House Bill 9039

    Florida House of Representatives - 2000                HR 9039

        By Representatives Melvin, J. Miller and Peaden






  1                         House Resolution

  2         A resolution commending the United States Air

  3         Force Special Operations Command.

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  5         WHEREAS, only days after being forward deployed in

  6  support of Operation Allied Force, members of six units from

  7  Hurlburt Field's Air Force Special Operations Command joined

  8  with the 352nd Special Operations Group, Royal Air Force

  9  Mildenhall, England, in a daring, textbook-perfect rescue of a

10  downed F-117 Nighthawk pilot behind enemy lines only 30 miles

11  from the Serbian capital of Belgrade, and

12         WHEREAS, less than a month later, the joint team was

13  back in the skies on its second mission, this time the

14  successful rescue of the pilot of an F-16 Fighting Falcon that

15  had gone down in enemy territory, and

16         WHEREAS, in a magnificent display of courage,

17  discipline, and teamwork so precise that in both instances the

18  rescue craft was on the ground for less than 60 seconds before

19  lifting off with the pilots safely aboard, the forces had

20  tested and proved the value of months of intense and grueling

21  training that had prepared them for just such action, and

22         WHEREAS, it is fitting and proper that recognition be

23  accorded the units involved in the two unprecedented Kosovo

24  rescues, the 720th Special Tactics Group, the 55th Special

25  Operations Squadron, the 20th Special Operations Squadron, the

26  9th Special Operations Squadron, the 4th Special Operations

27  Squadron, the 25th Intelligence Squadron, all of Hurlburt

28  Field, Florida, and the 352nd Special Operations Group, Royal

29  Air Force, Mildenhall, the United Kingdom, NOW, THEREFORE,

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CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.






    Florida House of Representatives - 2000                HR 9039

    556-190B-00






  1  Be It Resolved by the House of Representatives of the State of

  2  Florida:

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  4         That the House of Representatives pauses in its

  5  deliberations to honor the members of the United States Air

  6  Force Special Operations Command for their courage,

  7  professionalism, and commitment in the face of grave danger,

  8  and to extend to them its heartfelt gratitude for a job well

  9  done.

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