WEBVTT

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(birds chirping)

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- [Narrator] This ordinary athletic field,

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was once the cradle of US
Army aviation research.

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Following the pioneering
footsteps of the Wright Brothers,

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the United States Army
established McCook Field,

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in Dayton, Ohio as home to it's

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Aircraft Engineering Division.

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This research division
would ultimately become

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the Air Force Research Laboratory.

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Countless tests on materials,
engines, airframes,

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munitions and instruments
were conducted here.

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And from 1918 to the mid 1920's,

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over 24,000 technical reports were created

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from the research directed
by the engineers at McCook.

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Less than a decade after breaking ground

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the McCook facilities were disassembled

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and moved to Wright Field,
the modern day location

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of the Air Force Research
Laboratory Headquarters

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and four of it's technology directorates.

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AFRL traces it's roots to
the visions of early pioneers

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who understood that research
was the key to air supremacy.

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Through the early decades of

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aerospace research and development

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the Air Force Laboratory System

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grew into 13 different
labs in various locations

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throughout the US,

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and an Air Development
Center in Rome, New York.

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In 1990, the Air Force
consolidated the existing labs

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into four super labs, Wright,
Phillips, Rome and Armstrong.

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(triumphant music)

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Then in October of 1997,
on the 80th anniversary

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of the founding of McCook Field,

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these labs were merged
to form one unified lab,

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the Air Force Research Laboratory.

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Which today consists of nine
technology directorates,

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the 711th Human Performance Wing,

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the Air Force Office
of Scientific Research,

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Aerospace Systems, Directed
Energy, Information,

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Space Vehicles, Materials
and Manufacturing,

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Munitions, and Sensors.

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The Air Force Research
Laboratory is solely responsible

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for the research and
development that keeps

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the United States Air Force
the best in the world.

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Every ground breaking Air
Force technology is generated

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by the scientists,
engineers, and support staff

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in AFRL, whose collective
genius and hard work

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keep over half a million
Air Force personnel

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on the cutting edge.

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- The Air Force Research
Lab does many things

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for the Air Force, and I feel
one of the most important

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is being able to stay at the bleeding edge

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of technology development.

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- The next generation of war fighter,

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will be armed with laptops.

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What I do is equip each
of them in their own way

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and give them technology to help

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make their missions more successful.

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- My job helps the war fighter

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have better sensing capabilities,

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especially in the optical
regime and IR detection.

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- These technologies are paramount

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to the survivability of our war fighter.

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Whether they want to be able
to call the medical decoration,

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these communication systems
has to be very reliable

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in order for them to execute the mission.

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- The war fighter would get
to take this technology,

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would get to come up with
solutions that matter,

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and make a difference.

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- When I wake up, and I go to work,

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the problems that I solve

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and the technologies that I work on

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could potentially save soldiers lives.

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- [Narrator] Today, a
century after the birth of

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US military aviation
research, airmen turn to AFRL

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when an urgent battlefield
requirement is identified

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and it is AFRL they count on
to develop the technologies

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that will be needed 10, 20,
30, even 40 years from now.

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Powered by airmen, fueled by innovation,

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the Air Force Research Laboratory

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provides unflagging support
for the United States Air Force

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and it's mission to fly, fight and win.

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(triumphant crescendo)