WEBVTT

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- I had no direction, honestly, when I was younger.

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I had no intentions of going to college,

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because I really just wanted

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to get out of high school and start my life,

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but I really didn't know what I wanted to start.

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The Guard provided me the opportunity

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to not only have a full-time career,

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but I felt valued and I felt like what I did

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was extremely important for this county.

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I grew up in Mansfield, I'm from Mansfield, Ohio,

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and I would hear the sound of freedom,

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that's our airplanes flying overhead,

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and I had some friends who had joined the Guard

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and they went to my high school,

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I went to Mansfield St. Peter's.

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They wanted to go to school, they wanted to be,

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they wanted to go to college and they wanted a way to do it

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and that is fantastic.

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If people join for just that reason, I think it's fantastic.

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100% tuition assistance like you're a gifted athlete

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and given a free ride.

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And then I really had no intentions of going to college.

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I joined the Guard and it provided that opportunity.

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I joined the Guard because I wanted to be a firefighter

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and I firefighter I became.

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As a matter of fact, I was a full-time firefighter

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at this installation for 16 and a half years,

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but I had the scholarship program in-hand

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and I thought, "Why not?

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"So I'm gonna go to a school."

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I ended up going to school at Toledo for two years,

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then I came back once I got hired as a full-time firefighter

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and I went to Ohio State, Mansfield.

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So I'm proud to be a Buckeye

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and I also got my CCF degree, as well, in fire science

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and I'm getting ready, even at my age,

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to start a master's program.

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Career-wise, I was a traditional Guardsman

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for 18 years of those 31 years

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and then I loved doing what I do so much

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that I decided to become full-time.

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So I applied for a different position full-time

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and I crossed over and became a full-time employee.

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So 18 of my 31 years was as a traditional Guardsman.

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But I was very proud of the fact

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that I became a full-time firefighter at the base

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and that I became a traditional first sergeant,

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so I was a master sergeant

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before I became a commissioned officer.

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All those different things in my career

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have affected to where I am today.

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Being in the position I am now, even you would say,

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well even as an O-6 or a colonel,

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it's extremely humbling because these people follow me.

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It's an incredible experience and an incredible opportunity.

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I love serving my country.

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I love being a part of,

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a small part of something much bigger than myself.

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And the real warfighters are the Airmen, it's not the O-6s,

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it's the Airmen out there that are doing it.

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So that's an incredible responsibility

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that I don't take lightly.