WEBVTT 00:00.850 --> 00:01.800 - Alright, so my name is 00:01.800 --> 00:03.250 Staff Sergeant William Pace. 00:03.250 --> 00:05.140 I'm with the Minnesota Army National Guard, 00:05.140 --> 00:08.480 and I'm a flight engineer on the CH-47F Chinook. 00:09.460 --> 00:11.250 What our capabilities are, what we'll be doing 00:11.250 --> 00:15.230 when we're down in Florida is primarily 00:15.230 --> 00:16.850 troop and cargo transport. 00:17.240 --> 00:19.360 What we can do is fill up 00:19.360 --> 00:21.600 our helicopter, rescue people that 00:21.600 --> 00:24.500 are kind of isolated away, that aren't able to get 00:24.500 --> 00:26.810 to rescue areas that are flooded. 00:26.930 --> 00:28.230 We can land, pick them up. 00:28.320 --> 00:32.220 We can also bring cargo, whether that be food, water. 00:34.660 --> 00:36.360 Like hay bales or even livestock. 00:36.370 --> 00:38.010 A lot of people forget about that. 00:38.010 --> 00:40.410 We are capable of hauling all that kind of stuff 00:41.210 --> 00:46.210 across these areas that can't have access due 00:46.690 --> 00:49.270 to the water and roads being washed out. 00:50.080 --> 00:52.150 We can move first responders all over where they 00:52.150 --> 00:53.770 need to be because it's a lot faster to move 00:53.770 --> 00:55.670 them by helicopter than by road. 00:57.150 --> 00:59.650 So I've been on a total of five state active duty missions. 00:59.650 --> 01:01.990 I've been up to Fargo to help with the Red River flood 01:01.990 --> 01:03.230 three separate times. 01:03.580 --> 01:05.710 I've went up north by Thief River Falls 01:05.710 --> 01:07.600 on firefighting missions, and then 01:07.600 --> 01:11.420 I was down in Texas at Hurricane Irma a couple of years ago. 01:11.700 --> 01:13.130 So this will be my fifth state active 01:13.130 --> 01:14.580 duty mission with Minnesota. 01:15.170 --> 01:16.690 It's pretty rewarding. 01:18.200 --> 01:20.320 You know, even though this will be my sixth time 01:20.320 --> 01:25.110 doing it, it's still doesn't get any less exciting 01:25.110 --> 01:27.310 once you get down there and get the mission. 01:28.250 --> 01:29.730 Being in the National Guard, I think it's pretty 01:29.730 --> 01:31.750 unique than being in the active Army because we 01:31.750 --> 01:33.640 have these stateside missions that we get to do. 01:33.640 --> 01:35.580 So not only do we do the same missions that 01:35.580 --> 01:37.270 the active duty does, go overseas, 01:37.270 --> 01:39.020 deploy to hostile environments, 01:39.320 --> 01:41.800 we also get to deploy stateside and 01:41.800 --> 01:43.770 help with humanitarian-type missions. 01:44.020 --> 01:46.740 And to me, that's a lot more rewarding than going 01:46.740 --> 01:49.460 into a combat scenario, because you get to help 01:49.510 --> 01:52.110 people that are in your own country. 01:52.500 --> 01:54.850 And that to me, that's very rewarding. 01:56.150 --> 01:58.190 No, I think what the biggest thing with all this 01:58.190 --> 02:00.430 is a lot of people don't realize 02:00.430 --> 02:02.510 how big of a movement this is. 02:02.510 --> 02:04.750 To get a helicopter just from 02:04.750 --> 02:07.910 one state to another, and it's really a big team 02:07.920 --> 02:11.460 effort between the interstate agencies and then 02:11.460 --> 02:15.270 also just with the Minnesota National Guard as well. 02:15.270 --> 02:16.130 You know, everyone just looks 02:16.130 --> 02:18.350 at the flight crews and thinks that they are the ones 02:18.350 --> 02:20.140 doing everything, but there are so many more 02:20.140 --> 02:22.090 people involved with the maintenance 02:22.090 --> 02:23.390 to get the aircraft ready. 02:23.660 --> 02:25.890 The fuel to make sure that the aircraft, 02:25.890 --> 02:27.440 we have fuel and we can fly. 02:27.860 --> 02:30.570 And there's just so many more people that are involved 02:30.570 --> 02:32.250 than just the flight crew. 02:32.250 --> 02:34.920 So, we get all the glory but there's a lot of 02:34.920 --> 02:37.220 other people that deserve recognition as well.