1 00:00:02,279 --> 00:00:04,112 We've had a lot of great lessons 2 00:00:04,112 --> 00:00:06,112 learned from the war in Ukraine and 3 00:00:06,112 --> 00:00:08,260 Russia . One of them in particular is 4 00:00:08,270 --> 00:00:11,529 why things matter for Ukraine . It is 5 00:00:11,539 --> 00:00:13,609 survived . It is a whole of country 6 00:00:13,619 --> 00:00:16,569 approach to ensuring that they are able 7 00:00:16,579 --> 00:00:18,635 to continue and we were able to meet 8 00:00:18,635 --> 00:00:20,857 with the Ukrainian Sims . The one thing 9 00:00:20,857 --> 00:00:22,857 that he credits on why they've been 10 00:00:22,857 --> 00:00:25,079 able to hold off defensively . A lot of 11 00:00:25,079 --> 00:00:27,246 the Russian forces . It was because of 12 00:00:27,246 --> 00:00:29,357 their NCO Corps because several years 13 00:00:29,357 --> 00:00:31,190 ago , they decided to change and 14 00:00:31,190 --> 00:00:33,412 educate their force to be able to think 15 00:00:33,412 --> 00:00:35,579 on their own . Not just blindly follow 16 00:00:35,579 --> 00:00:37,635 orders to have discipline inside the 17 00:00:37,635 --> 00:00:39,857 structure of what we consider a Western 18 00:00:39,857 --> 00:00:42,029 way of education . Not only is it a 19 00:00:42,040 --> 00:00:44,096 whole of government , but they allow 20 00:00:44,096 --> 00:00:46,330 their lower ranks to be able to think 21 00:00:46,340 --> 00:00:49,409 and act on their own to help accomplish 22 00:00:49,419 --> 00:00:53,029 those goals . Our 23 00:00:53,040 --> 00:00:56,130 warfare is becoming about survival . 24 00:00:56,139 --> 00:00:59,159 There are people who do not agree with 25 00:00:59,169 --> 00:01:01,799 our way of life and for the service 26 00:01:01,810 --> 00:01:03,866 piece right now , it's less than one 27 00:01:03,866 --> 00:01:05,643 half of 1% of the US population 28 00:01:05,643 --> 00:01:07,643 currently or has served in the US . 29 00:01:07,643 --> 00:01:10,559 Military service is about serving a 30 00:01:10,569 --> 00:01:14,260 greater good . At 12 years , I almost 31 00:01:14,269 --> 00:01:18,190 walked away and I was frustrated and I , 32 00:01:18,199 --> 00:01:20,310 I thought there was too much stuff we 33 00:01:20,310 --> 00:01:22,143 were talking about not doing . I 34 00:01:22,143 --> 00:01:23,810 thought there were a bunch of 35 00:01:23,810 --> 00:01:25,977 hypocrites . I had a mentor that asked 36 00:01:25,977 --> 00:01:28,199 me the question to say , hey , like you 37 00:01:28,199 --> 00:01:27,629 seem pretty passionate and angry about 38 00:01:27,639 --> 00:01:29,917 this . And I said , well , well , yeah . 39 00:01:30,180 --> 00:01:32,402 And he says , well , why does it bother 40 00:01:32,402 --> 00:01:34,624 you so much ? I said , well , because I 41 00:01:34,624 --> 00:01:36,347 still believe we have all this 42 00:01:36,347 --> 00:01:38,458 potential . I still believe like this 43 00:01:38,458 --> 00:01:40,458 is just us choosing to do different 44 00:01:40,458 --> 00:01:42,236 things . And then he asked me a 45 00:01:42,236 --> 00:01:41,889 question . He said , if you walk away 46 00:01:41,900 --> 00:01:44,629 from it , does it get any better ? And 47 00:01:44,639 --> 00:01:46,861 I realized I just wasn't ready to go to 48 00:01:46,861 --> 00:01:50,430 the sidelines . You talked about 49 00:01:50,440 --> 00:01:52,551 serving in a time of significance and 50 00:01:52,551 --> 00:01:54,699 consequence . It's a great time to be 51 00:01:54,709 --> 00:01:56,876 an airman . I'm really glad I'm not on 52 00:01:56,876 --> 00:01:59,098 the sidelines right now because I would 53 00:01:59,098 --> 00:02:01,098 wanna be in the game . Uh trying to 54 00:02:01,098 --> 00:02:03,042 make a difference . If you look at 55 00:02:03,042 --> 00:02:05,153 Ukraine , it's not even a question of 56 00:02:05,153 --> 00:02:07,209 serving . People are volunteering to 57 00:02:07,209 --> 00:02:09,431 serve because it is a matter of pride . 58 00:02:09,431 --> 00:02:11,376 It's a matter of survival . It's a 59 00:02:11,376 --> 00:02:11,330 matter of ensuring that their way of 60 00:02:11,339 --> 00:02:12,910 life continues as a country .