Chief Master Sergeant (ret.) Chris Redmond

In the days leading up to the 2010 master sergeant promotion release, I had talked to Tara about her prospects for the selection. She flashed her ever-present smile and said she was too nervous to even think about it. In fact, she told me, she as going to take leave the day before release of the promotion results because she was so nervous. We laughed together and I kidded her about her nervousness.

The promotion results were released to the OSI region commanders to make notifications. Since Tara was assigned to HQ, the OSI commander would normally have made the notifications. Since General TDY, Colonel Givens and I had the honor to make the notifications in the building.

True to her word, then Tech Sgt. Tara Jacobs was nowhere to be found. She did in fact take leave that day because she was so “stressed” about the announcement. As a result of Colonel  Givens’ generosity, I was given the honor to call Tara on her cell phone to tell her that she did in fact make master sergeant. The phone conversation was mixed with laughter and tears. She was very excited about the news, and it was very special to her because she was with her mother at the time. I had a chance to talk to Tara’s mom for a brief minute. Her mom was a little concerned at first because she couldn’t understand why her daughter was crying. I told her about the amazing daughter she raised and how proud I was of Tara for everything she has done for her Air Force and nation.

THe call ended with more laughter and a reminder to Tara that she was an amazing young NCO who I expected would continue to do tremendous things for our Air Force.

Master Sergeant Tara Brown will forever be in my heart as an amazing Airman, professional and role model.