[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 122 (Wednesday, September 12, 2012)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1496-E1497]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




TRIBUTE TO MAJOR GENERAL ROBERT J. KASULKE'S 32 YEARS OF SERVICE TO OUR 
                                 NATION

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. C. W. BILL YOUNG

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                     Wednesday, September 12, 2012

  Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I rise to pay tribute to Major 
General Robert J. Kasulke, for his extraordinary dedication to duty and 
service to the United States of America. Major General Robert J. 
Kasulke will retire as the Commanding General of the Army Reserve 
Medical Command (ARMEDCOM) on October 1, 2012. His military service 
spans over thirty-two years of dedicated selfless service to the United 
States Army Reserve.
  Major General Kasulke is a graduate of Fordham University where he 
received a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology in 1971 and earned a 
Masters in Public Administration from the Syracuse University Maxwell 
School of Citizenship and Public Administration in 1996. He earned his 
degree in Medicine in 1975 and received a direct commission in the 
Medical Corps in 1980 following graduation from the State University of 
New York, Syracuse, College of Medicine while completing a Fellowship 
in Vascular Surgery.
  Major General Kasulke has served in the U.S. Army Reserve since 1980 
and held assignments as General Surgeon, 5503d U.S. Army Hospital, 
912th Combat Support Hospital and Chief of Surgery of the 376th Combat 
Support Hospital. He commanded Detachments 1, 2 and 3 of the 310th 
Field Hospital and the 865th Combat Support Hospital. He was appointed 
as the Commander of the 8th Medical Brigade in May 2001. From March of 
2005 through March of 2009 he served as the

[[Page E1497]]

Deputy Surgeon for Mobilization, Readiness and Reserve Affairs.
  While serving as the Commander of the 8th Medical Brigade, Major 
General Kasulke was selected to the Army Reserve Forces Policy 
Committee in Washington DC, and to the General Officer Medical Advisory 
Committee. Through these two prestigious committees, Major General 
Kasulke became the voice of the medical profession for the 77th 
Regional Support Command and the United States Army Reserve at the 
beginning of the Global War on Terrorism.
  Major General Kasulke instituted a highly successful Innovative 
Readiness Training program in support of an American Indian program 
named: Walking Shield American Indian Society. Operation Walking Shield 
deployed military doctors, dentists, nurses, and other medical 
personnel to various American Indian reservations to help address the 
serious health challenges that existed in those austere areas in five 
states over a period of five years. The soldiers deploying to these 
sites returned with enhanced skills in their medical field and with the 
knowledge they have served their nation in a unique and meaningful way.
  Major General Kasulke was also instrumental in creating a partnership 
with Kings County Medical Center, New York for a trauma training 
program which included the Jacobi Medical Center, New York. These 
partnerships proved to be an invaluable asset for training medical 
personnel for the type of trauma injuries those medical Soldiers would 
see within a combat theater of operations. The partnership augmented 
medical readiness of medical Army Reserve soldiers, and improved the 
training readiness of hundreds of medical personnel in the United 
States Army Reserve.
  While serving as the Deputy Surgeon General for Mobilization, 
Readiness and Reserve Affairs, Major General Kasulke was the Senior 
United States Army Reserve Medical Department Officer acting as the 
representative and advisor to the Army Surgeon General. During his 
tenure he was instrumental in improving the joint medical readiness of 
the United States Army Reserve and National Guard. Major General 
Kasulke influenced and enhanced Army Reserve medical unit readiness by 
developing and increasing the number of joint medical exercises which 
sought to build and develop clinical training programs for Reserve 
clinicians. Furthermore, he improved support to the Surgeon General by 
building a United States Army Reserve Medical Consultant Staff, which 
was the first ever for the Surgeon General's office.
  Major General Kasulke's career is culminating with his assignment as 
the Commander of the Army Reserve Medical Command, at the C. W. Bill 
Young Armed Forces Reserve Center in Pinellas Park, Florida. Here, 
Major General Kasulke was the driving force for the Reserve Component 
Soldier Medical Support Center. This program coupled with the Medical 
Management Activity rapidly evaluates permanent profiles of Soldiers 
across the Army Reserve. Under Major General Kasulke's stewardship, 
over 3,300 medically not ready profiles were reviewed resulting in a 
cost savings of over $88 million, and directly returning over 1,500 
Soldiers back to duty. The Medical Management Activity also downgraded 
approximately 3,500 profiles which equates to $120 million in cost 
savings returning Soldiers back to their formations in a ready and 
deployable status.
  In his civilian career, Major General Kasulke is a board certified 
vascular surgeon. He is also board certified in general surgery and 
quality assurance. He is certified in medical regulating and HIV 
medicine. He is also a founding member of the American Hospice 
Organization. He authored or co-authored several articles or chapters 
in numerous books and periodicals. He also serves as Assistant Editor 
for The Federal Practitioner and The Journal of Military Medicine for 
Vascular and General Surgery. Major General Kasulke serves as Chair, 
Director, or member for over seven community, county, or regional 
boards of directors. He also serves on five military associations and 
was most recently elected to serve as President for the Congress of the 
International Organization of Medical Reservists.
  The Army Medical Department, the United States Army, and the Nation 
will dearly miss one of its most respected and valued leaders as Major 
General Robert J. Kasulke retires. We will miss his humility, 
selflessness, candor and integrity. Major General Robert J. Kasulke's 
exemplary leadership and selfless devotion to duty has touched fully 
over three generations of Soldiers and their Families.
  On behalf of a grateful Nation, I join my colleagues today in 
recognizing and commending Major General Robert J. Kasulke 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 Catherine, daughter Kristen, and son Stephen, all 
the best in his retirement.

                          ____________________