general ronald burgess jr.y and honorably was retired from the united states army on the first day of september in the year 2012. signed raymond the air no, general of the united states army, chief of staff. [applause] >> ladies and gentlemen, secretary of the army, john m mchugh

direct your clapper will now submit the metal to joe burgess paid citation is attended general ronald burgessence distinguished service medal and wreck mission of extraordinary contributions from may 1974 to july 2012. during his distinguished 38 year career, lieutenant general burgess is a driving force in the depart of defense and united states intelligence community, providing exceptional leadership and broad strategic vision that contributed to the safeguarding of our national security interests. in every position of the crease responsibility, lieutenant general burgess comes that strengthen our national and military intelligence capabilities during some of the most challenging periods in our nations history. his unyielding dedication to duty selfless devotion to our country and unparalleled personal drive were instrumental in transforming defense telogen into a cooperative enterprise to better serve national policymakers, combatant commanders and more fighters. lieutenant general versus distinguished accomplishments reflect the highest credit upon himself. the defense intelligence agency

burgess will now receive the department of the army's certificate of appreciation. [applause] ladies and gentlemen, lieutenant general ronaldrgess jr. [applause] >> well, good morning. this morning, i was doing my normal routine in an earlier -- my normal routine. in an earlier ceremony, i was described as a gym rat. a lot of folks were coming by, kind of interrupting my normal routine. [laughter] but i didn't mind the fact that they were interrupting my normal routine. what i minded was that nobody was referring to me as "eye candy." [laughter] however, one of my female employees came up to me and kind of hit it on the head. she said, "sir, you are in the year army career the way you began it, by doing pt." [laughter] it struck me that she was right and that i used to open my remarks everywhere all the time with "it is a great day to be in the army." secretary panetta, who has departed, director clapper, secretary mccue, general dempsey, general taylor, congressman rodgers, the hon. john negroponte, the hon. mi mcconnell, undersecretary vickers, general short, hon. stephanie o'sullivan, the general keith alexander who has

[applause] ladies and gentlemen, lieutenant-general ronald burgess junior. [applause] >> good morning. this morning i was doing my normal routine. in an earlier ceremony director clapper referred to me as a gym rag. i was working out this morning in the gym and a lot of folks were coming by kind of interrupting my normal routine. but i didn't mind the fact they were interrupting my normal routine. what i minded was nobody was referring to me as eye candy. one of my female employees came up to me and kind of hit it on the head when she said you are ending your army career the way you began it, by doing pt. it struck me that she was right. i used to open my remarks everywhere all the time with it is a great day to be in the army. secretary panetta legal director clapper, general dempsey, congressman rogers john negr negroponti secretary baker's, general schwartz, general alexander who threw me under the bus by not wearing this uniform. distinguished guests, fellow flag and general officers, d.i.a. intelligence colleagues, friends, family members and most impor

chambliss: i rise to pay tribute to lieutenant ronald l. burgess, jr., the director of the intelligence agency and one of the leaders in the intelligence community and in the united states military. lieutenant general burgess requires this summer after a distinguished 38-year career. during his career lieutenant general burgess has been recognized with numerous awards and decorations which include the defense distinguished service medal, defense superior service medal with two oak leaf clusters, the legion of merit, joint service commendation medal, united states special operations command medal, army commendation medal, army achievement medal, nato medal, former republic of yugoslavia parachutist badge, and army staff identification badge. as a driving force in the intelligence community general burgess will soon conclude a career marked by exceptional leadership and strategic vision, both of which have significantly advanced u.s. national security interests while also strengthening our national intelligence and military intelligence capabilities