[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 160 (Thursday, October 2, 2008)]
[Senate]
[Pages S10481-S10482]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




      TRIBUTE TO LIEUTENANT GENERAL HENRY A. ``TREY'' OBERING, III

 Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. President, today I honor a great American, a 
native of Birmingham, AL, LTG Henry A. ``Trey'' Obering III, on the 
occasion of his retirement after 35 years of dedicated service to our 
country. His passion for progressing missile defense has been 
imperative to its success and critical to our national security and the 
safety of our allies.
  General Obering entered the Air Force in 1973 and received his 
pilot's wings in 1975. From there he went on to become a skilled air-
to-air Top Gun-trained F-4E pilot and lead a very distinguished career. 
As an Air Force captain, General Obering was assigned to the Space 
Shuttle Program the year before the first orbiter flew into space. 
General Obering became an important part of this pioneering endeavor 
and participated in 15 space shuttle launches as a NASA orbiter project 
engineer.
  I want to highlight the critical role General Obering played in 
developing, testing, and fielding this Nation's ballistic missile 
defense system. General Obering joined the Missile Defense Agency in 
December of 2001, the very month the United States announced its 
withdrawal from the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty, which had 
seriously impeded the development and deployment of missile defenses. 
He deserves credit for the tremendous progress our Nation has made in 
recent years in the field of missile defense. The advancement of all 
approaches to ballistic missile defense, BMD, including kinetic energy 
interceptor, KEI, ground-based midcourse defense, GMD, Aegis ballistic 
missile defense, and terminal high altitude area defense system, THAAD, 
can be attributed to the hard work of General Obering and those he has 
led.
  Under General Obering's leadership, the Agency addressed current and 
emerging ballistic missile threats by fielding missile defenses at an 
unprecedented pace to defend the United States, our deployed troops, 
and U.S. allies and friends around the world. During his tenure as 
director, the Agency emplaced ground-based interceptors in Alaska and 
California, developed and deployed missile defenses to defeat shorter-
range threats to our troops and our allies, and successfully modified 
18 U.S. Navy Aegis warships to give U.S. military commanders a highly 
effective regional ballistic missile defense capability.
  To demonstrate the effectiveness of our missile defense to our 
friends, our allies, and, importantly, those that would mean us harm, 
General Obering presided over a series of historic flight tests of our 
ballistic missile defense system and spearheaded efforts to train the 
warfighters employing the system. These tests proved to our allies that 
we are prepared to defend ourselves and our allies and will pursue 
technologies to further reduce and eventually eliminate the threat of 
attack by ballistic missiles.
  General Obering has pursued an aggressive development program to 
address future threats, such as boost phase defenses, space tracking 
and surveillance, and technologies to destroy multiple threat objects 
using a single interceptor.
  General Obering recognized early on the importance of working with 
our international partners and he led the expansion of the Department's 
missile defense cooperative activities. He pursued bilateral programs 
with Japan, Israel, the Czech Republic, and Poland, among others, as 
well as multilateral programs with NATO. Working closely with the State 
Department and the Office of the Secretary of Defense, General 
Obering's vision and personal engagement resulted in a broad consensus 
among international leaders, combatant commanders, and the 
international communities on the growing need to establish long-range 
missile defenses in Europe.
  General Obering has overseen the expansion of the Missile Defense 
Agency. During his tenure, while executing all of the activities in one 
of the most important programs in the Department of Defense, the Agency 
successfully underwent unprecedented organizational changes. Thanks to 
his guidance, this transition is proceeding smoothly.
  General Obering's leadership proved critical during two real-world 
crises. During North Korea's provocative missile launches in July 2006, 
General Obering oversaw the Agency's input to the Nation's strategic 
response and provided situational awareness to the President, combatant 
commanders, and the missile defense community. His assurances that the 
Nation had the option of a responsive missile defense capability, had 
it been necessary, contributed greatly to the maintenance of 
international stability. And in February 2008, General Obering also led 
the

[[Page S10482]]

Agency's participation in a successful national joint mission to 
destroy an out-of-control U.S. satellite laden with toxic hydrazine 
fuel.
  General Obering has consistently exemplified a true dedication to our 
Nation and its ideals. His vision and drive enabled the Missile Defense 
Agency to field a truly worldwide ballistic missile defense capability 
that will be a part of this Nation's defensive infrastructure for 
decades to come. Our Nation owes a debt of gratitude to General Obering 
for his outstanding leadership and service. I am proud to express my 
appreciation for his service.

                          ____________________