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Speaker 1: What happens when COVID mandates lead to integrity. Well under

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Speaker 1: the Biden administration, leading Brigadier General Chris Sage's career was destroyed.

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Speaker 1: Today on the David Rutherford Show, What's Up Team. One

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Speaker 1: of the best aspects of doing this show is when

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Speaker 1: I get to provide context to really important stories that

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Speaker 1: seem to be either being pushed off to the side

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Speaker 1: or not giving the time or opportunity that they deserve.

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Speaker 1: And I believe Brigadier General Chris Sage's story is one

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Speaker 1: of the most significant stories that came out of the

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Speaker 1: COVID hypocrisy craziness that all took place within the United

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Speaker 1: States military. Now, this is all indicative of DEI component

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Speaker 1: of the last administration, as well as some of the

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Speaker 1: scandalous aspects of the Biden Auto pen All right, so

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Speaker 1: I want to get into this. So I'm very privileged

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Speaker 1: to welcome Brigadier General Chris Sage to the show today, Sir,

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Speaker 1: thank you for coming on.

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Speaker 2: Well, David, it's an honor to be here.

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Speaker 3: It's an honor to speak with another operator, another patriot,

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Speaker 3: And I just want to start out by saying the

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Speaker 3: views that I'm going to express there my own and

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Speaker 3: they do not reflect the views of the Department of War.

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Speaker 3: But it's an honor to serve. I've served for thirty

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Speaker 3: one and a half years. I officially retired on January first,

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Speaker 3: and we'll get into that part of that as well.

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Speaker 4: Well.

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Speaker 1: One of the things that I found just absolutely unblown

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Speaker 1: away by was the sheer amount of flight hours, especially

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Speaker 1: the twelve hundred combat hours that you have in just

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Speaker 1: about every conflict we've been in or every area of

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Speaker 1: operation that we've been engaged in for the last twenty

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Speaker 1: five years, and combined with also the level of leadership

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Speaker 1: positions that you've held. Could you just briefly describe your

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Speaker 1: operational experience and then your leadership experience, so the audience

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Speaker 1: has a real solid understanding of not only your commitment

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Speaker 1: to America and your service, but also your commitment to

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Speaker 1: the personnel that you've guided into combat.

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Speaker 3: Well, thanks, David. I've had a very blessed career. As

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Speaker 3: you know, it started out thirty one years ago. I

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Speaker 3: went off to pilot training, became a combat fighter pilot

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Speaker 3: in the F fifteen E and as providence would have it,

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Speaker 3: that meant I deployed a lot seven deployments over Iraq

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Speaker 3: multiple times, the Balkans, over Serbia and Kosovo. It's been

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Speaker 3: seven months in Afghanistan leading a squadron, and then I

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Speaker 3: was fortunate enough to be the wing commander at an

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Speaker 3: undisclosed location in the Middle East. We were taking the

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Speaker 3: fight to Isis as well as.

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Speaker 2: The other.

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Speaker 3: Negative forces in the region, the Iranian influence, etc. So

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Speaker 3: went in doubt. When I had a choice, David, I

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Speaker 3: chose to deploy. I chose to stay in the cockpit.

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Speaker 2: I stayed.

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Speaker 3: I chose to do what we used to see in Afghanistan,

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Speaker 3: to support that eighteen year old outside the wire with

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Speaker 3: a rifle, and very thankful to do that throughout my career,

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Speaker 3: very fortunate to have as many hours as they have

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Speaker 3: combat hours, et cetera. Then when you know, occasionally they

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Speaker 3: pulled you back in, they pulled you to the Pentagon.

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Speaker 3: I did an assignment there, a couple of assignments, said NATO,

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Speaker 3: A couple of wonderful staff tours where I was working

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Speaker 3: directly for four star generals, both in the Pentagon and

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Speaker 3: then over here in Europe. Some great leaders that I

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Speaker 3: worked for and learned a lot, and they supported me

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Speaker 3: all the way. Through so I've been blessed to both

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Speaker 3: lead on the battlefield as well as lead airmen and

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Speaker 3: warfighters on the staff context and the administrative context as well.

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Speaker 1: Well, you know, it's the thing for me, and I'll

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Speaker 1: tell you this, man, My favorite units to work with,

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Speaker 1: by far are are was TF one sixty right.

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Speaker 4: And and and any.

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Speaker 1: Air Force pilot whatsoever, any Air Force unit whatsoever. Absolutely,

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Speaker 1: there was nothing better to know there was a specter

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Speaker 1: up top. There was nothing better to know that you

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Speaker 1: had Air Force operators. I love working with pjac tax

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Speaker 1: Like you know, in my favorite obvious base is to

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Speaker 1: live on and hang out on our Air Force basis.

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Speaker 1: I think that the Air Force, and what a lot

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Speaker 1: of people don't understand is the significant role that the

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Speaker 1: Air Force plays around the world. Uh, from just recently,

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Speaker 1: you know, the the incredible operations that took place in

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Speaker 1: Iran and then just the incredible operations we just saw

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Speaker 1: the other night, uh with the raid down in Venezuela.

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Speaker 1: What's your how would you describe your impression of being

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Speaker 1: in the Air Force and what you learned as a

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Speaker 1: leader from participating in so many different aspects of the

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Speaker 1: GWATT and then the fight against ISIS and even in

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Speaker 1: the modern day battlefields.

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Speaker 3: Well, I think those couple of examples that you just

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Speaker 3: gave really point to what I'm about to say, and

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Speaker 3: that's the fact.

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Speaker 2: It's a joint fight.

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Speaker 3: It's a combined effort with all the forces that come

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Speaker 3: together to achieve the objective. When I was in Afghanistan,

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Speaker 3: I was fortunate enough to be the commander of the

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Speaker 3: unit that was asked to defend in the air, to

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Speaker 3: provide the defensive counter air really the offensive counter air

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Speaker 3: for the force that went into Abadabad. So the fact

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Speaker 3: that we were there overhead if needed was something that

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Speaker 3: we were very proud of as a squadron. Fast forward

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Speaker 3: to what we saw in Iran and then what we

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Speaker 3: just saw don in Venezuela, You're exactly right. I mean,

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Speaker 3: the air force in those cases are the overwatch. They're

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Speaker 3: the asymmetric advantage that went in took down those sam

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Speaker 3: sites that made sure that the package was protected.

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Speaker 2: And that's what we do.

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Speaker 3: We can basically fast forward the conflict like we saw

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Speaker 3: in Desert Storm. We can go we don't have to

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Speaker 3: go through the enemy, we can go over the enemy.

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Speaker 3: We can take out these you know, with dynamic targeting.

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Speaker 3: We can take out real time assets and targets as

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Speaker 3: they emerge on the battlefield. And it's been great to

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Speaker 3: be a part of all that. At the same time,

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Speaker 3: while we must continue to train for the big, you know,

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Speaker 3: the high end fight, whether that's against Russia, whether that's

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Speaker 3: against China.

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Speaker 2: So you know, it's it's a multifaceted game.

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Speaker 3: And I've been very blessed to start out right after

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Speaker 3: the Cold War, right after Desert Storm, kind of to

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Speaker 3: see that piece.

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Speaker 2: And then obviously we went into twenty plus years of.

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Speaker 3: Gwatt Global War on Terrorism, and now we're sort of

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Speaker 3: migrating back towards the high end fight. But it's it's

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Speaker 3: been an honor to be a part of it. And

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Speaker 3: like you said, I mean, like you said your experiences

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Speaker 3: living on Air Force bases. My experience is in Afghanistan, Iraq, elsewhere.

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Speaker 3: You know what, the people I have respect for besides

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Speaker 3: my peers, is sitting across the table from that, that

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Speaker 3: that soldier that's deployed five, six, seven, eight, up to

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Speaker 3: ten times, you know, spent half of their career. I

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Speaker 3: remember in Afghanistan, I talked to a soldier that had

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Speaker 3: spent like nine of his twenty years deployed. So I

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Speaker 3: have ultimate respect for for the for the patriots that

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Speaker 3: that it gave way more than than most generations.

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Speaker 4: I appreciate that.

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Speaker 1: You know, it's funny and I was in a Pakistan

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Speaker 1: for the lead up in the aftermath of that raid,

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Speaker 1: and have a bunch of friends that were there. And

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Speaker 1: you know, they always speak of that ideal that it's

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Speaker 1: about the multiple units. It's the collective effort of a

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Speaker 1: lot of motivated people to get the job done that

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Speaker 1: needs to be done. And you know, after so many

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Speaker 1: hours in the air and leading a you know, an

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Speaker 1: air wing and also you know other commands. You know,

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Speaker 1: I've always heard that, you know, officers that are climbing

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Speaker 1: those ranks and getting to those next levels, it's hard

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Speaker 1: because you have to move into the administrative aspects of

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Speaker 1: the leadership roles at some point, right, you have to

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Speaker 1: let go of that operational focus and duty and then

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Speaker 1: you move up. Was the idea of moving towards a

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Speaker 1: brigadier general? And was that something that you had always

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Speaker 1: aspired to and really how long did you want to

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Speaker 1: stay in and continue in a command role.

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Speaker 3: Well, I'm very fortunate, David, to come from a family

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Speaker 3: that's fought in every conflict since the Civil War. Actually,

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Speaker 3: I had did great grandfathers on both sides of the

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Speaker 3: Civil War, and then fast forward to World War One

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Speaker 3: then World War Two. I had one grandfather that was

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Speaker 3: flying B twenty five's in China, Burma, India against the Japanese.

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Speaker 3: Another grandfather that was on AP in the Pacific that

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Speaker 3: was hit twice with Comic Kazi's and I actually have

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Speaker 3: I should have brought it for the video. I have

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Speaker 3: a piece of the Coma Kazi aircraft, the Rising Sun

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Speaker 3: that he that he got after the attack, and it's

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Speaker 3: been passed down to our family ever since. So I

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Speaker 3: come from an enlisted family, very fortunate to go to college.

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Speaker 3: My parents pushed me off to the Air Force Academy,

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Speaker 3: raised me well, and then from there I stumbled in

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Speaker 3: to the Officer Corps, went to pilot training, and then

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Speaker 3: I was off to the races.

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Speaker 2: But you know, I'm very fortunate.

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Speaker 3: The one thing I was never fighting for to become

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Speaker 3: a general officer.

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Speaker 2: I didn't know what that meant. I didn't know any

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Speaker 2: general officers.

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Speaker 3: Came from a very blue blue collar family, working class family,

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Speaker 3: which is which was great. That's That's why I am

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Speaker 3: who I am today. What I will say is as

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Speaker 3: I went through, you know, you kind of get the itch,

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Speaker 3: you get the bug. You know what that feels like

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Speaker 3: to to want to be there on the battlefield, you know,

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Speaker 3: shoulder to shoulder with your fellow warfighters. So that's all

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Speaker 3: I ever fought for. So it was I was so

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Speaker 3: blessed and so fortunate when I became a squadron commander,

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Speaker 3: which unlike in the Navy or in the Army, the

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Speaker 3: first time that we truly lead a unit is as

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Speaker 3: a lieutenant colonel in five as a squadron commander. So

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Speaker 3: I was so fortunate to become the commander of a

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Speaker 3: operational squadron, which is what took me to Afghanistan. Then

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Speaker 3: fast forward a few years later, I became the Operations

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Speaker 3: Group commander, So that's now the first the junior sixth

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Speaker 3: command I fought to be the I basically fought for

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Speaker 3: a operational command, and I was fortunate enough to get it.

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Speaker 3: Same for Wing Command, an operational wing command in North

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Speaker 3: Carolina called Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, not for far

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Speaker 3: from Fort Bragg and Vietnam. And then obviously in the

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Speaker 3: deployed setting in an undisclosed location was the pinnacle to

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Speaker 3: make rank. Became a one star, and then I was

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Speaker 3: asked to deploy again to lead that combat wing. So

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Speaker 3: you know, the credentials my career, my experience is what

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Speaker 3: got me there. Some wonderful leaders that taught me along

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Speaker 3: the way, and I sort of stumbled into becoming a

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Speaker 3: general officer. But in the premier location right there in

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Speaker 3: the Middle East, we were fighting against Isis, fighting against Iran,

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Speaker 3: and also all the other positives we were helping Israel

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Speaker 3: come into absent. We were training with the Jordanians, the French,

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Speaker 3: the Egyptians, done in bright Star. So it was the

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Speaker 3: pinnacle of commands from twenty twenty one to twenty twenty two.

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Speaker 1: And you know that My point that I hope everybody

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Speaker 1: who's listening is beginning to understand, is that you know

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Speaker 1: what you have here with General Sages, a man that

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Speaker 1: was focused and dedicated to mastering his craft, not only

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Speaker 1: operationally in that cockpit, but then also to master his

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Speaker 1: leadership craft and leading these elite groups to really be

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Speaker 1: on the tip of the spear, or of the tip

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Speaker 1: of the spirits, so to speak, in order to provide

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Speaker 1: that that critical oversight, if you will, for a battlefield

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Speaker 1: perspective and and battlefield changes like nobody nobody wins wars

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Speaker 1: unless you command the air and you know to to.

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Speaker 1: I want you to understand that this man has done

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Speaker 1: everything asked of him and more, and that's why he

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Speaker 1: continued to make rank and gain UH more responsibility as

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Speaker 1: a leader of these different units. And so I just

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Speaker 1: wanted to make that very clear for this first part

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Speaker 1: of the of UH the interview. All right, now we're

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Speaker 1: gonna pivot a little bit, Chris, and and what I'd

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Speaker 1: love for you to do is just walk through that

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Speaker 1: COVID deployment where all of this began and try and

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Speaker 1: give us, you know, a synopsis of of your leadership

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Speaker 1: style on the ground in the middle while conducting operations

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Speaker 1: when these this COVID stuff started to just penetrate into

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Speaker 1: being an inhibitive part of making wartime decisions, right that

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Speaker 1: that is the key that people have to understand, is

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Speaker 1: when you're in combat and you're in that environment, you

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Speaker 1: need to make decisions one that keep you operational, two

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Speaker 1: that keep morale high, and three that keep you know,

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Speaker 1: the your personnel ready to get on the battlefield at

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Speaker 1: every second. So if you could just lay all that

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Speaker 1: out for us, give us that that subcontext.

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Speaker 2: Absolutely, David.

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Speaker 3: You know, once again it was it was an honor

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Speaker 3: to be selected for that command. So as you as

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Speaker 3: you know, a few months prior to that, I was

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Speaker 3: able to hire a fantastic command chief, a command master,

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Speaker 3: command master sergeant, chief master sergeant for the command Chief,

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Speaker 3: Milligan and I we basically started to connect about three

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Speaker 3: or four months prior sort of map out our strategy,

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Speaker 3: map out our sort of leadership approach.

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Speaker 2: We were tied at the hip with.

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Speaker 3: The same focus and the same desire to get the

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Speaker 3: mission accomplished. So you kind of hit on a few

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Speaker 3: of the principles that I adopted that I've always used.

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Speaker 3: Number one, we are going to aggressively accomplish the mission.

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Speaker 3: Number two, We're going to do whatever it takes to

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Speaker 3: take care of the war fighters under our command. And

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Speaker 3: number three, especially as we saw that we were about

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Speaker 3: to step into this COVID environment, it was used common sense.

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Speaker 3: So when we showed up in this employed environment, it

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Speaker 3: was hot and heavy with combat operations, kinetic operations against ISIS,

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Speaker 3: against other entities in the theater, under all in front

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Speaker 3: of the backdrop of COVID. So COVID was raging. It

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Speaker 3: was it had already peaked in the US and was

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Speaker 3: coming back down, but in the Middle East it was delayed,

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Speaker 3: so it was just spiking when we got there. So

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Speaker 3: we just decided as a command team that we're going

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Speaker 3: to We're going to do what makes sense. We're gonna

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Speaker 3: we're going to make smart decisions, but we have to

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Speaker 3: keep the mission going. No one gave us a pass,

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Speaker 3: the President, my command, the Secretary of Defense, or the

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Speaker 3: commanders over top of me. No one said, hey, you

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Speaker 3: get a pass on delivering you know, the mission and basically.

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Speaker 2: On the delivery on the battlefield. So we stayed focused.

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Speaker 3: We stayed laser focused on executing the mission. So what

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Speaker 3: that meant was when I first took command, I had

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Speaker 3: to sort of do what it took to sort of

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Speaker 3: get all of the airmen on board. The first thing

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Speaker 3: that I did, knowing that there were airmen that were

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Speaker 3: already affected by COVID.

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Speaker 2: I asked my.

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Speaker 3: Medical team, I like to go see the COVID individuals

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Speaker 3: that are affected, the airmen that are affected by COVID.

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Speaker 3: So they took me to an isolation tent. They told me, hey, sir,

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Speaker 3: not sure this is a good idea, but you know,

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Speaker 3: put on the gloves.

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Speaker 2: We need to.

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Speaker 3: We want you to put a mask on, we want

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Speaker 3: you to put all the protective clothing on.

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Speaker 2: I'm like, okay, I just want to go see the airman.

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Speaker 3: I think you just got done telling us that they're vaccinated.

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Speaker 3: You know, there's no way that I if they're vaccine,

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Speaker 3: there's no way I can get the vaccine, I can

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Speaker 3: get the virus, et cetera. So anyway, we go in there,

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Speaker 3: we see the airmen, I shake their hands. They really

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Speaker 3: appreciated that that we hadn't forgot about them. However, when

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Speaker 3: we walked up to the tent, David I was shocked

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Speaker 3: to see that there was barbed wire around the isolation tent,

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Speaker 3: and I asked the question, why is there a barbed wire? Like, well, sir,

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Speaker 3: we have to sort of, you know, help protect the area.

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Speaker 3: We don't want people wandering into the tent, we don't

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Speaker 3: want them wandering out. I'm like, look, they are sick airmen,

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Speaker 3: they're patients, they're not prisoners. So I gave a very

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Speaker 3: kind but direct order that we're going to tear down

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Speaker 3: the barbed wire. That's just one example that there's many other.

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Speaker 3: So we just started making command decisions, decisive, courageous decisions, just.

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Speaker 2: Like you do anywhere else.

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Speaker 3: The vast majority of the people were completely on board

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Speaker 3: with this. And the reason I know this is about

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Speaker 3: about two months into the deployment, we did an informal

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Speaker 3: survey we use survey Monkey, I think, and seventy three

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Speaker 3: percent of the people came back with they felt like

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Speaker 3: their morale was either high or very high. And that

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Speaker 3: just gave us a sense that we're making all the

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Speaker 3: right decisions, we are doing everything we can. When I

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Speaker 3: first showed up, there was a period there where they

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Speaker 3: also the command shut down all the gyms, or at

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Speaker 3: least the medical people recommended that, And so one of

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Speaker 3: the decisions I made as well was we're going to

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Speaker 3: open the gyms back up, because these CDC recommendations were

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Speaker 3: designed for the United States, not for a deployed setting

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Speaker 3: where we're isolated.

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Speaker 2: By the way.

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Speaker 3: We have eight people, eight airmen, and some of these

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Speaker 3: some of these tents, so you know they're going to

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Speaker 3: make you know, the options are they go to the

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Speaker 3: gym after work, or they sit in their bunk and

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Speaker 3: you know, and spread the virus. I would rather a healthy,

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Speaker 3: healthy airmen, and we know now and we even knew

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Speaker 3: then commonsense that going to the gym made sense. I

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Speaker 3: pushed for vitamin packs because I'm reading these peer reviewed studies,

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Speaker 3: and the medical professionals were pushing back on me there

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Speaker 3: because that wasn't in the Air Force or CDC guidelines.

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Speaker 3: And then one other quick story, well two really one

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Speaker 3: there was a directive that came down that said COVID

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Speaker 3: is so bad we need to wear masks outside, which,

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Speaker 3: as we know, is ridiculous. Now the masks weren't working

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Speaker 3: to begin with, but even then I signed out an order,

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Speaker 3: an operational directive that said, when our airmen are working

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Speaker 3: under the jets outside or any any hazardous environment, but

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Speaker 3: definitely under the jets one hundred and ten degree heat

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Speaker 3: in the summer in the Middle East, they're not going

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Speaker 3: to wear masks. They're going to pass out or a

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Speaker 3: mask is going to get sucked down an intake of

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Speaker 3: a jet, et cetera. So I signed an order to

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Speaker 3: eliminate that. And then the other one that I was

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Speaker 3: attacked for was we had eight hundred airmen coming in

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Speaker 3: off of aircraft. They had all been tested before they

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Speaker 3: took off for the United States. Ninety five percent of

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Speaker 3: them were vaccinated, and the medical professionals had set up

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Speaker 3: another COVID test on the processing line.

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Speaker 2: One guy pop positive.

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Speaker 3: He had no symptoms, so you know, it could have

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Speaker 3: very likely been a false positive. So I basically said, hey,

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Speaker 3: you know, operational decision, we were making decisions like this.

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Speaker 3: I said, We're going to stop testing. They've already been tested.

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Speaker 3: We have other ways of testing. We have the lowest

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Speaker 3: numbers in THEORE. And I did that, and I got

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Speaker 3: hammered for that in the ig report investigative report.

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Speaker 4: You know, I obviously, you know when you.

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Speaker 1: I had a background, and you know, I was a

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Speaker 1: medic and I'd gone through biological weapons stuff and all

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Speaker 1: that training, and and it all seemed so silly to

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Speaker 1: me right at first, because you know, like you said,

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Speaker 1: those peer reviewed studies started coming out immediately that out,

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Speaker 1: you know, exercise, vitamin D, right, supplements, you know, don't

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Speaker 1: even get me started on ivermectin and all the other

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Speaker 1: stuff that you you know, people were using that were beneficial.

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Speaker 1: But you saw there was a narrative affiliated with all

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Speaker 1: of how they were pushing what they were pushing and

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Speaker 1: then the changes as as you know, there'd be pushback

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Speaker 1: with logic or facts. Then they'd shift the narrative or

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Speaker 1: shift the instructions. And you know, I thought, you know,

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Speaker 1: Fauci one day says one thing, the next thing he

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Speaker 1: says another, and you could very easily tell that this

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Speaker 1: was politically being politically driven. Where I didn't expect it

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Speaker 1: really to go to the place it was was with

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Speaker 1: the shots and and what had taken place and that

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Speaker 1: type of mentality within the military. Now, don't get me wrong,

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Speaker 1: I've got probably eight you know, anthrax shots that in

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Speaker 1: my in my.

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Speaker 4: Shoulder when I was you know, a lowly E four.

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Speaker 4: You know, like, yeah, sure, put.

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Speaker 1: It in, and then I'm jabbing my my teammates, you know,

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Speaker 1: never pushing back on that, which I probably should. But

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Speaker 1: but when you're you're in that, you just want to

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Speaker 1: stay operational. You have a real commitment to just accept

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Speaker 1: any order that comes down. What I found remarkable is

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Speaker 1: that you noticed all this and because of that commitment

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Speaker 1: to operational relevance or operational uh pace, right, your op

387
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Speaker 1: tempo was so aggressive that you knew any of those

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Speaker 1: things would be a distracted and so you said, all right,

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Speaker 1: I'm going to put ops again above what seems to

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Speaker 1: be in consistency in in how they're pressing and distributing

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Speaker 1: these types of these orders or these you know whatever

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Speaker 1: guidelines CDC guidelines. I thought, I think that's one of

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Speaker 1: the most remarkable aspects of it, because there's thousands of

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Speaker 1: stories about commanders, uh and and people in leadership roles

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Speaker 1: that just rolled over and basically stopped operations in many

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Speaker 1: areas around around the the country and around the world too.

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Speaker 1: So I think that's a critical thing to pay attention

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Speaker 1: to with your story. Okay, when did you first receive

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Speaker 1: notice and if you could like guide us through this

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Speaker 1: system of how it works right when some and in

401
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Speaker 1: your case specifically, somebody commits the complaints, where the complaint goes,

402
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Speaker 1: how the review happens, then how it gets adjudicated, and

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Speaker 1: bring us to the process where you essentially were realized

404
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Speaker 1: you're in this bigger, more political fight.

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Speaker 2: Absolutely well.

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Speaker 3: The IG system, you know, has been around since the

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Speaker 3: founding of our military, and it does serve a proper

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Speaker 3: place to make sure that there's not fraud, waste, and

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Speaker 3: abuse in our military. The challenge, David is that it

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Speaker 3: can be weaponized, especially in the last couple of years,

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Speaker 3: it was weaponized in a way that plays out almost

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Speaker 3: like textbook in my case. So what happened was an individual,

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Speaker 3: a high ranking individual in my base, a senior officer

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Speaker 3: that you know, lower ranked than me, but a senior

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Speaker 3: officer that definitely knew better, filed a complaint.

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Speaker 2: He has the right to do that. He didn't take

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Speaker 2: it up the chain of command. He didn't.

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Speaker 3: He didn't raise it to me, he didn't raise it

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Speaker 3: to his commander. He filed an IG complaint seven allegations

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Speaker 3: against me, and he just went to the base IG

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Speaker 3: to file the complaint that then got highlighted or sent

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Speaker 3: up the chain of command. Which is fine. This happens

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Speaker 3: when you're in leadership. You know, you kind of live

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Speaker 3: in a glass house. You know people aren't always going

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Speaker 3: to agree with you, and that I'm completely comfortable with that.

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Speaker 3: You make the best decisions you can for the mission

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Speaker 3: and for the airmen and for the war fighters, and

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Speaker 3: then you let the chips fall where they may.

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Speaker 2: This was not about integrity.

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Speaker 3: This was about decisions that I made, command decisions that

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Speaker 3: I made.

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Speaker 2: So it goes to the IG, they it goes up

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Speaker 2: to Washing to Washington. They start looking at it.

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Speaker 3: The way that it works, at least it used to work,

435
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Speaker 3: is they would have actively investigate you without you even

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Speaker 3: know that, without you knowing that you've been charged. I

437
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Speaker 3: actually have a little bit of a problem with that,

438
00:24:07,080 --> 00:24:09,800
Speaker 3: and I think that's going to change here soon because

439
00:24:10,840 --> 00:24:13,680
Speaker 3: but the good news in my case was the initial

440
00:24:13,920 --> 00:24:17,920
Speaker 3: seven allegations against me, fraud, waste and abuse time six

441
00:24:18,600 --> 00:24:23,280
Speaker 3: plus hostile work environment were all dismissed, immediately dismissed by

442
00:24:23,320 --> 00:24:27,159
Speaker 3: an individual that filed them. Under sectef's new sect wars

443
00:24:27,280 --> 00:24:31,160
Speaker 3: new policy that's called no more walking on eggshells, this

444
00:24:31,280 --> 00:24:34,560
Speaker 3: individual most likely would have been held accountable because he

445
00:24:34,680 --> 00:24:37,840
Speaker 3: willingly filed false allegations against me.

446
00:24:38,160 --> 00:24:40,080
Speaker 2: But that's neither here nor there.

447
00:24:40,240 --> 00:24:44,080
Speaker 3: We move forward, and then I was notified about a

448
00:24:44,160 --> 00:24:49,119
Speaker 3: month later that hey, you were investigated. All the allegations

449
00:24:49,160 --> 00:24:52,159
Speaker 3: were dismissed. I was thankful to hear that. But then

450
00:24:52,600 --> 00:24:55,960
Speaker 3: this is when the other shoe dropped, if you will.

451
00:24:56,359 --> 00:25:00,640
Speaker 3: I was told that the investigator her from a few

452
00:25:00,640 --> 00:25:03,879
Speaker 3: people that did not like my command decisions and is

453
00:25:04,000 --> 00:25:08,359
Speaker 3: concerned and is now launching a new investigation on his own,

454
00:25:08,880 --> 00:25:12,879
Speaker 3: which which dealt with Command Climate now Command Climate, but

455
00:25:13,040 --> 00:25:17,879
Speaker 3: also with COVID decision making whether I trusted the airman

456
00:25:18,000 --> 00:25:20,800
Speaker 3: under me, et cetera. But COVID was a very very

457
00:25:20,800 --> 00:25:23,040
Speaker 3: big part of it, and we'll talk about why we

458
00:25:23,119 --> 00:25:25,000
Speaker 3: know it was a big part of it, not only

459
00:25:25,080 --> 00:25:28,000
Speaker 3: because of common sense, but also because of a report

460
00:25:28,040 --> 00:25:33,080
Speaker 3: that came out later. So this ig investigation is supposed

461
00:25:33,119 --> 00:25:37,080
Speaker 3: to the intent is they quickly investigate, they find the facts,

462
00:25:37,119 --> 00:25:39,800
Speaker 3: they give those facts to my command chain, then the

463
00:25:39,800 --> 00:25:43,080
Speaker 3: command chain can do with that information what they want. Well,

464
00:25:43,640 --> 00:25:47,600
Speaker 3: this investigation started in December and it wasn't until the

465
00:25:47,840 --> 00:25:52,159
Speaker 3: following November that they wrapped it up. Well, my command

466
00:25:52,160 --> 00:25:56,120
Speaker 3: tour was from July to July, so it started halfway.

467
00:25:55,720 --> 00:25:59,840
Speaker 1: Through command Sir, what years just to give everybody contacts

468
00:25:59,840 --> 00:26:01,560
Speaker 1: of when this was taking place.

469
00:26:02,960 --> 00:26:06,000
Speaker 3: Absolutely, so I showed up in July of twenty one

470
00:26:07,359 --> 00:26:10,959
Speaker 3: during COVID. By the way, during the Afghanistan withdrawal, we

471
00:26:10,960 --> 00:26:14,760
Speaker 3: were one of the bases supporting it from a distance.

472
00:26:14,800 --> 00:26:18,159
Speaker 3: We sent F fifteen's overhead. You know that they showed

473
00:26:18,200 --> 00:26:21,480
Speaker 3: General Donahue as the last American to leave the ground,

474
00:26:21,760 --> 00:26:23,639
Speaker 3: but it was actually one of our strike Eagles was

475
00:26:23,640 --> 00:26:27,800
Speaker 3: the last American to leave, to leave the airspace, as

476
00:26:27,840 --> 00:26:28,840
Speaker 3: we talked about.

477
00:26:28,880 --> 00:26:33,000
Speaker 4: But nothing like a good photo op, right exactly.

478
00:26:34,040 --> 00:26:37,080
Speaker 3: Our rescue forces to your point, our rescue forces were

479
00:26:37,359 --> 00:26:41,520
Speaker 3: in Pakistan ready to support if needed. I had rescue

480
00:26:41,520 --> 00:26:46,680
Speaker 3: forces underneath the me C one thirties and pjs and helicopters.

481
00:26:47,080 --> 00:26:51,880
Speaker 3: So very very intense period of time. But sorry, David,

482
00:26:51,920 --> 00:26:54,840
Speaker 3: repeat that question again. You're asking me specifically.

483
00:26:54,800 --> 00:26:58,320
Speaker 1: The time frames when this was taking place, like when

484
00:26:58,800 --> 00:27:02,440
Speaker 1: when the complaints were going, when the next one took place,

485
00:27:02,920 --> 00:27:05,840
Speaker 1: so people can get that timeline better in their heads.

486
00:27:05,880 --> 00:27:08,440
Speaker 2: And that's critical based on what I just said.

487
00:27:08,480 --> 00:27:12,640
Speaker 3: So, the complaint was filed in December of twenty twenty one,

488
00:27:13,240 --> 00:27:17,119
Speaker 3: and the investigator decided to frame it for those first

489
00:27:17,160 --> 00:27:20,520
Speaker 3: six months. So it was the six months that were

490
00:27:20,560 --> 00:27:25,480
Speaker 3: the most intents from a kinetic perspective, from a COVID perspective,

491
00:27:25,720 --> 00:27:29,800
Speaker 3: from an ops tempo perspective, the most intense period probably

492
00:27:29,800 --> 00:27:32,399
Speaker 3: in a five or ten year period at that base,

493
00:27:32,480 --> 00:27:36,000
Speaker 3: because of Afghanistan, everything else that was going on, et cetera.

494
00:27:37,240 --> 00:27:40,520
Speaker 3: Here's but I have to interject this important point. This

495
00:27:40,640 --> 00:27:46,120
Speaker 3: investigator now ran the investigation for eleven months. Completely blowing

496
00:27:46,119 --> 00:27:48,280
Speaker 3: out of water the timeline that they're supposed to meet.

497
00:27:49,280 --> 00:27:53,040
Speaker 3: He did the entire investigation David from his air condition

498
00:27:53,240 --> 00:27:57,720
Speaker 3: office in the Pentagon on the phone. Never came and visited,

499
00:27:58,240 --> 00:28:01,840
Speaker 3: never saw the operational environ never talked to anybody face

500
00:28:01,880 --> 00:28:05,040
Speaker 3: to face, never saw what the isolation tent looked like

501
00:28:05,040 --> 00:28:09,040
Speaker 3: with barbed wire or the other conditions we were operating under.

502
00:28:09,400 --> 00:28:14,440
Speaker 3: And making normal command decisions like any combat commander would

503
00:28:14,480 --> 00:28:17,480
Speaker 3: do one after another to get the mission done.

504
00:28:17,680 --> 00:28:20,080
Speaker 2: And here's the important thing and his final report.

505
00:28:20,720 --> 00:28:24,439
Speaker 3: Never once did anybody complain that I yelled, raised my voice,

506
00:28:24,520 --> 00:28:28,119
Speaker 3: cussed through anything to mean to anybody. It was all

507
00:28:28,480 --> 00:28:32,480
Speaker 3: framed from a perspective of the oppress, the oppressed versus

508
00:28:32,560 --> 00:28:35,600
Speaker 3: the oppressor, so me versus the people under me that

509
00:28:36,320 --> 00:28:39,120
Speaker 3: with leading questions said things like, you know, he had

510
00:28:39,120 --> 00:28:40,800
Speaker 3: to ask them multiple times, so do you think he

511
00:28:40,840 --> 00:28:43,680
Speaker 3: trusted you? And then the answer would be well, based

512
00:28:43,720 --> 00:28:45,800
Speaker 3: on the fact that he didn't. He went a different

513
00:28:45,840 --> 00:28:48,680
Speaker 3: direction from what I recommended. I guess maybe he didn't

514
00:28:48,680 --> 00:28:51,520
Speaker 3: trust me. So it's all about feelings. It was all

515
00:28:51,560 --> 00:28:54,360
Speaker 3: about trust. It was all about command decisions that were

516
00:28:54,360 --> 00:28:58,239
Speaker 3: being made along the way after eleven months we had

517
00:28:58,280 --> 00:29:01,080
Speaker 3: all redeployed. There was no oh right, there was no

518
00:29:01,200 --> 00:29:05,720
Speaker 3: wrongs to be righted. The only effect was a black

519
00:29:05,760 --> 00:29:09,360
Speaker 3: mark obviously on my record. So eleven months later, I'm

520
00:29:09,400 --> 00:29:13,720
Speaker 3: redeployed back to Belgium station at NATO headquarters and I

521
00:29:13,840 --> 00:29:16,680
Speaker 3: find out that the report is final and that they

522
00:29:16,760 --> 00:29:21,680
Speaker 3: substantiated an allegation against me for negative command climate. Well,

523
00:29:22,760 --> 00:29:26,240
Speaker 3: it didn't make any sense to me or even many

524
00:29:26,240 --> 00:29:29,080
Speaker 3: of the peers, my command chief, many of the commanders

525
00:29:29,080 --> 00:29:32,880
Speaker 3: that were very supportive of my leadership style. This report

526
00:29:33,040 --> 00:29:35,440
Speaker 3: now goes to your chain of command, which is what

527
00:29:35,480 --> 00:29:37,760
Speaker 3: it's supposed to do, Although it should have happened six

528
00:29:37,840 --> 00:29:40,840
Speaker 3: months prior. I'd never met my chain of command before

529
00:29:40,840 --> 00:29:43,240
Speaker 3: because I just got back to NATO. It was a

530
00:29:43,280 --> 00:29:46,440
Speaker 3: three star general fighter pilot, and then his boss was

531
00:29:46,440 --> 00:29:49,360
Speaker 3: a four star general at United States.

532
00:29:49,120 --> 00:29:50,200
Speaker 2: Air Forces in Europe.

533
00:29:50,680 --> 00:29:54,040
Speaker 3: They both looked at this report, looked at the situation.

534
00:29:54,680 --> 00:29:57,600
Speaker 3: They had also deployed in their career. They were also

535
00:29:57,760 --> 00:30:00,920
Speaker 3: combat aviators, and they made it a term domination that

536
00:30:01,080 --> 00:30:04,200
Speaker 3: based on the circumstances and all the evidence that they saw,

537
00:30:04,480 --> 00:30:08,000
Speaker 3: they took no command action against me, and a lot

538
00:30:08,000 --> 00:30:11,360
Speaker 3: of times in the IG system, it's the command that

539
00:30:11,560 --> 00:30:16,160
Speaker 3: uses it to bludgeon people. Right in my case, they

540
00:30:16,200 --> 00:30:18,720
Speaker 3: took no action against me and said that my actions

541
00:30:18,720 --> 00:30:23,200
Speaker 3: were appropriate based on the circumstances and the environment in

542
00:30:23,240 --> 00:30:26,640
Speaker 3: which I was operating. So that gave me some This

543
00:30:26,800 --> 00:30:29,200
Speaker 3: was the first time after a year, I had some

544
00:30:29,400 --> 00:30:33,080
Speaker 3: level of encouragement that they took no command action against me.

545
00:30:33,400 --> 00:30:37,520
Speaker 3: So the IG investigation's over. My command said, we don't

546
00:30:37,520 --> 00:30:39,520
Speaker 3: believe this. By the way, my commander at the time

547
00:30:39,680 --> 00:30:43,440
Speaker 3: also kind of did his little mini investigation. No fire,

548
00:30:43,720 --> 00:30:46,400
Speaker 3: no smoke. He left me in command. He could have

549
00:30:46,440 --> 00:30:48,400
Speaker 3: fired me on day one, he told me. At the

550
00:30:48,480 --> 00:30:51,080
Speaker 3: end of my tour, when he came to my change

551
00:30:51,080 --> 00:30:53,680
Speaker 3: of command, you know, he gave me the obligatory medal,

552
00:30:54,040 --> 00:30:57,600
Speaker 3: said nice things about me, gave me great paperwork, and said, hey,

553
00:30:57,880 --> 00:31:00,120
Speaker 3: if there was something going on at this base, he

554
00:31:00,160 --> 00:31:03,200
Speaker 3: goes people did an amazing job of hiding it, because

555
00:31:03,240 --> 00:31:07,080
Speaker 3: he visited like six times after the investigation broke. He

556
00:31:07,200 --> 00:31:11,800
Speaker 3: sent one stars, two stars, colonels, senior enlisted. They all

557
00:31:11,960 --> 00:31:14,680
Speaker 3: reported back to him that the environment was great, the

558
00:31:14,720 --> 00:31:19,720
Speaker 3: morale was great. But this woke investigator decided to just

559
00:31:19,800 --> 00:31:24,200
Speaker 3: run with this narrative, and once they once they think,

560
00:31:24,360 --> 00:31:27,360
Speaker 3: you know, once they realized that if they kind of

561
00:31:27,400 --> 00:31:30,840
Speaker 3: create a narrative and then reinforce that narrative, they can

562
00:31:30,880 --> 00:31:33,280
Speaker 3: get their scalp, and then that's what they shoot for.

563
00:31:33,760 --> 00:31:37,320
Speaker 3: One quick tidbit and I'll stop filibustering. One of the

564
00:31:37,320 --> 00:31:41,320
Speaker 3: things that the regulations require is that the investigator has

565
00:31:41,360 --> 00:31:44,880
Speaker 3: to investigate the witnesses that I put forward, so that

566
00:31:44,960 --> 00:31:47,120
Speaker 3: way they can see both sides of the story. I

567
00:31:47,240 --> 00:31:50,680
Speaker 3: pushed forward twenty nine people. He did not investigate or

568
00:31:50,800 --> 00:31:54,040
Speaker 3: interview a single one of them except for four that

569
00:31:54,080 --> 00:31:58,320
Speaker 3: he had previously investigated. But he ignored the remaining every

570
00:31:58,320 --> 00:32:01,800
Speaker 3: single one of my witnesses total that I put forward

571
00:32:01,840 --> 00:32:04,200
Speaker 3: that he had not investigated yet and basically said he

572
00:32:04,200 --> 00:32:07,280
Speaker 3: didn't have time and they were just character witnesses, when

573
00:32:07,320 --> 00:32:11,800
Speaker 3: that was not the truth. He ignored every single enlisted

574
00:32:11,840 --> 00:32:16,400
Speaker 3: member that I recommended, every single Master sergeant, senior Master

575
00:32:16,480 --> 00:32:20,040
Speaker 3: Sergeant in chief. They were in every meeting. They're called

576
00:32:20,440 --> 00:32:24,360
Speaker 3: senior leader advisors for a reason. They were part of

577
00:32:24,480 --> 00:32:27,520
Speaker 3: every decision, and he ignored everyone, which just shows the

578
00:32:27,600 --> 00:32:30,280
Speaker 3: level of respect he has for war fighters and for

579
00:32:30,320 --> 00:32:31,200
Speaker 3: our enlisted force.

580
00:32:32,240 --> 00:32:33,160
Speaker 4: It's remarkable.

581
00:32:33,200 --> 00:32:37,360
Speaker 1: I mean almost every time I hear about these investigations,

582
00:32:37,480 --> 00:32:42,000
Speaker 1: in particular over the last you know, sixteen seventeen years,

583
00:32:42,200 --> 00:32:46,440
Speaker 1: rights as you know, as the appropriate term, the woke

584
00:32:46,720 --> 00:32:48,520
Speaker 1: leaders are.

585
00:32:48,360 --> 00:32:49,120
Speaker 4: Infused in.

586
00:32:50,720 --> 00:32:55,960
Speaker 1: The judicial aspect of the military that are moving into

587
00:32:56,000 --> 00:32:59,640
Speaker 1: positions because you know, real war fires, real leaders have

588
00:32:59,760 --> 00:33:02,760
Speaker 1: tied out. You know, they've got the nine deployments and

589
00:33:03,080 --> 00:33:06,200
Speaker 1: they haven't seen their families in twenty years, and so

590
00:33:06,280 --> 00:33:09,320
Speaker 1: they bail and all those other people stay in and

591
00:33:09,360 --> 00:33:12,800
Speaker 1: they they move up. But in those particular ranks, like

592
00:33:12,920 --> 00:33:16,440
Speaker 1: there seem to be this growing group of people that said,

593
00:33:16,440 --> 00:33:21,960
Speaker 1: I can make rank by pointing towards people that are

594
00:33:22,360 --> 00:33:27,440
Speaker 1: against this core underlining kind of woke policy that seemed

595
00:33:27,480 --> 00:33:32,360
Speaker 1: to percolate and grow after probably around twenty thirteen fourteen,

596
00:33:32,400 --> 00:33:34,960
Speaker 1: I think is really where I saw it start exploding.

597
00:33:36,160 --> 00:33:36,880
Speaker 4: All right, So.

598
00:33:37,280 --> 00:33:41,400
Speaker 1: You've everybody who's in a significant role of leadership has

599
00:33:41,440 --> 00:33:45,240
Speaker 1: basically said, all right, General, say you're dialed in, you're good,

600
00:33:45,280 --> 00:33:46,320
Speaker 1: don't worry about it.

601
00:33:46,720 --> 00:33:49,080
Speaker 4: So did you think it was over?

602
00:33:49,320 --> 00:33:52,600
Speaker 1: And then what brought it to your tension that this

603
00:33:52,840 --> 00:33:57,240
Speaker 1: was going to actually affect your long term standing as

604
00:33:57,800 --> 00:33:58,480
Speaker 1: as a leader?

605
00:33:58,640 --> 00:33:59,400
Speaker 4: In the Air Force.

606
00:34:01,080 --> 00:34:04,240
Speaker 3: Well, David, we took a sigh of relief, and my

607
00:34:04,320 --> 00:34:06,640
Speaker 3: command team at the time, my knew command team, said hey,

608
00:34:06,680 --> 00:34:08,920
Speaker 3: just keep doing a great job. They put me in

609
00:34:09,360 --> 00:34:12,759
Speaker 3: some very important positions at NATO. You know where I

610
00:34:12,800 --> 00:34:16,799
Speaker 3: was pushing US policy and you know, we're thinking this

611
00:34:16,880 --> 00:34:19,799
Speaker 3: is going to start trending positive. The other important piece

612
00:34:19,840 --> 00:34:24,280
Speaker 3: to recommend to recognize here is the fact that even sorry,

613
00:34:24,320 --> 00:34:27,520
Speaker 3: while I was deployed during this investigation, I found out

614
00:34:27,520 --> 00:34:30,520
Speaker 3: that I made it onto the two star promotion list

615
00:34:30,600 --> 00:34:35,400
Speaker 3: based on my previous performance and the recommendations by my

616
00:34:35,480 --> 00:34:38,279
Speaker 3: command chain going into that deployment, the same ones that

617
00:34:38,360 --> 00:34:41,120
Speaker 3: picked me for that deployment, So very fortunate to be

618
00:34:41,200 --> 00:34:44,640
Speaker 3: on the two star promotion list. Well, coming out the

619
00:34:44,680 --> 00:34:49,040
Speaker 3: backside of that investigation, I was told your promotion is

620
00:34:49,080 --> 00:34:52,319
Speaker 3: now being paused. Why the senior leaders take a look

621
00:34:52,320 --> 00:34:55,040
Speaker 3: at it. And my senior leaders they met, they didn't

622
00:34:55,080 --> 00:34:58,640
Speaker 3: mean military, they met the civilians under the last administration.

623
00:34:59,239 --> 00:35:01,560
Speaker 3: So this is where where even this is where we

624
00:35:01,560 --> 00:35:05,600
Speaker 3: started to get slightly nervous because we knew that, by

625
00:35:05,600 --> 00:35:09,920
Speaker 3: the way, the investigator that I mentioned not a military person,

626
00:35:10,000 --> 00:35:15,040
Speaker 3: not an officer, a civilian a GS thirteen fourteen that

627
00:35:15,160 --> 00:35:18,400
Speaker 3: once again had never deployed into an environment like we

628
00:35:18,480 --> 00:35:22,520
Speaker 3: had been in, knew nothing about the combat operations, etc.

629
00:35:23,200 --> 00:35:27,240
Speaker 3: So that's an important point. But yes, we're feeling strong,

630
00:35:27,280 --> 00:35:29,319
Speaker 3: We're feeling like, hey, you know, we can still get

631
00:35:29,360 --> 00:35:31,719
Speaker 3: around this. We just keep we just power through this.

632
00:35:32,080 --> 00:35:34,480
Speaker 3: It's all going to work out. My command chain was very,

633
00:35:34,960 --> 00:35:37,520
Speaker 3: very encouraging. Then we find out that they paused my

634
00:35:37,600 --> 00:35:41,920
Speaker 3: promotion by statute. They can only pause it for six

635
00:35:42,040 --> 00:35:45,440
Speaker 3: months or they have to tell me why. One of

636
00:35:45,480 --> 00:35:49,080
Speaker 3: the many legal heirs there are nine legal errors or

637
00:35:49,120 --> 00:35:51,239
Speaker 3: statutory errors or procedural errors.

638
00:35:51,239 --> 00:35:53,160
Speaker 2: In my case, this is one of them.

639
00:35:53,600 --> 00:35:56,040
Speaker 3: The Secretary of the Air Force and his team at

640
00:35:56,040 --> 00:35:59,720
Speaker 3: the time never notified me at the six month point.

641
00:36:00,120 --> 00:36:02,680
Speaker 3: That didn't notify me at the one year point, at

642
00:36:02,719 --> 00:36:05,680
Speaker 3: the eighteen month point, it was almost two years before

643
00:36:06,000 --> 00:36:08,560
Speaker 3: out of the blue, I'm told the Secretary of the

644
00:36:08,600 --> 00:36:11,920
Speaker 3: Air Force has decided that he's going to recommend that

645
00:36:11,960 --> 00:36:15,400
Speaker 3: you get stripped off the promotion list. We were not

646
00:36:15,480 --> 00:36:19,239
Speaker 3: expecting this, of course, and the chain of command, my

647
00:36:19,320 --> 00:36:22,480
Speaker 3: military China command felt horrible. They said there's nothing they

648
00:36:22,520 --> 00:36:24,640
Speaker 3: can do. They'll they'll put in a good word for me,

649
00:36:24,680 --> 00:36:27,799
Speaker 3: they'll write a letter, which they did, and so then

650
00:36:27,920 --> 00:36:30,200
Speaker 3: the Secretary of the Air Force under the last administration

651
00:36:30,680 --> 00:36:33,920
Speaker 3: recommended to Lloyd Austin, who then recommended to the White

652
00:36:33,920 --> 00:36:37,360
Speaker 3: House to strip me off the list. This whole process

653
00:36:37,400 --> 00:36:39,160
Speaker 3: at this point had been going on for about a

654
00:36:39,239 --> 00:36:41,560
Speaker 3: year and a half, and in a matter of about

655
00:36:41,640 --> 00:36:44,799
Speaker 3: ten days, they stripped me off the promotion list. So

656
00:36:44,800 --> 00:36:47,480
Speaker 3: when they want to act fast, they can act fast

657
00:36:47,520 --> 00:36:49,680
Speaker 3: when they want to. When they want to turn a

658
00:36:50,280 --> 00:36:52,160
Speaker 3: you know, when they put out an edict that we're

659
00:36:52,160 --> 00:36:55,239
Speaker 3: going to do a down day on extremism, they can

660
00:36:55,280 --> 00:36:58,759
Speaker 3: do it fast. When you're fighting for justice, they can

661
00:36:58,840 --> 00:37:02,520
Speaker 3: slow roll you for years. And that's part of the strategy,

662
00:37:02,840 --> 00:37:05,799
Speaker 3: is to weight you out, to wait you out. So

663
00:37:05,800 --> 00:37:08,680
Speaker 3: so very quickly I find out I'm stripped off the

664
00:37:08,719 --> 00:37:12,280
Speaker 3: two star list, you know, a gun punch. That's fine.

665
00:37:12,600 --> 00:37:14,719
Speaker 3: I'll still you know, I just want to clear my name.

666
00:37:14,840 --> 00:37:18,160
Speaker 3: So we kind of turned that the focus back on

667
00:37:18,400 --> 00:37:21,640
Speaker 3: what's the next step. I was told just be patient,

668
00:37:22,000 --> 00:37:25,640
Speaker 3: keep coloring within the lines, keep following the rules, and

669
00:37:25,719 --> 00:37:28,160
Speaker 3: let you know, wait till the new administration gets in place,

670
00:37:28,560 --> 00:37:30,160
Speaker 3: and then take your case.

671
00:37:30,280 --> 00:37:32,080
Speaker 2: You know, appeal. This all the way up the chain,

672
00:37:32,719 --> 00:37:33,719
Speaker 2: which is what we did.

673
00:37:34,080 --> 00:37:38,480
Speaker 3: I was notified in September that now that everyone's been

674
00:37:38,520 --> 00:37:41,279
Speaker 3: confirmed in the new administration, they're going to set up

675
00:37:41,320 --> 00:37:44,040
Speaker 3: a new board called a Board of Corrections for Military

676
00:37:44,080 --> 00:37:46,399
Speaker 3: Records that are going to take a look at all

677
00:37:46,440 --> 00:37:49,280
Speaker 3: of the injustice has done over the last couple of years.

678
00:37:49,640 --> 00:37:52,960
Speaker 3: And they called me and said, we think you should

679
00:37:53,000 --> 00:37:57,000
Speaker 3: apply to this board. So this was this was kind

680
00:37:57,000 --> 00:37:59,080
Speaker 3: of the end of the road. This is the final

681
00:37:59,160 --> 00:38:04,120
Speaker 3: step after the substantiated allegation. The appeal was turned down,

682
00:38:04,600 --> 00:38:07,640
Speaker 3: the stripped off the two star list. But we're like, okay,

683
00:38:07,640 --> 00:38:10,320
Speaker 3: we have all our facts. We have all of our.

684
00:38:10,200 --> 00:38:11,000
Speaker 2: Stuff in a sock.

685
00:38:11,440 --> 00:38:13,359
Speaker 3: I had a great defense attorney at the time who

686
00:38:13,440 --> 00:38:17,120
Speaker 3: since retired. We put everything together and we submitted in

687
00:38:17,160 --> 00:38:21,279
Speaker 3: September to this board, and two months later it was expedited.

688
00:38:21,360 --> 00:38:24,239
Speaker 3: Normally these boards take a year. It was expedited and

689
00:38:24,280 --> 00:38:26,760
Speaker 3: we found out that we won. I received a memo

690
00:38:27,120 --> 00:38:30,040
Speaker 3: with a twelve page document. A majority of the board

691
00:38:30,480 --> 00:38:35,839
Speaker 3: found that this ig investigation against me was unfounded, was

692
00:38:36,320 --> 00:38:40,080
Speaker 3: purposely slanted against me because of my views on COVID

693
00:38:40,400 --> 00:38:42,839
Speaker 3: and because of the actions I took about COVID and

694
00:38:42,880 --> 00:38:47,120
Speaker 3: that resulted partially, but enough fifty one percent of the

695
00:38:47,680 --> 00:38:52,239
Speaker 3: evidence showed this, so they threw out the ig investigation.

696
00:38:52,640 --> 00:38:55,600
Speaker 3: They had my record or they were recommending my record

697
00:38:55,600 --> 00:38:58,560
Speaker 3: be expunged. I get put back on the promotion list,

698
00:38:58,600 --> 00:39:02,440
Speaker 3: and they extend my mandatory retirement date. And David, the

699
00:39:02,520 --> 00:39:05,400
Speaker 3: last thing that I'll say is we celebrated for about

700
00:39:05,440 --> 00:39:07,880
Speaker 3: five minutes. Because then the next by the way, this

701
00:39:08,080 --> 00:39:12,680
Speaker 3: werein communicate this to you nowadays through email, no phone calls,

702
00:39:13,320 --> 00:39:16,760
Speaker 3: no civilian leader called me. No, you know, the military

703
00:39:16,840 --> 00:39:19,080
Speaker 3: chanting command was kept out of the loop. So I

704
00:39:19,120 --> 00:39:23,040
Speaker 3: receive an email. The second email says, oh, by the way,

705
00:39:23,200 --> 00:39:26,719
Speaker 3: the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force, a political appointee

706
00:39:27,000 --> 00:39:30,200
Speaker 3: who had just been confirmed, has looked at the evidence

707
00:39:30,200 --> 00:39:33,680
Speaker 3: in the last four days, for business days, and has

708
00:39:33,719 --> 00:39:37,600
Speaker 3: decided that he disagrees with the board that studied your

709
00:39:37,640 --> 00:39:41,000
Speaker 3: case for two months, and he's overturned the board decision,

710
00:39:41,800 --> 00:39:45,840
Speaker 3: even though the seven May memo from the Sect's office

711
00:39:45,880 --> 00:39:49,480
Speaker 3: second War's office said that this board has broad discretion

712
00:39:50,120 --> 00:39:52,280
Speaker 3: to right the wrongs of the last four years.

713
00:39:54,160 --> 00:39:55,000
Speaker 2: It just it.

714
00:39:55,640 --> 00:39:58,960
Speaker 1: I think all of this is just proof that that

715
00:39:59,200 --> 00:40:04,560
Speaker 1: rot that's still inside the Pentagon, that's still inside the government,

716
00:40:04,760 --> 00:40:07,600
Speaker 1: is still there, and they're still incredibly active, and a

717
00:40:07,600 --> 00:40:10,360
Speaker 1: lot of them, I'm sure. I hear it all the

718
00:40:10,400 --> 00:40:13,920
Speaker 1: time from friends that are in in you know, in

719
00:40:13,960 --> 00:40:17,160
Speaker 1: these organizations, whether it's at the Agency or d OD

720
00:40:17,360 --> 00:40:21,600
Speaker 1: and they're they're fighting every day against these people who

721
00:40:21,600 --> 00:40:27,440
Speaker 1: have seemed to slip through the cracks of of Secretary hegxets,

722
00:40:27,600 --> 00:40:30,000
Speaker 1: you know, decision that we're getting rid of all these

723
00:40:30,040 --> 00:40:32,840
Speaker 1: people that were before. I got a real short question

724
00:40:32,920 --> 00:40:36,439
Speaker 1: first before I pivot to the final analysis from you,

725
00:40:37,080 --> 00:40:42,040
Speaker 1: is how many other flag officers were denied promotion under

726
00:40:42,040 --> 00:40:43,120
Speaker 1: the last administration?

727
00:40:43,200 --> 00:40:44,200
Speaker 4: Do you know that number?

728
00:40:45,800 --> 00:40:48,480
Speaker 3: I don't know that they actually under the last administration,

729
00:40:48,560 --> 00:40:51,000
Speaker 3: they try to keep this. In fact, they told me, well,

730
00:40:51,040 --> 00:40:53,080
Speaker 3: you shouldn't even have really, you shouldn't even have known.

731
00:40:52,960 --> 00:40:53,680
Speaker 2: You were promoted.

732
00:40:54,160 --> 00:40:56,960
Speaker 3: I'm like, well, my chain of command notified me that

733
00:40:57,040 --> 00:40:59,319
Speaker 3: I was on the list, so they tried to hide

734
00:40:59,360 --> 00:41:01,799
Speaker 3: it from me. So there are other people that were

735
00:41:01,800 --> 00:41:05,280
Speaker 3: probably stripped off the list and they don't even realize it. Thankfully,

736
00:41:05,360 --> 00:41:07,600
Speaker 3: I knew that they were, that they were going after

737
00:41:07,680 --> 00:41:09,880
Speaker 3: me because I was on the list. And then they

738
00:41:09,960 --> 00:41:12,000
Speaker 3: moved to remove me from the list. So I don't

739
00:41:12,040 --> 00:41:15,960
Speaker 3: know what I do know, David. My attorney has represented

740
00:41:16,080 --> 00:41:19,000
Speaker 3: or been involved or at least tangential to over two

741
00:41:19,080 --> 00:41:23,200
Speaker 3: hundred of these BCMR cases, and only two of them

742
00:41:23,560 --> 00:41:26,120
Speaker 3: have ever been overturned in his experience.

743
00:41:26,480 --> 00:41:27,680
Speaker 2: But check this out, David.

744
00:41:28,280 --> 00:41:31,880
Speaker 3: Those two that were overturned were in the favor in

745
00:41:31,920 --> 00:41:34,560
Speaker 3: the favor of the person. In other words, they lost

746
00:41:34,600 --> 00:41:37,960
Speaker 3: at the board, and then the senior leaders overturned it

747
00:41:38,000 --> 00:41:41,240
Speaker 3: in their favor. This is the first time in years

748
00:41:41,280 --> 00:41:43,880
Speaker 3: and hundreds of cases we've seen a case that was

749
00:41:44,040 --> 00:41:49,040
Speaker 3: overturned against the individual, especially when the board was given

750
00:41:49,080 --> 00:41:49,880
Speaker 3: broad discretion.

751
00:41:50,320 --> 00:41:52,400
Speaker 2: In other words, in this case, the Air Force and

752
00:41:52,440 --> 00:41:54,120
Speaker 2: the Department of War for.

753
00:41:53,960 --> 00:41:57,279
Speaker 3: Some reason just failed to take the win that was

754
00:41:57,360 --> 00:42:01,319
Speaker 3: handed to them. That's just the crazy is part of

755
00:42:01,360 --> 00:42:02,200
Speaker 3: this whole case.

756
00:42:03,120 --> 00:42:03,480
Speaker 2: It is.

757
00:42:03,719 --> 00:42:05,480
Speaker 3: You know, you brought up a great point though, that

758
00:42:05,520 --> 00:42:07,160
Speaker 3: I think I would like to emphasize.

759
00:42:07,680 --> 00:42:09,320
Speaker 2: It's, you know, the senior leaders.

760
00:42:09,320 --> 00:42:11,319
Speaker 3: I mean, when I listen to what Secretary of War

761
00:42:11,400 --> 00:42:14,080
Speaker 3: says about no more walking on eggshell's, he says all

762
00:42:14,080 --> 00:42:16,759
Speaker 3: the right things. They're the under Secretary of the Air

763
00:42:16,800 --> 00:42:19,840
Speaker 3: Force Matt Lomier knows what it's like to be persecuted

764
00:42:19,920 --> 00:42:21,600
Speaker 3: under the last administration, the.

765
00:42:21,600 --> 00:42:25,399
Speaker 2: Same secretary of the Air Worce. So the thing is, though,

766
00:42:25,480 --> 00:42:26,479
Speaker 2: when you look at the.

767
00:42:26,880 --> 00:42:30,840
Speaker 3: Lawyers who are advising them, it's the same lawyers that

768
00:42:30,920 --> 00:42:35,000
Speaker 3: were there four years ago, five years ago, exactly the same.

769
00:42:35,040 --> 00:42:36,400
Speaker 2: You can pull up their bio.

770
00:42:36,480 --> 00:42:40,360
Speaker 3: One is named Shannon Maguire, another one is Julia Mudiking.

771
00:42:40,960 --> 00:42:44,879
Speaker 3: These two individuals were the ones advising the last secretary

772
00:42:45,120 --> 00:42:46,279
Speaker 3: when they were going after me.

773
00:42:46,760 --> 00:42:49,160
Speaker 2: They were specifically.

774
00:42:48,400 --> 00:42:51,200
Speaker 3: Advising the last Secretary of the Air Force to strip

775
00:42:51,239 --> 00:42:53,680
Speaker 3: me off the two star list, to not leave me

776
00:42:53,719 --> 00:42:55,959
Speaker 3: on the two star list. When you look in the law,

777
00:42:56,080 --> 00:42:59,960
Speaker 3: the law says that, or the regulations say that if

778
00:43:00,120 --> 00:43:03,799
Speaker 3: a command chain takes no action against the individual, then

779
00:43:04,840 --> 00:43:08,680
Speaker 3: it basically infers that that you should not strip someone

780
00:43:08,680 --> 00:43:11,240
Speaker 3: off the promotion list because the command chain gets a vote.

781
00:43:11,520 --> 00:43:13,920
Speaker 2: But these were the same attorneys recommending.

782
00:43:14,200 --> 00:43:17,840
Speaker 3: So I'm fighting them then and now I'm fighting them again.

783
00:43:18,640 --> 00:43:21,359
Speaker 3: And when you look at what mister Anderson did, he's

784
00:43:21,360 --> 00:43:24,440
Speaker 3: a political appointee that made this decision. He made it

785
00:43:24,600 --> 00:43:27,480
Speaker 3: so fast two months for the board to look at it,

786
00:43:27,800 --> 00:43:30,920
Speaker 3: four business days. He overturned it. I guarantee you when

787
00:43:30,960 --> 00:43:32,680
Speaker 3: you look at that letter, he didn't write the letter.

788
00:43:32,920 --> 00:43:36,279
Speaker 3: It's extremely you know, it's written with legalies. So this

789
00:43:36,480 --> 00:43:40,600
Speaker 3: same group of obstructionists, I call them deck furniture, you know,

790
00:43:40,640 --> 00:43:43,319
Speaker 3: their deck furniture on the Titanic, and they just keep

791
00:43:43,320 --> 00:43:47,240
Speaker 3: getting shuffled around the Pentagon. And they're the obstructionist class

792
00:43:47,520 --> 00:43:50,720
Speaker 3: that has yet to be cleaned out. Congressman Andy Biggs

793
00:43:50,760 --> 00:43:53,560
Speaker 3: put out a great quote at Amfest a few weeks ago.

794
00:43:53,880 --> 00:43:57,960
Speaker 2: It's it's a viral video where he said the Secretary.

795
00:43:57,360 --> 00:43:59,960
Speaker 3: Of War needs to clear out all of the set,

796
00:44:00,000 --> 00:44:03,360
Speaker 3: second and third tier obstructionists that are still hiding in

797
00:44:03,400 --> 00:44:04,040
Speaker 3: the Pentagon.

798
00:44:04,280 --> 00:44:07,280
Speaker 2: And he is one correct.

799
00:44:07,080 --> 00:44:10,520
Speaker 1: That is I concur in every way, shape or form.

800
00:44:10,600 --> 00:44:13,160
Speaker 1: That's the only way we're going to get rid of this.

801
00:44:13,200 --> 00:44:17,640
Speaker 1: Because in my estimation, you're a guy that wants to

802
00:44:17,680 --> 00:44:19,720
Speaker 1: be in the fight. You have been in the fight,

803
00:44:19,840 --> 00:44:21,719
Speaker 1: you know how to fight, you know how to lead

804
00:44:21,800 --> 00:44:24,200
Speaker 1: others in the fight. Why the hell would we not

805
00:44:24,360 --> 00:44:28,680
Speaker 1: want you to continue in that fight, especially as things

806
00:44:28,719 --> 00:44:31,719
Speaker 1: are ramping up all over the world right now. You

807
00:44:31,880 --> 00:44:36,839
Speaker 1: want experience of your caliber in those leadership positions when

808
00:44:36,880 --> 00:44:40,760
Speaker 1: the most aggressive things begin to take place, and it's

809
00:44:40,960 --> 00:44:44,680
Speaker 1: just it's it's proof positive that the rot is still there.

810
00:44:44,840 --> 00:44:50,959
Speaker 4: Right, all right, last question, what do you what? What what

811
00:44:51,239 --> 00:44:53,040
Speaker 4: would you like to see happen?

812
00:44:53,640 --> 00:44:56,960
Speaker 1: And who are the people that can make those decisions

813
00:44:57,840 --> 00:45:00,520
Speaker 1: to get you back in right, because you you're now

814
00:45:00,560 --> 00:45:04,239
Speaker 1: since retired to be able to reinstate you and then

815
00:45:04,320 --> 00:45:08,000
Speaker 1: get you that second star and then go on with

816
00:45:08,080 --> 00:45:11,200
Speaker 1: your career. What is the sequence that needs to happen

817
00:45:11,239 --> 00:45:12,560
Speaker 1: in a couple minutes there?

818
00:45:13,480 --> 00:45:14,439
Speaker 2: Well, thanks David.

819
00:45:14,719 --> 00:45:17,680
Speaker 3: First of all, you know, I'm retired now and there

820
00:45:18,520 --> 00:45:20,200
Speaker 3: is a weight that sort of lifted off a few

821
00:45:20,239 --> 00:45:23,000
Speaker 3: days ago, and that has allowed me to really become

822
00:45:23,080 --> 00:45:26,960
Speaker 3: laser focused on helping the other hundreds, if not thousands

823
00:45:26,960 --> 00:45:30,320
Speaker 3: of war fighters that are going through a similar situation.

824
00:45:30,719 --> 00:45:33,080
Speaker 3: You know, they estimate eight thousand or they know eight

825
00:45:33,120 --> 00:45:36,160
Speaker 3: thousand people were kicked out for refusing to take the shot.

826
00:45:36,280 --> 00:45:40,400
Speaker 3: Another seventy to eighty thousand were either coerced out or

827
00:45:40,440 --> 00:45:42,439
Speaker 3: stepped away because they didn't want to go through the pain.

828
00:45:42,960 --> 00:45:46,719
Speaker 3: So those tens of thousands of people that are considering

829
00:45:46,760 --> 00:45:48,680
Speaker 3: coming back in, by the way, they have to go

830
00:45:48,719 --> 00:45:52,000
Speaker 3: through the exact same process. I did through a BCMR,

831
00:45:52,400 --> 00:45:56,600
Speaker 3: a border correction for military records under the seven May guidance.

832
00:45:56,960 --> 00:46:00,319
Speaker 3: They're looking at this and they're saying, they're asking themselves,

833
00:46:00,600 --> 00:46:02,719
Speaker 3: do I really want to do this? Do I really

834
00:46:02,719 --> 00:46:03,960
Speaker 3: want to put myself through this?

835
00:46:04,280 --> 00:46:04,440
Speaker 4: Now?

836
00:46:04,480 --> 00:46:06,759
Speaker 3: I'm very fortunate, David, you know, you know, as a

837
00:46:06,800 --> 00:46:08,840
Speaker 3: senior officer, very blessed.

838
00:46:09,000 --> 00:46:10,160
Speaker 4: I could afford.

839
00:46:10,280 --> 00:46:12,360
Speaker 3: I had a great chance of command that put me

840
00:46:12,360 --> 00:46:14,080
Speaker 3: in a great job and sort of took care of

841
00:46:14,120 --> 00:46:17,160
Speaker 3: me financially. I was able to afford to hang out

842
00:46:17,200 --> 00:46:19,840
Speaker 3: and to fight this tens of thousands of dollars in

843
00:46:19,920 --> 00:46:22,360
Speaker 3: legal fees. But it's worth it, not just for me,

844
00:46:22,760 --> 00:46:25,520
Speaker 3: but for all of these young airmen and soldiers, sailors

845
00:46:25,760 --> 00:46:28,440
Speaker 3: and marines that reach out to me on social media

846
00:46:28,520 --> 00:46:31,120
Speaker 3: and email and call me and say, Sir, I can't

847
00:46:31,120 --> 00:46:33,200
Speaker 3: believe this is happening. You know, let me tell you

848
00:46:33,239 --> 00:46:35,520
Speaker 3: my story, and I'm happy to listen. So I will

849
00:46:35,560 --> 00:46:38,880
Speaker 3: begin to amplify their messages because I'm realizing over the

850
00:46:38,960 --> 00:46:41,560
Speaker 3: last couple of months it's not just me, and it

851
00:46:41,640 --> 00:46:44,319
Speaker 3: is because of the rot. I believe Secretary of War

852
00:46:44,360 --> 00:46:46,680
Speaker 3: gets it. I believe the Secretary of the Air Force

853
00:46:46,719 --> 00:46:49,560
Speaker 3: and the under secretary get it. And I believe the

854
00:46:49,600 --> 00:46:52,600
Speaker 3: President of the United States gets it because when I

855
00:46:52,640 --> 00:46:55,440
Speaker 3: hear what he says, what he puts out, he is

856
00:46:55,520 --> 00:46:56,800
Speaker 3: all about meritocracy.

857
00:46:57,080 --> 00:47:00,600
Speaker 2: He is all about war fighters. He's our big supporter.

858
00:47:01,000 --> 00:47:03,759
Speaker 3: You know, we serve the constant, we defend the Constitution.

859
00:47:04,080 --> 00:47:06,600
Speaker 3: It doesn't matter who the president is. But yet it's

860
00:47:06,719 --> 00:47:10,080
Speaker 3: encouraging to hear a president say that he has our back,

861
00:47:10,120 --> 00:47:11,759
Speaker 3: and our secretary of War has our back.

862
00:47:12,160 --> 00:47:15,520
Speaker 2: So to answer your question that we're I'm at the

863
00:47:15,560 --> 00:47:16,640
Speaker 2: point now where.

864
00:47:16,680 --> 00:47:19,760
Speaker 3: If I would love to keep serving. My family feels

865
00:47:19,800 --> 00:47:21,640
Speaker 3: called to serve. We feel like God has put that

866
00:47:21,760 --> 00:47:24,080
Speaker 3: on our heart. The only person that can help me

867
00:47:24,120 --> 00:47:26,920
Speaker 3: at this point is the President of the United States,

868
00:47:27,200 --> 00:47:30,400
Speaker 3: the commander in chief. If he speaks, it will happen.

869
00:47:30,800 --> 00:47:33,520
Speaker 3: The chairman of the Joint Chiefs had retired and they

870
00:47:33,520 --> 00:47:35,480
Speaker 3: brought him back in the rank.

871
00:47:35,600 --> 00:47:36,279
Speaker 2: I mean, that's fine.

872
00:47:36,280 --> 00:47:38,440
Speaker 3: If they want to promote me, give me, you know,

873
00:47:39,000 --> 00:47:42,000
Speaker 3: backdate that that's fine. I would just like to keep serving.

874
00:47:42,200 --> 00:47:45,760
Speaker 3: Here's a great way that I could serve every other service.

875
00:47:45,800 --> 00:47:48,680
Speaker 3: But the United States Air Force has designated a point

876
00:47:48,719 --> 00:47:53,920
Speaker 3: person to help reintegrate the warfighters that were kicked out

877
00:47:53,920 --> 00:47:56,120
Speaker 3: because of COVID, except for the Air Force.

878
00:47:56,400 --> 00:47:58,840
Speaker 2: The Air Force is just letting the system work, and

879
00:47:58,920 --> 00:47:59,799
Speaker 2: the system ain't.

880
00:48:00,920 --> 00:48:03,560
Speaker 3: Of those eight thousand war fighters that were kicked out,

881
00:48:03,840 --> 00:48:06,360
Speaker 3: the last estimate I heard about a week ago was

882
00:48:06,520 --> 00:48:10,560
Speaker 3: less than one hundred have come back in the process

883
00:48:10,680 --> 00:48:14,919
Speaker 3: is so painful that and so it's being drug out.

884
00:48:15,200 --> 00:48:18,440
Speaker 3: People are just not doing it. So we're gonna basically

885
00:48:18,440 --> 00:48:20,560
Speaker 3: go into the future. The deadline is either in March

886
00:48:20,600 --> 00:48:23,040
Speaker 3: or April that the Pentagon has set.

887
00:48:23,520 --> 00:48:25,279
Speaker 2: We're gonna go. We're gonna blow.

888
00:48:24,960 --> 00:48:27,719
Speaker 3: Through that with maybe less than one hundred people of

889
00:48:27,760 --> 00:48:30,320
Speaker 3: the eight thousand. So I'm happy to lead that effort.

890
00:48:30,440 --> 00:48:33,160
Speaker 3: I'm happy to leave lead airman in the next conflict.

891
00:48:33,360 --> 00:48:36,120
Speaker 3: I'm happy to do whatever it takes, wherever God calls

892
00:48:36,360 --> 00:48:38,759
Speaker 3: me to serve, and wherever our leadership would like to

893
00:48:38,800 --> 00:48:41,360
Speaker 3: put me. It's up to the President the United States,

894
00:48:41,719 --> 00:48:45,000
Speaker 3: and we've been trying to reach out. My wife, she's

895
00:48:45,280 --> 00:48:49,160
Speaker 3: an attorney and a mother of five. We've been married

896
00:48:49,400 --> 00:48:51,759
Speaker 3: for almost thirty years. She wrote an appeal to the

897
00:48:51,760 --> 00:48:55,319
Speaker 3: President recently that we put out on social media. My

898
00:48:55,400 --> 00:48:59,880
Speaker 3: social media is at Sage Ideas, so at Sage idea

899
00:49:00,400 --> 00:49:03,680
Speaker 3: IDAs and you can see all the content and the

900
00:49:03,680 --> 00:49:05,759
Speaker 3: appeals that we put out there. So if we can

901
00:49:05,760 --> 00:49:09,120
Speaker 3: get the president's attention, that that would be our goal here,

902
00:49:09,320 --> 00:49:11,319
Speaker 3: not only for my case, but to help put the

903
00:49:11,360 --> 00:49:14,600
Speaker 3: pressure on the system. And he's got to do what

904
00:49:14,719 --> 00:49:18,040
Speaker 3: Congressman Bigg said, they have to remove the second and

905
00:49:18,120 --> 00:49:20,200
Speaker 3: third tier obstructionists because.

906
00:49:19,960 --> 00:49:21,640
Speaker 2: It's called malicious compliance.

907
00:49:22,040 --> 00:49:26,399
Speaker 3: They slow roll every decision, and even though we're only

908
00:49:26,440 --> 00:49:29,319
Speaker 3: one year into this administration, you can already tell they're

909
00:49:29,360 --> 00:49:30,480
Speaker 3: waiting out this president.

910
00:49:32,480 --> 00:49:35,840
Speaker 1: Brigadier General Chris Sage, thank you so much, not only

911
00:49:36,040 --> 00:49:41,520
Speaker 1: for your service and throughout so many incredible years of

912
00:49:41,719 --> 00:49:45,920
Speaker 1: courage and honor, but also of your courage and the

913
00:49:45,960 --> 00:49:48,520
Speaker 1: honor with which you're fighting this battle as well too.

914
00:49:49,560 --> 00:49:52,400
Speaker 1: I'm just really grateful that you would come on and

915
00:49:52,440 --> 00:49:56,400
Speaker 1: I just hope God blesses you in this endeavor and

916
00:49:56,800 --> 00:50:00,000
Speaker 1: you get what you deserve and you continue not only

917
00:50:00,080 --> 00:50:02,400
Speaker 1: as a leader in our military, but as a leader

918
00:50:02,440 --> 00:50:05,040
Speaker 1: to Americans in general.

919
00:50:05,239 --> 00:50:06,279
Speaker 4: Thank you so much, sir.

920
00:50:06,320 --> 00:50:09,319
Speaker 2: God bless you, God bless you David. Thank you