[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 120 (Tuesday, July 22, 2008)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1516]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




TRIBUTE TO GENERAL RICHARD CODY ON THE OCCASION OF HIS RETIREMENT FROM 
                             THE U.S. ARMY

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. JOHN P. MURTHA

                            of pennsylvania

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, July 22, 2008

  Mr. MURTHA.  Madam Speaker, on August 4 of this year, the name of one 
of the great military leaders of our time will pass on to the 
retirement rolls. I am speaking of my good friend, GEN Richard Cody, 
the 31st vice chief of staff of the United States Army.
  On August 4 our Armed Forces will lose one of its greatest warriors. 
GEN Dick Cody has commanded American soldiers for 20 of his 36 years of 
service. In 1991, then Lieutenant Colonel Cody personally led Task 
Force Normandy, the joint aviation task force that fired the opening 
salvoes of the gulf war, and, as GEN H. Norman Schwarzkopf recounted, 
``plucked out the eyes'' of Saddam Hussein's air defenses. Cody went on 
to command the First Cavalry Division's Aviation Brigade; the 160th 
Special Operations Aviation Regiment; the fabled 101st Airborne 
Division ``Screaming Eagles''; as well as commanding in our Nation's 
most elite special operations unit.
  On August 4 our Armed Forces will lose a gifted strategic leader. 
With 1.3 million men and women serving around the globe, there are few 
organizations in the world as large and complex as the United States 
Army. For 6 years, spanning the tenures of 3 Army Chiefs of Staff, 4 
Secretaries of the Army, and 3 Chairmen of the Joints Chiefs of Staff, 
Dick Cody has provided stalwart leadership to our Army. He has overseen 
the day-to-day details of a plethora of daunting tasks. He oversaw the 
Army's transformation from a Cold War-era, division-based force, to a 
modular, brigade-centric force. He revitalized and modernized the 
Army's aviation forces. He supervised the transformation of the reserve 
component from a strategic reserve to a part of the operational Army. 
He is the architect of the Army's growth and restationing plans, which 
will eventually relocate over one-third of the Army. He has also 
completely revitalized the outpatient care systems for our wounded 
warriors and their families.
  On August 4 our Armed Forces will lose one of its ``straightest 
shooters.'' We in Congress rely on senior uniformed leaders to give us 
apolitical, straight forward assessments based on their years of 
military experience. No one shoots straighter with the Congress and the 
American people than Dick Cody. Going back to his first testimony 
before the Congress in 1999, when he warned the Nation to ``beware of a 
14 division mission with a 12 division Army,'' he has never flinched 
from hard questions, and he never sugar coats the truth.
  On August 4 the head of a wonderful Army family will retire, a man 
who is just as proud to be known as ``Vicki's husband'' and ``Tyler and 
Clint's Dad'' as he is proud of the stars on this shoulders. The Cody 
boys, with six combat tours between them, will continue to serve. Vicki 
Cody will never stop advocating for soldiers and their families, and 
Dick Cody's own personal ``Rendezvous with Destiny'' will continue.
  Madam Speaker, I rise today to acknowledge a 36 year career of heroic 
and selfless service, one that reflects all that is good and right 
about our Nation and her Armed Forces. On behalf of the United States 
Congress, we say ``thank you'' to a man and a family who place the 
well-being of the American soldier ahead of their own ambitions and 
dreams. God Bless Dick and Vicki Cody, their sons Tyler and Clint, and 
God Bless the American soldier who they love so much.

                          ____________________