[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 160 (2014), Part 4]
[Senate]
[Pages 5748-5749]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




           TRIBUTE TO CHIEF WARRANT OFFICER JOHN ALAN FISHER

 Mr. BLUNT. Mr. President, it is a pleasure to honor CW5 John 
Alan Fisher as he retires from a 30-year career with the Missouri Army 
National Guard. Chief Fisher has had an extraordinary career with the 
Guard and has made incredible contributions little-known outside his 
field. I am glad to be able to recognize him for his accomplishments 
today.
  Chief Fisher began his career as a young Marine, earning the Vietnam 
Service Medal, the Navy Unit Commendation Medal and the Humanitarian 
Service Medal over the course of his 8 years of service. In 1980, after 
fulfilling his commitment to the Marines, Chief Fisher enlisted in the 
Army National Guard. In the three decades since, he and his team of 
professionals have helped supply and maintain mission-ready aircraft 
without a single aircraft accident or incident reported.
  Chief Fisher's career has been in aviation maintenance, leading 
efforts to identify problems with the helicopter fleet that is serviced 
in my hometown of Springfield, MO. Early in his career, Chief Fisher 
recognized problems with wiring that compromised the Guard's ability to 
maintain combat-readiness in its helicopter fleet. While others thought 
the modules for the fleet were wearing out, it was Chief Fisher who 
recognized that the problem was in fact a failure of the wiring. Since 
that time, he and his team have developed the first protocol to rewire 
literally miles of wiring in helicopters. His efforts ensure the 
reliability of the fleet for 14 States.

[[Page 5749]]

  Under Chief Fisher's leadership, these programs have grown into a 
world-class operation at the Missouri Theater Aviation Sustainment 
Maintenance Group, MO-TASMG, in Springfield. Today, Springfield remains 
the only National Guard site in the Nation that specializes in rewiring 
air frames for America's military helicopters. Officer Fisher has been 
an incredible asset to this mission, as has the team of highly-skilled 
professionals he helped train. The crew at MO-TASMG are able to build 
and repair some of the most complex parts of virtually any aircraft in 
the Army inventory. Many of these components have been integral to the 
success of missions in Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring 
Freedom. In fact, in 2004 you could open nearly any avionics 
compartment in an aircraft in theater to find a repaired component 
label identifying Chief Fisher's team as the source of its repair.
  With multiple deployments to both Operation Enduring Freedom and 
Operation Iraqi Freedom, these accomplishments only scratch the surface 
of Chief Fisher's many contributions throughout his nearly four decades 
of service. I am also pleased to note that Chief Fisher's legacy 
extends beyond his own service, as his son Shane Fisher also serves in 
the Missouri National Guard. I am thankful to both of them for their 
service. Congratulations again to Chief Fisher on his well-deserved 
retirement. He has certainly earned this time to relax with his 
family.

                          ____________________