[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 139 (Friday, September 25, 2015)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1365]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]





RECOGNIZING THE DEDICATION AND HONORABLE SERVICE OF CAPTAIN GREGORY M. 
                  ``MARK'' BEAVERS, UNITED STATES NAVY

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. JEFF MILLER

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                       Friday, September 25, 2015

  Mr. MILLER of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I rise to recognize Captain 
Gregory M. ``Mark'' Beavers, for his nearly three decades of honorable 
service in the United States Navy Medical Service Corps and to our 
great Nation on the occasion of his retirement as Director of the Armed 
Forces Pest Management Board, Office of the Assistant Secretary of 
Defense, Energy, Installations, and Environment, U.S. Army Garrison 
Forest Glen, Silver Spring, Maryland, August 1, 2015.
  Upon receiving his Bachelor of Science in Biology in 1980 from James 
Madison University and a Master of Science in Entomology from the 
University of Florida in 1983, Captain Beavers served the State of 
Florida as a Biological Technician at the Citrus Research and Education 
Center in Lake Alfred. In 1985, he answered the call to serve our 
Nation and received his direct commission in the United States Navy.
  As a naval officer and entomologist, his military duty stations 
spanned the globe and included the Navy Disease Vector Ecology and 
Control Center, Alameda, California, and Navy Environmental and 
Preventive Medicine Unit Number Five, San Diego, California. In 1990, 
he was transferred to U.S. Naval Hospital in Subic Bay, Philippines, 
where he served in a vital role as Head of the Preventive Medicine 
Department and the Entomology Division.
  Following his tour of duty in the Philippines, which saw the volcanic 
eruption of Mount Pinatubo, he was selected for the Navy's Duty Under 
Instruction program, and in 1996, received his Doctor of Philosophy in 
Entomology at the University of Kentucky. From there, Captain Beavers 
reported to Naval Medical Research Unit Number Three in Cairo, Egypt, 
where he served for nearly four years as a research entomologist and 
then assumed the position of Officer in Charge, Navy Disease Vector 
Ecology and Control Center in Jacksonville, Florida. In 2002, Captain 
Beavers was assigned to Pensacola, Florida, where he would establish 
his roots as a resident of the greater Gulf Coast, and served as the 
Executive Officer of Naval Aerospace Medical Research Laboratory and as 
the Navy Surgeon General's Specialty Leader for Navy Entomology. In 
2005, he reported to Maryland's Naval Medical Research Center where he 
was tasked as the Navy Medical Research and Development Liaison to the 
U.S. Army Medical Materiel Research and Materiel Command at Fort 
Detrick, Maryland. Due to his extensive experience and proven 
leadership, he was appointed by the Commanding General of U.S. Army 
Medical Materiel Research and Materiel Command as Director of the 
Department of Defense's Military Infectious Diseases Research Program. 
In 2009, Captain Beavers reported to the Armed Forces Pest Management 
Board as Chief of the Information Services Division, and in 2012, he 
was appointed the 16th Director of the Armed Forces Pest Management 
Board.
  According to those who were fortunate to have served with him 
throughout his prestigious and impressive military career and as 
evidenced by his numerous awards and accolades, including the Defense 
Superior Service Medal, the Meritorious Service Medal (4 awards), the 
Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal (2 awards), and the Navy and 
Marine Corps Achievement Medal (4 awards), in addition to other 
individual and unit service awards, Captain Beavers served with honor 
and distinction, and as a grateful Nation, we owe him our gratitude.
  On behalf of the United States Congress, I sincerely thank Captain 
Beavers, the proud son of William Julian and Betty Jean Beavers and 
brother to Stephen Michael and Paul David Beavers, for his admirable 
military service. My wife Vicki joins me in wishing him continued 
success as he turns to the next chapter in his life. We also want to 
recognize and thank his wife Carol and sons, James and Michael for 
their many sacrifices and support as a dedicated and loving Navy 
Family. May God continue to bless the entire Beavers family and all of 
our men and women in uniform who have bravely answered the call to 
defend our great Nation.

                          ____________________