001No, I don't. You like to talk. No, I'm staying. Yeah, if you don't have one Can I see? I don't know. Put it on your It's probably It's great that No. >> Oh, yeah. Great job, man. I would say What? It's all together. When they Yes. And that's cool. Um it's not that great of a deal. I'm not sure if that's true or Cuz the only time to go is when You know, thanks for What did she say? I think she'll say Anyone can say Gosh. What? I think I did. I was just Yeah, I know. What's new? Oh. There you go. I know. Yellow mustard English muffin. It was the last one. Okay. >> After I'll call I'll call y'all up. Yeah. So Brian, I'll um you can have a seat right now. I'll
002call I'll call y'all up when it's time. Or well, you just stay standing after you you give your speech, I guess. Oh, okay. Fair. Fair. Well, just to be respectful of everyone's time, we're going to get started. There may be some families that join us a little late. Um but we'll make sure everyone gets the um gets their certificate and gets their their um congratulations. So thanks for joining us today. Every year we do military signing day to honor the students at Clarkston High School who have committed to the military. Those of you who are in this room who are in the process who have committed or in the process of committing cuz we have a few who are working on it are joining an elite group of people. Only about 6% of the population
003of the United States has been involved in the military. So this is a really exciting opportunity, but you are in a mi- a minority in the in the job and the work that you're choosing to do. And we want to honor the fact that you're committing to serving your country and to, you know, making this commitment to yourself and your future. I may have a little bit of a unique background. While I am not a military veteran myself, um I have been involved as a civilian with the military. I lived and worked on an Air Force base. Um and I also got one of my master's degree from The Citadel in uh Charleston, South Carolina, which is the military university. Um and during my time working with students um well, they were students at the
004time. I worked as a academic advisor in the military. And during that time, I learned a lot and I was able to experience a lot and I'm very grateful for that time that I had. And I hope that you, as you go on, take advantage of the career training and the college opportunities that will be offered to you as a service member. So, with that, I'm going to introduce our guest speaker Brian Weiss. So, Lieutenant Colonel Brian Weiss was commissioned in 2008 from the University Michigan Reserve Officers Training Corps. He is a career intelligence officer and a veteran of Operations Enduring Freedom and Inherent Resolve. He currently serves as the commander of the 2100 Military Intelligence Group and competes on the Army Reserve Marksmanship Team. He's married to a Clarkson teacher, Samantha Wines Weiss, and
005they are proud parents to twin daughters, Bella and Serafina. So, if you'll give him a hand as he joins US HERE. >> [applause] >> JUST SO I GET AN IDEA, WHO SO, WHO'S ENLISTING? IT'S MY Only one Only one's getting in there we go. Okay. >> Our son's not here yet. Oh. He's on his way. Should we wait? He's He's on his way. He's almost like in the parking lot. He's like Oh. I'll do the speech again for him. Okay. He'll get a speech when he gets here. Ah. Here you go. So, I'm going to contradict you just a little bit. You had mentioned 6% of Americans are veterans or join. The latest numbers are actually a bit less than that. It's less than 1/2 of 1% of all Americans volunteer to enlist. So, of
006the 331 million in the latest census, you're joining a group of about 1.3 million who have volunteered to don a uniform and take up arms in service to this country. That is something I am very very proud of you for. And I thank you for it. You can spend 5 minutes watching the news right now, and I think it becomes very self-explanatory. The reality of today, however, is that you have no idea what you're getting yourself into. Now, I'm sure, like me, when I joined in 2008, and yes, I can do math, that means this uniform that I'm wearing right now is older than all of you, but it still fits. Mostly. Okay. But like me, I'm sure that you saw very flashy commercials, very impressive print brochures. I'm sure you also heard some very
007awe-inspiring war stories. I'm also sure, sorry, Petty Officer, that your recruiters filled your heads with these grand ideas of excitement, maybe some obscure notions of soldierly duty. If they were honest, they may have conceded that there's going to be some discomfort associated with your term of service, but surely that discomfort would be offset by the stellar benefits that you receive, right? The GI Bill, the amazing pay and benefits that we get, the health care, and probably most importantly, the respect and admiration of a grateful nation. At best, you have some partial truths about what the next four to six to eight years of your lives are going to be like. Hard truth is this. I'm coming up on 20 years in uniform and I'm going to tell you there is absolutely nothing romantic about this
008way of life. It's often violent. It's brutish. It's difficult. For most of you, you're going to experience the hardest moments of your life during the next few years. The most miserable moments of your life in the next few years. You will be underpaid. You will be overworked. And you will be under appreciated. You will do things in the quiet and in the dark that no one will hear about and no one will recognize you for. I'm also here to tell you that you'll have the most profound sense of accomplishment in your life and sense of brotherhood. Now, your service is going to be everything that you make of it. I often admit, particularly to my wife Samantha, whom we actually met in high school, uh that I would not be half the man I am
009today had I not done what you're doing at the age of 18. I wouldn't take it back for the world. And I say that knowing that I've spent a lot of time away from home. Boy, it's different when you got kids. >> [sighs and gasps] >> Spent a lot of time away from home. Missed a lot of birthdays, anniversaries. Almost missed birth of her kids. >> [snorts] >> We've had to do some pretty awful things in some really ugly places, especially lately. I've been hurt. I've lost a few friends. But, I'm here to tell you >> [clears throat] >> my life is so much richer having spent those years with purpose and with good people. >> [snorts] >> Here's the thing. You've got so many opportunities in front of you right now. When you report
010to your troop station, basic training, tech school, whatever it is, the biggest risk you have in your life right now when you report is being too scared to do something that you want. You're scared of failure, of not making it to whatever job and school that you want. You are scared of being away from home, being away from what's familiar to you, your friends, your family. Maybe you're afraid of getting hurt. All valid fears. Absolutely. They're all going to happen. Here's my first piece of advice, two pieces of advice today. Get over it. And get over it right now. This is not the time in your life to be meek. I'm encouraging you to have the courage to stretch, to reach for things that you think are beyond your capability because the one thing you'll
011look back at when you're out of this uniform, if you don't go do those things, the thing that's worse than fear is regret. So, during the next few years, the Army, the Air Force, the Navy, the Marines, wherever you're going, they're going to give you all the opportunities in the world. You want to go be a pilot? Go try out for it. You want to go be a Green Beret, a Ranger, a Raider, a SEAL, whatever it is, go try out for it and go do it. If you don't make it, it's okay. You can try again. There's no shame in failing if you gave it your absolute best. And I'm here to tell you, failure is the best teacher in life. One of the best advice I got from my first Brigade Commander was
012he said, "Hey, Don Weise, the highs will never teach you what the lows do." So, you can't be afraid. Can't be afraid to try and fail. So, take those hard assignments, go to the foreign places, face the strange and the unknown, and don't be afraid to fail cuz you're never going to be the best version of yourself if you're too scared to try. My second piece of advice, and something that I'm learning the last couple years as a Battalion Commander, servicemembers are unlike any other soldiers in the world. You are entering a profession of arms dedicated to selfless service, duty, honor, and courage. Do not take this lightly, and know the moment you take your oath of service, the expectation for you is higher. You must be better physically, better mentally, and better morally. That's
013duty, the moral obligation to do the right thing always, even when it's not convenient to do so. So, never lie, never cheat, never steal, no more half-hearted commitments cuz it's not just about you anymore. If you screw up, you hurt your brothers and sisters, too. This next part's hard. So, anniversary I lost a good friend. >> [snorts] >> Why I talk about brothers. You will have brothers who differ from you in race, color, creed, faith, but they are brothers nonetheless. Because they're with you in those moments when you are at your absolute worst. And you're there for them. >> [snorts] >> So that's our truth of what you guys are getting yourself into. Now you got to live up to it. So this is the start of a great adventure for you. You're 17, 18
014years old. Man, what I wouldn't trade to be where you are right now. So, charge into it fearlessly. Live absent regret. I want you to earn your place and earn this uniform every day. Go do some good. And I wish you Godspeed. Thank you. >> [applause] [applause] >> Okay, so we rely a lot on our military recruiters here at our at our school. They've done teacher trainings. They've helped us with students. They've done a lot to to help our student population. Unfortunately, a lot of them could not join us today. So they Mr. Dale is holding May, and I almost forgot your last name. Is holding down the fort for us. But as a thank you to him, we did get him a gift card because of all the stuff that he's done for us
015this year. >> [applause] >> AND AT THIS TIME, WE'RE GOING TO CALL UP THE students uh to to shake hands and be recognized. So, first we have Ryan Bushroe, who is going to commit to the Coast Guard. >> [applause] >> And I don't think we have Malachi, who is not with us today. Um Julia Enriquez, who is committing to the Navy. >> [applause] >> Tyler Scott for his commitment to THE NAVY. >> [applause] [applause] >> OKAY, AND JACK WILSON FOR HIS COMMITMENT TO THE NAVY. >> [applause] >> AND WE'RE UM ACTUALLY DOING AN honorable mention for two students are in the process of uh committing to the Air National Guard. They have not fully committed yet, but they are working on it. So, Jayden Blodgett is one of our Air National Guard. >> [applause] >>
016And by release Williams who is unable to attend today. So, um at this time that concludes the presentation. So, you all are welcome to mingle, take photos. We have the flags from each um branch. And we have sliders and fruit and cookies. So, please feel free to enjoy and do take photos and do what you need to do. So, thank you for coming. And [applause] congratulations students.