[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 140 (Monday, September 11, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Page S13208]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


        THE RETIREMENT OF REAR ADM. JACK E. BUFFINGTON CEC, USN

  Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, it has come to my attention that on Friday, 
September 15, 1995, Rear Adm. Jack E. Buffington, Civil Engineer Corps, 
U.S. Navy, will retire after 34 years of honorable and distinguished 
service.
  Since September 1992 he has served as the commander, Naval Facilities 
Engineering Command, and chief of civil engineers. As the senior civil 
engineer in the Navy he was responsible for planning, design, and 
construction of naval facilities around the world. On Capitol Hill he 
is best known for his role in developing and executing the Navy's 
Military Construction Program. As such, he has testified before 
congressional committees and ensured that members and their staffs have 
fully understood the requirements of the Navy's construction program.
  Previously he served as the commander, Pacific Division, Naval 
Facilities Engineering Command, and commander, Naval Construction 
Battalions, U.S. Pacific Fleet. Prior to that he was assigned as the 
director, Shore Activities Division for the Chief of Naval Operations. 
His public works assignments included duty at the New York Naval 
Shipyard; the Public Works Center, Subic Bay in the Philippines; the 
U.S. Naval Academy; and as commanding officer, Public Works Center, 
Norfolk, VA. Assignments managing Navy construction contracts in the 
field included duty in New Orleans, LA, and Bethesda, MD.
  Rear Admiral Buffington is best known however for his devotion to the 
Seabees of the Naval Construction Force. His Seabee assignments 
included duty in Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 9 as company 
commander on Okinawa, on a detail in Alaska, and as officer in charge 
of a Seabee team in Vietnam. Later he served as executive officer, 
Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 4, deployed to Okinawa and Rota, 
Spain. The highlight of his career was probably his tour as commanding 
officer, Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 1, homeported in Gulfport, 
MS. Under his superb leadership NMCB 1 was awarded the Best of Type and 
the coveted Peltier Award as the top Seabee battalion in the Navy. He 
later went on to serve as commander, Naval Construction Battalions, 
U.S. Atlantic Fleet, where he was in charge of Seabees working in 
Europe, Africa, the Caribbean, and Central America. There is nothing in 
the Seabee world which Rear Admiral Buffington has not done, and done 
superbly. As a result he is affectionately known throughout the fleet 
as Seabee Jack Buffington.
  Rear Admiral Buffington is a native of Westville, OK, and a graduate 
of the University of Arkansas where he received his bachelor of science 
degree in civil engineering. He later attended the Georgia Institute of 
Technology where he received his master of science in civil 
engineering. Rear Admiral Buffington is the son of Maxine Buffington 
and the late Ernest Buffington of Westville, OK. He is married to the 
former Robin Bush of Lakeland, FL. He and Robin have two daughters: 
Shawn who is married to Kurt Lohrmann, and Kelly, who is married to 
Brian Corey.
  My State of Mississippi is home to one of the two remaining Seabee 
bases in this country. I know firsthand the important mission they 
perform with unparalleled professionalism. Under Jack Buffington's 
leadership, the Navy's Seabee legacy has grown and flourished. Mr. 
President, I take this opportunity to personally pay tribute to a 
superb naval officer, true gentleman, and a good friend, Rear Adm. Jack 
Buffington. As he begins the next phase of his life, I wish him fair 
winds, following seas, and godspeed in all of his endeavors.


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