WEBVTT

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I think we've proven that having a

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volunteer force of professional Airmen ,

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soldiers , sailors , marines and coast

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guardsmen is serving the country well .

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And first I think , you know , men and

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women come into our military for a

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variety of reasons . Uh the most

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the reason most often given that I hear

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is that uh these men and women want to

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serve their country and uh want to

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commit themselves to service

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for a cause higher than themselves .

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We offer an opportunity to serve the

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country in a unique way in a very

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focused mission , the defense of the

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United States and its interests .

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And we offer a lot of life changing

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opportunities for young people

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to grow and develop as individuals .

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Our choices are to balance Air force

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capabilities between the size of the

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Air Force , which is really it's force

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structure , the readiness of the Air

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Force today and making sure that this

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air forces is ready to meet the

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contingencies that we may be asked to

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meet by the combatant commanders and

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also leave resources available to

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modernize the Air force to make sure it

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continues to grow in capability over

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the future gets better , gets more

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modern and that we're able to

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recapitalize and to do all that while

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we're taking care of the men and women

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who who operate this air force .

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I've described the our airmen is the

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living engine that powers this Air

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force . We have chosen to get smaller

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in some areas , but it's been targeted

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in particular MDS or particular skill

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sets . So so that's where we would be

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coming down . But we also

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use personnel tools for

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shaping tools to make sure that we

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uh induce the the skills that might

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be overrepresented in our Air force to

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get to get a little bit smaller and we

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use reenlistment bonuses and other

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incentives pays to build up or

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sustain the levels that we need in

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particular areas going forward . The

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United States has long been a pacific

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power and our Air force has had an

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enduring presence in the pacific for

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many decades now . So Pacific air

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forces is encompasses about

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43,000 Airman at nine strategic

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locations including U . S .

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Locations all the way from Alaska

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through hawaii and down to Guam

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and also forward presence here in Japan

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and Korea in fulfillment of our treaty

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obligations with long standing allies .

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So we will continue to sustain our

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presence in this region and to

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continue to cooperate with our allies

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and partners in a fashion that

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underwrites the security and the

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stability of this region . The United

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States has been a pacific power for for

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many , many decades . And especially in

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the wake of the changes that came

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out of World War Two . Uh we

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developed closer security ties with

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Japan and then South Korea as well .

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And so we have long standing agreements

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with these countries and it's important

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that we partner with them toward the

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joint goal of security and stability

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for this region . International peace

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and security is a team sport ,

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no single country has all the

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resources necessary to sustained in

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advance its interests across this

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vast the scope of this geography .

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So it's very important that we work

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together . It improves interoperability ,

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proves our understanding and confidence

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in each other's capability and it

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provides a better international

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climate which benefits all the nations

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of the region . Well , certainly the

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relationships that we enjoy here at

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Masala are an outstanding example

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of how our

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presence and collaborative

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relationships with Japanese , their

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self defense forces and the local

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communities bolster our confidence and

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strengthen the relationships between

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our two countries . Our air

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forces cooperate . We yeah

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share common interests with the local

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community here at Massawa , the fire

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departments or have

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cooperative agreements with between the

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local communities and the base and with

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the Japanese communities as well . So

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I think you know these are very

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important , the ways in which we can

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strengthen our relationships .

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It comes down to each individual airmen

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as well . Each airmen , each american

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who is here in Japan is an ambassador

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for our country and it's important to

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remember that each of us can contribute

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in that way to strengthening

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relationships with our Japanese

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partners and they are marvelous hosts

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in this country and gracious hosts .

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And I think our security relationship

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has been strong for many decades and

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will grow even stronger in the future .

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I think we run in our time but thank

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you very much for dropping by . Happy

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to do it