In front of friends and family, the NYPD's finest packed Floyd Bennett Aviation Hangar to welcome 32 graduates into the specialized unit, including the only woman in the class, Diana Callahan, one corrections officer and brothers Bryan and Christopher Strauss.
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"Words cant describe how awesome it is for this opportunity," said ESU graduate Bryan Strauss.
"It's more of a proud moment we are going through together," Christopher Strauss said.
The Mineola natives graduated from the academy side by side in 2017.
The two are following in their father's footsteps, retired NYPD Detective and ESU Officer Scott Strauss.
"It's a lot of pressure, it's big shoes to fill," Bryan Strauss said.
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Their father is their hero. Scott Strauss received the highest honor in the department, a medal of honor for savings lives on 9/11.
"There's not many people who have the Medal of Honor that are alive, I hope they don't ever get it," Scott Strauss said.
Some would call this group, the elite of the elite. They respond to pretty much any emergency situation you can imagine, from swift water rescues, knocking down barricaded doors, to saving trapped drivers.
The graduates showed their families some of the advanced tactics they've been working on over the last nine months, like vehicle extraction, a tubular tactical scenario using flash bangs and a downed officer rescue.
The brothers have been watching each others "six" all their lives, now they'll continue do so in the ESU, with wise advice from their father.
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"Be careful, stick together, stick by your partners and watch out for the unknown because you never know what's going to happen," Scott Strauss said.
Now the training is complete and these officers may put their skills to the test as early as Monday morning.
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