Jack L. Tilley

Template:Short description Template:BLP primary sources Template:Template other Jack L. Tilley (born December 3, 1948) is an American businessman and retired United States Army soldier. He served for almost 37 years in the United States Army, culminating in his appointment in 2000 as the 12th Sergeant Major of the Army, a post he held until his retirement on January 15, 2004. He was the last Vietnam War veteran to serve in that position.

Early life

File:EdFreemanMoH.jpg

After receiving the Medal of Honor, Ed Freeman was inducted into the Pentagon's Hall of Heroes on July 17, 2001, by Army Chief of Staff General Eric Shinseki and Sergeant Major of the Army Jack L. Tilley.

Tilley was born in Vancouver, Washington, on December 3, 1948, and enlisted in the United States Army under the "Buddy Program" with his friend Barney Boykin. They both attended basic combat training at Fort Lewis, Washington, advanced training at Fort Knox, Kentucky, and basic airborne training at Fort Benning, Georgia. Barney was killed in action in 1968 during the Vietnam War.

Military career

Tilley's first assignment was to the Republic of Vietnam with A Troop, 1st Squadron, 4th Cavalry Regiment as a vehicle crewman. Upon completion of his 1-year deployment he was assigned as a drill sergeant at Fort Benning, Georgia, until his enlistment expired; Tilley left the active duty army for two years and served in the Reserve Component before enlisting again in the Active Component in September 1971.

Tilley held a variety of important positions culminating in his assignment as the Sergeant Major of the Army. He previously held the senior enlisted position as Senior Enlisted Leader of the United States Central Command at MacDill Air Force Base, Florida. Other assignments he held as command sergeant major were 1st Battalion, 10th Cavalry, Fort Knox, 194th Armored Brigade, 1st Armored Division, Bad Kreuznach, Germany, and United States Army Space and Missile Defense Command, Arlington, Virginia.

Tilley held every key leadership position including tank commander, section leader, drill sergeant, platoon sergeant, senior instructor, operations sergeant and first sergeant. His military education includes the First Sergeants Course and the Sergeants Major Academy. He is a graduate of the basic airborne course, drill sergeant school and the master gunner's course.

Awards and decorations

File:United States Air Force Parachutist Badge.svg Basic Parachutist Badge

File:US Army Expert Marksmanship Qualification Badge-Generic.png Expert Marksmanship Badge with one weapon bar

File:10 CAV DUI right.png 10th Cavalry Regiment Distinctive Unit Insignia

File:DrillInstructBadge.gif Drill Sergeant Identification Badge

Template:Ribbon devices/alt	Army Distinguished Service Medal
Template:Ribbon devices/alt	Defense Superior Service Medal
Bronze oak leaf cluster Bronze oak leaf cluster Template:Ribbon devices/alt	Legion of Merit with two bronze oak leaf clusters
V Template:Ribbon devices/alt	Bronze Star Medal with Valor Device
Bronze oak leaf cluster Template:Ribbon devices/alt	Meritorious Service Medal with oak leaf cluster
Bronze oak leaf cluster Template:Ribbon devices/alt	Army Commendation Medal with oak leaf cluster
Bronze oak leaf cluster Bronze oak leaf cluster Template:Ribbon devices/alt	Army Achievement Medal with two oak leaf clusters
Template:Ribbon devices/alt	Presidential Unit Citation
Template:Ribbon devices/alt	Joint Meritorious Unit Award
Template:Ribbon devices/alt	Valorous Unit Award
Template:Ribbon devices/alt	Superior Unit Award
Template:Ribbon devices/alt	Army Good Conduct Medal (11 awards)
Bronze star Bronze star Template:Ribbon devices/alt	National Defense Service Medal with 2 service stars
Template:Ribbon devices/alt	Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal
Bronze star Bronze star Template:Ribbon devices/alt	Vietnam Service Medal with two service stars
Template:Ribbon devices/alt	Armed Forces Service Medal
File:NCO Professional Development Ribbon.svgFile:Award numeral 4.png	NCO Professional Development with award numeral 4
Template:Ribbon devices/alt	Army Service Ribbon
Template:Ribbon devices/altFile:Award numeral 2.png	Overseas Service Ribbon with award numeral 2
Template:Ribbon devices/alt	NATO Medal
Template:Ribbon devices/alt	Vietnam Gallantry Cross Unit Citation
Template:Ribbon devices/alt	Vietnam Campaign Medal

• 11 service stripes.

Post-military career

Tilley retired from the army in January 2004 and served as the Chief Executive of JTilley, Inc., a services company based in Tampa, Florida, that specializes in placing military leaders into corporate America.

Philanthropy

Tilley is the co-founder, Chairman, and CEO of the non-profit American Freedom Foundation. This organization creates awareness and building support of their service, sacrifice and needs through partnerships with military-focused organizations. The organization also sponsors military career fairs and hiring events regularly in major military areas around the country. These events are usually in conjunction with high-profile concerts or entertainment. Special emphasis is always given to the men and women who were wounded in action.

As an author

Tilley is the author of the book Soldier for Life: Lessons from the 12th Sergeant Major of the Army Jack L. Tilley.

References

The Sergeants Major of the Army, Daniel K. Elder, Center of Military History, United States Army Washington, D.C. 2003.