[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 46 (Tuesday, March 23, 1999)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E518-E519]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           ON THE RETIREMENT OF COLONEL RICHARD F. ROTHENBURG

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. LINDSEY O. GRAHAM

                           of south carolina

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, March 23, 1999

  Mr. GRAHAM. Mr. Speaker, today I call to your attention the 
outstanding public service of one of our nation's finest military 
attorneys and a dear personal friend of mine, Colonel Richard F. 
Rothenburg the Chief Judge of the United States Air Force Court of 
Criminal Appeals. On May 1, 1999, Colonel Rothenburg will retire after 
30 years of especially distinguished service. Colonel Rothenburg was 
born in Washington, DC. After graduating from Catonsville High School, 
Maryland, he received a bachelor of science degree in business 
administration from the University of Maryland in 1964, and his 
bachelor of law (LLB) degree in 1967 from the University of Maryland 
School of Law. The Chief Judge received his commission in 1964 through 
the Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps Program. After completing 
his legal studies, Colonel Rothenburg entered active duty in 1967. 
Colonel Rothenburg was first assigned to Langley Air Force Base, 
Virginia. In 1969, Colonel Rothenburg was assigned to Headquarters 7th 
Air Force, Tan Son Nhut Air Base, Republic of Vietnam. In addition to 
serving as both a prosecutor and defense counsel, Colonel Rothenburg 
sat as a military trial judge on 27 courts-martial during his tour in 
Vietnam. Colonel Rothenburg is the only officer still on active duty to 
have served as an Air Force judge advocate in Vietnam. Colonel 
Rothenburg's other early assignments included positions as Assistant 
Staff Judge Advocate at Andrews Air Force Base, Maryland, and Staff 
Judge Advocate at Holloman Air Force Base, New Mexico. Colonel 
Rothenburg attended Air Command and Staff College between 1978 and 
1979, then took the reins as Staff Judge Advocate at Langley Air force 
Base, Virginia; then the home of Tactical Air Command. Colonel 
Rothenburg was next selected to serve as a military judge for all air 
bases in Europe, where he presided at more than 150 felony

[[Page E519]]

trials. Colonel Rothenburg returned from Europe in 1986 to serve as the 
Air Force Tactical Fighter Weapons Center Staff Judge Advocate at 
Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada. Then, from 1988 to 1992, he served as 
the 15th Air Force Staff Judge Advocate at March Air Force Base, 
California. In 1992, Colonel Rothenburg was selected to serve as the 
Director of the United States Air Force Judiciary in Washington, DC. As 
Director, Colonel Rothenburg oversaw a 3.5 million dollar budget and 
350 people directly involved in the Air Force's worldwide military 
justice system. Based on his vast experience in military justice and 
impeccable judicial temperament, Colonel Rothenburg was selected in 
1997 to serve as the Chief Judge of the nine-member Air Force Court of 
Criminal Appeals. He was sworn in as Chief Judge on April 2, 1997. In 
the face of a blistering docket average of 600 appellate opinions per 
year and an undermanned Court, Chief Judge Rothenburg led the Court to 
its lowest backlog of cases awaiting review in a decade. At the same 
time, Chief Judge Rothenburg guided the Court into the uncharted waters 
of electronic pleading at the federal appellate level. Chief Judge 
Rothenburg's influence on the shape of military appellate law and 
practice will endure well into the next century.
  Colonel Rothenburg's military awards and decorations include the 
Bronze Star, Legion of Merit, Meritorious Service Medal with five oak 
leaf clusters, Air Force Commendation Medal, Vietnam Service Medal with 
four bronze service stars, the Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal, and 
the Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross with palm leaf. Colonel 
Rothenburg is a member of the bar in Maryland and the District of 
Columbia. He is married to the former Linda Lee Gossard of Hagerstown, 
Maryland. They have two children: Richard and Anne. I ask that you join 
me, his colleagues, and Colonel Rothenburg's many friends in saluting 
this distinguished officer's three decades of service to the United 
States of America. I know our Nation, his wife Linda, and their 
children are extremely proud of his accomplishments.

                          ____________________