FORT CAVAZOS, Texas – 1st Air Cavalry Brigade welcomed a new Command Chief Warrant Officer for the brigade during a change of authority ceremony, May 12 on Cooper Field at Fort Cavazos, Texas.
Chief Warrant Officer 5 Scott Durrer, outgoing command chief warrant officer, relinquished his responsibilities to Chief Warrant Officer 5 Tobias Long, incoming chief warrant officer, 1ACB.
“Today, we bid farewell to Chief Warrant Officer Scott Durrer, who has answered our nation's call for over 25 years of service," said Col. Timothy Jaeger, commander, 1ACB. Durrer has flown in combat past the flight hours of most aviators in the brigade. Thank you for all you have done for the Air Cav team."
While most units have a senior non-commissioned officer to lead the formation, aviation units have command chief warrant officers who sit as the senior adviser to the warrant officers throughout the brigade.
During his outgoing speech, Durrer recollected the time in service during the ceremony.
"It has been an incredible privilege to serve my country as an Attack Helicopter Pilot; providing air support to our men and women on the ground in combat is the honor of a lifetime," he said.
Durrer enlisted in the Army in 1998 as an aviation operations specialist and completed his flight training to become an Attack Helicopter Pilot following his promotion in 2000.
During his career he flew over 5,000 hours, 2,100 of them being in combat, Durrer became a Master Army Aviator and has served in many different positions throughout his service.
Thanks to his extensive military education, Durrer is a AH-64 Standardization Pilot, Instrument Flight Examiner and Master gunner. He has served in various Army major commands from 110th Aviation Brigade to the most recent 1st Cavalry Division.
Tobias expressed his eagerness to serve as the Chief Command Warrant Officer in the brigade. He said that no words could convey how much he is looking forward to the role.
The change of authority for the Air Cav marks the beginning of a new chapter for the brigade and the start of new leadership.
“We get new warrant officers out of flight school almost every couple of weeks, which allows me to be an advocate for their large population," said Tobias. "The end goal is to get them prepared to fly in multi-domain and large-scale operations."
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