WEBVTT 00:01.200 --> 00:04.168 - All right, hey, good morning team Pete, 00:04.168 --> 00:08.090 and all of our mission partners and all of our airmen, 00:08.090 --> 00:09.610 they're stationed around the world right now 00:09.610 --> 00:13.240 in one of the 27 locations that we have 00:13.240 --> 00:14.290 a night's operating from. 00:14.290 --> 00:16.593 It's great to talk to all of you again. 00:17.880 --> 00:22.880 - He stated that he wanted to take new airmen 00:22.916 --> 00:25.770 to, on TDY with him. 00:25.770 --> 00:29.140 And I think I was the first one of the first ones 00:29.140 --> 00:31.810 to go TDY with him, to DC. 00:31.810 --> 00:35.870 And we spent a week in DC and I felt like a celebrity. 00:35.870 --> 00:38.530 I was walking through with him and all his crew, 00:38.530 --> 00:41.580 and we had a blast and we actually got to celebrate 00:41.580 --> 00:43.710 his last birthday. 00:43.710 --> 00:45.930 That's the first thing that I thought about 00:45.930 --> 00:50.410 when I heard the news, and just, the pictures we took, 00:50.410 --> 00:54.510 they will definitely hold a place in my heart, for real. 00:54.510 --> 00:56.100 I miss Colonel Falzerano. 00:56.100 --> 00:59.256 - My husband was his operations officer at Eglin, 00:59.256 --> 01:04.070 and we got to know Tom Falzerano as Tom. 01:04.070 --> 01:08.110 We got to become a good friends, family friends. 01:08.110 --> 01:09.940 Our children were the same age. 01:09.940 --> 01:13.383 My child and his oldest were the same age. 01:14.540 --> 01:16.740 And we would hang out at each other's house, 01:16.740 --> 01:18.700 eating mango key lime pie, 01:18.700 --> 01:22.530 and just getting to know each other's families. 01:22.530 --> 01:26.150 We got to know him outside of the uniform 01:26.150 --> 01:30.700 and just, you know, he was just a very down to earth person, 01:30.700 --> 01:35.700 never forgot his roots and cared about us as regular folks. 01:37.320 --> 01:41.180 And to me, that is the best memory I hold on to. 01:41.180 --> 01:43.010 - The most memorable moment with Colonel Falzerano 01:43.010 --> 01:45.570 was that time we actually met for the first time. 01:45.570 --> 01:48.211 We were doing a ceremony at the NCO Academy, 01:48.211 --> 01:50.040 and I was just showing him his seat, 01:50.040 --> 01:52.010 where he was going to sit during the ceremony. 01:52.010 --> 01:55.850 And instead of that being it, he actually asked who I was, 01:55.850 --> 01:58.890 and my background, issues that we're going through 01:58.890 --> 02:02.240 and my outlook on a way forward for us 02:02.240 --> 02:04.670 to be more beneficial in the Air Force 02:04.670 --> 02:06.960 and him taking the time just for maybe 02:06.960 --> 02:10.558 that 10 minute conversation, it meant so much, 02:10.558 --> 02:12.560 because usually people don't take the time just to do that. 02:12.560 --> 02:14.740 So just having that conversation and getting to know 02:14.740 --> 02:17.963 who he was, was, it was really great. 02:18.810 --> 02:21.520 - On a Tuesday Colonel Falzerano 02:21.520 --> 02:23.020 and Chief Master Sergeant Simmons, 02:23.020 --> 02:25.860 they were walking by and they noticed our class. 02:25.860 --> 02:29.381 So they took the time to walk into our classroom. 02:29.381 --> 02:34.230 He introduced himself and told us a little bit about him. 02:34.230 --> 02:36.581 He got to meet our newest airmen, 02:36.581 --> 02:39.170 and just those 10 minutes, 02:39.170 --> 02:42.724 they really meant a lot to our airmen, and to me. 02:42.724 --> 02:45.720 - I came to his office to get some paperwork signed 02:45.720 --> 02:47.290 and he was very personable. 02:47.290 --> 02:48.330 He invited me in, 02:48.330 --> 02:50.350 I thought I was just going to get a signature. 02:50.350 --> 02:53.300 And he sat there, he talked to me, asked me about my life. 02:53.300 --> 02:54.360 And about 10 minutes later, 02:54.360 --> 02:57.000 his exec finally told him that he has something else to do. 02:57.000 --> 03:00.560 So, that was awesome of him to take the time to talk to me. 03:00.560 --> 03:03.370 - So my most memorable moment, and it'd be a sum of all, 03:03.370 --> 03:05.660 is that he's unfailingly kind. 03:05.660 --> 03:08.730 And that he understood the weight of discipline 03:08.730 --> 03:12.080 and lethality still, while being kind. 03:12.080 --> 03:14.340 And he knew that tomorrow's future was built 03:14.340 --> 03:16.340 today, within the people. 03:16.340 --> 03:18.569 And it wasn't built on a new weapon system 03:18.569 --> 03:20.560 or technology or aircraft. 03:20.560 --> 03:21.820 It was built on today's people. 03:21.820 --> 03:23.970 And that's what he put his investment into. 03:24.880 --> 03:26.050 - We went down to a, 03:26.050 --> 03:28.315 a place called the Red Bar down in, 03:28.315 --> 03:30.422 down on the Emerald coast. 03:30.422 --> 03:32.974 And I was charged with getting, 03:32.974 --> 03:35.930 with getting drinks for everybody. 03:35.930 --> 03:38.640 So I was going to get him some bourbon. 03:38.640 --> 03:41.190 He introduced me to bourbon and cigars. 03:41.190 --> 03:42.774 Well, I asked for a double, 03:42.774 --> 03:46.567 and the bartender, being at mostly a beer bar, 03:46.567 --> 03:48.160 wasn't quite sure how to pour. 03:48.160 --> 03:51.200 So she ended up emptying the bottle of bourbon 03:51.200 --> 03:53.080 into a pint glass for us. 03:53.080 --> 03:55.853 And I present him with a full pint glass of bourbon. 03:56.800 --> 03:59.990 And he was completely wide-eyed, had no idea what it was, 03:59.990 --> 04:03.580 and he ended up making probably, 04:03.580 --> 04:05.290 making it halfway through that. 04:05.290 --> 04:07.480 And he was done. 04:07.480 --> 04:09.133 He, he couldn't take anymore, 04:10.237 --> 04:12.340 but that was definitely, it was, it was, 04:12.340 --> 04:15.750 that was an outside of the uniform moment with us. 04:15.750 --> 04:20.120 And definitely, definitely a good time. 04:20.120 --> 04:20.953 - [Kevin Dooms] I had the privilege 04:20.953 --> 04:22.650 of going TDY with Colonel Falzerano 04:22.650 --> 04:24.770 to DC with some other members of the, 04:24.770 --> 04:26.610 the wing here and the way he interacted 04:26.610 --> 04:28.350 and treated those folks was something special 04:28.350 --> 04:30.370 and something I'll never forget. 04:30.370 --> 04:34.880 - Last September, when we went to the AFA conference in DC. 04:34.880 --> 04:38.780 And I think it was like the first day that was, you know, 04:38.780 --> 04:40.050 the kickoff of the conference. 04:40.050 --> 04:42.190 And they had like a little parade 04:42.190 --> 04:44.624 going through the conference room. 04:44.624 --> 04:47.530 And I couldn't see because everyone else was like, 04:47.530 --> 04:48.700 taller than me. 04:48.700 --> 04:51.300 So I'm sitting there like tip-toeing, trying to, 04:51.300 --> 04:53.540 you know, get around everybody, trying to see. 04:53.540 --> 04:55.242 And then he's like making fun of me. 04:55.242 --> 04:58.678 It was like, he was standing kind of behind me. 04:58.678 --> 05:00.920 So he's making fun of me. 05:00.920 --> 05:03.587 He's like, Oh, half pint, you can't see, huh. 05:03.587 --> 05:07.110 Then there was this, like, this platform 05:07.110 --> 05:10.960 stage kind of thing that they set the speaker up on. 05:10.960 --> 05:12.740 So he's like, oh, just hop up on there. 05:12.740 --> 05:13.573 You can see. 05:13.573 --> 05:14.680 So the whole time I'm like, no, 05:14.680 --> 05:15.730 I don't think I could do that. 05:15.730 --> 05:16.690 He's like, no, go ahead. 05:16.690 --> 05:18.680 So he's like, basically picked me up, 05:18.680 --> 05:23.020 by like my elbow, and like scooted me on the platform thing. 05:23.020 --> 05:25.310 And I'm like seeing above everyone. 05:25.310 --> 05:26.143 And he's just like, 05:26.143 --> 05:28.420 was there laughing the whole entire time. 05:28.420 --> 05:30.640 - Yeah, so my favorite memory with Colonel Falzerano 05:30.640 --> 05:33.120 was during the transformational leadership seminar. 05:33.120 --> 05:34.800 I was selected as the narrator. 05:34.800 --> 05:35.633 And during that, 05:35.633 --> 05:38.090 I had an embarrassing moment in front of the entire wing. 05:38.090 --> 05:39.609 And afterwards, Colonel Falzerano spoke to me 05:39.609 --> 05:42.713 and gave me words of encouragement and lifted up my spirits. 05:43.640 --> 05:45.880 - So my favorite memory of Colonel Falzerano 05:45.880 --> 05:47.850 is, isn't just one memory. 05:47.850 --> 05:50.960 It's, it's just every single time I interacted 05:50.960 --> 05:52.370 with Colonel Falzerano. 05:52.370 --> 05:55.610 He would always ask me how my family was doing, 05:55.610 --> 05:58.168 how I was doing, what we did this weekend. 05:58.168 --> 06:00.230 You know, as PA we get to interact with him 06:00.230 --> 06:02.020 a lot more than a lot of other people on the base. 06:02.020 --> 06:04.901 And, and every single time it was the same thing. 06:04.901 --> 06:08.170 With him it always seemed to be people first 06:08.170 --> 06:09.830 when it came to stuff and not mission first. 06:09.830 --> 06:11.980 And that's something that you don't see 06:11.980 --> 06:13.690 in a lot of commanders and something 06:13.690 --> 06:16.550 I wish we could see more and it will truly be missed. 06:16.550 --> 06:17.750 - He was goofy. 06:17.750 --> 06:18.667 - Authentic. 06:18.667 --> 06:20.470 - Genuine. 06:20.470 --> 06:21.600 - Easygoing. 06:21.600 --> 06:22.433 - Open. 06:22.433 --> 06:23.430 - Family. 06:23.430 --> 06:24.660 - Illustrious. 06:24.660 --> 06:25.493 - Warrior. 06:25.493 --> 06:26.680 - Compassionate. 06:26.680 --> 06:27.713 - Extraordinary. 06:30.370 --> 06:33.358 - The only thing I'd like to say is how thankful 06:33.358 --> 06:36.743 my wife, Stacy and I are to be part of this community 06:36.743 --> 06:38.934 and part of this wing. 06:38.934 --> 06:43.220 And this is really, if I can tell you one thing, 06:43.220 --> 06:45.960 I'll tell you this, this is home for us. 06:45.960 --> 06:47.941 It's a fantastic place to live. 06:47.941 --> 06:50.758 Everyday I get to wake up and look at 06:50.758 --> 06:53.111 these gorgeous mountains out here, 06:53.111 --> 06:55.970 work with the greatest airmen in the world. 06:55.970 --> 06:58.177 I'm working on a mission that is 06:58.177 --> 07:01.520 24/7 around the globe, 07:01.520 --> 07:03.090 as important as any other mission 07:03.090 --> 07:04.700 in the Department of Defense. 07:04.700 --> 07:07.286 And, and to have started as a Lieutenant, 07:07.286 --> 07:10.280 I can come back here as the wing commander. 07:10.280 --> 07:12.609 I tell you, this is the absolute dream job 07:12.609 --> 07:14.700 at United States Air Force. 07:14.700 --> 07:16.680 Finally, I want to thank you for being patient 07:16.680 --> 07:19.580 and kind to fellow team Pete members. 07:19.580 --> 07:21.780 This is a long term fight. 07:21.780 --> 07:24.413 And the only way we win is together.