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COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO. -- One thousand one U.S. Air Force Academy graduates are now officers in the Air Force.

The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Mike Mullen addressed the graduates Wednesday.

And the Air Force Thunderbirds performed the traditional flyover at Falcon Stadium.

During his address Mullen encouraged the graduates to embrace the technology that he says the Air Force will need in the future to keep America safe. And he told them all branches of the military will need to work together as the United States continues to fight two wars.

All the pomp and circumstance of the Air Force Academy graduation filled Falcon Stadium as proud parents beamed. Their sons and daughters are now 2nd Lieutenants in the USAF.

Speaker Mullen noted how these newly commissioned officers are so young they bring a distinctively different perspective to the War on Terror.

"We've been a nation at war for nearly half of your young lives. It's a reality you have literally grown up with," Mullen said.

Mullen told cadets he was moved by the symbolism of a fresh class of officers entering military service.

"Where 1,001 of our nation's finest young men and women complete their rigorous studies, take a solemn oath and march on to defend their fellow citizens in a time of war," Mullen said.

Then came teh Thunderbirds' flyover.

All of the graduates now have a five-year minimum commitment to the Air Force and 520 of the graduates are headed to pilot training.

Pilots are committed for 10 years.