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 Lieutenant General Albert J. Edmonds, 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 Edmonds distinguished himself by exceptionally distinguished service as Director, Command, Control, Communications, and Computer (C4) Systems, and as Deputy Director, Defense-Wide C4 Support, The Joint Staff, from August 1991 to July 1994. General Edmonds’ tremendous contributions furthered warfighting readiness and security programs and provided outstanding C4 systems support during numerous complex joint military operations. His keen foresight and planning expertise established new levels of exceptional C4 systems support for the Services, unified combatant commanders, and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. This was most admirably manifested in the Global Command and Control System (GCCS) which he envisioned and brought to fruition. GCCS is the most important achievement in command and control in twenty-five years. General Edmonds demonstrated exceptional vision and leadership by planning, fielding, and managing critical C4 systems directly supporting the national interests of the United States. The distinctive accomplishments of General Edmonds reflect great credit upon himself, the United States Air Force, and the Department of Defense.