[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 123 (Monday, July 23, 2018)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1047]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    IN RECOGNITION OF COLONEL JEFF CANTOR ON HIS MILITARY RETIREMENT

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. FRANK PALLONE, JR.

                             of new jersey

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, July 23, 2018

  Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, it is my honor to recognize Colonel Jeff 
Cantor of Marlboro, New Jersey on his retirement from the United States 
Army. Colonel Cantor has provided 32 years of steadfast leadership and 
selfless service in defense of the United States of America, and has 
been instrumental in spreading the ideals of democracy and freedom to 
oppressed people all over the world. His service is truly deserving of 
this body's recognition.
  Colonel Cantor has commanded U.S. Army personnel at multiple levels 
in combat and in peacetime and has demonstrated personal sacrifice 
while deployed three times to hostile environments. He has had an 
illustrious career in the U.S. Army and has contributed to building 
stability in areas around the world with complex environments, and has 
successfully brought together warring factions so that they may enjoy 
peace in their lifetime and for future generations.
  Colonel Cantor served as the European Command Civil Affairs Plans 
Team Chief and was responsible for working with former war-torn nations 
and building stability in the Balkans. He served as the director on 
various Joint Chiefs of Staff exercises, and served as the director for 
Immediate Response 16, where he was responsible for 1,900 soldiers from 
ten different countries conducting full spectrum operations and 
training in Slovenia and Croatia, in which the Prime Minister of 
Slovenia personally congratulated Colonel Cantor for his efforts during 
the exercise.
  Colonel Cantor deployed to Iraq as a company commander and was among 
the first Civil Affairs Companies to enter the country during the 2003 
invasion. During that deployment, he developed and significantly 
influenced the first post-Saddam Hussein Kirkuk provincial government 
to provide stability among 1.2 million ethnically diverse people and 
was responsible for the construction of over 285 schools, the creation 
of a new city police force and opened the first police academy in Iraq.
  Colonel Cantor has helped people in dozens of countries solve complex 
programs and build capacity to increase stability, as he spent time in 
sub-Saharan Africa working with tribal leaders in Cameroon to provide 
health care to their people, and coordinated and successfully employed 
physicians and dentists in a highly impoverished area to expand health 
care to the neediest of people and provided expertise in lasting care, 
and helped build refugee camps for Tutsi refugees fleeing for their 
lives from neighboring countries.
  Colonel Cantor supported the 82nd Airborne Division and became the 
Parwan Provincial Reconstruction Team Commander responsible for 245 
troops, including operational control of a Kentucky National Guard 
Agriculture team. He was responsible for planning, preparing and 
executing multiple projects including the conversion of poppy crops to 
sustainable high labor crops and improving the effectiveness of 
provincial law enforcement functions.
  Mr. Speaker, I sincerely hope that my colleagues will join me in 
congratulating Colonel Jeff Cantor on his military retirement and 
thanking him for his honorable service. This nation owes a debt of 
gratitude to Colonel Cantor for making the world a safer place and 
instilling the ideas of democracy in hostile environments around the 
world.

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