[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 15]
[Senate]
[Page 20527]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




        TRIBUTE TO UNITED STATES NAVY CAPTAIN DUDLEY B. BERTHOLD

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, today I honor a great American from the 
Commonwealth of Kentucky. After 25 years of dedicated service to our 
country, Captain Dudley B. Berthold of the United States Navy will 
retire on August 8 of this year. I would like to take a moment to 
recognize his accomplishments.
  Captain Berthold is the son of retired USAR, Brigadier General Julius 
L. Berthold. I am pleased to say he attended the University of 
Louisville as an NROTC Midshipman and graduated in 1978. Upon 
graduation he was commissioned as an Ensign in the U.S. Navy, and 
shortly after completing Surface Warfare Officer School he reported to 
his first assignment on board the USS O'Bannon, DD 987, serving first 
as Auxiliary Officer and then as the Main Propulsion Assistant.
  Captain Berthold began his extensive study in aircraft carrier design 
in 1982, when he enrolled in the Naval Postgraduate School of Monterey, 
CA, and earned an MS degree in Mechanical Engineering. He was selected 
for the Naval Nuclear Power Training Program, which led to training 
assignments at the Naval Nuclear Power School in Orlando, FL, and the 
Nuclear Prototype Propulsion Plant Training Unit in Ballston Spa, NY. 
His assignments took him from the decks of the USS Theodore Roosevelt, 
CVN 71, where he served as the Electrical Officer, to the shores of 
Virginia where, in 1989, he was assigned as the Aircraft Carrier New 
Construction Principle Assistant Project Officer on the staff of the 
Supervisor of Shipbuilding at Newport News. Here, he assisted in the 
planning and execution of the construction, test & trials, and delivery 
of the USS George Washington, CVN 73. On later tours, he oversaw the 
delivery of both the USS Harry S Truman, CVN 75, and the USS Ronald 
Reagan, CVN 76.
  Most recently, Captain Berthold served as Program Manager for the 
Navy's future aircraft carrier programs at the Navy's Program Executive 
Office for Aircraft Carriers in Newport News, VA. He has played a key 
role in developing new and innovative acquisition strategies for the 
design and construction of the final Nimitz Class Aircraft Carrier, USS 
George H W Bush, CVN 77, and the new CVN 21 class. This new class of 
aircraft carrier design sets a new standard for war-fighting capability 
and will influence the readiness of our military throughout the 21st 
century.
  Captain Berthold has earned a great number of personal decorations, 
including the Meritorious Service Medal with three Gold Stars, the Navy 
Commendation Medal with one Gold Star, and the Navy Achievement Medal. 
I am proud to represent such a fine Kentuckian in the U.S. Senate, and 
I thank him for his dedication to the people of the United States. His 
list of accomplishments is great, yet being the son of retired USAR, 
Brigadier General Bud Berthold, whom I consider to be a close personal 
friend and wonderful role model, certainly ranks high on that list. 
While the Navy will lose a loyal seaman, his wife, Deborah Lynn, and 
two children, Bryant and Bridgette, will welcome him home with open 
arms. I wish Captain Dudley B. Berthold the traditional naval wish of 
``Fair winds and Following seas'' as his military career comes to an 
end. And I congratulate him on his retirement.

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