[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 89 (Tuesday, July 11, 2006)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1367-E1368]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 HONORING THE SERVICE OF COMMANDER WILLIAM MILNE OF THE UNITED STATES 
                              COAST GUARD

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. HOWARD COBLE

                           of north carolina

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, July 11, 2006

  Mr. COBLE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor Commander William J. 
Milne for his service to the United States House of Representatives and 
his continued service to our country in the United States Coast Guard.
  Commander Milne was assigned as the Coast Guard liaison officer to 
the United States House of Representatives in July 2003, and I am proud 
to have had the opportunity to work closely with him. In my leadership 
roles on the Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation Subcommittee and 
in numerous other venues, my staff and I have often relied on Commander 
Milne's knowledge and understanding of the operational missions, the 
current day-to-day challenges, and the roles and responsibilities of 
the United States Coast Guard.
  While Commander Milne began his House career 3 years ago as the chief 
of the Coast

[[Page E1368]]

Guard's House Liaison Office, his Coast Guard career began more than 
three decades earlier as a 1975 graduate of the Recruit Training Center 
in Alameda, CA.
  In 1975, Seaman Apprentice Milne was assigned to his first unit 
working as a Search and Rescue communications watchstander and a Motor 
Life Boat coxswain. During this assignment he also became one of the 
few distinguished registered SURFMAN in the Coast Guard while being 
promoted quickly to the rank of boatswain's mate first class and 
accepting the duties as executive petty officer of Station Umpqua River 
in Winchester Bay, OR. Commander Milne received five promotions within 
his first 3\1/2\ years in the United States Coast Guard.
  In 1983, he was promoted to chief petty officer and transferred to 
the Second Coast Guard District in St Louis, MO, serving in the Rescue 
Coordination Center overseeing search and rescue and bridge operations 
in a 22-State area throughout the MidWest before being selected to 
attend Officer Candidate School in Yorktown, VA, in 1986. Later that 
year, he was promoted to the rank of ensign, thus beginning his 
commissioned career.
  During his 31-year career, Commander Milne has been assigned to seven 
coast Guard cutters and has commanded the cutters Cape Cowin, Redwood 
and Juniper. His shore assignments have included the Professional 
Development staff at the Coast Guard Academy, Office of Financial 
Management at Coast Guard Headquarters, and as Surface Operations 
Assignment officer at the Personnel Command.
  This week, Commander Milne will leave his post as the Coast Guard's 
House liaison and head off to the Naval War College in Newport, RI. He 
will be missed in the United States House of Representatives.
  It has been my pleasure to work with Commander Milne. On behalf of 
all who have also been fortunate to work with him, we wish Commander 
Milne and his wife Martina the best in all of their future endeavors.

                          ____________________