I wanted to thank all of you for allowing me to serve as your squadron commander for the last 6 years.  June 1999 seems like yesterday and looking back on it there has been so many changes.  Being squadron commander is the best achievement I have had in CAP since I joined as a cadet in 1992- even surpassing earning the Eaker award which was very important to me as well.  I look at all of the places I have gone and all the things I got to do with joy and happiness. 

When I took over in 1999 we were meeting on the ANG Base in the operations center.  We had to carry all of our records up stairs and back downstairs after each and every meeting.  We had Peace Garden 98 assigned to the unit as our primary form of transportation and every trip was an adventure to see if we would make it there and back without having to fix something.  We had close to 50 cadets but only 3-4 active seniors at the time.  Supporting the squadron was the biggest challenge I had to overcome. 

As I grew in my command I saw many changes come about.  The biggest change was Sep 11, 2001 where America become one nation and stood together to fight against terrorism and dictators supporting it.  CAP stood tall along side the rest of the country flying boarder patrol missions and preparing its assets to be of service to the country.  The squadron was forced to move to the Hector Field Airport Terminal and relocated to the Red River Valley Squadron Headquarters.  This was a hard time for the country and 119^th as a whole.  We dropped to an all time low cadet membership but senior membership began to climb.  This was a turning point in the history of the squadron.  Hooligans did what they do best and overcame adversity and membership began to climb. 

In 2002 the 119^th ANG Fighter Wing Civil Engineering unit allowed the squadron to return to the ANG base.  The squadron began meeting in the Civil Engineer headquarters and membership sky rocketed back up to 30 cadets and 15 senior members.  This was also a time where a dear friend and what can only be called one of the most memorable squadron members, Peace Garden 98 was transferred to Wing HQ and replaced by a brand new 12 passenger van known as Peace Garden 90.  Although PG 90 was new it seemed that it retained some of PG 98’s tendencies by spending its first 2 months getting repaired for recalls followed by a faulty radiator cap.  Since this time, PG 90 has changed gears and been far more reliable than its predecessor and an asset the squadron could not do without.  2004 came about and the squadron relocated to the Regional Training Site (aka Cooterville) and has met there ever since.  Cadet membership has declined some but is holding constant.  Senior membership rose and we have 19 seniors on the MML.

Through out all this time many members where doing exciting and heroic things in the military.  C/Maj Tim Soderstrom and C/2LT Preston Nygaard enlisted in the Marine Corps and are completing their second tours in Iraq.  C/LTC Levi Heller enlisted in the Air National Guard and went to Berhan and is now serving a tour in Iraq.  1LT Travis Walterson joined the ANG and completed all training to be part of the Emergency Ordinance Disposal Unit and served for the summer in Diego Garcia.  1LT John Hoeck graduated from the Naval Academy and went on the fly helicopters in the Pacific Ocean for the Navy.  C/Maj Brent Ekren graduated from the Air Force Academy and is an officer in the US Air Force.  Not to discredit any achievements, 35 Hooligans have served in the military at one time or another and some of them have also held war time positions with their respective branches.

Since 1999, we have also seen the squadron be awarded as the squadron of merit 2 times bringing the lifetime total to 4.  It was squadron of the year 4 times during my command (7 times in all).  The squadron also earned the Safety Award 5 times, had 2 senior members of the year and cadets from the squadron earned cadet of the year and junior cadet of the year every year since 2000.  4 members also received the Frank G Breuer AE award since 1999.  5 cadets earned their Eaker, 10 got their Earhart, 16 earned the Mitchell, and 10 got their Wright Bros award.

We have also traveled to many places including Camp Rapid for encampment, the ND Badlands for a SARx Academy, Custer State Park for a Dakota Duel, Nebraska for Regional Staff College, Salina KS for Cadet Comp, Dayton Ohio for NCC, and so many trips around the state it is impossible to count.  Cadets traveled to MN Wing to solo the airplanes and attend Black Cap.  By far the trips are the most memorable things in CAP.  From the road trips, to the rest stops, to eating at every Burger King and McDonalds along the way.  There have been furbees on the dash and Slimer riding in the roof (yes- in the roof).  We can neither confirm nor deny that Soderstrom mooned his mom and we will not speak of Breuer and the Beast.  We will never forget the Buffalo walking up to the van, or the time that Cloven backed into the pole (sorry LT, I had to go there).  We will also never forget ending up in Lincoln while picking cadets up from Ashland.  It is also hard to forget Garrett and Krabbenhoft getting F-16 rides and cadet o’rides with Langrock.  There was also the time when every CAP van at Blue Beret was stickered with Hooligan patches.  All of these and then some are what makes CAP an experience that can never be forgotten.

Thank you all for making my time as commander special in so many ways.  Please know that the 119^th will always be my home and even though I may be serving at the wing, I will always be there for you.  My only hope is that I can continue to serve CAP and keep improving the cadet program in the entire wing.  Remember this Hooligans, you will always be strong, you will always overcome, and you will always have great leaders to help you along the way.