[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 160 (2014), Part 2]
[Senate]
[Page 2058]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                         ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS

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            TRIBUTE TO LIEUTENANT COLONEL CATHERINE M. BLACK

 Mr. KIRK. Mr. President, I rise to pay tribute to my 
constituent LTC Catherine M. Black for her exemplary dedication and 
service to the United States Army and to the United States of America. 
She has served for the last 2 years as a congressional budget liaison 
for the Secretary of the Army.
  A native of Chicago, IL, Lieutenant Colonel Black enlisted in the 
Army in the summer of 1994. She was selected as the Soldier of the Year 
at Fort Gordon, GA, and was subsequently selected for the Officer 
Candidate School, earning a commission as a finance officer in April 
1997.
  Lieutenant Colonel Black has served in a broad range of duty stations 
and assignments over her two decades of service. As a Lieutenant, she 
served as a disbursing officer in a finance group at Fort Bragg, NC. 
This culminated in a rotation through the U.S. Army Forces Center in 
Doha, Qatar. Following the horrific attacks on September 11, 2011, she 
provided financial management services during the ground invasion in 
support of Operation Enduring Freedom.
  As a Captain, Catherine Black served as a finance detachment 
commander and battalion operations officer at Fort Richardson, AK, and 
later as a financial management operations officer at Fort Belvoir, VA. 
After promotion to major, she commanded the 126th Financial Management 
Unit for a year and a half, while simultaneously serving as the 
Battalion Executive Officer for the Special Troops Battalion, 1st 
Sustainment Brigade at Fort Riley, KS. She trained and deployed her 
three financial management detachments to both Iraq and Afghanistan. 
She then deployed her headquarters to Kandahar, Afghanistan and stood 
up financial operations throughout southern Afghanistan. There she 
provided finance support to joint and coalition forces and developed 
financial management infrastructure for the nation of Afghanistan.
  Lieutenant Colonel Black was selected to serve as a congressional 
budget liaison officer in the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the 
Army for financial management and comptroller. She managed the Army's 
military personnel and operations and maintenance accounts, the Working 
Capital Fund, and activity at the depots and arsenals that support the 
Nation's organic industrial base, including Illinois' Rock Island 
Arsenal.
  Lieutenant Colonel Black's leadership throughout her career has 
positively impacted her soldiers, peers, and superiors. As a budget 
liaison officer, she worked directly with the Senate and House 
Appropriations Committees to educate and inform Senators, 
Representatives, and staff for the United States Army.
  Mr. President, on behalf of a grateful Nation, I thank and commend 
LTC Catherine Black for two decades of service to her country. I wish 
Catherine, her husband Geert Jacobs, and her sons Alexander, Achilles, 
and Elias all the best as they continue their journey of 
service.

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