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The Air Force celebrates...

<< Commanders of the heavenly armies, we unworthy ones despise you, that those who pray to you, wall us, the shelter of the wings, of the palace of your glory, guarding us, falling, stretching out and crying out, From dangers you redeem us, as the Commanders of the Forces above>>.

The Air Force chose Michael, of the Old and New Testaments, the most powerful of the Archangels, as its Protector.
Of course, in the Prologue to Faust, Goethe gives "equal" speech to all three, to glorify the absolute bliss that reigns within Creation, where everything is coordinated by an eternal Harmony. And the poet hints that the greatness of beauty lies in simplicity and peace!

Raphael: <<The sun (eternal bliss) resounds with its old purpose // Among the brotherly spheres the rival song. // . . . . . // The incomprehensible wonderful works // Are exquisite as on the first day>>.
Gabriel: <<And quickly, and incomprehensibly quickly // The beauty of the earth wanders. // The heavenly brightness changes // . . . . . // In the eternally fast orbit of the sphere>>.
Michael: <<And storms compete // And furious ones form a chain // . . . . . // But your angels, Lord, glorify // the calm passage of your day>>.

IKARON SCHOOL – Tatoi, November 8, 2018, 12 p.m. time.

How do Veterans approach the cradle of their aviation career? Yes,
With the feeling that <<Ammes pok' imes alkimoi neaniai>> (we were once robust youths).

With the reflection that <<Life spins the length of the thread and winds it on the spindle>>.

With the necessary stoic apathy, which fades the horror one may feel about the passage of time!

A career prologue, then, the School since 1931, with many prerequisites and more uncertainties. With skyrockets and debris. With a lot of sweat, but also with a lot of pain. Yes, two days ago we inaugurated the monument to those who did not ''return''. More than five hundred names of airmen on the marble slabs, with the inscription, ''They rose by falling''! And a single tear . . . Eternal is their memory!
What good demon, then, led our steps thus far? Were we then consciously looking forward to the undefined ''good'' of life or simply to earning a living? Was it the idea or realism? Romanticism or harsh reality? Unfathomable! Because, as the poet says, man is perpetually suffering to find his true self. And man's decisions are not always determined by ''a spark of divine light''.

Yes, again on the pavement, after five decades, with the echo of those years of the School present, clear and decoded. And the associations, distinct links of an endless chain. That unbearable heartbeat still resounds at the unveiling of the Exhibition, the last lesson of the entrance exams, <<The Greek province the foundation of our national edifice>>. I experienced reality for myself. I was coming from the province. A short time before I had hung up the glitza! They had left my last written work. ''And now let the leader rise'', the chairman of the committee will exclaim. I was redeemed when I heard my name. August, 1963. And, now,. . . ''The Skies are ours''! (The aviation slogan, then, University and America corner).

Yes, the sound of freedom, and the legendary Harvard. The first flight, in a demonstration formation of three quadruple training planes, on the day of the Air Force Day, just 40 days after Icarus, will come unexpectedly and unplanned. And the breasts will swell, a little early. Angelos Katzilierakis, my instructor that first time. And after six years, I will make the first flight with him in a TF-104G. With completely, of course, different parameters. What a day, Angel, you were the fourth archangel in my aviation career! Erroso!

The echo of the rewarding ''nile''. The rapid bed rest, and the mechanical movements. The appearance, the aesthetics, the expression, and the self-esteem. The deprivation of exit, and the addiction of endurance. The first forgings of character. Our presence is a jewel, accepted in society, many are the heartbeats of others. Strategy, tactics and method, doctrines and operational plans, the officer's crumbs. The solo cuff and the next hour, higher mathematics. ''Don't throw stones at the windows of the State'', insists the professor of Sociology. Easter inside, some attempted to copy. The ground effect, the extreme values ​​of thermodynamics, the physiology of flight, unprecedented terms, are impressive. How much, in fact, the professor of Physics had to tell us, however, is unclear. Ceremonies and parades. Kokkas – Lympousakis, hierarchical superiors, role models for officers! And the Starfighter for the first time in the Greek skies, above the Unknown Soldier, with dizzying noise and intoxicating speed., in a vertical display. And we, Icari, in front of the honored persons. Absolute synchronization. Moral, very prosperous! Parade, March 25, 1964.

Mental fatigue and undefined sweat. There are many demands for theoretical training and more for air training. Many will not be able to. And the Psychiatrist looks you deeply in the eyes, "are you sure about what you are going to do . . ." In the performance of the sword, with a royal presence, the last act on the paved streets of the School, the mother-courage is also present. What could he have thought! August, 1966. And immediately, departure for the places of decisive action, where the country's defense rests, at the military airfields. And "as if a demon wills it". Without tyrannical hesitations and untimely doubts.

At the beginning, we did not see the aviation career as a ''capital'' that we could acquire. It was simply a starting point, with great expectations. It arrived, luckily, to be completed. And today, completeness but also awe for the national contribution and the aviation trail. Nostalgia for the execution of the ''mission''. A mission, with patriotic selflessness, a reflection of solidarity and loving cooperation of pilots, engineers and the vigilant servants of the national air traffic control system. A mission with planning and hierarchical decision. A mission that had to be done with mind and intellect, with feeling and passion, but also with nuggets of madness. Sometimes touching the atmospheric beyond, a kind of true freedom. A mission, like poetic art, with harmony, rhythm and measure, in the blissful solitude of the fighter, which, alas, did not suit everyone. And a destiny . . . on the edge of the horizon.

"'Luck is the greatest of things, rather than reason, to judge.'' Yes, the auspicious day (calamitous day) is not the same for all of us.

After three decades on the national front, honoring and being honored, and with two branches, at just 49, March .93, a new route for the private and primary sector. Grateful to the Homeland. And embracing the divine, with humility and reverence.

Today's ceremony closed with a flyover of a trio of F-4 Phantom aircraft of the 338th Squadron (Commander, Panagiotis I. Nousias), and the real ''sound of freedom'' cast aside the echo of those times!

Good luck to the senior officers of the Air Force and Aien Ypsikratine!

Happy Birthday to everyone! Grigorios Dim. Nousias – Aviator.