♪ [upbeat jazz music plays] ♪ Hey, Jason, Welcome to West Point.

Alejandro, how's it going?

Amazing.

Cannot wait to show you around.

Dude, this place is incredible.

Hey, I got a surprise for you.

What's that?

[helicopter whirring] Hell yeah!

♪ [jazzy theme from Rocky plays] ♪ ♪♪♪ Welcome to Salute to Service!

How about the band, baby?

Way to go, fellas.

All right.

Veterans Day gives us the chance to come together.

Not just to say thank you, but to celebrate the men and women from every generation who answered the call to serve.

and tonight, we're going to do it in the best way possible with great music, great energy and some incredible guests.

Hailing from New Orleans, Louisiana.

At 6'1" of pure musical chaos.

8 time Grammy winner, Academy Award winner, and Juilliard-trained monster on the keys.

He's got more Grammys than the Eagles have Lombardis.

Here to honor veterans and rock out with the Six - String Soldiers.

Please welcome the one, the only, Jon Batiste!

♪ [groovy music plays] ♪ Woo!

♪♪♪ ♪ You could buy a house, ♪ ♪ but you can't buy a home.

♪ ♪ You can be surrounded ♪ ♪ and still be alone.

♪ ♪ Oh, Lord.

♪ ♪♪♪ ♪ You be living a life and not living the dream.

♪ ♪♪♪ ♪ Mama said, boy, don't you be no dummy.

♪ ♪ Everybody chasing that big, big money.

♪ ♪ (Big money) ♪ ♪♪♪ ♪ You could buy a horse ♪ ♪ (Alright, now) ♪ ♪ (Alright now) ♪ ♪ Don't mean you can ride.

♪ ♪ You could buy a plane ♪ ♪ But that don't make you fly.

♪ ♪ Oh, Lord.

♪ ♪♪♪ ♪ You be living a life and not living the dream.

♪ ♪♪♪ ♪ It seems... ♪ ♪♪♪ ♪ A grandmama said, boy, don't you be no dummy.

♪ ♪ Everybody chasing that big, big money.

♪ ♪ (Big money) ♪ ♪♪♪ ♪ Nah, might as well live for something you can feel ♪ ♪ Might as well live for something real ♪ ♪ Woah, Lord Woah, Lord ♪ ♪ Might as well live for something you can feel ♪ ♪ Might as well live for something real ♪ ♪ You can't take it with you ♪ ♪ 'Cause there wasn't nothing with you before ♪ ♪ (Woah) ♪ ♪ Dust to dust, ashes to ashes ♪ ♪ Same old, same old, same old thing.

♪ Big old money.

[chuckles] You see, we're grooving this evening.

We're moving this evening.

[chuckles] Let's roll with it.

Rocking and rolling and reeling in the movie theater.

Ha.

Ha ha.

Ha ha ha.

Get down!

♪♪♪ ♪ (Big, big money) ♪ ♪ (Big, big money) ♪ ♪ (Big, big money) ♪ ♪ (Big, big money) ♪ ♪ Big old money ♪ ♪ (Big, big money) ♪ ♪ Getting that money ♪ ♪ (Big, big money) ♪ ♪ Money, money, money, money, money ♪ ♪ (Big, big money) ♪ ♪ Ahhh, yeah ♪ ♪♪♪ ♪ Hey!

(Big, big money) ♪ ♪ (Big, big money) ♪ ♪ (Big, big money) ♪ ♪ (Big, big money) ♪ ♪ (Big, big money) ♪ ♪ (Big, big money) ♪ ♪ (Big, big money) ♪ ♪ (Big, big money) ♪ ♪ (Big, big money) ♪ ♪ Hey!

(Oooh yeah) ♪ ♪ (Big, big money) ♪ ♪ ([vocalizing]) (Big, big money) ♪ ♪ ([vocalizing]) (Big, big money) ♪ ♪ (Yeah) (Big, big money) ♪ ♪ (Big, big, big) (Big, big money) ♪ Everybody at home!

♪ (Big, big money) ♪ Get up off your seat.

♪ (Big, big, big) (Big, big money) ♪ Get down!

♪♪♪ ♪ (Woah yeah) ♪ ♪♪♪ ♪ (Woah yeah) ♪ ♪ (Oh, no, no!)

♪ ♪ (Woah, no, no!

[vocalizing]) ♪ ♪ (No, no, no!)

♪ ♪ (Woah) ♪ ♪ Mama said, boy, don't you be no dummy.

♪ ♪ Everybody chasing that big, big money.

♪ ♪ (Big money) Don't be a knuckle head ♪ ♪ no bobble head dummy ♪ ♪ Everybody chasing that big, big money.

♪ ♪ Ow!

Might as well live for something you can feel ♪ ♪ Might as well live for something real ♪ Go ahead and sing it ♪ Might as well live for something you can feel ♪♪ ♪ Might as well live for something ♪ ♪ real... ♪ ♪ [music trails off] ♪ ♪ [drums cut off] ♪ Now we're bringing a special guest.

One of my favorite teammates ever.

My guy, Alejandro Villanueva.

Al's a veteran of Operation Enduring Freedom, a former US Army Ranger, And somehow, after all of that, decided playing offensive tackle in the NFL sounded relaxing.

He took me back to where it all started for him.

The United States Military Academy at West Point.

We got a behind the scenes look at this incredible place where future army leaders are challenged, developed, and prepared to serve something bigger than themselves.

And trust me, after spending time there, you understand real quick why West Point is such a special place.

Jason, that's a nice shirt.

Thank you very much.

Trying to model it after you.

So we were talking a little bit earlier about how there were two wars going on when you decided to come to West Point.

What drew you to applying to come here?

— I knew I wanted to serve no matter what.

I grew up in a military environment.

So when you grow up in that environment, you don't see any other way other than serving.

You feel the fear of missing out or not being who you're destined to be if you don't, if you don't partake in something that you've admired for so long.

— You played in the NFL for eight years?

—Did I get this right?

— Something like that, yeah.

—But you view your time in service as the highlight of your life.

— 1,000% All the things that I've seen, you know, walking into a stadium, seeing 100,000 people, playoff games, I don't think any of them compare to being in a place as remote as Afghanistan, getting out of a helicopter, trying to execute a mission in the beautiful mountains of Kunar Province and coming back with with all your men after having experienced something as intense as combat.

— Is it the comraderie of it?

Like, I know we've talked before in the past like about how there is similarities about being on a football team and being the military and in a unit.

Like, what about it gave you so much fulfilment, I guess?

—You execute a mission into, into the unknown.

— Yeah.

—And so there's a lot of things that can go wrong.

There's a lot of things can go sideways.

the intensity of, you know, what could, happen in one of these missions is something that, you know, overpowers you in a way, the adrenaline, and that feeling, that transformation, the confidence that you have of yourself is something that you cannot replicate anywhere else.

— You come out of serving three tours in Afghanistan, all of a sudden you're an NFL What was that transition like, coming back and being a regular citizen I guess, or veteran at that point?

—Yeah.

Civilian, I guess is the —Is the term.

— Is that the term?

Alright.

— The term?

Yeah, civilian, I guess.

The transition is probably some of the hardest transition that I've ever had in my life, — Yeah.

— Because when you put on your uniform every single morning, you have a lot of respect for yourself.

You really do.

It fills you with pride to be wearing that uniform.

And then you stop wearing that uniform.

Now you're a practice squad player.

You don't look at yourself same amount of respect.

It was easy in the sense that when you're in a football team, you're always surrounded by people.

It becomes very much like the army, so that, that part is very similar.

But, leaving the military is a very difficult decision.

Your identity changes very similar to leaving the NFL.

— We've talked about, yeah.

— You're no longer the person that you used to be.

You're on the outside looking in, and that feels a little bit lonely.

— Yeah, I remember talking to you about that when I was thinking about retiring from the NFL.

You said, there's a lot of correlation with retiring and stepping away from the military.

— Yeah.

— The structure of it, and the routine and the camaraderie.

— And you still work out at the Eagles facility — every other day!

—I do!

Yeah.

— And I, a lot of things I do, I go there to kind of like keep that sense of I don't know my identity and what it was, I think.

I don't know that I consciously think that but I do think that that's probably a part of it.

— Sergeant majors that have been, you know, cutting their hair at every single Sunday, shaving every single morning.

All of a sudden they don't have to do that no more.

You know, once your life is the army, it's impossible to, to let it go.

♪ [upbeat orchestral music swells] ♪ ♪ The struggles I'm facing ♪ ♪ The chances I'm taking ♪ ♪ Sometimes might knock me down, but ♪ ♪ No, I'm not breaking ♪ ♪ I may not know it ♪ ♪ But these are the moments, that ♪ ♪ I'm gonna remember most, yeah ♪ ♪ Just gotta keep going ♪ ♪ And I, ♪ ♪ I gotta be strong.

♪ ♪ Just keep pushing on, ♪ ♪ 'cause, ♪ ♪ There's always gonna be another mountain ♪ ♪ I'm always gonna wanna make it move ♪ ♪ Always gonna be an uphill battle ♪ ♪ Sometimes I'm gonna have to lose ♪ ♪ Ain't about how fast I get there ♪ ♪ Ain't about what's waiting on the other side ♪ ♪♪♪ ♪ It's the climb.

♪ ♪ [electric guitar soloing] ♪ ♪ Yea-ah ♪ ♪♪♪ ♪ There's always gonna be another mountain ♪ ♪ I'm always gonna wanna make it move ♪ ♪ Always gonna be an uphill battle ♪ ♪ Sometimes I'm gonna have to lose ♪ ♪ Ain't about how fast I get there ♪ ♪ Ain't about what's waiting on the other side ♪ ♪♪♪ ♪ It's the climb.

♪ ♪♪♪ ♪ Yea-ah ♪ ♪♪♪ ♪ Keep on moving ♪ ♪ Keep climbing ♪ ♪ Keep the faith, ♪ ♪ baby ♪ ♪♪♪ ♪ It's all about ♪ ♪ It's all about the climb.

♪ ♪♪♪ ♪ Keep your faith ♪ ♪ Keep your faith ♪ ♪♪♪ ♪ It's all about ♪ ♪ the climb.

♪ ♪♪♪ Nice to meet you, I'm Cadet Speaks.

— Cadet Speaks, good to meet you —Nice to meet you, how are ya?

—I'm Cadet Magee.

— Cadet Magee, good to meet you.

— Welcome to the West Point, we're excited to have you.

— I am honored and excited to be here.

This is beautiful.

This is, where we at right now?

— This is The Plain.

One of the key features of West Point.

This is where we do parades, major events.

— How long have you guys been at West Point?

— We're both firsties.

— That's seniors, right?

— Yes, sir.

— I'm learning.

Learning.

Alright.

Veterans Day, is there anything that Veterans Day means to you guys?

I mean, your dad served, right?

—Yes, sir.

We just appreciate what he's done for us, our family, America.

— Mhm.

— This building is Washington Hall.

It's the mess hall.

You'll see it's multiple floors of dining.

It's where the cadets eat family style meals twice a day.

For dinner, it's just open buffet.

— Chicken crispitos.

They still got chicken crispitos?

— I remember an instructor talking about those... — Yeah?

— They don't serve those anymore, sir.

—You know, you don't want to be known for your food.

You want to be known for something else.

This is a task, you know, go out here, get your food and walk out.

You got all the sauces in the world.

You don't like your food, put some Texas Pete in it.

♪ [pensive piano plays] ♪ Freedom!

[drumming with hands] Everybody's meant to live free and everybody is deserving of freedom.

'Tis very beautiful to play with service members, ya know growin' up in a family where my grandfather, he served in the Korean War and he served in many different capacities in the community.

and my uncles and aunts and all the different people in my family over generations who have held the line of freedom and taught me lessons of how important it is for us to cherish freedoms that we have, and, and to continue to believe in freedom for all people those who are continuing the legacy that I hold so dear in my family and across the world all of the people who have, uhh, held the line for freedom, I celebrate.

♪ [classical piano continues] ♪ ♪♪♪ You brought up, uhh, the badges and everything that's all over the uniforms.

That to me, as a civilian, I have no idea what a lot of that means.

But it's interesting to me that kind of sounds like they invoke memories.

When you look at, like, your uniform, do you instantly get flashback to different parts of your journey?

— Of course.

Yeah.

So everyone's schools you got to get rid of, you know, you have to be an airborne Ranger coming out of your, your infantry training.

So you have to have your, your, your Ranger tab.

You have to jump out of an airplane at least five times — before you go.. —Five times?

— Five times is the minimum.

— You jumped out of how many?

How many times have you jumped out of a plane?

I don't know, maybe like 16 or 17 times, something like that.

Is it ever, is it ever not terrifying?

For me it was, it was very scary.

I don't like jumping out of airplanes.

But it does create —a rite of passage — Sure.

Are you willing to?

— To jump out of this?

To trust that the parachute is packed right that your training is going to kick in and then you're going to be able to land safely?

It's the army saying, do you trust me?

The biggest trust fall out there.

— It is the biggest trust fall out there!

Exactly.

[both chuckling] Looking back at your time served, you served obviously during the War on Terrorism.

What do you think other veterans take away from that time period?

Veterans struggle with the fact that there was not a lot of closure — Yeah.

— in the war.

There was not a lot of a defined score as to what happened.

I do think that, for example, we've avoided massive terrorist attacks in our home soil.

I mean, that is that is a victory.

One thing that I do take pride in, the fact that I was able to participate, uhh, in the response to an attack on U.S.

soil.

But at the end of the day, I don't think any of us knew what winning looked like.

— Yeah.

—At the same time, you did see how the military was evolving, and it was adapting to a new type of warfare that we see now today.

So, you know, the use of drones, you know, that was something got started in Afghanistan.

A lot of emphasis, on whether you should go out to go get somebody, and was the risk worth the mission?

And so hopefully, from these 20 years of war, we can have some good positive outcomes in the future for our nation.

— Yeah.

If there's uhh, kids out there looking and thinking about trying to come to West Point, or enlist in the Army, what would your piece of advice be for them?

— Just to commit, commit, don't look back.

Burn the ships.

If it was easy, everybody would do it.

And I think hard things in life do give you the highest amount of satisfaction when you when you're able go from an unrecruited walk-on to Cincinnati and you're able and host a Lombardi Trophy, It feels good because it was so improbable.

It was so difficult.

It was so hard.

If it was easy, then it wouldn't feel that great.

And so West Point is that opportunity.

I had a coach tell me one time that 90% of the time the easy way is the wrong way.

Like you want to go to the hard route because you'll grow more and gain more out of it.

And even though that's a completely made up statistic, I think, — Yeah.

It sounds good.

— It sounds good.

It helps you.

It helps you deal with the fact that when you come out here, you're not going to have the same experience that you would have in a regular college, — Right.

—But it'll give you the opportunity to reflect on yourself.

It'll give you the ability to reflect on the values of the trying to instill in you, and especially to understand the responsibility that's going to be bestowed upon you.

So Veterans Day, what does Veterans Day mean to you?

[sighs] It's a free meal at Chili's.

[laughing] I'm very thankful that we live in a nation that has a voluntary service — Yeah.

—where the people of the United States appreciate the fact that it's people that raise their hands to volunteer for this.

We do not force people to abide by an ideology.

We are a representation of people in the United States.

That is a beautiful thing about the United States of America and our armed forces.

♪ [majestic classical music plays] ♪ ♪♪♪ [helicopter whirring] That turn's pretty tight!

[inaudible over helicopter] [helicopter landing] [helicopter blades spinning] [helicopter fades into the distance] Alright, everybody get on line, let's go!

Follow!

Get up, let's go!

What, are they going to ambush us?

— It looks like it.

— Yeah.

We surrender.

What's up guys?

How are we doing?

—How are you?

— And Ali was telling me this is like places that you guys will actually do training at West Point.

You'll come out to this area and go through formations.

And how long have you guys been out here?

—Been out here about two days now.

[birds chirping] Just, you've been patrolling the woods for two days?

— Yessir.

— Uhh, we been learning the basics of patrolling, ambushes, hasty ambushes and other sorts of missions like that.

Raids on bunkers.

What's the key to a good ambush?

— Surprise, and tenacity!

— [chuckles] — Alright — Violence of action, sir.

Violence of action?

Any of you guys on the football team?

— Uhh, most of us are, yes, sir.

— Who are you guys all fans of?

— Chiefs.

— Chiefs?

— Go birds!

Come on now.

[chuckling] They have something set up for me.

the water obstacle course?

And I am afraid of heights.

How bad of a issue is that going to be?

[cadets chuckling] — Think you'll be alright, sir.

—It's a little high.

— It's a bit of an issue.

[cadets laughing] — Gosh dangit — You just gotta send it, sir.

Intense ninja warrior?

Way higher.

Yeah.

All right.

Cool.

Sounds good.

All right.

I wanted to know over some notable, uhh, traits and factors that you had on that championship team?

Oh man.

We were really, really close knit and tight.

now part of that happens just by winning and having success, like the more success you have, execution fuels emotion.

So when you're when you're executing really at a high level, it causes you to come closer.

You actually learn a lot more I think about teams and people when things aren't going well, to be honest with you, but, that's the thing that's probably the hardest to find is like, how do you make sure that that's all meshing properly?

Because you don't really know that until guys get around each other and you're doing stuff like this, man.

I'm really excited for you guys.

What comes out to West Point is unbelievable.

this is my first time in Buckner since I graduated.

And this is like a very beautiful place.

And it's at some point in your life you learn how to appreciate it, which is what it's all about.

Thank you for your service, all of you.

It's amazing what you guys are about to do.

We're rooting for you and we'll be watching.

And obviously we'll always be very thankful for everything you guys have done, even this training right now and waiting for us and sitting out here in front of the cameras might not seem very meaningful, but, but it is to us.

This is for Veterans Day.

Is there anything in particular you guys do to celebrate Veterans Day, or?

I got veterans in my family.

My, uhh, both my grandparents and my brother and uncle.

Umm, So just calling and telling how much you appreciate them, like we are actually speaking to them.

All right.

Thank you guys so much for your service.

Thank you for being here, doing this, ambushing us.

You would have got us!

For sure.

I didn't even know you guys are here.

Best of luck this season too!

— Thank you sir.

— Thank you.

— Alright.

Now we got the water obstacle course to conquer.

Don't remind me.

Why do we got to keep talking about this?

♪ [upbeat bluegrass plays] ♪ ♪ Born in the mountains many years ago ♪ ♪ I climbed these hills and valleys ♪ ♪ through the rain and snow ♪ ♪ I've seen the lightnin' strikin' ♪ ♪ heard the thunder roar ♪ ♪ I've endured, I've endured ♪ ♪ How long must one endure?

♪ ♪♪♪ ♪ Barefoot in the summer, on into the fall ♪ ♪ Too many mouths to feed, ♪ ♪ they couldn't clothe us all ♪ ♪ Sent to church on Sunday to learn the golden rule ♪ ♪ I've endured, I've endured ♪ ♪ How long must one endure?

♪ ♪ I don't know!

♪ ♪♪♪ ♪ I've worked for the rich ♪ ♪ and I've lived with the poor ♪ ♪ [continues holding "poor"] ♪ ♪ I've seen many heartaches ♪ ♪ and I'll see many more ♪ ♪♪ I've lived, loved, and sorrowed ♪ ♪ been through success's door ♪ ♪ I've endured, I've endured ♪ ♪ How long must one endure?

♪ ♪ I've endured, I've endured ♪ ♪ How long must one endure?

♪ ♪♪♪ Holy cow, this place is massive!

How many cadets are on the football team?

— Over 130.

— Yeah?

— Probably 150.

Over 100 years ago, MacArthur every cadet is an athlete.

— That's the beauty of it.

—For sure.

—I mean, it goes back to teamwork and building teams and we think about supporting what our mission is here, which is developing leaders of character.

I mean, you can't you can't beat it.

In particular football, a lot of people say it was geared around like warfare and like the strategies and things like that.

what are the skills that these guys are learning in here or on the field?

How applicable is that to actually serving in the Army?

— Oh, I think it's directly.

—Yeah.

Your teammates on your left and right, front and rear.

It's the same in combat, same in your platoon.

I mean, you know, when he was a Ranger platoon leader, he thought back to his football days and probably, you know, — He was a receiver then, though.

He was a prima donna.

— He was catching passes.

— Yeah.

Was like your brother.

[Jason & Alejandro chuckling] What would the offensive linemen have been?

Probably like support?

Maybe.

Because, because they get blamed for everything.

[laughing] You get blamed for everything.

You not, you don't have the flashy job, But obviously the support of a mission is what the United States is known for.

You know, because we can put troops anywhere, anytime.

And the logistical aspect of combat is the the things that doesn't get highlighted, just like offensive linemen, ♪ [upbeat jazz plays] ♪ ♪♪♪ ♪ [jazz music ends] ♪ Gentlemen, welcome to West Point and the water confidence course.

We're excited to have you here.

We've got two obstacles for you to negotiate today.

—Okay.

—Okay?

Both of these are graduation requirements for all cadets here at the United States Military Academy.

All right.

So they must complete them, right?

at the end of their 47 month experience.

Alejandro, you gonna show me how it's done?

I mean, uhh, yeah?

When's the last time you did this?

Uhh, 20 years ago?

[Jason laughing] The first obstacle that we're going to do today is called the beam walk rope drop.

How high is that by the way?

— About 25 feet, sir.

— Okay.

— So now.

—Wow!

Jason!

— Stop.

Stop it.

— Don't worry — he's actually really scared — I don't know, bro!

Oh my God!

—[instructor laughing] Now we're going to keep going out.

This is where it really matters.

If you can maintain that good momentum, Where that height is going to work against you, Ali!

— It is.

— Oh no.

— [Ali grunts] — Keep moving!

— Keep moving!

Ut oh!

Oh!

Oh!

See?

I don't know about that.

Oohh!

I don't know if that counts!

He's going in!

...and he's over.

Well done.

Well done.

He's only halfway done, sir.

Gets his ankles on top.

Pulls himself out.

Your thighs look great , Ali!

—[Ali grunts] — Both hands past.

— Permission to hang?

— Permission to hang.

— [Ali grunts] — There we go.

[Ali grunts] Up we go.

[water splashes] [chuckling and cheering] We recommend, right?

That forward momentum 'cause if you stop up there everything's going to start to shake.

— Yeah I've heard... — Side to side.

Multiple people have mentioned the shakiness.

Yes, sir, the shakiness.

That's why we want to keep you moving.

In the very unlikely event that you come off the beam, we ask you to please go ahead and try to land athletically on that side where it's a little bit deeper for tall folks like yourself.

[Jason laughing nervously] —Alright?

We wouldn't want you to hit the bottom —Big rock on that side!

— of Lake Popolopen, today.

I'm terrified.

[laughing] Keep moving?

That's what everybody keeps saying.

So it's probably a lot harder to keep it moving up there.

I'm already terrified climbing this ladder.

I'm not going to do the other one.

Okay.

[Jason breathing] All right.

[Jason breathing] Oh my gosh!

I should not have looked down.

— Just take it slow!

Stop on the top one for a little bit!

My heart is racing so fast.

[cheering from shore] Get me out of here!

[screams] Oh my God!

It was shaking so bad, Ali!

Oh, my God, it's burning my leg in half.

It's burning.

Permission to hang.

Permission to drop.

Go birds!

[water splashes] [cheering] Alright, Jason.

You ready for the next one?

Dude, I was I was getting tired, climbing that ladder.

I'm not excited about that ladder.

Yeah, let's go do it.

Let's go do it.

So the second obstacle is the slide for life.

It's our 75ft zip line tower.

[Jason breathing heavily] As you're riding the zip line down, you're going to be looking at the flag man.

The flags are going to go up, legs are gonna go up.

Flags come down.

Release.

[water splashes] Nice entry into the water.

I will try to do all of those things.

— Yes, we got this.

— You feel how sweaty — sweaty my palms are?

— No, sir, we got this.

Good strong grip!

I get nervous climbing a ladder to the roof of my house.

75ft is going to be terrifying.

Alright.

[Jason takes deep breath] [zipline whirring] U.S.A!

[water splashes] [laughter and cheers] [clapping and cheers] Yeah, not the best technique.

Good signaling.

Good signaling.

I thought you were going to fall for real.

—So did I.

—Awesome job.

[both laughing] Dude, that rope?

I'm pretty sure tell me if I got a burn.

Yeah, you got a burn.

Oh my gosh!

That's your first army tattoo!

♪ If I could reach the stars ♪ ♪ Pull one down for you ♪ ♪ Shine it on my heart ♪ ♪ So you could see the truth ♪ ♪ That this love I have inside ♪ ♪ Is everything it seems ♪ ♪ But for now I find ♪ ♪ It's only in my dreams ♪ ♪ I can change the world ♪ ♪ I will be the sunlight of your universe ♪ ♪ You would think my love was really something good ♪ ♪ Baby, if I could ♪ ♪ change the world ♪ ♪ Baby, if I could ♪ ♪ change the world ♪ ♪ Baby, if I could ♪ ♪ change ♪ ♪♪♪ ♪ the world.

♪ ♪♪♪ Company!

Attention!

Present (Present) arms!

♪ [music fades] ♪ It's an honor to be here I don't know much about the Old Guard I'm learning right now.

This is really cool to know that you guys defend the nation's capital, and I'm looking forward to getting some PT in.

— Glad to have you.

— No, glad to be here.

Honored to be here with the honor guard.

—Let's have some fun, guys.

—Hell, yeah.

Hell, yeah.

Double time!

(Double time!)

March!

Start running now!

Just run!

This part of our selection process tryout.

We run carry the flag the whole time, and we do it for five miles.

We do multiple stops, do some work outs, keep going.

The purpose behind it is to test our physical and also our mental ability to to be on stage, because at all times, we're in front of the cameras, the White House, in front of the President, — Yep.

— And we're just there We can't, we're just locked in.

Made it!

—We made it, sir!

— Shoulders are burning.

So now just imagine doing that for five miles, so.

I have bad form.

So get down two sets of 20.

Oh, man.

Do it right here on the road?

— Right here in the road.

Yep.

— All right.

[Jason breathing heavily] Oh, I wish I would be in shape right now.

A set of 20 air squats then back in 20 push ups, 20 air squats, and then all done, gentlemen.

[Jason grunting] Oh god... [Jason catching his breath] And 20 air squats... I'm so fat.

[laughter] What do you guys do when you lose count?

I know you lose count sometimes.

We need to start back over.

Dang it!

[soldiers laughing] Toss it up ♪ [piano music in background] ♪ in the cup.

Tip it out.

You saw that dip.

Oh man.

That dip was fierce.

It's a good bicep workout right here.

—Yeah.

So now when the National Anthem this is what we're doing our guys out there.

— Entire time, you're holding it.

— Just holding it.

Waiting for the national anthem.

So people who sing like five minute anthems Our boys are just like, "Oh, come on.

Hurry up!"

Hear that Mariah Carey?

Come on.

You got to speed this up!

♪♪♪ The Old Guard is the oldest active infantry regiment — in the United States Army.

— Makes sense, the Old Guard.

We are the army's ceremonial unit.

And we also represent the army to the nation and the world.

But also we do all of the funerals in Arlington National Cemetery.

The regiment is formed about 1,600 individuals out of those, you are going to see unique capabilities throughout the day.

And one of those is a platoon down at Tomb, which is about 30 individuals that do changing of the guard, and overwatch the tomb 24 hours a day, every single day.

Rain, sleet, snow.

Yeah, it's amazing.

That's awesome.

The is the Old Guard only ceremonial?

Our third main mission is to protect the homeland and defense in the National Capital Region.

It's a unique balance of what we have to do, because funerals are every single day.

but at the end we're all infantrymen.

Especially when these soldiers transition from here to another unit, we want to make sure that they're ready, trained, So when they get there, they're not just doing funerals or ceremonies every single day.

It's almost like they're pulling double duty in a lot of regards.

— Triple duty.

—Triple duty!

There we go!

— They're never off.

— Yeah, yeah.

All right.

Well, let's go and take a walk.

I'll follow you.

♪ [piano continues] ♪ [cannons fire] Test fire!

Yeah!

That was good!

That feels good.

[chuckling] You get to do that a lot?

♪♪♪ [rifles clicking] Oh, gosh!

I screwed 'em up.

I screwed 'em up!

[rifles clicking] Hey!

Just don't move.

Don't move.

— Okay.

— Okay?

I feel like I'm getting my beard trimmed right now.

[rifles clatter] Hey!

Is that a real bayonet?

Sharp enough!

If it goes haywire, alright... Got it.

[cheering] Good correction.

Good correction.

♪♪♪ ♪ [Fife & drums play] ♪ ♪♪♪ This is awesome.

All right.

One, two, three!

♪ [Fife & drums start playing] ♪ — They're off and running — There we go!

— behind you.

♪ [Fife & drums play] ♪ ♪ [Fife & drums play] ♪ ♪♪♪ [horses walking on pavement] ♪♪♪ He is a big boy!

You ain't lying!

Oh, wow!

—There we go... — He's a smart guy.

— That's pretty much it.

—You're keeping that belt —[Jason clicking] —buckle on that drive.

—[Jason clicking] ♪♪♪ A guard has always been on the plaza.

No matter what, no matter the weather, no matter what time it is, there's always somebody on the plaza Any soldier that is enlisted on Fort Myer can sign up.

Come down here, volunteer.

The training course is about a year long.

Learning how to build a uniform, learning how the guard change and then learning the knowledge.

Down here we have to memorize 17 pages of knowledge verbatim.

Everything you see on the uniforms, our blouse is completely hand altered in some way.

We'll actually gut the inner lining to make it more breathable — Breathable.

Oh, it makes sense.

Yeah.

In the summer, on that marble, when it's beaten on ya.

— Man.

They'll stick a thermometer.

I think some, some dude said it got up to, like, 120.

Like inside his blouse.

♪ [solemn music plays] ♪ The ceremony that you're about to witness, is the Changing of the Guard.

[heels click] Why is it important to be so precise for you guys?

To us, nothing could be too much to those unknowns.

They gave the ultimate sacrifice.

and to honor them to the highest level can't be possible, because the highest level is so high that's why our standard's perfection.

Everything's so precise to give the unknowns the highest honor that they deserve.

So this is an M14 rifle, fully functional, nine and a half pounds unloaded.

So they'll hold the rifle four different positions.

Right here, [rifle clattering] right here, right here and right here to get that muscle down.

See all these mirrors here?

It's not just not just for us looking at ourselves.

You know, making ourselves look pretty.

It's actually serves a purpose.

So trainees will for two hours in the summertime, getting their angles down perfectly.

Takes guys a long time to actually get that smoothness down.

I can let you hold this one.

So what is, 90 degrees?

Yep.

90 degree.

Elbow pinned.

I can't even see.

Deficiency.

— Yep, yep.

—For sure.

Yeah.

It's alright, we'll get you out there in no time.

How old is that rifle?

The stock's about a year old.

That's it?

We'll actually make our own stocks.

So it'll start out as this — Yes.

—Umm, a sentinel, he'll shave this make it nice and smooth.

We actually shave some of the internals so the rifle actually makes that shaking noise.

Yes.

Then the changer has the pistol.

This is actually the deck of the USS Olympia.

The tomb guard badge is actually made out of the propeller of the USS Olympia.

On the side here, we have XXI, the Roman numerals for 21. then on the top here have the three figures on the front of the tomb.

And then our serial number LS for line six of the Sentinel's Creed 02 JUL 37, which is when our 24 hour vigil started.

Then to round it off we have 21.

Everything down here is pretty much in 21s.

We look down DC, count 21 seconds in our head.

Face down the mat, we'll count 21 seconds, and then we'll take 21 steps.

in honor of the 21 gun salute.

[sentinel's heels click] Seen videos of it a lot, but, in person, it's another level of it.

They're literally lockstep.

You have the chaos of, like, the wind and the birds chirping, and they're locked in every movement in sync just so crisp and precise.

Yes.

♪ [uplifting piano plays over nature sounds] ♪ ♪ [music fades] ♪ [wind & birds chirping] ♪ Well there's ♪ ♪ a cross ♪ ♪ on a hill ♪ ♪ where the ragweed ♪ ♪ has grown ♪ ♪ Where a mother's ♪ ♪ young son ♪ ♪ sleeps ♪ ♪ all alone ♪ ♪ And all for ♪ ♪ the land that ♪ ♪♪ he dreamed he ♪ ♪ could save ♪ ♪ Oh, there is none ♪ ♪ so beautiful ♪ ♪ As the ♪ ♪ brave.

[music crescendos] ♪ ♪ Oh, ♪ ♪ there's a stone ♪ ♪ in the meadow ♪ ♪ with all the weight of the world ♪ ♪ Where the flowers ♪ ♪ are watered ♪ ♪ by the brown eyes ♪ ♪ of a girl ♪ ♪ She cries for ♪ ♪ the life that ♪ ♪ her one true love gave ♪ ♪ There is none ♪ ♪ (None so beautiful) ♪ ♪ so beautiful ♪ ♪ as the brave.

♪ ♪ Oh, none ♪ ♪ so beautiful ♪ ♪ as the boy that cries ♪ ♪ freedom (Freedom) ♪ ♪ There is none ♪ ♪ so beautiful ♪ ♪ as the voice ♪ ♪ that carries far ♪ ♪ Oh, none (None so) ♪ ♪ so strong ♪ ♪ as love beyond all reason ♪ ♪ that fears no evil ♪ ♪ Undaunted ♪ ♪ by the dark or ♪ ♪ any wicked man's heart ♪ ♪ There's a cross ♪ ♪ on a hill ♪ ♪ where no steeple ♪ ♪ bells ring ♪ ♪ A shrine with no name ♪ ♪ where little children ♪ ♪ sing to the rhythm ♪ ♪ that rocks us ♪ ♪ From the cradle to the grave ♪ ♪ There is none (None so beautiful) ♪ ♪ There is none (None so beautiful) ♪ ♪ There is none ♪ ♪ (None so beautiful) ♪ ♪ There is none ♪ ♪ (None so beautiful) ♪ ♪ There is none (None, none so beautiful) ♪ ♪ (None, none so beautiful) ♪ ♪ so beautiful ♪ ♪ There is none (None, none so beautiful) ♪ ♪ There is none (None, none so beautiful) ♪ ♪ There is none ♪ ♪ so beautiful ♪ ♪ [vocalizing] ♪ ♪ as the ♪ ♪ brave ♪ ♪ (None) ♪ ♪ (so) ♪ ♪ (brave) ♪ Whether it's on the field, in uniform, or in everyday life, greatness is never built alone.

It takes trust, it takes showing up for each other, and it takes people willing to put the team first.

That's what defines our military.

And it's what makes our communities stronger.

To the men and women who have served and continue to serve, thank you.

And to our military families, who are right there, through every move, every deployment, and every homecoming, thank you as well.

On behalf of my friends here at the U.S.

Army Field Band, we're so glad you joined us for this year's Salute to Service Happy Veterans Day, America!

♪ [single piano chord] ♪ Woo!

♪ When I move my body just like this ♪ ♪ I don't know why but it feels like ♪ ♪ (Freedom) ♪ ♪ I hear a song that takes me back ♪ ♪ And I let go with so much ♪ ♪ (Freedom) ♪ ♪ Free to live how I wanna live ♪ ♪ I'ma get where I'm gonna get ♪ ♪ It's my ♪ ♪ (Freedom) ♪ ♪ I love how you talk ♪ ♪ You're speaking my language ♪ ♪ The way that you walk ♪ ♪ You can't contain it ♪ ♪ Is it the shoes?

♪ ♪ Jumped up, kangaroo ♪ ♪ We're overdue ♪ ♪ for a little more prancing ♪ ♪ Now it's your time ♪ ♪ You can shine ♪ ♪If you do, ♪ Then I'ma do too ♪ ♪♪♪ ♪ When I move my body just like this ♪ ♪ I don't know why but it feels like ♪ ♪ (Freedom) ♪ ♪♪ I hear a song that takes me back ♪ ♪ And I let go with so much ♪ ♪ (Freedom) ♪ ♪ Free to live how I wanna live ♪ ♪ I'ma get where I'm gonna get ♪ ♪ It's my ♪ ♪ —(Freedom) — Yeah ♪ ♪♪♪ [laughing] ♪♪♪ Woo!

♪♪♪ Yeah!

♪♪♪ Hey, hey, hey, hey!

♪♪♪ Woo!

♪♪♪ Yeah!

♪♪♪ Woo!

♪♪♪ Yeah!

♪♪♪ "You never, you never give up."

"You keep chugging."

♪♪♪ "Never" ♪♪♪ ♪ Woo!

Ahhh!

♪ ♪♪♪ ♪ 'Cause when I look up to the stars ♪ ♪ I know exactly who we are ♪ ♪ 'Cause then I see you shine ♪ ♪ You're shinin', woah ♪ ♪♪♪ Yeah!

♪♪♪ [laughing] ♪♪♪ ♪ But then I see you shinin' ♪ ♪♪♪ ♪ Shinin' ♪ ♪ [vocalizing] ♪ ♪♪♪ ♪ When I look up to the stars ♪ ♪ I know exactly who we ♪ ♪ are ♪ ♪♪♪