WEBVTT 00:27.739 --> 00:29.961 We now invite started first class Sabie 00:29.961 --> 00:32.017 and Leslie to please come forward to 00:32.017 --> 00:33.406 deliver the invitation . 00:37.029 --> 00:40.279 Good morning . Let us pray . Heavenly 00:40.290 --> 00:42.123 Father . We come before you with 00:42.123 --> 00:44.290 grateful hearts . Thanking you for the 00:44.290 --> 00:46.012 opportunity to gather today to 00:46.012 --> 00:47.957 celebrate the promotion of captain 00:47.957 --> 00:50.012 promotable Larry Jones . We give you 00:50.012 --> 00:52.068 thanks to his dedication , hard work 00:52.068 --> 00:54.179 and commitment to serving his country 00:54.179 --> 00:56.346 with honor and integrity . We ask that 00:56.346 --> 00:58.457 you continue to guide and protect him 00:58.457 --> 01:00.457 as he steps into the new role of an 01:00.457 --> 01:02.512 increased responsibility , grant him 01:02.512 --> 01:04.679 the wisdom to lead with humility , the 01:04.679 --> 01:06.901 courage to make tough decisions and the 01:06.901 --> 01:06.279 strength to inspire those under his 01:06.290 --> 01:08.569 leadership and command . May he always 01:08.580 --> 01:10.469 seek to serve with compassion and 01:10.469 --> 01:12.524 fairness , upholding the values that 01:12.524 --> 01:14.830 make our army and military strong Lord . 01:14.839 --> 01:16.879 We ask you for your blessing on his 01:16.889 --> 01:18.889 family , friends and colleagues who 01:18.889 --> 01:21.000 support him daily , support them with 01:21.000 --> 01:23.056 your peace and encouragement as they 01:23.056 --> 01:24.945 walk this journey alongside him . 01:24.945 --> 01:27.000 Finally , we ask that you watch over 01:27.000 --> 01:28.945 all our men and women in uniform , 01:28.945 --> 01:31.000 especially those in harm's way . May 01:31.000 --> 01:33.167 they feel your presence and protection 01:33.167 --> 01:35.389 whenever they go in your holy name , we 01:35.389 --> 01:39.349 pray amen . Mhm . Thank 01:39.360 --> 01:41.471 you , sergeant , first class Leslie . 01:41.471 --> 01:43.693 Ladies and gentlemen , please be seated 01:46.300 --> 01:48.467 at this time . It is my distinct honor 01:48.467 --> 01:50.633 to introduce our presiding officer for 01:50.633 --> 01:52.800 today's ceremony . Mr Chris Pat Kowski 01:52.800 --> 01:54.480 pe O transport director . 01:59.349 --> 02:03.349 Just , just ok . Thank you all uh 02:03.360 --> 02:06.809 family friends , coworkers . 02:07.099 --> 02:09.869 It's a Friday in the government uh , 02:09.899 --> 02:12.360 after a long night football game with 02:12.369 --> 02:15.000 the uh the Ravens . So there's 50 more 02:15.009 --> 02:17.065 people here than I thought they were 02:17.065 --> 02:19.398 gonna be here . No , no offense to , to , 02:19.398 --> 02:22.139 to Captain Jones . So , but with that , 02:22.149 --> 02:24.205 uh , I do want to take a moment here 02:24.205 --> 02:26.289 just to , to honor again , Captain 02:26.300 --> 02:28.633 Jones and I , I get a little story , uh , 02:28.720 --> 02:30.831 that I'll be able to , to dive into a 02:30.831 --> 02:33.053 bit . But , uh , first and foremost , I 02:33.053 --> 02:35.220 do want to thank the family , uh , and 02:35.220 --> 02:37.220 friends . Uh , my little story will 02:37.220 --> 02:39.276 reflect a little bit . I'm sure that 02:39.276 --> 02:41.609 you've all , uh , uh , helped influence , 02:41.609 --> 02:43.887 uh , we'll see if he remembers it . Uh , 02:43.887 --> 02:43.820 but I'm sure he does , uh , from one of 02:43.830 --> 02:45.886 my first time meeting , uh , Captain 02:45.886 --> 02:47.997 Jones , uh , and then for the rest of 02:47.997 --> 02:49.941 the folks and , and actually audio 02:49.941 --> 02:52.108 amazing . Uh , most of the time , uh , 02:52.108 --> 02:53.997 we usually have a little bit more 02:53.997 --> 02:56.330 hiccups . So kudos to the team for , uh , 02:56.330 --> 02:58.552 for , for getting that squared away and 02:58.552 --> 02:58.059 for folks as well that are online . Uh , 02:58.070 --> 03:00.126 I think there's a lot of friends and 03:00.126 --> 03:02.459 family that unable to make it . So , uh , 03:02.459 --> 03:04.626 again , glad to , glad to see and hear 03:04.626 --> 03:06.570 that . So I'll , I'll start with a 03:06.570 --> 03:08.737 little bit here . About the first time 03:08.737 --> 03:11.070 I met , uh , Captain Jones . It was our , 03:11.070 --> 03:12.848 uh , again , interviewing great 03:12.848 --> 03:14.848 opportunity to bring in the Captain 03:14.848 --> 03:16.848 kinda come in and help organize our 03:16.848 --> 03:19.014 whole front office . It was one , Eric 03:19.014 --> 03:21.330 Jackson again , my civilian deputy and 03:21.339 --> 03:23.450 myself , military deputy was a little 03:23.450 --> 03:25.450 late . We'll get to that point in a 03:25.450 --> 03:28.020 second . So Captain Jones sitting there , 03:28.029 --> 03:29.862 we start peppering him with some 03:29.862 --> 03:33.460 questions . Uh Tide quickly turned , he 03:33.470 --> 03:35.692 started acting like a , a schoolteacher 03:35.692 --> 03:37.820 peppering us with questions . No idea 03:37.830 --> 03:39.997 where that came from . But I , I , I'm 03:39.997 --> 03:41.941 hearing stories now after the fact 03:41.941 --> 03:43.940 about , uh , influences of him 03:43.949 --> 03:46.809 essentially interviewing us . Fantastic . 03:46.820 --> 03:48.876 Uh , the white board , I almost , he 03:48.876 --> 03:50.987 wanted to go to the white board , ask 03:50.987 --> 03:53.098 us questions but fantastic . Uh , his 03:53.098 --> 03:55.098 back was to the door , uh , in this 03:55.098 --> 03:57.042 conference room . So we're sitting 03:57.042 --> 03:59.042 there and as soon as our door opens 03:59.042 --> 04:01.153 about , uh , again , about 15 minutes 04:01.153 --> 04:03.431 in , uh , our , uh , other military uh , 04:03.431 --> 04:05.598 in the front office , walked in , uh , 04:05.598 --> 04:07.710 uh , Captain Captain Goodson . So we 04:07.720 --> 04:09.720 said , hey , Captain Goodson , uh , 04:09.720 --> 04:11.553 again , glad , come on and sit . 04:11.553 --> 04:13.800 Captain Jones kind of casual sitting 04:13.809 --> 04:16.359 there . Uh Not knowing this was a navy 04:16.369 --> 04:19.429 captain , uh , 06 walking in behind him , 04:19.690 --> 04:21.690 kind of just sitting there . And as 04:21.690 --> 04:23.801 soon as he turned the corner and more 04:23.801 --> 04:25.912 influences , he popped up straight or 04:25.912 --> 04:27.690 head almost to the ceiling . Uh 04:27.690 --> 04:29.579 Absolutely amazing to attention . 04:29.579 --> 04:31.523 Welcome Captain Gibson uh into the 04:31.523 --> 04:34.510 meeting again . Fantastic , uh again , 04:34.519 --> 04:37.100 great discussion . Uh Knock , knock the 04:37.109 --> 04:39.276 socks off of us saying , hey , this is 04:39.276 --> 04:41.331 uh someone to come in to help give a 04:41.331 --> 04:43.387 great organization and structure for 04:43.387 --> 04:45.553 what we're doing in the front office . 04:45.553 --> 04:47.609 Uh And I do believe this is probably 04:47.609 --> 04:50.209 one of the first joint , uh I'll say , 04:50.489 --> 04:53.010 uh um tours from that , not in , in 04:53.019 --> 04:55.269 combat . As you see , you walk down , 04:55.279 --> 04:57.720 you can see all types and folks and all 04:57.730 --> 04:59.959 of it . So great environment . Uh The 04:59.970 --> 05:02.026 personality being able to fit in and 05:02.026 --> 05:04.081 help out and engage in everything is 05:04.081 --> 05:06.137 just absolutely amazing . And , uh , 05:06.137 --> 05:08.081 and again , so excited uh to start 05:08.081 --> 05:10.081 calling you major , um , it will be 05:10.081 --> 05:12.250 fantastic . So , in a little bit . Uh 05:12.309 --> 05:14.980 so , but , but with that , uh another 05:14.989 --> 05:17.267 part of that , again , lessons learned , 05:17.950 --> 05:20.172 he's come , moved into the front office 05:20.172 --> 05:22.394 with us , had his own , again , space . 05:22.394 --> 05:24.450 I've never seen him with his back to 05:24.450 --> 05:26.450 the door ever again since he's been 05:26.450 --> 05:28.506 here . So he's always been up to see 05:28.506 --> 05:30.672 and there is a uh 06 or you name it or 05:30.672 --> 05:33.010 07 or 08 at times that are kind of 05:33.019 --> 05:35.690 coming in and working . So , uh with us . 05:35.839 --> 05:37.950 But yeah , there isn't a more , uh I 05:37.959 --> 05:41.070 would say , uh determined , passionate 05:41.079 --> 05:44.160 uh person on our , on our staff , uh 05:44.170 --> 05:46.170 and folks that we've worked with Uh 05:46.170 --> 05:48.170 Again , it doesn't , doesn't matter 05:48.170 --> 05:50.281 where we're at going down to the hill 05:50.281 --> 05:52.448 trying to , to work and pick up a uh a 05:52.448 --> 05:55.144 marine 06 and to attention , taking 05:55.154 --> 05:57.265 care of business and , and comforting 05:57.265 --> 05:59.345 and even getting kudos from folks in 05:59.355 --> 06:01.133 other , other parts of , of the 06:01.133 --> 06:03.411 services and , and other parts of disa . 06:03.411 --> 06:05.244 So , again , thank you for , for 06:05.244 --> 06:07.411 everyone's influence . Uh And , and we 06:07.411 --> 06:09.355 see it on a , on a definitely on a 06:09.355 --> 06:11.466 daily basis . So , and I know uh my , 06:11.466 --> 06:14.690 my uh uh deputy Eric Jackson , uh 06:14.720 --> 06:17.529 again , fantastic representation . I 06:17.540 --> 06:19.707 think we were just commenting how many 06:19.707 --> 06:21.818 times he's worn this uniform . But uh 06:21.818 --> 06:23.873 we , we , we ask him every Friday to 06:23.873 --> 06:25.873 wear it . So , uh this is the third 06:25.873 --> 06:28.809 time . But uh yeah , well , from that 06:28.820 --> 06:30.970 aspect , he's uh got an absolute 06:30.980 --> 06:33.258 superstar and , and work with the team . 06:33.258 --> 06:35.480 So , uh I didn't want to spend too much 06:35.480 --> 06:37.591 time because again , uh Captain Jones 06:37.600 --> 06:39.822 said he had about an hour and a half uh 06:39.822 --> 06:41.767 spiel he wanted to go through with 06:41.767 --> 06:43.989 slides shows and everything . So I will 06:43.989 --> 06:45.989 reserve the time um over for uh for 06:45.989 --> 06:48.211 Captain Jones . But again , thank you , 06:48.211 --> 06:50.211 family , friends . Uh Again , super 06:50.211 --> 06:52.378 excited you're able to make the , make 06:52.378 --> 06:54.489 the trip up . Some are surprised that 06:54.489 --> 06:56.433 that's great . Um And then the one 06:56.433 --> 06:58.600 thing I do want to say , so I am not a 06:58.600 --> 07:00.767 Kansas City Chiefs fan . Um So I'm not 07:00.767 --> 07:02.822 wearing red for the uh the game last 07:02.822 --> 07:04.767 night , which some people may be . 07:04.767 --> 07:07.100 That's a fantastic . Uh , but we try to , 07:07.100 --> 07:09.267 uh , represent wearing ruby red , uh , 07:09.267 --> 07:11.433 as best we could . Uh So in , in honor 07:11.433 --> 07:13.600 of , of the boss being here today . So 07:13.600 --> 07:15.767 excellent . Well , thank you very much 07:15.767 --> 07:17.989 and looking forward to , uh , again the 07:17.989 --> 07:20.211 ceremony here . So carry on . Thank you 07:20.619 --> 07:24.529 that buddy . Thank you , 07:24.540 --> 07:27.000 sir , Captain Jones , Mr Patrick House . 07:27.119 --> 07:29.286 Please come to the front . We will now 07:29.286 --> 07:31.397 promote Cap Mr Patrick House will now 07:31.397 --> 07:33.452 promote Captain Jones to the rank of 07:33.452 --> 07:36.720 major . Ladies and gentlemen , please 07:36.730 --> 07:38.786 rise for the reading of the orders . 07:41.089 --> 07:44.220 How much do you ordered ? The president 07:44.230 --> 07:46.640 of the United States has placed special 07:46.649 --> 07:49.369 trust and confidence in the patriotism , 07:49.380 --> 07:52.579 valor fidelity and abilities of Captain 07:52.589 --> 07:55.220 Larry L Jones in view of these 07:55.230 --> 07:56.952 qualities and his demonstrated 07:56.952 --> 07:59.570 potential for increased responsibility . 07:59.679 --> 08:01.890 Captain Jones is therefore promoted in 08:01.899 --> 08:04.359 the United States army to the rank of 08:04.369 --> 08:07.059 major by order of the Secretary of the 08:07.070 --> 08:07.619 Army . 08:11.510 --> 08:13.732 Ladies and gentlemen , please be seated 08:15.260 --> 08:17.549 at this time . We now invite Major 08:17.559 --> 08:19.660 jones' grandmother , Mrs Ruby Lee 08:19.670 --> 08:22.179 Jordan and his mother , Mrs Philomena 08:22.190 --> 08:24.329 Hill to please come forward as they 08:24.339 --> 08:26.561 will now pin on the new rank of major . 08:31.140 --> 08:34.898 You know , it don't 08:34.908 --> 08:37.019 matter . You grab one side , she grab 08:37.019 --> 08:39.352 the other side . Do you understand that ? 08:41.000 --> 08:41.859 Take them 08:49.309 --> 08:51.330 this ? They don't mind . No pants , 08:51.349 --> 08:53.071 grandma . We can do it later . 08:56.369 --> 08:57.425 Thanks very much . 09:04.590 --> 09:05.590 Thank you for 09:08.869 --> 09:11.036 Lieutenant Colonel Godbe . Please join 09:11.036 --> 09:12.758 Major Jones up to the front to 09:12.758 --> 09:14.925 administer the oath of office . Ladies 09:14.925 --> 09:16.591 and gentlemen , please rise . 09:19.619 --> 09:23.119 You need to have your jokes . Raise 09:23.130 --> 09:25.549 your right hand . Repeat after me , I 09:25.559 --> 09:28.340 Larry Jones , I Larry Leon Jones . 09:28.700 --> 09:31.099 Having been appointed an officer United 09:31.109 --> 09:33.119 States Army in the grade of major , 09:33.140 --> 09:35.196 having been appointed officer in the 09:35.196 --> 09:37.140 United States Army in the grade of 09:37.140 --> 09:39.440 major , do solemnly swear , do solemnly 09:39.450 --> 09:41.840 swear that I will support and defend 09:41.849 --> 09:43.969 the Constitution of the United States 09:43.979 --> 09:45.868 against all enemies , foreign and 09:45.868 --> 09:48.390 domestic that I will support and defend 09:48.400 --> 09:50.511 the Constitution of the United States 09:50.511 --> 09:52.400 against all enemies , foreign and 09:52.400 --> 09:54.599 domestic . That I will bear true faith 09:54.609 --> 09:56.776 and allegiance to the same that I will 09:56.776 --> 09:58.887 bear true faith and allegiance to the 09:58.887 --> 10:01.359 same that I take this obligation freely 10:01.369 --> 10:03.419 without any mental reservation or 10:03.429 --> 10:05.262 purpose of evasion , I take this 10:05.270 --> 10:07.326 obligation freely without any mental 10:07.326 --> 10:10.549 reservation , all purpose of evasion 10:11.659 --> 10:13.659 and that I will well and faithfully 10:13.659 --> 10:16.099 discharge the duties upon which I am 10:16.109 --> 10:18.739 about to enter and I will well and duly 10:18.849 --> 10:21.071 duly faithfully discharge the officer . 10:23.030 --> 10:25.130 Y'all are killing me today . Duties 10:25.140 --> 10:28.289 duties of the office which I'm about to 10:28.330 --> 10:30.441 enter the office . I'm about to about 10:30.441 --> 10:32.774 to enter . So help me God , help me God . 10:33.669 --> 10:37.109 Yes , I will get you . 10:37.789 --> 10:40.729 Good job . It is my , it 10:41.729 --> 10:44.340 is my distinct pleasure and honor to 10:44.349 --> 10:46.840 introduce you . Major . Larry L Jones , 10:46.849 --> 10:50.609 sir . The floor is yours . Everybody's 10:50.640 --> 10:53.869 talking . Yeah , 10:57.630 --> 10:59.852 I'm gonna run over here and hide behind 10:59.852 --> 11:02.390 this podium . Ladies and gentlemen , 11:02.400 --> 11:05.789 please be seated and 11:07.440 --> 11:11.390 I good morning , good morning , Mr 11:11.400 --> 11:14.390 Argo , Mr Pasko , Mr Jackson , who's 11:14.400 --> 11:17.989 not here , Mrs Hill , Mrs Jordan , 11:18.979 --> 11:22.690 Colonel Cunningham , Mrs Kelly Mrs 11:22.700 --> 11:25.859 Hamid . So the first class Tompkins 11:26.049 --> 11:28.650 major , retired Allen , lieutenant 11:28.659 --> 11:31.799 colonel , lieutenant colonel , retired 11:31.809 --> 11:35.159 Michael Robinson , lieutenant active 11:35.169 --> 11:39.150 Perez , colonel , active Derek L 11:39.159 --> 11:41.440 Demby . Appreciate you all for being 11:41.450 --> 11:45.289 here giving on to God , my 11:45.299 --> 11:48.520 family , my coworkers . I'm here today 11:48.530 --> 11:51.260 because of all of you . I strive to be 11:51.270 --> 11:54.869 better every day because of the 11:54.880 --> 11:57.213 interactions I have with all of you all . 11:57.213 --> 11:59.269 I'm not standing here before you all 11:59.269 --> 12:01.436 today without those people I named and 12:01.436 --> 12:03.602 you all sitting in this crowd who came 12:03.602 --> 12:05.769 here today to help support . I come to 12:05.769 --> 12:07.991 work every day . Try to do my job , the 12:07.991 --> 12:09.713 best of my ability and you all 12:09.713 --> 12:12.219 influence me , empower me to be better . 12:14.020 --> 12:17.289 I'd like to thank Mr John Wilhem who 12:17.299 --> 12:19.679 took a chance on a military police 12:20.150 --> 12:24.109 officer to come help be a part of this 12:24.119 --> 12:27.640 pe o then transport services . Now we 12:27.650 --> 12:31.200 po transport office without John , 12:31.960 --> 12:34.182 I'm not saying he had selected me , but 12:34.182 --> 12:36.293 he picked me and I got an interview . 12:36.293 --> 12:38.516 Uh and as Mr Peter said , I think I did 12:38.516 --> 12:40.682 pretty well because I'm still standing 12:40.682 --> 12:42.904 here . And I was wondering with all the 12:42.904 --> 12:42.400 questions I had , did I answer all 12:42.409 --> 12:44.465 their questions ? So those were more 12:44.465 --> 12:47.140 questions for me to understand what po 12:47.150 --> 12:50.429 transport did . Um I am an MP officer . 12:50.440 --> 12:52.690 I started out with Signal Corps but I 12:52.700 --> 12:55.000 became it security director at Prince 12:55.010 --> 12:57.177 Ross Community College and it security 12:57.177 --> 12:59.121 director at University of Maryland 12:59.121 --> 13:01.066 College Park before coming back on 13:01.066 --> 13:03.619 active duty and with COVID 13:04.830 --> 13:07.169 happening some positions at the College 13:07.179 --> 13:10.090 Park office went away and one of them 13:10.099 --> 13:12.820 was mine . And I thank Mr Wilhem and Mr 13:12.830 --> 13:15.450 Jackson and Mr Owski and everyone here 13:15.460 --> 13:17.571 for giving me the opportunity to come 13:17.571 --> 13:21.090 here and , and be who I am . I like to 13:21.099 --> 13:22.988 also like all the old sixes in my 13:22.988 --> 13:25.489 career and some of those old sixes and 13:25.500 --> 13:27.940 I hate to admit it are navy . That's 13:27.950 --> 13:29.839 for you , Captain Goodson , who's 13:29.839 --> 13:33.299 online . Uh Captain Tripp , I 13:33.309 --> 13:35.719 appreciate her . These two mentors when 13:35.729 --> 13:38.809 I got here have been instrumental in 13:38.820 --> 13:42.330 who I am still becoming . And as I 13:42.669 --> 13:44.669 move to the rank of a field grade , 13:44.669 --> 13:47.289 those two , while we here helped me out 13:47.299 --> 13:49.640 tremendously , I like to go back and 13:49.650 --> 13:52.080 also think Colonel retired Warm B Coat , 13:52.169 --> 13:54.391 my battalion commander when I came into 13:54.391 --> 13:56.280 the 200 military police command , 13:56.280 --> 13:58.280 followed by Colonel Mickey Skaggs , 13:58.280 --> 14:01.830 retired now followed by 14:01.840 --> 14:04.489 captain , retired Christopher Goodson . 14:05.690 --> 14:08.169 So I got two armies against one navy . 14:08.179 --> 14:10.512 So I think I'm pretty doing really good , 14:12.479 --> 14:15.780 Colonel Demby some years ago 14:16.349 --> 14:20.049 when you got promoted to lieutenant , 14:20.869 --> 14:23.619 sir , I was your Pao person and take , 14:23.630 --> 14:26.539 took the photos I gave you your first 14:26.549 --> 14:29.820 salute and I got your first coin . I 14:29.830 --> 14:32.640 salute you , sir . Today , I still have 14:32.650 --> 14:34.706 that coin , by the way , sir . So if 14:34.706 --> 14:36.928 you wanna get it back when you retire , 14:36.928 --> 14:40.140 III I can give it back . I also like to 14:40.150 --> 14:43.299 thank General Robert , Lieutenant 14:43.309 --> 14:45.198 General Robert Durbin . He was my 14:45.198 --> 14:47.309 Pentagon chief of staff when I was at 14:47.309 --> 14:50.450 the Pentagon . Also special thanks to 14:50.460 --> 14:53.030 General Us Air Force retired Lester 14:53.039 --> 14:55.969 Lyles . General Lyles wrote my letter , 14:55.979 --> 14:58.580 a recommendation for O CS and the 14:58.590 --> 15:00.757 letter recommendation that he wrote me 15:00.757 --> 15:03.289 for OC si read it 20 times wondering 15:03.299 --> 15:05.950 who was he talking about ? Because I , 15:06.080 --> 15:10.020 I know my mouth for me being me , gets 15:10.030 --> 15:12.252 me in trouble and some people don't see 15:12.252 --> 15:14.474 the , the , the hard work or the effort 15:14.474 --> 15:16.419 that I can put out . They just see 15:16.419 --> 15:18.530 sometimes the mouth because sometimes 15:18.530 --> 15:21.190 my filter is , is non existent . But 15:21.210 --> 15:23.700 General Lyles did not see that he saw 15:24.049 --> 15:27.640 potential . And um , going through O 15:27.650 --> 15:29.559 CS , I met 15:31.309 --> 15:33.710 Mike Robinson , Lieutenant Colonel and 15:33.719 --> 15:37.359 Laticia Allen . Um little story about 15:37.369 --> 15:39.849 that . I met Mike Robinson back in 1994 15:39.940 --> 15:41.940 when I was in college and he was in 15:41.940 --> 15:44.950 college and um , who knew a couple of 15:44.960 --> 15:47.260 years later we'll be in O CS together , 15:49.700 --> 15:52.489 Mike , you've been my , my , my guy 15:52.760 --> 15:56.700 since 94 . And even when we showed up O 15:56.710 --> 15:58.932 CS together , neither one of us knew we 15:58.932 --> 16:00.877 were gonna be there together . You 16:00.877 --> 16:02.988 stood by me and you say , hey , we're 16:02.988 --> 16:04.877 gonna make this , we're gonna get 16:04.877 --> 16:07.330 through this when I appreciate you 16:07.340 --> 16:09.679 being there being in my corner except 16:09.690 --> 16:11.746 that day when you threw me under the 16:11.746 --> 16:15.640 bus . But it happened . 16:16.169 --> 16:19.770 Um Major Allen , my other O 16:19.780 --> 16:23.770 CS battle buddy out of our class , 16:23.780 --> 16:26.770 we started with like 15 , we graduated 16:27.059 --> 16:30.950 six Major Allen was the only female to 16:30.960 --> 16:33.940 survive that class . And 16:35.429 --> 16:38.289 she became a as , as they say now they 16:38.640 --> 16:41.530 is not male or female is they , she was 16:41.539 --> 16:43.706 part of the day and I think we started 16:43.706 --> 16:45.761 the day because we all were soldiers 16:45.761 --> 16:47.817 and they kept saying they over there 16:47.817 --> 16:49.983 over there they , over there they over 16:49.983 --> 16:52.206 there and she was the day at first they 16:52.206 --> 16:51.929 told us that she was gonna be the dead 16:51.940 --> 16:54.107 weight because she was the only female 16:54.107 --> 16:56.218 and that she wouldn't be able to keep 16:56.218 --> 16:59.760 up physically or mentally . She's a mom , 16:59.770 --> 17:01.937 she's , she's , she had two Children . 17:01.937 --> 17:04.270 So she was just as strong as most of us . 17:04.270 --> 17:04.180 But I don't think I can deal with 17:04.189 --> 17:06.411 cramps and she had cramps while we were 17:06.411 --> 17:10.150 at Opo CS . So it , it was , it 17:10.160 --> 17:12.271 was , it was something amazing to see 17:12.271 --> 17:16.089 someone dealing with that saga of their 17:16.099 --> 17:19.329 life at a point of where we're being 17:20.140 --> 17:22.560 drug through the mud . We're being told 17:22.569 --> 17:24.660 to go get our dress blues dressed , 17:24.790 --> 17:27.660 cleaned , put them on . And then we had 17:27.670 --> 17:29.892 one soldier in our group who didn't get 17:29.892 --> 17:31.948 him dressed and clean . So what they 17:31.948 --> 17:33.948 make us do , they must just made us 17:33.948 --> 17:36.170 roll down the hill in our uniform . Who 17:36.170 --> 17:36.079 was the first person down the hill , 17:36.089 --> 17:38.256 Major Allen , first person back up the 17:38.256 --> 17:40.367 hill , Major Allen . I was because my 17:40.367 --> 17:42.256 uniform cost too much money to be 17:42.256 --> 17:44.367 getting clean and rolling down hill . 17:44.367 --> 17:47.569 But then those t officers , they were 17:47.579 --> 17:49.635 not appreciative of , of the efforts 17:49.635 --> 17:51.801 that we put forth and they say we were 17:51.801 --> 17:54.023 just going through what was done before 17:54.023 --> 17:56.190 us . I definitely don't believe that . 17:58.540 --> 18:01.939 Back to my two battle buddies . My O CS 18:01.949 --> 18:04.849 guys , we've been through every 18:04.859 --> 18:07.081 promotion together . I'm the last one . 18:07.081 --> 18:08.915 I don't know how I was the honor 18:08.915 --> 18:10.915 graduate of the class , but I'm the 18:10.915 --> 18:10.780 last one to be promoted to field grade , 18:10.790 --> 18:12.540 a major . But I think that has 18:12.550 --> 18:14.494 something to do with my mouth , my 18:14.494 --> 18:17.560 personality , me being me , if 18:17.569 --> 18:20.339 anybody's seen any of the uh top gun 18:20.349 --> 18:22.516 movies , Maverick , that would be me , 18:22.516 --> 18:24.738 someone who's skilled , someone who can 18:24.738 --> 18:26.793 do his job , but sometimes his mouth 18:26.793 --> 18:29.016 and his arrogance gets him in trouble . 18:29.016 --> 18:31.016 I've since learned a lot from those 18:31.016 --> 18:33.729 days and not being so confident but 18:33.739 --> 18:37.359 being assured that the preparation that 18:37.589 --> 18:39.589 I can and we can accomplish what we 18:39.589 --> 18:41.645 need to accomplish , but we can't be 18:41.645 --> 18:43.790 accomplished without a team . My team 18:43.800 --> 18:46.022 is everybody in this room right now . I 18:46.022 --> 18:48.189 look at each and every last one of you 18:48.479 --> 18:52.219 someday that I've come in here and I've 18:52.229 --> 18:54.451 put the face on of , hey , I'm happy to 18:54.451 --> 18:56.507 be here . Captain Jones is an office 18:56.507 --> 18:58.729 doing his job . One , if not all of you 18:58.729 --> 19:00.951 who have inspired me to wanna come back 19:00.951 --> 19:02.951 the next day , keep doing it , keep 19:02.951 --> 19:05.030 doing it about three weeks into this 19:05.040 --> 19:06.929 tour . I was offered a job at the 19:06.929 --> 19:09.096 Pentagon and that's why I , that's why 19:09.096 --> 19:11.207 I started my career at the Pentagon . 19:11.207 --> 19:13.484 So I was like , yeah , I might go back , 19:13.484 --> 19:15.596 I might go back . I talked to someone 19:15.596 --> 19:15.589 here . I'm not gonna mention the name 19:15.810 --> 19:17.699 and they was like , you should do 19:17.699 --> 19:19.588 what's best for you . But there's 19:19.588 --> 19:22.449 opportunity here . That person told me 19:22.459 --> 19:24.979 that I had to be prepared . I need to 19:24.989 --> 19:28.839 be who I am and that God will help me 19:28.849 --> 19:31.540 make the right decision . I'm still 19:31.550 --> 19:33.949 here since then I've extended . So I'll 19:33.959 --> 19:36.869 be here for another 18 months . And 19:36.880 --> 19:39.047 where else would I love to be promoted 19:39.047 --> 19:41.269 to major ? But people who helped me get 19:41.269 --> 19:43.510 to be the rank of major , you all have 19:43.520 --> 19:46.810 helped me be a better me today than I 19:46.819 --> 19:48.930 was yesterday and I'm gonna be better 19:48.930 --> 19:52.520 tomorrow than I was today . Tennant 19:52.530 --> 19:54.550 Colonel Cunningham , my big little 19:54.560 --> 19:55.560 brother , 19:58.670 --> 20:00.726 you've been by my side since we were 20:00.726 --> 20:04.000 six years old . Other than being my 20:04.010 --> 20:05.899 mother's son and my grandmother's 20:05.899 --> 20:09.170 grandson , I've been nothing but a 20:09.180 --> 20:11.760 brother to you and you , a brother to 20:11.770 --> 20:14.130 me since six . 20:15.640 --> 20:18.630 When you might want to know I'm 54 . 20:20.349 --> 20:22.571 Rod has been by my side . Since we were 20:22.571 --> 20:24.979 six years old . My closest sibling is 20:24.989 --> 20:27.211 eight years younger than me . He was my 20:27.211 --> 20:29.500 brother before I had a sister . He's my 20:29.510 --> 20:31.510 brother before I had a brother . My 20:31.510 --> 20:33.621 brother is 16 years younger than me . 20:34.170 --> 20:37.949 My mom , she's , she's , she's amazing . 20:39.890 --> 20:43.349 My mom graduated in June 20:44.640 --> 20:47.780 had me in July started college in 20:47.790 --> 20:51.300 August with me in tow . So I went to 20:51.310 --> 20:53.532 college when I was a toddler . I was on 20:53.532 --> 20:55.459 the , I was on the campus of the 20:55.469 --> 20:57.636 University of Maryland College Park as 20:57.636 --> 21:00.910 a toddler going to classes at some 21:00.920 --> 21:03.699 point in time and just being given to 21:03.709 --> 21:05.619 my godmother who , who was also a 21:05.630 --> 21:09.109 college park student . My 21:09.119 --> 21:11.910 mom has shown me sacrifice , selfless 21:11.920 --> 21:14.770 service and I didn't want this 21:14.780 --> 21:16.836 promotion ceremony for me . I didn't 21:16.836 --> 21:19.002 wanna do it . I just , I just tried to 21:19.002 --> 21:20.947 slide on in with the promotion was 21:20.947 --> 21:23.058 major and keep on moving and they say 21:23.058 --> 21:22.069 no , you , you're gonna have a 21:22.079 --> 21:25.709 promotion . This is for 21:25.920 --> 21:28.087 everybody in this room , especially my 21:28.087 --> 21:30.310 mom and my grandma because they have 21:30.319 --> 21:32.829 made so many sacrifices for me to be 21:32.839 --> 21:36.729 where I am today growing up . I did not 21:36.739 --> 21:38.961 wanna be in the military . I want to be 21:38.961 --> 21:41.072 a professional football player . That 21:41.072 --> 21:42.906 was a dream . I was all American 21:42.906 --> 21:45.072 football player , went to college on a 21:45.072 --> 21:47.295 scholarship , lost scholarship . Didn't 21:47.295 --> 21:49.350 know what I was gonna do . Those two 21:49.350 --> 21:51.406 women , my mom and my grandma , they 21:51.406 --> 21:53.628 gave me more purpose than than I knew I 21:53.628 --> 21:55.683 had in me to , to wanna start a life 21:55.683 --> 21:57.739 all over again because he was like , 21:57.739 --> 21:59.683 what you gonna be besides football 21:59.683 --> 22:01.572 player ? Nothing . I'm gonna be a 22:01.572 --> 22:01.530 football player . That's what I'm gonna 22:01.540 --> 22:04.290 be . High school . All American college 22:04.300 --> 22:06.522 got to go to college on a scholarship . 22:06.689 --> 22:09.880 An injury will derail that I did not 22:09.890 --> 22:11.946 have a backup plan until I came home 22:12.290 --> 22:14.579 and she told me you got six months to 22:14.589 --> 22:17.089 figure it out when you gonna get put 22:17.099 --> 22:21.099 out . Six months turned into six 22:21.109 --> 22:23.910 days on day six , I moved on campus 22:23.920 --> 22:26.599 with Rod Cunningham at Boise State 22:26.609 --> 22:30.469 University . Right ? 22:30.479 --> 22:32.646 Thank you for letting me sleep on that 22:32.646 --> 22:34.312 couch and sleep on that futon 22:34.312 --> 22:36.257 underneath . I lived illegal for a 22:36.257 --> 22:38.479 whole semester . Why I went to school . 22:39.780 --> 22:43.550 He my mom , my grandmother , he said , 22:43.560 --> 22:47.390 hey , come , go figure it out . It's 22:47.400 --> 22:49.400 like I can't play ball , I'm hurt . 22:49.400 --> 22:51.511 He's like , it ain't about football . 22:51.670 --> 22:53.614 He told me he never wanted to be a 22:53.614 --> 22:55.670 professional football player and I'm 22:55.670 --> 22:55.300 looking at him with his size . I was 22:55.310 --> 22:57.588 like , you got the perfect size for it . 22:57.588 --> 22:59.810 And he's like , no , I don't wanna be a 22:59.810 --> 23:02.032 football player . He told me that there 23:02.032 --> 23:04.310 was more to life than them in football . 23:04.310 --> 23:07.670 We both started out in J RT C in high 23:07.680 --> 23:09.458 school , went to the same camps 23:09.458 --> 23:11.513 together every summer , every year . 23:11.513 --> 23:13.650 But military was not a part of what I 23:13.660 --> 23:15.827 thought I was gonna be wanting to do . 23:15.827 --> 23:17.993 I turned a appointment down to the Air 23:17.993 --> 23:20.104 Force Academy because I couldn't play 23:20.104 --> 23:22.327 ball and go to the pro at the Air Force 23:22.327 --> 23:24.271 Academy , but I could play ball at 23:24.271 --> 23:26.493 Clemson and go to the Pros . But like I 23:26.493 --> 23:29.670 said , injury derailed me . So that and 23:29.680 --> 23:32.260 my family helped me to be focused on 23:32.270 --> 23:34.739 something better than just 23:35.930 --> 23:38.041 me because football would probably be 23:38.041 --> 23:40.097 just me like a lot of these athletes 23:40.097 --> 23:42.208 nowadays . They , it's about them and 23:42.208 --> 23:44.208 they don't understand that they are 23:44.208 --> 23:46.208 role models . My role models are my 23:46.208 --> 23:49.270 grandmother and my mom , my two 23:49.280 --> 23:52.810 grandfathers , both military . One of 23:52.819 --> 23:54.597 my grandfather , Pearl Harbor , 23:54.597 --> 23:57.119 Survivor , us Navy . I kinda don't 23:57.130 --> 23:59.297 really like saying that because I know 23:59.297 --> 24:01.241 captain go gonna be like , see see 24:01.241 --> 24:03.408 other one . United States Army , World 24:03.408 --> 24:05.459 War Two . Survivor . Both showed me 24:05.469 --> 24:07.747 selfless service to show me dedication , 24:07.747 --> 24:10.189 showed me hard work around our house . 24:10.199 --> 24:12.310 You can lay in the bed no matter what 24:12.310 --> 24:14.477 day it was past nine o'clock , you had 24:14.477 --> 24:16.630 to get up , make the bed , hospital 24:16.640 --> 24:19.500 corners and be doing something 24:19.510 --> 24:22.569 productive . That's gonna be something 24:22.579 --> 24:24.635 that will put you better prepare for 24:24.635 --> 24:26.801 the next day . If you're preparing for 24:26.801 --> 24:28.912 the day , they told me you've already 24:28.912 --> 24:31.079 failed . You gotta be prepared for the 24:31.079 --> 24:33.135 next day . And I'm like , but that's 24:33.135 --> 24:35.079 tomorrow and that as a child , you 24:35.079 --> 24:37.190 didn't understand what tomorrow meant 24:37.190 --> 24:40.729 that it wasn't that promised grandma . 24:40.859 --> 24:42.970 You are the matriarch of our family . 24:43.310 --> 24:44.849 You were 99 years old . 24:51.739 --> 24:53.770 You are my constant professional 24:53.780 --> 24:56.729 example of longevity , steadfastness . 24:56.739 --> 24:58.795 You and granddad were married for 69 24:58.795 --> 25:02.420 years before he passed away . I don't 25:02.430 --> 25:03.486 know how he did it 25:08.079 --> 25:10.135 as some of you all know my mouth . I 25:10.135 --> 25:12.357 think I got that from her because she , 25:12.357 --> 25:14.246 she would be , she would be on my 25:14.246 --> 25:16.650 grandfather every day . I'm like 69 25:16.660 --> 25:17.660 years of that . 25:20.790 --> 25:24.770 But , but 10 Children in 69 years 25:25.050 --> 25:27.709 makes you a strong woman . And , and 25:29.239 --> 25:31.461 like I said , grandma , you're my , one 25:31.461 --> 25:34.869 of my idols because 69 25:34.880 --> 25:37.709 years , 99 years living and she had a 25:37.719 --> 25:39.830 nerve everybody to renew her driver's 25:39.830 --> 25:42.163 license and her birthday this past year . 25:46.209 --> 25:48.542 I don't know what she had last accident , 25:48.542 --> 25:50.709 but I had one this year and I'm like , 25:50.709 --> 25:52.820 what happened ? I , I didn't see that 25:52.820 --> 25:56.290 coming . My mom again . 25:57.859 --> 26:00.849 You my hero . You sacrificed so much 26:00.859 --> 26:03.910 for me . You allowed me to be a selfish 26:03.920 --> 26:06.087 kid until I was eight years old before 26:06.087 --> 26:08.253 you decided you wanted to have another 26:08.253 --> 26:08.099 baby . And then I didn't understand 26:08.109 --> 26:10.442 that . I had to share you with somebody . 26:14.900 --> 26:17.178 My school teacher , you my , you , you , 26:17.178 --> 26:19.289 she's my mom is a principal , retired 26:19.289 --> 26:21.511 principal school teacher . So you could 26:21.511 --> 26:23.456 get nothing wrong with any of your 26:23.456 --> 26:23.420 homework assignments . I made the 26:23.430 --> 26:25.699 mistake of telling her one time it's ok 26:25.709 --> 26:27.653 to get something wrong on . So the 26:27.653 --> 26:29.876 teacher knows what you don't know . She 26:29.876 --> 26:31.876 said no , it's not Ok , I'm here to 26:31.876 --> 26:31.719 make sure you know what you need to 26:31.729 --> 26:33.819 know . And she tore the paper up . I 26:33.829 --> 26:35.996 had one question wrong on that paper . 26:35.996 --> 26:38.051 She tore the whole paper up . Had to 26:38.051 --> 26:39.829 start from scratch . If I wrote 26:39.829 --> 26:41.940 something down on any paper and I use 26:41.940 --> 26:43.885 the eraser , clean eraser to erase 26:43.885 --> 26:45.829 something . Had to start over from 26:45.829 --> 26:47.885 scratch . She said you can be better 26:47.885 --> 26:49.996 prepared tomorrow for learning how to 26:49.996 --> 26:49.819 do things and rehearse and rehearse and 26:49.829 --> 26:51.773 rehearse . And when I got into the 26:51.773 --> 26:53.829 military , part of one of the things 26:53.829 --> 26:55.829 they taught us was we rehearse , we 26:55.829 --> 26:57.959 rehearse , we rehearse so that we're 26:57.969 --> 27:00.080 more prepared for what's gonna come . 27:01.469 --> 27:03.525 Mom has never been in the military . 27:03.525 --> 27:05.302 Grandfather was , was a , was a 27:05.302 --> 27:07.780 military navy officer , I mean navy 27:07.790 --> 27:10.479 enlisted , but he ran his house like it 27:10.489 --> 27:12.880 was a naval ship . She got that from 27:12.890 --> 27:14.930 him . He passed it on to her and me 27:14.939 --> 27:17.819 because I was raised in that house and 27:17.829 --> 27:20.550 I appreciate you so much . I'm not here 27:20.560 --> 27:23.650 today without you . You would never , 27:23.660 --> 27:26.410 never , never let me give up myself on 27:26.430 --> 27:28.486 dreams that I didn't even know I had 27:28.486 --> 27:30.652 dreams , goals that I didn't even know 27:30.652 --> 27:34.540 I had goals . You push me to be who I 27:34.550 --> 27:36.717 am today and who I wanna be tomorrow . 27:36.717 --> 27:39.380 I've never ever wanted to let you down , 27:39.390 --> 27:42.469 disappoint you , make you upset , make 27:42.479 --> 27:44.535 you cry . I've always wanted to make 27:44.535 --> 27:46.590 you proud and be the person that you 27:46.590 --> 27:48.701 knew I could be before I knew I could 27:48.701 --> 27:51.550 be it . And in closing , I'd like to 27:51.560 --> 27:53.869 say each and every one of you all has 27:53.880 --> 27:56.780 helped shape me to be who I will become 27:56.790 --> 27:59.650 tomorrow and who I am able to have 27:59.660 --> 28:01.949 dialect and conversations with people 28:01.959 --> 28:04.390 going forward . Thank you for your time . 28:18.400 --> 28:20.067 Come on mind . Easy for you , 28:22.680 --> 28:23.349 grandma . 28:28.349 --> 28:30.460 Are you good ? I'll give it to Ruby . 28:32.949 --> 28:34.920 Ok . Nothing . 28:36.709 --> 28:38.765 Ladies and gentlemen in keeping with 28:38.765 --> 28:40.820 the army tradition , we ask that you 28:40.820 --> 28:42.987 please remain standing for the singing 28:42.987 --> 28:45.209 of the army song as we conclude today's 28:45.209 --> 28:45.050 ceremony . 29:51.250 --> 29:53.417 Ladies and gentlemen , on behalf of Mr 29:53.650 --> 29:55.706 POWs and Major Jones , thank you for 29:55.706 --> 29:57.872 attending today's ceremony and sharing 29:57.872 --> 30:00.094 in this special event . Please join the 30:00.094 --> 30:02.317 family in the receiving line up front , 30:02.317 --> 30:04.428 followed by refreshments in the outer 30:04.428 --> 30:06.317 reception area . Have a wonderful 30:06.317 --> 30:08.261 afternoon . This concludes today's 30:08.261 --> 30:09.790 ceremony . Mhm .