[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 27 (Friday, February 18, 2011)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E309-E310]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    TRIBUTE TO MR. DAVID M. ALTWEGG

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. MICHAEL R. TURNER

                                of ohio

                    in the house of representatives

                       Friday, February 18, 2011

  Mr. TURNER. Mr. Speaker, on the occasion of his retirement from the 
Department of Defense, I wish to recognize Mr. David M. Altwegg, Rear 
Admiral (RADM) (Retired) for his more than six decades of dedicated 
military and federal service to the security of our country. In his 
most recent assignment, he served as Executive Director at the Missile 
Defense Agency, where he advised the Director on issues related to the 
management and operations of one of the most dynamic organizations 
within the Department of Defense. Mr. Altwegg has made an enormous 
contribution to the successful development and fielding of a defensive 
system to protect this nation, American troops deployed abroad, and our 
allies and friends from attack by ballistic missiles.
  Mr. Altwegg enlisted in the Navy in 1947 and after attending aviation 
electronics training, he earned a fleet appointment to the United 
States Naval Academy, earning his commission in 1952. He rose through 
the ranks as a Surface Warfare Officer where he led sailors and Marines 
through three decades of distinguished military service, retiring from 
active duty in 1985. RADM Altwegg's passion to serve this great country 
led him to continue his federal government service for another quarter 
century as part of the Senior Executive Service. It is to this nations' 
benefit that Mr. Altwegg decided to pursue a post-navy career in civil 
service.
  Mr. Chairmen, very few individuals demonstrate the passion, 
patriotism, loyalty and dedication to national security as exemplified 
by Mr. Altwegg. His accomplishments and leadership over the course of 
his 24 year senior executive career contributed significantly to the 
Department of Defense in the areas of complex combat systems 
development, acquisition reform, and the fielding of a ballistic 
missile defense capability for the Nation. As a senior executive, he 
served in positions of increasing responsibility in the Naval Sea 
Systems Command and the Program Executive Office for Theater Air 
Defense (later renamed Theater Surface Combatants). He served as the 
Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Theater Combat Systems 
before being assigned to the newly formed Missile Defense Agency where 
he rose to the position of Executive Director, the senior civilian in 
this organization.
  Mr. Altwegg has been at the forefront of the Department of Defense 
efforts to improve and streamline the acquisition of complex combat 
systems for his entire civilian career, but nowhere has he had more 
direct impact than in his current Missile Defense Agency assignment. He 
pioneered the portfolio management concept when MDA was formed in 2002 
through the consolidation of all Service ballistic missile defense 
programs under this new Defense Agency. Concurrent with this effort, he 
revamped the budget development and oversight process for MDA's $8 
billion annual portfolio, and he dramatically improved the detail and 
applicability of budget documentation for Congress and other national 
leaders, resulting in bipartisan praise for promoting a much clearer 
understanding of a very technically complex program of work. His vision 
for managing disparate systems as a single integrated system, 
networking air and space surveillance resources to allow the warfighter 
to take advantage of the full kinematic range of the family of missile 
defense interceptors, revolutionized the way we think of the DoD 
Acquisition Model. MDA's early application of spiral development to 
introduce future capability in blocks became the new lexicon used by 
the Defense Acquisition University where we train our future 
acquisition experts.
  Mr. Altwegg also championed the reengineering of the agency's 
management structure to better administer and support a revolutionary 
approach to developing and fielding missile defense capabilities. He 
redefined the Executive Management Council organization around the 
three core executive management functions of the Director (head of 
agency, acquisition executive and program manager) improving teamwork, 
increasing the information flow among senior executives and 
dramatically reducing decision cycle time. His tireless efforts 
streamlined staff, improved communication among more than 30 
departments, and advanced the interests of the Department of Defense 
and American taxpayers in more efficiently delivering improved 
ballistic missile defense capabilities.
  Consistent with the President's Quality Management Agenda as set 
forth in 2002, Mr. Altwegg pushed for better metrics and measures to 
support all aspects of ballistic missile defense acquisition. When the 
Office of Management and Budget implemented their Program Assessment 
Rating Tool (PART), the MDA was included in the first group of 
government agencies to be reviewed. The MDA earned an unprecedented 
score of 75 in the first year. This objective assessment by an outside 
organization was a direct reflection of Mr. Altwegg's ability to set 
measurable goals for MDA and to communicate a complex strategy and 
revolutionary spiral acquisition process.
  He was also singularly responsible for the agency's implementation of 
the President's Management Agenda spotlight activity for Budget-
Performance Integration, achieving 100 percent integration of the 
agency's strategic and budgetary goals. He articulated a recurring 
strategic rhythm where investment, development, testing and fielding 
decisions are based on periodic reviews of the maturity, progress and 
balance of the ballistic missile defense portfolio. Strategic decisions 
on element progress are based on their ability to

[[Page E310]]

meet predefined knowledge points as they proceed through development 
and testing. Mr. Altwegg initiated and deployed an array of earned 
value and life cycle management tools to optimize MDA knowledge-based 
decision systems and criteria, and he spearheaded efforts to evaluate 
and make informed senior leader decisions based upon cost, schedule, 
performance and relative merit criteria and metrics. He developed and 
managed numerous data generation and evaluation systems--including 
MDA's Integrated Program Plan and supporting management systems and 
activities--to more effectively manage system wide and component level 
costs and schedules, balance development and fielding priorities and 
successfully meet block development and fielding goals.
  He has been the central figure in planning and responding to the 2005 
Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) commission's recommendations to 
consolidate missile defense development activities at Redstone Arsenal 
in Alabama. He has collaborated closely with the Department of Defense, 
Washington Headquarters Service and Department of the Army staffs to 
ensure MDA's requirements are fully considered. He has personally 
championed open communication with the workforce to survey employee 
concerns, develop detailed plans for executing the directed 
realignments and ensure workforce needs are addressed. He has 
personally met with Huntsville Alabama Chamber of Commerce and 
coordinated an informative series of presentations to the staff to 
minimize anxiety and provide information to families, and he 
established an advanced detachment of support staff to facilitate the 
transition of services and functions to our new location.
  Mr. Altwegg has been a guiding force for the Missile Defense Agency 
and the prime author of our long-term strategy to strengthen and 
maximize the flexibility of the nation's missile defense capabilities. 
He advocated and succeeded in aligning the agencies missile defense 
programs to achieve a greater degree of mobility through better 
networked, forward-deployed sensors and interceptors; and additional 
layers of increasingly capable missile defenses. He stood at the 
forefront of establishing MDA as a global leader in ballistic missile 
defense capabilities. In doing so, he has set and enforced an 
uncompromising standard of excellence and professionalism among the 
workforce and has created a ``core competency'' for our national 
security structure.
  He has tirelessly advocated for the responsible use of scarce 
resources as well as for effective care and professional development of 
the civilian workforce; and his sustained accomplishments are deserving 
of special recognition. Mr. Altwegg, thank you for your service and God 
bless.

                          ____________________