1 00:00:00,690 --> 00:00:02,912 there are certain parts of my life that 2 00:00:02,912 --> 00:00:05,079 I really can't talk about and that can 3 00:00:05,079 --> 00:00:07,357 make telling my story really difficult . 4 00:00:08,520 --> 00:00:11,630 I guess the best way is to start from 5 00:00:11,630 --> 00:00:12,630 the beginning . 6 00:00:20,180 --> 00:00:23,050 I started about 20 minutes outside of 7 00:00:23,060 --> 00:00:26,630 Puerto Prince uh , technically declared 8 00:00:26,630 --> 00:00:29,240 as abandoned . But I was taken into an 9 00:00:29,240 --> 00:00:30,220 orphanage . 10 00:00:35,940 --> 00:00:37,940 I remember we transitioned from one 11 00:00:37,940 --> 00:00:40,051 orphanage to the other . It's kind of 12 00:00:40,051 --> 00:00:42,120 set the tone for my appreciation of 13 00:00:42,120 --> 00:00:42,880 life . 14 00:00:46,320 --> 00:00:48,209 The only concept I had during the 15 00:00:48,209 --> 00:00:50,431 orphanage was just my younger brother . 16 00:00:50,431 --> 00:00:52,970 We were like best friends . When we 17 00:00:52,970 --> 00:00:55,370 found out we were being adopted , my 18 00:00:55,370 --> 00:00:57,259 brother and I , we were , we were 19 00:00:57,259 --> 00:00:59,426 thrilled . We just didn't know or have 20 00:00:59,426 --> 00:01:01,314 any concept of what America was . 21 00:01:09,740 --> 00:01:12,730 And so the process of assimilating into 22 00:01:12,740 --> 00:01:15,090 that household seemed relatively 23 00:01:15,090 --> 00:01:17,350 seamless . We never had any concept of 24 00:01:17,350 --> 00:01:19,840 family . Uh , so that was a transition 25 00:01:19,840 --> 00:01:23,740 that we enjoyed that 26 00:01:23,740 --> 00:01:25,720 process was just eye opening . One 27 00:01:25,720 --> 00:01:27,887 thing I did tell my younger brother is 28 00:01:27,887 --> 00:01:30,300 that I would always protect him . I 29 00:01:30,300 --> 00:01:32,411 would always look out for him in this 30 00:01:32,411 --> 00:01:36,100 new world . It was during my 31 00:01:36,100 --> 00:01:38,750 senior year , one of my volunteer 32 00:01:38,750 --> 00:01:42,080 coaches was an army recruiter . Uh , he 33 00:01:42,080 --> 00:01:44,310 probably had the most influence on me 34 00:01:44,320 --> 00:01:48,030 for the simple fact that one . Uh , he 35 00:01:48,040 --> 00:01:50,207 talked to me about what the army could 36 00:01:50,207 --> 00:01:53,200 be for myself . Didn't imagine going 37 00:01:53,200 --> 00:01:56,080 outside of my hometown , figured I'd 38 00:01:56,090 --> 00:01:58,740 work somewhere around , go to school 39 00:01:58,740 --> 00:02:00,962 and just stick around to my hometown at 40 00:02:00,962 --> 00:02:04,360 that point , but he put in that little 41 00:02:04,360 --> 00:02:07,120 whisper joining the reserves is also 42 00:02:07,120 --> 00:02:08,400 betting on yourself . 43 00:02:13,020 --> 00:02:15,330 The Army Reserve is what you make it . 44 00:02:15,340 --> 00:02:18,000 And so there are opportunities where 45 00:02:18,010 --> 00:02:21,210 that imagination of of seeing different 46 00:02:21,210 --> 00:02:23,432 things that it has to offer you have to 47 00:02:23,432 --> 00:02:25,377 raise your hands for it . And that 48 00:02:25,377 --> 00:02:27,599 helped shape my adventure that I've had 49 00:02:27,599 --> 00:02:28,932 for the last 25 years . 50 00:02:34,180 --> 00:02:37,700 The FBI came into focus when I was at 51 00:02:37,700 --> 00:02:40,770 my officer training at Fort Benning and 52 00:02:40,770 --> 00:02:43,590 I saw some tactical uh some non 53 00:02:43,590 --> 00:02:45,960 military tactical folks going through 54 00:02:45,970 --> 00:02:48,090 uh these tactical operations and 55 00:02:48,090 --> 00:02:51,780 training and that's what we do as 56 00:02:51,780 --> 00:02:54,960 infantry soldiers . And so uh I saw 57 00:02:54,960 --> 00:02:56,960 that they were from law enforcement 58 00:02:56,960 --> 00:02:59,280 agencies , uh federal law enforcement 59 00:02:59,280 --> 00:03:02,760 agencies . And I said , well I can do 60 00:03:02,760 --> 00:03:05,310 that , I know how to do that , I'm 61 00:03:05,310 --> 00:03:07,780 training to do that and I'm confident 62 00:03:08,300 --> 00:03:10,411 on how to do that . And I knew that I 63 00:03:10,411 --> 00:03:12,411 was built for something bigger than 64 00:03:12,411 --> 00:03:15,490 myself . I knew that I possessed uh 65 00:03:15,500 --> 00:03:17,722 those skill sets that I've learned from 66 00:03:17,722 --> 00:03:19,778 the army reserves through my parents 67 00:03:19,778 --> 00:03:21,944 through all the other areas in my life 68 00:03:21,944 --> 00:03:24,222 that I've gained values and principles . 69 00:03:28,310 --> 00:03:30,280 Being an FBI agent that you had to 70 00:03:30,280 --> 00:03:32,570 apply the same principles and the same 71 00:03:32,570 --> 00:03:35,230 discipline , maintaining yourself , 72 00:03:35,240 --> 00:03:36,962 maintaining your equipment and 73 00:03:36,962 --> 00:03:40,160 maintaining your professionalism uh in 74 00:03:40,160 --> 00:03:42,290 every aspect of the mission , all of 75 00:03:42,290 --> 00:03:44,850 that falls back into myself being an 76 00:03:44,850 --> 00:03:47,360 officer . But also when I'm in command , 77 00:03:47,370 --> 00:03:49,592 uh you deal with people , you deal with 78 00:03:49,592 --> 00:03:51,850 their situations missions that need to 79 00:03:51,850 --> 00:03:54,072 be accomplished planned and organized . 80 00:03:54,072 --> 00:03:56,183 One thing that that's similar in both 81 00:03:56,183 --> 00:03:58,350 is that I care about the people that I 82 00:03:58,350 --> 00:04:01,030 serve so I do enjoy and I love the 83 00:04:01,030 --> 00:04:04,580 community um as an FBI agent 84 00:04:04,590 --> 00:04:07,650 and as far as officer and and as a 85 00:04:07,650 --> 00:04:11,210 commander I I love my troops . I want 86 00:04:11,210 --> 00:04:13,432 to take care of them and I want to take 87 00:04:13,432 --> 00:04:15,654 care of the mission , the army reserves 88 00:04:23,060 --> 00:04:25,770 and everything that I do as far as 89 00:04:25,770 --> 00:04:29,170 company command and FBI my family 90 00:04:29,180 --> 00:04:32,370 um supports that . They supported many 91 00:04:32,370 --> 00:04:35,260 different ways but they clear the path 92 00:04:35,260 --> 00:04:38,670 for me to to do my job . They 93 00:04:38,670 --> 00:04:42,640 are so pivotal that 94 00:04:42,640 --> 00:04:45,350 it's it . I don't see me being 95 00:04:45,350 --> 00:04:48,590 successful if I don't have them , if 96 00:04:48,590 --> 00:04:50,740 they're not on board , if my family 97 00:04:50,740 --> 00:04:52,796 ever said hey this is too much or we 98 00:04:52,796 --> 00:04:55,350 can't do it then I would have to ride 99 00:04:55,350 --> 00:04:57,820 with them with that . But what they've 100 00:04:57,820 --> 00:05:00,830 done is step up to the plate . They've 101 00:05:00,830 --> 00:05:02,930 given me the grace , the mercy , the 102 00:05:02,930 --> 00:05:06,410 patients , the love the support , 103 00:05:06,420 --> 00:05:10,290 emotional support to carry on the day 104 00:05:10,410 --> 00:05:12,299 to carry on these careers and I'm 105 00:05:12,299 --> 00:05:14,900 always gonna be forever grateful for 106 00:05:14,900 --> 00:05:18,520 them . Especially my queen , she was 107 00:05:18,520 --> 00:05:19,430 number one 108 00:05:23,490 --> 00:05:25,712 I stay humble because where I came from 109 00:05:27,680 --> 00:05:29,791 at the end of the day , I'm just that 110 00:05:29,791 --> 00:05:32,540 orphan kid in the orphanage in Haiti 111 00:05:34,340 --> 00:05:36,507 and I also want to make sure that that 112 00:05:36,507 --> 00:05:38,673 name regardless whether it's an FBI or 113 00:05:38,673 --> 00:05:42,240 in the military um stays proud and 114 00:05:42,240 --> 00:05:45,320 stays valuable to the community that 115 00:05:45,320 --> 00:05:48,340 they serve . Yeah I'm thankful for that . 116 00:05:48,340 --> 00:05:50,500 But it also keeps me grounded because 117 00:05:50,620 --> 00:05:52,842 I'm never bigger than the situation I'm 118 00:05:52,842 --> 00:05:56,040 in . I'm just part of the solution .