NCO History Brief: SMA (Ret) Jack L. Tilley
Abstract
SMA (RET) Tilley has been arguably one of the most influential Sergeant Major of the Army in history. He started his career as many of us did, by enlisting for a term to explore what the Army had to offer. SMA (RET) Tilley was born in Vancouver, Washington on 3 December 1948 (Elder, Guillespie, Kelly, Hawkins, Pierce 120). He enjoyed a normal childhood in which his main goal was to enjoy life as much as possible. He was not a scholarly student and had average grades in school. He had no family history of military service and had no intentions to join after graduating high school. He enjoyed his summer, one day, Tilley and five of his friends decided they would join the Army. Only two followed through with the plan, so Tilley and his friend, Prentice (Barney) Boykin went and joined the Army in the summer of 1966. Tilley was not particularly interested in the job he would perform while in the Army so he agreed to be a tanker as long as he could "jump out of airplanes". Both Tilley and his friend Barney went to basic training in FT. Lewis, Washington.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Dec 01, 2020
- Accession Number
- AD1111667
Entities
People
- Hector Font
Organizations
- United States Army Sergeants Major Academy