WEBVTT

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naval station . Guantanamo plays host

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to ship seeking a caribbean port on a

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regular basis . This duty might seem

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mundane , but when Coast guard cutter

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gallatin slipped into the babe , a

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quiet sense of distinguish mint came

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with it . This was no ordinary ship

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Coming from a namesake shared with five

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other vessels , cutter Gallatin

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demanded a respect earned through its

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43 years of faithful service

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commissioned in 1968 . This 378-foot

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cutter came to life during a time when

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Americans not only dreamed of the stars ,

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they searched headfirst toward them ,

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sharing a birth year with mankind's

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first footprints upon the moon . Cutter

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gallatin was born from things of legend .

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40 years into her life , gallatin

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suffered major engine failures as well

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as the state of general disrepair . Dry

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docked in south Carolina , it seemed

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gallatin is days in the open waters

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might be over . This was not the case

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at a time when the easy answer would

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have been to just quit . Captain John

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Davis and his crew remained steadfast

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in pursuing the right answer . Over two

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years ago , while standing on the

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parking lot of debt and shipyard

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outside of the sandpit in heat and

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humidity far worse than this , I

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presented you with the ladder of

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success . You climb to the very top of

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the ladder and prove yourself through

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action . Not words Being here in Gitmo .

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Following a triumphant . Currently gun

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line , you have time to the very top

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shipmates . 100% . We did

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gallatin screw , answered the call and

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restored their aged ship BM to Jason

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reeling was with the gallatin

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throughout . this tedious process

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pulled in for a generator rebuild

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After that uh inspection team came in

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and started respecting the whole said

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our holes aren't in great shape and

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then they said , you guys need to go to

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dried off now We want the dry dock in

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dry dock . We had 3040 ft sections , a

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hole cut out . Uh , we had sewage lines

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replaced through the aluminum deck . Oh ,

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magazines were refurbished . Uh ,

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the galley was , we used to have all

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our galley equipment run off steam .

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It's been moved to electricity . We

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replaced , rebuilt to new birthing

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areas of new decks , lockers and head .

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They rebuilt the main diesel engines .

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After that we got underway . We're

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doing an engine break in and then we

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got to the point where they said ,

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Let's do it at 100 and then a barren

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gave away . Yeah , I have to start the

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whole engine process over again a year

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later . Here we are . We finally made

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it underway . Got operational pass all

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our inspection with flying colors .

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After a three year operational gap

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Qatar gallatin and her crew had a

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reason to be proud of their

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accomplishments . They scored a 95% or

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higher in all of these tests . Despite

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these achievements , Captain Davis and

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his crew still had something to prove

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that wasn't enough . Shipmates wasn't

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we moved onto our first operational

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patrol in three years and took our

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station on the gun line , joint

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interagency task force South called us

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and we answered the bell . With only a

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day on the line , Gallatin underwent

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its 1st 40 . A difficult task . But

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prior challenges had seasoned this crew ,

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and they persevered performing their

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first drug interdiction since the ship

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began her repairs . Old , she may be ,

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but gallatin demonstrated her

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capabilities beyond anyone's

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expectations . Perhaps it was the pride

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in the crew or the ship itself that

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made this humble cutter ported at

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Guantanamo Bay resonate with a sense of

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deeper meaning . Gallatin reminds all

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of us of the importance of hard work

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and perseverance . And unfortunately ,

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the unflinching reality of change , A

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command ceremony heralded the end of

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Captain Davis is time with the cutter

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he had taken from a fledgling state .

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If we could to 100% we did . We don't

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truly know what we are capable of until

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we can expand our limits . Reporting

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from Guantanamo Bay . I'm Army private

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first class Justin pierce . Joint Task

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Force , Public Affairs