[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 28 (Thursday, February 16, 2017)]
[Senate]
[Page S1301]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            TRIBUTE TO BRIGADIER GENERAL TIMOTHY J. CATHCART

 Ms. MURKOWSKI. Mr. President, I wish to recognize the 
accomplishments of an exceptional Alaskan, Brig. Gen. Timothy J. 
Cathcart, U.S. Air Force, currently serving as director, Office of 
Legislative Liaison, National Guard Bureau. He will retire on May 31, 
2017, after more than 32 years of honorable service. A master 
navigator, Brigadier General Cathcart has executed more than 75 
operational rescue missions, has over 2,000 flight hours, and has 
served in a variety of operational, training, command, Air Staff, and 
joint positions.
  Brigadier General Cathcart enlisted in the Alaska Air National Guard 
in 1985 and received his commission in 1990 through the Academy of 
Military Science. Upon completion of navigator training in 1992, he 
returned to the Alaska Air National Guard as a rescue navigator on the 
HC-130 aircraft and then served as senior controller at the Alaska 
Rescue Coordination Center. While serving, Brigadier General Cathcart 
earned a master of business administration and a master of science in 
computer science from the University of Alaska. In 2000, he was 
selected as the mobility forces action officer in the Air and Space 
Operations Directorate at the National Guard Bureau. After 2 years, 
Brigadier General Cathcart was promoted to mobility forces branch chief 
and later went on to serve as the operations support branch chief.
  In 2005, Brigadier General Cathcart was selected to attend the 
Industrial College of the Armed Forces, National Defense University, 
earning a master of science in National Resource Strategy. Following 
graduation, he served at the Pentagon as the National Guard readiness 
adviser, Operations Directorate, Joint Staff, while concurrently 
earning a doctor of philosophy, Ph.D., in Science and Technology 
Studies from Virginia Tech. From 2008 to 2011, Brigadier General 
Cathcart served as chief, Joint Training and Education Division, Joint 
Doctrine, Training, and Force Development Directorate, followed by a 
position as deputy director for Force Development, Domestic Operations 
and Force Development Directorate on the National Guard Bureau Joint 
Staff. From 2011 to 2014, he served as commander of the I.G. Brown 
Training and Education Center at McGee Tyson ANGB, TN, followed by the 
General Officer Homeland Security Executive Seminar at the Kennedy 
School of Government at Harvard University.
  Prior to his current position as director of legislative liaison, 
Brigadier General Cathcart was a special assistant to the director, Air 
National Guard, assigned to the Air Staff's total force-continuum 
office. In this role, on behalf of the Secretary of the Air Force and 
Chief of Staff of the Air Force, he worked to identify the appropriate 
balance of active and reserve components across missions and platforms 
and helped reduce legal, organizational, policy, and cultural barriers 
to a more fully integrated Air Force.
  As director, Office of Legislative Liaison, Brigadier General 
Cathcart is the primary adviser to the chief, National Guard Bureau, on 
all matters of congressional interest and provides guidance and 
direction in the development of the National Guard Bureau legislative 
strategy. He ceaselessly and effectively supported all Air and Army 
National Guard roles and missions both State and Federal. Brigadier 
General Cathcart's efforts advanced an unprecedented level of 
integration and collaboration within the Department of Defense, as well 
as with State, interagency, and non-Federal entity partners. He 
educated and informed decisionmakers within the executive as well as 
legislative branches of U.S. Government to support National Guard 
priorities, personnel, and resource requirements, resulting in support 
and funding for core programs in fiscal year 2016 and fiscal year 2017 
legislation.
  Brigadier General Cathcart's extraordinary career of visionary 
leadership and highly successful implementation of innovative cutting-
edge concepts leaves behind a remarkable legacy of success. His years 
of dedicated service in the U.S. Air Force and the National Guard 
represent lifelong dedication and commitment to the defense of our 
great Nation.
  I wish to express my gratitude to Brig. Gen. Timothy J. Cathcart for 
his many years of distinguished service to this country.

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