WEBVTT 00:05.314 --> 00:07.897 (gentle music) 00:12.630 --> 00:14.940 - Well, my name is Jerald Wiggins. 00:14.940 --> 00:19.940 I work with IM in Information Management. 00:20.120 --> 00:24.469 I've been here just under a year this time. 00:24.469 --> 00:25.530 (Thanita chuckles) 00:25.530 --> 00:28.890 And I was stationed here before. 00:28.890 --> 00:30.140 - I'm Thanita Wiggins. 00:30.140 --> 00:32.490 I'm the EEO Specialist. 00:32.490 --> 00:36.930 I have been in and out of MCAAP for the last 18 years. 00:36.930 --> 00:40.150 This latest tour, I've been here two and a half. 00:40.150 --> 00:45.020 I know about MCAAP because I was raised in McAlester. 00:45.020 --> 00:46.790 I also had some great uncles 00:46.790 --> 00:49.260 who were stationed here in the Navy, 00:49.260 --> 00:51.690 who ended up marrying my great aunts. 00:51.690 --> 00:54.370 So therefore they kind of fell in love 00:54.370 --> 00:57.073 and stayed in McAlester, but they were part of the original 00:57.073 --> 00:59.823 Navy that came here for World War II. 01:03.850 --> 01:06.383 - I served with the 82nd Airborne Division. 01:07.980 --> 01:11.250 Was assigned under Fifth Group Special forces. 01:11.250 --> 01:16.250 I was Airborne, was at Bragg for a year and a half. 01:16.280 --> 01:19.083 Left there and went for another tour in Korea, 01:20.140 --> 01:24.700 and did some assignments in Korea. 01:24.700 --> 01:28.080 And I left there and came back to Fort McClellan 01:28.080 --> 01:31.530 as an instructor and retired there in Fort McClellan 01:31.530 --> 01:34.413 and met the love of my life. 01:35.380 --> 01:36.866 She'll kill me for that one. 01:36.866 --> 01:40.129 And... (laughs) - Good job, baby. 01:40.129 --> 01:41.660 Good job. - Followed her here. 01:41.660 --> 01:42.830 First tour. 01:42.830 --> 01:44.229 - I've traveled all over the world. 01:44.229 --> 01:45.711 It was fun. 01:45.711 --> 01:47.714 I was basically a yeoman. 01:47.714 --> 01:51.240 Yeoman was just a glorified secretary back then. 01:51.240 --> 01:55.130 But my collateral duty is exactly what I'm doing now. 01:55.130 --> 01:57.180 It was called Navy Rights and Responsibilities. 01:57.180 --> 01:59.960 It was strictly discrimination and EEO. 01:59.960 --> 02:03.650 So I have about 30 plus years as EEO 02:04.850 --> 02:07.640 and what makes me able to do it as well as I do now 02:07.640 --> 02:09.943 is because I learned it in the Navy. 02:10.820 --> 02:12.663 And that was my collateral job. 02:16.380 --> 02:20.823 I met Jerald in Anniston, Alabama, at the American Legion. 02:22.470 --> 02:23.983 And that's how I met Jerald. 02:25.127 --> 02:26.280 - Oh, you don't want that story. 02:26.280 --> 02:27.620 - Why was? 02:27.620 --> 02:31.973 Well, I was there because I'd just moved there, 02:33.060 --> 02:35.100 went to the American Legion 'cause I'm a vet, 02:35.100 --> 02:36.960 so I liked the camaraderie with other vets, 02:36.960 --> 02:39.650 so I was going to get that camaraderie, 02:39.650 --> 02:42.910 and I met Jerald, yeah, I'm gonna tell it. 02:42.910 --> 02:45.433 And he commented about the Navy, 02:46.560 --> 02:48.543 and I punched him in the gut, 02:48.543 --> 02:51.743 and that's how me and Jerald met. 02:51.743 --> 02:54.960 - But to clarify even more- 02:54.960 --> 02:56.160 - If you tell it, I will hurt you. 02:56.160 --> 02:57.450 - I asked her why. 02:57.450 --> 02:59.260 - If you tell it, I will hurt you. 02:59.260 --> 03:00.093 - And what was the question? 03:00.093 --> 03:01.698 - We are not gonna answer that. 03:01.698 --> 03:04.365 (Jerald laughs) 03:06.150 --> 03:08.940 To me, the family is that we're all in this mission 03:08.940 --> 03:12.500 to take care of those kids that are overseas 03:12.500 --> 03:15.230 that we want to come back safely, 03:15.230 --> 03:17.110 to make sure that ammunition gets there, 03:17.110 --> 03:18.880 it's made properly. 03:18.880 --> 03:20.640 And that goes from the top to the bottom. 03:20.640 --> 03:24.130 We all play a part in support of that mission. 03:24.130 --> 03:26.250 And our whole mission should be that those kids 03:26.250 --> 03:28.410 come back safely to their families, 03:28.410 --> 03:30.713 not back in metal boxes through Dover. 03:31.690 --> 03:36.680 - Family to me is, I was Army, so 03:37.990 --> 03:41.710 and by the time I spent my 22 plus years, 03:41.710 --> 03:42.980 family to me is 03:44.900 --> 03:47.440 we make a product that we can be proud of, 03:47.440 --> 03:50.270 because we know that the soldier is receiving 03:50.270 --> 03:53.580 a quality good and something that's gonna protect him, 03:53.580 --> 03:56.060 something that's going to help him survive, 03:56.060 --> 03:59.879 and that what we send over there 03:59.879 --> 04:03.840 will get the job done so that we can bring him back home. 04:03.840 --> 04:08.840 I also am the commander for the Veterans for Foreign Service 04:10.530 --> 04:12.300 over here at the VFW, 04:12.300 --> 04:16.200 and we have the same goals is that 04:16.200 --> 04:18.080 we take care of our veterans. 04:18.080 --> 04:20.970 We take care of the people that served, 04:20.970 --> 04:25.260 and we wanna make sure that they have a quality of life 04:25.260 --> 04:26.460 outside of here as well. 04:30.520 --> 04:32.970 - The legacy that I hope I leave here at MCAAP 04:32.970 --> 04:35.800 is that I did my best. 04:35.800 --> 04:37.850 You should always strive to do your best, 04:39.080 --> 04:40.840 that everyone should treat everybody 04:40.840 --> 04:43.240 with that same dignity and respect. 04:43.240 --> 04:44.930 It's kind of hard for me 'cause I'm EEO, 04:44.930 --> 04:47.100 so everything's about that dignity and respect, 04:47.100 --> 04:50.210 so, but I try to show that. 04:50.210 --> 04:52.900 I try to give that, and I just hope 04:52.900 --> 04:56.010 that we can eventually get to where everybody is treated 04:56.010 --> 04:58.930 with the same dignity respect, and if we can, 04:58.930 --> 05:00.670 then I'll feel like I played a part in that 05:00.670 --> 05:04.420 'cause that's what I teach, that's what I preach, 05:04.420 --> 05:06.913 and that's what I tried to lead by example with. 05:08.176 --> 05:10.930 - Well, legacy for me is my job. 05:10.930 --> 05:13.600 My job is communications and making sure 05:13.600 --> 05:17.100 that everybody's got what they need to get their job done 05:17.100 --> 05:19.450 and to be able to communicate 'cause without IT 05:20.471 --> 05:24.340 or the jobs that we do, nothing would function. 05:24.340 --> 05:27.803 So we're interconnected everywhere and every place. 05:28.730 --> 05:30.443 So that's legacy for me. 05:35.070 --> 05:36.123 - Soldier for life. 05:37.360 --> 05:39.590 I have a shirt I think that expresses that 05:40.670 --> 05:44.210 more than I could probably ever express it. 05:44.210 --> 05:46.330 Actually I have one of them in the car. 05:46.330 --> 05:51.300 And it says that I took an oath to defend this country 05:51.300 --> 05:53.063 and the constitution thereof, 05:53.960 --> 05:58.333 and at last, my renderance, 05:59.320 --> 06:00.970 I've never been relieved with that oath, 06:00.970 --> 06:02.593 or that duty or responsibility. 06:04.100 --> 06:05.400 That's a soldier for life. 06:06.270 --> 06:10.393 - And for me, a sailor, just a veteran. 06:12.430 --> 06:14.440 I don't care what branch you were in. 06:14.440 --> 06:16.960 You're my brother, you're my sister. 06:16.960 --> 06:21.330 That's a camaraderie and a bond across all military 06:21.330 --> 06:23.580 regardless of the branch you were in. 06:23.580 --> 06:27.240 That's a bond that a lot of people don't understand 06:27.240 --> 06:32.240 that as long as you're a veteran, I'm there for you. 06:34.320 --> 06:37.270 I've been told that veterans are my Achilles heel. 06:37.270 --> 06:38.400 Guess what? 06:38.400 --> 06:40.150 I own that proudly. 06:40.150 --> 06:41.680 Yes, they are. 06:41.680 --> 06:43.450 You know, when it comes to a veteran, 06:43.450 --> 06:44.951 not that others don't matter, 06:44.951 --> 06:47.251 but it's a bond that we all have 06:47.251 --> 06:48.980 that others haven't endured. 06:48.980 --> 06:50.810 Some have endured to a greater degree. 06:50.810 --> 06:52.650 Some have endured to a small, 06:52.650 --> 06:54.250 but it doesn't matter what you contributed. 06:54.250 --> 06:55.848 The fact that you raised your hand 06:55.848 --> 06:58.290 and you swore to defend this country, 06:58.290 --> 07:00.130 and that automatically made us 07:00.130 --> 07:02.240 a brotherhood and a sisterhood. 07:02.240 --> 07:03.940 So, but do I love my sailors? 07:03.940 --> 07:06.361 Yes, go Navy, beat Army! 07:06.361 --> 07:07.890 (camera operator laughs) 07:07.890 --> 07:11.126 I'm sorry, Commander, but I had to say it. 07:11.126 --> 07:13.793 (Jerald laughs)