Yesterday was a historic day for the Iraqi Air Force. The very first class of newly commissioned Officers graduated from the new Air Force Officer Training School here in Iraq. These 11 new second lieutenants are the first new Officers in the Iraqi Air Force since the fall of Saddam. They represent the future leadership of the Iraqi military, and have risked life, limb, and the security of their families to pursue their dreams of becoming military leaders.

Those that qualify from this class will make up the first batch of new Iraqi Air Force pilot candidates, and will start the newly established initial flight training school on 1 October of this year.

Of course, behind the success of establishing these schools is the blood, sweat, and tears of US Air Force Senior Airmen, NCOs, Junior and Senior Officers who built up the facilities by hand. There are images you'll never see of Colonels and Airmen on their hands and knees scrubbing sewage from floors, painting walls, and preparing classrooms and dorms for the class that just completed training. The same thing is going on at the flight school, where US Air Force members are working tirelessly to give the Iraqi students every opportunity to learn and excel as Officers, Pilots, and Leaders.

12 September 2007 was a historic day for the IqAF, and a proud day for the US Air Force. It is one of countless examples of how far we've come, and where we're going here in Iraq.