WEBVTT

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I'm competing to the army's best

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warrior because I really have to push

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myself and I also want to represent the

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National Guard very well . My unit has

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done everything they can to support me

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in this journey . It started over a

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year ago , my first competition was in

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august of 2020 . So it's been a long

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time coming to be here at this level of

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competition . It's really humbling ,

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it's taking a lot of work to get here ,

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it really is an honor to represent the

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National Guard . It is truly an honor

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and humbling .

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But the office group have accomplished

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over the last four years transcends

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just the MQ nine and could best be

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described as the absolute pinnacle of

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military teamwork . All of these

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endeavors and more led directly to our

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unit being awarded the 2021 General

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Atomics R . P . A . Trophy for most

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outstanding unmanned flying unit . The

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first for the Air National Guard

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valiant shield was our first time

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operating in a calm and not only did it

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offer us an exceptional opportunity to

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collaborate within and throughout the

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Joint Total Force , it also allowed our

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airmen that opportunity to leverage

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their skills ethos and problem solving

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two different problem sets , different

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missions were getting after readiness ,

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working with our D . O . D . Partners

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jointly in multi domain operations ,

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touching airspace and maritime . The

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guys out of Fargo are in my opinion .

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Second to none and really pushed the

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envelope of basically the capability of

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the MQ nine and what we can do as a

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guard unit as an MQ nine as an

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enterprise and as an Air force .

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So we started out , we got a call in

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the middle of the night to respond to

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cavalier flooding . We got up here , we

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realized the bourbon E dam needed

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reinforcing . We instantly got sandbags

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up here started filling sandbags . The

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community came together like I've never

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seen before . It was really an

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impressive sight to see . We

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communicated with aviation , you got

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the sandbags all staged here at our

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pickup point where aviation is picking

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them up and dropping them off at the

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bourbon E . This is the mission we all

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want to do and want to serve our

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communities with . There's , there's

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nothing cooler than this .

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And now with the COVID-19 pandemic

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North Dakota National Guard has made

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history again because it's become the

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largest and longest domestic response

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in the storied history of the North

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Dakota National Guard .

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The State Partnership program

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relationship with North Dakota and the

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Republic of Ghana Togo Benin is very

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important . It allows for us to

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showcase the amazing soldiers that we

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have in the organization , all the

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state active duties we've supported

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within the communities of North Dakota

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really come to bear when go over to do

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these exercises . It allows us to

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really use some of the things that we

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do very well , which is defense support

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to civilian authorities . It's an eye

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opener . It has made us to know that

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it's about time . We get ourselves in

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readiness . It's very important that we

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also pass on this knowledge to our

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partners and we learned a lot from them

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as well .

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But when you have a tough job and you

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can't find a solution somewhere else ,

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you turn to the National Guard and

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we've done that over and over again in

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the state of North Dakota and

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especially in the last 20 years and

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every single time you guys have

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delivered , you have the highest

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operational readiness rate of any unit

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assigned to this mission . You were

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there always ready , always there . You

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guys live that motto every day . The

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work you're doing , The capabilities

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you have is really , really essential

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to both serving North Dakotans but also

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protecting our nation and our future .

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Thank you and on behalf of a grateful

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nation and grateful state were deeply

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appreciated for all you do .

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North Dakota . National Guard is one of

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the great high performing organizations

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in our state and we know across all

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aspects of Army Garden Air Guard that

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were just top notch . Thank you for

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being number one . This is a really big

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deal and it speaks volumes about who

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this organization is , who the happy

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Hooligans are in . What we do every day .

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This award is all about combat

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radius and we can never forget that you

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are the Combat reserve of the United

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States Air Force . The Hooligans remain

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the best of the best , continue the

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culture of sustained excellence . You

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are , what makes us special