[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 102 (Tuesday, July 10, 2012)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1219-E1220]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 PAYING TRIBUTE TO MAJOR GENERAL FREDERICK ``BEN'' HODGES' SERVICE TO 
                               OUR NATION

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. C.W. BILL YOUNG

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, July 10, 2012

  Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I rise to pay tribute to Major 
General Frederick ``Ben'' Hodges, United States Army, for his 
extraordinary dedication to duty and selfless service to the United 
States of America. Major General Hodges will be moving on from his 
present assignment as the Chief, Office Congressional Legislative 
Liaison (OCLL) for the United States Army to become the North Atlantic 
Treaty Organization (NATO), Land Command, Chief.
  A native Floridian from Quincy, Major General Ben Hodges graduated 
from the United States Military Academy in May 1980 and was 
commissioned as an Infantry Officer. After his first assignment as an 
Infantry Lieutenant in Germany, he commanded Infantry units at the 
Company, Battalion and Brigade levels with the 101st Airborne Division 
(Air Assault) and in combat during Operation IRAQI FREEDOM. His most 
recent operational combat assignment was as the Director of Operations, 
Regional Command South, in Kandahar, Afghanistan during Operation 
ENDURING FREEDOM.
  Major General Hodges has served in a variety of Joint and Army Staff 
positions to include Tactics Instructor at the Infantry School; Chief

[[Page E1220]]

of Plans, 2nd Infantry Division in Korea; Aide-de-Camp to the Supreme 
Allied Commander Europe; Army Congressional Liaison Officer; Task Force 
Senior Observer-Controller at the Joint Readiness Training Center, Fort 
Polk, LA; Chief of Joint Operations for Multi-National Corps--Iraq 
(MNC-I) in Operation IRAQI FREEDOM; Chief of Staff, XVIII Airborne 
Corps at Fort Bragg, NC; and Director of the Pakistan Afghanistan 
Coordination Cell on the Joint Staff.
  Mr. Speaker, it has been a pleasure to recognize Major General 
Hodges' long and decorated career today and also the great benefit to 
the Nation he has provided as the Chief, Office Congressional 
Legislative Liaison (OCLL) for the United States Army. We work closely 
with Major General Hodges to accomplish the toughest tasks for our 
Service Men and Women and Ben has always achieved excellence daily 
during his tenure. On behalf of a grateful Nation, I join my colleagues 
today in recognizing and commending Major General Hodges for a lifetime 
of service to his country. For all he and his family have given and 
continue to give to our country, we are in their debt. We wish him, his 
wife Holly, his son Ben, and his daughter Madeline, all the best as 
they continue their journey to his next assignment at the North 
Atlantic Treaty Organization.

                          ____________________