You know, the only thing I ever wanted to do before I wanted to be a fighter pilot was to be a train engineer. You don't really climb into that jet, you strap it on, you know, it's a fighter and it really feels like you're wearing it. It's like a homesick angel. When I was about seven years old, my dad, who was an Army Cober pilot, went to an air show and was flying. I was unable to go because I was homesick with chicken poxed. But he came back with a poster of an Air National Guard at 15C. I thought it was a really beautiful machine and I started to learn more about the history of fighters and fighter pilots. So as time went on, I decided that I wanted to attend the Air Force Academy and fly fighters and that really became my life's goal. Sometimes the shortest distance between two points is not always a straight line. I was able to get accepted to the Air Force Academy, but after attending there during basic training, I suffered an injury and had to leave. So while I was on the obstacle course in Jack's Valley and going over one of the hurdles there, I landed on my knee and aggravated a hip injury that I had had playing high school football and separated growth plate. I spent a few weeks there in the hospital and ultimately they determined I wouldn't be able to complete basic training with my class. So rather than wait a year later to start over at the Academy, I elected to go to the University of Memphis. I did not want to give up on my dream. It was pretty disconcerting to have to leave the Academy and think that maybe I wouldn't be able to achieve my dream of flying fighters. At the first time, it was very difficult to get a pilot training allocation from ROTC. The University of Memphis hadn't had any in some seven years. So I took the chance of not even getting to be a pilot much less fly the F-15, but once again, a fortune smiled on me and was blessed at our class. Five of the eight of us got pilot training slots. My dad was there for a assignment night and he knew probably more than anybody just how much it meant to me after 17 years of working for this and the adversity that I'd been through to get there. He knew what that meant to me and that F-15C popped up on the board. He was elated and he actually rushed the stage and tackled me and was probably more excited about it than I was. So it was really great to have him there for that. That dream was coming true. So I've been flying the F-22 for about nine years now and during that time I've been able to fly it continuously with the exception of one year. So I've been very blessed and fortunate to be able to do that and I have the unique distinction of being the first active duty Air Force pilot to achieve a thousand hours. That's not something that I've accomplished individually. That's something that really is credit to not only Lockheed has produced such a wonderful fighter, but all the men and women who maintain this fighter as well as our operations personnel. Our Air Crew Flight Equipment, our Aviation Resource Managers, our Intelligence Professionals that ensure that I'm able to go out there and fly this airplane safely and do that on a regular basis. To stay combat mission ready and be prepared to provide our dominant. So being able to accomplish a thousand hours in this world-class fighter that you see behind me is really an honor. You know if I went back and talked to a seven-year-old me and told him what was going on here today and that I was flying an F-22, you know, you'd say what's that? Because it didn't even exist. I never would have imagined as a seven-year-old that I'd be able to command an F-22 squadron. It's just not even something that I even dreamed of. So it's so far beyond my dreams and hopes and expectations as a child that I think if I went back and showed seven-year-old me where I was at today, I'd probably be pretty shocked. This is not a milestone or a benchmark for me. This is a milestone for the program and for the Air Force and just really a great thing for America.