[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 143 (Monday, September 9, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5357-S5358]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     TRIBUTE TO CAPTAIN MIKE VITALI

 Mr. PORTMAN. Mr. President, I rise today to pay special 
tribute to an exceptional officer of the U.S. Navy, CAPT Mike Vitali. 
Captain Vitali currently serves as the senior military adviser for the 
Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Homeland Defense Integration 
and Defense Support for Civil Authorities and will be released from 
Active Duty after more than 24 years of active military service on 
October 1, 2019. As a native of Maple Heights, OH, it is my distinct 
privilege to recognize his storied career.

[[Page S5358]]

  CAPT Mike Vitali began his naval career as a midshipman in the Naval 
Reserve Officer Training Corps at Purdue University in West Lafayette, 
IN. Captain Vitali was commissioned as an ensign upon his graduation 
from Purdue in 1994 and then went to the Pensacola, FL, where he earned 
his naval flight officer wings of gold on August 16, 1996.
  As a newly minted naval flight officer, Mike earned his initial 
qualifications in the S-3B Viking at Sea Control Squadron Forty-One, 
VS-41, and then joined the VS-35 Blue Wolves at Naval Air Station North 
Island in San Diego, CA. Captain Vitali went on to complete two 
deployments aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln in support of Operations 
SOUTHERN WATCH and DESERT FOX in the skies over Iraq. In October 2000, 
he returned to VS-41 as an instructor where he trained replacement 
pilots and navigators in S-3B operations and tactics. As a result of 
the Viking Sundown program, Captain Vitali led the fleet's transition 
program and completed training in the P-3C Orion at Patrol Squadron 
Thirty, VP-30, in Jacksonville, FL. He completed tours with the VP-16 
War Eagles in Jacksonville and VP-4 Skinny Dragons in Kaneohe Bay, HI, 
where he conducted antisubmarine, maritime interdiction, counterdrug, 
and counterterrorism operations while deployed to Sicily, Djibouti, El 
Salvador, the Philippines, and Okinawa.
  From 2008-2010, he served at the U.S. Special Operations Command, 
where he coordinated the update of SOCOMs memorandums of agreement with 
the military departments. On May 25, 2012, he assumed command of the 
VP-45 Pelicans in Jacksonville, FL, and successfully led the squadron 
through a rigorous work-up cycle and SEVENTH Fleet Deployment to 
Okinawa where the squadron supported 17 detachments and logged over 
3,200 flight hours.
  After command, Captain Vitali reported to the Navy Office of 
Legislative Affairs, serving as Deputy Director of the Senate Liaison 
Office, where he supported several of my colleagues and their staffs on 
congressional delegations around the world. In May 2015, Captain Vitali 
reported to the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for 
Legislative Affairs, serving as the Director of Senate Affairs advising 
the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Legislative Affairs on all 
matters pertaining to the U.S. Senate, especially the confirmation 
process. He was directly responsible for the Senate confirmation of 68 
Presidentially appointed civilian positions within the Department of 
Defense across two administrations to include the Secretary of Defense, 
Deputy Secretary of Defense, three Service Secretaries, four Under 
Secretaries to the Office of the Secretary of Defense, three Service 
Under Secretaries, and numerous Assistant Secretaries of Defense. His 
solid relationships and unmatched credibility with senior officials 
were indispensable in maintaining a high level of support and dialogue 
with Senators and their staffs.
  Throughout his career, Captain Vitali has logged over 2,570 flight 
hours and 267 carrier landings.
  I ask that you join me, our colleagues, and CAPT Mike Vitali's family 
and friends in saluting this distinguished officer's many contributions 
and sacrifices in defense of our great Nation. It is fitting that the 
Senate today publicly recognizes his service and wishes him, his wife 
Tracy, and their children Gabrielle, Isabella, and Michael health, 
happiness, and success in the years to come. Congratulations, Captain 
Vitali, on completing an exceptional and exemplary career.

                          ____________________