It is an honor and a privilege to be part of this ceremony this morning. Fort Rucker has been proud to have been your birthplace.

The 73d Aviation Company was born with a sense of urgency in a time of turbulence. Most of you joined the company with little notice. Some of you had to make great personal sacrifices. All of you have undergone intense training in the last two weeks. You have had many long hours in the classroom, in the field, and in the air in preparation for your assigned mission. Time has been your shortest commodity.

Your hard work and dedication has done a job that would normally be spread over many months. In these last few days you have molded yourselves from a group of individuals into a cohesive combat team -- a team prepared to perform Army Aviations' most basic and vital mission, aerial surveillance and reconnaissance.

The problem of knowing where the enemy is, and at what strength, is as old as was itself. Army Aviation has it's roots need of the artillery to have "eyes in the sky". Since World War II, organic aviation has grown to include many other missions and capabilities, but the importance of it's first mission has never diminished.

You have inherited a tradition and a challenge. You are the direct descendants of those men who flew the Piper Cubs twenty-one years ago. Your challenge is to perform with even more responsiveness, more imagination, and more daring. You are being asked to prove again that there is no substitute for the flying soldier. We are confident you can and will achieve that goal.

Today, all of Fort Rucker joins me in wishing you the best of luck and God speed.

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John E. Akers

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