discussing the gooinger and uber being a monopoly. he is intrude by ashley gold. >> with google we might have to ssh mapping off of the search. search from youtube. this is done. sewnedsax rare and combauf it to aare. and in and done it with ando and ask the people want sgrrm u. and they want to. >> that is on c-span east. thr >> there was an interview with amazon ceo. we'll hear from him in three

hours. but first, air force association president larry spencer. >> ladies and gentlemen, please welcome afa president general larry spencer. >> thank you. thank you all and good morning again and welcome back to one of the highlights of the three day session that we v. i got the opportunity to grow up in the nto. he was my role model and he gave me the best advance i had got. find you a good nco and hold on

tight and that's what i did my entire career. most of us know. i don't think anyone in the room doesn't know who chief wright is and what he's accomplished and doing for the air force. clearly if you looked up the word or google the word rock star chief wright's picture comes up. chief wright is a chief's chief. he knowledges in the air force and the enlisted corp. >> and when i was enlisted and prepared for the wax examation. there was a performance fetness exam and called pdb. but we need to to become ta to the ream book called a pfe.

thatap opening san. they are the back bone of theary force. our adversaries fear us because of the of the core. chief wright leads that only corps. he is dedicated to anyone in here. and so that said. i want everyone. please indulling me and please stand. give a erousing,erousing hand of applause to chief galeath wright. [applause] ♪

out of the night that kofs me. i thank what god may be for my unconquerable soul. vinot winced or cried aloud. my head is bleed but unbowed. beyond this place of wrath and tears. looms but the horrors of the

shades. yet the minutes of the years shall find me unafraid. it matters not how straight the gate or charged with punishment the scroll. i am the master of my fate. i am the captain of my soul. good morning afa. let me say welcome to secretary wilson and gold stein. peter and spencer and all of our partners and guests. and outstanding welcome to the air men of the year. tonya and i are extremely excited to be here. i want to thank you for your overwhelming support of the

office of the chief master sergeant of the air force. i appreciate all of the love and support and i want to make sure that you all understand we don't do it alone. i want to thank my team. team 18 and enlisted leader in council and certainly my two bosses, our secretary and the chief. they are go-getters and hacking away and getting things done in the united states air force. i want to say thank you. normally i saw my briefing was titled for the ground up. and so you would expect me to talk about a laundry list of all of the great things we are working on for the enlisted air men and so on and so forth. in today's age of social media and speed of information, i can get you that stuff comba time

and you know most of it combae. the secretary and chief and i, we hear you. we are receiving your feedback and getting after the things you need us to get after. so instead. i would like to spend time today building off of what the secretary and chief talks about. that is a discussion of the air force we need and the chief's assessment of how we will fight that force. i want to talk about the air men we need. we need a lethal resilience and rapidly adopting joint force. they should be well trained.

if he ever air men is good at their job. we are doing a good job from bmt to read flags. and that is more joint operations. and we'll make sure you are

creating a culture of leadership. and i also think our air men of the future need to think differently of how we develop air men. and imagine the world where we are like that imagine a world crew chiefs and mechanics. and that is russia and china and north korea. and so we should think differently of what it is to be a hybrid air men.

and that is got the merit. most importantly and that is foundation of i knew it was. and that is the readiness and the core is resilience. i want to spend time talking about this today. the english poet wrote. published it 1888. the title invictous. and that is undefeated. and that is 16 years old.

we loss one of the legs. >> and few years later. and that is faced with losing the other leg. he was keeping it. and that is writing the point. invictous. that is used by the likes of winston churchhill in a speech to house of commons and nelson mandela and he recited it to other prisoners. uspow's in the north vietnamamese hanoi hiltson.

president barak obama who recited it at nelson mandela's future. our fate is up to us. and to assure we remain undefeated. we have to make the choices essential to our soul. and have in the first standa. legal he head many hard ships. black it was a spiritual darkness and the soul remained untouched. it is a gift from god perhaps and he sdreebed in the second stanza. it is vifaged and he is mentally

unchanged and a cool krasp. that is in spite of the awful situation. he didn't give in once or show signs of weakness. in the third stanza he looks to the future. and that is associated with life on this earth. he make its clear. there will be no giving in and capit always and he notes he is unafra unafraid. he will continue to be brave and has a clear intention to survive against all odds. the last stanza is probably the most will known. and that is that is what we all

face. and that is what they inscribed. he is unafraid. lived his life in total control of what he wanted to do and is proud of his strength he only makes a section. and otherwise. he is comfortable to over come obstacles. the poem said emphatically, it doesn't matter who you are, believer or not. you can over come the dark times. and by being brave and never

losing sight and confidence in your own souls strength. and now i don't think you have to be a genous to know why i like this poem so much and committed it to memory. and that is why i decided in my dark time and down and stretched out and extra last lap on tie test. and also like it because it speaks to the type of resilient air men in our air force today. and in the years beyond. and no one. no one escapes fear and escapes pain. and escapes suffering. pain can come wisdom and fear

courage. and this is strength. if and only if. our air men are resilient. and i used to have. you move through. the hard ship. and over the past 18 months. we have had the pleasure of traveling all across the planet. and meeting real world examples of this level of resilience that henley talked about. this is fascinating and humbling and inspiring. tough times.

and they can create a helpless person. they can create a herroric one. and highlighted other venues. and they inspire me in to get out of bed every day and work my but the off for each one of you. and that they have seen the darkness and their heads have been bloody and some both literally and figuratively. and have they display courage and they have taken control as masters was their own fate. for that, i applaud each and every one of them. all of our other resilient airplane men out there who are

the best version of themselves regardless of the circumstance. [applause] now any good discussion of resilience rightfully begins with what is the air force doing to deal with more resilience? we had a pan and he will it was great to see our senior leadership attending that panel. it said to me resilience is a serious issue to the senior leaders in our united states air force. it is a fair question and many of you probably thought about this on a regular basis. yes, we have a tremendous responsibility to ensure the right programs and processes are in place to build more healthy and resilient air men.

we have the family. task force through north and beta test modelled with the force and family. wytt many. every base i have been to i visited the air men ministry center. air men resilient teams. i have zoo seen military family life consultants embedded in the maintenance room and office. we have support coordinator and violence integration integrators. every base has a unique program aimed at improving the resilience of the air men. a couple of my favorites in theaur force mort gary of affairs.

that is part of their resilience probably. anybody from dover here from the mortiary. pizza and confidence. they sit down and that a song that inspiring you. right out the and my favorite song. sam cook. a change is going to come. we sat down with the team and we had a fantastic discussion. one of my highlights at dover. another favorite much mine, teal rope program. i saw general jolly and chief jackson, the leadership from shepherd air force base. this is a program whose primary purpose in tech training to promote the climate of respect and dignity and professionalism. emphasizes peer to peer counseling and air men leading

air men. >> i was departing on a saturday morning and showed up to the venue where they trained 50 air men waiting outside to be a part of this organization. first sergeant might get on me. but i wear the deal band they gave me. lots of other great initiatives and programs and we can do more. but the air forces well on the way to do its part and build air men. you just have to use the resources we have available and a much better question and the reason that i wanted to spend time on the topic with you today is, what are you doing to build a more resilient air men?

yes, i am talking to you. don't look at your neighbor or super visor or spouse, you. sp. you. so too often, we talk about when we talk about the challenges we face, the channllenges our children face, the challenges our teammates face. the challenges or friends face. we always begin with this description of the world or this description of the air force. i'm doing so bad, i'm in this situation, and if the air force cared more about its people, if we had more resources, if there was a better program, if i had a better supervisor. we think about all the things that we believe have contributed to our situations, and we

overlook and, frankly, sometimes we ignore what we have done to contribute to our own condition. so before we go any further, let's be clear, you are the place you need to start if you want to become more resilient. if you want to become stronger in the face of adversity, if you want to become unconquerable. you should begin by taking responsibility for who you are, and for your life. now, don't get me wrong, i'm not saying that you're responsible for everything that happens to you, but you are responsible for how you deal with what happens to you. those heroes, my heroes, your heroes, they didn't ask for cancer. they didn't ask for debilitating diseases. they didn't ask to be blown up. but they were responsible, and

they are responsible, for how they dealt with it. you see, responsibility offers power. you can become a pioneer and not a victim. you take responsibility, you get to forge your own path. it's more challenging. it's more difficult. but it's more rewarding. let me give you just a few thoughts about resiliencresilie. you weren't born with resilience no more than you were born to be able to fly an f-35. it's the virtue that's built over time. you can practice resilience in the choices you make, and the actions you take, and after enough practice, it becomes a part of who you are. resilient choices equal resilient airmen. you can develop resilience over time.

you can't buy it. nobody can do it for you. you have to do the work. finally, i'll give you a couple of strategies for becoming a more resilient airman. now, a quick google search, or if you dust off your material from your mrt training, i knee y know you took it because we all had to take it. eight hours of mandatory resilience training. you'll find all kinds of strategies for building resilience, becoming a more resilient force. the force we need powered by the airmen we need. but a few that work for me. find your purpose in life. why do you exist, why do you get out of bed in the morning? develop a strong social network.

embrace change. the world is changing rapidly. the air force will change to keep up with it. develop your problem-solving skills and put your mask on first. take care of yourself physically, mentally, and spiritually. let me leave you with a few more of my heroes who helped give me a sense of purpose. this is airman first class miguel duarte. he dreamed of being airman -- of being an airman. and he realized the dream but only for a short time. he was in technical trailing at shepard air force base to become a c-130 crew chief.

last june, he was diagnosed with cancer. once the cancer set in, it was aggressive. it was rapid. within a few months he transitioned to his miospice ca back home in new york. sadly, he passed away on friday. but until the end, he was positive. he was proud to be an airman. he never stopped fighting. i regret that i didn't get to personally meet miguel, but i was able to send him a small token and a short handwritten note letting him know that we were pulling for him. we were proud of him.

we were proud of his courage and proud of his strength. i believe he never felt defeated. much like henley, he only made an exception for death in the end. the only thing that can't be conquered. this is isaiah cook. isai isaiah's a 26-year-old staff sergeant select. that's his wife, erin. isaiah has been battling bone cancer since 2017. his medical team recently deemed him terminal. isaiah has only four months left with us. he lives in constant pain.

he told me he had to have back surgery because the cancer shattered one of his vertebra and now is attacking his hip. but since his initial diagnosis, he's stood in front of several commanders calls, professional development seminars, to share his personal story of struggle, persisten persistence, and resilience. so i facetimed a ed isaiah this saturday. he said the only two things he ever wanted to do was wear the air force uniform, which he did, and go to the uk. he's a big manchester united soccer fan. so his unit set up a make-a-wish trip for him and he went and he got to see a game.

they even got an expedited sgli claim approved and paid out to him. he gets to live his final days with no financial burdens, no financial limitations. his first sergeant said to me, r chief, isaiah is a true inspiration to everyone he comes in contact with. he's always in a great mood and willing to assist when he can. even when his pain tolerance is unbearable. it forces us all to put life into perspective. he truly made everyone's day when his name came out on the staff sergeant select list. isaiah's head is bloody, but unbo unboud. on 17, july, this year, i met sea airman justin day.

or j.d. as he goes by. i met him on a c-17 when he returned from germ economy afn lost his leg to an ied in afghanistan. so when i met him on the aircraft that day, he was smiling. his spirits were high. he was excited to get to walter reed to meet and see his wife. they were expecting a baby and he wanted to see if it was a boy or a girl. it's a boy. 51 days later, just 51 days later, i saw j.d. at the air force memorial during our medal of honor ceremony for master sergeant john chapman and john's family is here. thank you so much for being here. he was in uniform. he stood up every time it was required with the support of his dad and his wife.

the anthem, the invocation, and every other thing that we did. six weeks later, after just six weeks after this incident, he stood on his prosthetic leg for the first time. eight days later, he was literally walking doing laps around walter reed. and just yesterday, two months after i first met him, j.d. was visiting capitol hill with brigadier general mike martin from our resilience team on his new prosthetic leg. you know, i thought it was funny, early on in his stay at walter reed, j.d. hung a huge sign on his door that he wanted every visitor to see. and the sign read, i quote, "i am good. please say hello, but do not ask

me how i'm doing. i am grateful. i have zero regrets. the good we accomplished down range far outweighs the challenges i will face going forward. i would do it all over again without hesitation." and in capital letters, the last line said, "i am never broken." j.d. has an unconquerable soul. ladies and gentlemen, this has been another phenomenal afa. and as i depart here today, i'm encouraged, i'm inspired, i'm more resilient because of airmen

like miguel, like isaiah, and like j.d., and the example they set for all of us. in order to win tomorrow's war, to defend the homeland, to remain a safe and secure nuclear deterrent, to win against russia or china while deterring iran or north korea, and to maintain momentum in the veo fight, we need more airmen like them. airmen that are well trained. airmen that are well led. airmen that are agile. resilient airmen who are the masters of their fate. the captains of their soul. thank you. ♪