[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 11]
[Senate]
[Page 15807]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




              TRIBUTE TO CHIEF PETTY OFFICER MIKEL S. COOK

 Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, I wish to recognize yeoman CPO 
Mikel S. Cook, on the occasion of his retirement from the United States 
Navy.
  In his 22-year career in the United States Navy, yeoman Chief Petty 
Officer Cook has served with great distinction and made countless 
sacrifices to our country. I commend him for his service and 
extraordinary dedication to duty and the United States of America.
  Yeoman Chief Petty Officer Cook graduated from boot camp in 1994 from 
Recruit Training Command in Orlando, FL. Following graduation, he 
attended Yeoman ``A'' School in Meridian, MS. He reported to his first 
sea assignment with the Seabees assigned to Naval Mobile Construction 
Battalion 7. He later reported to the USS Rainier, AOE-7, participating 
in Operations Southern Watch and Enduring Freedom and earning his 
enlisted surface and air warfare pins. His final sea assignment was 
with Fleet Air Reconnaissance Squadron 2 out of Whidbey Island, WA.
  Yeoman Chief Petty Officer Cook also served with distinction in a 
variety of assignments ashore: as executive assistant to the Deputy 
Chief of Staff--Operations and Intelligence, Supreme Headquarters 
Allied Powers Europe in Mons, Belgium; and as a naval analyst with the 
special liaison detachment, North Atlantic Treaty Organization, 
Brussels, Belgium.
  After completing his last sea tour, yeoman Chief Petty Officer Cook 
reported to his current assignment as congressional liaison in the Navy 
Appropriations Matters Office, where he helped the Department of the 
Navy achieve their financial and legislative goals. For 5 years, yeoman 
Chief Petty Officer Cook has demonstrated exceptional leadership and 
foresight, engaging Members of the Appropriations Committee and its 
staff to provide information essential to resourcing the Navy for its 
role as the world's dominant sea power. In an increasingly difficult 
budget environment, he provided essential support in shepherding four 
Navy budgets through the appropriations process, serving our Navy with 
insight and dedication.
  I join my colleagues today in saying thank you to yeoman CPO Mikel S. 
Cook for his extraordinary dedication to duty and steadfast service to 
this country throughout his distinguished career in the U.S. Navy. We 
wish him; his wife, Robyn; and his daughter, Norah, ``Fair Winds and 
Following Seas'' in his well-deserved retirement.

                          ____________________