allies
and partners have been in place for 80
years enabling an unprecedented amount
of peace and global prosperity . As
General Alvin talks about back in the
Pentagon , this is a time of great
consequence and it's not just for pac a
not just for the United States Air
Force . It is a time of consequence for
this region and the world and the
actions we take now to ensure stability
and deter aggression in the face of
multiple growing challenges will have
far reaching and long lasting impacts .
But we do not do this work alone . The
allied and partner Air Forces we team
with in the Indo Pacific are stronger
and more capable each day . A former
paycom commander used to remind
visitors to the headquarters of a Camp
Smith that our number one asymmetric
advantage in the United States military
is the network of allies and partners
of which we are a part . Those who seek
to challenge us can never match it .
They can only envy it . Our ability to
work together has evolved from basic co
ordination to high end interoperability
and complex scenarios . And I've been
fortunate enough to participate in that
mutual learning curve since that first
assignment in Korea . And the following
one in Japan and our collective work
together as airmen makes a difference
far beyond what we could do as
individual air forces . And I look
forward to working with air force
leaders who call the Indo Pacific Home
as well as those from abroad who
continue to do more in this region .
And I I would be remiss if I did not
make a comment to the joint force
teammates here in Hawaii and around the
region . I am grateful and honored to
be part of this outstanding formation .
Once again , the second asymmetric
advantage we enjoy in the military is
our ability to overcome any challenge
to the strength of the joint force .
Something that we have done
successfully time and time again across
the spectrum of conflict . And to
Admiral Aquilino and the team at Camp
Smith to the component brethren of PAC
fleet user Pac Mar four pack sock pack
space four Indo Pak and to the sub
unified commanders of US , forces Korea
and US forces Japan . I look forward to
building on that already strong
teamwork that makes Indo paycom a
pillar of stability . And then finally
to the men and women of Pacific Air
Forces , the officers , the enlisted
civilians , active duty guard and
reserve is the honor of a lifetime to
be part of this team . Once again ,
having spent a third of my career and
over a third of my life in the Indo
Pacific , this feels like coming home
because it is P A is where I learned to
be a mission ready fighter pilot ,
developing the war fighting skills and
deep appreciation for tactical teamwork .
It carried me throughout my career .
Pac A is where I learned to command as
a fighter squadron commander where we
all lived and breathed warfighting
readiness . 2473 , 65 PA A is where I
learned about operational integration
with joint teammates and the rest of
the US government through , through
other command opportunities . And Pac A
is where I learned the value of
strategic partnership and the strength
of alliances . This is a time of
consequence for the air force and , and
for our nation and much of that rests
on the shoulders of Pac F airman , but
I have absolute faith in the abilities
of our airmen to do the hard work , to
solve the tough issues and to continue
to deter those who attempt to undermine
peace and stability . My commitment to
you pack af is that I will give you the
direction that you need to get after
the mission that makes us part of the
greatest air force in the world and
that I will run as hard and as fast as
I ask you to . Thank you very much .
Thank you General Schneider to extend a
warm Aloha to Mrs Schneider . The men
and women of Pac Gap will now present
her with a token of welcome .
Ladies and gentlemen , please stand for
the playing of the Air Force song and
the departure of the official party and
our distinguished guests .
Ladies and gentlemen , this concludes
the change of command ceremony on
behalf of the men and women of the
Pacific Air Forces . Thank you for
joining us and have a glorious day .