The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress, July 9, 1918, takes pleasure in presenting a Bronze Oak Leaf Cluster in lieu of a Second Award of the Air Force Distinguished Service Medal to General George T. Babbitt, United States Air Force, for exceptionally meritorious and distinguished service in a position of great responsibility to the Government of the United States. General Babbitt distinguished himself as Commander, Air Force Materiel Command, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, from 29 May 1997 to 31 May 2000. In this important assignment, General Babbitt’s vision, forceful leadership and dedicated efforts resulted in crucial reform and substantial improvement in the support of Air Force operational activities. General Babbitt conceived and implemented a major overhaul of Air Force Materiel Command, moving the command to a more efficient and effective business-based footing. He drove the linking of the command’s Mission Essential Tasks to an actionable strategic plan, which in turn was integrated into the command’s resource allocation process. His focus on building the command’s Program Objective Memorandum from the bottom-up resulted in cost reductions of 1.6 billion dollars in supply and depot maintenance and support, an additional 1.1 billion dollars in savings through workforce re-engineering that reduced personnel requirement by 23,000, and efficiencies in installation support which freed 75 million dollars to improve quality of life programs for command personnel. He recognized the need to improve the command’s information infrastructure, charting an investment and architecture course to reduce sustainment costs while significantly improving overall capabilities. His leadership and detailed knowledge of supply and depot maintenance drove significant improvements in command wholesale processes, Air Force planning and resourcing practices, and ultimately the support of combat units, charting a clear course for the future. He led the command’ support to the air war over Serbia, providing spare parts, improved munitions and advanced warfighting capability to combat units successfully prosecuting the decisive air campaign. General Babbitt’s leadership resulted in a solid roadmap for the future, ensuring an impressive legacy of sustained, superior combat support. The singularly distinctive accomplishments of General Babbitt culminate a long and distinguished career in the service of his country and reflect the highest credit upon himself and the United States Air Force.