WEBVTT

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^- [Voiceover] Conducting frequent airdrops

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^both day and night,

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^helps Connecticut Air National Guard air crews

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^maintain their combat readiness.

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These missions get off the ground

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thanks to critical support provided to the flight crew

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by the airman of the 103rd Logistics Readiness Squadron.

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These LRS troops play a critical role in each mission

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from the moment they prepare a container delivery system

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to when they'll recover it at the drop zone

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and prepare it for future use.

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Air Transportation Specialist,

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Tactical Sergeant Matthew Merrow

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says that traditional guardsmen,

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including newly trained troops

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play a critical role

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in making these training missions happen.

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- The troops that are up here right now,

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^being brand new they get to introduced to the drop zone,

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^how things operate.

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^They get briefed on all the safety precautions we take,

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how things are supposed to go.

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And we need them up here,

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because we can't support it

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with just the full timers by ourselves,

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so we rely on our guardsmen

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and we gotta get them trained up as soon as we can.

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- [Voiceover] Reporting from Westover Air Reserve Base,

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in Chicopee, Massachusetts, I'm Senior Airman Steven Tucker.