HONORING VICE ADMIRAL JOHN SCOTT REDD, U.S. NAVY (RET.) FOR FORTY YEARS OF PUBLIC SERVICE

[Congressional Record: November 14, 2007 (Extensions)]

[Page E2416]

From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

[DOCID:cr14no07-56]

HONORING VICE ADMIRAL JOHN SCOTT REDD, U.S. NAVY (RET.) FOR FORTY YEARS OF PUBLIC SERVICE

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HON. PETER T. KING of new york in the house of representatives

Wednesday, November 14, 2007

Mr. KING of New York. Madam Speaker, today I rise to recognize a dedicated public servant who devoted nearly four decades to protecting this great Nation. Vice Admiral John Scott Redd, U.S. Navy (Ret.), retired last week after serving as the first Director of the National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC).

Admiral Redd's accomplishments are many, having served thirty-six years in the United States Navy, which culminated in his assignment as the Director of Strategic Plans and Policy on the Joint Staff. Retiring from the Navy in 1998, Admiral Redd was again called to serve in 2004, this time as the Deputy Administrator and Chief Operating Officer of the Coalition Provisional Authority in Baghdad, Iraq. He went on to serve as the Executive Director of the Commission on the Intelligence Capabilities of the United States Regarding Weapons of Mass Destruction where he influenced Community-wide intelligence reforms and made lasting improvements to America's national security.

Under his superior leadership, the National Counterterrorism Center developed into the Nation's premier intelligence and law enforcement fusion center, bridging all elements of the Intelligence Community to develop a national common intelligence picture. Admiral Redd tore down walls between Intelligence Community members and replaced a ``need to know'' philosophy with a ``responsibility to share'' environment.

Some of the Intelligence Community's successes are known such as the thwarted terrorist attacks against the Sears Tower, a Chicago-area shopping mall, military forces at Fort Dix, New Jersey, and multiple targets in New York, D.C. and elsewhere. Others remain classified.

However, in each instance, the National Counterterrorism Center played a key information sharing role which led to the successful prevention of these attacks against our citizens.

Admiral Redd is to be commended for his contributions to the Nation, but such a persevering service is not without a cost. For that I offer my personal thanks to his wife of over 37 years, Donna Redd, and their children Anne, Scott, and Adam, without whose support such service would not have been possible.