WEBVTT

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Hello , I'm Doctor Michael Sky , the

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command historian for the Air Force

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Reserve Command . I'm here today to

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celebrate the major milestone

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anniversary for the Air Force Reserve

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Command . Uh Later this week , we'll

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mark the 75th anniversary . Of course ,

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the uh Reserves draw back to the

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National Defense Act of 1916 . However ,

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the Air Force Reserve wasn't

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established until April 14th , 1948 .

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So this Friday later this week will

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mark 75 years as we look back , reflect

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upon and celebrate the rich traditions

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and , and proud history of the Air

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Force Reserves .

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Well , the Air Force Reserve came about

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uh when President Harry Truman signed

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the , the establishing order uh April

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14th , 1948 . And the intent there was

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to provide an organized Reserve force

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for the United States Air Force which

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had recently come into being just the

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year prior uh but the intent was to

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have this reservoir of talent , of

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expertise , skill and capability to

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augment the Air Force in uh moments of ,

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of national need .

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The most significant contribution to

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the Air Force Reserve over the past 75

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years has been its steady ability to

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provide that , that reservoir of

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experience , talent , skill and

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capability . Um Right from the get go

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in 1948 with the Berlin airlift just

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two months after the creation of the

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Air Force Reserve through the Korean

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War , the Vietnam war through the

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operations , Desert Chiel Desert Storm

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through the global war on terror and

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contingency operations and routine to

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extraordinary activities in that 75

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years period , the Air Force Reserve

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has been able to provide combat ready

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forces at a moment's notice and the

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separate contributions are too normal

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to count to list out individually . But

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from my standpoint , the most impactful

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contribution is that overall level of

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effort to support the the nation's

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needs .

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I think the primary difference between

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the , the originating concept of the

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Air Force reserve and , and the reserve

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force that we have today is uh as I

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said in 1948 the the intent was to

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provide some sort of supplemental force

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uh to be on stand by when , when the

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nation called . And of course , the the

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reserve uh citizen airmen did that and

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did that very well . It was

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demonstrated in Korea for instance .

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But today , primarily after uh the

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terrorist attacks of September 11th ,

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2001 and then ensuing global war on

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terror , the high operational tempo ,

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the the demand for the skills

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capabilities and the dedication of the

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reservist citizen airmen uh have led to

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a situation where the reserves are

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integral to daily activities uh

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worldwide . So rather than being just a

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supporting or supplementary force . It

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is now uh a force that is very much

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involved in planning preparations and

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execution on a daily basis .

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So the Museum of Aviation does a

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tremendous job capturing so many

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stories , some of which are , of course

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the Air Force Reserve stories . And

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we're standing in front of this display

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case that uh the museum obviously uh uh

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presents for the public uh because his

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story uh overlays with , with our own .

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And uh as a historian , it's fantastic

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to look in at the actual people that

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drove some moments of change in , in

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our nation's history . Uh Joseph mcneil

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as a very young man uh was enrolled at

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North Carolina Agricultural and

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Technical University and back in uh

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February 1960 he and several classmates

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decided to take an opportunity to push

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for some social change . And uh

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February 1st of that year , he and his

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three classmates walked into a local

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Woolworth and sat down at a lunch

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counter and refused to leave until uh

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they'd be served . And this was like

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one of those catalyzing moments in

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history that the idea had , had come

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into its own . And the efforts of these

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poor brave young men uh took off and

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drove uh like wildfire , spread like

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wildfire throughout the country . And

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rather quickly , other folks picked up

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this idea on , on uh pushing change

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through uh through sit in protests .

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And uh you know , the story usually

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ends there . Uh you know , this , this

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moment led to all these follow on

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efforts and it's great , great moment ,

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civil rights history . But for Joseph ,

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of course , the story continues on and

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that's the other exciting part of being

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a historian is looking at these people

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and the continuing contributions . Uh

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for Joseph Nail , he was also enrolled

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in the R O T C program . And so when he

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graduated in 1963 he was commissioned

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as second lieutenant into the Air Force ,

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served for six years in the active duty

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forces . And in 1969 began a 32 year

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career with the Air Force Reserves .

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And because of his exemplary dedication ,

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passion and and obvious ability , he

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rose over time through various levels

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of authority uh culminating uh as the ,

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the commander for the 22nd Air Force at

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Dobbins Air Force Base here in Georgia .

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Uh and then , and ending his Air Force

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career uh as the Mobilization assistant

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to the Commander of the Air Force

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Reserve Command . And what I think is

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particularly compelling about this

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story is Joseph , uh when interview

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later said that he's often asked while

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growing up , why not us ? It was kind

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of a call to action . And so of course ,

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is a , is a call that he carried with

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him this key moment in history that ,

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that sit in in February 1960 but

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obviously motivated him and drove him

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throughout this important career with

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Air force reserves and as a reservist ,

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he was able to also maintain an

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exemplary civilian career . So he ended

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a 15 year tour at the Federal Aviation

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Administration where he was able to

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affect great change there . So we're

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standing before General Joseph

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mcneill's display case today because I

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think it serves as a , uh , amazing

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lens through which to look at the

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reservist citizen airmen experience

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where people have to navigate multiple

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worlds at the same time , but are

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called on to push change to lead

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and to contribute in these many

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different capacities .

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Well , as a new command has sore in for

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me , it's been an interesting process

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of the past couple of months . Just

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getting up to speed with the storied

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history of the Citizen Reserve airmen

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that came before me and I'll say over

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the past 75 years , looking at all

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those contributions through all those

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conflicts through all the contingency

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activities . Uh And then as I said ,

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just the daily effort of um uh trying

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to excel to prepare to be ready at a

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moment's notice uh to constantly

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innovate and push change and , and

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strive for a better society and a

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better world . It has been intensely

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humbling for me to just play a small

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part in capturing the record and

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helping preserve this story as we look

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to the next chapter in the Air Force

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Reserve history . And I'm uh very happy

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to be a part in that . And I think

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through how as our airmen continue to

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ensure that we're , we're uh combat

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proven and ready at a moments notice ,

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uh at a moment's notice that uh we're

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also adapting and innovating and uh

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taking stock of the challenges and

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opportunities on the horizon . So I

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can't wait to see the next 75 years .