1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:00,000 2 00:00:04,860 --> 00:00:06,693 The hugs and the high fives were 3 00:00:06,693 --> 00:00:09,279 genuine . I was on the phone , texting 4 00:00:09,289 --> 00:00:11,289 other people . I was on the phone , 5 00:00:11,289 --> 00:00:13,345 texting people that I worked with at 6 00:00:13,345 --> 00:00:15,456 the National Guard Bureau in the past 7 00:00:15,456 --> 00:00:17,345 that were part of this vision . I 8 00:00:17,345 --> 00:00:19,567 needed to let them know that , hey , it 9 00:00:19,567 --> 00:00:21,678 was a vision . We talked about 2018 , 10 00:00:21,678 --> 00:00:23,845 19 , look what just happened , kind of 11 00:00:23,845 --> 00:00:26,067 thing , texting friends from California 12 00:00:26,067 --> 00:00:28,178 that are part of our team that helped 13 00:00:28,178 --> 00:00:30,289 make this happen . You know , they're 14 00:00:30,289 --> 00:00:32,345 not the ones standing out here , but 15 00:00:32,345 --> 00:00:34,511 they've really led the way . We've got 16 00:00:34,511 --> 00:00:33,904 to give the California Air National a 17 00:00:33,915 --> 00:00:36,325 lot of credit . They've been using this 18 00:00:36,334 --> 00:00:38,544 in a domestic response capability for 19 00:00:38,555 --> 00:00:40,805 the California wildfires for quite a 20 00:00:40,814 --> 00:00:42,925 while . And the rest of us are taking 21 00:00:42,925 --> 00:00:44,925 the lessons they learned and now we 22 00:00:44,925 --> 00:00:44,805 want to apply it . You know , one of 23 00:00:44,814 --> 00:00:46,981 the things that I always like to point 24 00:00:46,981 --> 00:00:49,147 out is if you look at my name , take , 25 00:00:49,147 --> 00:00:51,147 it's a Tennessee flag . And so just 26 00:00:51,147 --> 00:00:53,147 like Colonel Glass said , we have a 27 00:00:53,147 --> 00:00:53,025 federal mission and that's where we get 28 00:00:53,034 --> 00:00:55,314 our resources , our training , but 29 00:00:55,325 --> 00:00:57,325 we're Tennesseans , we're Tennessee 30 00:00:57,325 --> 00:00:59,547 National Guard members , right ? And So 31 00:00:59,547 --> 00:01:01,714 in the community , very difficult , if 32 00:01:01,714 --> 00:01:03,825 not impossible for us to really serve 33 00:01:03,825 --> 00:01:05,739 the state , this gives us now the 34 00:01:05,750 --> 00:01:07,849 capability to serve the state . If 35 00:01:07,860 --> 00:01:09,860 something happens , I mean , we get 36 00:01:09,860 --> 00:01:12,082 excited when we think about some of the 37 00:01:12,082 --> 00:01:14,304 things that happen in Tennessee , we're 38 00:01:14,304 --> 00:01:16,471 going to have tornadoes in Tennessee , 39 00:01:16,471 --> 00:01:18,638 we're going to have floods , maybe not 40 00:01:18,638 --> 00:01:20,860 as often as they do in California , but 41 00:01:20,860 --> 00:01:20,569 we're going to have wildfires from time 42 00:01:20,580 --> 00:01:22,802 to time . And as we continue to develop 43 00:01:22,802 --> 00:01:24,636 in this and we start working out 44 00:01:24,636 --> 00:01:26,636 relationships that we had before we 45 00:01:26,636 --> 00:01:28,802 need to dust some of them off and work 46 00:01:28,802 --> 00:01:30,969 through the procedures . But with Tima 47 00:01:30,969 --> 00:01:33,191 and other agencies now putting in an MQ 48 00:01:33,191 --> 00:01:35,358 nine over a wildfire and being able to 49 00:01:35,358 --> 00:01:38,004 direct firefighters responders where 50 00:01:38,014 --> 00:01:40,125 that fire is going , what's happening 51 00:01:40,125 --> 00:01:42,347 after a tornado instantly being able to 52 00:01:42,347 --> 00:01:44,614 give the governor a complete view . We 53 00:01:44,625 --> 00:01:46,847 can do it during the day , we can do it 54 00:01:46,847 --> 00:01:48,903 at night . So just the capability to 55 00:01:48,903 --> 00:01:50,903 actually serve the flag that we all 56 00:01:50,903 --> 00:01:52,958 wear on our chest is a big deal . So 57 00:01:52,958 --> 00:01:55,292 that's part of the emotion that you see . 58 00:01:55,292 --> 00:01:57,236 So I will tell you a little bit of 59 00:01:57,236 --> 00:01:57,089 mixed emotions of wanting to be here 60 00:01:57,099 --> 00:01:59,250 physically to see it . But also I'm a 61 00:01:59,260 --> 00:02:01,371 little jealous of the pilots that are 62 00:02:01,371 --> 00:02:03,593 back at the cockpit getting to actually 63 00:02:03,593 --> 00:02:06,139 do that . But I would say overall , 64 00:02:06,150 --> 00:02:08,317 they're the ones that have earned that 65 00:02:08,589 --> 00:02:11,940 opportunity and the two 66 00:02:12,029 --> 00:02:14,251 pilots , the one that flew the aircraft 67 00:02:14,251 --> 00:02:16,362 today and the one that will fly , the 68 00:02:16,362 --> 00:02:18,529 one coming in tomorrow have really put 69 00:02:18,529 --> 00:02:20,751 in the heavy lifting work . And so it's 70 00:02:20,751 --> 00:02:22,807 really cool to see them get that . A 71 00:02:22,807 --> 00:02:24,973 lot of that is California Air National 72 00:02:24,973 --> 00:02:27,196 Guard members maintainers . So a lot of 73 00:02:27,196 --> 00:02:29,429 gratitude that I feel for them coming 74 00:02:29,440 --> 00:02:31,720 here to Tennessee , they have done this 75 00:02:31,729 --> 00:02:34,089 with other states and have done other 76 00:02:34,100 --> 00:02:37,110 things and for them to be willing to 77 00:02:37,119 --> 00:02:39,309 partner with us to let us develop this 78 00:02:39,320 --> 00:02:41,910 capability here is huge . Well , it was 79 00:02:41,919 --> 00:02:44,679 a very emotional time , not only for me 80 00:02:44,690 --> 00:02:46,899 but for these airmen that have done 81 00:02:46,910 --> 00:02:49,399 this , a lot of planning preparation , 82 00:02:49,410 --> 00:02:51,521 a lot of teamwork across the state of 83 00:02:51,521 --> 00:02:54,199 Tennessee , the airport authority , uh 84 00:02:54,210 --> 00:02:57,419 the California Air National Guard FAA , 85 00:02:57,520 --> 00:02:59,353 all of those partnerships coming 86 00:02:59,353 --> 00:03:01,687 together to make this happen , you know , 87 00:03:01,687 --> 00:03:04,309 a , a vision that , that an airman had 88 00:03:04,479 --> 00:03:06,535 to bring this to Tennessee and , and 89 00:03:06,535 --> 00:03:08,646 they brought it to fruition . So , uh 90 00:03:08,646 --> 00:03:10,868 we've got a lot of first in Tennessee . 91 00:03:10,880 --> 00:03:13,669 Uh and this is another one . It's , 92 00:03:13,679 --> 00:03:15,901 it's just been an honor to be out there 93 00:03:15,901 --> 00:03:18,012 to see our succeed . Like they always 94 00:03:18,012 --> 00:03:19,846 do . What do you tell people the 95 00:03:19,846 --> 00:03:21,679 civilian about the importance of 96 00:03:21,679 --> 00:03:23,901 technology ? I mean , it sounds like it 97 00:03:23,901 --> 00:03:22,970 really could be life saving . 98 00:03:23,210 --> 00:03:25,377 Definitely . So they've used these out 99 00:03:25,377 --> 00:03:27,929 in California for several years now 100 00:03:29,039 --> 00:03:31,910 with their wildfires , a huge 101 00:03:31,919 --> 00:03:33,863 capability when it comes to saving 102 00:03:33,863 --> 00:03:35,910 lives in infrastructure critical 103 00:03:35,919 --> 00:03:38,020 infrastructure , these things are 104 00:03:38,029 --> 00:03:40,429 invaluable in those regards . So you 105 00:03:40,440 --> 00:03:42,669 look across the nations , especially in 106 00:03:42,679 --> 00:03:45,940 the southeast , there's no Q nine . Um , 107 00:03:46,029 --> 00:03:47,807 they don't , we don't have this 108 00:03:47,807 --> 00:03:49,862 capability in the southeast . So you 109 00:03:49,862 --> 00:03:51,918 talk about a high impact for natural 110 00:03:51,918 --> 00:03:54,029 disasters with all the hurricanes and 111 00:03:54,029 --> 00:03:56,029 everything else that we have in the 112 00:03:56,029 --> 00:03:58,085 southeast , uh , to be able to bring 113 00:03:58,085 --> 00:03:59,918 one of these in now with the new 114 00:03:59,918 --> 00:04:02,196 capabilities of the aircraft , uh , to , 115 00:04:02,196 --> 00:04:04,251 to do those surveys . It's , it's an 116 00:04:04,251 --> 00:04:05,880 incredible capability for our nation .