 Ladies and gentlemen, on behalf of Brigadier General Steven Lightfoot, Director, Capabilities Development Directorate, Combat Development Integration, Welcome to today's retirement ceremony, during which AstraZeneca Aldrin will be released from active duty, who retired after 26 years of faith and honorable service to his country and the United States Marine Corps. Ladies and gentlemen, please stand for the arrival of the official party, invocation, playing of our national anthem and the rendering of honors. Let us pray. Our gracious heavenly Father, we come to you now with gratitude that we can celebrate such an auspicious occasion. It's during moments like these that we are reminded of the impact that one Marine can make to promote democracy and to afford the citizens of this nation the ability to pursue happiness and to teach us how to live virtuously. I'm reminded of the reality of President Reagan's words. Some people spend an entire lifetime wondering if they made a difference in the world, but the Marines don't have that problem. Master Regenerary Sergeant Aldrin is no exception to that truth. He refused to merely sit on the sidelines only talking about change. He's a man of action and will certainly leave a lasting legacy. We thank you, Father, for allowing us to be the beneficiaries of his dedicated service. We realize that these moments can never fully offer a sufficient tribute to Master Regenerary Sergeant Aldrin's accomplishments, but I pray that these coming moments might provide at least a glimpse of all that he has met to the core and to this nation. I ask that you place your blessing upon Master Regenerary Sergeant Aldrin as he comes to the end of this journey. I pray that the next would bring tremendous joy and laughter with his wife, Tara, and with their family, and I pray that you would be honored and glorified during this time. It's in your holy name, I pray. Amen. We'll now render honors to the retiring officer, Brigadier General Stephen Leithner, Director, Capabilities Development Director. Please be seated. Ladies and gentlemen, Brigadier General Leithner. Hey, thanks, Sergeant. I'm typically someone who likes to talk with my hands, so I apologize. I'm going to have one hand moving around and one hand on the mic so that you can hear what I'm saying. Right off the bat, I just want to welcome our Korean war veterans who chose a few. I just want to say thanks. I think there's a few out in the crowd here. Can you put your — thank you, sir. Thank you. Thank you for the service that you provided to our country for the Marine Corps. Thank you for taking the time to come here today. Today is a bittersweet day. We're going to retire Master Gunnery Sergeant, the highest rank you can attain on the illicit side in the Marine Corps. And we're going to honor him today. We're going to do our best to do that. So right up front, I just want to thank a few folks who are coming here because you just heard the band and the band just sounded fantastic. Thank you for entertaining us on the front side and you make every ceremony what it is so special. Because it just wouldn't be one without you guys. So thank you so much for that. Chaplain, where are you? I just want to say thanks for that. The Ronald Reagan quote is one of my favorites. So thanks so much. I now know there's a line right here that you don't cross where you get a lot of feedback. Okay, next I just want to say thanks to the ACE. So I look across and I see the aviation combat element of the CDD and a lot of friendly faces, a lot of familiar faces. So thank you for taking the time to come out here and honor Master Gunnery Sergeant Eldridge. And also just want to say I know that you've got family and friends here who are taking the time to honor your 26 years of service to the Marine Corps. So how many folks here, well before I get to that, let me ask, how many folks here have been to the museum before? How many have not, let me ask, how many haven't been to the museum? That's probably the better word for that. Okay, well I'll tell you, this is a really special venue. As everyone knows, Marines are very proud of our heritage, our legacy of fighting. We believe, and there are other folks that believe the same, that the Marine Corps is the finest fighting organization the world has ever seen. And when you go through here, and I hope you actually get the time, take the time while you're here to walk through and see all of it. I am glad, you know, and I am very thankful that Master Gunnery Sergeant, thank you for allowing me to be your retired officer. Let me just say it's an honor. And I would say right here, yes, and I know when I said who's been here before, everyone looked up. I want to see these, these are wings. Aviation is a big part of the Marine Corps. And what you have behind me, and I think we couldn't have a better backdrop for what you do and what you've done, is you have a UH-34 C-Wars right here. This was kind of pre-Vietnam and in the beginning of Vietnam. This thing is an absolute, and it was an absolute workhorse. And for those that remember piston radio engines, that's what this thing flew with. And if you were flying it, it was because you were flying the heck out of it. There's nothing automatic, no computers, you know, in this thing. So this thing is tough to fly. This is even older than press the old Master Guns. Aldrich used the Tyrant. So that tells you something about how old this machine is. Then, of course, this went into the CH-46 frog that we flew for 50 years in the Marine Corps and then now replaced by the MB-22 tail motor. So just a little bit of history. If you go through here, you're going to see a lot of that. Why does this matter? Well, because that's what Master Gunnery's Sergeant Elvin has done. You know, a big part of his career, and when he joined the Marine Corps in 1998, he became an aircraft rescue firefighting specialist, an ARF specialist. And what do they do? They make sure that when this aircraft is airborne, it has someone able to respond when things don't go right. And that's what we need. We need folks to make sure that, A, we got to make sure we can fly these things safely. But when something happens, and inevitably it's like if you're riding a motorcycle, it's not if it's when something's going to go wrong. When an aircraft has a problem, you have to have someone who's there able to put the fire out and pull folks from the right there. And I'll tell you, as someone who's flown in training and combat, I have seen our crash fire rescue specialist put fires out and pull pilots and aircrew from the wreckage. So absolute hearings. So I just want to say thank you up front for everything that you've done in 26 years. I'm going to talk a little bit more about that. I asked a little earlier, who is for the first time seeing a military retirement? Anyone? Okay, there's a lot. Got one more over here. So here's the way this is going to go today. I am going to do my best to honor Master Gensoudrich for the things that he has done. Then we're going to present him with an award, a well-deserved award, that's going to try to encapsulate 26 years of service in the Marine Corps. And when you think about that, there's probably less than 26 lines of text in there that we're going to read through. So if you interpret that, that's less than one line for every year of service. So there's no way that we can actually do it justice. But we're going to do what we can, and it's the right thing to do. So we're going to present an award. Then there's retirement certificate. Then the flag. Then we're also going to present a bunch of certificates from very important people. And I think it's appropriate to say that, because I would say that the President of the United States is a pretty important person. We need to come down to the Marine Corps as an important person. And we think that the Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps is important. And then, as I was looking at your certificates, a former plus, who you serve with. So you're going to hear all these folks who want to associate their good name with Master Gensoudrich Sergeant's 26 years of honorable and faithful service. So that's what we're going to do. Then we're also going to honor you, Tara. We're going to get you up here, and we're going to honor you, and make you feel a little embarrassed. And that's okay. This is a special day for the both of you, and we want to do that. Then, after all of that, is what I'm going to say. Congratulations, and I'm going to turn the microphone over to Master Gensoudrich for everything that he's done. And you'll have your chance to get to the marks. So, let me just talk a little bit about Master Gensoudrich Sergeant. You talked about joining in 1998, you know, some 26 years ago. If you do the math, it's actually going to go on terminal. It will actually be 26 years. So, just in case you want your math for Marines. Am I getting it wrong? Did the math. So, what I want to, I'm not going to go through his whole bio, and he's got a fantastic bio. If you read through it, you'll see the amazing, and even that doesn't encapsulate absolutely everything. But I want to walk you around the globe for a second. He joins, becomes an aircraft worker rescue firefighter specialist, and immediately gets deployed, as in Lake Hestigan Station, over to Japan. So, MCA is in the community in Japan. Or actually, it's the temple, it's the temple. So, in Okinawa, prefectural Japan. So, he serves there, and he's a firefighting specialist, but at the same time, they realize this kid can shoot, and boot camp. So, he comes over and he becomes a marksman. Really, expert. He's a doubly. You can't see it in the uniform that we're in today, but he's a doubly, meaning he's expert, expert in the rifle and the pistol, meaning you can't get better than that. And that's what he was right out of that. So, they said, hey, you're going to become one of our marksman instructors as well. And then also, and I talked about, you know, flying and being able to put fires out. But if you could do both, why not do both? So, then he said, hey, you know what? We fly C-12s, which is one of the aircraft that we fly in the Marine Corps. And he flew C-12s. Not only does he put out fires, but he's not afraid to fly in the aircraft that he might have to put the fire out on at some point. So, that's in Japan. And from there, he says, well, I'm doing a pretty good job here, and he does. And what do we do after your first enlistment when you're doing a good job? You say, hey, you got to go do a B-build. So, he gets elected to go to Marine Security Guard Detachment. And we only select our best path because it's independent duty. It's extremely challenging. You've got to be someone who can think on your feet. You're protecting embassies. You're actually a statesman, like you were representing not just the Marine Corps, but you were representing the United States of America when you're in a foreign country. And for those that are unfamiliar, you usually do a couple of countries. And they kind of start off with the one that's a little more less known. And then you kind of graduate to the one that's a little more known. And that's to ensure that you don't try to stay in one spot. So the very first one, he goes from Japan and gets stationed in Uruguay. And I know everyone knows exactly where Uruguay is because everyone knows that you learn that in geography. But it's sandwiched on the South Atlantic coast of South America between Brazil and Argentina. And that's the first place that he does. He serves as representative for the United States. After that tour, he does a great job. They say, okay, now you get to go to the place that's a little more known. And you might have heard of a place called Moscow in Russia. So he goes and he serves in Moscow. And trust me, that's a coveted place. I can't imagine that anyone else wanted to go there. And you just got lucky, right? No, it's because of performance. When you're good, you get selected for the good village as well. So he goes and he serves in Moscow. He's like, well, you know, I went from Japan to the Southern Hemisphere, back to the Northern Hemisphere, Moscow. And he's got a whole bunch of tails on that one, which are cool. But he says, you know what, it's time to go back to North America. So he goes to the West Coast and is serving in Camp Pendleton and Marine Wing Support Squadron. And that's where a lot of our firefighting capabilities reside within the wing. So now he's serving in Third Rain Aircraft Wing. Previously it was First Rain Aircraft Wing in Japan. Now he's in Camp Pendleton. But also, what do we have going on at this time? We've got combat. We've got OIF going. So he's in a unit. It gets deployed. He deploys over to OIF in Iraq. So now he's in Southwest Asia. He's bounced around a little bit. So now he's in Southwest Asia. And he's making sure that aircraft are safe and able to fly. And we're going to keep pilots alive for a true lot. Comes back from combat, goes back to the West Coast in Camp Pendleton. And from there begins his trek across the United States. Again, there is a trend here. You don't make master guns unless you're darn good at what you do. So there's a trend. He's at Camp Pendleton. He's doing a fantastic job of protecting these aircraft. And so what does he get selected for? To be an instructor. So from there, from Camp Pendleton, he needs to go to Goodland or Goodfella. Goodfella, Texas, which I'm sure everyone's been there. But it's right in the middle of Texas. At least a three-hour drive tour, a three-hour drive from every major city that's in Texas. But it goes here to be the instructor. One of the instructors, because when you're good, you're an instructor. When he finishes up that tour, it's a joint tour. An Air Force base, he comes back over, continuing his trek across the United States. He continues to the East Coast. And a good station at the Jerry Point and New River. And that's where our second bringer comes in. Because, you know, he's only served at first and third. He may as well go to second, right? So now it's time to go in. We only have three wings in the Marine Corps, you know, on active components. It's time to go serve in all of them. So he goes over to the secondary aircraft wing and serves there. And not only does he serve there, but he serves as the OIC. And you might be thinking, I'm missing something when I say OIC as a master sergeant at the time. But I'm not. I mean that. Because usually you have an OIC in the staff at COIC. But because there was no OIC, he served as the OIC. As the officer in charge, you know, for that unit. And I'll tell you, as someone who has seen this before, you don't even consider that unless you have someone who is just remarkably capable. You just wouldn't do that. You would say, hey, we've got to find someone. We've got to bring someone over. It's just too important. But when you have someone who's remarkably capable, then you say, you know what? I think this unit is going to be fine under the leadership of this Marine right here. And so Master Sergeant Aldrich is just, thank you for that, you know, for serving in two buildings at once as an OIC in the staff at COIC. So from there, he says, hey, you know what? It's time to deploy again. Get selected for Special Purpose Magtaf Africa. There's a trend here. This guy's going all over the place. So he goes to Africa. And he comes back. And now I think that's pretty much all the continents except for Australia and Antarctica. So you pretty much have on your bucket list. I hope. Have you been to Australia yet? It's on the list. And then Antarctica. I think just soon after. So you've got all the continents. You've got to get them all. But after a successful tour at New River, he comes back up. And what happens when you get selected for Master Gunnery Sergeant? And there's only six Master Gunnery Sergeant citizens across the Marine Corps. Only six. He's one of them. And he does his service in that building where you write the requirements for what is the future of this firefighting and Marine Corps. What is it going to be for aircraft recovery and rescue? And that's the top of the food chain. I'll just say that. There are 1,100 Master Gunnery Sergeant in the Marine Corps. And you might think that sounds like a lot. But let's compare that to the number of Marines that we have in the Marine Corps. Now, 170, roughly 175,000 Marines in the Marine Corps. And you do math for Marines in public. 1,100 is less than 1% of that. So less than 1% of our Marines ultimately make it to Master Gunnery Sergeant. And he is serving in that top building in the Marine Corps of Master Gunnery Sergeant in his 751 aircraft rescue firefighting specialist on the West. So congratulations. And thank you for all the expertise that you've given to the Marine Corps and given back. And I know that there are, you know, Master Sergeant Krill just said, you were one of his mentors. And I know he's not the only one. There are a lot of Marines out there that have felt your mentorship and they are carrying on the legacy of a Marine Corps and professionalism that you have brought. So I just want to say thank you in front of everyone for that. Before I hand the mic over and we begin all the certificates and all the things that go along with that, the last thing I want to say is I know that you are ready. You are ready for the next chapter. Here's someone, if you look at his bio, you'll see at the end there, highly educated. Here's an individual who could do absolutely anything he wants to do. I won't go through all the education, but I will say, you got an MBA. And if you have an MBA, you got a lot of options. You got choices that you can make. And you can probably make a lot more money than I know that. You know that. But he's a patriot. He's good at what he does. He mentors folks. He leaves the Marine Corps a better place by choice. And so thank you for that. And as I talked to him, I said, what are you going to do? And I was kind of expecting to hear him say, I'm going to go work for SpaceX. And I'm going to make millions of dollars. But he said, actually, I love what I do. And I look forward to coming back to headquarters Marine Corps as a civilian this time. So a little different uniform. But he wants to continue the work that he's been doing because we have, there's a lot of work to be done. And he's going to come back and serve in that capacity. So again, thank you for continuing. We don't want to lose any of that 26 years of expertise in the Marine Corps. And the fact that you're willing to come back when I know you can do other things. That really means a lot, I think to everyone. And then finally, I just, when I asked him when we were sitting down, just kind of doing an outbreak of thank you for 26 years in the Marine Corps, especially your final destination here in CD9, combat component integration. I just said, where was your favorite, where was your favorite duty station? And as one might imagine, if you don't know the story already, it was Moscow. And why was it Moscow? Because it's where he met his lovely wife, and if he hasn't told you the story, you need to drag it out of him. But how he met his wife at Captain the Great Palace in Moscow, where they're celebrating a tournament that had completed in its broom ball, right? Where you run around, or I shouldn't even say run, but it's on ice, except you're not wearing ice skates, you're wearing shoes, and you've got a broom, and there's ball, and you've got a score. And what it boils down to is someone was really good, and got second place, terrible, and someone was really not good, and did not get second place. That's all I'm gonna say about that. You can get the details from Master Gun Jill this evening, over a beer, and he'll probably tell a different version of that story, but don't believe me. Okay, so with that, let's go ahead and continue on with the important interests. From the Commandant of the Marine Corps, the President of the United States takes pleasure in presenting the Legion of Merit to Master Gunner Sergeant Kenneth G. Aldridge, United States Marine Corps, for services set forth in the following citation. For exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding service, while serving as Deputy and Expeditionary Air Field in Immersion Services, Capability Integration Officer, Marine Air Command and Control Integration Branch, Aviation Combat Element Division, Capabilities Development Directorate, Combat Development and Integration, Chronico, Virginia, from April 2021 to November 2023. During this time, Master Gunner Sergeant Aldridge demonstrated outstanding leadership and management as the Marine Corps' service lead for Expeditionary Air Field and Expeditionary Fire and Rescue capability requirements. Serving is the principal architect for six requirement memorandums and one capabilities development document used to establish, validate, and transfer equipment needs to acquisition professionals. Managing Marine Programming Codes, handling over $127 million of assets and was responsible for maintaining an Expeditionary Firefighting and Rescue Program that standardized 260 pieces of equipment, ultimately saving $10 million. His leadership and diligence for the modernization of Marine aviation have been without even, and he has made lasting contributions to the aviation ground support community by enhancing vital Expeditionary Enables. Master Gunner Sergeant Aldridge's superior performance of duties is 26 years of honorable and dedicated military service. Master Gunner Sergeant Aldridge's exceptional ability, initiative, and total dedication and duty reflected credit upon him and were in keeping with the highest traditions of the Marine Corps of the United States Naval Service. For the President, Eric M. Smith, Commandant of the Marine Corps. The official retirement orders from the 38th Commandant of the Marine Corps to Master Gunner Sergeant Aldridge. United States Marine Corps, Master Gunner Sergeant Kenneth G. Aldridge was transferred this date from the United States Marine Corps to the Fleet Corps' army after 26 years of honorable and faithful service. 1 March 2024, Washington, D.C. Signed D.H. Berger, 38th Commandant of the Marine Corps. A flag has now been presented to Master Gunner Sergeant Aldridge. This flag of the United States of America was blown on 5 October 2023 in the United States Marine Corps who are mourning the honor of Master Gunner Sergeant Kenneth Aldridge's 26 years of dedicated and faithful service of the United States Marine Corps. A letter from the Commander-in-Chief Certificate of Appreciation for Service and Armed Forces of the United States of America to Master Gunner Sergeant Kenneth G. Aldridge, United States Marine Corps. I extend my personal gratitude and the sincere appreciation of a grateful nation to you for your patriotic service to our country. Your bravery and dedication in our armed forces helped protect our fellow Americans during a critical moment in our history and contributed to a world of greater security and growing prosperity. Your devotion and duty, honor and country in keeping with the long traditions of the finest military in the world embody the American ideal of selfless service. Our nation owes you an incredible debt. Your commitment and the example you set will inspire future generations to serve with pride and to keep our country secure. You represent the best of our nation and I join our fellow Americans in saluting your honorable service. I wish you happiness and success in your next job. Joseph R. Biden Jr., Commander-in-Chief. Dear Kenneth, thank you for your service in the United States Armed Forces. I am proud to have served as your Commander-in-Chief. And I am pleased to join your family, friends and colleagues in recognizing your career and accomplishments. Throughout history, the dedicated men and women of our military have protected our citizens and preserved the ideals that make our country strong. Their courage and sacrifice have inspired countless people that have helped shape America's character. On behalf of a grateful nation, I thank you for your contribution to our security and to the cause of peace and freedom. Your service, patriotism and selfless devotion have helped advance the universal hope of liberty at home and around the world. Laura and I send you our best wishes for health and happiness in the years ahead. May God bless you and may God continue to bless America. Sincerely, George W. Bush. And from the 38th comment on the Marine Corps, Dear Ambassador S. R. O. The Marine Corps has been your occupation and family for many years past, and I am certain that memories, interests, and the future of the Corps will remain with you forever. Many desire to obtain your accomplished goals but few can compare to you. You have clearly demonstrated the exceptional leadership qualities and professional contributions we seek of our senior Marines. We are proud as you must be of your successful career. As a teacher of young Marines, a source of wise counsel and as an example of those soldierly virtues we so admire, you have left a mark on the Corps that will remain long after you have left our active ranks. There are many young Marines you have influenced who will carry on the same fine tradition that is always characterized in the United States Marine Corps. You have my best wishes for good health and continued success in the years ahead. Semper Fidelis, the expert general of the United States Marine Corps, 38th Commandant of the Marine Corps. A letter from the 19th Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps. Dear Master Sergeant Otter, on the occasion of your retirement I would like to extend my congratulations and heartfelt thanks for your many years of dedicated service and selfless devotion to our country and Corps. You have made tremendous contributions and sacrifices throughout your Marine Corps career. As you prepare to enter this new chapter of your life I would like to look back with immense pride and satisfaction on all that you have accomplished. You have set an example of professionalism and leave a standard of excellence for all Marines who will carry on the legacy of our Corps. My wife Stacy joins me in wishing you continued success in the future. Semper Fidelis, Troy E. Black, 19th Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps. Mrs. Tara Aldridge is being presented a certificate of appreciation for steadfast support to her husband and his Marines throughout his career. The United States Marine Corps, certificate of appreciation presented to you Mrs. Tara J. Aldridge on the occasion of her retirement of her husband from active duty. You have earned the Corps' grateful appreciation for your unselfish, faithful and devoted service. Your unfailing support and understanding helped to make possible your husband's lasting contributions to a great formation. Given under my hand the second day of November 2023 bring to your general Stephen J. Lightfoot Director Capabilities Development Director. I'm going to talk to Tara but I want you all to hear some of the things at ease. At ease. So Tara thank you so much for all the years of support that you provide without support. There's going to all the continents. There's a lot of things going on and without support from you he would not have been able to excel and reach the very top tier of the Marine Corps without your support so I just want to say thank you. Thanks a lot. Alright let's have a hand from Mr. J. Lightfoot. Flowers are being presented to Master Sergeant Aldridge his family for their dedicated support Ladies and gentlemen Master Gunnery Sergeant Aldridge Retired You go to enough of them to see them in certain ways that they intend to go I'm going to start off a little bit I'm going to thank my wife first the one so I don't forget right but also she's the most important person she's the reason why I'm here is because she's driven me and tolerated me all the time and we've had a lot of thank you for being on my side making the first time through the schedule if you read through the bio that doesn't mean it's been a pleasure working around with you you generally make somebody want to be a better person I'm not just a better man it's always a pleasure to be with you so the H leadership Mr. Gass is a technical familiar with Sam can't think he has not been helping up in CDU in CD9 learning the ropes up there but also very supportive of what we do up there with the aviation grounds we work with the EMPAR community which we share firefighting and rescue I think that's what we're doing ourselves now and then also with the chief Morris so I wanted to thank you family and friends again when you're up here there's that chance where you can disassociate and start looking at bases and try to thank everybody individually I'm not going to do that so if I did miss you sorry but I'm going to try to keep it there the flower shop is there so I kind of went there and we're built typically by I'm buying white flowers she asked me buy white flowers you know that you know she sold she got flowers but I also wanted to send her to her to her mom Nancy she's been very supportive throughout all these years a lot of times when I had to go to a force or a plane or something like that to always see the time when Tara had the surgery she'd always come in flying take care of Tara extended stay it's always like that to my niece amazing when you're with some people she's my business she takes care so she's taking care of people of a normal young lady we're actually closer in age than I was in my city but I'm really happy that she was able to make it out here Ruiz is a daughter of Ruiz I'm going to say her real first name that she'd probably brought to me before I just really wanted to but a fierce friend and she's been a sister this whole entire time and I needed to take off or something like that you know Tara came into my life and Johnny and I would bounce around doing different things to our schools are extremely tough as people act half the limits that we go on across country ships like Tara and Don were like their own support that would always help to shut it out I mean he's been a brother this whole entire time so we'll talk a little bit more about that because it's going to be kind of an interactive little spiel because I need to work some graphs and I select pictures so I add a little more context to those pictures so family then I'll say after a long time buddy Greg want to sit back there I couldn't doubt a lot of stuff back in play everywhere I was around the world I was 16 17 years old so actually I participated in did a good job helping me out this family with a nominal that's his long time with Jack Greg and sisters with a great family I was really happy with him the Robbie family part of it the Robbie detachment we go all the way back to the ties with Greg but our career is kind of across country he needed the Air Force all kinds of aircraft but he kind of lost touch he did something that I'll never forget though I got selected as a sassard my dad couldn't travel and he always kind of did stuff like this in my adventures and we were both on leave it was very Christmas New Year's and he came out there and we did kind of an unofficial promotion so if he came out there we did the promotion and he let my dad pay on the show for something that he did ever meet Mandy, Carson and me and of course I spent some awesome the other family is that we talked about it once for a long way mentors fierce friends there's another gentleman out here a lot beyond I don't know he's here great friend very passionate passionate about taking care of friends that still live in today and then family and friends that came a long way we have a group called the Sun Puzzles I'm starting to get used to like a habit family on the other side maybe not near but they can be a bit sure about it or some friends with the terror friends, family and mentors and people appreciate me a long way there are a lot of great kids we've got Tarker great man over Pete Orlo I'm still thanks for coming out I really appreciate that in there but with that I'll start going into the program so when you write these exact files in there and then you start selecting photos and when I start selecting those photos I kind of do the time thing trying to unpack 26 years and a lot of times it's like when you see that you have some pictures to go over the program there's really not too much context behind those pictures so going down the left page that's the group training MCT and we heard some of that and that first crash that's when things started changing it kind of got real and then your craft crashed off the white beach John and I we got up there we had to cut that thing up so it's been hours and we're cut and it gets real for you there like we lost people and you grew up a little bit and this GDT that picture of me holding a shotgun so that was my first day of post where I was only not afraid so I just got to meet President Bush on an El Salvador trip so my first flight in a helicopter is and then Moscow that the group of us sitting on the floor was standing there and I was there to mob demonstration we had about 20 or 30,000 Russians outside of our to see they weren't exactly happy with us that was us afterwards and then to make sure in front of St. Faith that's a chance but I also have a lot of my friends in there and they're here Randy Warlin he's back there he's part of that second squad group don't believe the thing he tells you you can tell him stuff maybe in a statute but then in the bottom left corner that's Tara I thought it would be easier to come to Deniz leave Deniz way come to California got recognized at work I think like six months later as you came to the point and then as I get on a bar head load to the way her mom got into his brain so it just gets pretty good on that that deployment to Iraq we didn't really do it for after we did for visual security in town so we had to change all that stuff so that was the pictures and sentences that we did it does get old another picture went through that's our one section it was snowing you can see it there's some right side of the backdrop of that one of them was charging some Landrum now Chief Walsh was at work sitting right over there we had a good time there in the block teaching the other picture in there part of that was the DOD so you got a picture of us walking back from we called the Sam Schwatt event combat challenge we used that in between us it was also Todd Harper in there he was the OSCE at the time you know we'd go out there and I think we're young realize that we're not that photo of my dad that that was the last year we were racing that day so aviation was really big we love airplanes we love airplanes we love them a lot that photo was taken by great right now that was the last time we were going to actually go together and go to the races below that so touch there was an OSCE I was only successful in your room because I was surrounded by amazing people a lot more than just John Irwin who was there Red O'Mara John Clark Bill Kent Clark I mean Red O'Mara was phenomenal we were successful because we were a good team we had a good group there we were shaped and met toward a long away you know Marines like Bobby and Pete were alone so that's what we were successful in that's how we won that award the one with us all dressed up in our evening dress we did a mess tonight it's not me receiving the award it's us being able to give one to a good friend and a good mentor so we were presenting that to Bob now that next picture that's a tough point we were talking about this in the back time based on our journey and every once in a while we'd fly to Spain we'd go down to Chimuni in tax free for a month and come back up so what's got to do that photo next to the plane that's Senator Perks and we picked her up in Kosovo so that's another tax free place we flew her to Athens but that's kind of where I got close to bleeding over the fourth wall because you quickly find out that DMR detachment most of the time it's a reward service so those two pods and I also have tech from Brutus who are both reservists so we just borrow their planes for six months got to go visit Bellwoods and go to those Terranine all last year the last photo it's a little out of sequence that's us flying away so I'll get back into flying here shortly but I wanted to provide that context of what this feels like it does a good job of traveling you know what we do here C and I wake up calling a lot of respects and people up here but we call it discovery when you learn something new by the time you figure it out it's time to go a lot of this for time but I really believe because the way of course design you open up your aperture it's not just about what EF4 offers how do they do that and you get to see that up there you get to see the different teams and all the different branches all CIOs and the same bucket you are trying to quickly learn this and you're worried about what you do because it's going to impact fibers that you may not see that and you do the best you can to try it here right but it's an amazing program that's that was stuff that was laid down and supported made and shaped built before I got there of course there's brains in this room that helped get all that stuff started taught targets here some of the biggest heavy lifting and I still don't have things also on these round the novel got hardware I mean I don't need anybody but there's also an S.R. it's going to see people a little great man John he was going to be here all those guys helped shape helped me I just tried to carry the ball a little bit the M.O.S. our occupations specialty so kind of Steve and Mark cover all this in the future I'm excited we did a couple things where we work with the occupants these brains we're getting smarter a lot of brains are coming in two days the certifications are coming up we're getting better at what we're doing I'm excited for the brains that are coming up in the future I'd offer that we need to stick with aviation that's what we're here that's what stuff 1000XX that's what we're supporting so as long as we're supporting the aviation we have a job we have relevancy we don't need to worry about mission training so I'm closing from that part I'm extremely humble for everybody that came out here who made this trip hopefully I'll be able to still something for someone else up here it's been 26 years of adult farming now I have to grow up it's been an amazing right I'm excited for what the future holds what we're going to do and anyone still up here please take the time to do this music it's amazing because not just a great job it's on our story but also the history of our country you can see it as you go through each one of these galleries at the accident I mean we're in a company of heroes we have the chosen few that are going through this building right now the docents here they're phenomenal I don't know how many times I've gone through but I see you and I learn something so take the time to go through this music and also for those of you joining us later on at the house I'll let Ter and I go through the address but once again this is a super great so thank you for coming out and supporting us that's all I really have to say so awesome Ladies and gentlemen please rise for the plane that anchors away and it brings him Ladies and gentlemen this concludes the official ceremony on behalf of Master and Sergeant Aldridge and his family thank you for attending today's retirement ceremony