[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 69 (Wednesday, May 6, 2009)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1078]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   RECOGNIZING CRAY HENRY AS A 2009 SERVICE TO AMERICA MEDAL FINALIST

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. GERALD E. CONNOLLY

                              of virginia

                    in the house of representatives

                         Wednesday, May 6, 2009

  Mr. CONNOLLY of Virginia. Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize 
the tremendous contributions of Cray Henry, of Annandale, Va., to our 
nation and specifically to improving the safety of our deployed 
military personnel. Mr. Henry, as director of the High Performance 
Computing Modernization Program, led the effort to provide 
supercomputer support allowing the Department of Defense to improve 
body and vehicle armor for troops in the field. The work of his team 
also helped enhance overall military performance and saved billions of 
taxpayer dollars. In recognition of those achievements, Mr. Henry and 
his team have been named finalists for the 2009 Service to America 
Medal for National Security and International Affairs.
  As my colleagues know, the Service to America Medals, or Sammies as 
they are more commonly known, are presented annually by the nonprofit, 
nonpartisan Partnership for Public Service to celebrate our dedicated 
federal workforce, highlighting their commitment and innovation, as 
well as the impact of their work on addressing the needs of the nation.
  The state-of-the-art supercomputing environment created by the High 
Performance Computing Modernization Program team, led by Mr. Henry, 
enabled DoD scientists and engineers to design and test innovative 
materials and weapons systems.
  For example, the team helped speed the development and rapid 
deployment of the Hellfire missile that has been used to neutralize 
terrorists in buildings, bunkers and caves.
  The team also was tapped to help the soldiers in Iraq, providing 
resources for complex modeling and simulations to develop new armor 
kits for Humvees to better adapt and protect against improvised 
explosive devices (IEDs) that were killing and wounding American 
soldiers.
  In addition to its field applications, the supercomputing team has 
brought advances in weather forecasting to allow the U.S. Navy and Air 
Force to provide more accurate, up-to-the-minute and long-range 
information to ground forces anywhere in the world, which is a great 
asset in helping commanders plan military operations. Applying this 
capability to aircraft flight planning, the DoD anticipates saving $1 
billion in fuel costs over 10 years.
  The DoD's hurricane prediction models are so accurate that the 
National Hurricane Center is now using them together with other models 
to predict hurricane paths. The team's modeling also has been a 
tremendous resource in rebuilding the levees in New Orleans in the wake 
of Hurricane Katrina.
  I ask my colleagues to join me in thanking Mr. Henry and his team for 
their tremendous contribution to protecting our troops and improving 
our national preparedness. His 27 years of public service and his drive 
for innovation serve as an example to us all, and his recognition as 
finalists for the 2009 Service to America Medal for Homeland Security 
is well deserved.

                          ____________________