WEBVTT

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Absolutely for her because that

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hey was to stop the run . Hey sir , how

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are you ?

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Yeah ,

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do if we did sessions here . I

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thank you so much . I appreciate it . I

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like it .

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Yeah , it was pretty , it was a pretty

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good way to do that .

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Usually just I did a summer job

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two summers ago right next to you

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should see the uh the research that

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happened in there . Mhm . So

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where is that ? I got you . I used to

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be so hard . Yeah . Ok .

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Yes , sir itself .

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Thank you . First there are

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your glass . Someone was broken ,

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articulate . Yeah , you help , help

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people .

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I want to thank you .

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Nice to meet you , sir .

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Hi reveal . How are you ? Nice to meet

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you ? Well , the honor is mine ,

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believe me . Thank you for having me .

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No , of course , of course . Ok .

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123 and one more .

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It's a great photo . Wow , that's

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amazing .

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Ok . I'm sorry , that's all I got one

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escape to the what made her pink ocean ?

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It just kind of drew her

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ladies and gentlemen . Good afternoon .

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Welcome to the presentation of the

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senior aviator badge with astronaut

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device to Colonel Francisco Frank Rubio .

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Our host for today's ceremony is the

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Secretary of the Army , the honorable

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Christine E Wormuth . Ladies and

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gentlemen , please stand for the

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arrival of the official party .

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Please be seated . Ladies and

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gentlemen , secretary , warmth .

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Good afternoon , everyone . It is great

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to see you all . Uh Thank you so much

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for joining us here today to recognize

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Colonel Frank Rubio for his truly

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extraordinary accomplishment . It's my

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pleasure to present Frank with the army

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astronaut device today , one of the

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most rarely earned qualifications

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across the army . In fact , there are

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only two other active duty army

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soldiers who have this device today .

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As I travel around and talk to

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different audiences , I often highlight

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all of the opportunities and

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possibilities that the army offers .

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Colonel Rubio is a stellar example of

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someone who has made the absolute most

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of every opportunity . What started as

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a way to pay for college turned into

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quite an adventure from the time he

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entered West Point as a cadet . Frank

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has taken advantage of every

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opportunity the army has put in front

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of him , whether that was joining the

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Black Knights parachute team , earning

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his uh major in international relations

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or learning how to fly Black Hawk

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helicopters . He gained the education

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and training that set the foundation

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for the rest of his career as he

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deployed to Bosnia , Iraq and

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Afghanistan logging over 600 combat

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flight hours . Colonel Rubio developed

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his leadership , his team building

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skills and his resilience , but his

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adventure didn't end there as he

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applied for medical school through the

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uniformed Services , University of

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Health Sciences and earned his

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doctorate of medicine as a physician .

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He brought these skills back to the

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army working in army hospitals ,

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clinics and the 10th Special Forces

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Group in between school training and

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deployments . He married his high

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school sweetheart , Deborah and they

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together raised four Children . And

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then finally , in 2017 , he was

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presented with the chance to become an

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astronaut . I will just say clearly we

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have an underachiever on our hands here

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in all seriousness . Colonel Rubio has

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a powerful US army story to tell how

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his experiences in the army developed

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him into the leader . He is today how

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he has managed to maintain strong

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relationships with his family that can

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weather deployments everywhere on earth

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as well as in space . How he learned to

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adapt to unexpected changes to the

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mission , whether as an aviator or an

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astronaut when he was aboard the

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International Space Station , how he

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built and relied on the trust he had

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with his teammates , whether in

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operational theaters here on earth or

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when they were thousands of miles away

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at the mission control center . Few in

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the army have such an unusual story but

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many soldiers I think would tell you

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that like Frank , the army enabled them

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to be all they could be . Colonel Rubio .

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You are a stellar example of the army's

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core values and what it means . To lead

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a life of service . You inspired

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audiences around the world as you

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orbited the earth for 371 days

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and now back on earth , you continue to

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inspire others as you share your

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experience with the public . Most

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Americans would probably be surprised

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to learn that you as an astronaut are

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an army officer . But in fact , the

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army has worked closely with NASA to

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advance space exploration since the

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beginning of the US Space program . It

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was a US army rocket that carried the

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first American astronaut into space .

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And the army remains at the forefront

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of our nation's ability to explore and

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defend against threats in space . Today .

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The US Army Space and missile defense

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command works tirelessly to advance the

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nation's interests by integrating space

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capabilities into military operations ,

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countering space based threats to our

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country and exp supporting the space

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exploration programs . That's a

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mouthful through the army astronaut

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detachment since 1978 . Our partnership

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with NASA has produced 19 army

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astronauts . These uniquely skilled and

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extremely qualified uh um People

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represent the very best of our talented

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officers and warrant officers in the

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army as we humans explore further into

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space . And NASA returns to the moon

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and sets its sights beyond the moon to

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Mars . The army will continue to play

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an important role in the exploration of

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space long into the future . And we

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will build on the research that Colonel

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Rubio did on the International Space

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station for 371 record setting days .

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Few humans have gone into space and

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even fewer have conducted a spacewalk ,

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much less three or spent anywhere close

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to the amount of time that Frank Rubio

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has spent orbiting the earth . So it's

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truly a privilege to have him

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representing the army and the United

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States . Frank , you've inspired so

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many people around the country and

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around the world . It's my pleasure to

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present you today with the astronaut

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device which is fittingly going to go

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on your army aviator's wings wings that

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reflect over 1100 hours of flight time

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here on earth and 371 days in

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space . So please join me here on stage

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and I will present you with the army

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astronaut device . Yeah ,

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ladies and gentlemen , please remain

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seated during the presentation .

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Colonel Francisco Rubio is being

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presented one of the least awarded

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badges in the United States military ,

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the senior aviator badge with astronaut

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device , also known as the United

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States astronaut badge for successful

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completion of an operational mission in

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space . As a member of the expedition

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68 crew , Colonel Rubio and his team

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launched on 21 September 2022 on the

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Soya MS 22 spacecraft from the Baikonur

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Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan to the

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International Space Station and landed

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on 27 September 2023 breaking the

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record of the longest single duration

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space flight for a United States

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astronaut with a mission duration of

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371 days . During the mission , Colonel

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Rubio traveled 157 million ,

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412,306 statue miles and saw the

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arrival of 15 visiting vehicles to the

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space station . Colonel Rubio also

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conducted three spacewalks totaling 21

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hours , 24 minutes of total space

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walking time . Colonel Rubio's

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accomplishments , speak to his

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outstanding devotion to duty and a

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testament of his commitment to the Army

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and the nation

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Secretary Weymouth will present Colonel

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Rubio with a star note and coin .

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Thank you , Secretary Warman , ladies

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and gentlemen , Colonel Frank Rubio ,

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madam , Secretary , uh Lieutenant

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General Gainey , Mrs Gainey , sorry ,

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Major Foley , um Major General Rafferty .

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Thank you guys uh for your team for

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hosting us today . This has been

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amazing and uh ma'am , thank you for uh

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hosting us here at the Pentagon . Uh

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What an incredible honor it is to

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represent the army . And honestly , uh

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the biggest honor for me out of this

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badge is the fact that to me , it's the

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ultimate team badge . Uh You absolutely

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cannot get to space on your own . Uh

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And so no matter how talented you are ,

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no matter what you've done in your

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background , it takes a team of

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thousands um to get you to space . And

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so first and foremost , I'd like to

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thank uh team Rubio to my wife Deborah ,

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uh my four kids , Lydia , Andrew Laura

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and Alyssa . Um They're the reason that

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I was able to do this and that I've

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been able to really uh have my entire

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career . And so without them and the

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support that I get from them , uh none

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of this would be possible . Uh Also to

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the NASA team , uh the team of flight

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directors , flight controllers , the

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trainers who put thousands of hours

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into making sure that we're ready . And

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that when we get to this crazy thing

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called space , we feel perfectly at

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home and perfectly natural because

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they've trained us so well . Uh I'm

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incredibly grateful for that team and

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for what they've uh contributed to

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human space flight . Uh And it's pretty

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amazing to think that we've had humans

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in space for 23 continuous years . And

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it's really because of that team . Uh

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and lastly to my army team who really

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is the foundation of who I am as a

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person , uh the people who surrounded

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me and mentored me . And it's so

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awesome that I'm actually uh I have

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classmates here today with uh Travis

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Patrick , Sammy , uh Pete . Uh Thank

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you guys so much for being here . Uh It

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means the world to me . I can't believe

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we started this adventure together uh

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way too long ago now and uh to look

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around and see uh what you guys have

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done , what our classmates have done uh

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is incredible and that's just what this

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organization represents . They take

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young men and women and they shape us

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and mold us and then eventually we

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become leaders of our nation , which is

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pretty incredible . Uh , and what a

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beautiful , uh , wonderful nation we do ,

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uh , get to lead and represent , uh ,

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and to the soldiers here . Um , I know

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that it sounds like a lot of stuff .

13:22.576 --> 13:24.742
What , what this , uh , resume doesn't

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mention is all the failures all the

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times that people have had to pick me

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up . Uh , and all the times that I've

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had to have grace uh that my commander ,

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uh often a sergeant major pulled me

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aside . Uh and uh and just showing me

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grace because uh you go out there and

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you do a lot of great things and you

13:39.877 --> 13:42.099
screw up a lot of great things . Uh But

13:42.099 --> 13:44.210
they let you try again and that's one

13:44.210 --> 13:45.821
of the best things about our

13:45.821 --> 13:47.821
organization . Uh So , uh good luck

13:47.821 --> 13:49.988
someday you're gonna be old and you're

13:49.988 --> 13:51.932
gonna do even uh bigger and better

13:51.932 --> 13:54.154
things and it's gonna be awesome to see

13:54.154 --> 13:56.377
what you guys do . So thank you all for

13:56.377 --> 13:55.929
making the time again . It's a huge

13:55.940 --> 13:58.162
honor for me to represent our army team

13:58.162 --> 14:00.496
uh and to be a part of , of this family .

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So thank you all for being here .

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Thank you , Colonel Rubio . Ladies and

14:11.807 --> 14:13.751
gentlemen , this concludes today's

14:13.751 --> 14:13.659
ceremony . Please stand for the

14:13.669 --> 14:15.558
departure of the official party .

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Good afternoon . Ladies and gentlemen ,

14:36.662 --> 14:38.829
I am Colonel Roger Kavanagh , Director

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of Army Media Relations Division this

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afternoon . Army astronaut Colonel

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Frank Rubio will take a few questions

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from members of the media . Our purpose

14:47.299 --> 14:49.132
is to honor Colonel Rubio and to

14:49.132 --> 14:51.299
educate the public on the benefits and

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possibilities of army service through

14:53.410 --> 14:55.521
recognition of Colonel Rubio's record

14:55.521 --> 14:57.632
breaking human space flight mission .

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As previously as previously mentioned ,

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Colonel Rubio returned September 27th

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2023 after spending 371 days on the

15:06.679 --> 15:09.150
International Space Station , he holds

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the record for the longest space flight

15:11.381 --> 15:13.381
for an American astronaut . Colonel

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Rubio graduated from the United States

15:15.548 --> 15:17.739
Military Academy in 1998 and earned a

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doctor of medicine from the uniformed

15:19.861 --> 15:21.861
Services , University of the Health

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Science Sciences in 2010 . Prior to

15:24.580 --> 15:26.809
attending medical school , he served as

15:26.820 --> 15:29.510
a uh 60 Black Hawk helicopter pilot and

15:29.520 --> 15:32.270
flew more than 1100 hours including

15:32.280 --> 15:34.960
more than 600 hours of combat in

15:34.969 --> 15:37.191
imminent danger time during deployments

15:37.191 --> 15:39.390
to Bosnia , Afghanistan and Iraq .

15:40.349 --> 15:42.239
Doctor Rubio is a board certified

15:42.250 --> 15:44.729
family physician and flight surgeon .

15:45.150 --> 15:47.094
He was serving in the 10th Special

15:47.094 --> 15:49.317
Forces Group at Fort Carson when he was

15:49.317 --> 15:51.150
selected by NASA to join the two

15:51.150 --> 15:53.317
thousands when he was selected by NASA

15:53.317 --> 15:55.559
to join the 2017 astronaut candidate

15:55.570 --> 15:59.559
class . All comments made today are

15:59.570 --> 16:01.700
on the record . Please limit yourself

16:01.710 --> 16:03.766
to one question and one follow up to

16:03.766 --> 16:05.766
permit others an opportunity to ask

16:05.766 --> 16:07.710
questions as well . Uh With that ,

16:07.710 --> 16:10.059
we'll open up for questions . I will

16:10.070 --> 16:13.109
start in the room . Courtney from NBC .

16:14.159 --> 16:16.048
Hey , Colonel . Congratulations ,

16:16.048 --> 16:18.159
Courtney QB with NBC News . So what I

16:18.159 --> 16:20.215
guess what's next for you ? I mean ,

16:20.215 --> 16:22.326
like , are you gonna go back in space

16:22.326 --> 16:24.326
again ? Is that possible or are you

16:24.326 --> 16:26.270
just gonna just go be a doctor ? I

16:26.270 --> 16:28.437
guess , like , I guess what's , what's

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next ? Um Hey Courtney , thank you so

16:30.548 --> 16:32.881
much for that question . Um Yeah , so I ,

16:32.881 --> 16:32.179
my plan is to stay with NASA and

16:32.190 --> 16:34.412
continue to contribute to the mission ,

16:34.412 --> 16:36.468
right ? So , uh the amazing thing is

16:36.468 --> 16:38.579
that we've had humans in space for 24

16:38.579 --> 16:40.523
continuous years now and hopefully

16:40.523 --> 16:42.468
we're gonna keep that going for at

16:42.468 --> 16:44.801
least uh the next decade or so . And so ,

16:44.801 --> 16:47.023
uh you know , after we come back and we

16:47.023 --> 16:49.079
uh rehabilitate , uh we go back into

16:49.079 --> 16:48.739
the office and then we help support the

16:48.750 --> 16:50.917
next mission . Uh just like the in the

16:50.917 --> 16:53.028
army , essentially , you know , after

16:53.028 --> 16:55.139
you're finished with command , you go

16:55.139 --> 16:55.070
into staff and you help the uh mission

16:55.080 --> 16:57.247
to continue . Uh And that's the goal .

16:57.247 --> 16:59.302
Uh Hopefully I'll get to fly again ,

16:59.302 --> 17:01.413
you know , part of that's gonna be uh

17:01.413 --> 17:01.039
determined by my health , right ? Uh So

17:01.049 --> 17:03.160
far so good . Uh But you never know ,

17:03.160 --> 17:05.271
you can't take that for granted . And

17:05.271 --> 17:07.271
so you have to be able to pass your

17:07.271 --> 17:09.327
flight physical uh and assuming that

17:09.327 --> 17:09.069
I'm able to stay in the shape that I

17:09.079 --> 17:11.079
need to , to do that , um I hope to

17:11.079 --> 17:13.140
contribute to the mission both as

17:13.150 --> 17:15.150
support . And , uh , flying again .

17:17.760 --> 17:19.989
Louie Martinez . Hi . Uh , Louie

17:20.000 --> 17:22.222
Martinez with ABC News . Um , given the

17:22.222 --> 17:24.389
amount of time that you spent in space

17:24.389 --> 17:26.556
and we've seen studies before with the

17:26.556 --> 17:29.390
Kelly Brothers . Um , um , how are ,

17:29.400 --> 17:31.599
are there followed through , um ,

17:31.609 --> 17:33.776
medical examinations that you're going

17:33.776 --> 17:35.887
through or are you part of a study on

17:35.887 --> 17:38.053
to see , you know , again , the impact

17:38.053 --> 17:40.331
of space on the human body ? Yeah . Um ,

17:40.331 --> 17:42.276
great question . Lou because it is

17:42.276 --> 17:44.498
unfortunately a very small number of us

17:44.498 --> 17:46.498
that have been to uh space . Uh The

17:46.498 --> 17:48.665
good thing is , you know , after Scott

17:48.665 --> 17:50.720
uh Christina Kirk , uh Mark Van de H

17:50.720 --> 17:52.831
and myself have all been near or just

17:52.831 --> 17:54.887
past a year uh in space . And so the

17:54.887 --> 17:56.942
number is growing . Uh And yeah , we

17:56.942 --> 17:59.109
come back and they do just about every

17:59.109 --> 18:01.220
single study you can imagine uh on us

18:01.220 --> 18:03.109
because uh the medical team , the

18:03.109 --> 18:05.220
science team is so interested in what

18:05.220 --> 18:04.819
happens to the human body up there and

18:05.040 --> 18:07.207
the , the end or the population that's

18:07.207 --> 18:09.849
experienced that uh is so small . So um

18:09.859 --> 18:11.810
they do uh unfortunately , uh the

18:11.819 --> 18:14.152
reality is for anything medical , right ?

18:14.152 --> 18:16.097
On such a small number , you can't

18:16.097 --> 18:18.208
generalize what the results are . And

18:18.208 --> 18:20.152
so we'll continue to study , we'll

18:20.152 --> 18:20.140
continue to have people uh living up

18:20.150 --> 18:22.483
there for that long . And after a while ,

18:22.483 --> 18:24.539
we'll have enough data to be able to

18:24.539 --> 18:26.650
say , OK , this is in general how the

18:26.650 --> 18:28.483
human body responds in space and

18:28.483 --> 18:30.539
personally have you experienced that

18:30.539 --> 18:32.594
you saw that was different , uh , or

18:32.594 --> 18:32.290
maybe even something in with the hand .

18:32.709 --> 18:36.439
Yeah . No , no , it's , uh , it's , um ,

18:36.449 --> 18:38.616
you know , it's actually been a really

18:38.616 --> 18:40.393
good life lesson , um , that to

18:40.393 --> 18:42.727
reinforce certain things as far as , uh ,

18:42.727 --> 18:44.616
if you put in the work , uh , the

18:44.616 --> 18:46.782
results were pretty good and so I came

18:46.782 --> 18:48.838
back actually , uh , did really well

18:48.838 --> 18:48.319
and it's not because of me personally ,

18:48.329 --> 18:51.280
it's just uh the , the uh training and

18:51.290 --> 18:54.060
exercise team that uh helps us plan our

18:54.069 --> 18:56.125
exercise while we're up there . They

18:56.125 --> 18:58.180
have this phenomenal protocol and if

18:58.180 --> 19:00.402
you follow it pretty closely , um I did

19:00.402 --> 19:02.513
really well . Uh and I think that was

19:02.513 --> 19:02.439
because of what the team put together .

19:02.719 --> 19:04.886
Um So like , like in life , right ? If

19:04.886 --> 19:07.052
you put in the work , uh generally the

19:07.052 --> 19:09.359
results are gonna be OK . Yeah , great .

19:11.130 --> 19:13.430
Me start . Right . Hi . Thank you for

19:13.439 --> 19:15.510
doing this . Ch um can you talk a

19:15.520 --> 19:17.631
little bit about why you wanted to do

19:17.631 --> 19:20.050
this ? What made you wanna be with NASA ?

19:20.060 --> 19:22.282
And can you talk a little bit about the

19:22.282 --> 19:24.338
mission itself ? What , what exactly

19:24.489 --> 19:28.180
you were doing for that over here ? I

19:28.189 --> 19:30.411
appreciate that question . You know , I

19:30.411 --> 19:32.522
think there's , there's not two kinds

19:32.522 --> 19:34.578
of astronauts , but generally either

19:34.578 --> 19:33.719
you've wanted to be an astronaut since

19:33.729 --> 19:35.896
you were a kid and that's kind of your

19:35.896 --> 19:38.062
dream . Uh or like me , uh you kind of

19:38.062 --> 19:40.285
come to find out about the mission , uh

19:40.285 --> 19:42.340
you know , later on in life . Uh and

19:42.340 --> 19:44.340
when you , when you do and when you

19:44.340 --> 19:46.507
figure out what the team is doing , uh

19:46.507 --> 19:46.099
you kind of fall in love with the idea

19:46.109 --> 19:48.276
of , hey , I get to go out and explore

19:48.276 --> 19:50.498
space , do something really challenging

19:50.498 --> 19:52.220
and hard . Uh And see if I can

19:52.220 --> 19:54.387
contribute to that mission and you get

19:54.387 --> 19:56.553
to be if something part of something ,

19:56.553 --> 19:58.720
uh which in this case is the NASA team

19:58.720 --> 20:00.887
that is bigger than yourself , right ?

20:00.887 --> 20:03.109
So , uh both NASA , our nation . Um and

20:03.109 --> 20:02.890
it's a few things where you can say ,

20:02.900 --> 20:05.122
hey , my job helps represent humanity .

20:05.250 --> 20:07.790
Uh And that's a pretty powerful um

20:08.040 --> 20:10.040
thing to be a part of . And so it's

20:10.040 --> 20:12.151
just kind of an honor to , to do it .

20:12.151 --> 20:15.439
Um I guess that is why I love it ,

20:15.449 --> 20:17.616
right ? Like it , it is just just such

20:17.616 --> 20:19.838
a um uh an incredible experience and to

20:19.838 --> 20:22.219
be able to inspire the next generation ,

20:22.229 --> 20:24.451
contribute to science , technology that

20:24.451 --> 20:26.507
we're developing , that's gonna help

20:26.507 --> 20:26.229
humanities in ways that we probably

20:26.239 --> 20:28.350
can't even imagine right now . It's ,

20:28.350 --> 20:30.350
it's , it's a neat thing . And were

20:30.350 --> 20:32.790
there the army of NASA ? Were there

20:32.800 --> 20:35.099
things from your army days that you

20:35.109 --> 20:37.560
were able to incorporate with NASA or

20:37.569 --> 20:40.579
what ? Well , yeah , correlation um

20:40.589 --> 20:42.589
everything , you know , really , um

20:42.589 --> 20:44.756
probably the most important things are

20:44.756 --> 20:46.978
teamwork , right ? And that's something

20:46.978 --> 20:49.200
we live every single day in the army of

20:49.200 --> 20:51.439
uh a individually , we absolutely have

20:51.449 --> 20:53.560
incredibly talented people . But as a

20:53.560 --> 20:55.979
team , you can do so much more . Uh And

20:55.989 --> 20:58.045
so you learn to work as a team , you

20:58.045 --> 21:00.211
learn to help the other people on your

21:00.211 --> 21:02.433
team , how to make them better , how to

21:02.433 --> 21:04.489
help them to thrive . Uh And you can

21:04.489 --> 21:06.600
bring that to really any , any aspect

21:06.600 --> 21:06.140
of life , but certainly to space flight .

21:06.410 --> 21:08.632
Um So that , that's probably the number

21:08.632 --> 21:10.688
one thing . Um , also learning to do

21:10.688 --> 21:12.799
hard things knowing that you're gonna

21:12.799 --> 21:14.743
be a little bit scared because all

21:14.743 --> 21:16.799
human beings are a little bit scared

21:16.799 --> 21:16.219
when you do really hard things . But

21:16.229 --> 21:18.451
trusting in your training , trusting in

21:18.451 --> 21:20.618
your equipment and you do them anyways

21:20.618 --> 21:22.618
because , uh , because you do trust

21:22.618 --> 21:24.896
those things , uh , and you know , the ,

21:24.896 --> 21:26.951
the army for me at least provided so

21:26.951 --> 21:28.729
many opportunities to have that

21:28.729 --> 21:30.951
experience . Uh whether it was jump out

21:30.951 --> 21:30.380
of a plane , you know , the first time

21:30.390 --> 21:32.557
that you hover a helicopter could be a

21:32.557 --> 21:34.723
pretty scary experience . Uh The first

21:34.723 --> 21:36.779
time you fly in combat . Uh I mean ,

21:36.779 --> 21:38.890
just , uh , it's almost innumerable .

21:38.890 --> 21:41.001
The , uh the number of events where I

21:41.001 --> 21:40.780
had butterflies in my stomach was a

21:40.790 --> 21:42.901
little nervous but you go out and you

21:42.901 --> 21:45.179
do them many ways and then you're like ,

21:45.179 --> 21:47.512
oh , it's gonna be ok . And so honestly ,

21:47.512 --> 21:47.400
even something as unique as being in

21:47.410 --> 21:49.466
space , it , it was almost the exact

21:49.466 --> 21:51.354
same feeling where you , you're a

21:51.354 --> 21:53.354
little bit nervous but you trust in

21:53.354 --> 21:52.979
your training , you go and do it and uh ,

21:52.989 --> 21:56.569
yeah , it went really well . Yeah , I'm

21:56.579 --> 21:58.801
good . I think we have someone on the ,

21:58.801 --> 22:00.746
on the line on the phone here . Uh

22:00.746 --> 22:03.079
Carla Bab Voice of America . Are you on ?

22:03.079 --> 22:05.190
I am on . Yes . Thank you very much .

22:05.190 --> 22:07.523
Hi , Colonel . Thank you for doing this .

22:07.523 --> 22:09.579
Um , I just wanted to find out , you

22:09.579 --> 22:11.790
know , what was your most memorable

22:11.800 --> 22:15.189
moment while you were in space ? Uh And

22:15.199 --> 22:17.477
then I have a quick follow up if I may .

22:18.819 --> 22:21.041
Uh Hey , Carla . Yeah , absolutely . Um

22:21.041 --> 22:23.263
So I'll answer the first question and ,

22:23.263 --> 22:25.375
you know , that's a tough one because

22:25.375 --> 22:27.486
uh I've , I've had a chance to answer

22:27.486 --> 22:27.040
this question before and I say it's ,

22:27.170 --> 22:29.170
it's kind of like asking who's your

22:29.170 --> 22:31.003
favorite kid . Uh And there's um

22:31.003 --> 22:33.226
there's no right answer to that because

22:33.226 --> 22:35.226
there's so many things that were so

22:35.226 --> 22:37.337
memorable uh launch , you know , just

22:37.337 --> 22:39.559
getting on a rocket and being on top of

22:39.559 --> 22:41.614
300 tons of rocket fuel uh is , is a

22:41.614 --> 22:43.559
pretty incredible feeling . Uh the

22:43.559 --> 22:45.781
spacewalks and the fact that you're out

22:45.781 --> 22:47.837
in space in a very uh small personal

22:47.837 --> 22:49.948
sized uh space vehicle is , is pretty

22:49.948 --> 22:52.059
incredible and then re entry uh where

22:52.059 --> 22:54.114
you essentially become a meteorite ,

22:54.114 --> 22:56.337
right ? And you have a plasma layer , a

22:56.337 --> 22:58.170
couple of uh inches below you uh

22:58.170 --> 23:00.337
because of the heat that's generated ,

23:00.337 --> 23:00.170
all those things were awesome . So uh

23:00.180 --> 23:02.180
to pick a favorite out of those . I

23:02.180 --> 23:04.180
don't know that I could do that but

23:04.180 --> 23:03.599
those are probably the biggest

23:03.609 --> 23:05.831
highlights . Um , but I , I'll tell you

23:05.831 --> 23:07.942
one of the biggest things that nobody

23:07.942 --> 23:10.165
really thinks about for me . Um , I got

23:10.165 --> 23:12.220
to fly with 28 other people in space

23:12.220 --> 23:14.165
and given that there's only been a

23:14.165 --> 23:14.140
little over 600 humans that have ever

23:14.150 --> 23:16.261
been to space , uh , to fly with that

23:16.261 --> 23:18.483
many and get to know them on a personal

23:18.483 --> 23:20.594
level up there . Uh That was a pretty

23:20.594 --> 23:22.761
unique experience and something that I

23:22.761 --> 23:24.817
I'll always treasure . Thank you for

23:24.817 --> 23:26.983
that girl . I appreciate that . Um And

23:26.983 --> 23:28.872
my last question because Voice of

23:28.872 --> 23:30.817
America reaches a lot of the Latin

23:30.817 --> 23:33.039
American audience and I noticed that uh

23:33.039 --> 23:35.670
your parents are Salvadoran and your

23:35.680 --> 23:37.979
mother lives in El Salvador . Uh I'm

23:37.989 --> 23:40.369
assuming that you are the son of

23:40.380 --> 23:42.602
immigrants . Can you just talk a little

23:42.602 --> 23:45.770
bit about how that has shaped who you

23:45.780 --> 23:48.579
are today and helped shape who you

23:48.589 --> 23:50.811
become ? Yeah . No , absolutely . And ,

23:50.811 --> 23:52.922
and you're right . Uh Both my , my um

23:52.922 --> 23:55.089
mother and father are from El Salvador

23:55.089 --> 23:58.300
and my mom and I um you know , um yeah ,

23:58.310 --> 24:00.310
ba basically it was my mom and I uh

24:00.310 --> 24:02.699
living here in the US . And uh you know ,

24:02.709 --> 24:04.876
I , I think it is the American dream .

24:04.876 --> 24:06.876
It really represents the , the fact

24:06.876 --> 24:08.931
that we have so many opportunities .

24:08.931 --> 24:11.042
And again , um I , I really value the

24:11.042 --> 24:12.931
fact that um it's the opportunity

24:12.931 --> 24:14.987
that's given not the results . And I

24:14.987 --> 24:17.153
think if you put in the hard work , if

24:17.153 --> 24:17.099
you dedicate yourself , uh , and you

24:17.109 --> 24:19.609
sacrifice really , almost anything is

24:19.619 --> 24:21.730
possible . Um , and , you know , it's

24:21.730 --> 24:23.952
not all gonna be positive , you'll have

24:23.952 --> 24:26.063
some negative things along the path .

24:26.063 --> 24:28.341
Um , but in general , I , I , you know ,

24:28.341 --> 24:30.397
I've , I've had the pleasure of both

24:30.397 --> 24:32.619
working and , uh , living in many parts

24:32.619 --> 24:34.786
of the world at this time and I always

24:34.786 --> 24:34.099
come back to how amazing our nation

24:34.109 --> 24:36.609
really is . Uh And it just makes you so

24:36.619 --> 24:38.675
grateful to , to live where we are .

24:39.910 --> 24:42.077
Great . Thank you . I think I got time

24:42.077 --> 24:45.630
for one more here . Uh David . Um Did

24:45.640 --> 24:47.251
you have any , Dave began uh

24:47.251 --> 24:49.130
defense.gov , did you have any

24:49.140 --> 24:52.239
interactions with the um cosmonauts up

24:52.250 --> 24:54.472
there ? And did you learn any Russian ?

24:54.472 --> 24:56.639
And I guess there's topics you avoided

24:56.639 --> 24:58.917
like maybe Ukraine or something ? Yeah .

24:58.917 --> 25:01.139
No , Dave . Uh and I actually flew with

25:01.139 --> 25:03.989
a marine . So I like your idea , Nicole

25:04.000 --> 25:06.530
is a phenomenal astronaut . Um So

25:06.540 --> 25:08.762
actually I launched with cosmonauts and

25:08.762 --> 25:10.873
I , uh you know , our mission was the

25:10.873 --> 25:12.984
first one to essentially re-establish

25:12.984 --> 25:15.096
that flying together mission after uh

25:15.209 --> 25:17.640
uh after we had broken off relations

25:17.650 --> 25:19.539
for a little bit as far as flying

25:19.539 --> 25:21.594
together . Uh And to me , that was a

25:21.594 --> 25:23.706
great honor . Uh Honestly , the space

25:23.706 --> 25:26.050
station is designed in a way that uh we

25:26.060 --> 25:28.282
cannot fly without each other . Like it

25:28.282 --> 25:30.282
has to , you know , we they have to

25:30.282 --> 25:32.504
have our navigation system , we have to

25:32.504 --> 25:34.504
have their propulsion system , it's

25:34.504 --> 25:34.459
connected , it , it can't be taken

25:34.469 --> 25:36.636
apart and it's designed that way for a

25:36.636 --> 25:38.302
reason . And so to be able to

25:38.302 --> 25:40.525
re-establish that relationship , uh and

25:40.525 --> 25:42.829
train , there was a huge honor for me .

25:42.839 --> 25:45.061
Um And , you know , ultimately you just

25:45.061 --> 25:47.395
focus on the mission is the reality and ,

25:47.395 --> 25:49.770
and my life depended on both sergei and

25:49.780 --> 25:51.558
dimitri's skills and their life

25:51.558 --> 25:53.669
depended on my skills and that's what

25:53.669 --> 25:55.947
you focus on . And then the reality is ,

25:55.947 --> 25:57.947
uh , at the time we thought we were

25:57.947 --> 26:00.169
gonna live together for six months , it

26:00.169 --> 26:02.336
turned out to be a year . Um But , but

26:02.336 --> 26:04.447
you , you can't have any distractions

26:04.447 --> 26:06.558
to the fact that you have to , all of

26:06.558 --> 26:08.558
you be on your , a game that entire

26:08.558 --> 26:10.669
time to make the mission happen . And

26:10.669 --> 26:10.300
so that's what you focus on . Uh ,

26:10.310 --> 26:12.421
they've become really close friends .

26:12.421 --> 26:14.421
Um , they have beautiful families ,

26:14.421 --> 26:16.643
they've gotten to know my family . Uh ,

26:16.643 --> 26:18.866
and , you know , it's not that we avoid

26:18.866 --> 26:20.921
the other topic . But ultimately , I

26:20.921 --> 26:23.088
think if you're focused on the mission

26:23.088 --> 26:25.143
and you're focused on the people you

26:25.143 --> 26:27.366
love and why you're doing the mission ,

26:27.366 --> 26:27.209
uh I think that's enough and then we

26:27.219 --> 26:29.219
were able to have a very successful

26:29.219 --> 26:31.819
mission . Thank you for your time , sir .

26:31.890 --> 26:33.890
This is going to conclude our press

26:33.890 --> 26:36.770
engagement . Uh I know you have , uh ,

26:36.780 --> 26:39.002
pretty tight schedules with , thank you

26:39.002 --> 26:41.169
all for making the time . I appreciate

26:41.169 --> 26:45.040
it . Thank you . The science

26:45.050 --> 26:47.217
seems so interested in what happens to

26:47.217 --> 26:49.439
the human body up there . The , the end

26:49.439 --> 26:51.494
of the population that's experienced

26:51.494 --> 26:53.717
that uh is so small . So , um they do ,

26:53.717 --> 26:55.772
uh unfortunately , uh the reality is

26:55.772 --> 26:57.939
for anything medical , right on such a

26:57.939 --> 26:59.939
small number , you can't generalize

26:59.939 --> 27:01.939
what the results are . And so we'll

27:01.939 --> 27:04.050
continue to study , we'll continue to

27:04.050 --> 27:03.500
have people uh living up there for that

27:03.510 --> 27:05.621
long . And after a while , we'll have

27:05.621 --> 27:07.677
enough data to be able to say , OK ,

27:07.677 --> 27:09.788
this is in general how the human body

27:09.788 --> 27:11.843
response and , and personally , when

27:11.843 --> 27:14.010
have you experienced that you saw that

27:14.010 --> 27:15.732
was different uh or maybe even

27:15.732 --> 27:17.899
something with the hands . Yeah . No ,

27:17.899 --> 27:17.469
no , you better , I mean , teeth that ,

27:18.869 --> 27:20.813
um you know , it's actually been a

27:20.813 --> 27:23.650
really good life lesson um to reinforce

27:23.660 --> 27:25.827
certain things as far as uh if you put

27:25.827 --> 27:28.049
in the work , uh the results are pretty

27:28.049 --> 27:30.216
good . And so I came back and actually

27:30.216 --> 27:32.438
uh did really well and it's not because

27:32.438 --> 27:34.549
of me personally , it's just uh the ,

27:34.549 --> 27:36.716
the uh training and exercise team that

27:36.716 --> 27:38.771
uh helps us plan our exercise all up

27:38.771 --> 27:40.660
there . They have this phenomenal

27:40.660 --> 27:42.716
protocol and if you follow it pretty

27:42.716 --> 27:44.938
closely , um I did really well . Uh And

27:44.938 --> 27:44.550
I think that was because of what the

27:44.560 --> 27:47.079
team put together . Um So like , like

27:47.089 --> 27:49.089
in life , right ? If you put in the

27:49.089 --> 27:51.089
work , uh generally the results are

27:51.089 --> 27:52.867
gonna be OK . I appreciate that

27:52.867 --> 27:54.867
question , man . You know , I think

27:54.867 --> 27:56.811
there's , there's not two kinds of

27:56.811 --> 27:56.650
astronauts , but generally either you

27:56.660 --> 27:58.660
wanted to be an astronaut since you

27:58.660 --> 28:00.604
were a kid and that's kind of your

28:00.604 --> 28:02.660
dream uh or like me , uh you kind of

28:02.660 --> 28:04.882
come to find out about the mission , uh

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you know , later on in life . Uh And

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when you , when you do , I mean , when

28:06.670 --> 28:08.892
you figure out what the team is doing ,

28:08.892 --> 28:10.948
uh you kind of fall in love with the

28:10.948 --> 28:12.948
idea of , hey , I get to go out and

28:12.948 --> 28:14.948
explore space , do something really

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challenging and hard . Uh And see if I

28:17.114 --> 28:17.099
can contribute to that mission and you

28:17.109 --> 28:18.831
get to be if something part of

28:18.831 --> 28:20.998
something uh which in this case is the

28:20.998 --> 28:23.276
NASA team that is bigger than yourself ,

28:23.276 --> 28:25.498
right ? So , uh both NASA our nation um

28:25.498 --> 28:27.831
and it's a few things where you can say ,

28:27.831 --> 28:30.053
hey , my job helps represent humanity .

28:30.053 --> 28:31.998
Uh And that's a pretty powerful um

28:31.998 --> 28:33.998
thing to be a part of . And so it's

28:33.998 --> 28:36.109
just kind of an honor to , to do it .

28:36.109 --> 28:39.319
Uh I guess that is why I love it ,

28:39.329 --> 28:41.329
right ? Like it , it is just , just

28:41.329 --> 28:43.440
such a uh uh an incredible experience

28:43.440 --> 28:45.439
and to be able to inspire the next

28:45.449 --> 28:47.505
generation , contribute to science ,

28:47.505 --> 28:49.449
technology that we're developing ,

28:49.449 --> 28:51.505
that's gonna help humanities in ways

28:51.505 --> 28:50.819
that we probably can't even imagine

28:50.829 --> 28:54.800
right now since and there the

28:55.300 --> 28:57.411
army of NASA , were there things from

28:57.411 --> 28:59.630
your army days that you were able to

28:59.640 --> 29:02.369
incorporate with NASA or what ? Well ,

29:02.609 --> 29:04.665
yeah , it's a correlation there . Um

29:04.665 --> 29:06.665
Everything , you know , really , um

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probably the most important things are

29:08.831 --> 29:11.053
teamwork , right ? And that's something

29:11.053 --> 29:13.276
we live every single day in the army of

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uh a individually . We absolutely have

29:15.442 --> 29:17.553
incredibly talented people , but as a

29:17.553 --> 29:19.859
team , you can do so much more . Uh And

29:19.869 --> 29:21.925
so you learn to work as a team , you

29:21.925 --> 29:24.091
learn to help the other people on your

29:24.091 --> 29:26.313
team , how to make them better , how to

29:26.313 --> 29:28.369
help them to thrive . Uh And you can

29:28.369 --> 29:30.480
bring that to really any , any aspect

29:30.480 --> 29:30.060
of life , but certainly to space flight .

29:30.290 --> 29:32.457
Uh Yeah , ba basically , it was my mom

29:32.457 --> 29:34.512
and I are living uh here in the US .

29:34.512 --> 29:36.734
And uh you know , I , I think it is the

29:36.734 --> 29:38.846
American dream . It really represents

29:38.846 --> 29:40.846
the , the fact that we have so many

29:40.846 --> 29:42.901
opportunities . And again , um I , I

29:42.901 --> 29:44.790
really value the fact that um our

29:44.790 --> 29:46.901
navigation system , we have to have a

29:46.901 --> 29:49.123
propulsion system , it's connected , it

29:49.123 --> 29:51.290
can't be taken apart and it's designed

29:51.290 --> 29:50.939
that way for a reason . And so to be

29:50.949 --> 29:53.060
able to re-establish our relationship

29:53.060 --> 29:55.560
uh and train . There was a huge honor

29:55.569 --> 29:58.040
for me . Uh And , you know , ultimately ,

29:58.050 --> 30:00.161
you just out of my book and I gave it

30:00.161 --> 30:02.383
to him and I said , you know , not just

30:02.383 --> 30:04.383
West Point , but from aviation to a

30:04.383 --> 30:07.130
doctor to an astronaut . Um but also

30:07.140 --> 30:09.329
having a family and showing that you

30:09.339 --> 30:11.561
really can't have it all when you're in

30:11.561 --> 30:13.728
the army . So again , I appreciate you

30:13.728 --> 30:16.061
for your tremendous service . Thank you ,

30:16.061 --> 30:18.283
ma'am and thank you for what you do for

30:18.283 --> 30:22.109
us . Thank you . Sorry , I didn't

30:22.119 --> 30:26.060
frame it . Budget cuts , right ? So

30:26.619 --> 30:28.730
I'm in a , I am in the Pentagon , but

30:28.730 --> 30:30.841
I'm in an office with no window so we

30:30.841 --> 30:32.952
couldn't get the lighting right ? But

30:32.952 --> 30:35.008
in all seriousness , this is from uh

30:35.008 --> 30:37.175
the chief and a sincere thank you . Um

30:37.175 --> 30:39.063
I think you'll enjoy his note and

30:39.063 --> 30:41.175
hopefully be able to probably display

30:41.175 --> 30:43.341
the Chiefest after the army coin . All

30:43.341 --> 30:45.452
right , congratulations . Are we able

30:45.452 --> 30:47.930
to do a quick picture ? Absolutely . I

30:47.939 --> 30:49.995
mean , we had the NCO , make sure we

30:49.995 --> 30:52.161
were together , right ? I understood .

30:53.859 --> 30:57.310
Ok , I'm gonna get 12123

30:58.219 --> 31:01.410
and then I'm the last 1123 .

31:04.589 --> 31:06.311
As I travel around and talk to

31:06.311 --> 31:08.533
different audiences , I often highlight

31:08.533 --> 31:10.145
all of the opportunities and

31:10.145 --> 31:12.200
possibilities that the army offers .

31:12.550 --> 31:15.290
Colonel Rubio is a stellar example of

31:15.300 --> 31:17.619
someone who has made the absolute most

31:17.630 --> 31:20.660
of every opportunity . What started as

31:20.670 --> 31:22.726
a way to pay for college turned into

31:22.726 --> 31:25.000
quite an adventure from the time he

31:25.010 --> 31:27.209
entered West Point as a and the 10th

31:27.219 --> 31:30.469
Special Forces group in between school

31:30.479 --> 31:32.770
training and deployments . He married

31:32.780 --> 31:34.836
his high school sweetheart , Deborah

31:34.836 --> 31:37.113
and they together raised four Children .

31:37.290 --> 31:39.469
And then finally , in 2017 , he was

31:39.479 --> 31:41.535
presented with a chance to become an

31:41.535 --> 31:43.869
astronaut , I will just say clearly we

31:43.880 --> 31:45.102
have an underachiever

31:47.969 --> 31:50.359
in all seriousness . Colonel Rubio has

31:50.369 --> 31:52.390
a powerful us army story to tell .

31:52.400 --> 31:55.670
Partnership with NASA has produced 19

31:55.680 --> 31:58.199
army astronauts . These uniquely

31:58.209 --> 32:01.130
skilled and extremely qualified um

32:01.239 --> 32:03.430
people represent the very best of our

32:03.439 --> 32:05.839
talented officers and warrant officers

32:05.849 --> 32:08.949
in the army as we humans explore

32:08.959 --> 32:11.270
further into space . And NASA returns

32:11.280 --> 32:13.790
to the moon and sets its sights beyond

32:13.800 --> 32:15.949
the moon to Mars , the army will

32:15.959 --> 32:18.070
continue to play an important role in

32:18.070 --> 32:20.300
the exploration of space long into the

32:20.310 --> 32:22.369
future is the fact that to me , it's

32:22.380 --> 32:24.530
the ultimate team badge absolutely

32:24.540 --> 32:26.810
cannot get to space on your own . Uh

32:26.819 --> 32:29.041
And so no matter how talented you are ,

32:29.041 --> 32:30.986
no matter what you've done in your

32:30.986 --> 32:32.763
background , it takes a team of

32:32.763 --> 32:34.930
thousands um to get you to space . And

32:34.930 --> 32:37.041
so , first and foremost , I'd like to

32:37.041 --> 32:39.319
thank uh team Rubio to my wife Deborah .

32:39.319 --> 32:41.375
Uh my four kids , Lydia Andrew Laura

32:41.375 --> 32:43.430
Melissa . Um They're the reason that

32:43.430 --> 32:45.597
I'm able to do this and that I've been

32:45.597 --> 32:45.650
able to really uh have my