WEBVTT

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Hi , I'm Kerry Kala and I work for the

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Secretary of Defense early on in

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Secretary Austin's time as Secretary of

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Defense , he outlined three

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interconnected priorities , defend the

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nation , take care of our people and

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succeed through teamwork . And the

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secretary has said that , you know , we

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have the greatest fighting force on

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earth and it's because we have the best

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teammates on earth . The secretary over

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the last 3.5 years has really put an

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emphasis on listening . So keeping our

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ear to the ground , what is really

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impacting service members and families

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and then taking action . And as

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secretary Austin has said , he spent a

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brief 41 year career in the US military .

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So he understands and this is personal

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for him . So the secretary's new memo ,

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our enduring duty to America's service

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members and their families outlines

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seven new actions that he has released

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to take care of our service members and

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families . And just to highlight a few

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of them , we're establishing health

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care , flexible spending accounts for

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our service members and families . And

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we're expanding my CAA the my career

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advancement account for military

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spouses for them to pursue certificates

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or associates degrees and other

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professional development . We're

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expanding Wi Fi pilots in select

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barracks . Recognizing that Wi Fi is an

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essential tool for training and

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education requirements and to access

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telehealth and tele mental health

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services and to keep in touch with

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family and friends . We're continuing

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to invest in our child development

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center facilities and workforce and

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we're also continuing to make moves

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even easier by expanding . Once again ,

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the temporary lodging expense from 14

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to 21 days and also increasing the

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temporary lodging allowance for moves

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back home from overseas . Being able to

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take care of our people is critical .

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It's critical for our mission . It's

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critical for our recruiting mission ,

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our retention efforts , our readiness

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and just simply put , it's the right

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thing to do .