WEBVTT

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- [Narrator] Lieutenant
General L. Scott Rice,

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Director of the Air
National Guard, visited

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South Portland Air National Guard Station

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in South Portland, Maine,
December 12th, 2018

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and spent time with the airmen of the

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265th Combat Communications
Squadron and the

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243rd Engineering Installation Squadron.

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Rice joined our airmen
for a brown bag lunch

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while squadron leadership shared

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a series of mission briefings.

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- It's great having the
Director of Air National Guard

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stop by here on station and we're really

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appreciative of him and his time

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in requesting feedback from
us on what our top concerns,

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what we see as our opportunities are and

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we're very thankful to be able
to provide that input to them

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and share our insights from the 265th.

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- [Narrator] The lunch proved
an invaluable opportunity

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for airmen to ask questions,
share experiences,

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and learn from Rice's vision for how the

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Air National Guard works
at its highest levels.

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- So I think it's important
that the young airmen

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are aware that leaders are listening and

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by the Director coming
here, he's really showing

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the state that he wants
know, he wants to hear about

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the things that important to them.

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- This is an amazing opportunity.

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It's not everyday that you get the

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Director of the Air National
Guard to come into your unit

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and learn about what
you do on the day-to-day

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and then to turn right around and ask you

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"What do you need?" so
that you can do that better

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and to do that more effectively.

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This is an opportunity that
doesn't come around very often

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in an individuals career and one that

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I'll definitely remember
throughout the rest of my career.

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- [Narrator] After the
luncheon, Rice addressed the

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squadrons in all call
briefing where he spoke about

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personal responsibility, wingman culture,

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and encouraged the airmen
to look after themselves

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and take care of each other.

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- I challenge you with this.

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Take care of yourselves.

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Take care of each other.

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I need you to take care
of the person next to you

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sometimes better than you
can take care of yourself.

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Especially as we go through
all the cycles of things

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we go through, whether it
be deployment, whether it be

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holiday seasons or whatnot,
really your best advocate

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is the one sitting next to you.

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- [Narrator] During his
talk, Rice covered a variety

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of topics and took numerous
questions from the airmen

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but in the end he stressed
the pride that he feels

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every time someone mentions
those Air National Guard

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squadrons up in Portland.

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- The bottom line is, on
behalf of my wife and myself

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and over 100,000 airmen
in our organization,

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I thank you for all you do.

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This organization, in this Portland

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on this side of the country, are doing

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great things for our nation.

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Keep it up. Well done.

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- [Narrator] Reporting for
the Maine Air National Guard,

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I'm Lieutenant Colonel Devin Robinson.

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(triumphant orchestral music)