[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 139 (Thursday, September 29, 1994)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: September 29, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
               TRIBUTE TO GEN. MERRILL A ``TONY'' McPEAK

                                 ______


                            HON. IKE SKELTON

                              of missouri

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, September 29, 1994

  Mr. SKELTON. Mr. Speaker, I wish to take this opportunity to publicly 
recognize the career of one of this country's great airmen, Gen. 
Merrill A. ``Tony'' McPeak, General McPeak will retire from his 
position as the Chief of Staff of the Air Force after selflessly 
serving our Nation for 37 years. General McPeak's leadership and vision 
have prepared not just the Air Force, but our Armed Forces and Nation 
for the 21st century.
  General McPeak has been formulating what type of Air Force we need 
since his graduation from San Diego State and its Reserve Officer 
Training Program in 1957. First, he became a superb and skill aviator, 
flying the F-100 and F-104. He also flew over 260 combat missions in 
Southeast Asia.
  Then, General McPeak built upon this experience by successfully 
commanding a variety of Air Force organizations, from the historic 20th 
Tactical Fighter Wing at RAF Upper Heyford to 12th Air Force to our 
Pacific Air Forces.
  But, when we asked him to take charge of the Air Force in October 
1990, he recognized, perhaps better than any contemporary military 
leader, that the post-cold-war era demanded a dramatically different 
type of military. And, General McPeak set out to reinvent the Air Force 
along these lines. First, he reshaped the structure of the Air Force, 
reducing its major commands from 13 to 8. He eliminated an entire 
management level--the Air Division. He changed the Number Air Forces 
from a management bureaucracy to an operational, warfighting command 
geared to support joint operations. In the process, he streamlined, 
flattened, delayered the Air Force, making it more responsive, more 
flexible, smarter, and more capable. We have an Air Force today that 
meets the fiscal and security demands of our new era.
  At the same time, his leadership has ensured that our Nation has the 
tools needed to meet our Nation's international commitments. Our men 
and women in Air Force blue have provided a continuous air occupation 
over Iraq, enforcing the U.N. mandate. And, in almost every other 
operation--from providing relief to Russia, Bosnia, Somalia, and 
Rwanda--we've turned to the Air Force first. General McPeak has made 
sure these forces are capable--they've gotten the job done in superb 
style.
  General McPeak has also had his eyes turned to the future. During the 
past decade, while the Air Force budget has declined about 40 percent, 
its procurement budget is down over 60 percent. Recognizing that 
today's modernization is tomorrow's capable Air Force, General McPeak 
has stressed before this distinguished body the importance of 
maintaining key modernization programs, like the F-22 to continue our 
40-plus year record of never losing a soldier to enemy aircraft attack. 
There's also the importance of the C-17, needed if we are to keep the 
pace of our international operations. Quite frankly, I don't see an end 
in sight, and General McPeak has been right to push for continued 
support for this aircraft. General McPeak has also been a staunch 
supporter of upgrading our space assets--from launch capabilities to 
ensure we have affordable and available access to space--to the 
satellites that allows the Air Force to exploit space through 
monitoring world events and providing critical navigational and 
communications support to the warfighter. There are a host of other key 
issues that General McPeak has championed, from taking care of the men 
and women who wear the uniform, to the need for a modern, stealth 
bomber with capable, smart conventional munitions that gives our 
national leadership options.

  At the beginning of his tenure as Chief of Staff, he published a 
watershed document, ``Global Reach--Global Power.'' This document 
outlined how air and space power now offers the Nation the ability to 
mass and maneuver in the air. Modern conflict is essentially a contest 
with which the battle for control of air and space precedes the control 
of territory. And, General McPeak has detailed how our stealth and 
precision strike capabilities have given our Air Force the ability to 
dominate air and space.
  During the next 50 years, many in the Air Force and Defense 
Department will look back on General McPeak as probably the most 
influential Chief of Staff since Gen. Carl Spaatz first established the 
Air Force as an independent Air Force. We will miss his stewardship, 
vision, leadership, and command of so many complex defense and security 
issues. As the General and Mrs. McPeak leave active duty, I encourage 
my colleagues to join me in wishing them well and saluting their 
dedicated service to our Nation.

                          ____________________