WEBVTT

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When I was a young cadet at West Point ,

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my plan was to serve for five years in

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the army and then get out and go to law

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school . But I quickly learned that I

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love being a soldier and I loved

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serving my country service means

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focusing on something bigger than

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yourself and giving back to your

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community , giving back to your country .

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It's what makes our country great and

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we need the talent of , of everyone in

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the community , the young and old .

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So instead of spending five years in

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uniform , I spent 41

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and I'm grateful that I can continue to

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serve now as a Secretary of Defense .

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And every day , I'm amazed at what our

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team can achieve to defend our

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country , to advance the cause of

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freedom and to make the world

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safer for future generations .