1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:00,000 2 00:00:06,510 --> 00:00:10,140 It was never actually a job . Uh I 3 00:00:10,149 --> 00:00:13,590 was a military brat . My dad was , was 4 00:00:13,600 --> 00:00:16,079 in the Air Force for 26 years and he 5 00:00:16,090 --> 00:00:18,201 retired so I could finish high school 6 00:00:18,201 --> 00:00:20,257 in Culver Springs . And I went right 7 00:00:20,257 --> 00:00:22,368 from there into the academy . And for 8 00:00:22,368 --> 00:00:24,534 me coming into the Air Force was a way 9 00:00:24,534 --> 00:00:26,590 to achieve my dream and my , my goal 10 00:00:26,590 --> 00:00:28,930 which was to fly . And so I got to do 11 00:00:28,940 --> 00:00:32,709 that and um , loved , loved flying for 12 00:00:32,720 --> 00:00:35,029 most of my career . Um , but at some 13 00:00:35,040 --> 00:00:38,459 point , you realize that um you stay 14 00:00:38,470 --> 00:00:41,090 for the people . And so my goal after , 15 00:00:41,099 --> 00:00:43,266 you know , becoming a pilot and a test 16 00:00:43,266 --> 00:00:45,599 pilot was to be a squadron commander 17 00:00:45,669 --> 00:00:47,613 and a lieutenant colonel because I 18 00:00:47,613 --> 00:00:49,836 wanted to lead airman . And I had the , 19 00:00:49,836 --> 00:00:52,080 the wonderful opportunity to do that . 20 00:00:52,740 --> 00:00:55,049 And I've been in my retirement job ever 21 00:00:55,060 --> 00:00:57,659 since . So I expected to retire as 22 00:00:57,669 --> 00:01:01,060 lieutenant colonel . And fortunately 23 00:01:01,069 --> 00:01:03,400 for me , the Air Force has kept me 24 00:01:03,409 --> 00:01:06,470 around for a few more years and we got 25 00:01:06,480 --> 00:01:08,369 our family got the opportunity to 26 00:01:08,369 --> 00:01:10,369 continue to serve . So I don't know 27 00:01:10,369 --> 00:01:12,369 really what the job is because I've 28 00:01:12,369 --> 00:01:14,424 been loving what I've done . For the 29 00:01:14,424 --> 00:01:16,313 last 33 years and look forward to 30 00:01:16,313 --> 00:01:16,139 what's next . 31 00:01:21,500 --> 00:01:23,333 Yeah , a lot of , a lot of great 32 00:01:23,333 --> 00:01:25,779 mentors over the years . Um probably 33 00:01:25,790 --> 00:01:28,269 general . We had the biggest , uh had a , 34 00:01:28,279 --> 00:01:30,470 had a huge impact . I , I worked for 35 00:01:30,480 --> 00:01:33,680 him when he was a two star , um when he 36 00:01:33,690 --> 00:01:36,300 was working at the Pentagon and I was a 37 00:01:36,309 --> 00:01:40,099 major and he brought every 38 00:01:40,110 --> 00:01:42,277 major into his office for 45 minutes . 39 00:01:42,277 --> 00:01:44,388 I didn't know at the time , how , how 40 00:01:44,388 --> 00:01:46,499 does a two star have time to spend 45 41 00:01:46,499 --> 00:01:48,554 minutes with every new person coming 42 00:01:48,554 --> 00:01:50,832 into his organization ? But he did and , 43 00:01:50,832 --> 00:01:53,169 and um what I really took from , from 44 00:01:53,180 --> 00:01:55,402 Joe Welsh was , hey , it's time to take 45 00:01:55,402 --> 00:01:57,402 care of your family . Make sure you 46 00:01:57,402 --> 00:02:00,220 make , make a family , your priority so 47 00:02:00,230 --> 00:02:02,639 that you can run out of Air Force 48 00:02:02,650 --> 00:02:04,706 before you run out of family . And I 49 00:02:04,706 --> 00:02:06,900 took that from General Welsh other 50 00:02:06,910 --> 00:02:08,799 great mentors , General Bunch . I 51 00:02:08,799 --> 00:02:11,021 worked for General Bunch multiple times 52 00:02:11,021 --> 00:02:13,243 including in this deputy commander seat 53 00:02:13,243 --> 00:02:15,243 and what an amazing leader . I have 54 00:02:15,243 --> 00:02:17,410 learned so much from General Bunch and 55 00:02:17,410 --> 00:02:19,577 now watching General Richardson lead . 56 00:02:19,577 --> 00:02:21,521 It is awesome to have somebody who 57 00:02:21,521 --> 00:02:23,466 cares so much about airmen and our 58 00:02:23,466 --> 00:02:25,466 mission and the Air Force and to be 59 00:02:25,466 --> 00:02:27,799 able to work for him and learn from him , 60 00:02:31,580 --> 00:02:33,949 I would say the greatest accomplishment 61 00:02:33,960 --> 00:02:37,710 is to build leaders that will come and 62 00:02:37,720 --> 00:02:40,550 take my place . And so over the years , 63 00:02:40,559 --> 00:02:42,559 I've been able to mentor , a lot of 64 00:02:42,559 --> 00:02:46,509 junior officers and enlisted to be 65 00:02:46,520 --> 00:02:48,649 the future leaders of our air force . 66 00:02:48,660 --> 00:02:52,020 And so I think that's probably the 67 00:02:52,029 --> 00:02:54,419 thing that I look at as far as a great 68 00:02:54,429 --> 00:02:56,540 accomplishment , that's really all of 69 00:02:56,540 --> 00:02:58,651 our job as a senior leader is , is to 70 00:02:58,651 --> 00:03:00,707 prepare the folks that are coming up 71 00:03:00,707 --> 00:03:02,373 behind us to take our place . 72 00:03:06,869 --> 00:03:10,410 I see a bright future for a F MC . 73 00:03:11,250 --> 00:03:13,759 So the Air Force and the nation is 74 00:03:13,770 --> 00:03:17,500 counting on a F MC to build the 75 00:03:17,509 --> 00:03:20,389 Air Force that's going to deter the PR 76 00:03:20,399 --> 00:03:22,455 C , the People's Republic of China . 77 00:03:22,455 --> 00:03:24,566 And so if you look at that threat and 78 00:03:24,566 --> 00:03:28,529 you look at where China wants to go in 79 00:03:28,539 --> 00:03:30,650 their 50 year plan and what they want 80 00:03:30,650 --> 00:03:33,720 to do by 2049 it's really , it's really 81 00:03:33,729 --> 00:03:35,673 AFMC that's going to build the Air 82 00:03:35,673 --> 00:03:38,050 Force to deter the PRC . And if 83 00:03:38,320 --> 00:03:40,669 deterrence fails to have an air force 84 00:03:40,679 --> 00:03:42,679 built to win . And so that's really 85 00:03:42,679 --> 00:03:44,735 what we're working through right now 86 00:03:44,735 --> 00:03:46,957 and it takes the whole of AFMC , all of 87 00:03:46,957 --> 00:03:49,123 our six centers working together to be 88 00:03:49,123 --> 00:03:51,179 able to achieve the Air Force design 89 00:03:51,179 --> 00:03:50,570 that we need . 90 00:03:56,380 --> 00:03:58,380 I feel honored frankly , you know , 91 00:03:58,679 --> 00:04:01,789 it's been the honor of my life truly to 92 00:04:01,800 --> 00:04:04,279 serve our nation to be part of the Air 93 00:04:04,289 --> 00:04:06,389 Force , to be able to be a commander 94 00:04:06,399 --> 00:04:09,369 and care for airmen . And so I just , I 95 00:04:09,380 --> 00:04:12,380 have a lot of , you know , gratitude to 96 00:04:12,389 --> 00:04:14,556 the Air Force and the people that I've 97 00:04:14,556 --> 00:04:16,989 worked with as I reflect back over 33 98 00:04:17,000 --> 00:04:18,944 years , a lot of great friends and 99 00:04:18,944 --> 00:04:21,049 mentors . So dis ali gratitude .