[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 151 (Tuesday, November 15, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E2364-E2365]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    HONORING THE LIFE AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF VICE ADMIRAL ARTHUR K. 
                 CEBROWSKI, UNITED STATES NAVY, RETIRED

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. MAC THORNBERRY

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, November 15, 2005

  Mr. THORNBERRY. Mr. Speaker, I rise to pay tribute to a visionary 
leader, a dedicated naval officer, and a true gentleman. Vice Admiral 
Arthur K. Cebrowski passed away on November 12, 2005 after a lengthy 
illness and a lifetime of service to this Nation.
  Most recently, Vice Admiral Cebrowski served as the Director of the 
Office of Force Transformation in the U.S. Department of Defense. He 
was charged with helping transform the Nation's military capabilities 
from the post-Cold War Industrial Age to a more agile Information Age 
military force. But his legacy is much greater than just the leader of 
an office within the Pentagon.
  Admiral Cebrowski was, for many years, a driving force for change--an 
intellectual whose ideas mattered and found their way into the 
battlespace, the hands of the troops, and the nooks and crannies of the 
Pentagon. It was Vice Admiral Cebrowski who first introduced the idea 
of Network Centric Warfare, now a critical term of art in military 
strategy. It was Vice Admiral Cebrowski whose ideas on defense 
procurement are changing the types and quantities of ships the Navy 
buys and how the Department of Defense will buy satellites and services 
in the future. It was Vice Admiral Cebrowski who identified the need to 
move technology more quickly into the hands of the war fighter. He was 
able to push innovative equipment and tools to the troops for 
operational experimentation during the War on Terrorism.
  While intellectual honesty and vision were his trademark, he was also 
able to express those ideas in simple and understandable terms to 
others. As the Director of Force Transformation and as President of the 
Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island, he was able to share his 
vision to educate and shape a new generation of leaders. It was a 
vision based on combat experience in Vietnam and Desert Storm and as a 
commanding officer of fighter squadrons and ships.

[[Page E2365]]

  It is not often that a nation is blessed with a great military leader 
whose powerful ideas make lasting and important contributions to the 
future. Sometimes it is only through the passage of time and history 
that their greatness is recognized fully. After some decades, Rear 
Admiral William A. Moffett eventually became known as the father of 
naval aviation. Admiral Hyman G. Rickover was recognized as the father 
of the nuclear Navy. I believe that Vice Admiral Arthur K. Cebrowski 
will become known as the father of a network centric military, and 
students of warfare and peacemaking will study his ideas and marvel at 
his contributions for decades to come.

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