[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 152 (Wednesday, October 12, 2011)]
[House]
[Pages H6790-H6791]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   HONORING GENERAL DUNCAN J. McNABB

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Illinois (Mr. Costello) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. COSTELLO. Mr. Speaker, it is my honor and privilege to pay 
tribute to a leader and a warrior, General Duncan J. McNabb, commander 
of the United States Transportation Command. General McNabb is retiring 
after honorably serving this great Nation for over 37 years with a 
distinguished career.
  General McNabb graduated from the United States Air Force Academy in 
1974. As a command pilot, he has more than 5,600 flying hours in 
transport and rotary wing aircraft. In addition, General McNabb has 
held command and staff positions at squadron, group, wing, major 
command and Department of Defense levels and is considered the finest 
mobility and logistics expert in the Department of Defense.
  I have had the pleasure of working with General McNabb from 2005 to 
2007 when he assumed command of the Air Mobility Command at Scott Air 
Force Base in the congressional district that I am privileged to 
represent and, again, when he returned to Scott Air Force Base to be 
the commander of USTRANSCOM in 2008.
  USTRANSCOM is a critical part of our military operations. It provides 
the coordinated transportation, distribution and sustainment, which 
projects and maintains our national power. As a global combatant 
commander, General McNabb has made supporting the American warfighter 
his top priority.

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  Under General McNabb's leadership, USTRANSCOM has moved over 1.5 
million passengers and over 4 million short tons of cargo in supporting 
Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraq Freedom. To put this in 
perspective, this is the equivalent to moving the entire population of 
southwestern and southern Illinois and all of their household 
belongings halfway around the world. America truly has a military 
deployment and distribution system that is unmatched anywhere in the 
world.
  Under General McNabb's command, USTRANSCOM has provided humanitarian 
relief to hurricane victims in the United States, earthquake victims in 
Haiti and Japan, and flood victims in Pakistan, just to name a few. The 
medicine, supplies, equipment, and personnel that USTRANSCOM has 
delivered in the wake of these and other natural disasters ultimately 
saved lives and eased human suffering.
  In addition to conducting some of the largest military moves since 
World War II and providing unparalleled humanitarian relief, General 
McNabb has made it a priority to transform our Nation's deployment and 
distribution system, ensuring our ability to project national power 
where needed with the greatest speed and agility, the highest 
efficiency, and the most reliable level of trust and accuracy. As a 
USTRANSCOM commander, General McNabb actively took on the role of the 
distribution process owner for DOD, charged with improving efficiency 
and interoperability across the entire DOD supply chain. To meet the 
needs of the military and the Nation, General McNabb developed the 
Arctic overflight route and expanded multimodal logistics throughout 
the northern distribution network. He has improved combat readiness and 
capability while saving hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars. 
Troops and equipment are now arriving and leaving the battlefield 
faster and at less cost.
  General McNabb will be the first to tell you he did not accomplish 
these feats alone. He led the way in seeking collaborative joint 
solutions to today's complex global distribution issues. Those who 
worked for him and with him, military and civilians from every branch 
of service, will miss his leadership and mentorship. They'll miss the 
stories and humor he used to get his message across. We in Congress 
will miss his straightforward approach and sound counsel. The Nation 
will miss his devotion to duty, ceaseless drive for improvement, and 
unwavering support to the men and women serving in our armed services.
  Mr. Speaker, I want to recognize General McNabb for serving the Air 
Force with honor and distinction for 37 years. I also wish to recognize 
his wife, Linda, and wish her the very best in the future as well. The 
Air Force will lose not one but two exceptional people upon General 
McNabb's retirement.
  General McNabb and Linda, we wish you well in your future endeavors 
and pray that those who follow in your footsteps may continue the 
legacy of unprecedented support for our great Nation.

                          ____________________