[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 9]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 12962]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




  CONGRATULATING COLONEL HARRY M. ``MIKE'' ROBERTS ON THE OCCASION OF 
                    CHANGE OF COMMAND AND RETIREMENT

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. STEVE AUSTRIA

                                of ohio

                    in the house of representatives

                        Friday, August 26, 2011

  Mr. AUSTRIA. Mr. Speaker, I rise today on behalf of the people of 
Ohio's Seventh Congressional District to congratulate Colonel Mike 
``MR'' Roberts on the occasion of his change of command and retirement 
and for his outstanding service to our Nation.
  Colonel Roberts is to be recognized for his outstanding command of 
the 178th Fighter Wing, Springfield Air National Guard from January 5, 
2008 to August 21, 2011, and upon his retirement after more than 29 
years of dedicated service to the United States and the United States 
Air Force.
  Colonel Roberts received his commission in 1982 upon his graduation 
from the U.S. Air Force Academy. After graduation, he completed Air 
Force Pilot Training with an assignment to fly the A-10 Thunderbolt. 
Following his A-10 assignment, Colonel Roberts went on to fly the AT-38 
and various models of the F-16C, while stationed in numerous locations 
including: New Mexico, Florida, Arizona, and Torrejon Air Base in 
Spain.
  While assigned to Torrejon Air Base, he deployed and flew combat 
sorties in Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm. Colonel Roberts 
was shot down over downtown Baghdad on January 19, 1991 and spent six 
weeks as a Prisoner of War until combat operations ceased and he was 
released in March of 1991.
  In 1996, Colonel Roberts was assigned as the Active Duty Advisor to 
the 178th Fighter Wing, Springfield Air National Guard. In 2000, he 
resigned from active duty and was commissioned into the Ohio Air 
National Guard. As a member of the Ohio Air National Guard, Col. 
Roberts held numerous leadership positions, culminating as the 
Commander of the 178th Fighter Wing, Springfield Air National Guard 
Base.
  Colonel Roberts' command of the 178th was simply outstanding, as 
evidenced by his winning the 2010 Ohio Adjutant General's Commander of 
the Year Award. He won this award for his invaluable contributions to 
the families of the 178th by ensuring all of their needs were met while 
maintaining a 100 percent deployment cycle and a changing mission set 
that required a complete retraining and reassignment of many of the 
Wing's personnel.
  His ``people first'' style of leadership helped lead the 178th 
Fighter Wing through a successful transition from an F-16 Training 
Wing, including international students, to an Intelligence, 
Surveillance, and Reconnaissance Wing flying the MQ-1 Predator. During 
this transition, the 178th completed all sortie requirements, totaling 
more than 5,800 flying hours with zero mishaps.
  Colonel Roberts is a Command Pilot with over 5,000 flying hours, and 
has received numerous Department of Defense Awards, including the 
Legion of Merit, Distinguished Flying Cross, Purple Heart, and Prisoner 
of War Medal.
  For his tireless service and strong dedication to our Nation and the 
world's greatest Air Force, I join the people of Ohio's Seventh 
Congressional District in extending our congratulations for a mission 
well done and a huge thanks for his many years of service. We wish him 
and his family the very best in their future endeavors.

                          ____________________