 I'm Staff Sergeant Keele Grable. I'm a Combat Arms Instructor here at the 31st Security Force Squadron. What we do here as Combat Arms Instructors is instruct personnel, be it for deployments, PCS, or just for regular duty qualification. A lot of our job just has to do with instructing members just from the bare minimum skills to the higher level skills for just regular standardized qualifications. Every single day is a different challenge, be it from teaching somebody at the bare minimum level and having them essentially have that light bulb come on to what weapon systems they're using, what weapon systems they're handling, and making sure that they can protect themselves at the end of the day. Police Weekend is important to me mostly because it's a big reminder of all of the sacrifices that we've made. Our brothers and sisters that have fallen downrange through the years past, and even those of us that are still downrange today, and those of us that are stateside as well and civilian side. It's about thinking of those people that are currently deployed and even those that are stateside, civilian side. When we think about police, it's not just a person. It's not just some random person behind a badge. It's the brothers and sisters that we have that protect us. I am Staff Sergeant Paul Morse. I work with the 31st Security Forces Squadron as one of the Unit Deployment Managers in the S4 Logistics section. My main role as Unit Deployment Manager is to ensure that all of our contingency requirements are met that the unit is ready to go for deployments, for TDYs. What I like most about being a defender is my positive impact in my community and the world around me. I worked jobs before where I just went to work, went home, and that was kind of it. But now being a part of the Security Forces Unit, I see my positive impact in the community and now being an aviano around the world. Police Week means to me is a time to self-reflect about who I am as a person, as well as a defender. This is a time to remember those that ran into the fight rather than away, and how am I living up to that standard? How am I living up to their memory? How am I living up to the job that's tasked for me? And just to reflect on who I am as a person and remember the big picture of why I'm here. I'm Senior Amantali Kasper, Military Working Dog Handler at the 31st Security Forces Squadron. As a Military Working Dog Handler, I work with NWD Hennie. She's an explosive and patrol certified. Patrol training consists of building searches, scouts, basic obedience with the dog, like sits, downs, heels. Detection is what I usually do on a daily basis. We work at Elvis Gate to search any vehicle that comes on the installation. Be it their packages, cargo, anything they bring on, we search. Being a defender means to me being very approachable. Having a dog kind of helps with that, because it's a big fluffy creature that's next to me, so a lot of people like to come up and ask about the dog, what I do. It's easy for people to just talk to me all around. I feel like Police Week is important to remember the fallen of the defenders and push the legacy forward to the future defenders that come down. It's just a week of fun. Hi, I'm A1C Taishan Patterson. I'm a Security Response Team member with the 31 Security Forces Squadron. On a daily basis, I protect the base, secure the base, and respond to any emergencies that are needed on the installation. Arming up is what we do when we show up to work to start the day. We arm up with our assigned weapons for our duty position for where we are posted. And then we'll go to our guard mount, which we will receive pass-ons from our changeover. So in the exercise that we conducted, that was considered one of our more high-risk traffic stops to where we had to challenge an individual, put them at a disadvantage, handcuff him, and place him in the back of the patrol car after we search the individual. Well, high-risk traffic stops on Aviano Air Base are not very common. However, they do happen, so we always need to stay ready and stay prepared. So being a defender to me means a lot. It means you're showing up every day, doing the gritty work, protecting and defending the base, making sure everyone on and off the installation feels secure. Police Week to me is a reminder of those brave men and women who served and currently serving and risked their lives, and the ones who lost their lives just to serve and protect and do good in this country, to their families, to their friends, their loved ones, and all the people who support, just for them to know that they're not alone, that we're all here together trying to help and support each other. To my brothers and sisters out there in blue, just want them to know that we're here to support them and to be safe.