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Army Air Corps and attending flight school and flying 36
combat missions during World War II;
Whereas in 1943, General Schriever became chief of the
Maintenance and Engineering Division, 5th Air Force
Service Command, and then commander of the advance
headquarters, Far East Air Service Command, which
supported theater operations from bases in Hollandia,
New Guinea, Leyte, Manila, and Okinawa;
Whereas General Schriever was promoted to the grade of
colonel at the remarkably young age of 33;
Whereas following World War II, General Schriever was as-
signed to the position of Chief of the Scientific Liaison
Section under the Deputy Chief of Staff for Material,
Army Air Forces headquarters, and while in that post,
introduced the development planning documents that
linked ongoing research and development efforts with
long-range military planning;
Whereas General Schriever’s leadership and technological ex-
pertise were responsible for the creation of an operational
intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM);
Whereas in 1954, the Air Force’s highest priority was the de-
velopment of the first intercontinental ballistic missile,
the Atlas, and soon thereafter development of that missile
became a top national priority under the Eisenhower ad-
ministration to counter the Soviet nuclear threat;
Whereas at that time the Soviet Union had produced nuclear
and thermonuclear bombs and was pursuing an ‘‘aggres-
sive rocket technology program’’ culminating in the Octo-
ber 1957 launch and orbit of the Sputnik satellite;
Whereas General Schriever was assigned to head the Air
Force’s Western Development Division (later called the
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Ballistic Missile Division), which was solely responsible
for planning, programming, and developing the inter-
continental ballistic missile;
Whereas the size and funding of the Western Development
Division was larger than that of the Manhattan project;
Whereas the Air Force conducted the first successful test
launch of an Atlas missile on December 17, 1957, and
by 1963 the Strategic Air Command had deployed 13
Atlas missiles squadrons with 120 missiles on alert to
meet the contemporary Soviet threat;
Whereas General Schriever oversaw the simultaneous develop-
ment of the Atlas missile and the intermediate-range bal-
listic missile, Thor, which achieved an initial operating
capability in 1959;
Whereas in April 1961 General Schriever was assigned com-
mand of the newly created Air Force Systems Command;
Whereas the more advanced Titan intercontinental ballistic
missile reached initial operating capability by April 1962,
and 10 Minuteman intercontinental ballistic missiles were
placed in service in October 1962 in response to the
Cuban Missile Crisis;
Whereas General Schriever’s efforts produced, within eight
years, four complete missile systems for the United
States;
Whereas, by contrast, the F–102 fighter aircraft alone took
10 years to develop;
Whereas the Atlas missile is still used as a satellite launch
vehicle;
Whereas Walter J. Boyne, former Director of the National
Air and Space Museum of the Smithsonian Institution,
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states ‘‘Today’s navigational, meteorological, intelligence,
and communication satellites owe their existence to the
work of Schriever and his team’’;
Whereas General Schriever retired from the Air Force in the
grade of general in 1966 after 33 years of service;
Whereas after retirement, General Schriever served as a
member of the President’s Foreign Intelligence Advisory
Board, the Defense Science Board, and the Ballistic Mis-
sile Defense Organization Advisory Committee; and
Whereas America’s dominance in space today is due in large
part to the leadership, talent, and selfless service of Gen-
eral Bernard A. Schriever: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate
concurring), That Congress recognizes and honors General
Bernard A. Schriever, United States Air Force (retired),
for his dedication and service to the United States Air
Force, for his essential service in the development of the
United States ballistic missile program, and for his life-
time of work to enhance the security of the United States.
Æ