[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 110 (Monday, June 15, 2020)]
[Senate]
[Page S2973]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  TRIBUTE TO COLONEL COREY A. SIMMONS

 Mr. INHOFE. Mr. President, I wish to pay tribute to the 
outgoing commander of the 71st Flying Training Wing, Vance Air Force 
Base, OK, Col. Corey A. Simmons. Colonel Simmons led a wing of nearly 
3,000 personnel who conducted critical undergraduate pilot training for 
many of our young Airmen.
  Corey has quite the resume, beginning when he was commissioned in the 
Air Force in 1998 after he graduated from the University of Louisville. 
He earned a graduate degree in 2005 from the George Washington 
University and is a graduate of Air Command and Staff College. He 
successfully completed the SECDEF Executive leadership Development 
Program and a Harvard University National Defense Fellowship.
  In his interactions with both me and my staff, Corey always displayed 
a high level of professionalism and actively worked to advance various 
initiatives and reach solutions. He was ready and willing to 
collaborate on a task and helped me do my job by making sure I knew the 
current status down at Vance. Corey's leadership instilled confidence 
in his airmen, and he laid critical groundwork for the future of the 
Enid community.
  Corey has been a dedicated leader in our Air Force, serving in Air 
Mobility Command as a vice wing commander, squadron commander, 
operations officer, C-17A instructor pilot, and aircraft commander. He 
has been stationed all around the country, but I am sure his favorite 
memories will be of his time spent at Altus and Vance Air Force Bases 
in Oklahoma. While Corey is an experienced pilot who has spent a 
respectable amount of time flying. He still falls far short of me in 
terms of flight hours, but maybe someday he will get close.
  I want to wish Colonel Simmons the best of luck in his next 
assignment at Travis Air Force Base in California as the commander of 
the 60th Air Mobility Wing. This assignment speaks to the caliber of 
leader that he is, and I personally am grateful to him, his wife Dawn, 
and his children for their dedicated service to our Nation, to the Air 
Force, and to the Enid community. Corey, best of luck.

                          ____________________