WEBVTT

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It's super impactful so just keep that

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in mind we can't do this without you ,

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right ? It's all good until it isn't

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and it changes . With no notice , so

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continue to be prepared , continue to

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think about what if , uh , have that

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same level of professionalism , that

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pride , that presence that you've had .

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Hey , so 60 days , uh , 60 days on this

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mission , what that means to me is we

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spent 60 days , uh , serving our

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community , serving , uh , serving the

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citizens , the visitors , everyone that

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rolls through here , lives here , uh ,

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works here , uh , we're out there every

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day doing our best to ensure that .

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Their day is not interrupted by

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violence , it's not interrupted by

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drugs , it's not interrupted by , uh ,

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you know , some form of , of crime or

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or negative activity . Uh , 60 days for

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me means that we've put 60 days of work

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into changing the paradigm here , uh ,

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in the district . Yeah . So here's the

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strength of the guard , right ? So we

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come from all parts of the community so

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you got educators , you've got law

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enforcement , you've got steel workers ,

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you've got construction workers ,

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you've got uh delivery truck drivers ,

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you've got bus drivers , you've got a

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range of skills and experiences so when

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we're out there dealing with the

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community . Inevitably there's gonna be

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someone who understands and because

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we're DC guard , we come from the

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community we live here we work here ,

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we're serving here every day and so the

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dual nature the the the dual mission

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nature of the guard , uh , of which

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we're seeing right now us out here , uh ,

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serving in the community . That gives

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us a connection and an ability to

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impact and engage with folks in a very

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different way , and we see that with

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the de-escalation , with working to uh

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really just have a positive impact .

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This is our home . Uh , the the DC

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National Guard , this is our city .

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This is , these are our people and

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we really are here to serve and do do

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the best we can to provide them the

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opportunity , the freedom and the hope

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that everyone else gets when they see

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pictures or see uh our beautiful city

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uh and that and what it represents for

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them . Yeah , we're here till the job

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is done , right ? We . We're here to

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serve . Uh , the president has , uh ,

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has , has recognized that there's a

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need . Uh , he's asked us to come here

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to play what I believe is a critical

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role . And again , I think you can just

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sense that that that is happening ,

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that's taken hold . And we'll , we'll

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be here uh until the president says ,

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hey , the mission is over , uh , or

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move on to the next , the next phase of

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that , whatever that may look like .

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But we're committed , we're dedicated ,

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these young soldiers and airmen , uh ,

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They want nothing more than to be able

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to wake up every day and their own

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children who go to school in our city

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schools , their spouses that go to work

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inside of our own city . They , they

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want that safety , they want that

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security , and we're here until that's

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done . You got to find your personal

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reason why you're here . That's part of

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wearing this uniform . This is your

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nation's capital . People saved

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their entire lives to bring their

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children to this city . In my heart ,

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what I'm trying to do is I'm trying to

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ensure that every child that starts

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school . Has an opportunity to end

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school hopping , skipping , laughing

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with their friends . Not running home

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because there's a bunch of knuckleheads

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between the between the metro station

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and their house , right ? So , so

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people ask me , are we making a

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difference ? Where the DC National

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Guard , where this task force has been .

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By math , crime has definitely

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reduced , right ? We've seen it ,

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carjackings down , uh , robberies ,

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all that stuff . What do you

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guys see and how do you guys , I mean ,

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what's your perspective 60 days in so

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actually uh it's the little things

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because we all made it through basic

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and AIT . We all , we all know how to

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do the little things . We know what's

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expected of us . And when we come out

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here and we show that level of

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discipline when we show .

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Everybody , and I think about this

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Union Station right here as people pass

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through . It's a big deal . They're

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seeing what right looks like , but

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you're right .

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The millions of hours

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of camera footage out there and all

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anyone's really been able to capture is

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you guys doing the right things , the

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number of lives we've saved

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collectively as a task force , uh , the

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number of folks out there that we've

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reunited the number of kids even last

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night having the having a couple of

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kids that we were able to reunite with

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their parents , uh , the assaults that

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you guys certainly have stopped here ,

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uh , on a daily basis , those are . To

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say they're impactful is is an

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understatement . We would talk

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literally , hey , we made it to 8 days

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without a homicide , 9 days without a

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homicide , 10 days without a homicide .

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I , I don't even know what the day

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count is right now , right , which

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tells you the paradigm shift , which

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talks about the shift from , OK ,

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holding your breath , will we get

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another day now the expectation somehow

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is sort of shifted to . You shouldn't

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be killing each other , right ? 60 days

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in the city is different . It's very

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different . And that's , you

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guys have played a huge role in that .

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And I , I will tell you again , as I

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often do , but as a husband , as a

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father , as a citizen of this nation ,

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as a soldier . I am so grateful for

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everything that you do serving your

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community , serving your nation ,

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wearing the colors of your nation on

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your shoulder is important . It means

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something , obviously the all . And

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then as people go to and from out to

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where they live as they're coming into .

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Hallway right here food court and uh

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West Porch is where they kind of funnel

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out . But no , there's definitely been

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a uh kind of a shift I think that with

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the National Guard coming in there's

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definitely been a bigger command

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presence and .

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Probably 4 .

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Have a great day . Thank you very much

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have a great day . Thank you .