WEBVTT

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^- Today, we celebrate Dr. Claire Leon's successes

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^and LE's new director, Colonel Rob Bongiovi.

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^First, thank you to all of our special guests,

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^particularly Claire and Rob's families.

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One of her proudest moments?

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The day an SMC teammate thanked her for joining us,

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and for her leadership.

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She came here to make a difference,

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and that simple compliment was validation

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that her efforts were doing just that.

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In her almost 39 months with us,

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she led a team delivering 33 successful launches,

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and overwriting over 10 major launch-related contracts

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worth 6.4 billion dollars.

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The satellites launched during Claire's tenure

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have literally affected the lives

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of every human on the planet.

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In closing, Claire, thank you for your service

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and your leadership.

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Best wishes in your next retirement job,

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and we look forward to seeing you around SMC

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in the years to come.

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(audience applause)

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I think everyone here will agree

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the Air Force got it exactly right

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in selecting Colonel Rob Bongiovi

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as the next leader of the launch enterprise directorate.

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In fact, he is so qualified and respected by peers,

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industry, Pentagon stakeholders,

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and congressional members and staffers alike,

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the request to convert his new position back to a Colonel

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and by name recommend him to the Chief of Staff,

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was only one page.

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His reputation alone justified it.

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To me, that means he's all in.

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He's all in for his family, he's all in for the mission,

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he's all in for the incredible future of space lift,

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and all in for the men and women

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of the launch enterprise directorate.

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Rob, congratulations, and good luck in your new job.

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(audience applause)

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^- And you know, you think the hardest part

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^about rocket science would be actually building rockets

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^and engines, and getting them to work,

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^but keeping your program funded and sponsored on the Hill

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^is right now just as hard as that.

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^So let's see, thank you General Grant

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^for your kind comments.

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^When I retired from industry I had three criteria

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^that I wanted to meet for what I did next.

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^I wanted to do something important,

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^I wanted to be where I could make a difference,

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^and I wanted to support the government.

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^So being here has met all of those criteria.

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And Rob, I'm just super pleased

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that you're the guy taking over.

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If it weren't for that I think it would have been

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harder to leave.

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It's hard enough but I'm just really confident

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that you're going to do a great job,

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and continue great leadership,

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and carry the organization forward.

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- [Presenter] On the 15th of December 2017,

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Dr. Claire E. Leon is relieved as Director

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of the Launch Systems Enterprise Directorate.

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Signed, John F. Thompson,

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Lieutenant General, United States Air Force,

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Commander, Space and Missile Systems Center.

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Effective the 15th of December 2017,

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Colonel Robert P. Bongiovi is hereby assigned

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as Director of the Launch Systems Enterprise Directorate.

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Signed, John F. Thompson,

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Lieutenant General, United States Air Force,

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Commander, Space and Missile Systems Center.

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(audience applause)

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- So thanks for coming out today, and I truly am,

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I'm very humbled by the trust in allowing me to lead

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this wonderful organization.

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And I want to give a big thank you to

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the men and women of the Launch Enterprise.

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Your pride and dedication are obvious every day,

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and are evidenced by the amazing successes we've had

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over the entire life of the organization.

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So I look forward to continuing to work with you

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to build on our successes, and shape our future.

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Thank you.

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(audience applause)