WEBVTT

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Hello , Governor Tony Evers here . I

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wanted to take a moment today during

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your monthly message . Thank you for

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the good work that you have done over

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the past year , serving your neighbors

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and your communities and our state .

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This past year , the men and women of

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the Wisconsin National Guard did

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everything from their traditional

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deployments overseas to supporting our

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elections and assisting in our pandemic

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response here . A home helping ensure

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the safety of our communities and the

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public during times of unrest ,

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including , most recently at our

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nation's capital and in our state's

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Cove in 19 response . Frankly , we

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couldn't have done it without you . It

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started early when the guard worked

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with DHS to bring home Wisconsinites

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who have been stuck on cruise ships .

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From there , you filled in wherever you

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recalled staffing assisted living

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facilities , distributing peop e ,

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assisting local governments and health

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departments and collecting more than

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one million one million test specimens

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at our community testing sites . Your

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good work is critical to protecting the

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health and safety Wisconsin Eights and

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now , on top of all those other

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missions , were counting on your

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support to get us through to the end of

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the pandemic as your team's help in

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vaccine distribution and administration

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across the state . Sincerely , on

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behalf of myself and the state of

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Wisconsin , we are deeply grateful to

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you for your service and your

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dedication to the people of our state .

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You exemplify the best Wisconsin has to

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offer , serving your friends and

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neighbors with empathy , working long ,

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exhausting hours both physically and

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emotionally and giving your best

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everyday to our state . Well , we're

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not out of the woods just yet . I know

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the people of our state are in good

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hands with the support of the men and

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women of the National Guard . So once

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again , thank you so much .

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Hello and welcome back to drill . I

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want to begin this month by thanking

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you all for your hard work in January ,

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once again , you answered the call in

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so many ways . Just since the New Year ,

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you've tackled a civil unrest response

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in Kenosha and security missions at our

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state capital and for the presidential

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inauguration in Washington , D . C .

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We've also helped launch and staff

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mobile vaccine teams in an effort to

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help the state ramp up Cove in 19

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vaccination efforts . I expect that

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mission to continue growing in the

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coming weeks and months . But just as

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you have over the past year , you've

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answered the call with so much

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professionalism that our state

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continues to look to us as a major part

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of the solution to the complex issues

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we face . I know some of you may be

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asking when our ops tempo is going to

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slow down or why Wisconsin troops are

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assisting civil authorities outside of

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our state's borders after such a heavy

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and active period right here in our own

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state . As most of you know , we sent

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more than 550 Wisconsin National Guard

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troops toe Washington , D . C . To

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assist with security efforts for the

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presidential inauguration . We joined

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25,000 other National Guard troops from

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every other state and territory . In

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that effort . National Guard Bureau

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asked each state to commit 6% of its

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total force to the inauguration mission .

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And those of you who are part of the

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response earned rave reviews for your

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professionalism throughout the mission .

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I'm so grateful for all you've done and

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continue to do here in Wisconsin .

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We've continued to keep up a fast pace

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is well more than 500 of you helped

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secure the state Capitol in Madison

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just days after we closed out our

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mission to support civil authorities in

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Kenosha . We've done all of that while

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remaining an integral part of the

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covert response where we've helped

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expand access to vaccines and now

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administered more than one million

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covert tests . And we're on Lee

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entering the second month of 2021 . I'm

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acutely aware of the demands we've

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placed on you , your families , your

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schools and your employers . And I want

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you to know we're working diligently to

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manage the expectations on our force .

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But our state is going to continue to

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call on us . In fact , we just received

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good news that funding for title 32 502

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f orders for the co vid response were

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extended all the way to the end of the

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fiscal year . We've asked you to

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sacrifice a lot , and I'm very proud of

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you . As we look ahead . Expect to

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start receiving mawr information on

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getting vaccinated for Covad 19 if you

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haven't already received it . We're

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working a plan to offer the vaccine to

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the whole force in the coming months .

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I am hopeful that the vaccine is the

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first step back towards normalcy .

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February is also Black History Month ,

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which represents a great opportunity

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for us to pause and reflect on the

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incredible contributions of African

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Americans to our nation's history .

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African Americans have a rich history

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of service to our military and the

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Wisconsin National Guard , and I'm

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grateful for that noble legacy as we do

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each month . Our diversity and

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inclusion program will be working toe

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highlight those contributions as part

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of this month . Special observance . I

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encourage you all to participate in

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these monthly celebrations of our

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diverse backgrounds and heritage .

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Lastly , this month I want to address

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the topic of grave importance within

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our force . Sadly , we've lost several

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members of our Wisconsin National Guard

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family to suicide in recent months . I

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want you all to know that you are part

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of one big family of 10,000 soldiers

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and airman , and we are all here for

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you . If you're struggling , don't be

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too afraid or ashamed to ask for help .

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Asking for help is a sign of strength ,

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and we have so many resource is

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available to support you . If you're

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having a tough time , we need you Mawr

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now than ever . We all face tough times

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and challenges , whether in our

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military careers or in our own personal

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lives . So I urge all of you to check

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on your battle buddies in wingman

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people . Our greatest resource is , and

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we need to take care of our own no

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matter what . We simply couldn't

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accomplish any of what we do without

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your individual contributions . With

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that , I'll close . Thank you for all

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you do . Stay safe . Keep up the great

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work Tag out readings and

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welcome to February drill . I hope

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you're staying warm as winter has fully

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set in command . Sergeant Major Conde

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and I wanted to touch on a couple of

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important topics this month . I want to

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begin by thanking all of you for your

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dedication , adaptability and

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professionalism . Over this past month ,

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hundreds of our citizen soldiers have

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already answered the call multiple

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times in 2021 In the first week of the

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new year , 500 of you mobilized in

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Kenosha to assist it preserving public

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safety . Many of that same group Task

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Force 1 to 1 consisting of soldiers of

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the first , the 1 to 1 field artillery ,

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32nd military and peace and the 7 30

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seconds CSS be rolled . Immediately

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into securing our state Capitol in

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Madison , hundreds of our soldiers

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simultaneously mobilized to support

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security effort for the presidential

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inauguration in Washington , D . C .

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You've all once again shown why you are

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the best this state and nation have to

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offer . You are ready at a moments

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notice and represented our state so

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well in all of these missions , even as

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we rolled out mobile vaccination teams

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and continued Cove in 19 testing in a

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parallel effort . We're also very proud

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of you and grateful for what you

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continue to do . And your efforts over

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the last month displayed why we're such

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an important part of ensuring peace and

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security while simultaneously

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protecting the Constitution and our

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rights as Americans . I'm not surprised ,

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but I want you to know that we received

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a glory review of your service and

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professional Ishan in each of these

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missions , including one Washington D .

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C hotel general manager who took time

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to write us a letter saying he had

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never encountered a more professional ,

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dedicated , courteous group of

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individuals in the Wisconsin National

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Guard troops who stayed at his hotel

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job well done . I'd also like to

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discuss covered 19 vaccines this month .

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The Wisconsin National Guard has an

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allotment of vaccines that are

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available for our service members , and

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I encourage you to take advantage of

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this opportunity to receive the vaccine .

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We've already vaccinated approximately

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1400 of our service members statewide ,

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and we expect to be able to offer this

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opportunity to the entirety of our

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force full timers and M D troops

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included in the near future . I want to

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make it clear that it is your choice .

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Whether you get vaccinated or not .

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There is no mandate . But the more

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people we can get vaccinated , the

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sooner we can get back to normal and

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move past this horrible virus . I want

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to close this month by speaking once

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again about the importance of

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continuing to recruit and retain our

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soldiers in our organization . As you

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heard me say before , you are best

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ambassadors . We are always in need of

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great people to serve their country and

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give back in a meaningful way . Take

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the opportunity to talk to your friends ,

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family members , co workers or

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neighbors about the great opportunity

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the National Guard can provide that

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also highlights the importance of

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retaining our force as well . If we

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take care of each other , our battle

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buddies , we will continue to retain

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high quality individuals in this

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organization that starts with each and

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every one of us . We're a family , and

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we must always ensure we take care of

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one another . I want to close with a

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topic of great importance . We've lost

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too many of our own in recent months to

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suicide . This is an issue that hits

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close to home for all of us , and it's

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devastating . Check on your battle

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buddies regularly and remember that

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seeking help is a sign of strength .

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This entire organization stands behind

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each and every one of you and the

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Wisconsin Army National Guard family is

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here to support you and good times and

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in bad Thank you for all you continue

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to do . Third