00:00Check the weather before you make a big speech.
00:02That's my first piece of advice.
00:04In all seriousness, I am particularly gratified to be honored today by this welcome and this kindness.
00:14Some of the people who make it possible for me to do my job,
00:19to make it possible for me to be Vice President of the United States,
00:22are proud airmen and guardians.
00:25The people who run Dover Air Force Base.
00:28The people who pilot and crew Air Force Two.
00:31The staff at my house.
00:33The person who delivered me my daily intelligence briefing.
00:35They are proud to be airmen or proud to be guardians.
00:39And I am proud to be here with you today.
00:47Without fail, they are skilled and brilliant and professional and kind.
00:54The very best of us, just like you.
00:56And today, we celebrate not just you, not just the completed journey,
01:02but importantly, we celebrate something far more important.
01:07And today, you become commissioned officers and leaders of the great patriots that I interact with every single day.
01:14If they are the best of our nation, they are now under the charge of every single person who graduates
01:21from this great academy.
01:23You all should be proud, and I hope you are, proud of what you've accomplished, proud of what you've endured.
01:29But you should also be sober by the extraordinary responsibility our nation now entrusts to you.
01:36Indeed, so impressed am I with this group and the service that you lead that I'm hiring,
01:42a member of this very class for a summer internship after graduation.
01:53So, Cadet Tang, where are you? Raise your hands.
02:05Consider this your very first meeting with the new boss. Congratulations.
02:09Don't screw it up.
02:12Now, all of you celebrate a journey that started not just four years ago, but decades before that.
02:18And so I particularly want to welcome the people who made you who you are.
02:23The friends, the family, the faculty, the loved ones, and of course, the other distinguished guests who were honored to
02:30be joined here today.
02:32So I'd like to thank Secretary Meek in thanking several particular folks for being here.
02:38General Cruiser and Mrs. Cindy Wilsbach, thank you all.
02:47General Chance and Mrs. Jennifer Stoltzman, thank you guys for being here.
02:54And last but certainly not least, Lieutenant General Tony and Mrs. Tricia Bowerdfein, thank you all.
03:04And I should also note that we're joined by another special guest, so honored and so proud of you that
03:09we have our great Secretary of Energy, Chris Wright.
03:12Chris, thank you for being here, and thank you for your lovely wife for being here to honor our airmen.
03:19But most of all, I want to thank the families who are with us this morning.
03:24The young men and women we honor today deserve a tremendous amount of praise.
03:29But they know, as well as I do, that the seeds of many of their finest qualities were ultimately planted
03:36by all of you in the bleachers.
03:38And to our new officers, my second piece of advice is to show a spirit of gratitude above all to
03:45the people who made you who you are.
03:47That will make you better airmen, it will make you better guardians, and it will make you better leaders.
03:53When you're tired, remember the father or the mother who worked an extra shift to give you a little bit
03:59extra.
04:00When you're frustrated with someone under your command, and that will happen,
04:04remember the time a grandparent or a schoolteacher showed you patience and grace that you didn't deserve.
04:09Thank you.
Comments