The publication is reproduced in full below:
HONORING THE LIFE AND SERVICE OF MR. DALE EDWARD WHITEHEAD
______
HON. DIANA HARSHBARGER
of tennessee
in the house of representatives
Thursday, July 1, 2021
Mrs. HARSHBARGER. Madam Speaker, I rise to recognize Mr. Dale Edward Whitehead, who recently lost his battle with lung cancer after spending his life serving his community and his country. Dale graduated from Pennsylvania State University with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Liberal Arts and Sciences before going on to graduate from the University of Maryland, Robert H. Smith School of Business with a Master's Degree in Business Administration. He also attended the United States Defense Language Institute, where he was awarded an Associate of Arts Degree in Arabic.
Dale served as a Cryptologic Arabic Linguist, Sergeant E-5 in the United States Marine Corps from 1999 to 2004. Dale not only honorably served his country in Iraq, he was at the forefront of the search for weapons of mass destruction in Operation Iraqi Freedom. For his brave service, Dale was awarded the Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal
(with Combat ``V''), the Marine Corps Good Conduct Medal, the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, the Sea Service Deployment Ribbon, the National Defense Service Medal, the Presidential Unit Citation-Navy, and the Marine Corps Rifle Badge (Sharpshooter). After his return from Iraq, Dale worked as a program manager for 6 years for Poole & Associates as well as SAIC. In 2010, Dale joined General Dynamics where he became a Senior Program Manager and ultimately rose to the level of Director.
In 2014, Dale played an important role in Range Generation Next
(RGNext) (a joint venture of General Dynamics IT and Raytheon) in bidding and winning the United States Airforce's Launch and Test Range Integrated Services Contract valued at $2 billion. The contract provided a sole prime contractor responsible for operations, organizational and depot-level maintenance as well as sustainment at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station and Vandenberg Air Force Base. This was a significant and transformational contract which included the engineering support to all Space launch activities. RGNext was awarded this contract in April of 2015, and Dale was subsequently appointed as Deputy Program Manager of the contract. In this role he focused on mission and program leadership, organizational development, new business change proposals, and day to day management activities of the broad contract. Dale excelled in working with people and enjoyed the comradery of building successful teams in the workplace. His RGNext co-
workers have shared with me that his constant mentorship helped them professionally and personally and they will forever be better for it.
As a non-smoker and fitness advocate with no family cancer history, it is strongly suspected by his doctors that Dale's terminal lung cancer was most likely due to his exposure to Yellow Cake Uranium and Burn Pit toxicities during Operation Iraqi Freedom. Dale's life underscores the need for the U.S. government to support veterans like him, who have been exposed to dangerous agents in the theatre of war and now face sickness or even death. We must uplift our veterans and honor their sacrifice to our country.
Dale did an outstanding job while here on earth, and he served our country fearlessly. He made a difference in his professional career, and his many co-workers have described him as incredibly personable, a great supportive leader, a wonderful person, and a dependable friend whose love for his family was always self-evident. I believe one thing Dale had in common with my fellow East Tennesseans was his deep respect for his country that drove him to spend years in service both at home and abroad. Those who had the opportunity to interact with him have shared with me how very friendly and an openly giving person he was and will be remembered for all of eternity as. Dale will forever be cherished as a loving family man to his wife, Erin, and his sons Henry, Nathan, and George. Those who could find a way to describe him in a single short sentence would say he was and will forever always be a patriotic Marine veteran and a loving family man. All those touched by his life are better for knowing him.
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SOURCE: Congressional Record Vol. 167, No. 115
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