WEBVTT

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In December 2011 , the final convoy of

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Air Force Combat Truckers left the Iraq

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border for the last time . This past

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week . The Air Force Combat Truckers

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387th Expeditionary Logistics Readiness

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Squadron in case their flag . This

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ended operations on a unit known as

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providing one of the major lifelines to

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the war in Iraq . Today we closed the

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chapter on a joint mission . Well done .

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But we all know the opportunity will

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present itself again in the future and

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hope for that same level of cooperation

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and support to ensure the success of

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our great nation . Colonel Scott thomas

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emphasized the importance of the

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Truckers mission by quoting Winston

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Churchill statement made about the

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Royal Air Force during World War Two .

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Never in the field of human conflict

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was so much owed by so many to so

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few . An entire nation relied

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independent on the Royal Air Force to

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protect them and to sustain their very

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existence . Think about that , a very

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small group of warriors and a very

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specialized mission set providing the

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key capabilities that enable the

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continued existence of an entire nation .

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Does that sound familiar ? This is a

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welcome end for the airmen who deployed

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here over the years , making the

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dangerous journey along the roads of

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Iraq . There has just been awesome ,

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took care of the job and worked all the

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soldiers and we're all going home now .

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I never thought that I see it , you

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know what I'm saying ? Actually closed

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down . But I guess so it's real . The

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closing down of Iraq was a definite

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monumental but what made it even better

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was that we did in a joint environment .

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The army conducted the role of the

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combat trucker in Iraq first , but it

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quickly turned into a joint operation .

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It's been an absolute honor . The skill

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sets that these guys bring to the table

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and professionalism way they run

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convoys is really no different than

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what we do in the army . If it wasn't

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for the joint team , we would not have

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made it this far . So you better tell

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your kids , you better tell your

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grandkids what you did here because we

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made history . Thank you . Thank your

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families . Thank the folks back home

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and thank the folks that we lost doing

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this mission . Thank you all . And God

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speed , Air Force Staff Sergeant

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Michael McCool , Southwest Asia . Mhm .

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Mhm .