HR0372 97TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR0372 LRB097 09247 GRL 51587 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of Representatives are pleased to honor those who contribute to the well-being of the State of Illinois and its residents; and

WHEREAS, Richard Jaehne earned his bachelor's degree from the University of Utah in 1968; he subsequently earned his master's degree in systems management from the University of Southern California in 1979; he participated in numerous military professional education resident courses, including the Department of the Navy Total's Quality Leadership Course in 1993 and programs at the Marine Corps Command and Staff College in 1983 and the Air War College in 1987; he is also certified as a Type 3 FEMA Incident Management Team member; and

WHEREAS, After earning his bachelor's degree, Richard Jaehne was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the United States Marine Corps; he subsequently attained the rank of Colonel; during his tenure, he served in Vietnam, the Far East, Latin America, the Middle East, Europe, and Washington, D.C.; he also served as the Commandant of the NATO School in Oberammergau, Germany and as Director of the Operations Department at the United States Marine Corps Headquarters in Washington, D.C.; he retired from the United States Marine Corps on September 30, 1997, after more than 29 years of active service around the world; and

WHEREAS, Richard Jaehne was awarded the Navy Cross while serving as a platoon leader with Company K, Third Battalion, Seventh Marine Regiment of the First Marine Division in connection with combat operations against the enemy in the Republic of Vietnam on August 28, 1969; he also earned three Defense Superior Service Medals, the Legion of Merit, the Bronze Star with Combat "V", the Purple Heart, the Meritorious Service Medal, two Combat Action Ribbons, the German Honor Cross in Silver, and the Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry with Silver Star; and

WHEREAS, Richard Jaehne is the author of numerous publications, including "NATO School Vision 2000", which was presented to the Supreme Allied Commander, Allied Powers Europe, "Traumatic Stress, A Personal View From Combat", and numerous articles for professional journals and hundreds of speeches of note to international and U.S. crisis management and security forums; he is also the co-developer of the seminar entitled "Where the Battle Begins", which relates leadership in high-risk situations between the military and fire service; and

WHEREAS, Richard Jaehne has served with distinction as the director of the Illinois Fire Service Institute, the statutory Illinois State Fire Academy; as director, he leads an inter-agency team that has developed and delivers unified command training programs which meet the new National Incident Management System standards to first responders, local and elected officials, and the United States Postal Service; he has also supervised the delivery of more than 600,000 student hours of training to some 55,000 firefighters and other first responders annually; and

WHEREAS, Richard Jaehne is a member of the Illinois Governor's Terrorism Task Force and a Co-Chair of the task force's Training Committee; he was a member of the Governor's Blue Ribbon Fire Service Committee and the Governor's Fire Advisory Commission; he is a past-Vice President of the North American Fire Training Directors; he is also a member of the congressionally-mandated FEMA Region V Regional Advisory Council; and

WHEREAS, In 2002, Richard Jaehne developed and led a series of 17 homeland security planning workshops statewide culminating in a 2-day Homeland Security Summit, attended by community leaders from across Illinois and the Illinois Homeland Security Coordinator; and

WHEREAS, Richard Jaehne received the Mutual Aid Box Alarm System (MABAS) President's Leadership Award in 2006 for sustained support in fire and homeland security preparedness and programs; and

WHEREAS, Richard Jaehne serves as a model of hard work, integrity, and dedication for the people of the State of Illinois; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NINETY-SEVENTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we designate the new building at the Illinois Fire Service Institute as the "Richard L. Jaehne Building" in honor of Richard L. Jaehne and his many accomplishments; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be presented to Richard Jaehne as a symbol of our esteem and respect.