WEBVTT

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- My name is Senior Master Sergeant Dwayne Caudle.

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- [Interviewer] What unit are you with and which state?

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I know that you're not with a unit here in Maxwell.

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- That's correct, Ma'am.

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I'm with the 302nd airlift wing.

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I'm with the 302nd maintenance group.

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- And that's in Colorado Springs?

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- Yes, Ma'am, Colorado Springs.

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- Also, what is your duty?

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- Right now my current assignment within the

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302nd maintenance group is on the career advisor

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for our entire maintenance group.

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- Okay.

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And so...we're here today---

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why are we here today?

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It's such a monumental event for you

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and for the PTAS.

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- Yes, Ma'am.

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I was able to obtain my Community College

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of the Air Force degree and it turns out that

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I was the 500,000th degree recipient.

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Which in all honesty kinda boggles a person's mind

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that there's been 500,000 people obtain their

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Community College of the Air Force degree

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since the inception of the Community College

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of the Air Force.

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- Yes, sir, definitely.

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And how long did it take you to actually

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obtain the degree?

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- I've been working on it, if you include all

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the different tech schools I've been to,

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which kinda goes with it, I initially entered

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into the Air Force in 1980.

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But I got off active duty and then last year

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in 2016 I met with my maintenance group commander

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and she had informed me that I needed to,

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you know, get my degree--my Community College

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of the Air Force degree.

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And at that time I spoke with my wife and I said,

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"I really need to buckle down and get this."

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So I took all my core classes a grand total of

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I think like six or seven classes I ended up taking

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in a matter of six months in order to obtain

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the necessary credits to get my CCAF degree.

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- I know that must have taken quite a while,

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like late nights and things like that.

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How long did it actually take you?

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- Yes, ma'am, because I'm with the reservists;

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I'm a traditional reservist. (stutters words)

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My civilian job is I'm a parole officer for

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the state of Colorado.

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So I would go to work at 7:00 in the morning and

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get off work between 5 and 5:30 in the afternoon.

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And because my wife, at the time, was working up in

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Colorado Springs, I would actually come home and

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fix supper for me and her and then once we ate

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and got everything done I would go and sit in front

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of the computer and work on my class work until

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from about 6:00 at night, 6:30 at night until

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midnight, 1:00 in the morning and get up and

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do it all over again the very next day.

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On the weekends it was a minimum of three to four

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hours each day on Saturday and Sunday to work on that.

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- I bet you're pretty happy now that you're done

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with it, right?

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- Yes, ma'am, I am.

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As a matter of fact the day that sits in my mind

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was November the 19th of 2016;

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that was the very last day of my final

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for my psychology class that I was

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able to knock out that day and I was done.

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It was like a 10,000 pound weight lifted off

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my shoulder and I actually, I told my wife,

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I said, "This...This feels great.

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- What would you say to those who haven't got

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their CCF degree or are trying to obtain their

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CCF degree now?

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- All I can say is that, you know, in all honesty,

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it's something that...if you keep putting it off,

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you're not going to get it.

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You actually have to sit right there and say,

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"Okay, I'm gonna take them and I'm gonna do this."

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It's something that you have to be motivated to do

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and the self-discipline, especially whenever,

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because there's excuses for everything.

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Oh, I'm tired today or I got this going on or

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I'm going out and visiting this family member.

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But you just need to work at it and buckle down

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and do it and then once you get it done,

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it's a huge accomplishment.

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It actually makes you feel, I don't know, just

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a little bit taller, you know.

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And I look at it this also; I mean I'm 55

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years old as of two weeks ago.

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If an old guy that was lucky to make E8 Senior

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without a CCAF degree can buckle down and get his,

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then I don't see any reason in the world why

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anybody else can't get it.

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- Definitely, thank you, Sir.

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Is there anything else you'd like to say

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about this wonderful event or anything in general?

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- I tell you what; it's something that's near and

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dear to my heart, the Air Force is.

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I'll be retiring here in five years.

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And this will stand out as one of the

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monumental moments I've ever had

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in a 32-year career.

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- Thank you so much, Sir.

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- Yes, ma'm, not a problem.

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Thank you.

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(lighthearted laughter)

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(speaking)

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(speaking)

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(speaking)

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- Okay, so, I'm Dr. Harding.

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I work in what they call the shark tank here.

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It's a book area for general education.

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Let's make sure that all your name is

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right where it's supposed to be.

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You've got your Speech and your English and

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your Math your...we're happy.

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And I go through that and everything's looking good

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and you wind up right, you got your 64 credit hours.

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We're happy.

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That's why I clip the G-Big G to graduate.

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And I'm very glad to do that every day of the week.

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Somewhere along the way yours had to come by and

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one of computers, I got to do that for you.

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- Thank you.

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- You got the photos you need?

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- [Female Voice] Yes.

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- And for our visitors we probably need to talk

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about the process so a couple times a week

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a man truck pulls up to this building and

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several colleges and universities throughout

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his pursuit of his degree...different military courses.

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Over a hundred thousand times a year

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a diploma shows up on our doorstep.

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And we have to go through that diploma and

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figure out which courses are gonna apply,

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how are they gonna apply, and that's something

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that we do in the registrar office.

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Then you got a degree program and you're looking

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at the bigger degree program that says

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call your ESO and what do I need to take next.

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(speaking)

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And then we got folks that once that's all

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packaged up and goes, "Okay, I think I'm done."

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Now we look at the entire package and say,

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"Yes, you are good to go; we need to graduate you."

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We package all that up and send, what did we say

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about this year... 10,000 diplomas for folks.

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And, oh by the way, if you decide now you're

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going to go on to get a job or go to another

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university, almost 100,000 times a year we have

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to package up all the education we got for you

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and send that out to a different university.

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So all that goes on within this building and it's

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gone on 500,000 times and Andy opens up.

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That's kind of a summary of what we do here.

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- So let me say a couple things:

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First, is congratulations to you upon earning

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your Associates Degree with CCAF.

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I hope that through that educational degree

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you gain better absence of mind, became a

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better leader, became a better critical thinker.

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I think that's the value that our education adds

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to our Air Force, but primarily I hope it

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made you a better, more effective American.

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I think that is really the value that we add

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to the Air Force like here in Seattle.

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I want to say thank you to your family for

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being here as well.

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As we know education, there's lots of costs

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to education; some of them are monetary,

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some of them are not.

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One of those costs is time away from

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our families, so thank you for being

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there for him at this fort run and I'm

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happy that you could be here to celebrate this.

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What an awesome accomplishment.

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We think CCF is becoming more relevant and

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more popular than ever before.

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I think being the 500,000th graduate is the

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way to articulate just how popular CCF is

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across our Air Force.

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So you represent not just yourself but all the

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500,000 graduates before you (speaking).

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So two things I want to present you with.

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One is I want to present you with a certificate.

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So in your honor we actually had a brick laid at

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the Enlisted Heritage Research Institute.

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So this is a certificate to show you that

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that brick was laid in your honor as the

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500,000th graduate, I'm sorry, the 500,00th

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degree recipient of CCF.

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Then I want to present you with my coin as well.

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So congratulations; I appreciate the fact that

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you took the effort to earn your degree.

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Congratulations.

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(applause)