[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 9]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages 13496-13497]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



              FAREWELL AND BEST WISHES, CAPTAIN DOUGHERTY

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH

                             of new jersey

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, June 17, 1999

  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I would like to take a moment 
today to praise Captain Michael Dougherty, presently the commanding 
officer at the Naval Air Engineering Station in Lakehurst, New Jersey.
  Sadly, we will be losing the fine leadership of Capt. Dougherty at 
Lakehurst on June 24th. As he moves on to his next assignment as head 
of the Foreign Military Sales Office at the Naval Aviation Systems 
Command at Patuxent River, I wish him the very best of success.
  Five years ago, Capt. Dougherty came to Lakehurst as the Project 
Coordinator for Support Equipment. He quickly rose to Head of the 
Aircraft Division Logistics Group, and in

[[Page 13497]]

May 1997 after serving as Executive Officer, he assumed his current 
duties as Commanding Officer of the Naval Air Engineering Station at 
Lakehurst.
  In addition to his duties as Commanding Officer, Captain Dougherty is 
also a family man, and is married to the former Alice Scherer, who 
works as a school nurse for Independent Child Study Teams of Jersey 
City. He is the proud father of four children: Maureen, Jill, Claire, 
and Kevin. Maureen is a graduate of Ithaca College, and Jill is a 
Midshipman in the Naval Reserves, and a junior at Holy Cross. Claire 
and Kevin are both students at Monsignor Donovan High School in Toms 
River.
  Captain Dougherty took command of the base in 1997, in the wake of 
the Pentagon's unsuccessful attempt to close the Lakehurst Naval 
facility during the 1995 Base Realignment and Closure Commission (BRAC) 
process. It fell to him to reassure Pentagon number crunchers, the BRAC 
commission and Congress that saving the base was indeed the best course 
for the Navy and American security interests. Captain Dougherty showed 
us the way.
  Almost immediately, Capt. Dougherty organized the Community 
Partnership Program with State, County, and business leaders to broaden 
and deepen public/private awareness of Lakehurst's unique capabilities. 
Consequently, Captain Dougherty invited countless businesses and local 
governments to come visit the base to learn ways they can work more 
closely together on issues of common interest.
  Lakehurst is a world-class facility with a priceless base of 
knowledge about engineering and advanced technologies relating to the 
successful operation of our aircraft carriers. Through his Community 
Partnering Program, Captain Dougherty has made available to the 
business community some of Lakehurst's technology, facilities, and 
personnel. For instance, under the program, if a business has a problem 
with a manufacturing process, they can come to Lakehurst for technical 
assistance in solving the problem. This has been a win/win situation 
for both the public and private sector. The local community now has 
increased access to advanced technological know-how and the base has 
expanded its solid reputation as a good neighbor. And in some instances 
the base has been able to reduce expenses as private contractors shared 
some of the operating costs. This is but a single example of Captain 
Dougherty's work to connect the local community to the base, and the 
base to the local community.
  Captain Dougherty's partnering initiatives are epitomized by the 
success of the educational partnering agreement with Rowan University's 
School of Engineering. This agreement will give students at Rowan 
University invaluable hands-on experience on how to solve real world 
engineering problems. Through the interaction with Lakehurst's staff 
expertise, unique facilities, and equipment related to aircraft 
platform interface technology at Navy Lakehurst, the agreement will 
certainly strengthen the quality of engineering students at Rowan who 
participate in this program.
  On the flip side, the Rowan-Lakehurst partnership helps Lakehurst to 
secure additional engineering talent from within the state to replace 
engineers at the base when they move on to other jobs or retire. The 
partnership also enables Lakehurst to tap into a huge network of 
expertise and knowledge at Rowan University, which will be vital if 
Lakehurst is to maintain its status in cutting-edge aircraft platform 
interace technology. This is yet another good neighbor, win-win 
situation adding to the list of successes Capt. Dougherty has brought 
to the base under his command.
  These successful efforts have produced tangible results. The 
Lakehurst Naval Air Engineering Center is an important and integral 
part of the Ocean County economy and that of the surrounding region. 
Lakehurst is a $450 million dollar business, with about $10 million 
going directly to Ocean County. As the county's largest employer, the 
base provides jobs for 1,900 people. Captain Dougherty also has taken 
important steps to encourage the base to reexamine its purchases of 
many categories of goods and services, to see where it can expand its 
network of local contractors and service providers.
  On issue after issue of importance to naval aviation, Captain 
Dougherty has demonstrated real leadership. He has been an advocate, as 
I have been, for the construction of a new, state-of-the-art Aircraft 
Platform Interface (API) laboratory at Navy Lakehurst. In fact, just 
last week my fellow members here in this chamber joined me in 
authorizing a new ``superlab'' for Lakehurst. The $15.7 million in 
funding authorization for the construction of a new API laboratory will 
solidify Lakehurst's status as ``the heart of naval aviation.'' But 
this giant leap for the base did not occur in a vacuum, I assure you. 
It happened because of the dedication and hard work of people 
interested in the base and the critical work performed there--people 
like Capt. Dougherty.
  Mr. Speaker, throughout his command, Capt. Dougherty has had an 
impressive series of accomplishments for which he can be proud, in both 
his personal and professional life. It has been my privilege to work 
with him on the many initiatives that have put Lakehurst at the 
forefront of naval aviation, and will keep it there well into the 
twenty-first century. On behalf of the citizens of the fourth district 
who have benefited from the vital work he has performed while at 
Lakehurst, and on behalf of the country he has so diligently served, it 
is my pleasure to thank Capt. Dougherty for his fine leadership and 
wish him well in his future endeavors.

                          ____________________