[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 17 (Thursday, February 24, 1994)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: February 24, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
  TRIBUTE TO ADM. DAVID E. JEREMIAH ON THE OCCASION OF HIS RETIREMENT 
                      FROM ACTIVE MILITARY SERVICE

                                 ______


                            HON. IKE SKELTON

                              of missouri

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, February 24, 1994

  Mr. SKELTON. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay special tribute to a 
great American, to an outstanding and forward thinking military leader. 
On February 25, of this year, our Navy, the Congress and the Nation 
loses the services of a dedicated officer, public servant, and naval 
surface warfare officer. Adm. David E. Jeremiah, the vice chairman of 
the Joint Chiefs of Staff will end his active military career effective 
Friday, February 25, 1994, retiring in ceremonies at Fort Myer, VA, 
after 38 years of distinguished military service.
  As Admiral Jeremiah returns to civilian life, I want to salute the 
remarkable career of this outstanding naval officer--a public servant 
who was devoted to the cause of freedom and the cause of peace.
  A native of Portland, OR, Admiral Jeremiah graduated from the 
University of Oregon in 1955 and entered active duty via the Navy's 
Officer Candidate program in 1956. Serving on seven Pacific Fleet 
destroyers, including command of U.S.S. Preble (DDG 46), Admiral 
Jeremiah has sailed far and wide projecting American power and might, 
as well as the hand of friendship during countless foreign goodwill 
port calls.
  In July of 1982, Admiral Jeremiah was designated rear admiral (lower 
half). While serving as Commander, Cruiser-Destroyer Group Eight, from 
August 1984 until April 1986, he commanded Task Force 60 in the 
Mediterranean and directed the capture of the Egyptian airliner 
carrying the hijackers of the Italian cruise ship Achille Lauro. In 
April of 1985 he was designated a rear admiral. Between January and 
March 1986 he directed actions resulting in the sinking of two Libyan 
warships and the destruction of an anti-air missile site during freedom 
of navigation operations in the Gulf of Sidra.
  Admiral Jeremiah's shore assignments have included two tours in the 
Office of the Chief of Naval Operations and a tour in the Office of the 
Assistant Secretary of Defense for Program Analysis and Evaluation. 
After serving as executive assistant to the Commander in Chief, U.S. 
Pacific Fleet, from October 1980 until May 1982, he was reassigned to 
Washington, DC, and served as executive assistant to the Chief of Naval 
Operations until July 1984. In June 1986 he assumed duties as director, 
Navy Program Planning and in July of that year he was promoted to vice 
admiral.
  Admiral Jeremiah received his fourth star in September 1987 and 
became the 23d Commander in Chief, U.S. Pacific Fleet, that same month. 
He was appointed by the President as the second individual to be named 
the vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, assuming that position 
on March 1, 1990. He began his second term on March 1, 1992, and he is 
the first vice chairman to assume full member status on the Joint 
Chiefs of Staff.
  A visionary military leader, Admiral Jeremiah, by way of speeches and 
articles, has repeatedly extolled the promise of American technology, 
and challenged scientists, technologists, and strategists to broaden 
their outlook and strategic horizon. Early-on during his tour as vice 
chairman he commissioned the forward looking study, Project 2025 to 
consider the security environment we are likely to face in the next 30 
years. During an era of dynamic change, this study has bound the limits 
of uncertainty, and afforded the military planner, the tactician and 
the strategist a reasonable facsimile of the global security 
environment over the course of the next generation. Admiral Jeremiah 
envisioned the project as a means for injecting long-term strategic 
vision in U.S. military planning during a time of profound 
international upheaval, when the shape of the battlefield of the future 
was not envisioned because of the still unfolding revolution in 
military and commercial technologies.
  In time of peace and war, his tenure as vice chairman included more 
that a year as acting chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, providing 
military advice directly to two Presidents. His forthright advice and 
counsel helped shape national policy. As chairman of the Joint 
Requirements Oversight Council, and vice chairman of the Defense 
Acquisition Board, he forged the capability and character of future 
service forces, providing maximum defense capabilities within available 
defense resources. His tireless dedication to the best interests of the 
United States and its Armed Forces while actively leading numerous 
councils and boards directly improved the Nation's ability to project 
integrated, multiservice combatant, peacekeeping and humanitarian 
forces around the globe. In an era of exceptional change, reappraisal 
and restructuring, Admiral Jeremiah's astute analysis of complex 
technical and acquisition reform issues were instrumental to the 
success of the Bottom-Up Review.
  During these 38 years of service, Admiral Jeremiah has received 
numerous personal awards and decorations which include the Naval 
Distinguished Service Medal with three gold stars, Legion of Merit with 
gold star, Meritorious Service Medal with gold star, and the Navy 
Achievement Medal with combat ``V.'' He was awarded the Presidential 
Citizens Medal in July 1991 by President Bush for significant 
contributions during the Persian Gulf crisis and the successful 
liberation of Kuwait.
  Additionally, Admiral Jeremiah is the Surface Navy's ``Old Salt,'' 
which traditionally acknowledges the senior surface warfare officer on 
active duty with the earliest date of qualification as a fleet officer 
of the deck. He has held this honorable accolade since February 1, 
1991. As the ``Keeper of the Seas,'' he is acknowledged to be a proven 
sailor whose years of experience at sea make him a professional and 
reliable shipmate in peace, and an exemplary leader in war. This last 
truly captures the essence of Admiral Jeremiah's capabilities and 
contributions to our country.
  I join the Nation in expressing our heartfelt appreciation to Admiral 
Jeremiah for his outstanding service to our country. I wish him and his 
wife Connie and their two daughters Krista and Jodi all the best in the 
years to come, and I look forward to the contributions I am confident 
he will continue to make. ``Bravo Zulu,'' and ``Fair winds and 
following seas'' Admiral.

                          ____________________