WEBVTT

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- When soldiers reach the end of their deployment,

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they've gone through a lot, and so has their equipment.

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I'm Staff Sergeant Charles Davis

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with the 126th Military Police Company.

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Our unit has teams through Southwest Asia,

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and our job is to conduct customs inspections

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on military equipment.

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That means that we make sure that equipment is free

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of snails, spiders and even dirt.

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In our training with the US Department of Agriculture,

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we learned how sterile America is,

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and how the introduction of even a small invasive organism

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can cost billions in economic damage.

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Because military equipment is so specialized,

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the government decided it made more sense

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for soldiers to do the inspections instead of civilians.

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So, my team will climb up, go under

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and search every nook and cranny

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of vehicles like these.

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By pre-clearing these items at the point of origin,

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we save the government money

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and help units return home faster.

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Instead of checking everything, US Border Patrol

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will only spot-check around 10% of items

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that we pre-clear.

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It's different from my previous deployments,

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but in the way the Army wants us to,

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we're still protecting our homeland.