[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 36 (Friday, March 15, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2147-S2148]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           JOHN P. CAPELLUPO

  Mr. BOND. Mr. President, I rise at this time to recognize a fellow 
citizen for the achievements and contributions he has made to this 
Nation and industry in which he has worked for three decades.
  John P. Capellupo, president of McDonnell Douglas Aerospace, will 
step down from his position and retire from this leading U.S. producer 
of military aircraft on March 31.
  As a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee Subcommittee on 
Defense, I am intimately aware of the contributions that John Capellupo 
has made to aerospace and the national security of the United States.
  Mr. Capellupo, or Cap as he is widely known, began his aerospace 
career in 1957 working as a technical analyst on the F-101B aircraft 
and super Talos missile programs at what was then the McDonnell 
Aircraft Co. in St. Louis. He rose steadily through the engineering 
ranks, into program management, and ultimately, to the company's 
highest leadership positions. In February 1989, he was named president 
of McDonnell Douglas Missile Systems Co. In January 1990, he left St. 
Louis for Long Beach, CA, to become deputy president of Douglas 
Aircraft, the company's commercial and military transport division. In 
May 1991, he returned to St. Louis as president of what is now 
McDonnell Douglas Aerospace.
  Throughout his distinguished career, Mr. Capellupo served as a 
driving force

[[Page S2148]]

behind a diverse list of successful and essential military programs: 
the AV-8B, F/A-18, T-45, C-17, Apache helicopter, and Harpoon, SLAM, 
and Tomahawk missiles. Most recently, he provided the management focus 
on affordability which dramatically reduced costs on the new Joint 
Direct Attack Munitions Program.
  Yet of all his achievements and contributions to our national 
defense, none eclipses his work to bolster our maritime strength via 
the F/A-18 Hornet program. He was there on day one when the idea of a 
combination fighter and attack aircraft--a strike fighter--was no more 
than a study project with a fancy acronym. He shepherded the program 
through its infancy, planned its growth and improvement, and watched it 
mature into the safest, most reliable and maintainable aircraft ever 
flown into combat by the Navy. Never one to fear following a tough act, 
Mr. Capellupo later directed the studies that defined the Navy's strike 
fighter for the 21st century--the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet. Under his 
leadership, and with the future of Naval aviation hanging in the 
balance, this program has become a monument to efficient and effective 
defense program management.
  In my tenure in the Senate and as the Governor of Missouri, I have 
worked with thousands of business leaders and defense officials from 
across the country and around the world. There are very few of the same 
high caliber as John Capellupo. His energy, integrity, enthusiasm, and 
dedication are unequaled. So, too, are his achievements on behalf of 
our military strength and national security. For this, our great Nation 
and its people thank him and wish him and his family the very best.

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