ROBINS AIR FORCE BASE, Ga. -- This week, the first combat communications wing in the U.S. Air Force - the 689th Combat Communications Wing - celebrated its one year anniversary.

As one of three new wings under the recently-established 24th Air Force in Air Force Space Command, we spent this first year building a strong foundation as well as developing future cyber combat capability.

Part of that strong foundation is defining our wing identity in our wing motto: 'Fear the Beast,' which represents who we are, what we do, and what we believe. "B" is for the Brave Airmen and their families who sacrifice and serve our nation; "E" is for Expeditionary Excellence our Airmen exhibit everyday in executing the mission; "A" is for the outstanding, motivational can-do Attitude of our warriors; "S" is for the Standards we are committed to enforce, uphold and exceed; and "T" is for the Teamwork we exhibit every day, whether it is working within the wing, with our guard and reserve partners or our mission partners in intelligence, special operations, our sister services or our coalition partners. Our combat communication warriors are indeed the "Best of the BEAST!"

Continuing the legacy of excellence set by our groups - the 3rd Herd at Tinker Air Force Base, Okla., and the 5th Mob here at Robins, we successfully deployed 690 Airmen to 54 locations across the world during the year. We supported combat operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, and humanitarian operations at home, in Haiti and in Chile. We established new capabilities by being the first to deploy in support of Project Liberty.

Under Air Force Space Command's Guardian Challenge, we resurrected the prestigious Combat Challenge competition to showcase the best of our combat comm warriors. In fact, we named our trophy for Chief Master Sgt. Dick Etchberger. In a year of many firsts for the wing, one of the most significant was attending the presidential presentation of the Medal of Honor to Chief Etchberger - the first chief master sergeant and first combat communications warrior to be awarded our nation's highest honor.

As we are inspired by Etchberger's heroism, I am also inspired by the phenomenal warriors who serve in this wing every day. As we solidify our foundation and continue to grow cyber combat capability to the tactical edge, our continued success will be because of the outstanding leadership, dedication and selfless sacrifices of our Combat Comm warrior Airmen and their families.

Happy Birthday Combat Comm! It's been a GREAT first year ... And hold onto your helmets, you ain't seen nothing yet! "Fear the Beast - HUAH!"