The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress, July 9, 1918, takes pleasure in presenting the Air Force Distinguished Service Medal to Brigadier 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 Deputy Chief of Staff, Logistics, Headquarters Air Training Command and as Director Logistics, Headquarters United States Air Forces in Europe, Ramstein Air Base, Germany, from 12 June 1990 to 22 June 1993. In these important assignments, the leadership, exemplary foresight, and ceaseless efforts consistently demonstrated by General Babbitt resulted in significant contributions to the effectiveness and success of the logistics mission throughout the Air Training Command and the European Theater. Concerned for the safety of C-130 aircrews supporting Operation PROVIDE PROMISE, General Babbitt initiated immediate modification to equip aircraft with armor plating. In less than 90 days, the armor plating was engineered and the first C-130 completely outfitted. Moreover, General Babbitt was faced with the prospect of a major labor strike during the drawdown of Zaragoza Air Base, Spain, where United States public law capped severance pay to foreign nations. His submission for extraordinary contractual relief to the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition, and passed by Congress, now permits waiving these restrictions. The singularly distinctive accomplishments of General Babbitt reflect the highest credit upon himself and the United States Air Force.

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.