HR1133 97TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR1133 LRB097 21788 GRL 70355 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of Representatives are pleased to congratulate Richard L. Jaehne on the occasion of his retirement as director of the Illinois Fire Service Institute; and

WHEREAS, Richard Jaehne earned his bachelor's degree from the University of Utah in 1968 and his master's degree in systems management from the University of Southern California in 1979; he has 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, and is certified as a Type 3 FEMA Incident Management Team member; and

WHEREAS, After college, Richard Jaehne was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the United States Marine Corps; he steadily rose through the ranks, eventually attaining the rank of Colonel; he served in numerous locations throughout the world during his tenure, including 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.; after more than 29 years of active service around the world, he retired from the United States Marine Corps on September 30, 1997; and

WHEREAS, Richard Jaehne was awarded the Navy Cross in recognition of his actions 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 was also the recipient of 3 Defense Superior Service Medals, the Legion of Merit, the Bronze Star with Combat "V", the Purple Heart, the Meritorious Service Medal, 2 Combat Action Ribbons, the German Honor Cross in Silver, and the Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry with Silver Star; and

WHEREAS, Richard Jaehne served as the director of the Illinois Fire Service Institute, the statutory Illinois State Fire Academy; as the institute's director, he led an inter-agency team that develops and delivers unified command training programs that meet National Incident Management System standards to first responders, local and elected officials, and the United States Postal Service; he also supervised the initiation of more than 600,000 student hours of training to over 55,000 firefighters and other first responders every year; 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 also a member of the Governor's Blue Ribbon Fire Service Committee and the Governor's Fire Advisory Commission, a past-Vice President of the North American Fire Training Directors, and a member of the FEMA Region V Regional Advisory Council; and

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

WHEREAS, In 2002, Richard Jaehne developed and led a series of 17 homeland security planning workshops state-wide, which included a 2-day Homeland Security Summit that was attended by community leaders from across Illinois and the Illinois Homeland Security Coordinator; and

WHEREAS, In 2006, Richard Jaehne received the President's Leadership Award from the Mutual Aid Box Alarm System for his work in fire and homeland security preparedness and programs; and

WHEREAS, Richard Jaehne's dedication to his profession and willingness to serve his community has made him a model 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 congratulate Richard L. Jaehne on the occasion of his retirement, thank him for his service to the people of the State of Illinois, and wish him many happy and healthy retirement years; 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.