[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 77 (Wednesday, June 12, 2002)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1013-E1014]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
TRIBUTE TO MASTER CHIEF ELECTRONICS TECHNICIAN (SUBMARINES) CURTIS DEAN
HAGGARD, U.S. NAVY
______
HON. JO ANN DAVIS
of virginia
in the house of representatives
Tuesday, June 11, 2002
Mrs. JO ANN DAVIS of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor
Master Chief Electronics Technician (Submarines) Curtis Dean Haggard,
United States Navy. Master Chief Haggard will retire on Friday, 14 June
2002 after 24 years of faithful service to our Nation.
Master Chief Haggard enlisted in the United States Navy in Las Vegas,
Nevada and reported to Basic Training in San Diego, California in 1978.
Upon completion of Electronics Technician ``A'' School at Great Lakes,
Illinois he returned to San Diego for a six-month tour as a radar
technician aboard the destroyer USS John R. Craig (DD 885). He next
reported to Naval Nuclear Power School in Orlando, Florida and then to
the Naval Nuclear Propulsion Training Unit in Idaho Falls, Idaho.
In 1980 Master Chief Haggard arrived at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii for duty
in Reactor Controls Division abroad USS Tautog (SSN 639). He completed
deployments to the Western Pacific, Eastern Pacific, and Indian Oceans
and to the North Pole. He qualified Engineering Watch Supervisor,
Engineering Duty Petty Officer and Reactor Operator. In 1983,
instructor duty followed at the Trident Prototype in Ballston Spa, New
York where he qualified Engineering Officer of the Watch and
Engineering Duty Officer, was certified as a Master Training Specialist
and advanced to Chief Petty Officer.
Mr. Speaker, he next reported as one of the highly selective initial
manning crew of the Pre-Commissioning Unit Pennsylvania at the Electric
Boat Shipyard in Groton, Connecticut in 1987. After placing USS
Pennsylvania (SSBN 735) into commission in 1989 in New London,
Connecticut, he arrived with the Blue Crew in Kings Bay, Georgia and
completed a five-year tour in Pennsylvania, including three Strategic
Deterrent Patrols. He next reported to Trident Training Facility in
Kings Bay, where he qualified Command Duty Officer and served as the
Reactor Controls Division Officer in the Engineering Training
Department and the Electronics Technician Maintenance School
Supervisor.
In August 1995 Master Chief Haggard reported to USS Hyman G. Rickover
(SSN 709) in Norfolk, Virginia as the Engineering Department Master
Chief. During this tour Rickover completed two Operational Reactor
Safeguards Examinations, two Tactical Readiness Evaluations and an
extended deployment to the North Atlantic. In May 1997 he reported to
the Deputy Chief of Naval Operations for Manpower and Policy in the
Navy Bureau of Personnel in Washington, DC, as Quality Control Advisor
for nuclear enlisted personnel.
Mr. Speaker, Master Chief Haggard is a graduate of the University of
the State of New York in Albany, New York with a Bachelor of Science
degree in Psychology. He earned a Master of Public Administration
degree from
[[Page E1014]]
the Valdosta State University in Valdosta, Georgia where he was the
1993 Graduate Student of the Year. He also graduated with Military
Honors from the Navy Senior Enlisted Academy in Newport, Rhode Island
in 1995.
Mr. Speaker, Master Chief Haggard's contributions have had a direct
and lasting impact on the overall readiness and effectiveness of Naval
Nuclear Propulsion Program personnel. He is an individual of uncommon
character and his professionalism will be sincerely missed. I am proud,
Mr. Speaker, to thank him for his honorable service in the United
States Navy, and to wish him ``fair winds and following seas'' as he
closes his distinguished military career.
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