WEBVTT 00:00.039 --> 00:02.095 My mom actually was in the Air Force 00:02.095 --> 00:04.261 back in the 90s . I think she saw that 00:04.261 --> 00:06.428 I was kind of struggling . And she had 00:06.428 --> 00:06.329 talked to me a lot about it . I didn't 00:06.329 --> 00:08.440 really feel like I was going anywhere 00:08.440 --> 00:10.440 in my , you know , hometown job . I 00:10.440 --> 00:12.607 kind of just told her I felt stuck and 00:12.607 --> 00:14.773 I didn't know what to do and I kind of 00:14.773 --> 00:14.010 just started asking her questions about 00:14.010 --> 00:16.288 the Air Force and she pretty much said , 00:16.288 --> 00:18.510 I've been waiting for you to talk to me 00:18.510 --> 00:20.566 about this . The next day we went to 00:20.566 --> 00:22.788 the recruiter's office and the rest was 00:22.788 --> 00:25.010 history . My ser Felix , uh , was a dog 00:25.010 --> 00:24.770 handler too , so when I walked in I saw 00:24.770 --> 00:26.659 all of his plaques , his awards , 00:26.659 --> 00:28.437 everything , and he won all his 00:28.437 --> 00:30.659 pictures with his dogs , and as soon as 00:30.659 --> 00:32.659 I saw that I was like that's what I 00:32.659 --> 00:32.450 wanted . Yeah . Staff Sergeant 00:32.450 --> 00:34.561 Boatwright graduated Handler's course 00:34.561 --> 00:37.150 in March 2023 and finally became a 00:37.150 --> 00:39.317 military working dog handler . I would 00:39.317 --> 00:41.428 say it's a dream come true . Who else 00:41.428 --> 00:43.483 gets to say they get to come to work 00:43.483 --> 00:45.706 every day with their best friend ? When 00:45.706 --> 00:47.594 I was paired with Jockey , it was 00:47.594 --> 00:49.750 terrifying and also exhilarating . I 00:49.750 --> 00:51.806 had heard kind of rumors that he was 00:51.806 --> 00:54.028 kind of a more of an aggressive dog . I 00:54.028 --> 00:56.028 didn't really like him when I was a 00:56.028 --> 00:58.028 prospect . He didn't really like me 00:58.028 --> 01:00.250 either . Kind of growled at me a couple 01:00.250 --> 00:59.799 times , but then once I pulled him out , 01:00.009 --> 01:02.065 got him out completely different dog 01:02.065 --> 01:04.120 sweetheart was jumping all over me , 01:04.120 --> 01:06.120 licking me letting me pet him , all 01:06.120 --> 01:08.231 that stuff . From then on I knew that 01:08.231 --> 01:10.342 this dog and I were gonna bond really 01:10.342 --> 01:12.342 well . I think that your first bond 01:12.342 --> 01:14.565 with your first dog , it's kind of like 01:14.565 --> 01:14.480 your first love . He's my best friend . 01:14.730 --> 01:16.841 Staff Sergeant Boatright was happy in 01:16.841 --> 01:19.063 his career with Jockey . That was until 01:19.063 --> 01:21.174 something unexpected happened . I was 01:21.174 --> 01:23.341 playing with Jockey . I threw his ball 01:23.341 --> 01:25.980 down . I turned to say something to the 01:25.980 --> 01:28.339 prospect then all I remember is being 01:28.339 --> 01:30.450 on the ground . I kind of blacked out 01:30.450 --> 01:32.450 something was wrong . I knew that I 01:32.450 --> 01:34.617 couldn't take it anymore , so I , um , 01:34.617 --> 01:36.895 walked into the kennel master's office . 01:36.895 --> 01:36.620 I didn't hand him my leash , but I 01:36.620 --> 01:39.099 pretty much told him , sir . I don't 01:39.099 --> 01:42.180 feel like I'm capable of handling a dog 01:42.180 --> 01:45.779 right now . My entire left ACL and 01:45.779 --> 01:47.779 meniscus are completely gone , so I 01:47.779 --> 01:49.779 decided to give Jockey up because I 01:49.779 --> 01:51.890 didn't feel like I could give him the 01:51.890 --> 01:54.112 best quality of life at the time . From 01:54.112 --> 01:56.279 there , had surgery in November , that 01:56.279 --> 01:59.129 was hard . That was , that was tough . 01:59.300 --> 02:01.189 It's , it's been a tough mental , 02:01.189 --> 02:03.522 mental battle . I questioned everything . 02:03.522 --> 02:06.050 I questioned . Why am I even in the 02:06.050 --> 02:08.050 military ? It's one of those things 02:08.050 --> 02:09.994 where you really dig deep and look 02:09.994 --> 02:12.330 within yourself to like prove , hey , I 02:12.330 --> 02:14.441 can do this , and I , I belong here . 02:14.729 --> 02:16.618 After recovering , Staff Sergeant 02:16.618 --> 02:18.673 Boatwright returned to the kennels , 02:18.673 --> 02:20.785 not just as a handler , but this time 02:20.785 --> 02:23.080 as someone who fought to be there . Now 02:23.080 --> 02:25.247 I , I know that I , I belong here . Go 02:25.247 --> 02:27.358 back to your why . What motivated you 02:27.358 --> 02:29.469 to come out in the first place ? Find 02:29.469 --> 02:31.580 that focus in on that . Not every day 02:31.580 --> 02:33.802 is gonna be perfect , but at the end of 02:33.802 --> 02:33.479 the day , if you can find your why and 02:33.479 --> 02:35.646 you can actually focus in on like kind 02:35.646 --> 02:37.757 of the bigger picture within yourself 02:37.757 --> 02:39.868 and you can find a lot of ways out of 02:39.868 --> 02:42.035 those deep deep dark holes . I'm still 02:42.035 --> 02:44.257 here . Um , so I think that that says a 02:44.257 --> 02:46.423 lot mentally about myself showing that 02:46.423 --> 02:48.423 I can go through this makes me feel 02:48.423 --> 02:47.580 like I can go through anything , 02:47.589 --> 02:49.756 whether it's life , whether it's , you 02:49.756 --> 02:52.033 know , through my military career , um , 02:52.033 --> 02:54.033 downrange home station , wherever . 02:54.033 --> 02:56.200 I've shown myself and I've shown a lot 02:56.200 --> 02:58.200 of people that , you know , there's 02:58.200 --> 02:58.270 more to it than meets the eye .