[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 86 (Wednesday, June 4, 2014)]
[Senate]
[Page S3422]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS

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                TRIBUTE TO COMMANDER ROBERT ADAMS HATCH

 Mr. ISAKSON. Mr. President, I wish to honor CDR Robert Adams 
Hatch, who retired from the U.S. Navy on June 1, 2014, after more than 
28 years of honorable service.
  Commander Hatch is a supply corps/logistics officer 3105 and retired 
following his final assignment in Voluntary Training Unit 6767 Atlanta 
at the Navy Operational Support Center at Dobbins Air Reserve Base in 
Marietta, GA. Prior to his service at Dobbins ARB, he most recently 
completed a 3-year assignment in Joint Operations with Navy Reserve 
Joint Staff South in Suffolk, VA, supporting the Joint Chiefs of Staff. 
Additionally, he was commanding officer of the 50-member Operational 
Support Unit 0867 in Atlanta, GA, from May 2007 through April 2009.
  From 1994 to 2003, Commander Hatch spent much of his career overseas 
with the Joint Contact Team Program military-to-military contacts 
program in Eastern Europe as part of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs 
of Staff initiative established in 1992 to illustrate the standard of 
U.S.-style military under civilian control, and to promote peace, 
stability, military professionalism and closer ties to NATO for former 
Communist countries in Eastern Europe. He served on the Military 
Liaison Team, living and working in Albania under arduous conditions 
from 1994 to 1998, and was twice evacuated from Albania in March 1997 
and August 1998. After the second evacuation in 1998, then-Lieutenant 
Commander Hatch worked at Headquarters, United States European Command/
ECJ5-J, as joint contact team program desk officer for Poland, Ukraine, 
Georgia, Moldova, Armenia and Azerbaijan. He returned to the United 
States in 2003.
  Commander Hatch is also a key team leader on the Atlanta Funeral 
Honors Team, having conducted more than 450 Navy, Coast Guard, and 
joint military funerals for Reserve and Active Duty veterans since 
2008.
  Born in Abington, PA, Commander Hatch moved in 1972 to Atlanta, GA, 
and grew up in that great city. His father, CAPT James C. Hatch, served 
in the U.S. Navy Supply Corps, and was a classmate of President Jimmy 
Carter at the Naval Academy. His father retired after dedicating 26 
years of active service, including World War II, and in the Korea and 
Vietnam wars. Following his retirement, I had the pleasure of working 
with Jim Hatch at Northside Realty. And the family's Georgia 
credentials don't stop there. Captain Jim Hatch's brother, Edwin I. 
Hatch, was president of Georgia Power Company, and the Edwin I. Hatch 
Nuclear Plant, located near Baxley, GA, was duly named in tribute to 
his leadership.
  In addition to his distinguished military career, CDR Robert Hatch 
has had a meaningful civilian life, including 4 years with Coca-Cola 
USA. He is currently managing director and independent marketing 
associate of Ignite/Stream Energy, a funeral attendant with Service 
Corps International in Atlanta, and an actor participating in movies 
and television shows filming in Georgia.
  Commander Hatch's military decorations include the Defense 
Meritorious Service Medal, four Joint Service Commendation Medals, Navy 
Commendation Medal, six Joint Meritorious Unit Awards, Navy Meritorious 
Unit Commendation, two National Defense Service Medals, Armed Forces 
Expeditionary Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, Sea Service 
Deployment Ribbon, nine Navy & Marine Corps Overseas Service Ribbons, 
Armed Forces Reserve Medal and a Navy Pistol Marksmanship Medal.
  I send my great thanks to Commander Hatch for his extensive 
meritorious service to our proud nation, and I thank and congratulate 
his family and friends for supporting his service to the United States 
of America.

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