[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 35 (Tuesday, February 26, 2019)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E212]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               TRIBUTE TO MAJOR GENERAL CAROL A. TIMMONS

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. LISA BLUNT ROCHESTER

                              of delaware

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, February 26, 2019

  Ms. BLUNT ROCHESTER. Madam Speaker, I rise today, on behalf of my 
colleagues Senator Tom Carper and Senator Chris Coons of Delaware, to 
honor and congratulate Major General Carol Timmons for a lifetime of 
dedicated service to our country.
  After graduating from William Penn High School in 1977, Timmons 
enrolled in college and enlisted in the Delaware National Guard. With a 
childhood dream of becoming an airplane pilot, her career in flight 
would begin that very summer on a C-130 airplane in Savanah, Georgia. 
Despite her love of airplanes, Air Force rules prevented women from 
flying combat-mission planes, like the C-130. Due to these unfair 
regulations, she joined the Army National Guard in 1980 and would learn 
to fly Army helicopters, like the UH-1 Huey.
  Undeterred and committed to her dream, Timmons joined the Air Force 
Reserves where she flew noncombat support missions. She soon realized 
her dream as federal laws ended the discriminatory prohibition on women 
flying in combat missions, and during Operation Desert Storm, then-
Captain Timmons would become one of the first women to fly in combat. 
Following that operation, her career would come full circle as she 
rejoined the Delaware National Guard--flying the same C-130s she first 
learned to operate.
  On January 8, 2012, then-Brigadier General Timmons would make history 
by becoming the Delaware Air National Guard's first female commander, 
and again on February 1, 2017, when she was promoted to the rank of 
Major General and named Adjunct General of the Delaware National 
Guard--the Governor's chief military advisor commanding 1,500 soldiers 
and 1,100 airmen.
  During her storied 42-year career, she earned a Bronze Star for her 
service in Afghanistan and has flown over 5,200 hours in the cockpit, 
including 400 combat hours during contingencies, spanning Operations 
Desert Shield, Desert Storm, Southern Watch, Joint Guard, Iraqi 
Freedom, Enduring Freedom, and Inherent Resolve. She served on the 
National Guard's Joint Diversity Executive Council and the Air Force 
Reserve Policy Committee. She has received numerous honors, including 
induction into the Delaware Aviation Hall of Fame and the Delaware 
Women's Hall of Fame.
  By refusing to compromise on her dream, Timmons broke down barriers, 
blazed trails, and inspired women to let nothing stand in their way in 
service to our nation. I join Senator Carper and Senator Coons in 
thanking Major General Carol Timmons for her over four decades of 
service to our state and country, and we wish her the very best.

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