MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
2023 Regular Session
To: Rules
By: Senator(s) Parker, Barnett, Blackwell, Butler (38th), Frazier, Horhn, McDaniel, Seymour
A RESOLUTION RECOGNIZING THE OUTSTANDING LAW ENFORCEMENT TRAINING CAREER AND MILITARY SERVICE OF LT. COLONEL THOMAS TUGGLE ON THE OCCASION OF HIS RETIREMENT FROM THE MISSISSIPPI HIGHWAY PATROL AND COMMENDING HIS LEGACY OF PUBLIC SERVICE.
WHEREAS, "You are not a leader until you have produced another leader who can produce another leader. True greatness is not where we are today, but where we intend to be tomorrow," says Lt. Colonel Thomas Tuggle, who is retiring from a 30-year outstanding career in law enforcement. "If we stop believing in today's youth, tomorrow has no future," Colonel Tuggle maintains; and
WHEREAS, Thomas Tuggle is a Major with the Mississippi Highway Patrol. He is the Assistant Director of the Mississippi Law Enforcement Officers' Training Academy, the largest law enforcement training facility in the state. His assignments have included Troop E Enforcement Division, MHP Honor Guard, MHP Recruiter, and Senior Instructor for Basic Law Enforcement Training. He served as the Mississippi Department of Public Safety's Executive Officer under two commissioners; and
WHEREAS, Lieutenant Colonel Tuggle is a graduate of the FBI Training Academy at Quantico and served as the first President in his class at the National Academy from Mississippi; and
WHEREAS, Lt. Colonel Tuggle's career spans 30 years, starting as a Patrolman for the Hernando Police Department (January 1992), and includes the following career accomplishments:
· Graduated as Class President of his Basic Training Class;
· Rose to the rank of Sergeant with Hernando Police Department and, after four years, joined MHP (1996);
· Graduated from Trooper School with Honors (Top Shooter);
· Led District Three (Batesville) in Enforcement in 1997 and 1999;
· Transferred full time to the Mississippi Law Enforcement Officers Training Academy in 2000;
· For 22 years, has been responsible for the training of over 7000 of Mississippi's entry-level municipal, county and university law enforcement officers;
· MLEOTA became one of the most respected training academies in the country;
· Represented Mississippi on a national level 12 times participating and coaching MHP's Fitness Team. They have won 12 National Championships, and the Mississippi Senate and House of Representatives have passed five Joint Resolutions recognizing Thomas' efforts in changing the perception of the Mississippi Law Enforcement community;
· Attended the Federal Bureau of Investigation National Academy for the Top 1% of law enforcement executives. In the 83-year history of the prestigious institution, the only Mississippian to graduate with the "Triple Crown": Section Leader/Distinguished Graduate/President of a Session;
· Led the Mississippi law enforcement community to become a fixture for excellence under his instruction;
· Was selected in 2020 as the State Law Enforcement Officer of the Year for Mississippi;
· Served as MDPS Executive Officer under two commissioners; and
WHEREAS, Colonel Tuggle joined the United States Marine Corps after high school, and wife, Linda, went to college. After completing boot camp at Parris Island, South Carolina, Tuggle was sent on a four-month detachment to Camp Pendleton in Twentynine Palms, California, where he completed on-the-job training in communications. After graduating at the top of his class at the Military Occupational Specialties (MOS) school, he was promoted to Lance Corporal. Two months later, Tuggle got orders to go to Hawaii. Before he checked out of his unit in California, he received the highest proficiency and conduct marks (or "pros and cons") possible, 5.0's across the board. While in Hawaii, Tuggle was named Lance Corporal of the quarter twice. Then he was promoted to Corporal when he was only 19. In January 1991, Tuggle's artillery unit was sent to Kuwait to help defeat Saddam Hussein's forces in the Gulf War. After a weeks-long air campaign, American troops prepared to enter Kuwait. Tuggle was part of the advance party. After securing Kuwait International Airport, "We drove down the Highway of Death (between Kuwait and Iraq). Anyone who brags about going to combat never experienced it," Tuggle says; and
WHEREAS, in 1995, Tuggle decided to join the Mississippi Highway Patrol (MHP) and went back to MLEOTA for MHP training. In 2000, then-MLEOTA Director Pat Cronin drove up to Hernando to ask Tuggle to come work for him. Tuggle became the Coordinator for Basic Law Enforcement Training at MLEOTA; and
WHEREAS, his wife, Linda, is the Clinical Director of the Labor and Delivery Unit for Methodist Olive Branch Hospital. The couple has one daughter, Courtney, who is his greatest source of pride; and
WHEREAS, Mississippi's law enforcement is the best in the nation. Time and time again, these brave men and women, including Lt. Colonel Thomas Tuggle, answer the call to protect and serve, putting their lives on the line to protect ours, and it is with great pride that we commend the career of this Mississippian who brings honor to his unit, his family and to the State of Mississippi:
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI, That we do hereby recognize the outstanding law enforcement training career and military service of Lt. Colonel Thomas Tuggle on the occasion of his retirement from the Mississippi Highway Patrol and commend his legacy of public service, and extend to Colonel Tuggle and his family our best wishes for future success.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That this resolution be presented to Lt. Colonel Thomas Tuggle, forwarded to the Governor and Commissioner of Public Safety Sean Tindall, and made available to the Capitol Press Corps.