[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 156 (2010), Part 9]
[Senate]
[Pages 13012-13013]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




          TRIBUTE TO LIEUTENANT GENERAL FRANKLIN L. HAGENBECK

  Mr. REED. Mr. President, next Monday, LTG Franklin Hagenbeck will 
retire from the U.S. Army after 39 years of service. He is a friend and 
a classmate from West Point, the class of 1971.
  Buster Hagenbeck has distinguished himself as a soldier, as a 
scholar, as an individual of peerless leadership ability. He entered 
West Point with the class of 1971. He graduated and was commissioned an 
infantry officer. He served in a succession of assignments, culminating 
as the commander of the 10th Mountain Division in Afghanistan. There he 
fought the fight in Operation Enduring Freedom. He served with great 
distinction, great judgment, and great discernment of the situation. He 
certainly not only exemplified the courage and character of our troops, 
but he felt very deeply for their concern and welfare. That is the type 
of individual, that is the type of soldier he is.
  After serving as the G-1 of the U.S. Army, he was designated the 57th 
Superintendent of the United States Military Academy. In the last 
several years, he has distinguished himself as a leader on not only 
issues of academic excellence but also, much more important, fulfilling 
the fundamental mission of the Military Academy to produce men and 
women committed to the motto of the academy: ``Duty, honor, country.'' 
Selfless service to the Nation. Buster Hagenbeck personifies that 
spirit.
  Under his leadership, West Point has been recognized by Forbes 
magazine as the best liberal arts college in the country. Every year it 
has successful candidates for Rhodes Scholarships and Marshall 
Scholarships. It is ranked at the very top in terms of engineering 
schools in the United States. But the real hallmark of West Point, as 
it always has been and always must be, is the men and women they 
produce, the young lieutenants who are today serving in Iraq and 
serving in Afghanistan, serving with courage and distinction.
  I think it is not only comforting for them to know but inspiring that 
their Superintendent led forces in Afghanistan before them, that he 
knows what lies ahead of them, and that he has done everything in his 
capacity and power to ensure that they are ready to serve the Nation 
and lead the Army.
  I have been privileged to be his friend, to know both him and his 
wife Judy, to be a beneficiary of their warm friendship and their 
kindness.

[[Page 13013]]

  As he retires from the U.S. Army, ending the last class of 1971 
graduates in active service to the Army and the Nation, I congratulate 
him and thank him.

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