[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 102 (Thursday, July 9, 2009)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1689]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




     HONORING ADMIRAL JAMES G. STAVRIDIS OF THE UNITED STATES NAVY

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. KENDRICK B. MEEK

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, July 9, 2009

  Mr. MEEK of Florida. Madam Speaker, I would like to take this 
opportunity to recognize and commend ADM James G. Stavridis of the 
United States Navy for his leadership of U.S. Southern Command. It has 
been a privilege to work so closely with Admiral Stavridis over these 
past few years and I know that many of my colleagues join me in 
congratulating him on a job well done and in wishing him well as he 
moves on to his new position as the Commander of U.S. European Command, 
USEUCOM, and NATO's Supreme Allied Commander Europe, SACEUR.
  Admiral Stavridis served as the Commander of SOUTHCOM from October 
19, 2006, until June 25, 2009, with distinction. His efforts in 
SOUTHCOM's area of focus have paid rich dividends in how the United 
States is viewed by nations in that area, it has greatly enhanced our 
relationships with military partners in the nations of that region and 
in how we intertwine our diplomatic, humanitarian, economic and 
military means to achieve our strategic goals.
  As his official biography states, Admiral Stavridis is a 1976 
distinguished graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy and a native of south 
Florida. A Surface Warfare Officer, Admiral Stavridis commanded the 
Destroyer USS Barry DDG-52 from 1993-1995, completing deployments to 
Haiti, Bosnia, and the Persian Gulf. Barry won the Battenberg Cup as 
the top ship in the Atlantic Fleet under his command. In 1998, he 
commanded Destroyer Squadron 21 and deployed to the Persian Gulf, 
winning the Navy League's John Paul Jones Award for Inspirational 
Leadership. From 2002-2004, Admiral Stavridis commanded Enterprise 
Carrier Strike Group, conducting combat operations in the Persian Gulf 
in support of both Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring 
Freedom. Ashore, Admiral Stavridis has served as a strategic and long-
range planner on the staffs of the Chief of Naval Operations and the 
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. At the start of the Global War 
on Terror, he was selected as the director of the Navy Operations 
Group, Deep Blue. He has also served as the executive assistant to the 
Secretary of the Navy and the senior military assistant to the 
Secretary of Defense. Admiral Stavridis earned a doctorate and a 
masters degree from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts 
University in International Relations in 1984, where he won the Gullion 
Prize as outstanding student. He is also a distinguished graduate of 
both the National and Naval War Colleges.
  His background is tailor made for the challenges we currently face 
and his long record of admirable service and his distinguished command 
of U.S. Southern Command augur well on the success he will have in his 
new billet. I believe that at this sensitive juncture in our Nation's 
history, Admiral Stavridis is just the sort of individual that we 
should have in place at EUCOM and heading NATO. He is a firm believer 
in the juxtaposition of military power, economic power and diplomacy 
that will help implement a more intelligent future and application of 
`smart power.'
  On a personal note, I have enjoyed tremendously working with Admiral 
Stavridis especially on our trips to Haiti together, drug interdiction 
in the Caribbean and also for the efforts he put forth to assisting 
hurricane victims in Florida. Despite the monumental task of pursuing 
the strategic goals of the Command, he continually made himself 
accessible to me and my staff by whatever means were available to him. 
I am thankful for the support he has offered to me and my staff on 
these and so many other occasions and I wish him and his family fair 
winds and following seas as he leaves south Florida.

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