WEBVTT 00:04.369 --> 00:06.591 Give them all the opportunity to go one 00:06.591 --> 00:08.702 by one . Introduce themselves , be um 00:08.702 --> 00:11.869 so that we can get this started . Uh 00:11.880 --> 00:14.250 Good afternoon everybody . I am be in 00:14.399 --> 00:16.750 third class . Deval tomorrow . I was 00:16.760 --> 00:20.540 born in Puerto Rico and I was 00:20.549 --> 00:23.329 raised in Florida for the rest of my 00:23.340 --> 00:26.559 life . Um A little bit background on me . 00:26.569 --> 00:29.190 Uh I was first stationed in a station 00:29.200 --> 00:32.029 in Kings Point in New York . It's uh 00:32.240 --> 00:36.069 right on Long Island there . And after 00:36.080 --> 00:38.630 that , I was sent to a school where I 00:38.639 --> 00:40.306 learned to be an intelligence 00:40.306 --> 00:43.159 specialist . And then from there I come 00:43.169 --> 00:44.169 here to send , 00:49.220 --> 00:50.970 sorry , but I 00:53.540 --> 00:55.869 don't know what . Oh , ok . Yeah , I'm 00:55.950 --> 00:58.117 heading off through third class so I'm 00:58.117 --> 00:57.709 gonna need four . 01:02.930 --> 01:05.639 Hi , I'm I as one , Monica Ria . I'm a 01:05.650 --> 01:09.319 new six . I have been in for 01:09.330 --> 01:13.139 14 years . I grew up in Florida . I 01:13.150 --> 01:15.206 started off my career as a reservist 01:15.239 --> 01:18.080 and then I interviewed after duty . So 01:18.089 --> 01:21.160 my primary years have been in Florida 01:21.860 --> 01:25.800 and then the center for the area 01:26.540 --> 01:30.279 to sp to Key West to Texas . So 01:30.440 --> 01:34.400 I know the heat . Um I'm 01:34.410 --> 01:36.779 here stationed with crypto cryptologic 01:36.790 --> 01:40.379 unit , Coast Guard , Texas . I'm a 01:40.389 --> 01:44.050 linguist that deploys on tour boats and , 01:45.029 --> 01:47.196 but since I'm a Spanish language , you 01:47.196 --> 01:49.418 go to South America , Central America . 01:50.940 --> 01:53.889 And for our primary missions , I'm pro 01:53.900 --> 01:56.199 I'm sure some of you may have seen the , 01:57.110 --> 02:00.349 I see you shaking your head . Um 02:00.730 --> 02:02.730 I was born and raised in the United 02:02.730 --> 02:04.952 States , but my parents are from Puerto 02:04.952 --> 02:07.480 Rico . So I thought I was blessed with 02:07.489 --> 02:10.210 that beautiful coloring . Think about 02:10.509 --> 02:14.419 me and thank you for having me and 02:14.429 --> 02:16.540 again , happy birthday to the horse . 02:20.869 --> 02:23.036 Good afternoon . My name is Sergeant , 02:23.036 --> 02:25.580 staff sergeant Johan Maximiliano 02:25.589 --> 02:29.330 Quezada Al Can . And two years ago I 02:29.339 --> 02:32.770 used to just go by other uh private 02:32.779 --> 02:36.449 queue or specialist queue . And so I 02:36.460 --> 02:38.600 picked up sergeant , I never really 02:38.610 --> 02:40.721 corrected anybody to say my last name 02:40.721 --> 02:43.009 because he was always a hash to go Sar 02:43.669 --> 02:45.830 Quezada that I would rather say 02:48.669 --> 02:51.820 Saitta Carne anything but Sar Quezada . 02:52.779 --> 02:56.539 But ever since uh I got promoted , I 02:56.550 --> 02:59.300 was like , hey , this is a new thing . 02:59.789 --> 03:01.678 You can't just let everybody just 03:01.678 --> 03:04.860 because it's on you now . So from there 03:05.100 --> 03:07.660 it's Arza . Uh I've been in the army 03:07.669 --> 03:09.600 for five years . I was born in 03:09.610 --> 03:11.777 Dominican Republic , but I've lived in 03:11.777 --> 03:15.520 Puerto Rico for half my life . Uh My 03:15.529 --> 03:17.990 first duty assignment was South Korea . 03:18.000 --> 03:20.509 I was in Camp Humphreys . Uh And from 03:20.520 --> 03:24.270 there , I went to Fort Bragg uh now for 03:24.279 --> 03:27.770 Liberty . Um Well , I was actually 03:27.779 --> 03:31.309 there . I was in uh the com innovation 03:31.320 --> 03:33.729 brigade and then I transitioned to 2nd 03:34.529 --> 03:38.220 2nd brigade combat team from there . I 03:38.229 --> 03:41.529 was lucky enough to come serving uh uh 03:41.619 --> 03:45.220 Sam Houston , uh as the PE 03:45.380 --> 03:48.190 NCO for the Paper Crew Brigade . And 03:48.199 --> 03:49.977 I'm really excited to be here . 03:56.740 --> 03:58.907 Good afternoon . I am Sergeant Roman . 03:59.360 --> 04:02.419 I um , of course , I am Air Force staff 04:02.449 --> 04:05.449 Sergeant . Um , here at Fort Sam just 04:05.460 --> 04:08.320 got here in October . I'm a medic um , 04:08.330 --> 04:11.130 instructor . I've been in about 17 04:11.139 --> 04:14.179 years already . So it's been a wild , 04:14.190 --> 04:17.480 wild ride . Um I , I was at a right 04:17.489 --> 04:20.609 path Andrews and now I'm here , I've 04:20.619 --> 04:22.786 been deployed a couple of times , went 04:22.786 --> 04:25.369 from Kuwait Qatar , Kirk . Um Even 04:25.380 --> 04:27.980 states size . Uh Let's see , what else 04:27.989 --> 04:31.350 do we got here ? I tell . Oh , yeah , 04:31.359 --> 04:35.269 I'm Mexican . Thank you 04:35.279 --> 04:38.019 and welcome to this panel to get this 04:38.029 --> 04:40.085 started . I want to start off with a 04:40.085 --> 04:41.918 conversation that stems from the 04:41.918 --> 04:44.140 enlisted panel we had this morning . So 04:44.140 --> 04:46.362 we were here for that um kind of in the 04:46.362 --> 04:48.359 theme of being comfortable , being 04:48.369 --> 04:50.536 uncomfortable . And I wanted to see if 04:50.536 --> 04:53.390 you all can discuss any , anything that 04:53.399 --> 04:55.739 you would tell either your younger self 04:55.750 --> 04:57.861 or tell the future generation because 04:57.861 --> 04:59.528 we're here to make the future 04:59.528 --> 05:01.639 generations better on uh advantages , 05:01.639 --> 05:03.750 things that you could , you can do in 05:03.750 --> 05:05.639 your military service to continue 05:05.639 --> 05:09.250 progressing . And I , I hope I don't 05:09.260 --> 05:11.859 have to emphasize as a , as a , in the 05:11.869 --> 05:15.829 sense . Yes . So one of the main things 05:15.839 --> 05:18.269 is to basically put yourself out there . 05:18.510 --> 05:21.609 So as a paralegal , I had , I had the 05:21.619 --> 05:24.170 opportunity to be close enough to the 05:24.179 --> 05:26.346 command team where I have to basically 05:26.346 --> 05:28.859 talk to them every day and not 05:28.869 --> 05:31.079 everybody gets to do that . And just 05:31.089 --> 05:33.089 because I had the opportunity I was 05:33.089 --> 05:36.329 able to one be forced . 05:36.970 --> 05:38.959 So basically talk to this higher 05:38.970 --> 05:42.500 enlisted personnel and they 05:42.510 --> 05:45.040 actually inspired me to go out there 05:45.049 --> 05:48.089 and volunteer for stuff it here . Um 05:48.100 --> 05:51.570 I'm pretty new in Texas . And as soon 05:51.579 --> 05:53.801 as I heard about the heat , I wanted to 05:53.801 --> 05:57.720 get hands on and it's just basically 05:57.730 --> 05:59.739 getting out there and try to find a 05:59.750 --> 06:01.861 community and try to help out any way 06:01.861 --> 06:02.861 you can . 06:11.059 --> 06:14.700 I would say , uh look for mentorship , 06:14.709 --> 06:17.140 it doesn't have to be someone who's 06:18.109 --> 06:20.331 high ranking . The neo could be someone 06:20.331 --> 06:22.498 below too . Um There's a lot of people 06:22.498 --> 06:25.600 that I've learned from , we 06:25.609 --> 06:29.549 subordinates actually . And I 06:29.559 --> 06:31.781 know it's a tired thing , but you could 06:31.781 --> 06:34.010 learn a lot from sometimes bad 06:34.019 --> 06:36.660 leadership too . So you know what not 06:36.670 --> 06:40.100 to do what you don't like to do . Um 06:40.769 --> 06:43.450 It's very important to remember that 06:43.459 --> 06:45.348 because sometimes you wanna be so 06:45.348 --> 06:49.059 different from the bad examples that 06:49.070 --> 06:51.820 you go in a another opposite direction , 06:51.829 --> 06:54.570 which is also not the greatest but 06:54.869 --> 06:58.170 forgive yourself , forgive others , 06:58.179 --> 07:00.390 make , make sure that others also make 07:00.399 --> 07:02.621 mistakes as well . There's a difference 07:02.621 --> 07:04.732 between forgiving others mistakes and 07:04.732 --> 07:06.788 letting other people walk over you , 07:06.788 --> 07:08.732 when you do see something wrong or 07:08.732 --> 07:10.843 something that doesn't sit well , you 07:10.843 --> 07:13.010 can't respectfully bring it up or 07:13.019 --> 07:15.309 question them . And it's important to 07:15.320 --> 07:17.540 do that from the very beginning . So 07:17.549 --> 07:19.493 you feel comfortable with it going 07:19.493 --> 07:19.329 forward . 07:23.269 --> 07:25.649 Ok . Yeah . So speaking on the being 07:25.660 --> 07:27.929 uncomfortable and , you know , kind of 07:27.940 --> 07:30.279 make it comfortable . I have an example 07:30.290 --> 07:32.401 of it was when I was in my first duty 07:32.401 --> 07:35.089 station in New York . Um , I was one of 07:35.100 --> 07:37.839 two people who spoke Spanish and our 07:37.850 --> 07:39.906 primary mission there was search and 07:39.906 --> 07:42.128 rescue and law enforcement operations . 07:42.799 --> 07:45.540 So when we would go on our small boats 07:45.549 --> 07:47.716 and go do our recreational boardings , 07:48.440 --> 07:50.718 especially in New York with , you know , 07:50.718 --> 07:52.662 the high concentration of Hispanic 07:52.662 --> 07:55.190 people , we would get on their boat , 07:55.200 --> 07:58.019 you know , do it , like ask them for 07:58.109 --> 08:00.779 their life jackets and their flares and 08:00.790 --> 08:02.846 all that . So make sure that they're 08:02.846 --> 08:05.068 safe to be out in the water and some of 08:05.068 --> 08:07.068 these people that we would approach 08:07.068 --> 08:09.012 didn't speak much English . So you 08:09.012 --> 08:11.012 gonna have , even if you don't feel 08:11.012 --> 08:13.123 like , like for example , I , I don't 08:13.123 --> 08:15.179 feel like my speaking Spanish is the 08:15.179 --> 08:17.234 greatest , but I took that and I was 08:17.234 --> 08:19.401 like , ok , I'm one of two people here 08:19.401 --> 08:21.346 that can actually do this . So I'm 08:21.346 --> 08:23.346 gonna go ahead and take the job and 08:23.346 --> 08:25.512 then in doing that , it helped improve 08:25.512 --> 08:29.010 my Spanish speaking . And so it's just 08:29.019 --> 08:31.700 something that for me , for me , it 08:31.709 --> 08:34.000 felt uncomfortable because of , I felt 08:34.010 --> 08:36.010 like I had a lack of proficiency in 08:36.010 --> 08:38.669 Spanish . But then as I started doing 08:38.679 --> 08:40.846 it more , I got more comfortable doing 08:40.846 --> 08:43.123 it , more comfortable speaking Spanish . 08:43.123 --> 08:45.179 So , is this something that you just 08:45.179 --> 08:45.150 have to take these opportunities as 08:45.159 --> 08:46.937 they come and just don't escape 08:55.049 --> 08:56.520 back to ? Mhm . 08:59.909 --> 09:02.830 All right . Um I , like I tell my 09:02.840 --> 09:05.062 troops just take the chance , take care 09:05.062 --> 09:07.284 of yourself . Um If you don't take care 09:07.284 --> 09:09.562 of yourself , nobody else will , right ? 09:09.562 --> 09:11.729 Um Just take a chance in the end . You 09:11.729 --> 09:14.039 guys are so for you . So in the end 09:14.049 --> 09:16.049 it's just gonna be about who you're 09:16.049 --> 09:18.989 letting down , right ? Any , I mean , 09:19.000 --> 09:21.369 nobody else should matter but yourself 09:21.919 --> 09:24.252 because it's gonna be your life , right ? 09:24.252 --> 09:26.549 As a Hispanic . It's kind of hard . Um 09:27.390 --> 09:30.150 Right now I'm an instructor and I have 09:30.159 --> 09:32.409 a lot of Spanish speaking um , students 09:32.619 --> 09:34.909 and they're struggling with it but I 09:34.919 --> 09:36.975 know the language , I try to talk to 09:36.975 --> 09:39.030 them . You know , it's gonna be OK , 09:39.030 --> 09:41.252 they're having hard times leaving their 09:41.252 --> 09:42.975 families because you know , us 09:42.975 --> 09:45.197 Hispanics are all about family . But if 09:45.197 --> 09:47.419 you don't take care of yourself , who's 09:47.419 --> 09:49.419 gonna take care of your family . So 09:49.429 --> 09:50.762 take care of yourself . 09:57.340 --> 10:00.979 I put a moving into that same topic . 10:00.989 --> 10:02.933 So we talked a lot about the , the 10:02.933 --> 10:04.989 language disparity as well . So we , 10:04.989 --> 10:07.100 I'm glad you brought up um , our , us 10:07.100 --> 10:09.869 ourselves as service . Um , members of 10:09.880 --> 10:11.991 the military sometimes are Spanish if 10:11.991 --> 10:14.213 we don't practice it . We can lose that 10:14.213 --> 10:16.380 trait . Can any of you speak on um any 10:16.380 --> 10:18.491 experiences or anything that you have 10:18.491 --> 10:20.491 seen in the service where since our 10:20.491 --> 10:22.436 culture is so strong and we want a 10:22.436 --> 10:25.130 community . Um most of the time , have 10:25.140 --> 10:27.739 you seen any situations where because 10:27.750 --> 10:30.650 uh Latino Spanish isn't the best that 10:30.659 --> 10:32.826 they're outcasted by the other Latinos 10:32.826 --> 10:34.381 in that same organization . 10:42.309 --> 10:44.559 OK . So I've had a couple of 10:44.570 --> 10:47.200 experiences with this . Um And 10:47.210 --> 10:51.010 sometimes for insecurity , I know um a 10:51.020 --> 10:53.140 lot of people when I first introduced 10:53.590 --> 10:55.989 like it . So you introduce myself like , 10:56.000 --> 10:58.000 oh why don't you , you know , speak 10:58.000 --> 11:00.167 Spanish talk , talk to me in Spanish . 11:00.167 --> 11:02.333 I'm like , oh , I , you know , I don't 11:02.333 --> 11:04.556 feel comfortable . I'm not the greatest 11:04.556 --> 11:04.460 and that's my bad and that's my , my 11:04.469 --> 11:07.750 fault . Um And they're like , oh , why 11:07.760 --> 11:09.929 don't you want to , you see it as a 11:09.940 --> 11:12.107 that I'm not grateful to be Hispanic , 11:12.107 --> 11:15.799 which is not . Um I'm actually 11:16.960 --> 11:20.190 because of my parents and how much they 11:20.200 --> 11:22.422 wanted for me . It's the reason why I'm 11:22.422 --> 11:24.760 here . I would not have been here . 11:24.770 --> 11:26.937 I've gone as far as I can if it wasn't 11:26.937 --> 11:30.820 for them . So , um I know 11:33.000 --> 11:35.278 uh previously and I reported and I was , 11:35.278 --> 11:38.539 I've been the most , mostly joint 11:38.549 --> 11:41.330 bases . It was an army person and he 11:41.340 --> 11:43.609 was a Puerto Rican . Oh , you're Puerto 11:43.619 --> 11:45.786 Rican and he was questioning me like , 11:45.786 --> 11:48.119 where are you from ? Oh , you've Pereda . 11:48.390 --> 11:50.501 I never heard of her . No , no , no . 11:50.501 --> 11:52.668 Oh , you don't , you don't sound , you 11:52.668 --> 11:55.001 don't sound Puerto Rican . No , no , no . 11:55.001 --> 11:57.223 And I feel like I have to defend myself 11:57.223 --> 11:57.099 like I've actually only been to Puerto 11:57.109 --> 12:00.900 Rico twice . Um It's hard to , you know , 12:00.909 --> 12:03.131 sometimes take leave and visit family . 12:03.131 --> 12:05.719 When I do visit family . I tend to 12:05.729 --> 12:09.119 visit the family um in the States first 12:09.130 --> 12:11.200 because they're closer relations and 12:11.210 --> 12:13.266 it's not because I don't like Puerto 12:13.266 --> 12:15.488 Rico . It's not because I'm not proud . 12:15.559 --> 12:18.140 So sometimes with other service members 12:18.150 --> 12:21.799 who are Hispanic or , you know , Puerto 12:21.809 --> 12:23.920 Rican because as we mentioned earlier 12:23.920 --> 12:26.031 is really good pride . I'm not Puerto 12:26.031 --> 12:30.010 Rican enough . Whereas sometimes with 12:30.020 --> 12:33.419 my counterpart , they're like , oh , 12:34.020 --> 12:36.298 you know , Spanish , it's easy for you . 12:36.298 --> 12:38.076 Actually , Spanish is my second 12:38.076 --> 12:40.380 language . I know when I , I've gone to 12:40.390 --> 12:42.501 Spanish classes , they're like , what 12:42.501 --> 12:44.501 are you here for ? Well , you don't 12:44.501 --> 12:44.369 need , you don't need to do a Spanish 12:44.380 --> 12:46.436 class . And I'm like , yeah , that's 12:46.436 --> 12:48.380 Spanish is my second language when 12:48.380 --> 12:50.213 reporting . Oh , you're a native 12:50.213 --> 12:49.950 speaker . No , I'm not a native speaker . 12:49.960 --> 12:51.904 I'm a heritage speaker . There's a 12:51.904 --> 12:54.016 difference . I do have a leg up . I'm 12:54.016 --> 12:56.182 not gonna deny that I'm really happy . 12:56.182 --> 12:58.293 I have a leg up . Um But no , it , it 12:58.293 --> 13:00.659 is something I have to study on . I 13:00.669 --> 13:04.440 have to do youtube's 13:04.450 --> 13:07.210 podcast , the Spanish that I was used 13:07.219 --> 13:10.200 to growing up . It's not what I get 13:10.210 --> 13:13.049 tested on for pay scale . It's not 13:13.059 --> 13:15.400 exactly what I'm used to for at work . 13:15.809 --> 13:17.809 Most Caribbean Spanish is different 13:17.809 --> 13:20.031 than Central American Spanish . There's 13:20.031 --> 13:22.142 different phrases . I just don't know 13:22.142 --> 13:24.309 everything because I could have rolled 13:24.309 --> 13:27.719 my Rs easier than you . So , um 13:27.729 --> 13:30.007 sometimes with other Hispanic memorial , 13:30.007 --> 13:32.062 I'll say I , I , sometimes I have to 13:32.062 --> 13:34.739 defend myself why I don't speak well or 13:34.780 --> 13:36.836 why I haven't spent a lot of time in 13:36.836 --> 13:40.450 Puerto Rico . So that's just 13:40.739 --> 13:42.295 some things I've run into . 13:47.690 --> 13:49.770 OK , thank you for sharing that . I 13:49.780 --> 13:51.891 know that's something that most um is 13:51.891 --> 13:54.113 not talked about in the Latin culture . 13:54.113 --> 13:56.336 Um But it's definitely something that I 13:56.336 --> 13:58.391 have seen and experienced . So thank 13:58.391 --> 14:00.613 you for sharing your experience with us 14:00.613 --> 14:02.669 with that . Did you have that ? I do 14:02.669 --> 14:04.724 wanna say uh I did have an encounter 14:04.724 --> 14:06.780 where I kind of saw it happening but 14:06.780 --> 14:10.400 not with uh the same culture . So 14:10.650 --> 14:14.440 back when I was in 82nd , uh we 14:14.450 --> 14:17.159 had a jump master who was of Hispanic 14:17.169 --> 14:20.039 descent and he had a thick accent and 14:20.049 --> 14:22.216 people around there , they will always 14:22.216 --> 14:24.438 say , oh , I don't want that job master 14:24.438 --> 14:26.271 to breath basically the terrible 14:26.271 --> 14:28.549 operation or uh the basic free jump up . 14:28.549 --> 14:31.349 Um And as soon as me and my other uh 14:31.359 --> 14:33.526 soldiers were there , we heard that we 14:33.526 --> 14:35.581 were like , no , we want that , that 14:35.581 --> 14:37.748 master to say like even if you don't , 14:37.748 --> 14:39.859 if you don't understand , they ask us 14:39.859 --> 14:39.520 and we're gonna say what he means 14:40.010 --> 14:43.619 because I think you shouldn't put down 14:43.630 --> 14:45.630 a person , a person is skilled . He 14:45.630 --> 14:47.852 went to the school , he's certified and 14:47.852 --> 14:49.852 he knows what he's doing , he knows 14:49.852 --> 14:49.840 what he's breathing . If you have a 14:49.849 --> 14:52.071 problem understanding it , just ask the 14:52.071 --> 14:56.070 question . Ok , thank you 14:56.080 --> 14:58.809 so much . And then for , um , you too , 14:58.820 --> 15:01.150 I just want to ask um , for you all as 15:01.200 --> 15:04.140 female Latinas in the United States 15:04.150 --> 15:06.510 Armed Forces . Um , have you had to 15:06.520 --> 15:09.659 overcome or dealt with any obstacles as 15:09.669 --> 15:12.489 far as not only being Hispanic but also 15:12.500 --> 15:15.549 being a female and having to level , 15:15.559 --> 15:17.690 level up yourself or even measure 15:17.700 --> 15:19.367 yourself up against your male 15:19.369 --> 15:21.202 counterparts when trying to be a 15:21.202 --> 15:23.202 professional in the United States . 15:24.340 --> 15:27.640 Good question . Any times 15:29.739 --> 15:33.580 that , yeah . All right . 15:35.080 --> 15:38.659 Um I think uh this has been mentioned 15:38.669 --> 15:40.940 several times for other speakers and 15:40.950 --> 15:44.590 panels . I definitely , the 15:44.599 --> 15:47.250 culture females are a little bit taught 15:47.260 --> 15:49.630 to be a little bit more p uh permissive 15:49.640 --> 15:53.200 and gentle and growing up , 15:54.140 --> 15:56.969 I was blessed enough to be like a 15:56.979 --> 15:59.146 little bit sheltered . My parents were 15:59.146 --> 16:01.146 sheltered me , definitely different 16:01.146 --> 16:03.368 roles for me and my brother . So when I 16:03.368 --> 16:06.309 joined , it was tough for me to speak 16:06.320 --> 16:08.710 up or to challenge or to , to speak to 16:08.719 --> 16:10.775 authority because I was taught , you 16:10.775 --> 16:13.130 don't do that , you will get it back in . 16:13.140 --> 16:15.473 You do not speak to authority like that . 16:15.473 --> 16:17.696 You don't speak to authority pop back . 16:18.429 --> 16:21.849 Um And then trying to overcorrect 16:21.859 --> 16:24.640 that , trying to correct that sometimes 16:24.650 --> 16:27.390 I I went from being permissive to being 16:27.409 --> 16:29.940 aggressive , which is different than 16:29.950 --> 16:32.809 standing up for yourself . And I was 16:32.820 --> 16:36.090 wondering even though I was bringing up 16:36.099 --> 16:38.520 valid topics , why it was being 16:38.530 --> 16:40.641 rejected and it wasn't because of the 16:40.641 --> 16:43.489 topic but how I was delivering it . 16:45.179 --> 16:47.401 So I've learned that's something I have 16:47.401 --> 16:49.512 to learn to deal with because it , it 16:49.512 --> 16:51.735 could be seen as being too machismo . I 16:51.735 --> 16:54.068 went from one end to the other spectrum . 16:54.068 --> 16:57.849 It's usually where I live . Um But 16:58.559 --> 17:00.781 so trying to find that balance , trying 17:00.781 --> 17:03.059 to my boys how to deliver it correctly . 17:04.649 --> 17:07.578 It was mentioned before the female face . 17:07.588 --> 17:10.178 The I don't know if everyone knows the 17:10.188 --> 17:13.529 RBF face . I heard that from my mom 17:13.718 --> 17:16.859 military solidified that strong . We 17:16.869 --> 17:18.980 always ask , you know , why , why are 17:18.980 --> 17:21.202 you upset ? I'm not upset . Why are you 17:21.202 --> 17:23.147 upset ? I'm not said , why are you 17:23.147 --> 17:25.202 upset ? See you're upset because you 17:25.202 --> 17:27.369 asked me five times on my own and what 17:27.369 --> 17:30.469 are you upset ? Um Yeah , I mean , it's 17:30.560 --> 17:34.020 valid . Uh So RB fa S 17:34.030 --> 17:36.500 I've been approached to that a lot . I 17:36.510 --> 17:39.199 try some days remember to smile 17:40.599 --> 17:43.770 sometimes I don't want to , I many 17:43.780 --> 17:46.900 times in the military and outside . Why 17:46.910 --> 17:48.688 don't you smile ? Well , look , 17:48.688 --> 17:50.910 something's pretty . If you smile , why 17:50.910 --> 17:52.799 don't you smile ? I've got random 17:52.799 --> 17:55.089 stranger walking . You walk like your 17:55.099 --> 17:57.210 purpose . You did when you stopped me 17:57.210 --> 18:00.089 to say that . Thank you . Um 18:01.709 --> 18:04.540 Hot , hot temper . What ? No , no . Um 18:05.229 --> 18:08.199 So Yeah , I know when I get upset 18:08.209 --> 18:10.153 compared to when a guy get upset , 18:10.153 --> 18:12.579 typically it's , oh , she's feisty 18:13.560 --> 18:16.719 or she's passionate and need to 18:16.729 --> 18:19.469 describe him me up for a little bit . 18:19.479 --> 18:22.109 I'm like , I really , I'm , I'm upset . 18:23.359 --> 18:25.581 Like if this happened to you , you'd be 18:25.581 --> 18:27.637 upset , right ? So how come when I'm 18:27.637 --> 18:29.859 expressing it ? You're saying , oh , no 18:29.859 --> 18:33.680 need to come down or you're , oh , 18:33.689 --> 18:35.911 you're just , you're being passionate , 18:35.911 --> 18:37.800 you're being feisty . It's Latina 18:37.800 --> 18:39.633 coming out like , no , I'm upset 18:39.633 --> 18:42.400 because I'm angry . Very so and saying 18:42.410 --> 18:44.550 trying to be dismissive of it only 18:44.560 --> 18:47.790 makes me more upset . And if I tear up , 18:47.800 --> 18:50.022 it's not because I'm sad . It's because 18:50.022 --> 18:52.244 murder is illegal . That makes me sad . 18:53.099 --> 18:56.189 So , you know what I'm talking about ? 18:56.199 --> 18:58.969 You're laughing because you know , so 18:58.979 --> 19:01.849 uh I , I think as a female that as a 19:01.859 --> 19:04.650 Hispanic Latina in the military that , 19:04.739 --> 19:07.469 that comes up a lot . So you gotta be 19:07.479 --> 19:11.010 careful how you 19:11.430 --> 19:13.810 disagree or approach something because 19:14.290 --> 19:18.170 you wanna seem as whatever 19:18.180 --> 19:20.910 terminology uh other than what it 19:20.920 --> 19:24.260 rightfully is upset . So , yeah . 19:28.219 --> 19:32.170 Oh man . Well , when I got 19:32.180 --> 19:34.560 in , um my dad had told me no , you're 19:34.569 --> 19:36.902 not coming in . I'm like , oh OK , cool . 19:37.670 --> 19:39.614 And then like , oh , where are you 19:39.614 --> 19:41.503 going ? Oh , I'm going in . I , I 19:41.503 --> 19:43.726 signed the paper already . I'm 18 , I'm 19:43.726 --> 19:45.781 out and he's like , oh , what do you 19:45.781 --> 19:47.948 mean you're under my roof ? You know , 19:47.948 --> 19:50.459 Mexicans , you know , Matt um Machista , 19:50.469 --> 19:52.580 right . I'd be like , no , you're not 19:52.580 --> 19:54.913 going anywhere . And like , ok , I left , 19:54.913 --> 19:57.020 I left in May . I , I told him in 19:57.030 --> 20:00.339 January and , and I left in May and 20:00.349 --> 20:02.516 he's like , oh , you're not real , I'm 20:02.516 --> 20:04.682 like , oh , ok , cool . 17 years later 20:04.682 --> 20:06.905 I'm still here and every time I go home 20:06.905 --> 20:09.300 it's like , um , you can't go out . I'm 20:09.310 --> 20:12.199 like , I don't live here no more , 20:13.170 --> 20:15.337 you know , as a , as a female we still 20:15.337 --> 20:17.650 get treated like , oh , we're too soft . 20:17.699 --> 20:21.050 But , um , I've met so many soft guys 20:21.060 --> 20:24.510 my times and 20:24.520 --> 20:26.687 unfortunately I , then he's looking at 20:26.687 --> 20:30.589 me . Um , I've met a lot of , um , 20:31.410 --> 20:34.680 higher ups pros and cons , right . They 20:34.689 --> 20:36.967 take care of the females more but they , 20:36.967 --> 20:39.089 they think we're softer , you know , 20:39.099 --> 20:41.099 we'll take advantage of that . It's 20:41.099 --> 20:44.589 cool . Um , but I'll be there 20:46.290 --> 20:48.401 but , uh , you know , a female in the 20:48.401 --> 20:50.623 military and it has its pros and cons . 20:50.623 --> 20:52.790 So you have to be taken care of more . 20:52.790 --> 20:55.510 Um , you have to take care of yourself 20:55.520 --> 20:57.576 more . You gotta watch yourself more 20:57.579 --> 21:00.349 what you say , what you can't say . Um , 21:00.780 --> 21:02.979 anything can be held it , I guess it's 21:02.989 --> 21:05.709 in both of genders , you know , but it 21:05.719 --> 21:08.339 hasn't been that hard for me . I don't 21:08.349 --> 21:09.571 get mad that easily . 21:13.609 --> 21:15.665 I like what you said . Uh , so we do 21:15.665 --> 21:17.776 have to take care of ourselves and so 21:17.776 --> 21:19.998 now I wanna take a moment and switch it 21:19.998 --> 21:22.109 over to youtube and talk about mental 21:22.109 --> 21:25.060 health and how often it is uh 21:25.489 --> 21:27.900 easily put in , put in the back burner 21:27.910 --> 21:31.310 by Hispanic men to seek 21:31.319 --> 21:33.430 help and specifically mental health . 21:33.430 --> 21:35.430 And if you've personally seen it in 21:35.430 --> 21:37.540 your unit to share , um of course , 21:37.550 --> 21:39.550 once they're done , if you have any 21:39.550 --> 21:42.770 examples for sure , share . Right . So 21:45.119 --> 21:47.341 I don't think it's only with , with the 21:47.341 --> 21:49.675 Hispanic community , but men in general , 21:49.675 --> 21:52.300 they always have that idea that they 21:52.310 --> 21:54.609 can't really show that side . They just 21:54.619 --> 21:56.989 gotta keep moving , keep moving forward 21:57.000 --> 22:00.829 and be that uh that force 22:00.839 --> 22:03.130 and that nothing , nothing is really 22:03.140 --> 22:05.599 happening to you . But you do have to 22:05.609 --> 22:07.776 take a knee , you do have to take some 22:07.776 --> 22:09.887 time for yourself um and take care of 22:09.887 --> 22:13.689 yourself . Um And sometimes it's 22:13.699 --> 22:17.699 hard to , at least for me to find 22:17.709 --> 22:20.359 somebody to talk about those things . 22:20.780 --> 22:24.599 Um But yeah , I 22:24.609 --> 22:28.099 think having somebody back at home is 22:28.109 --> 22:30.829 probably the best thing uh because I'm , 22:31.420 --> 22:33.900 I'm probably when I talk about my , my 22:33.910 --> 22:36.243 issues , I'm talking to them in Spanish . 22:36.243 --> 22:38.410 I cannot be translating those problems 22:38.410 --> 22:40.410 to them in English . I'm gonna tell 22:40.410 --> 22:44.260 them in Spanish they have going on . Um 22:44.670 --> 22:46.800 But I do think you gotta find that 22:46.810 --> 22:48.866 person you , you comfortable with to 22:48.866 --> 22:51.729 actually uh debrief and take a meet 22:52.369 --> 22:52.939 rebound . 22:58.410 --> 23:01.069 OK . Yeah . So I personally growing up , 23:01.079 --> 23:03.709 I find it hard to reach out and seek 23:03.719 --> 23:05.830 help simply because of the way that I 23:05.830 --> 23:08.052 was raised . It was kind of just like , 23:08.119 --> 23:10.286 don't cry , I'll give you something to 23:10.286 --> 23:12.452 cry about , kind of thing , you know . 23:12.452 --> 23:15.550 So it kind of just that kind of molded 23:15.560 --> 23:18.000 my brain in , into a way that it's kind 23:18.010 --> 23:20.459 of like , you know , that's what my 23:20.469 --> 23:23.199 parents told me . So I'm just gonna not 23:23.219 --> 23:25.386 reach out . There's no , there's , I'm 23:25.386 --> 23:27.608 just gonna keep it to myself . I'll get 23:27.608 --> 23:29.989 through it , stuff like that . But 23:30.089 --> 23:33.079 personally , like , I , I haven't 23:33.469 --> 23:36.750 because my exposure to um 23:38.199 --> 23:40.739 like Latinos in the Coast Guard has 23:40.750 --> 23:42.861 been quite small because if I've only 23:42.861 --> 23:46.510 been two places so I can't really 23:46.520 --> 23:49.859 speak on them . But oh 23:51.150 --> 23:53.150 yeah , for , for me , it was , it's 23:53.150 --> 23:55.290 kind of hard to reach out sometimes . 23:55.530 --> 23:57.697 But I , now that I'm getting older and 23:57.697 --> 24:00.459 I'm kind of understanding like you 24:00.469 --> 24:02.525 shouldn't be hiding these emotions . 24:02.525 --> 24:04.636 Like if you feel some c if you feel a 24:04.636 --> 24:06.525 certain way you gotta reach out , 24:06.525 --> 24:08.691 whether it's , whether it be to your , 24:08.691 --> 24:11.380 you know , senior listed person or , or 24:11.520 --> 24:13.742 somebody who works above you , somebody 24:13.742 --> 24:15.853 in your rank or something like that , 24:15.853 --> 24:18.020 it's always just safe to reach out and 24:18.020 --> 24:17.390 just let them know what's going on . 24:24.160 --> 24:26.660 Uh I would say I was also raised that 24:26.880 --> 24:29.130 you don't talk about your issues , you 24:29.140 --> 24:31.430 don't talk to other family and then 24:31.439 --> 24:33.550 when you're in the family , you don't 24:33.550 --> 24:35.661 talk about your issues , you don't go 24:35.661 --> 24:37.717 see someone for mental health that's 24:37.717 --> 24:39.995 not done . If you're sad , get over it . 24:39.995 --> 24:42.106 It'll be better next day . No , doubt 24:42.650 --> 24:45.579 other people have it worse . No , 24:45.859 --> 24:47.970 that'll be brought up a lot and , you 24:47.970 --> 24:50.026 know , she cry and stuff too to , or 24:50.026 --> 24:52.081 like you , like you said , I'll give 24:52.081 --> 24:55.760 you something to about . Um , and as 24:55.770 --> 24:57.826 much as my love , my parents is also 24:57.826 --> 24:59.770 some of the people who will trauma 24:59.770 --> 25:02.048 jumped into strangers their whole life . 25:02.048 --> 25:04.270 So , obviously holding it in is not the 25:04.270 --> 25:07.949 healthiest thing . Um , if you 25:07.979 --> 25:09.923 hold it in forever , you try to be 25:09.923 --> 25:12.199 resilient without seeking any kind of 25:12.209 --> 25:14.500 help or support . Whether it be a 25:14.510 --> 25:18.319 friend , uh , Asian 25:18.329 --> 25:21.209 name , um , Airman or whatever , a 25:21.219 --> 25:24.829 coworker supervisor , it's gonna eat 25:24.839 --> 25:27.709 you down way at you . It's gonna , it's 25:27.719 --> 25:30.550 gonna wear you down , you're gonna see 25:30.560 --> 25:33.239 it . I have gray hairs . Yes , it's 25:33.250 --> 25:36.949 hereditary also . Stress . Um , it , it 25:36.959 --> 25:40.329 does . I remember in boot camp my 25:40.339 --> 25:42.859 company commander said when you go to 25:42.869 --> 25:46.180 work , how much do you give ? And I was 25:46.189 --> 25:49.189 like 100% 110% or no , 25:49.890 --> 25:52.260 give like 75% . So if you give 100 and 25:52.270 --> 25:55.109 10% 100% you'll burn out . 25:56.459 --> 25:58.515 You give everything to the job . You 25:58.515 --> 26:00.681 don't have anything for yourself . But 26:00.839 --> 26:02.728 if you survive until retirement , 26:02.728 --> 26:04.839 that's your plan . What are you gonna 26:04.839 --> 26:06.728 do afterwards ? I've seen so many 26:06.728 --> 26:08.900 people retire and then they have 26:09.430 --> 26:13.209 nothing afterwards . Some , 26:13.520 --> 26:15.742 they've had families and they lost them 26:15.742 --> 26:18.349 for divorce or whatever reason . 26:19.729 --> 26:23.439 Um , whatever your plan is , it's for 26:23.709 --> 26:25.542 your own . But it's good to have 26:25.542 --> 26:28.000 someone to talk to . Whether again a 26:28.010 --> 26:30.066 friend or a mental professional , it 26:30.066 --> 26:32.449 doesn't make you weak , it doesn't make 26:32.459 --> 26:34.681 you crazy . It takes a strong person to 26:34.681 --> 26:37.540 ask for help . So don't forget that . 26:37.890 --> 26:40.930 And if someone tries to tell you 26:40.939 --> 26:42.717 differently , honestly , that's 26:42.717 --> 26:44.717 probably they have some issues they 26:44.717 --> 26:46.883 need to talk about . Like , what , why 26:46.883 --> 26:48.939 is it so upsetting for them that you 26:48.939 --> 26:51.369 seek help ? So don't let anyone tell 26:51.380 --> 26:53.324 you not to get help whether it's a 26:53.324 --> 26:56.079 loved one or not or no , it's , it's 26:56.089 --> 26:57.867 only a car goes , goes in for a 26:57.867 --> 27:01.739 mechanic watching you . We're 27:01.750 --> 27:05.109 human beings between either our own 27:05.119 --> 27:07.341 families and then our military family . 27:07.341 --> 27:10.890 Sometimes it's hard to juggle and 27:11.609 --> 27:13.553 sometimes you need to pop that out 27:21.329 --> 27:24.849 who has been in um like back in the day , 27:24.859 --> 27:27.026 like not , not saying like last year , 27:27.520 --> 27:29.520 any of you have been in at least 10 27:29.520 --> 27:32.920 years . Ok . No , we don't have that 27:32.930 --> 27:35.170 money , right ? OK . You guys remember 27:35.180 --> 27:37.670 how it used to be like , oh if you go 27:37.680 --> 27:39.640 and get help , you're gonna get in 27:39.650 --> 27:41.469 trouble or you're gonna have a 27:41.479 --> 27:44.770 percussion . That was a myth . So I 27:44.790 --> 27:48.369 heard I know but that was a myth 27:48.380 --> 27:50.880 because I , as a medical person , I've 27:50.890 --> 27:53.057 seen so many people not wanting to ask 27:53.057 --> 27:55.319 for help . However , that's , that's 27:55.329 --> 27:57.560 the worst you can do for yourself in 27:57.569 --> 27:59.569 the end . If you don't take care of 27:59.569 --> 28:03.270 yourself , who will , right ? Um Never , 28:03.680 --> 28:05.791 never hesitate to ask for help . Like 28:05.791 --> 28:07.736 she said , it does take a stronger 28:07.736 --> 28:09.847 person to ask for help and in the end 28:09.847 --> 28:12.060 it's you . Oh , if you just start 28:12.069 --> 28:15.599 thinking about , like , for me , I 28:15.609 --> 28:17.831 don't know . Eight years ago , 10 years 28:17.831 --> 28:20.339 ago I was going through a whole wreck , 28:20.349 --> 28:23.420 right . A meltdown . And nobody ever 28:23.430 --> 28:25.652 guessed it because I'm always happy . I 28:25.652 --> 28:27.541 don't even drink energy drinks or 28:27.541 --> 28:30.180 coffee . Whoa . And I'm wide hyped up 28:30.189 --> 28:32.150 every day and nobody would see the 28:32.160 --> 28:34.382 difference . I'm like , oh , no , but I 28:34.382 --> 28:36.510 used to held it in because I was born 28:36.520 --> 28:38.859 and raised by my parents and like , hey , 28:39.010 --> 28:41.177 there's nothing , you know , you'll be 28:41.177 --> 28:43.288 fine , you'll get through it . You're 28:43.288 --> 28:45.343 Mexican , right ? But in the end , I 28:45.343 --> 28:47.510 was like , you know what I need help , 28:47.510 --> 28:49.788 I went , talked to my supervisor . Hey , 28:49.788 --> 28:52.319 I need help . I know I know that 28:52.329 --> 28:54.989 getting in trouble is just , I live 28:55.000 --> 28:57.000 here but I'm medical and I'm on , I 28:57.000 --> 28:59.699 know where to get the um resources from . 28:59.709 --> 29:02.042 I went as help and now I'm here , right ? 29:02.042 --> 29:05.709 8 , 10 years later . But um trust me , 29:05.719 --> 29:07.830 if you need the help , go ask for the 29:07.830 --> 29:10.052 help , they will help you . It did help 29:10.052 --> 29:13.300 me 10 years later . I'm retiring . 29:15.189 --> 29:17.619 Oh , thank you . And then now I wanna 29:17.630 --> 29:19.352 open up for the audience . Any 29:19.352 --> 29:21.574 questions that you all may have for the 29:21.574 --> 29:21.000 panel right now ? 29:28.900 --> 29:31.910 Um I , I've seen everybody mother from 29:32.089 --> 29:36.060 uh CBL . Um My question for you all 29:36.069 --> 29:38.236 from different branches . How does our 29:38.319 --> 29:40.989 marriage reflect in all these different 29:41.000 --> 29:43.229 branches ? Branches ? I know the last 29:43.239 --> 29:45.790 time they said like the army holds most 29:45.800 --> 29:49.209 of our Hispanic apart . So what have 29:49.219 --> 29:51.330 you seen in like different branches ? 29:51.330 --> 29:53.441 And how does that like help with us ? 29:53.441 --> 29:55.497 Like intermingling with each other ? 29:57.099 --> 29:59.949 And I'm gonna say that I do get hyped 29:59.959 --> 30:02.310 up when I go to a new unit and like I 30:02.319 --> 30:04.810 see Hispanics all out . I'm like , yo , 30:06.199 --> 30:10.160 it's gonna be good . Um But I think , 30:11.319 --> 30:13.930 I think we could do better . Personally , 30:13.939 --> 30:15.717 I wanna commission be a company 30:15.717 --> 30:17.772 commander somewhere . All my company 30:17.772 --> 30:19.995 commanders , they have not , I have not 30:19.995 --> 30:22.217 have a Hispanic company commander yet . 30:22.217 --> 30:25.459 Um I've met some uh 30:25.589 --> 30:28.979 Hispanic uh job masters . Um I've met 30:28.989 --> 30:31.579 some , I think we just got it better . 30:31.589 --> 30:33.645 Like I think we could get there . We 30:33.645 --> 30:35.867 just got a rile up again . Like here we 30:35.867 --> 30:37.978 get a , get a comedy that a committee 30:37.978 --> 30:40.430 here and basically we gotta be 30:40.569 --> 30:42.719 everywhere we can , you see they're 30:42.729 --> 30:45.770 doing that one thing that you see , we 30:45.780 --> 30:47.724 lack of like if we need people , I 30:47.724 --> 30:49.724 don't know more people in the Coast 30:49.724 --> 30:52.420 Guard Navy Air Force . I mean , I might , 30:52.880 --> 30:55.410 I might be class rebranched . I'll do 30:55.420 --> 30:55.680 it 31:02.959 --> 31:05.070 um from the units that I've been in . 31:05.070 --> 31:07.126 I'm lucky enough that there's been a 31:07.126 --> 31:09.070 lot of Hispanics , a lot of Puerto 31:09.070 --> 31:12.290 Ricans , um Lots of Mexicans , Costa 31:12.300 --> 31:15.430 Rican . I've been lucky to see 31:16.709 --> 31:19.910 a good number is still not the majority , 31:19.920 --> 31:22.142 but yeah , still a good number . I will 31:22.142 --> 31:25.869 say I've seen less in higher ranking 31:25.880 --> 31:28.369 positions that I would like to see more 31:28.380 --> 31:31.550 of and especially high ranking 31:31.640 --> 31:34.469 Hispanic women . I don't see much of . 31:35.670 --> 31:38.550 Um I know once I went , I went underway , 31:38.560 --> 31:42.209 we had a need six meeting . Uh when I 31:42.219 --> 31:44.449 go on a vote , it's our team . So we're 31:44.459 --> 31:47.180 not part of the permanent party and 31:47.189 --> 31:49.411 there was just females , not even being 31:49.411 --> 31:51.300 Hispanic . There's only one other 31:51.300 --> 31:53.880 female there and we were approaching 31:53.890 --> 31:57.089 serious issues that were occurring and 31:57.099 --> 32:01.050 it was the rest was all males . And 32:01.060 --> 32:04.839 it was , I remember it was a about of 32:04.920 --> 32:07.579 rumors going on about the poor call 32:07.670 --> 32:09.699 about a female being passed around 32:11.609 --> 32:13.776 and it's insane because they're like , 32:13.776 --> 32:17.189 oh maybe we need more , we need more of 32:17.199 --> 32:20.209 our first class to hang out and monitor 32:20.219 --> 32:22.219 people and everything and stuff and 32:22.469 --> 32:24.580 somewhere like maybe people shouldn't 32:24.580 --> 32:26.636 be saying rumors , maybe they should 32:26.636 --> 32:28.858 just keeping their mouth shut . I don't 32:28.858 --> 32:28.530 think that the the right approach you 32:28.540 --> 32:30.540 should say there , that's a serious 32:30.540 --> 32:34.500 rumor , they should be taken care of 32:34.689 --> 32:36.540 and rumors are rumors and then 32:36.550 --> 32:38.494 sometimes rumors are based in some 32:38.494 --> 32:42.170 facts . Um And the fact that that was 32:42.180 --> 32:44.400 brought up not through the chain of 32:44.410 --> 32:47.939 command was was 32:47.949 --> 32:50.849 also an issue too . It , it meant that 32:51.469 --> 32:53.413 whoever did brought up didn't feel 32:53.413 --> 32:55.750 comfortable . So maybe having more 32:56.750 --> 33:00.589 Hispanics or females in 33:00.599 --> 33:02.710 those leader , leadership positions , 33:02.710 --> 33:04.655 people would feel more comfortable 33:04.655 --> 33:07.930 about bringing up some of these , these 33:07.939 --> 33:09.717 difficult issues , whether it's 33:09.717 --> 33:11.995 themselves or regarding something else . 33:14.540 --> 33:16.762 Yeah , I feel , I feel like for me , um 33:16.762 --> 33:18.979 like one time I took a Atuy deployment 33:18.989 --> 33:22.099 down to Key West and I'm coming from 33:22.650 --> 33:24.650 the station in New York and there's 33:24.650 --> 33:27.979 what , maybe 20 people there in total 33:28.229 --> 33:30.969 and then two including me speak Spanish . 33:31.410 --> 33:33.930 So I go down there and then there's a 33:33.939 --> 33:36.050 pretty large group of coast these who 33:36.050 --> 33:38.106 are speaking Spanish and you kind of 33:38.106 --> 33:40.383 just like kind of just mingle in there , 33:40.383 --> 33:42.495 you know , say hi , start introducing 33:42.495 --> 33:44.661 yourself . And then that's where the , 33:44.661 --> 33:46.495 the , the ca camaraderie and the 33:46.495 --> 33:48.828 brother , the brotherhood kind of forms . 33:48.828 --> 33:51.380 It's kind of like these larger uh 33:51.390 --> 33:54.400 masses of like , at least for me in the 33:54.410 --> 33:56.521 Coast Guard , it's kind of like these 33:56.521 --> 33:58.521 larger masses like here , there's a 33:58.521 --> 34:00.854 good amount of people who speak Spanish . 34:00.854 --> 34:00.849 So it's kind of like something I'm very 34:00.859 --> 34:03.410 comfortable with . So , um 34:05.300 --> 34:07.467 yeah , that , that's how I can speak . 34:16.050 --> 34:18.629 Well , fortunately for me , I have had 34:18.639 --> 34:20.590 a lot of uh Latinos in the medical 34:20.600 --> 34:24.439 field . Um Let's see , but , you know , 34:24.449 --> 34:27.500 it has its pros and people that don't 34:27.510 --> 34:30.110 know Spanish , it just start speaking 34:30.120 --> 34:32.120 language and they don't have a clue 34:32.120 --> 34:34.176 what you're saying . That's the best 34:34.176 --> 34:36.287 part . Uh you could talk whatever you 34:36.287 --> 34:38.540 want , whatever you want as long as 34:38.550 --> 34:42.149 it's professional . Um But I would 34:42.159 --> 34:45.870 love to see more um Arabs Hispanics 34:45.879 --> 34:47.101 like yourself , man , 34:49.959 --> 34:53.330 right ? But let me thank you so much . 34:53.340 --> 34:56.309 I have we have one more question . Hey , 34:56.319 --> 34:58.430 so I'm sorry , now I'm the one that's 34:58.430 --> 35:00.486 been reaching out to the email , but 35:00.486 --> 35:02.708 first and foremost thing for showing up 35:02.708 --> 35:04.708 and for being panel members and you 35:04.708 --> 35:06.739 know , giving awesome the awesome 35:06.749 --> 35:08.860 amount of time that you have . Um But 35:08.860 --> 35:11.178 since we have for the most part of uh 35:11.188 --> 35:13.355 the majority of our service branches , 35:13.355 --> 35:15.410 president or at least half , I would 35:15.410 --> 35:18.350 say , how would you say we can more 35:18.360 --> 35:20.699 effectively attack barriers that are 35:20.709 --> 35:23.860 present throughout the service branches ? 35:23.870 --> 35:26.092 Right ? So obviously , events like this 35:26.092 --> 35:28.314 kind of bring us together to be able to 35:28.314 --> 35:30.600 speak and , and feel the wavelength 35:30.610 --> 35:33.639 across the dod , how do we do that on a 35:33.649 --> 35:37.080 more consistent basis ? And at , I 35:37.090 --> 35:39.201 would almost say at lower levels . So 35:39.201 --> 35:40.959 as time progresses , we can 35:40.969 --> 35:44.159 consistently attack those barriers or 35:44.169 --> 35:48.090 problems . I 35:48.100 --> 35:50.459 think oops , I think uh 35:51.870 --> 35:54.729 well , coming here to uh J BS A is the 35:54.739 --> 35:56.959 first time therapy . I think that 35:56.969 --> 36:00.459 should be at least an introduction in 36:00.469 --> 36:04.300 every base through processing somebody 36:04.310 --> 36:07.080 should breathe on the heat . Uh That 36:07.090 --> 36:09.449 way it could be disseminated the first 36:09.459 --> 36:11.681 day you get in . So you don't feel like 36:11.681 --> 36:13.903 whoa , you got the place . I don't know 36:13.903 --> 36:16.070 nobody about it , but the best way and 36:16.070 --> 36:17.681 easiest way to get it done , 36:20.449 --> 36:22.671 kind of like the booster club , right ? 36:22.671 --> 36:24.782 Everybody knows about the boo booster 36:24.782 --> 36:26.838 club . Right . That's like something 36:26.838 --> 36:29.005 that we already know we should make it 36:29.005 --> 36:28.899 an official one . I don't know if it's 36:28.909 --> 36:31.020 official . I don't know . This is the 36:31.020 --> 36:33.020 first time I've ever heard of ID as 36:33.020 --> 36:35.076 well . And , um , I just got here in 36:35.076 --> 36:37.353 October so I didn't even know about it . 36:37.353 --> 36:36.600 But once I saw the flyer I was like , 36:36.610 --> 36:38.610 ok , let me check this out . Um , I 36:38.610 --> 36:40.832 think it should be like an official for 36:40.832 --> 36:43.060 a nonprofit if it could be possible . 36:51.020 --> 36:53.870 Uh Yeah , I mean , for , for me , when 36:53.879 --> 36:55.990 I was in , this is more of like a New 36:55.990 --> 36:57.879 York thing in New York . I really 36:57.879 --> 36:59.823 didn't see anything like this over 36:59.823 --> 37:02.810 there . So , and it's , it's kinda nice 37:02.820 --> 37:05.330 to see like , you know , more like a , 37:05.340 --> 37:07.639 a coast guard person sitting here with 37:07.649 --> 37:09.705 the Air force and army people . It's 37:09.705 --> 37:11.816 really nice to see that we're kind of 37:11.816 --> 37:13.705 building like a brotherhood and a 37:13.705 --> 37:15.927 sisterhood of , you know , the Hispanic 37:15.927 --> 37:19.090 Latino population in the military . So 37:19.100 --> 37:22.919 I guess something , I don't know how it 37:22.929 --> 37:25.151 could be done , but kind of like spread 37:25.151 --> 37:27.379 that word out around to see because I'm 37:27.389 --> 37:29.445 not sure how many other branches are 37:29.445 --> 37:31.879 stationed in the New York area , but 37:32.459 --> 37:35.860 maybe like , send a message to , you 37:35.870 --> 37:38.037 know , the commanders and the captains 37:38.037 --> 37:40.219 of the people in charge of these units 37:40.229 --> 37:42.396 around those areas . Maybe see if they 37:42.396 --> 37:44.562 can get together or designate somebody 37:44.562 --> 37:46.173 like spread it around more . 37:52.129 --> 37:55.379 Um I think what you mentioned is 37:56.129 --> 37:58.018 pretty much on point , like maybe 37:58.018 --> 38:01.469 having a loc more local team . This is 38:01.479 --> 38:03.646 the first time I've heard about Heat . 38:03.646 --> 38:06.550 Um I know for instance , Command , we 38:06.560 --> 38:08.870 have a morale and like a leadership 38:08.879 --> 38:12.229 committee and we do celebrate 38:12.929 --> 38:15.679 different cultures when the month comes 38:15.689 --> 38:17.745 up . There is something I didn't , I 38:17.745 --> 38:19.856 haven't done in , in previous units . 38:20.610 --> 38:22.832 Um We get this opportunity here , which 38:22.832 --> 38:25.949 is a lot of people don't where we work 38:25.959 --> 38:27.848 with different services and we're 38:27.848 --> 38:29.903 invited to them . And that's a great 38:29.903 --> 38:32.080 opportunity to see what other programs 38:32.439 --> 38:34.606 the different service has and maybe if 38:34.606 --> 38:36.717 we can implement them for ourselves . 38:37.810 --> 38:41.350 But I think another thing is broaching 38:41.919 --> 38:44.310 recruiting when you first get in . I 38:44.320 --> 38:46.487 think it was I mentioned before when , 38:46.487 --> 38:48.376 when I got in , it was my dad who 38:48.376 --> 38:50.542 brought me to the River Green office . 38:50.542 --> 38:52.764 He was . He , he always wanted to serve 38:52.764 --> 38:54.987 and he couldn't , he brought my brother 38:54.987 --> 38:57.098 and he brought his , his brother in . 38:57.098 --> 38:59.098 Honestly , the government should be 38:59.098 --> 39:01.264 pairing for recruiters . But um yeah , 39:01.264 --> 39:03.264 he , he had questions and I've seen 39:03.264 --> 39:05.399 multiple times either I was in the 39:05.409 --> 39:07.353 recruiting office in passing after 39:07.353 --> 39:11.010 joining or I was actually at a 39:11.020 --> 39:14.270 Hispanic concert event in Florida and 39:14.280 --> 39:16.502 there was a coast guard booth and there 39:16.502 --> 39:18.620 was people that a person came up with 39:18.629 --> 39:22.100 it . It was a mother and a son and no 39:22.110 --> 39:24.360 one there spoke Spanish to answer your 39:24.370 --> 39:27.459 questions . And it was , I feel like a 39:27.469 --> 39:29.525 lot of times it's the parents I push 39:29.525 --> 39:32.909 with my dad who was pushing me . Um But 39:33.459 --> 39:35.760 uh I helped out since I was just around 39:35.770 --> 39:37.937 like , you know , translate and answer 39:37.937 --> 39:41.419 questions because for the hope of it , 39:41.429 --> 39:45.179 but having Spanish speaking 39:45.629 --> 39:47.685 individuals in these key recruitment 39:47.685 --> 39:50.879 areas , it's , it's I feel it's very 39:50.889 --> 39:52.199 important because 39:54.979 --> 39:57.469 like parents and for me , family is 39:57.479 --> 39:59.757 really big and family plays a big role . 40:00.000 --> 40:03.600 So if you go there with your 40:03.610 --> 40:05.780 parents and they're not getting their 40:05.929 --> 40:09.479 questions answered , they're gonna 40:09.489 --> 40:11.711 leave . Like it's meant to be , they're 40:11.711 --> 40:13.711 gonna leave and you're gonna lose a 40:13.711 --> 40:16.080 probably someone coming in and could 40:16.090 --> 40:18.639 help enrich and make the service better 40:19.209 --> 40:22.399 because maybe themselves , it's not , 40:22.409 --> 40:24.465 they didn't understand Spanish , but 40:24.465 --> 40:26.687 it's just like family and if they don't 40:26.687 --> 40:28.742 have the backing from their family , 40:28.742 --> 40:30.298 they're not gonna join . So 40:34.580 --> 40:36.469 if you have any other questions , 40:37.629 --> 40:40.689 there's not a woman with discard . Um 40:41.739 --> 40:43.850 I wanna thank you guys for being here 40:43.850 --> 40:46.620 and uh sharing your story . And by 40:46.629 --> 40:50.540 doing that , I uh was able to just 40:50.550 --> 40:53.800 kind of think about how to share that 40:53.810 --> 40:55.899 message . And I like the idea that 40:55.909 --> 40:58.187 you're going with and bringing them up , 40:58.187 --> 41:00.399 maybe like a newcomers where when you 41:00.409 --> 41:02.465 are approaching a face for the first 41:02.465 --> 41:04.800 time and the newcomers breed , there's 41:04.810 --> 41:07.439 maybe an advertisement and I can see a 41:07.639 --> 41:10.469 different color of uniforms . Uh being 41:10.479 --> 41:13.179 in that video uh saying , how , how 41:13.189 --> 41:15.489 proud you are of being Hispanic of 41:15.500 --> 41:17.929 being Latino so that the people in the 41:17.939 --> 41:20.600 audience , you know , can reflect that 41:20.610 --> 41:23.020 and see themselves up there and say yes , 41:23.030 --> 41:25.252 I want to be part of people . I want to 41:25.252 --> 41:27.659 be part of this organization . So um I 41:27.669 --> 41:29.620 wanna thank you for your comment 41:29.629 --> 41:31.796 because that gave me the idea . That's 41:31.796 --> 41:34.018 something that I can run with and , and 41:34.018 --> 41:36.185 I've got the , the team behind me that 41:36.185 --> 41:38.351 can do that . So , thank you very much 41:38.351 --> 41:40.296 to you . Thank you so much for the 41:40.296 --> 41:42.296 Panelist . If we can get a round of 41:42.296 --> 41:44.518 applause for them . Thank you so much . 41:48.689 --> 41:50.911 We'll be on a 15 minute break and we'll 41:50.911 --> 41:51.909 get started with our next speaker .