WEBVTT 00:00.569 --> 00:02.736 Rescue all of us no matter where we're 00:02.736 --> 00:04.958 stationed . Um It , it's in our blood . 00:04.958 --> 00:07.059 It's , it's our DNA that Saturday 00:07.070 --> 00:08.909 morning . Uh the last weekend in 00:08.920 --> 00:11.869 September , I got the call from 00:11.880 --> 00:13.880 leadership to say you are tasked to 00:13.880 --> 00:16.930 execute uh in support of uh hurricane 00:16.940 --> 00:19.979 Helene Disa response . We had started 00:19.989 --> 00:22.129 packing our 72 hour bags and , and we 00:22.139 --> 00:24.500 were ready , we were already watching 00:24.510 --> 00:26.621 the hurricane before the news started 00:26.621 --> 00:29.120 capturing it before um any official 00:29.129 --> 00:31.129 reporting in terms of being able to 00:31.129 --> 00:33.351 respond to it . And we started thinking 00:33.351 --> 00:35.518 and talking across the squadrons about 00:35.518 --> 00:37.740 what would this look like ? And then uh 00:37.740 --> 00:39.849 got some planners together and we 00:39.860 --> 00:42.027 started leaning into the problem of if 00:42.027 --> 00:44.027 we were asked to go , uh what would 00:44.027 --> 00:45.027 that look like ? 00:48.380 --> 00:51.279 And so we landed in uh Knoxville packed 00:51.290 --> 00:53.457 our watch and 12 hours later , we were 00:53.457 --> 00:55.679 up on alert and 10 hours later , we got 00:55.679 --> 00:57.849 the call to execute . We brought with 00:57.860 --> 01:00.080 us both an an airborne Guardian angel 01:00.090 --> 01:02.400 capability as well as a ground based 01:02.409 --> 01:05.150 search and rescue team . And once there , 01:05.739 --> 01:08.072 we've had so many civilian interactions , 01:08.072 --> 01:10.750 providing food and medicine and getting 01:10.760 --> 01:14.360 um information on uh who in the 01:14.370 --> 01:16.589 community needed help . Uh And we 01:16.599 --> 01:18.940 responded to that or we linked them to 01:18.949 --> 01:22.760 a local ems or police or fire or uh to 01:22.769 --> 01:25.102 the National Guard who was in the state . 01:25.102 --> 01:27.269 So every time we identified that there 01:27.269 --> 01:29.436 was a need uh within 15 minutes , we , 01:29.436 --> 01:31.491 we provided either the communication 01:31.491 --> 01:33.825 for that need or we solved it ourselves . 01:34.389 --> 01:36.589 I have family in North Carolina and 01:36.599 --> 01:39.809 family in eastern Tennessee . My mother 01:39.819 --> 01:42.097 actually lives uh in vicinity of Boone , 01:42.097 --> 01:44.669 North Carolina where the hurricane path 01:44.680 --> 01:47.260 went through . I'm from here . 01:49.379 --> 01:52.860 You ask airmen in rescue , uh why 01:52.870 --> 01:56.819 they're in rescue and you'll find 01:56.830 --> 01:59.589 because their family were ems emergency 01:59.599 --> 02:02.699 response or their dad was a doctor or 02:03.010 --> 02:05.459 they were a firefighter . And for me , 02:05.470 --> 02:08.119 I'm in rescue because my brother was , 02:08.130 --> 02:10.241 was hit in Afghanistan . He was blown 02:10.241 --> 02:13.419 up by 98 and air force rescue . And the 02:13.429 --> 02:15.651 pjs were the ones who picked him up off 02:15.651 --> 02:17.820 the battlefield . And for me and this 02:17.830 --> 02:19.830 team , and there are others on this 02:19.830 --> 02:21.663 team , uh who have family in the 02:21.663 --> 02:24.169 affected areas . We knew that we needed 02:24.179 --> 02:26.123 to give resources to the people of 02:26.123 --> 02:29.300 North Carolina and Tennessee . We knew 02:29.309 --> 02:31.619 that we needed to get here as soon as 02:31.630 --> 02:33.852 possible and we were ready for it . And 02:33.852 --> 02:36.100 when we did get here , we assumed alert 02:36.110 --> 02:39.380 within effectively 10 hours , we have 02:39.389 --> 02:42.550 airmen that are trained to do it . We 02:42.559 --> 02:44.559 have aircraft that are specifically 02:44.559 --> 02:47.470 designed to fly its mission . The Air 02:47.479 --> 02:49.850 Force is an exquisite capability that 02:50.720 --> 02:53.899 we , we train , we organize and , and 02:53.910 --> 02:57.190 we're ready at a moment's notice . The 02:57.199 --> 02:59.429 reason why it's seamless is because we 02:59.440 --> 03:02.350 have doctrine , we have the playbook on 03:02.360 --> 03:04.582 the shelf , we rehearse to it . I equip 03:04.582 --> 03:06.527 to it . I spend my resources on it 03:06.527 --> 03:08.693 because in defense of the nation , I'm 03:08.693 --> 03:10.638 always ready to do it . And why is 03:10.638 --> 03:11.550 because that other was name .