[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 61 (Wednesday, April 28, 2010)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2757-S2758]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   TRIBUTE TO VICE ADMIRAL MIKE LOOSE

 Mr. McCAIN. Mr. President, I would like to take a moment today 
to recognize the extraordinary contributions of VADM Mike Loose, Civil 
Engineer Corps, U.S. Navy to our Nation. Vice Admiral Loose has served 
with exceptional distinction as the Deputy Chief of Naval Operations, 
CNO, for Fleet Readiness and Logistics, a position of great 
responsibility, from January 2007 to April 2010.
  Vice Admiral Loose brought a unique and remarkable perspective to the 
CNO's leadership team, resulting in profound innovations to Navy 
policy, programs, and resourcing. His professional reach extended to 
the Joint Staff, the other Services, our international defense 
partners, and the industry to achieve alignment and collaboration 
resulting in great benefits to everyone involved. He was the visionary 
leader and driving force behind the Navy's transition from a level-of-
effort based budget to a model-based approach that links Afloat 
Readiness to output metrics and resources. This transformational leap 
provided senior Navy leadership the intellectual basis and the tools to 
enhance core Warfighting capabilities in a restrained fiscal 
environment and to clearly define the relationship between baseline and 
overseas contingency operations funding.
  Vice Admiral Loose was also the vanguard who recognized the strategic 
imperative of energy to the employment of Navy combat forces and 
spearheaded the establishment of Task Force Energy and the Navy Energy 
Coordination Office 2 years ago. He fully established the mindset that 
energy is a tactical advantage and strategic enabler for military 
forces. In short order, his Energy organization was recognized as the 
premier model for the other Services and as the foundation for the 
DON's Energy program. In addition, he profoundly reshaped and expertly 
guided the Navy's Environmental Program at a time when the importance 
of the program was paramount. His foresight and energetic leadership 
ensured the Navy achieved regulatory milestones and uninterrupted, 
critical operational training in support of national command authority 
objectives.
  In recognition of the enormous challenges inherently facing the 
funding of future ownership costs of existing and new systems Vice 
Admiral Loose directed the development of a ``2030 and Beyond'' 
assessment that demonstrated that the growth in future ownership costs 
of existing and new systems would far exceed the expected growth in the 
Navy's topline budget over the next 20 years. His efforts led to an 
increased focus on total ownership costs across the Navy, specific 
direction in the 2010 Chief of Naval Operations Guidance and his 
assignment as the Navy's Executive Agent for Total Ownership Costs.
  Today, I honor Vice Admiral Loose for his service to our country, his 
inspirational and visionary leadership, his extraordinary strength of 
character and moral courage, and his irrepressible drive and 
leadership. He and his wife Carol and their son Chris have made many 
sacrifices during his career in the Navy. I call upon my colleagues

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to join his family, friends, and association to wish them ``fair winds 
and following seas.''

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