1 00:00:01,509 --> 00:00:03,731 So the idea is we're just gonna , we're 2 00:00:03,731 --> 00:00:05,842 just gonna throw a baseball and we're 3 00:00:05,842 --> 00:00:07,953 just gonna talk . Well , talk to me a 4 00:00:07,953 --> 00:00:07,110 little bit about like getting into the 5 00:00:07,110 --> 00:00:09,332 Air Force and you know why , why are we 6 00:00:09,332 --> 00:00:11,388 standing here today ? Why aren't you 7 00:00:11,388 --> 00:00:13,554 doing something , hey , why aren't you 8 00:00:13,554 --> 00:00:13,449 on a pit crew right now ? Why , why 9 00:00:13,449 --> 00:00:15,616 aren't you , uh , working , you know , 10 00:00:15,616 --> 00:00:18,479 in a garage running a shop ? Well , um , 11 00:00:18,729 --> 00:00:22,620 long story short . I went to I went 12 00:00:22,620 --> 00:00:24,842 to college . I was a motor sports major 13 00:00:24,842 --> 00:00:26,731 in college , um , at Alford State 14 00:00:26,731 --> 00:00:28,953 University in , uh , upstate New York . 15 00:00:28,953 --> 00:00:32,340 graduated in 2008 . That's when the 16 00:00:32,340 --> 00:00:35,259 economy tanked and so not many people 17 00:00:35,259 --> 00:00:38,220 are building race cars . My sister 18 00:00:38,220 --> 00:00:40,650 lived in Clovis , New Mexico , 19 00:00:41,819 --> 00:00:44,139 and I was talking to her about the 20 00:00:44,139 --> 00:00:46,306 situation , and her husband worked for 21 00:00:46,306 --> 00:00:49,490 John Deere down there and he said . 22 00:00:50,009 --> 00:00:52,065 That they were hurting for mechanics 23 00:00:52,065 --> 00:00:54,990 really bad in New Mexico . And uh they 24 00:00:54,990 --> 00:00:58,400 weren't lying , um . I got to Clovis , 25 00:00:58,439 --> 00:01:00,419 New Mexico on a Tuesday , and by 26 00:01:00,419 --> 00:01:02,849 Thursday I was working for Dodge . 27 00:01:03,080 --> 00:01:05,247 Bounced around from shop to shop , but 28 00:01:05,440 --> 00:01:07,559 the one thing I found out was there 29 00:01:07,559 --> 00:01:09,670 wasn't really much of a retirement or 30 00:01:09,670 --> 00:01:12,080 health insurance . Yeah , so it's labor , 31 00:01:12,160 --> 00:01:14,160 right ? Like you're going to do the 32 00:01:14,160 --> 00:01:16,216 work but like what are your benefits 33 00:01:16,216 --> 00:01:19,800 and Uh , my neighbor , he's , was nav 34 00:01:19,800 --> 00:01:23,680 on gunships . OK , and , uh , so he's 35 00:01:23,680 --> 00:01:25,736 like , Well , why don't you join the 36 00:01:25,736 --> 00:01:27,791 Air Force ? And so he helped me with 37 00:01:27,791 --> 00:01:30,013 the recruitment process . Um , have you 38 00:01:30,013 --> 00:01:32,347 ever thought about joining the military ? 39 00:01:32,347 --> 00:01:34,458 Air Force at all ? Is it kind of like 40 00:01:34,458 --> 00:01:36,624 the thought crossed your mind at all ? 41 00:01:36,624 --> 00:01:38,513 When I was , when I turned 18 , I 42 00:01:38,513 --> 00:01:40,513 thought about it . It's my dad , he 43 00:01:40,513 --> 00:01:42,680 wanted to be a helicopter pilot and be 44 00:01:42,680 --> 00:01:44,902 in the army , and he was telling me the 45 00:01:44,902 --> 00:01:44,790 story about how he wanted to do that 46 00:01:44,790 --> 00:01:48,209 and . He he couldn't at the time for 47 00:01:48,209 --> 00:01:50,431 medical stuff and I was like , Oh man , 48 00:01:50,431 --> 00:01:52,542 maybe the army would be a good idea . 49 00:01:52,542 --> 00:01:54,709 And then I was talking to , you know , 50 00:01:54,709 --> 00:01:56,970 my buddy on the on the gunships and you 51 00:01:56,970 --> 00:01:59,370 know there was a 135 and a C-17 that 52 00:01:59,370 --> 00:02:01,481 was going overhead and I was like , I 53 00:02:01,481 --> 00:02:03,703 want to do that . You're like , I wanna 54 00:02:03,703 --> 00:02:03,569 be on that and uh you know , and I'll 55 00:02:03,569 --> 00:02:05,736 be honest , I came home from that from 56 00:02:05,736 --> 00:02:09,479 that first deployment . And As messed 57 00:02:09,479 --> 00:02:11,479 up as it sounds . That was the only 58 00:02:11,479 --> 00:02:13,646 deployment that I was sad to come home 59 00:02:13,646 --> 00:02:15,919 to because , you know , uh , Misty 60 00:02:15,919 --> 00:02:17,975 handed me Timothy and all he did was 61 00:02:17,975 --> 00:02:20,559 scream , you know , stranger dangerous 62 00:02:20,559 --> 00:02:22,781 guy holding you're like , yeah , so you 63 00:02:22,781 --> 00:02:24,948 weren't like , you weren't sad to come 64 00:02:24,948 --> 00:02:24,509 home because you didn't want to be 65 00:02:24,509 --> 00:02:26,620 there . You were sad with kind of the 66 00:02:26,620 --> 00:02:28,953 reception and like what you like , yeah , 67 00:02:28,953 --> 00:02:30,953 like I , I missed so much . I think 68 00:02:30,953 --> 00:02:33,065 when we get thanked for our service , 69 00:02:33,065 --> 00:02:35,287 generally we're being thanked for being 70 00:02:35,287 --> 00:02:37,009 away . Yeah , right , uh , and 71 00:02:37,009 --> 00:02:39,231 presumably being shot at all the time , 72 00:02:39,231 --> 00:02:38,460 although we know that's not actually 73 00:02:38,460 --> 00:02:40,460 how it works . I don't think enough 74 00:02:40,460 --> 00:02:42,460 folks when they say that appreciate 75 00:02:42,669 --> 00:02:44,780 they're thanking you not just for the 76 00:02:44,780 --> 00:02:46,613 for the being gone , but for how 77 00:02:46,613 --> 00:02:48,669 challenging and difficult the return 78 00:02:48,669 --> 00:02:50,780 can be . You're doing really , really 79 00:02:50,780 --> 00:02:53,002 good things at OST obviously leadership 80 00:02:53,002 --> 00:02:55,058 here thinks so too , and they're out 81 00:02:55,058 --> 00:02:57,280 here and they're just really thankful . 82 00:02:57,280 --> 00:02:59,336 For the fact that you're at McDill , 83 00:02:59,336 --> 00:03:01,336 that you're on our team that you're 84 00:03:01,336 --> 00:03:03,447 deploying again , right , as a dad of 85 00:03:03,447 --> 00:03:05,558 still young kids , uh , and so I know 86 00:03:05,558 --> 00:03:07,780 what it means when we say thank you for 87 00:03:07,780 --> 00:03:07,610 your service , so I won't , I won't say 88 00:03:07,610 --> 00:03:09,610 that , but I will say thank you for 89 00:03:09,610 --> 00:03:11,777 your recent deployment , thank you for 90 00:03:11,777 --> 00:03:14,054 what you're doing recently . uh , it's , 91 00:03:14,054 --> 00:03:15,888 it's been a lot of fun just just 92 00:03:15,888 --> 00:03:18,110 throwing a baseball with you catch up a 93 00:03:18,110 --> 00:03:17,320 little bit , yeah .