[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 10]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages 14707-14708]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



    TRIBUTE TO GENERAL CHARLES C. KRULAK, UNITED STATES MARINE CORPS

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. IKE SKELTON

                              of missouri

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, June 29, 1999

  Mr. SKELTON. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor a great patriot, a 
man amongst men and a Marine's Marine. After almost forty years of 
devoted service to this Nation, General Charles C. Krulak, 31st 
Commandant of the Marine Corps, will soon receive his final orders 
directing him to stand-down and retire from active duty. His departure 
will signal an evolutionary change--the first time in 70 years that a 
Krulak will be absent from the roles of the United States Marine Corps.
  After graduating from the Naval Academy in 1964, General Krulak had 
an illustrious career that spanned four decades of faithful service to 
this Nation. During his service to our country General Krulak commanded 
a platoon and two rifle companies during two tours of duty in Vietnam; 
he commanded a Marine infantry rifle battalion; was the Commanding 
General for 10th Marine Expeditionary Brigade; Assistant Division 
Commander for 2d Marine Division, Fleet Marine Forces Atlantic; 
Commanding General, 2d Force Service Support Group; Commanding General, 
6th Marine Expeditionary Brigade; commanded the 2d Force Service 
Support Group during the Gulf War; commanded Marine Forces Pacific/
Commanding General, Fleet Marine Force Pacific, and on June 29, he was 
promoted to General and assumed duties as the 31st Commandant on June 
30, 1995.
  General Krulak's decorations and medals include: the Silver Star 
Medal; Bronze Star Medal with Combat ``V'' and two gold stars; Purple 
Heart with gold star; Combat Action Ribbon; Republic of Vietnam Cross 
of Gallantry; the Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal; and the Kuwait 
Liberation Medal.
  It is during his tenure as the 31st Commandant of the Marine Corps to 
which this body has come to know and appreciate the many virtues of 
this modern day warrior. His accomplishments as Commandant will 
resonate long and far into the next millennium, ensuring the Marine 
Corps remains the world's premier crisis response force. A professional 
force that is committed, capable, and reliable to meet any challenge, 
under any circumstance, anytime and anyplace in the world.
  The challenges which will confront this Nation in the 21st century 
will be varied and often unpredictable--a time of asymmetry, 
uncertainty, and chaos. Fortunately, General Krulak had the wisdom and 
foresight to understand the emergence of this fluid and unstable 
environment. He understood the necessity to field an agile and 
adaptable force--a Corps of Marines who could prevail against the 
multifaceted threats which would challenge our Nation's security and 
its interests.
  General Krulak understood the situation at hand. He understood, not 
merely the importance to modernize the force, but to develop new 
concepts and techniques which will ensure decisive victory in the 
``savage wars of peace.'' He forged his Corps of Marines through 
unrelenting sacrifice, initiative, and courage . . .
  He labored extensively within the naval services to develop common 
operational concepts to support the strategic vision expressed in 
``Forward . . . From the Sea.''
  He diligently exercised oversight of the Marine Corps in its roles as 
lead or executive agency within the Department of Defense for Military 
Operations Other Than War, Military Operations on Urban Terrain, and 
Non-Lethal Weapons.
  He promoted the institutionalization of the Combat Development System 
and the Concepts Based Requirements System in the Marine Corps. These 
systems ensured that Marine Corps doctrine, organization, training and 
education, equipment and supporting activities were all driven by, and 
working toward achieving, a common operational warfighting concept.

  He created the Marine Corps Warfighting Laboratory as a standing 
forum to serve as the cradle and test bed for the development of 
enhanced operational concepts, tactics, techniques, procedures, and 
doctrine which would be progressively introduced into the fleet Marine 
Forces in concert with new technologies.
  He directed the creation of the Marine Corps' Chemical-Biological 
Incident Response Force to assist in filling a void in the Nation's 
ability to manage the consequences of a chemical or biological 
incident. This force has been employed on several instances at the 
national level, and has prompted the development of additional 
consequence management capabilities throughout DoD.
  He created and implemented the ``Transformation Process'' of making 
Marines--a holistic approach to recruiting and developing young men and 
women to ensure they have the skills and basic character needed to 
effectively meet the asymmetric 21st century threat. Transformation, 
which begins with a prospective recruit's first contact with a Marine 
recruiter and continues throughout a Marine's service, constituted a 
major enhancement to the way the Marine Corps recruits and trains 
Marines.
  He labored extensively to institutionalize the Marine Corps' ``core 
values'' of honor, courage, and commitment while maintaining--and in 
many cases elevating--performance standards in every aspect of Marine 
Corps' recruiting and developmental processes--be they mental, physical 
or moral.
  There are many more accomplishments that could be enumerated upon 
here--accomplishments that speak to programs and doctrine, to systems 
and platforms. But, to focus on these, as daunting as they are, would 
be an injustice to the most important aspect of General Krulak's 
storied career--the care and nurturing of the Marine Corps family.
  He created the Personnel and Family Readiness Division within 
Headquarters Marine Corps to account for the fact that personal and 
family readiness are inseparable from combat readiness. General Krulak 
not only pursued making better Marines, capable of winning our Nation's 
future battles, but also to make better Americans. He promoted a focus 
on character development and high ethical and moral standards. He 
stressed core values of honor, courage, and commitment as a way of life 
in the Corps. They are attributes that will serve them well, long after 
they have hung up their uniforms.
  A key contributor to the Marine Corps family and a person General 
Krulak owes much success to is his wife, Sandy Krulak. She gave dignity 
and grace to the maturation of the Marine Corps family. She has devoted 
her life to her husband and to the Corps. Her sacrifice and devotion 
has served as an example and inspiration for others. Later this month 
the Corps will lose not one, but two very exceptional people.
  In closing I want to recognize General Krulak for his uncompromising 
integrity to always do the right thing, for the Nation and his beloved 
Corps. His unwavering conviction that ``Semper Fidelis'' is a way of 
life, not just a motto, speaks powerfully to the citizens he serves. It 
has been my good fortune--it has been the House good fortune--to 
witness the resolve of a person who believes so strongly about the 
institution to which he serves. Now, to some that might seem old 
fashioned and out-of-step with societies norms today, but to General 
Krulak it is the life and blood that sustains the Corps. He fought hard 
to address readiness and modernization issues before the Senate Armed 
Services Committee when it was not always popular to do so. He 
challenged the logic and assertion by many of the benefits concerning 
integrated training during indoctrination into the military. Today, the 
Corps is meeting its recruiting requirements, forty-eight months 
consecutively and achieved its retention goals--a testimony to the 
wisdom and foresight of General Krulak.
  General Krulak, the Marine Corps is a better institution today than 
it was four years ago. Your sacrifice and devotion to duty have made

[[Page 14708]]

it so. You have provided a significant and lasting contribution to your 
Corps and to this Nation's security. Through your stewardship there is 
a renewed sense of esprit de corps. Those who follow your example will 
be a testament to the legacy you leave behind.
  I want to wish you and your family fair winds and following seas as 
you step down as the 31st Commandant of the Marine Corps. Your 
distinguished and faithful service to our country is greatly 
appreciated. You will be sorely missed, but surely not forgotten.

                          ____________________