[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 18]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 24511]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




            IN HONOR OF COLONEL RAYMOND ANTHONY CELESTE, JR.

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. KAY GRANGER

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, December 9, 2008

  Ms. GRANGER. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor Colonel Raymond 
Anthony Celeste, Jr., who is retiring from the United States Marine 
Corps after more than 26 years of faithful service.
  Colonel Celeste attended Officers Candidate School in October 1982 
and was commissioned a Second Lieutenant in December 1982. In 1983, he 
graduated first from The Basic School and later from the Field 
Artillery Officer Basic School. His first fleet assignment was at 
Marine Corps Base, 29 Palms, California in January 1984, where he 
served first with 4th Battalion 11th Marines and then with 5th 
Battalion 11th Marines as a platoon commander in 8 inch self-propelled 
Howitzer Batteries. During his time as a platoon commander, he 
participated in numerous Combined Arms Exercises, learning the great 
capabilities of the Marine Air Ground Task Force.
  In May of 1985, then-First Lieutenant Celeste transferred to Camp 
Pendleton, California, where he served in the Tactical Exercise Control 
Group and assisted in organizing field and staff exercises worldwide. 
In September of 1986, First Lieutenant Celeste reported as the first 
Operations Officer of the 1st Remotely Piloted Vehicle Company, where 
he became one of the first members of the newly established unit. In 
this assignment, he assisted in integrating Unmanned Aerial Vehicles 
into the Marine Air Ground Task Force and received an award for his 
meritorious service. Because of his expertise in this area, an article 
he wrote on the subject was published in the Marine Corps Gazette.
  In September of 1988, then-Captain Celeste transferred to the Marine 
Corps Reserves. In January of the following year, he joined 3rd Air 
Naval Gunfire Liaison Company where he deployed and participated in 
numerous bi-lateral exercises in Korea and Japan. During the first Gulf 
War, Captain Celeste was a commander in charge of training more than 
200 Marines for deployment to the Middle East and received an award for 
his meritorious service. In January of 1992, Captain Celeste 
transferred to Hotel Battery (155 mm Howitzers), 3rd Battalion, 14th 
Marines where he acted as Platoon Commander and Forward Observer. In 
June of that same year, he was selected to be the Executive Officer of 
Delta Company, 4th Light Armored Infantry Company. In 1993, he became 
the Commanding Officer of Delta Company and served in that capacity for 
over two years. Concurrent to his assignment as Delta Company's 
Commanding officer, Captain Celeste served as the Headquarters Marine 
Corps counterdrug officer where he monitored Marine Corps counterdrug 
operations.
  In 1995, then-Major Celeste was assigned as the Officer-in-Charge of 
the Department of the Navy Gulf War Declassification Project where he 
was responsible for the declassification of tens of thousands of pages 
of Gulf War I operational records. He subsequently received an award 
for meeting the mandated declassification deadline as established by 
the Deputy Secretary of Defense. Due to his expertise in the area, in 
May of 1997, Major Celeste was assigned as an investigator to the 
Office of the Special Assistant for Gulf War Illnesses. At this 
assignment, he assisted in the investigation of the causal factors for 
Gulf War Illnesses using the documents that he and his team helped to 
previously declassify. In order to widely disseminate the findings of 
the investigation, they were published on the World Wide Web which, at 
the time, was a novel medium for this purpose.
  In August of 1999, then-Lieutenant Colonel Celeste was assigned to 
Headquarters Marine Corps (Office of Legislative Affairs) where he 
served as a Congressional Affairs Officer. In this capacity, he 
assisted in the answering of high level congressional inquires, led the 
Marine Corps Congressional Fellowship Program, and assisted in the 
organizing of congressional outreach programs to include the following: 
The Congressional Marines Group, The Capitol Hill Running Club, 
Congressional Marine Day, and programs for Veterans Service 
Organizations and Defense Industry representatives.
  Colonel Celeste served in Iraq from February to August of 2007 as the 
Marine liaison between the Commanding General, Multi-National Forces 
West and the Commanding General Civilian Police Assistance Training 
Team. During this period, Colonel Celeste was a member of the Green 
Zone Council, which supports the Boys and Girls Scouting programs in 
Iraq. He was also involved in supporting a local orphanage in Baghdad 
by coordinating and soliciting donations from family and friends.
  For more than 26 years, Colonel Celeste's great sense of duty and 
exceptional work ethic have benefitted his fellow Marines and his 
nation. We thank him for his steadfast dedication and wish him fair 
winds and following seas as he starts the next chapter of his life.

                          ____________________