Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld presented the Defense Distinguished Service Medal to Lt. Gen. Henry “Trey” Obering III, director of the Missile Defense Agency (MDA).

Rumsfeld, who is stepping down as the Pentagon leader as Robert Gates today becomes the new secretary, presented the medal during a Pentagon award ceremony.

The ceremony honored individuals & teams for major Department of Defense initiatives.

The citation read:

“Lieutenant General Henry A. Obering III, United States Air Force, distinguished himself by exceptionally distinguished service as Director, Missile Defense Agency, from July 2004 to November 2006.

“During this period, General Obering displayed innovative leadership and vision as he orchestrated a geographically disbursed workforce of over 8,500 personnel and an industrial base representing the best of the Nation’s aerospace contractors in rapidly forging individual sensor, weapon, and command and control elements into an integrated, layered Ballistic Missile Defense System capability.

“He prioritized finite resources to improve quality and reliability in the critical Ground Based Midcourse Defense Systems meeting program milestones and giving the National Command Authority confidence to place the system on alert in response to the potential threat posed from July 2006 North Korean missile tests.

“With his focus on engineering discipline, General Obering established the foundation for the recent [array] of 13 successful flight tests. The distinctive accomplishments of General Obering reflect great credit upon himself, the United States Air Force and the Office of the Secretary of Defense.”