[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 3]
[Senate]
[Pages 3798-3799]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                    TRIBUTE TO DR. PATRICIA SANDERS

 Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. President, on the occasion of her retirement 
from the Department of Defense, I wish to recognize Dr. Patricia 
Sanders for her nearly 35 years of dedicated service to the security of 
our country. In her most recent assignment, she served as Executive 
Director at the Missile Defense Agency, where she advised the Director 
on issues related to the management and operations of one of the most 
dynamic organizations within the Department of Defense. Dr. Sanders has 
made an enormous contribution to the successful development and 
fielding of a defense to protect a nation, American troops deployed 
abroad, and our allies and friends from attack by ballistic missiles.
  Dr. Sanders graduated as a National Science Foundation Fellow from 
Wayne State University in 1972 with a doctorate in mathematics, where 
she also was educated in economics, organizational management, and 
other disciplines. She went on to hold several university faculty 
positions. It is to our great benefit, though, that Dr. Sanders decided 
to pursue a career in government.
  Her service within the Department of Defense as a member of the test 
and evaluation community has been extensive. Prior positions in the 
Office of the Secretary of Defense included serving as the Director of 
Land Forces in the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for 
Program Analysis and Evaluation and as Staff Specialist for the 
Director of Operational Test and Evaluation. Dr. Sanders served as 
Deputy Director for Analysis with the U.S. Space Command, Science 
Adviser to the Command, Control, Communications and Countermeasures 
Joint Test Force, and Chief of Modeling and Simulation and Technical 
Advisor to the Electronics Systems Division at the Air Force 
Operational Test and Evaluation Center.
  Dr. Sanders has extensive experience as a member of the Department's 
senior executive service. Before coming to the Missile Defense Agency, 
she was the Director for Test, Systems Engineering and Evaluation in 
the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and 
Technology, responsible for ensuring the integration of all engineering 
disciplines into the system acquisition process, providing technical 
risk assessments and oversight of developmental test and evaluation for 
many of the weapon systems used by our Armed Forces today.
  Dr. Sanders held numerous positions within the Missile Defense Agency 
and its predecessor organization, the Ballistic Missile Defense 
Organization. She came to the Ballistic Missile Defense Organization in 
1999 to be the Deputy for Test, Simulation and Evaluation. In this 
position, she was also the senior technical advisor to the Director. 
She served in this capacity until the Secretary of Defense gave the 
missile defense program a new direction.
  In early 2002, the start of one of the most dynamic periods in the 
Agency's history, and shortly after the Missile Defense Agency was 
established, Dr. Sanders was appointed the Deputy Director for 
Ballistic Missile Defense System Integration. She played a critical 
role in managing the development and fielding of an integrated missile 
defense system. Dr. Sanders played an instrumental role in developing 
the concept for the Ballistic Missile Defense System and advising 
Department leaders on the authorities and responsibilities required to 
develop and field an effective missile defense system.
  As Executive Director, a role she assumed in 2005, Dr. Sanders 
advised the Director on issues related to Agency management and 
operations. She also took on numerous tasks delegated by the Director 
such as directing the development of strategic communications campaign 
plans. Perhaps the most striking example of this came in the U.S. 
Government's European Site Initiative, where her vision for and 
guidance to this endeavor contributed to the development of a broad 
consensus among national leaders, combatant commanders, and the 
international communities on the growing need to establish a long-range 
missile defense capability in Europe. Dr. Sanders also helped to 
realize important cooperative agreements with Japan and

[[Page 3799]]

Israel, which today are helping contribute to a truly worldwide 
ballistic missile defense capability.
  During North Korea's provocative missile launches in July 2006, Dr. 
Sanders coordinated the Agency's actions during this crisis and 
established a dedicated crisis action team of highly trained staff to 
provide situation awareness to the President, combatant commanders, and 
the entire missile defense developer community. She educated senior 
military and civilian decisionmakers on the capabilities afforded by 
the deployed elements of the system so that the Nation's plans to deal 
with the crisis were based on accurate and timely information.
  As the Agency's senior leader dealing with operational and management 
functions, Dr. Sanders impacted the Agency's operations on a daily 
basis. She served as a senior interlocutor with all external defense 
agencies, the Services, and Members of Congress. The Agency's senior 
civilian, she was also the final arbiter of all issues related to 
personnel administration and development, directing and managing a 
diverse staff spanning seventeen time zones. In just the last 2 years, 
the Agency underwent a conversion to the new National Security 
Personnel System and made plans to execute a Base Realignment to 
Huntsville, AL, by 2011. To help the Agency weather this challenging 
period, Dr. Sanders instituted several major efforts in strategic human 
capital planning. She restructured the Agency's strategic mission 
planning and communications activity, directing a much-needed overhaul 
of long-range congressional and public affairs strategies. She also 
created and chaired a Base Realignment and Closure Panel to develop 
strategies for the transition to Huntsville and established working 
relationships with local officials in northern Alabama and with the 
Tennessee Valley Association. As a direct result of her leadership, the 
Agency has received more volunteers for relocation than anticipated.
  For many years now Dr. Sanders has been a fellow of the American 
Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics and, at one point, served as 
chair of AIAA's Flight Test Technical Committee. She is a past 
president of the International Test and Evaluation Association and has 
served on the board of directors for the Military Operations Research 
Society. She also has devoted significant time to mentoring future 
Defense Department civilian leaders. Throughout her career, Dr Sanders 
has been a champion of diversity and has been dedicated to recruitment 
and retention of young professionals in the Federal Government. She has 
been a dedicated mentor to women in the engineering field and has been 
a role model and pathfinder for women in defense. In addition, while at 
MDA, Dr. Sanders instituted a mentoring program for defense acquisition 
professionals, established an active career intern program and a 
Presidential management fellowship program.
  Dr. Patricia Sanders has consistently exemplified the finest 
attributes of a senior executive dedicated to public service. Her 
contributions, leadership, and service are well known throughout the 
Department. I am honored and proud to enter this tribute to Dr. 
Patricia Sanders into the official record. On behalf of all my 
colleagues, and with deep gratitude in my heart, I wish her the best as 
she embarks on the next journey in her life.

                          ____________________