Under the provisions of Executive Order 11545, July 9, 1970, the Secretary of Defense of the United States of America take pleasure in awarding the Defense Distinguished Service Medal to Major General James S. Cassity, Jr., United States Air Force, for exceptionally meritorious and distinguished service contributing to national security and defense, in a position of great responsibility to the Government of the United States. General Cassity distinguished himself by exceptional service as Director, Command and Control Systems and Logistics, Headquarters United States Space Command and Deputy Chief of Staff, Systems Integration, Logistics and Support, Headquarters Air Force Space Command, Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado, from June 1985 to March 1988. While performing these duties, General Cassity acted decisively to strengthen the performance of space and early warning systems to significantly improve the national security posture of the United States of America. He was singularly responsible for implementation of a wide range of command, control, communications, and logistics initiatives which were the catalysts for unprecedented progress in the areas of missile warning, space defense, and space support. His astute managerial skills and perceptive guidance in both United States Space Command and Air Force Space Command during their most important formative period enabled the commands to make enormous strides in providing exceptionally superior support to the National Command Authorities and other users. The distinctive accomplishments of Major General Cassity reflect great credit upon himself, the United States Air Force, and the Department of Defense.