WEBVTT 00:00.490 --> 00:02.849 My name is Alexia . Fate . I'm 19 years 00:02.859 --> 00:05.340 old . I am from Liberty Borough mckee 00:05.349 --> 00:07.280 Sport and I graduated from South 00:07.289 --> 00:09.511 Allegheny . Hey , I'm master sergeant . 00:09.511 --> 00:11.400 Brian Hoover from the 1 71st airy 00:11.400 --> 00:13.289 feeling wing public affairs . I'm 00:13.289 --> 00:15.233 sitting down with Alexia and we're 00:15.233 --> 00:17.289 gonna talk a little bit about uh how 00:17.289 --> 00:19.400 she got recruited , why she came here 00:19.400 --> 00:19.200 to the Pennsylvania National Guard and 00:19.209 --> 00:21.153 how she plans to use her education 00:21.153 --> 00:23.376 benefits to get a free degree . So what 00:23.376 --> 00:25.542 is your job in the Air Force ? And why 00:25.542 --> 00:25.430 did you choose that job ? I chose 00:25.440 --> 00:28.319 security forces because I am , I intend 00:28.329 --> 00:31.049 to go to slippery rock in the fall for 00:31.059 --> 00:33.226 originally Homeland Security . But now 00:33.226 --> 00:35.337 I changed to political science with a 00:35.337 --> 00:37.900 concentration in politics and law . How 00:37.909 --> 00:40.076 did you find out about the Air force ? 00:40.076 --> 00:43.560 My sister , her husband is a boom 00:43.569 --> 00:46.930 operator for the um , 1 00:46.939 --> 00:49.509 71st air refueling wing and he pulled 00:49.520 --> 00:52.400 my arm about it and he said this is a 00:52.409 --> 00:54.639 great place . So why not join 00:56.139 --> 00:58.250 despite that ? Like you could look at 00:58.250 --> 01:00.417 the other services , you could look at 01:00.417 --> 01:02.695 the army , the Marine Corps , the Navy , 01:02.695 --> 01:04.750 uh Coast Guard Space force , why the 01:04.750 --> 01:06.583 Air Force , I think just because 01:06.583 --> 01:08.361 everything I've seen and really 01:08.361 --> 01:11.849 researched it really just fit me and it 01:11.860 --> 01:15.480 was a better fit than the rest . So 01:15.489 --> 01:18.599 why , why the Guard , why not active 01:18.610 --> 01:21.599 duty or the Reserves ? Um , I , because 01:21.610 --> 01:25.110 I wanted to get a college degree right 01:25.120 --> 01:28.540 out of high school . So , doing , um , 01:28.569 --> 01:32.290 the weekends just fit better . So why 01:32.300 --> 01:34.669 the military , what led you to come 01:34.680 --> 01:36.736 down this road ? Well , ever since I 01:36.736 --> 01:38.791 was a little girl , I've always been 01:38.791 --> 01:40.736 infatuated with it and the idea of 01:40.736 --> 01:42.847 joining the military , I don't know , 01:42.847 --> 01:44.902 ever since I was little , it's all I 01:44.902 --> 01:46.902 could think of doing . Never really 01:46.902 --> 01:49.124 wanted to be like a princess . I wanted 01:49.124 --> 01:51.569 to be in the military and I wanted to 01:51.580 --> 01:53.802 be someone , my family could look up to 01:53.802 --> 01:55.940 my little sister and it helped with 01:55.949 --> 01:58.360 college paying for college . Yeah , the 01:58.370 --> 02:00.481 benefits will be huge and really help 02:00.481 --> 02:02.703 you out , especially at the rock . What 02:02.703 --> 02:04.926 do you intend to do with this ? Right . 02:04.926 --> 02:06.870 So , we talked a little bit , uh , 02:06.870 --> 02:09.037 about how you're gonna go to , uh , Se 02:09.037 --> 02:11.259 Rock and you're gonna go in this degree 02:11.259 --> 02:13.092 plan and then you're gonna be on 02:13.092 --> 02:15.314 security forces here . Um , they're not 02:15.314 --> 02:17.537 connected but they kind of are . So how 02:17.537 --> 02:19.759 do you see , uh , with exception to the 02:19.759 --> 02:21.981 benefits that you're gonna receive ? Do 02:21.981 --> 02:21.889 you see a way that there that you can 02:21.899 --> 02:24.066 utilize the two together or is it just 02:24.066 --> 02:26.288 I'm getting the benefits . I have these 02:26.288 --> 02:28.343 two cool career fields . I have this 02:28.343 --> 02:30.399 experience . What , where do you see 02:30.399 --> 02:30.009 yourself fitting into that equation ? 02:30.369 --> 02:34.080 Yeah . So I I'm going for political 02:34.089 --> 02:36.669 science and concentration in law and 02:36.679 --> 02:39.240 politics . So security forces , it kind 02:39.250 --> 02:43.240 of gives me the experience the um 02:43.250 --> 02:46.410 on hands the tactical while I'm in a 02:46.419 --> 02:49.449 classroom , learning about the um laws 02:49.460 --> 02:52.789 behind it , the um the 02:53.169 --> 02:55.550 lesson plans and the teachings behind 02:55.729 --> 02:57.562 the tactical work while I'm also 02:57.562 --> 03:00.570 getting that here . So both kind of 03:00.580 --> 03:03.809 ties in together . OK . And then , 03:04.320 --> 03:06.580 um this is a question that , that I 03:06.589 --> 03:08.867 like to ask a lot of our younger folks . 03:08.867 --> 03:11.033 Um The answer is OK . But it's kind of 03:11.033 --> 03:13.256 something I'd love to look back on it , 03:13.256 --> 03:15.033 you know , whether it be six or 03:15.033 --> 03:17.033 whatever years . But what is your , 03:17.033 --> 03:19.200 what is your longevity plan ? Do you , 03:19.200 --> 03:21.478 do you have longevity plan ? How , how , 03:21.478 --> 03:23.533 when this enlistments over ? Is it a 03:23.533 --> 03:23.005 I'm gonna get my , my education 03:23.014 --> 03:25.070 benefits , I'm gonna go or I'm gonna 03:25.070 --> 03:27.634 stick around . I'm a life longer . I've 03:27.645 --> 03:29.756 always wanted to do it . I want to do 03:29.756 --> 03:31.978 it forever . I wanted to make a certain 03:31.978 --> 03:34.034 rank . Um What , what's your story ? 03:34.034 --> 03:36.244 Right ? As of now , I plan to retire 03:36.255 --> 03:39.770 from here . So life long until I 03:39.779 --> 03:41.800 retire . But yeah , I get all the 03:41.809 --> 03:44.190 benefits but also make the 03:44.199 --> 03:46.460 relationships , the networking and 03:46.830 --> 03:49.089 stick it out till I retire