Honoring the retirement of Commander James E. Burd; Hon. Robert A. Borski of Pennsylvania In the House of Representatives.

Abstract

Mr. BORSKI. Mr. Speaker, I would like to extend my deepest congratulations to Commander James E. Burd, the Commanding Officer of the Naval Air Technical Services Facility, on his retirement. Commander Burd was born in Harrisburg and raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. In 1975 he graduated from the United States Naval Academy and he obtained of his pilot wings a year later. He was initially assigned to a Helicopter Combat Squadron and flew an H–46D helicopter aboard the USS White Plains (AFS–4), USS Midway (CV–41), and USS Niagara Falls (AFS–3) in the Pacific and Indian Oceans. In 1980, Commander Burd received his Masters Degree in Aeronautical Engineering from the Naval Postgraduate School. He also attended the Defense Systems Management College where he issued over 2,200 individual engineering safety clearances for almost every aircraft and aviation weapon system in the Navy and Marine Corps inventory, in addition to the prototype and classified systems successfully employed during Desert Storm. While aboard the USS Shasta (AE–33), he demonstrated true heroism by helping to save an aircraft from a ditching situation. By 1984, he was appointed as an Aeronautical Engineering Duty Officer, yet he still found the time to volunteer as a Detachment Officer in Charge of a helicopter deployment aboard USS Flint (AE–32).