[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 104 (Wednesday, July 27, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1626-E1627]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   A TRIBUTE TO REAR ADMIRAL ANTHONY W. LENGERICH, UNITED STATES NAVY

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. JERRY LEWIS

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, July 26, 2005

  Mr. LEWIS of California. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor Rear 
Admiral Anthony W. Lengerich, United States Navy, who is retiring after 
more than 34 years of faithful service to our Nation. A native of 
Redlands, California, Rear Admiral Lengerich received his commission in 
1971 through a Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps scholarship at the 
University of Colorado, and has since served with great distinction 
both as a Surface Warfare Officer and an Engineering Duty Officer.
  Rear Admiral Lengerich's impressive career has included sea duty 
aboard USS GURKE (DD 783) and USS BADGER (FF 1071), and on the afloat 
staffs of Commander U.S. Seventh Fleet, Commander Destroyer Squadron 
Thirteen, Commander Carrier Group Two and Commander Cruiser Destroyer 
Group Twelve. During these tours, he qualified as a Surface Warfare 
Officer and was designated as ``Qualified for Command at Sea.'' He also 
served as Communications Operations Officer for the eastern Atlantic 
and Mediterranean on the staff of the Commander in Chief, U.S. Naval 
Forces Europe in London.
  Following his selection as an Engineering Duty Officer in 1984, Rear 
Admiral Lengerich served as the Platform Integration Officer for the 
Joint Tactical Information Distribution System on the staff of the 
Naval Electronic Systems Engineering Command, Washington, DC. His next 
assignment included duties as Project Officer for the Command and 
Control Processor and Director of Force Systems Engineering within the 
Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command (SPAWAR). He later served as 
the Division Director for Afloat Mission Planning Systems within the 
Command and Control Program Office on the staff of the Program 
Executive Officer for Cruise Missile and Unmanned Aerial Vehicles. An 
exceptional leader, he has commanded the Naval Electronic Systems 
Engineering Center, Charleston, South Carolina, and ``commissioned'' 
the Naval Command, Control and Ocean Surveillance Center, In-Service 
Engineering, East Coast Division, also in Charleston. He subsequently 
commanded the Naval Command, Control and Ocean Surveillance Center, San 
Diego, California, with additional duty as Corporate Operations 
Officers and Corporate Information Office for SPAWAR.
  In 1998, Rear Admiral Lengerich was nominated by the President and 
confirmed by the Senate for the rank of Rear Admiral (lower half). His 
initial flag assignments included Director of Installations and 
Logistics for SPAWAR, and next, on the staff of the Chief of Naval 
Operations as Director of Industrial Capability, Maintenance Policy and 
Acquisition Logistics, and as Deputy Director of the Fleet Readiness 
Division. He was nominated and confirmed for the two-star rank of Rear 
Admiral in 2001.
  Rear Admiral Lengerich assumed his current duties as Vice Commander, 
Naval Sea Systems Command in August 2002, effectively meeting the 
spectrum of demanding challenges in the daily operation of a command 
comprising nearly 50,000 employees and a $20 billion annual budget. His 
efforts have been instrumental in creating the foundation for an 
integrated organization with a single corporate focus that specifically 
aligned NAVSEA's mission in support of the Chief of Naval Operations, 
Secretary of the Navy, and Secretary of Defense initiatives. His 
visionary leadership and practical day-to-day approach during a period 
of unprecedented institutional transformation, has substantially and 
materially guided the execution of extremely complex acquisition, 
fleet maintenance and modernization programs to fulfill the needs of 
the Fleet today and the Navy of tomorrow.

  Rear Admiral Lengerich has been indispensable in bringing the leading 
edges of technical thinking and management skills together to meet 
myriad Navy needs. A champion of sound fiscal methods, Rear Admiral 
Lengerich chaired a command review of major acquisition programs to 
identify and address shortfalls, and provided recommendations to reduce 
testing and evaluation costs, which were incorporated in the 
Department's investment process. Organizationally, he has fostered the 
improved communications and enhanced teamwork needed to produce desired 
``bottom line'' results within the command and across the Navy. His 
vision led to the merger of the NAVSEA Warfare Centers into a single 
business unit, enabling process commonality between the NAVSEA Warfare 
Centers and Divisions, and the designation of Product Area Directors to 
ensure each Warfare Center customer received the best and most 
efficient combination of talent, facilities, and cost. Notably, Rear 
Admiral Lengerich chaired the Systems Command Integration Board to 
address the range of issues vital to the delivery of effective war 
fighting systems, and, has also chaired the Functional Naval 
Capabilities--Total Ownership Cost Integrated Process Team for the past 
six years, and led efforts which have yielded over $3 billion a year in 
ship, aircraft and ground vehicle maintenance cost avoidance.
  Rear Admiral Lengerich has devoted significant energies to the 
command's civilian and military personnel. He has shaped the command's 
``roll out strategy'' for transition to the National Security Personnel 
System and he developed the metrics to guide the command's Human 
Capital Strategy. Within the Navy's Engineering Duty Officer (EDO) 
Community he spearheaded efforts to pro-actively manage the community 
strategy in meeting Navy dynamic requirements. With the same focus on 
the future, he has been a personal mentor to nearly one-third of the 
entire Navy ED community and has worked with the Naval Postgraduate 
School to create a new accredited Master of Science in Systems 
Engineering curriculum and to create an advisory board on course 
curriculum critical to NAVSEA and SPAWAR.
  For the past two months, Rear Admiral Lengerich has served superbly 
as NAVSEA's Acting Commander, answering the call of duty as he has done 
many times before. He is an individual of uncommon character and total 
professional whose presence will be sincerely missed but whose many 
contributions will certainly endure. I am proud, Mr. Speaker, to thank 
him for his honorable service in the United States Navy, to commend him 
for a job ``well done,'' and to wish him ``fair winds and following 
seas'' as he closes his distinguished military career.

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