[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 133 (Thursday, September 25, 2003)]
[Senate]
[Page S11985]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       HONORING DONALD P. OULTON

 Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, I bring to your attention today 
the exemplary work and most commendable service to one of our country's 
outstanding public servants. Mr. Donald P. Oulton, Chief of the 
International Law Branch, Office of the Staff Judge Advocate, U.S. Air 
Force Electronic Systems Center, Hanscom Air Force Base, MA. Mr. Oulton 
retired on September 1, 2003, following an extraordinary career of more 
than 30 years of service to the Nation.
  Born in upstate New York at the beginning of the Great Depression, 
Mr. Oulton was one of 10 children. Part of a close and loving family, 
at an early age he and his siblings became accomplished singers and 
dancers, helping support their large family performing ``minstrel 
shows'' through those challenging years. Mr. Oulton became a one-
handicap golfer in his teenage years while working as a caddy at a 
local country club. He had aspirations to become a professional golfer, 
but his plans were cut short by the call to service in the Korean war.
  An outstanding marksman, Mr. Oulton served as an intelligence and 
reconnaissance scout with the Seventh Infantry Division in the Chorwon 
Valley. There, he spend much of his time in outposts far in front of 
the main line of resistance, scouting out enemy positions and 
coordinating artillery and mortar fire by American and United Nations 
forces. He performed these duties repeatedly under hostile fire and in 
extremely harsh and primitive conditions. Of his great physical courage 
and devotion to duty there can be no doubt.
  After more than 9 months of combat at or in front of the main line of 
resistance, Mr. Oulton returned to the United States and was assigned 
to the United States National Honor Guard in Arlington, VA. Upon his 
honorable discharge from the Army he relocated to the greater Boston 
area, married his lovely wife Carol, and started his devoted family of 
four children David, Nancy, Sarah and Carol. After more than a decade, 
he also began to pursue his boyhood dream of becoming an attorney. In 
1970, he achieved that goal, and after three years servicing as an 
Assistant District Attorney in Middlesex County, MA, he began his long 
association with the United States Air Force, and the Electronic 
Systems Center at Hanscom Air Force base.
  Mr. Oulton's contributions have been monumental. He was on the ground 
floor of many novel, complex issues arising from the passage of the 
Arms Control Act of 1976. He quickly became, and remains, one of the 
Department of Defense's leading experts on the act, security 
assistance, and foreign military sales. His contributions over three 
decades are too numerous to recount, but among the most significant 
have been as the lead attorney for the sale of the Airborne Warning and 
Control System, AWACS, to a variety of U.S. allies, including the 
United Kingdom, France, Turkey, Australia, Japan, and most notably 
NATO. In the build up to, and in the wake of, Operation Desert Storm, 
Mr. Oulton provided the expert legal advice that served as the 
foundation for the early deployment of the Joint STARS aircraft before 
the Air Force formally accepted it. His efforts have been instrumental 
in promoting the common defense and freedom throughout the world.
  A well-recognized legal expert, Mr. Oulton was the 1980 recipient of 
the James O. Wrightson Award, as the outstanding Air Force civilian 
attorney. In 1983, he was selected as the outstanding senior civilian 
in the electronic systems division of Air Force Systems Command, and 
presented the Harold M. Wright award. He is widely published and cited 
in the field of security assistance and foreign military sales, has 
been an adjunct faculty member at Western New England College, and has 
been a guest lecturer on International Law at Harvard University.
  I ask that my colleagues join me and Mr. Oulton's many friends and 
family in saluting his many distinguished years of selfless service to 
the United States of America. I know our Nation, his wife Carol, and 
his family are extremely proud of his accomplishments. It is fitting 
that the Senate honors this true patriot today.

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