WEBVTT 00:07.110 --> 00:10.670 27 years later , here you go . That's 00:10.670 --> 00:13.789 it . I did an ad for um the junior 00:13.789 --> 00:16.110 college because I was an adult going to 00:16.110 --> 00:16.770 college . 00:20.020 --> 00:23.200 So when I first got here , that was uh 00:23.200 --> 00:27.129 late in 2002 . And I felt like I 00:27.129 --> 00:29.840 had entered another country . You know , 00:30.000 --> 00:32.229 just , um , very different place , 00:32.400 --> 00:34.567 different people , different culture , 00:35.000 --> 00:38.330 uh , nothing like I was used to when I 00:38.330 --> 00:40.759 grew up in the Northeast . I wouldn't 00:40.759 --> 00:42.981 say that I feel like I'm a local , even 00:42.981 --> 00:45.799 though I've lived here for almost 24 00:45.799 --> 00:49.000 years , but I definitely feel like this 00:49.000 --> 00:51.779 is where I belong . I first arrived at 00:51.779 --> 00:55.139 Senna Space Center in early February 00:55.139 --> 00:58.459 2005 as a very young lieutenant junior 00:58.459 --> 01:00.540 grade , uh , coming from Hawaii , it 01:00.540 --> 01:02.860 was my first meet talk tour and I 01:02.860 --> 01:06.419 remember thinking how cool it was that 01:06.419 --> 01:08.530 I was coming to work on a NASA base . 01:08.530 --> 01:10.475 You know , the first time I got to 01:10.475 --> 01:12.475 Stennis , I thought , uh , what the 01:12.475 --> 01:14.641 heck are we doing on a NASA facility ? 01:14.641 --> 01:16.819 But Stennis has been great for , for 01:16.819 --> 01:20.059 the Mita community and uh uh and and 01:20.059 --> 01:22.580 for me personally , so my first 01:22.580 --> 01:24.802 thoughts when I came to Stennis back in 01:24.802 --> 01:28.669 2007 , 2008 were probably . 01:29.569 --> 01:31.849 Wow , this place is big . Outside the 01:31.849 --> 01:35.599 gates was pretty much a slowly 01:35.599 --> 01:38.089 recovering wasteland from Katrina , but 01:38.089 --> 01:40.169 inside the gates was , you know , a 01:40.169 --> 01:43.000 bustling hub of activity professionals , 01:43.010 --> 01:45.169 uh , that were back at work doing the 01:45.169 --> 01:47.849 nation's business . Uh , I'm from this 01:47.849 --> 01:50.010 area . I'm from the Mississippi Gulf 01:50.010 --> 01:52.750 Coast , but , uh , I've never been like 01:52.889 --> 01:55.056 deep into the woods like this . It was 01:55.056 --> 01:57.278 truly wooded , and then there were just 01:57.278 --> 01:59.819 a few buildings here . It was . It was , 01:59.870 --> 02:02.190 you know , country , very country . 02:05.349 --> 02:08.440 Two things stand out in 1988 when I 02:08.440 --> 02:12.039 first arrived at Stennis . One was , uh , 02:12.160 --> 02:14.419 Senator Stennis . They had just named 02:14.419 --> 02:16.990 this facility from a rocket test 02:16.990 --> 02:19.910 facility to the John C . Stennis Space 02:19.910 --> 02:23.550 Center , and Senator Stennis was , um , 02:23.639 --> 02:25.861 still alive at the time . He was on the 02:25.861 --> 02:28.279 podium . It was in the summertime and 02:28.279 --> 02:31.199 everybody was just , um , dying from 02:31.199 --> 02:33.509 the heat . That we were enduring from , 02:33.580 --> 02:35.858 but it was interesting to see that the , 02:35.858 --> 02:38.080 the Stennis Space Center be named after 02:38.080 --> 02:40.191 John C . Stennis . And then the other 02:40.191 --> 02:43.550 thing was , uh , the Discovery , um , 02:43.710 --> 02:45.821 was going to launch the space shuttle 02:45.821 --> 02:47.821 Discovery was launching , um , from 02:47.821 --> 02:50.830 Cape Canaveral later in 1988 . And when 02:50.830 --> 02:53.100 I was in the University of Oklahoma , I 02:53.100 --> 02:55.440 watched the Challenger disaster . In 02:55.440 --> 02:59.279 1986 , and then to be in the auditorium 02:59.279 --> 03:02.160 here at Stennis with all the employees , 03:02.199 --> 03:04.160 all the NASA employees , and we're 03:04.160 --> 03:06.216 sitting there watching the launch of 03:06.216 --> 03:08.619 Discovery and that critical moment when 03:08.720 --> 03:11.479 they said , go at throttle up and 03:11.479 --> 03:13.368 everybody just kind of held their 03:13.368 --> 03:15.479 breath because that's when Challenger 03:15.479 --> 03:17.646 blew up and Discovery continued on and 03:17.646 --> 03:19.646 there was just an enormous round of 03:19.646 --> 03:21.812 applause . It was great to be with the 03:21.812 --> 03:23.979 NASA employees when they got over that 03:23.979 --> 03:26.090 major hurdle . Uh , so a couple of my 03:26.090 --> 03:28.423 favorite memories from , uh , the early , 03:28.509 --> 03:31.570 my early days , um , at Stennis were , 03:32.029 --> 03:35.740 um , when Tom Burke and I started up 03:35.740 --> 03:38.149 the Loose Cannon softball team , along 03:38.149 --> 03:41.160 with Tim Campo and Jeff Best and 03:41.589 --> 03:43.589 several others who were here at the 03:43.589 --> 03:47.240 time . And in my . Various travels and 03:47.940 --> 03:50.107 wherever the navy took me after that , 03:50.107 --> 03:52.329 hearing people talk about the fact that 03:52.329 --> 03:54.107 they played on the loose cannon 03:54.107 --> 03:56.520 softball team many , many years later 03:56.699 --> 03:59.839 was was fun knowing that I was there 03:59.839 --> 04:01.895 and started it off . It used to be a 04:01.895 --> 04:04.210 great opportunity for us to Uh , spend 04:04.210 --> 04:06.449 time together , uh , play sports , 04:06.809 --> 04:08.920 enjoy each other's company outside of 04:08.920 --> 04:11.559 the office , and , and usually wind up 04:11.559 --> 04:14.089 at the Cypress house after , um , to 04:14.089 --> 04:16.570 have a beverage or two , enjoy steak 04:16.570 --> 04:19.130 night on Thursday nights and just spend 04:19.130 --> 04:21.600 time together . You know , my fondest 04:21.600 --> 04:24.640 memories are playing in the Stennis 04:24.640 --> 04:27.119 softball league as a contractor , 04:27.200 --> 04:29.239 playing against and getting to know 04:29.239 --> 04:32.470 teams from Navo and NRL and 04:32.480 --> 04:35.209 Lockheed and those kind of community 04:35.209 --> 04:37.209 building things where we would come 04:37.209 --> 04:39.376 together outside of our organizational 04:39.376 --> 04:41.487 boundaries to do things together , to 04:41.487 --> 04:43.431 celebrate or to work with a common 04:43.431 --> 04:45.431 purpose . Those are the things that 04:45.431 --> 04:47.487 really stick out , those things that 04:47.487 --> 04:49.653 involve Stennis as its own community . 04:53.299 --> 04:55.790 The major event that occurred while I 04:55.790 --> 04:58.829 was at Stennis , not part of the Navy , 04:58.910 --> 05:01.390 but at Stennis , was Hurricane Katrina , 05:01.869 --> 05:04.940 um , and , and Katrina was a very 05:04.940 --> 05:07.190 interesting monster aside from the fact 05:07.190 --> 05:09.989 that it came in and vaporized the 05:09.989 --> 05:12.156 Mississippi Gulf Coast , and those are 05:12.156 --> 05:14.378 the words of , uh , Admiral Tim McGee . 05:14.378 --> 05:16.489 He , he said they vapor vaporized the 05:16.489 --> 05:18.899 coast . But to come out to Stennis . 05:19.709 --> 05:21.910 Half the people at Stennis lost 05:21.910 --> 05:23.910 everything they owned , and I don't 05:23.910 --> 05:25.854 mean , I mean lost . It was in the 05:25.854 --> 05:29.200 water somewhere , um , a third , 05:29.450 --> 05:32.350 another 3 were in houses that had to 05:32.350 --> 05:35.540 have massive reconstruction done , and , 05:35.549 --> 05:37.771 and another 13 like myself , we were in 05:37.771 --> 05:39.993 our house , but there was enough damage 05:39.993 --> 05:42.327 that it was gonna be a pain in the neck . 05:42.327 --> 05:45.059 And so the , the , the amazing thing 05:45.059 --> 05:47.700 about Katrina is , you know , you talk 05:47.700 --> 05:50.033 about first responders running into the , 05:50.100 --> 05:52.211 the fray instead of running away from 05:52.211 --> 05:54.739 it . There were a lot of people here at 05:54.739 --> 05:57.899 Stennis who came together . I mean , it 05:57.899 --> 06:01.220 was really as horrible a time as it was . 06:01.299 --> 06:04.170 It was a great time as well . Um , peop , 06:04.220 --> 06:07.130 the best in people came out . Um , you 06:07.130 --> 06:09.170 know , the XO at at Navo was a guy 06:09.170 --> 06:11.730 named Pete Furs . You know , Pete was 06:11.730 --> 06:14.769 arranging homes for people . Pete 06:14.769 --> 06:17.309 brought FEMA cottages on the site . 06:17.910 --> 06:21.570 Pete had people in Navoau . Pete 06:21.570 --> 06:23.890 lost everything he owned , and , and he 06:23.890 --> 06:26.450 put this place and these people in 06:26.450 --> 06:29.450 front of his own recovery . I mean , he 06:29.450 --> 06:31.783 was literally a slab in past Christiane , 06:32.329 --> 06:35.269 and Pete's one of hundreds of stories 06:35.730 --> 06:39.609 and so , um . Katrina 06:39.609 --> 06:41.442 was the most significant event , 06:41.630 --> 06:45.410 absolutely , um , and , and to me the 06:45.410 --> 06:47.632 best part of Katrina because it was the 06:47.632 --> 06:49.521 best part was the way people came 06:49.521 --> 06:52.239 together . Um , there were bad things , 06:52.660 --> 06:55.450 but around here people came together . 06:55.459 --> 06:57.799 It was , it was a real tight community , 06:58.100 --> 07:01.559 um , rebuilding , so first surviving , 07:01.619 --> 07:04.010 then rebuilding , so . Well , during 07:04.010 --> 07:07.040 Katrina , I was just amazed at how , um , 07:07.209 --> 07:09.859 actually fleet , we had just . Begun to 07:09.859 --> 07:13.619 go under fleet forces and um I just 07:13.619 --> 07:15.730 remember how really good they were to 07:15.730 --> 07:17.730 everyone , you know , giving people 07:17.730 --> 07:19.730 time to , uh , you know , put their 07:19.730 --> 07:22.100 homes back together and get their 07:22.100 --> 07:24.322 families together because we all had to 07:24.322 --> 07:26.679 evacuate and you know , we would always , 07:26.739 --> 07:28.820 we would work our day jobs and then 07:28.820 --> 07:31.042 we'd all say we got to go home and work 07:31.042 --> 07:32.876 our night jobs because we're all 07:32.876 --> 07:34.876 putting our homes back together and 07:34.876 --> 07:37.042 there weren't enough workers here to . 07:37.042 --> 07:38.931 You know , do the things that you 07:38.931 --> 07:40.931 needed to do to get your house back 07:40.931 --> 07:43.209 together . I was impressed to see that , 07:43.209 --> 07:46.049 you know , um , change between outside 07:46.049 --> 07:48.160 the gates and inside the gates , that 07:48.239 --> 07:50.329 how quickly it recovered inside the 07:50.329 --> 07:52.440 gates , um , while at the same time , 07:52.440 --> 07:54.607 the people and the families were still 07:54.607 --> 07:56.829 dealing with the aftermath of Katrina . 07:56.829 --> 07:59.107 Uh , it was just impressive to see and , 07:59.107 --> 08:01.385 and great to be a part of that mission . 08:01.385 --> 08:04.730 How this community of disparate 08:04.730 --> 08:06.989 organizations all came together with a 08:06.989 --> 08:10.059 common purpose of helping out our 08:10.059 --> 08:11.989 colleagues that were in need of 08:11.989 --> 08:14.649 returning the site . To full 08:14.649 --> 08:16.705 operational capability as quickly as 08:16.705 --> 08:19.140 possible and for and and utilizing the 08:19.140 --> 08:22.440 unique attributes of Stennis to assist 08:22.440 --> 08:25.260 the entire Gulf Coast community to 08:25.260 --> 08:27.940 restore and rebuild 6 months to 1 year 08:27.940 --> 08:31.059 after Katrina happened was the time I 08:31.059 --> 08:33.003 felt most closely connected to the 08:33.003 --> 08:35.170 other . Organizations here on site and 08:35.170 --> 08:37.337 to the community because we really all 08:37.337 --> 08:39.170 came together to help each other 08:39.170 --> 08:41.960 regardless of where our paychecks came 08:41.960 --> 08:43.904 from or what organizations that we 08:43.904 --> 08:46.349 worked for . I got here about 68 months 08:46.349 --> 08:49.109 before Hurricane Katrina , which was a 08:49.109 --> 08:51.220 significant event in all of our lives 08:51.220 --> 08:53.442 that were down here at the time , and . 08:54.489 --> 08:56.549 It was obviously significant in many 08:57.090 --> 08:59.510 ways , but I think for me the most 08:59.989 --> 09:02.369 important things that I took away from 09:02.369 --> 09:04.969 it , one is , is certainly that I don't 09:04.969 --> 09:07.210 actually need any of the things in my 09:07.210 --> 09:09.321 house and that I surround myself with 09:09.321 --> 09:11.609 in my life as long as the people I love 09:11.609 --> 09:14.650 are safe and that we can start over 09:14.650 --> 09:15.650 together . 09:18.890 --> 09:21.112 I would say the one that stands out the 09:21.112 --> 09:23.330 most is my technical director , my 09:23.330 --> 09:25.219 first technical director , Calvin 09:25.219 --> 09:28.289 Martin . He was probably the first to 09:28.289 --> 09:31.570 really show me the importance of the 09:31.570 --> 09:35.090 civilian population , both the subject 09:35.090 --> 09:37.650 matter experts and continuity to the 09:37.650 --> 09:39.872 missions that naval oceanography brings 09:39.872 --> 09:43.130 to the table . He made me 09:43.130 --> 09:46.520 care about the civilian population in a 09:46.520 --> 09:49.010 way that I never , you know , 09:49.119 --> 09:52.419 understood before , um , and changed 09:52.419 --> 09:54.641 the way I viewed what we do , how we do 09:54.641 --> 09:56.808 it specifically as a team , ah , going 09:56.808 --> 09:58.641 forward from then on out . I was 09:58.641 --> 10:00.752 fortunate to come down to Stennis for 10:00.752 --> 10:02.760 the first time right before we were 10:02.760 --> 10:06.599 standing up at NA Stennis and so we had 10:06.599 --> 10:09.260 established the Reach Backe and we were 10:09.640 --> 10:13.320 um building the ASW capability in a new 10:13.320 --> 10:15.542 and different way that we hadn't before 10:15.542 --> 10:18.614 with the experts that . Already resided 10:18.614 --> 10:20.725 within Navo . The scientists who took 10:20.725 --> 10:22.281 me under their wing both in 10:22.281 --> 10:24.375 oceanography , uh , ocean modeling , 10:24.494 --> 10:27.655 and in , uh , MP5 acoustics , um , they 10:27.655 --> 10:29.766 really set the course for the rest of 10:29.766 --> 10:31.766 my career , and , uh , you know , I 10:31.766 --> 10:33.988 just remember the hours that I spent on 10:33.988 --> 10:37.179 the watch floor in Building 1002 . Um , 10:37.219 --> 10:39.441 talking about acoustics , talking about 10:39.441 --> 10:41.441 the impact of oceanography , that's 10:41.441 --> 10:43.663 really what drove me towards wanting to 10:43.663 --> 10:45.386 apply to the MITHE program and 10:45.386 --> 10:48.340 ultimately , um , you know , when I , 10:48.450 --> 10:50.419 once I was accepted to focus on 10:50.419 --> 10:53.299 underwater acoustics , um , during my 10:53.299 --> 10:56.150 time up there and those . Those 10:56.150 --> 10:58.261 individuals have just made a profound 10:58.261 --> 11:00.150 impact on my life and my career . 11:00.330 --> 11:02.619 Individuals like Pam McDowell , uh , 11:02.750 --> 11:04.690 Mel Wagstaff , Frank Bub , Dennis 11:04.690 --> 11:07.229 Crinan , um , are all people who just , 11:07.309 --> 11:09.420 you know , saw this young officer who 11:09.420 --> 11:11.950 was eager to learn and were willing to 11:11.950 --> 11:13.940 spend hours , you know , imparting 11:13.940 --> 11:16.169 their wisdom , um , into me . 11:18.450 --> 11:22.409 My career has benefited from . Uh , 11:22.489 --> 11:25.489 having great and strong mentors that I 11:25.489 --> 11:27.739 could , uh , work with and talk to , 11:28.130 --> 11:30.186 and , and I've tried to be that same 11:30.186 --> 11:32.250 person to , you know , other folks , 11:32.599 --> 11:34.766 mentees of mine and other folks that I 11:34.766 --> 11:36.988 come interactions with , but , uh , you 11:36.988 --> 11:39.099 know , starting with my PhD advisor , 11:39.289 --> 11:41.400 uh , Doctor Tom Drake , who is now at 11:41.400 --> 11:43.511 the Office of Naval Research , he was 11:43.511 --> 11:45.678 my PhD advisor at North Carolina State 11:45.678 --> 11:47.809 University . He's still someone I uh 11:47.809 --> 11:50.429 talk to regularly and get advice from . 11:50.789 --> 11:52.750 On a regular basis . My first 11:52.750 --> 11:54.861 supervisor here , I worked for , uh , 11:54.861 --> 11:57.989 Doctor Todd Holland for 17 years , you 11:57.989 --> 12:00.229 know , and I followed Todd , um , you 12:00.229 --> 12:02.285 know , as his second in command , if 12:02.285 --> 12:04.451 you will , throughout his career until 12:04.451 --> 12:06.618 he left Stennis Space Center , and now 12:06.618 --> 12:08.618 he's at Panama City . Uh , Todd was 12:08.618 --> 12:10.785 just and still is an incredible mentor 12:10.785 --> 12:12.951 and sounding board for me . And then , 12:12.951 --> 12:15.229 uh , I definitely need to mention , uh , 12:15.229 --> 12:17.062 Mike Richardson . So Doctor Mike 12:17.062 --> 12:19.239 Richardson , retired from NRL , um , 12:19.659 --> 12:22.059 you know , just a great friend and 12:22.059 --> 12:25.260 mentor . I never , I never worked for 12:25.260 --> 12:27.780 Mike , but I worked closely with Mike 12:27.780 --> 12:31.580 for many years . And , um , he still is 12:31.580 --> 12:33.580 a great mentor and friend . We're , 12:33.580 --> 12:35.747 we're going out to lunch on Saturday . 12:35.747 --> 12:39.650 The one person who I can um credit for 12:39.750 --> 12:42.070 all my success really located here at 12:42.070 --> 12:45.229 Stennis is Doctor Richard Kraut . He's 12:45.229 --> 12:47.789 the deputy director right now , the 12:47.789 --> 12:49.733 deputy superintendent at the Naval 12:49.733 --> 12:51.845 Research Laboratory here at Stennis . 12:52.150 --> 12:54.840 And when I came here in 1988 . Um , 12:55.390 --> 12:57.446 we're using satellite images to look 12:57.446 --> 12:59.501 for ocean fronts and eddies , but in 12:59.501 --> 13:01.900 cloud-covered images you can't see the 13:01.909 --> 13:04.159 thermal structure of those , of those 13:04.159 --> 13:07.070 ocean features , but you could in 13:07.070 --> 13:09.530 satellite data called altimetry data , 13:10.000 --> 13:12.960 and Doctor Kraut is one of the leading 13:12.960 --> 13:14.849 experts in the world in satellite 13:14.849 --> 13:17.071 altimetry working at the Naval Research 13:17.071 --> 13:19.700 Laboratory . And one of the first 13:19.700 --> 13:21.811 projects I was able to work on was to 13:21.811 --> 13:23.700 meet Doctor Kraut and learn about 13:23.700 --> 13:25.700 satellite satellite optometry so we 13:25.700 --> 13:28.033 could find those oceanfronts and eddies . 13:28.033 --> 13:30.256 Doctor Kraut was , uh , not only just a 13:30.256 --> 13:32.979 great mentor for me , but he was on my 13:32.979 --> 13:36.099 master's thesis committee and my PhD 13:36.099 --> 13:38.700 dissertation committee . I would never 13:38.700 --> 13:40.811 finish those if it wasn't for him and 13:40.811 --> 13:42.978 all his guidance , and I have to say I 13:42.978 --> 13:45.200 credit all my , my levels of experience 13:45.200 --> 13:47.130 getting to . The senior executive 13:47.130 --> 13:49.190 service with Doctor Crow , so I was 13:49.190 --> 13:51.246 very blessed to to meet him and meet 13:51.246 --> 13:52.301 his acquaintance . 13:55.500 --> 13:57.619 The reason you're here , the reason 13:57.619 --> 13:59.730 you're looking at this , this video , 13:59.730 --> 14:01.897 this tape message , whatever you wanna 14:01.897 --> 14:03.841 call it , is because a lot of good 14:03.841 --> 14:06.739 people came before you and laid down 14:06.739 --> 14:10.520 this great foundation for you 14:10.659 --> 14:12.603 to have a place to come and have a 14:12.603 --> 14:16.440 career . Um , have a , a meaningful 14:16.440 --> 14:19.919 job to contribute to national defense , 14:20.510 --> 14:22.750 um , and Mississippi and the Stenner 14:22.750 --> 14:25.549 Space Center has welcomed the MTA 14:25.549 --> 14:28.750 community , um , for years and years 14:28.750 --> 14:31.030 and years and years , and if this is 50 14:31.030 --> 14:33.197 years from now , you'll be celebrating 14:33.197 --> 14:35.950 the 300th anniversary , um , and , and 14:35.950 --> 14:38.117 I hope we're still here at , at , uh , 14:38.117 --> 14:41.070 Stennis . Um , and the preservatives I 14:41.070 --> 14:43.237 keep taking every day will allow me to 14:43.237 --> 14:47.070 be here as well , so we'll see . I 14:47.070 --> 14:48.959 would say to the future sailors , 14:49.159 --> 14:52.429 officers , civilians that , you know , 14:53.979 --> 14:56.099 I imagine that the tools we're trying 14:56.099 --> 14:58.770 to grapple with today , uh , AI , 14:59.140 --> 15:01.780 machine learning , you know , are gonna 15:01.780 --> 15:05.260 be just Commonplace , you know , to 15:05.260 --> 15:07.739 what you're doing . Um , and I would 15:07.739 --> 15:10.299 say to you , seek out those next things , 15:10.780 --> 15:12.836 the next things that are gonna bring 15:12.836 --> 15:15.113 value to what you do and how you do it , 15:15.113 --> 15:17.224 and most importantly to the fleet and 15:17.224 --> 15:19.558 to the navy . Uh , and , and the nation , 15:19.558 --> 15:21.613 as we look into the next 50 years of 15:21.613 --> 15:23.836 navy on Stenes and then specifically of 15:23.836 --> 15:25.724 naval oceanography on Stenes , my 15:25.724 --> 15:27.891 advice is don't avoid the swamp . It's 15:27.891 --> 15:29.780 an excellent place to be . We are 15:29.780 --> 15:32.159 surrounded by . The professionals who 15:32.159 --> 15:35.679 love what we do and we also are a 15:35.679 --> 15:37.960 family , uh , I tell it to the boat 15:37.960 --> 15:40.127 students when they're coming through . 15:40.127 --> 15:42.349 I talk about it every opportunity I get 15:42.349 --> 15:44.659 to people outside of the Meat community 15:44.919 --> 15:48.130 and while we feel connected everywhere 15:48.130 --> 15:50.297 that our community is , you don't feel 15:50.297 --> 15:52.408 it anywhere more strongly than you do 15:52.408 --> 15:54.979 down here at Stennis . You know , 15:55.080 --> 15:57.140 looking back , I would say the most 15:57.140 --> 16:00.289 important thing is Understand and 16:00.289 --> 16:02.122 appreciate the uniqueness of the 16:02.122 --> 16:04.122 culture that you find yourself in . 16:04.330 --> 16:06.497 Like I said before , Stennis is unlike 16:06.497 --> 16:09.109 any NASA , unlike any NASA center 16:09.109 --> 16:11.331 elsewhere , and it's likely unlike most 16:11.331 --> 16:13.919 DOD installations elsewhere because it 16:13.919 --> 16:17.710 is this tossed salad of organizations 16:17.890 --> 16:20.729 that are all enabled to do their 16:20.729 --> 16:22.507 mission here despite how very . 16:22.619 --> 16:24.841 Different those missions are and if you 16:24.841 --> 16:27.020 appreciate that and you find ways to 16:27.020 --> 16:28.820 step out of your organizational 16:28.820 --> 16:32.260 boundaries to involve yourselves in the 16:32.260 --> 16:34.739 larger culture of tennis , I think you 16:34.739 --> 16:36.795 will find greater fulfillment in the 16:36.795 --> 16:39.017 work that you do and you're also likely 16:39.017 --> 16:41.039 to establish long term . 16:41.919 --> 16:43.809 Interpersonal and professional 16:43.809 --> 16:45.809 relationships that will go with you 16:45.969 --> 16:48.090 throughout your career . Some of my 16:48.090 --> 16:52.049 closest friends that I have now are 16:52.049 --> 16:54.105 Navy employees that I never actually 16:54.105 --> 16:56.327 worked with , but met through different 16:56.327 --> 16:58.450 avenues out here and really found a 16:58.450 --> 17:01.099 common sense of shared purpose , focus 17:01.099 --> 17:03.609 on mission , and the can-do attitude 17:03.609 --> 17:05.969 that's the embodiment of why tennis is 17:05.969 --> 17:09.560 so successful . Be diligent , uh , work 17:09.560 --> 17:12.260 hard , um , improve yourself , 17:13.079 --> 17:16.500 educate yourself . And there's nothing 17:16.500 --> 17:19.780 that you can't do . Um , I got my dream 17:19.780 --> 17:23.300 job working here and if you have the 17:23.300 --> 17:27.058 patience and . The diligence , you can , 17:27.418 --> 17:29.640 you can pretty much do anything here at 17:29.640 --> 17:32.540 Stennis . Um , during the time I was 17:32.540 --> 17:35.800 here , I was able to 17:36.339 --> 17:38.780 get , uh , my master's degree and my 17:38.780 --> 17:41.219 PhD because the Navy paid for it while 17:41.219 --> 17:44.719 working full time , I was able to , 17:44.780 --> 17:47.500 um , live in the same house for over 30 17:47.500 --> 17:50.819 years and have 7 different jobs here at 17:50.819 --> 17:53.760 Stennis . Where else are you going to 17:53.760 --> 17:56.239 find a place like that in the United 17:56.239 --> 17:58.461 States or anywhere really where you can 17:58.461 --> 18:01.040 have that luxury of not having to deal 18:01.040 --> 18:03.096 with traffic , being able to raise a 18:03.096 --> 18:05.400 family , having a very secure job , 18:05.800 --> 18:08.869 being in an area where everybody is is 18:08.880 --> 18:12.420 kind and friendly and giving . And 18:12.420 --> 18:14.939 being able to look back on a career and 18:14.939 --> 18:17.099 go , wow , what a , just what a great 18:17.099 --> 18:19.619 time I had , how lucky I am . I think 18:19.619 --> 18:21.675 that what I've seen over the last 24 18:21.675 --> 18:23.786 years here at Stennis is that as much 18:23.786 --> 18:26.979 as things change , um , they also stay 18:26.979 --> 18:29.579 the same . And the one thing that's 18:29.579 --> 18:32.339 constant that despite all the 18:32.339 --> 18:34.619 technology we have and will continue to 18:34.619 --> 18:38.140 have is people interact with 18:38.140 --> 18:41.500 people , relationships are what 18:41.500 --> 18:44.500 matter and personal relationships are 18:44.500 --> 18:48.040 what make things happen in the Navy 18:48.170 --> 18:50.739 and across the globe and never lose 18:50.739 --> 18:52.795 sight of that and hopefully 50 years 18:52.795 --> 18:54.961 from now that is still the case and we 18:54.961 --> 18:56.040 have not lost sight of that .