Kurt W. Tidd

Kurt W. Tidd
Kurt W. Tidd
	War in Afghanistan; Iraq War
Awards	Defense Distinguished Service Medal (3); Navy Distinguished Service Medal; Defense Superior Service Medal; Legion of Merit (4)
Relations	Emmett Hulcy Tidd (father); Mark L. Tidd (brother)

Kurt Walter Tidd

John F. Kelly as commander of United States Southern Command on January 14, 2016. Tidd held the title of "Old salt",^[2] which means he received his qualification for Surface Warfare before any other active-duty navy officer. He passed said title to Admiral Philip S. Davidson upon his retirement. Upon the May 30, 2018, retirement of his United States Naval Academy classmate, Admiral Harry B. Harris Jr., Tidd also gained the honorific of "Old Goat" – the longest-serving Naval Academy graduate on active duty. Harris presented Tidd with the Old Goat decanter in a ceremony on April 11, 2018.^[3]

Early life and education

Tidd was born on March 26, 1956, in

Chief of Navy Chaplains. Tidd grew up in various cities on the East and West coasts before graduating in 1974 from the Porter-Gaud School in Charleston, South Carolina. Tidd was commissioned from the United States Naval Academy in 1978 with a Bachelor of Science

in Foreign Area Studies.

Naval career

Tidd was appointed Director of Strategic Capabilities Policy, Defense Policy Directorate in July 2006. He joined the

Middle East Force and Commander Task Force 55

.

Tidd was the founding Deputy for Operations on the Chief of Naval Operations War on Terrorism Operations Planning Group Deep Blue. Prior to that, he was the Assistant Chief of Staff for Operations (N-3) to Commander,

Secretary of the Navy's Office of Program Appraisal. Tidd also was the Strategic Planner on the Chief of Naval Operations

' Executive Panel (N-00K). Sea duty assignments include Communications Officer and Main Propulsion Assistant in

USS Arthur W. Radford (DD-968)

, and Commander, Destroyer Squadron 50.

Tidd holds a

Atlantic Council of the United States

. He is a French linguist and a subspecialist in Strategic Planning and Europe/Russia area studies.

Awards and decorations

Surface Warfare Officer Pin
Defense Distinguished Service Medal w/ 2 bronze oak leaf cluster	Navy Distinguished Service Medal	Defense Superior Service Medal
award stars	Defense Meritorious Service Medal	Meritorious Service Medal w/ 2 award stars
Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal w/ 3 award stars	Joint Meritorious Unit Award	Navy Unit Commendation with 2 bronze service stars
Battle E device	Navy Expeditionary Medal with 2 service stars	National Defense Service Medal with 2 service stars
Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal with 2 service stars	Iraq Campaign Medal	Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal
Global War on Terrorism Service Medal	Navy Sea Service Deployment Ribbon with 4 service stars	Navy and Marine Corps Overseas Service Ribbon with 1 silver service star
National Order of the Legion of Honour (Knight) (France)	Navy Expert Rifleman Medal	Navy Expert Pistol Shot Medal
United States Southern Command Badge
Presidential Service Badge

References

This article incorporates public domain material from Admiral Kurt W. Tidd. United States Navy.

^ "Kurt Tidd – Recipient -". valor.militarytimes.com.
^ Morris, Tyrell (22 June 2015). "Vice Adm. Tidd Receives Surface Navy Association's "Old Salt" Award". U.S. Navy.
^ Garamone, Jim (11 April 2018). "Pacom's Harris Passes 'Old Goat' Award to Southcom's Tidd". U.S. Department of Defense. Retrieved 16 April 2018.
^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2017-07-30. Retrieved 2017-05-09.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
^ "The Olmsted Scholar Program of the George and Carol Olmsted Foundation". The Foundation. January 23, 1991 – via Google Books.

Military offices
Preceded by Victor G. Guillory	Commander of United States Naval Forces Southern Command 2011-2012	Succeeded by Sinclair M. Harris
Preceded by Victor G. Guillory	Commander of the United States Fourth Fleet 2011-2012	Succeeded by Sinclair M. Harris
Preceded by Robert Neller	Director for Operations of the Joint Staff 2012-2013	Succeeded by William C. Mayville Jr.
Preceded by Harry B. Harris Jr.	Assistant to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff 2013-2015	Succeeded by Frank Craig Pandolfe
Preceded by John F. Kelly	Commander of the United States Southern Command 2016–2018	Succeeded by Craig S. Faller

[1] "Kurt Tidd – Recipient -". valor.militarytimes.com.

[2] Morris, Tyrell (22 June 2015). "Vice Adm. Tidd Receives Surface Navy Association's "Old Salt" Award". U.S. Navy.

[3] Garamone, Jim (11 April 2018). "Pacom's Harris Passes 'Old Goat' Award to Southcom's Tidd". U.S. Department of Defense. Retrieved 16 April 2018.

[4] "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2017-07-30. Retrieved 2017-05-09.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)

[5] "The Olmsted Scholar Program of the George and Carol Olmsted Foundation". The Foundation. January 23, 1991 – via Google Books.

[2]

[3]