[ Search ] [ PDF text ] [ Legislation ]
[ Home ] [ Back ] [ Bottom ]
92_HR0409
LRB9209095RHrh
1 HOUSE RESOLUTION
2 WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of
3 Representatives are pleased to recognize milestone events in
4 the lives of the citizens of the State of Illinois; and
5 WHEREAS, It has come to our attention that Lt. Col.
6 Clifford P. Johnson is retiring after 43 years of service to
7 the Air National Guard and the United States Air Force; and
8 WHEREAS, Lt. Col. Clifford P. Johnson began his
9 distinguished military career in 1955 when he joined the
10 Civil Air Patrol; in 1958 he graduated from Coral Gables
11 Senior High School in Miami and then enlisted into the United
12 States Air Force as Airman 3rd Class at Lackland Air Force
13 Base in San Antonio, Texas; in September 1958, he was
14 stationed at Carswell Air Force Base for three years; in
15 February 1961 he was assigned as a rescue medic at Sidi
16 Slimane Air Force Base in Morocco; in February 1962 he was
17 assigned to Bunker Hill Air Force Base in Peru, Indiana, now
18 known as Grissom Air Force Base, where he was involved in
19 rescue efforts on numerous B-58 crashes that earned him the
20 nickname "Crash"; in August 1965 he was assigned to Clark Air
21 Force Base in the Phillippines where he served as a medic on
22 helicopter and C-130 and C47 aircraft flying rescue missions
23 into various areas of Southeast Asia; in June 1966 he was
24 honorably discharged from the United States Air Force with
25 the rank of Sergeant; and
26 WHEREAS, In June 1966, Lt. Col. Clifford P. Johnson
27 joined the Illinois Air National Guard, 108th Refueling
28 Squadron as an in-flight refueller; during the next ten
29 years, he served as in-flight refueller and as in-flight
30 refueling instructor and later he was promoted to Technical
31 Sergeant; in March 1974, he attended officers' training at
32 McGhee-Tyson Air National Guard Base in Knoxville, Tennessee
-2- LRB9209095RHrh
1 and received his commission on April 3, 1975 as Second
2 Lieutenant; in April 1978, he was promoted to First
3 Lieutenant; and
4 WHEREAS, In January of 1979, Lt. Col Clifford P. Johnson
5 organized and supervised, in conjunction with the City of
6 Chicago, a massive humanitarian effort to provide
7 transportation for critically ill kidney dialysis patients to
8 area hospitals for treatment during the Great Blizzard of
9 1979; in April 1984, he was promoted to the rank of Captain;
10 in the spring of 1988 he was transferred to Kirtland Air
11 Force Base in New Mexico as a base readiness officer; and
12 WHEREAS, In April of 1988, Lt. Col. Clifford P. Johnson
13 was promoted to the rank of Major; in the spring of 1990 he
14 was transferred to Portland, Oregon Air National Guard Base,
15 244th Combat Communication Squadron where he helped write new
16 state laws authorizing special license plates for national
17 guard members, and co-produced, "On Call, Serving America", a
18 video history of the Oregon Air National Guard; in March
19 1992, he was transferred to MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa,
20 Florida where he was assigned to 6 Civil Engineering
21 Squadron; in February 1994, he attended BRUTUS, a tactical
22 communications course for combat operations held by the
23 British Royal Air Force in England, where he served as the
24 only United States military officer to ever be invited to
25 participate in this program; and
26 WHEREAS, In April 1994, Lt. Col. Clifford P. Johnson was
27 promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel; in January 1997,
28 he was transferred to Scott Air Force Base in Belleville,
29 Illinois, where he co-produced, "Global Reach For America", a
30 video history of air mobility that has won several awards;
31 and in March he was transferred to MacDill Air Force Base in
32 Tampa, Florida where he began engineering and construction of
33 "Thunder Village", a new on-base training facility that
-3- LRB9209095RHrh
1 allows military units to train in field conditions; the
2 Thunder Village was completes in 1998 and will save millions
3 of taxpayer dollars over its lifetime; and
4 WHEREAS, Lt. Col. Clifford P. Johnson is retiring from
5 the Air National Guard on June 9, 2001 with 42 years, 11
6 months and 2 days of total service; therefore, be it
7 RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
8 NINETY-SECOND GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that
9 we congratulate Lt. Col. CLifford P. Johnson on his
10 retirement after a distinguished career of 43 years in the
11 United States Military and we wish him well in all of his
12 future endeavors; therefore, be it
13 RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
14 presented to Lt. Col. Clifford P. Johnson as an expression of
15 our esteem.