[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 120 (Thursday, September 22, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1936]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   IN HONOR OF GENERAL RICHARD MYERS, CHAIRMAN, JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. IKE SKELTON

                              of missouri

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, September 22, 2005

  Mr. SKELTON. Mr. Speaker, let me take this means to pay tribute to 
retiring General Richard Myers. General Myers became Chairman of the 
Joint Chiefs of Staff on October 1, 2001. Appointed to the position by 
President George W. Bush, as Chairman, General Myers serves as the 
principal military advisor to the President, the Secretary of Defense, 
and the National Security Council.
  Born in Kansas City, Missouri, General Myers is a graduate of the 
Kansas State University, where he entered the Reserve Officer Training 
Corps program, and Auburn University where he earned an MBA. He entered 
the United States Air Force in 1965, beginning a distinguished career 
of service, including logging more than 4,100 flying hours, of which 
600 were combat hours in the F-4, and operational and leadership 
positions in a variety of Air Force and Joint assignments.
  General Myers' first major command came in November 1993, when he 
became head of U.S. Forces in Japan and the Fifth Air Force at the 
Yokota Air Force Base. This assignment was followed by service as 
Assistant to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; Commander, 
Pacific Air Forces, Hickam Air Force Base, Hawaii; Department of 
Defense manager, space transportation system contingency support at 
Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado; Commander, Air Force Space Command; 
and Commander in Chief, North American Aerospace Defense Command and 
U.S. Space Command. Prior to becoming Chairman, he served as Vice 
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, a duty in which he served as 
Chairman of the Joint Requirements Oversight Council, Vice Chairman of 
the Defense Acquisition Board, and as a member of the National Security 
Council Deputies Committee and the Nuclear Weapons Council.
  Mr. Speaker, the American people have been fortunate to have General 
Myers serving as the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff for the past 
four years. His fine character and dedication to service have resulted 
in a career of which he, his wife Mary Jo, and his three children can 
be proud. I know my fellow Members of the House of Representatives will 
join me in thanking him for his commitment to his country and in 
wishing him all the best in the years ahead.

                          ____________________