just take a moment to announce that the president has nominated general mark welch to succeed nordy swartz when he retires this summer. he's current the commander where he is responsible for air force activities covering almost one fifth of the grob, encompassing 51 countries and the atlantic oceans. he's a command pilot that's thrown more than 3,400 hours during the course of his career. he has a distinguished record that involves multiple combat missions, he, is there an associate doctoror. a position where he functioned at a critical link between the military and communities. a former air force academy commandante, i believe nordy has been a transformative leader in his nearly four years as air force chief of staff. he came into the role at a very challenging time but because of his leadership, the signaturecy will never and capabilities needed for the future and excel for a wide i greatly appreciate his consult, his guidance and himself dedication to the ass for and to the. >> good afternoon. >>. on this day in 1775 a small force of green mountain guys led by ethan allen and ben detect