[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 218 (Friday, December 17, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Pages S9281-S9282]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



             Tribute to Lieutenant Colonel Randi Ludington

  Ms. MURKOWSKI. Mr. President, I think here in the Senate, so many of 
us have the privilege to occasionally host military fellows, 
congressional military fellows, and I would like to take just a minute 
here to recognize the great work of a former member of my staff, Air 
Force Lt. Col. Randi Ludington. She spent the last year working in my 
personal office as part of the U.S. Air Force congressional fellowship 
program. She just concluded that fellowship program just last week and 
has moved on to her next assignment, but I think it is important to be 
able to publicly express my appreciation for the work she did over the 
last year and really for her service to the Nation overall.
  For 17 years now, Randi has served in the U.S. Air Force. She was 
first an enlisted financial technician before she earned her commission 
and worked her way up to the rank of lieutenant colonel. She had a 
level of exposure before coming to my office certainly. These 
experiences of being in different places around the world, leading 
airmen, advising commanders, really proved invaluable when she came to 
provide her expertise in my office.
  Not only has she spearheaded efforts legislatively and prepped me for 
meetings and hearings, she really became a key member of our team, 
working with Alaskans, working with counterparts back here, but really 
serving them just as she would serve her own troops.
  When we were faced with a very chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan, 
Randi was one of those who was really burning the midnight oil. She was 
putting in long days and long nights, answering calls from constituents 
and veterans who were seeking help. She was doing just that. She was 
there around the clock, sometimes just listening, offering words of 
support; other times just really helping to synchronize the efforts 
between people on the ground in Kabul, lining them up with Departments 
and Agencies here in Washington, doing everything she could to try to 
help facilitate the needs of so many who were so desperate to get out.
  In the end, Randi was honored by an Alaska Native Corporation, the 
Goldbelt Corporation. They had been engaged in an airlift, a 
significant airlift, and she was recognized by Goldbelt for her 
dedicated efforts assisting them throughout that whole ordeal. So it 
was nice to know that she had received not only the recognition and 
thanks from those here, fellows back in Alaska, but also the broader 
international recognition.
  So I take this moment to just express my thanks to Randi. It was a 
pleasure having her in my office. She has a fabulous family. It was a 
great pleasure to be able to get to meet her husband Brad, an Air Force 
veteran himself. They have three super-great little kids: Charlee, 
Ryan, and Graham.
  I wish Randi and her family nothing but the best as she moves forward 
with her military career.
  I feel very fortunate that we get some of our Nation's best, who are 
able

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to take kind of a little bit of a detour through their professional 
trajectory in the military to come here, work with us, share their 
level of expertise, and also educate themselves on the internal process 
we have here.
  I was very fortunate to have her as part of my team. I think we 
should all be proud to know that it is leaders like her who comprise 
our military.
  So, again, thank you, Randi, for what you have done for our country 
and what you have done to help Alaska.
  Mr. President, I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. SASSE. I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call 
be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Cardin). Without objection, it is so 
ordered.