[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 5 (Tuesday, January 29, 2002)]
[Senate]
[Pages S231-S232]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   HONORING THE PROMOTION OF COLONEL EDWARD RICE TO BRIGADIER GENERAL

 Mr. JOHNSON. Mr. President, I rise today to congratulate the 
commander of Ellsworth Air Force Base's 28th Bomber Wing on his 
promotion to brigadier general.
  On February 1, 2002, Colonel Edward A. Rice, Jr., will pin on his 
first star, and I cannot think of a member of the Air Force more 
deserving of this promotion. I have known Colonel rice since May 2000, 
when he took command of the 28th Bomber Wing at Ellsworth, in my home 
state of South Dakota. Ellsworth is home to one of the Air Force's two 
B-1B wings, with 26 aircraft and more than 3,500 military and civilian 
members assigned. Colonel Rice joined a distinguished line of 
commanders of the wing, and has become the fifth consecutive commander 
to be promoted to brigadier general.

[[Page S232]]

  Colonel Rice has recently returned from Diego Garcia, where he was 
the commander of the 28th Air Expeditionary Wing, overseeing the entire 
B-1B operation for the ongoing war against terror, Operation Enduring 
Freedom. In addition to coordinating bombing missions from the command 
center on the ground, Colonel Rice added to his more than 3,600 hours 
of air time in combat aircraft by flying bombing missions against 
Taliban and al-Quaida controlled strongholds in Afghanistan. I applaud 
the efforts of Colonel Rice and all of the men and women in Operation 
Enduring Freedom. Since joining Congress in 1987 I have appreciated the 
professionalism, hard work, and commitment to excellence of Ellsworth's 
commanders and personnel. Colonel Rice has added to that tradition, and 
under his leadership the effectiveness of the B-1B, especially in 
recent operations in Afghanistan, has proven again why that aircraft is 
the backbone of our Nation's bomber fleet.
  Colonel Rice graduated from the Air Force Academy in Colorado 
Springs, Colorado, in 1978, and went to flight school to become a B-52 
pilot. He also has experience flying aircraft that include the B-1 and 
the B-2 Stealth bomber.
  Throughout his distinguished career, Colonel Rice has held a variety 
of significant operational positions including commander of the 34th 
Bomb Squadron at Castle Air Force Base, CA; deputy commander of the 
509th Operations Group, at Whiteman Air Force Base in MO; and commander 
of the 552nd Operations Group, at tinker Air Force Base, OK.
  Colonel Rice served as a White House fellow from 1990-1991. The 
program selects midcareer professionals for a variety of assignments, 
usually from outside of their normal field of expertise. Colonel Rice 
worked in the office of the Secretary of Health and Human Services.
  In 1994 and 1995, Colonel Rice served on a blue-ribbon government 
panel examining the military's structure in the post-Cold War era. 
Colonel Rice moved to the West Wing of the White House in 1997, when he 
was named deputy executive secretary to the National Security Council. 
He served in the White House until he was assigned to Ellsworth for his 
first command of a combat bomb wing.
  I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate Colonel Rice, 
his wife Teresa, and their children, on this well-deserved 
promotion.

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