WEBVTT 00:04.485 --> 00:05.764 - Hi, I'm Jenean Hampton. 00:05.764 --> 00:08.795 I was a captain in the United States Air Force. 00:08.795 --> 00:11.045 I was in from 1985 to 1992. 00:14.225 --> 00:16.558 (footsteps) 00:17.824 --> 00:20.083 Now, after spending 19 years in the 00:20.083 --> 00:23.332 corrugated packaging industry after I left the Air Force, 00:23.332 --> 00:25.367 I am now the lieutenant governor 00:25.367 --> 00:28.034 of the Commonwealth of Kentucky. 00:29.940 --> 00:32.008 I was a computer systems officer. 00:32.008 --> 00:35.008 I wanted to come in to do computers. 00:35.607 --> 00:38.980 I've been programming since high school in the 1970's, 00:38.980 --> 00:41.958 back when it was mainframes and punch cards, 00:41.958 --> 00:45.063 and I worked for General Motors for a few years. 00:45.063 --> 00:48.761 My title was Computer Operator, is what I did. 00:48.761 --> 00:52.341 I was in charge of making sure that the software got to 00:52.341 --> 00:54.997 every flight, because without the software, 00:54.997 --> 00:58.193 you just have a flying plane, and the software was 00:58.193 --> 01:01.142 what turned it into an airborne radar platform. 01:01.142 --> 01:05.193 And in addition, we also did replays of missions, 01:05.193 --> 01:06.689 because you could take . . . 01:06.689 --> 01:09.719 The entire radar mission was recorded, 01:09.719 --> 01:13.636 and they used the pieces to find downed pilots, 01:15.087 --> 01:17.825 to track enemy jets, that sort of thing. 01:17.825 --> 01:21.140 And so, that was my task during the . . . 01:21.140 --> 01:24.265 My and my group, the folks that I . . . 01:24.265 --> 01:26.765 who reported to me in theater. 01:26.938 --> 01:29.324 And we were stationed in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, 01:29.324 --> 01:30.600 and that's what we did. 01:30.600 --> 01:32.429 Since I was only in for seven years, I . . . 01:32.429 --> 01:34.426 You know, I roughly had two assignments. 01:34.426 --> 01:35.856 One was in San Antonio 01:35.856 --> 01:38.573 at Headquarters Electronic Security Command 01:38.573 --> 01:41.969 at Kelly Air Force Base, and then my second assignment 01:41.969 --> 01:44.136 was at AWACS, 552nd AWACS. 01:44.784 --> 01:46.171 If I'd stayed in . . . 01:46.171 --> 01:48.399 I got in when they were doing the draw-down, 01:48.399 --> 01:51.162 but if I'd stayed in, my next stop would have most likely 01:51.162 --> 01:53.915 been overseas, most likely Germany. 01:53.915 --> 01:57.895 One of the questions I'm asked frequently by kids is, 01:57.895 --> 01:59.506 "What does the lieutenant governor do?" 01:59.506 --> 02:02.302 And I had to look it up, too, when I was asked to be 02:02.302 --> 02:03.662 Matt Bevin's running mate. 02:03.662 --> 02:06.235 So I went to the Kentucky Constitution, and it turns out 02:06.235 --> 02:10.402 the lieutenant governor has very few specific duties. 02:11.291 --> 02:13.001 So it comes down to whatever the governor 02:13.001 --> 02:14.720 and lieutenant governor agree upon, but there are three 02:14.720 --> 02:16.762 major initiatives that I'm working on. 02:16.762 --> 02:18.345 One is entrepreneurship. 02:18.345 --> 02:19.804 I'm working on something called 02:19.804 --> 02:22.250 the Lieutenant Governor's Entrepreneurship Challenge. 02:22.250 --> 02:24.718 Number two, I'm working on educational issues. 02:24.718 --> 02:27.805 And then, also, I call it just being an example. 02:27.805 --> 02:31.402 Teachers and student youth group leaders are asking me 02:31.402 --> 02:35.485 to share my personal story, my rise from poverty, 02:35.792 --> 02:37.459 with their students. 02:38.159 --> 02:41.909 And they just find value in it, in me sharing 02:42.934 --> 02:45.851 the stories of what we didn't have. 02:47.093 --> 02:50.054 We didn't have a car or washing machine. 02:50.054 --> 02:53.002 Some years, not even a TV set growing up. 02:53.002 --> 02:56.585 But, despite being surrounded by bleakness, 02:57.460 --> 03:00.960 I still knew that I was blessed to be born 03:01.147 --> 03:03.814 in the United States of America. 03:04.964 --> 03:07.464 (piano chord)