US Army Colonel (COL) - retired Jerry Tait passed suddenly on Sept. 14, 2013.
COL Tait had a distinguished 30 year career as a military intelligence officer in the US Army. That service culminated as he served as the III Corps Assistant Chief of Staff, G2 (Intelligence). His service led to multiple deployments to combat areas to include Iraq.
He was a great man. He was a good intelligence officer. His many accomplishments and successes may never be known to the public.
Jerry had a sense of humor. Even in dark times in Iraq when intelligence and operational reports seemed to be one bad incident after another, he seemed to keep his spirits high. He was motivating.
Another talent seemed to be to keep some General officers "in check" so that he and his boss, the III Corps Commanding General, could get the information they needed.
He pushed people to excel, but never pushed them to break. That is a talent that many military leaders seek but rarely perfect.
Hearing of Jerry's death breaks my heart. Just the other day, I was just thinking of him and a few others I served with. He always seemed happy to see me and seemed to look forward to my briefings. Perhaps that was because I tended to bring glimmers of good news. I tended to brief on who/what we captured/killed and to the next targets we expected those successes to lead us. That was 2004-5. In 2006-7, he regularly emailed me, asking my analysis of things. It was an honor.
The intelligence community lost a great intelligence officer the day he retired. The world lost a great man on September 14th.
COL Jerry Tait will be sorely missed and fondly remembered.
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