[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 86 (Friday, June 26, 1998)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1269-E1270]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                TRIBUTE TO MAJ. GEN. ROBERT A. McINTOSH

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. DAVID L. HOBSON

                                of ohio

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, June 25, 1998

  Mr. HOBSON. Mr. Speaker, I take this opportunity to recognize and pay 
tribute to Major General Robert A. McIntosh for his dedicated and 
exemplary service to this Nation as Chief of the Air Force Reserve and 
commander of the Air Force Reserve Command. I am very proud to honor 
this leader from my congressional district in Ohio. General McIntosh 
served as the principal advisor to the Chief of Staff of the Air Force 
and to the Secretary of the Air Force on all Air Force Reserve matters. 
As commander of the Air Force Reserve Command, he had overall 
responsibility for the command, control, and supervision of all U.S. 
Air Force Reserve units around the world.
  Over the past three and a half years, General McIntosh performed 
outstanding service and exhibited exceptional commitment to the Air 
Force Reserve. His in-depth knowledge of Air Force and Reserve 
Component issues has been a tremendous asset to (1) the Congress when 
deliberating major national defense matters, (2) the National Security 
Appropriations Subcommittee and the Military Construction 
Appropriations Subcommittee--on both of which I serve--when debating 
complex funding issues, and (3) individual Members of Congress when 
dealing with reserve units and facilities such as my own 445th Air 
Force Reserve Airlift Wing at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. In 
today's environment of shrinking defense budgets where the Reserve 
Component plays an increasingly important role, the Air Force Reserve's 
Ambassador to Congress has consistently championed the contributions 
and versatility of our citizen-airmen.
  General McIntosh, a native of Bellefontaine, Ohio, entered the Air 
Force in 1966 as a graduate of the Ohio University Reserve Officer 
Training Corps program, and earned a bachelor of science degree in 
business administration. He completed the Industrial College of the 
Armed Force in 1977. A Vietnam veteran decorated for extraordinary 
aerial achievement and devotion to duty while assigned as an A-37 pilot 
with the 604th Special Operations Squadron at Bien Hoa Air Base in 
South Vietnam, General McIntosh separated from active duty in August 
1971 to join the air reserve technician program as a full-time civil 
service employee with active participation as an Air Force reservist.
  He is a command pilot with more than 4,000 flying hours in the A-10, 
A-37, C-130, and F-4. His military awards include the Distinguished 
Service Medal, Legion of Merit, Distinguished Flying Cross, Meritorious 
Service Medal with oak leaf cluster, Air Medal with 18 oak leaf 
clusters, Air Force Commendation Medal with oak leaf cluster, and 
Vietnam Service Medal with three service stars. During his 
distinguished career, he has commanded an Air Force Reserve wing, 
commanded two Reserve numbered Air Forces, served as the vice commander 
of the Air Force Reserve, and served most recently in the dual hatted 
position of chief of the Air Force Reserve and commander of the Air 
Force Reserve Command.
  General McIntosh's outstanding leadership was crucial to the 
continuing integration of the Air Force Reserve into the total Air 
Force, culminating in the congressionally directed activation of the 
Air Force Reserve Command as the service's ninth major command. Through 
initiatives he sponsored, the Air Force Reserve successfully entered 
new mission areas including the Reserve instructor pilot program, Space 
Command Group, Fighter Reserve Associate Test, AWACS, and Combat 
Camera.
  Mr. Speaker, we have been extremely fortunate to work with General 
McIntosh as Chief of the Air Force Reserve but look forward with much 
pleasure to continuing to work with him in his new position as the 
Assistant on Reserve Matters to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of 
Staff. I was one of the House sponsors of the initiative to create a 
two-star advisor to the JCS and can think of no one who is better 
qualified or who would set a higher standard for this assignment. It is 
a well deserved compliment to be selected as the first occupant of this 
new, challenging position. Bob, and his wife, Suzie, deserve our thanks 
for their selfless service to the men and women of the Air Force 
Reserve.

[[Page E1270]]



                          ____________________