WEBVTT 00:10.439 --> 00:12.550 I'm coming from the United States Air 00:12.550 --> 00:14.661 Force . I was in the Marine Corps for 00:14.661 --> 00:16.883 10 years . I was in the Air Force for a 00:16.883 --> 00:18.920 total of eight years . I was in the 00:18.930 --> 00:21.770 Navy for nine years , the military . 00:21.780 --> 00:23.336 I'm not sure if there's any 00:23.336 --> 00:25.739 organization on the planet . That's so 00:25.750 --> 00:28.719 about your personal development . So I 00:28.729 --> 00:30.920 joined the Marine Corps when I was 16 00:30.930 --> 00:33.041 and I actually became a Marine when I 00:33.041 --> 00:34.919 was 17 . So my change was pretty 00:34.930 --> 00:38.049 drastic coming from a place where I 00:38.060 --> 00:40.282 wasn't a great student in high school . 00:40.282 --> 00:42.449 I left the military with six different 00:42.449 --> 00:44.560 degrees and I never thought that that 00:44.560 --> 00:46.782 was even remotely possible . Once I got 00:46.782 --> 00:48.949 into the military , I kind of , I kind 00:48.949 --> 00:51.060 of found myself pretty much , I found 00:51.060 --> 00:50.979 my niche and I found what I wanted to 00:50.990 --> 00:52.979 do . I mean , there's not a single 00:52.990 --> 00:56.509 instance where , you know , that makes 00:56.520 --> 00:58.742 me say I'm proud , I mean , it's one of 00:58.742 --> 01:00.930 those , you know , I'm proud all the 01:00.939 --> 01:04.819 time of being a marine . I was on the 01:04.830 --> 01:06.886 aircraft carrier , the constellation 01:06.930 --> 01:10.680 part of V M FA 323 F-18 squadron . 01:11.180 --> 01:13.180 I mean , we were over in the Gulf . 01:13.190 --> 01:16.029 During the Iraqi War , we were on 01:16.040 --> 01:18.040 patrol . It was about 11 o'clock at 01:18.040 --> 01:20.209 night and over the one MC , which is a 01:20.220 --> 01:23.260 loud speaker , we got notified that 01:23.660 --> 01:25.882 Saddam Hussein had been weaponizing the 01:25.882 --> 01:28.139 border and we had to deploy a 01:28.160 --> 01:30.889 complement of aircraft to go try to 01:30.900 --> 01:33.011 neutralize that threat . We were both 01:33.011 --> 01:35.233 on the ship together , Kevin and I , we 01:35.233 --> 01:37.289 didn't know each other and everybody 01:37.289 --> 01:39.456 came to life . Did their job , stay in 01:39.456 --> 01:41.789 their lane . And because of what we did , 01:41.789 --> 01:44.069 we carried out that mission . My most 01:44.080 --> 01:46.136 memorable , I think moment or my aha 01:46.136 --> 01:48.191 moment was when I served overseas in 01:48.191 --> 01:50.247 South Korea to hear the alarms going 01:50.247 --> 01:52.247 off and to see people running , you 01:52.247 --> 01:54.580 know , for shelter and prepping for war , 01:54.580 --> 01:56.802 you know , in the civilian population . 01:56.802 --> 01:58.969 That was an aha moment that woke me up 01:58.969 --> 02:01.080 and was like , my goodness , we don't 02:01.080 --> 02:01.055 do this in the United States . And then 02:01.065 --> 02:03.232 this is really , you know , my purpose 02:03.232 --> 02:05.121 for being here pretty much or the 02:05.121 --> 02:07.065 purpose of the United States is to 02:07.065 --> 02:06.745 protect , you know , the freedoms , I 02:06.754 --> 02:08.976 guess throughout the world and not only 02:08.976 --> 02:11.143 here at home but abroad as well , it's 02:11.143 --> 02:13.143 amazing to see a floating city come 02:13.143 --> 02:15.315 together , do what we had to do and , 02:15.324 --> 02:17.435 and , and make that happen . So I was 02:17.435 --> 02:19.602 really proud of that and you're always 02:19.602 --> 02:23.119 proud and you're always in that mindset . 02:23.130 --> 02:25.186 It just made me really proud to know 02:25.186 --> 02:27.074 that , you know , I protect my co 02:27.074 --> 02:29.074 country from things like this . You 02:29.074 --> 02:29.070 know , we , we live in , in peace . We 02:29.080 --> 02:31.191 don't have to worry about things like 02:31.191 --> 02:33.720 this that really taught me in a command 02:33.729 --> 02:36.520 like Atlantic as big as we are with 02:36.610 --> 02:39.619 5000 people . If we all really focus on 02:39.630 --> 02:41.797 our mission and we focus on the Navy's 02:41.797 --> 02:43.908 mission , we can all pull in the same 02:43.908 --> 02:45.463 direction and try to get it 02:45.463 --> 02:47.820 accomplished , hires veterans and 02:47.830 --> 02:51.559 really looks for that operational 02:51.570 --> 02:54.220 experience that most veterans do bring 02:54.679 --> 02:57.080 to many of the systems that we support . 02:57.289 --> 02:58.956 You know , I did a tour as an 02:58.956 --> 03:00.956 instructor at the Navy Marine Corps 03:00.956 --> 03:03.011 Intelligence Training Center where I 03:03.011 --> 03:06.399 taught intel systems , a lot of those 03:06.410 --> 03:08.577 systems that , you know , I had taught 03:08.577 --> 03:11.050 as a marine as I operated as a marine 03:11.259 --> 03:14.389 are systems . I'm responsible for 03:14.399 --> 03:16.839 within my division . Now , I feel that 03:16.850 --> 03:18.906 the mission that we carry out really 03:18.906 --> 03:21.128 resonates with me because of the time I 03:21.128 --> 03:23.239 served in the Navy and I gave part of 03:23.239 --> 03:25.406 my life to help support that mission . 03:25.406 --> 03:27.628 And now I'm still doing that . It gives 03:27.628 --> 03:27.220 me an opportunity to do it outside a 03:27.229 --> 03:29.690 uniform . I always tell everyone that 03:29.699 --> 03:33.350 I'm available 24 7 . Yeah , my service 03:33.360 --> 03:35.729 never stopped . Freedom is not free , 03:35.740 --> 03:37.907 go to a baseball game or to a football 03:37.907 --> 03:40.073 game and not have to worry about , you 03:40.073 --> 03:42.018 know , being attacked from another 03:42.018 --> 03:44.351 country , you know , automatically . Um , 03:44.351 --> 03:46.518 you should thank your veterans . There 03:46.518 --> 03:48.573 are very few who are willing to make 03:48.573 --> 03:50.740 that sacrifice for their country . And 03:50.740 --> 03:53.018 I think that's worthy of being praised . 03:53.018 --> 03:55.184 You need to , you know , take the time 03:55.184 --> 03:57.351 to respect the holiday and respect the 03:57.351 --> 03:59.518 veterans . It's one thing to see it on 03:59.518 --> 04:01.518 the TV , or maybe have your friends 04:01.518 --> 04:03.740 have a day off . But it's another thing 04:03.740 --> 04:05.851 to actually reach out and communicate 04:05.851 --> 04:07.851 with somebody and get on a personal 04:07.851 --> 04:07.539 level with them and let them know that 04:07.550 --> 04:09.494 you really appreciate what they're 04:09.494 --> 04:11.661 doing . You typically see a veteran as 04:11.661 --> 04:15.020 being selfless as being a volunteer 04:15.960 --> 04:18.127 do that . I mean , I think that is one 04:18.127 --> 04:20.450 way to , you know , honor a veteran is 04:20.459 --> 04:22.459 to , you know , volunteer at a food 04:22.459 --> 04:24.459 bank . Uh , you know , volunteer at 04:24.459 --> 04:28.089 your school . There are people that 04:28.100 --> 04:30.329 have dedicated their entire lives to 04:30.339 --> 04:32.283 just may not be veterans , they're 04:32.283 --> 04:34.890 government civilians and they're doing 04:34.899 --> 04:37.579 something for that veteran community . 04:37.589 --> 04:39.809 They're , you know , they're spending 04:39.820 --> 04:41.431 countless hours , you know , 04:41.431 --> 04:43.489 engineering a solution or being away 04:43.500 --> 04:46.359 from their family . Uh , it , it's not 04:46.369 --> 04:48.160 just about , uh , you know , 04:48.170 --> 04:50.459 necessarily always the veterans . It's 04:50.470 --> 04:52.589 about that selfless sacrifice that 04:52.600 --> 04:56.339 government civilians and industry make 04:56.350 --> 04:57.429 on behalf of the country .