WEBVTT

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- [Voiceover] The repair fleet responsible

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for keeping shipping lanes open in the Tennessee River

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and Cumberland River basins is culminating

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more than a century and a half of service

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maintaining locks and dams as it is reorganized

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into a regional light fleet in October 2016.

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^The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers National

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^District commander recognized past and present

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members of the fleet during a ceremony at Old Hickory Dam

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August 15, presenting them with certificates

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of appreciation and thanking them for sustained

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^excellence in service to the nation.

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^- I was talkin' to a gentleman, and he served

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^longer in the Corps longer than I've

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^been alive, which is humbling.

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And a lotta that time was on the Fleet and Repair

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Party doing the things that I would argue

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make the National District and work for the Corps

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of Engineers meaningful.

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- [Voiceover] The men and women who have served

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on the District's Repair Fleet have a rich history

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of public service, from pioneering the development

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of water resources to maintaining

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the modern-day dam projects.

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The repair team always responded quickly

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throughout the district and would always overcome

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^the challenges, no matter how difficult.

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^- The hard part was dealing with all of the diverse

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^personalities we have here in this group

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^that made up this good team.

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^It's hard to believe that there could be

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so many different thought processes and so many

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different ways of thinking and different things

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like that, you know, that come together

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and make up this good team.

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I've been proud to be a part of it.

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- [Voiceover] The Repair Fleet has been a mainstay

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of the Twin Rivers since the 1800s, when crews

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first began opening the region's waterways

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to navigation on board canoes, flatboats

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and keelboats, keeping navigation routes

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open within the Tennessee River and Cumberland River basins.

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Retirees at the ceremony reminisced about days

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gone by, when they learned from previous generations

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of caretakers, managed the projects and later

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passed along the mantle of responsibility

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^to their employees.

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^- Of course the history of the Corps, if you look at it,

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^goes back many years, and the fleet's

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^what started it.

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There were no locks and dams or power houses

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or anything like that, it was all the fleet

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that did snaggin', dredgin' and made it possible

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for commercial and traffic on the rivers.

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- [Voiceover] While some maintainers are being

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reassigned to the district's locks and dams projects,

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others are going to join the new light fleet,

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physically based at Old Hickory Dam, but under the direction

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^of regional managers at the Huntington District.

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^- I'm excited personally about it.

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^It's gonna be pretty interestin' to see how it

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^shakes out and what kind of different

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types of work we might be gettin' into in the future

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and the different projects that we're gonna get to work at.

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We're gonna cover an area from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania,

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all the way back down to the Cumberland, Tennessee Rivers,

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so our footprint's gonna expand.

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- [Voiceover] This is Lee Roberts reporting

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for the National District at Old Hickory Dam

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in Old Hickory, Tennessee.

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(fast music)