WEBVTT

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- Welcome back to Between Two Frames.

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I'm Lieutenant Clark and I'm here

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with Nick Mongo, the
Deputy Director of Aviation

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at the Burlington International Airport,

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which we like to call BTV.

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Nick, welcome to the show.

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- Thanks for having me.

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- [Lt. Clark] Awesome.

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So, to get started,

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we want to talk about the relationship

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that the Burlington International Airport

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has with the Vermont Air National Guard.

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Can you give us an insight
into where that is?

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- First of all, both teams,

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the Vermont Air National Guard

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and the BTV team, are just extraordinary

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and the relationship that
we've moved forward with

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over the years, and we're
talking decades here, has been

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tremendous and really exciting.

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And I think its never
been better right now

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and I think the future
only looks even better

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as we grow together,
both the Guards and BTV.

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- Awesome.

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So, can you talk...

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Some of the programs that exist

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because I know there's quite a bit of

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collaboration that's happening

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at multiple levels in
terms of conversations.

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Can you talk about some of the programs

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that BTV's involved in with Vermont?

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- Sure.

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The way I like to describe an airport

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is really like running a small town.

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And I think, speaking
with a lot of your folks

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over at the Guard, you
might say the same thing

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because you really do have a small town

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over there that you have to manage.

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So, do we at BTV and there's
so many different things

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and aspects to this town that we have to

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not only maintain, like construction,

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but plan for the future.

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So, when we work with the Air Guard,

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we're constantly working
with your engineers, your...

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I know you had Shannon Kelly on last time,

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your environmental compliance folks,

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your engineering department,

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like I said with Major Vilmeer,

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your planning folks and also
your flight operations folks.

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And there is so much coordination

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and collaboration on just
about everything we do

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on both sides of the airport.

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And that goes all the way to safety

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and security and, of
course, the fire department

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over on your side of the airport.

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- Can we talk a little bit about what the

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Vermont Air National Guard Fire Department

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does for BTV?

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- So much.

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We would not be able to operate

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our commercial airlines without the

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Vermont Air National
Guard Fire Department.

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The reason being, they are the sole...

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Excuse me, Aircraft Rescue
Fire Fighting services

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here at BTV.

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So without Air National Guard,

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our commercial flights,
all of our airlines

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would not be able to
come in as part of our

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Federal Aviation
Administration regulations.

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So, it is crucial that
that fire department

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is there operating, and
with the amazing crew

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and the chief that's over there

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managing the whole scenario.

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The mutual aid benefits
that your fire department

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contributes to the region is

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just massive

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and really, really...

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We are all really fortunate to have you

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and the fire department
there serving the region.

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- Good.

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Now that the F-16s are gone

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and I know we had a big
collaboration using the

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Valley West Ramp and things like that,

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what's the next few months look like

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before we receive the F-35s?

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- So, that's right.

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The F-16 were stationed over on

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a little piece of our property.

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So, the next few months entails

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working with your planning,

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your flight operations,

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and your engineering department

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on a few construction projects that

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we have going on out on our runway.

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A few construction projects that we have

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on our Valley West Apron.

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So, a lot of smaller projects that

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we're cleaning up for the next step

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or the future of your

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arrival of the new aircraft.

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- So, in terms of a civilian airport with

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a military instillation,

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which we see in a lot of
Air National Guard bases,

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unlike active duty where
they own their own runways.

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Can you talk about the relationship

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of having military aircraft fly

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out of a civilian airport?

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- Sure.

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So, one of the major things

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that we continue to work with

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along with all of those other programs

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that we just mentioned and talked about,

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is what's called an Airport
Joint Use Agreement.

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Right now, we're working through that,

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through some contractual and really

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the paperwork behind this document

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And looking back at the
history of both of us,

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both entities, the Air Guard and BTV,

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we really wouldn't be the
airport that we are today

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without the presence and
without the financial

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contribution that the Air National Guard

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has made towards the airport.

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And I say that because our runway is

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a certain length because
of the Air National Guard.

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Because of the aircraft
that we're flying here,

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decades and decades ago, we were able to

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extend our runway, not
because of the financial

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ability of the Federal
Aviation Administration,

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but because the Air
National Guard contributions

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and funding towards extending that runway.

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Without that extension of the runway,

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our airlines wouldn't be here.

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And that just goes full circle

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into the firefighting
services that you provide,

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and the complete relationship that we have

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with Air National Guard across the board.

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It's so vital to me to talk about

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and so exciting for me to talk about

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the relationship that
we have with you all.

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- Yeah, we're looking forward to seeing

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what BTV 2020 is gonna be all about.

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- [Nick] Yeah.

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- And it's a big year for us

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especially getting the transition from

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the F-16-

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- [Nick] Absolutely.

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- Which we just said farewell to in April

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and I know we have a part
of that here at the airport,

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but also as we bring the incoming jets.

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And what do you see for the future

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with the F-35 arriving here, in terms of

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that relationship?

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- Sure.

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You know, the best word
that I keep hearing

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over and over again with the departure

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of the F-16, is bittersweet.

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Right?

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Yeah, I mean that aircraft came,

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I wanna say 1986,

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that was a long time ago.

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I won't tell you my age,

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but that was pretty close to my age.

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And it was such a bittersweet moment

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and that's the word that I keeping hearing

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over and over again.

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And we're so honored to be a part of that,

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even just waving to those final four

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aircraft during the Viper Out Ceremony.

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It was such an emotional ceremony

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for us, too, on the the civilian side.

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And the F-35s coming is, to me,

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the strength of our relationship.

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We've seen...

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You've seen many aircraft come and go

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out of the Air National Guard

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and this is no different to me

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except this is the future,

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this is the fifth generation fighter...

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Let's call this the fifth
generation relationship

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because it's really good right now

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and it's only gonna get
better into the future.

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- All right, well thank you again, Nick.

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That's it for Between Two Frames,

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we really appreciate
the airport letting us

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come over here and set up.

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We'll see you next time.

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