WEBVTT 00:04.889 --> 00:07.056 My name is Randall Small . Uh I , uh , 00:07.550 --> 00:11.420 was a pilot when I retired for H 00:11.430 --> 00:14.390 NHS Ya . So I was ac 12 pilot . Uh , 00:14.399 --> 00:18.180 before that I was ach 53 pilot and an H 00:18.190 --> 00:20.690 one pilot for a search and rescue . Um , 00:20.700 --> 00:22.533 but , uh , I'm from Sacramento , 00:22.533 --> 00:24.709 California originally and I joined the 00:24.719 --> 00:26.829 Marine Corps because , uh , I was 00:26.840 --> 00:28.951 pretty lost when I left high school . 00:28.951 --> 00:31.173 And , uh , I think , uh , the recruiter 00:31.173 --> 00:33.439 really just , I , I saw him and I was 00:33.450 --> 00:35.672 like , man , that guy is locked on like 00:35.672 --> 00:37.950 he's just a solid looking dude and , 00:38.240 --> 00:40.407 and what he was saying , made a lot of 00:40.407 --> 00:42.684 sense to me and at the time , you know , 00:42.684 --> 00:44.851 I , I didn't have a lot going for me . 00:44.851 --> 00:46.851 And so , uh , yeah , really ? I , I 00:46.851 --> 00:49.073 joined and it straightened me up really 00:49.073 --> 00:51.351 fast , obviously , you know , and , uh , 00:51.351 --> 00:53.462 it's really made me the person that I 00:53.462 --> 00:53.419 am today . So I went to center high 00:53.430 --> 00:55.486 school , uh , which is in Antelope , 00:55.486 --> 00:57.541 California . And , uh , it was , you 00:57.541 --> 00:59.708 know , it was interesting . I was kind 00:59.708 --> 01:01.930 of like a outcast , you know , a little 01:01.930 --> 01:04.263 bit because I played the drums and , uh , 01:04.263 --> 01:07.150 and a rock band . So , like , uh , just 01:07.160 --> 01:10.669 not your typical , uh , person in high 01:10.680 --> 01:12.958 school , I guess . But , um , you know , 01:12.958 --> 01:14.847 I , I liked playing the drums . I 01:14.847 --> 01:17.510 played baseball and , um , yeah , I had 01:17.519 --> 01:19.575 a , I had friends from all different 01:19.575 --> 01:21.686 groups so I didn't really have like , 01:21.686 --> 01:23.797 one set click that I hung out with or 01:23.797 --> 01:25.797 anything like that . But , um , but 01:25.797 --> 01:27.963 yeah , I just , you know , high school 01:27.963 --> 01:30.180 was not super fun but , uh , I also 01:30.190 --> 01:31.968 didn't try very hard because my 01:31.968 --> 01:34.134 attitude wasn't great in high school , 01:34.134 --> 01:36.489 you know , and , and so , yeah , I , I 01:36.500 --> 01:38.611 didn't enjoy high school at all and I 01:38.611 --> 01:41.239 didn't enjoy school . Uh , so , yeah , 01:41.250 --> 01:43.361 Marine Corps kind of changed that for 01:43.361 --> 01:45.306 me a little bit , you know , I , I 01:45.306 --> 01:48.000 think my overall just , uh , dedication , 01:48.010 --> 01:51.050 my commitment , my like , uh , just 01:51.059 --> 01:53.059 professionalism in general switched 01:53.059 --> 01:55.115 around a lot and I just matured very 01:55.115 --> 01:57.769 quickly because I had to , um , and it 01:57.779 --> 01:59.779 just totally changed the way that I 01:59.779 --> 02:01.940 looked at everything and , uh , and 02:01.949 --> 02:04.005 really led me to all the decisions I 02:04.005 --> 02:06.227 made to where I am now . So , so me and 02:06.227 --> 02:08.250 major say turn we met in , uh , the 02:08.259 --> 02:11.029 ROTC unit because we were both mps . So , 02:11.039 --> 02:13.095 uh , we did the program to go from , 02:13.095 --> 02:15.820 enlisted to officer . Um , and so we 02:15.830 --> 02:17.997 were both , uh , we both joined at the 02:17.997 --> 02:19.830 same exact time . So we're going 02:19.830 --> 02:22.163 through , uh , college courses together , 02:22.163 --> 02:24.274 uh , and going through the whole ROTC 02:24.274 --> 02:26.330 program together and , uh , it was a 02:26.330 --> 02:28.497 small unit , so there was only four of 02:28.497 --> 02:30.330 us mips . So we got pretty close 02:30.330 --> 02:32.497 naturally and , uh , end up spending a 02:32.497 --> 02:32.009 lot of time together , you know , our 02:32.020 --> 02:34.187 family , spending time together . Uh , 02:34.187 --> 02:36.298 and so , yeah , so that's where I met 02:36.298 --> 02:38.409 after 20 especially joining right out 02:38.409 --> 02:40.742 of high school . I'm still pretty young , 02:40.742 --> 02:42.687 you know , I'm only 38 . So , uh , 02:42.687 --> 02:44.909 definitely , still feel like I've got a 02:44.909 --> 02:47.131 whole another career ahead of me before 02:47.131 --> 02:49.409 I retire again . Um , but it does feel , 02:49.409 --> 02:51.464 you know , pretty amazing to be , uh 02:51.464 --> 02:53.353 done with those 20 years and have 02:53.353 --> 02:55.576 accomplished what I've accomplished and 02:55.576 --> 02:57.742 the person that I'm leaving as is much 02:57.742 --> 02:57.649 different than the person that I went 02:57.660 --> 02:59.990 in as , and uh definitely attribute 03:00.000 --> 03:02.167 that to the Marine Corps . So now that 03:02.167 --> 03:04.333 I'm retired , I , uh I just started at 03:04.333 --> 03:06.389 Southwest Airlines , I'm actually in 03:06.389 --> 03:08.389 training right now . So I just came 03:08.389 --> 03:10.611 home from training for a couple of days 03:10.611 --> 03:12.778 to do the retirement ceremony and then 03:12.778 --> 03:14.833 I have to get back at it . So , um , 03:14.833 --> 03:14.410 yeah , so I'm training to become a 03:14.419 --> 03:16.460 Southwest pilot in the Boeing 7 37 03:16.580 --> 03:18.691 which is pretty crazy . Never thought 03:18.691 --> 03:20.747 I'd ever do that in my life . Um And 03:20.747 --> 03:23.160 really attribute my ability to , to do 03:23.169 --> 03:25.336 the program and to learn the plane and 03:25.336 --> 03:27.391 to study the systems and all that to 03:27.391 --> 03:29.558 the discipline that I learned from the 03:29.558 --> 03:29.050 Marine Corps .