Alumnus promoted to brigadier general, leads U.S. 特种作战部队

Sometimes, the best thing an internship does is close a door.

That was the case for 大卫他泊 ’92. As a first-year student at Birmingham-南部, Tabor was certain he was headed to medical school. And then came his stint working at a hospital during the January term his sophomore year.

“That’s when I realized that was not what I wanted to do,塔伯说。.

幸运的是, he soon found another passion that guided him toward his current role as vice director for strategy, 计划, 以及美国的政策.S. Special Operations Command, which oversees special operations for all five branches of the U.S. 武装部队. Late in his sophomore year—later than most people—he joined ROTC after a friend convinced him to take the officer’s qualifying test which, 当它回来时, qualified Tabor permission to attend pilot training after graduation.

“That sounded like a great option for where I was in my life—what an adventure!塔伯说。.

仍然, it’s a long road from a pilot in training to becoming a brigadier general tasked with coordinating the Department of Defense’s unified special operations center for countering weapons of mass destruction, which is Tabor’s primary responsibility. He credits his 澳门新葡京官网 experience for leading him there—especially the broad liberal arts approach he experienced on the Hilltop.

“I think most people in education acknowledge that the notion of specializing very early is probably a detriment in the long run. It becomes a one-dimensional view of things,” said Tabor, who majored in history. “That’s probably the benefit of coming from 澳门新葡京官网: I took a lot of science, 很多人文学科, 很多艺术课程.”

In fact, 他说 one his best classes ever was an art history class at 澳门新葡京官网 taught by Dr. 劳埃德·斯隆, 已故名誉教授, whom Tabor describes as a chain-smoking, Yankees-jacket-wearing character who cared deeply about his students.

“His tests were notoriously difficult, but I also remember that he sat down individually with every student after the exam to go over every question that you missed,塔伯说。. “That kind of personal connection with the professors and the staff really meant something.”

So much so that he’s made it a principle of his own leadership. As he’s moved up the military chain of command, Tabor makes a point of sitting down with employees to understand their passions and goals and connect them to institutional priorities. He drew that not just from his relationship with professors, but also the way then-澳门新葡京官网 President Dr. Neal Berte took time to sit down with him as a prospective student, and his mentoring by George Jenkins, then-澳门新葡京官网’s vice president of development, whom he met as a student intern.

He also fondly remembers Professor of History Dr. 亨利·兰德尔, whose detailed stories not only drew him into his major, but also came in handy in his first assignment in special operations when he was sent to the United Kingdom. 他在那里呆了三年, flying a large special operations transport helicopter and participating in the Bosnian crisis and war in Serbia.

Shortly after 9-11, he was deployed to fly in Afghanistan. 回国后, Tabor began a shift from piloting to leadership, working first as an aide-de-camp for an Army general, then heading to the 工作人员 College for a master’s degree in joint campaign planning; he spent time at the Pentagon and earned a second master’s in strategic studies at the Army War College.

But that wasn’t the end of his flying experience; Tabor took over a squadron years later at Hurlburt Field, 佛罗里达州.在美国，他帮助训练美国军人.S. troops to fly Russian Mi-17 helicopters. He returned to Afghanistan himself in 2011 as commander of the 438^th Air Expeditionary Advisory Group, followed by command of the Aviation Tactics and Evaluation Group at Ft. 布拉格,N.C.

“I’ve literally been all over the world. I’ve gotten to work with a lot of foreign militaries, teaching them,” 他说. “I would say every experience that I’ve had has been extraordinary in its own way.”

Now based at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Tabor was promoted to brigadier general in August 2017. One thread through all of his adventures, 他说, has been a strong drive to give back—a drive 他说 he learned in college.

“When I think back on my experiences at Birmingham-南部, some of the most lasting impressions were the culture of service,塔伯说。. “I had certainly been brought up with that kind of mentality, but both through the school and the extracurricular activities I did there, there was a real focus on giving back to the community. That really stuck with me and convinced me I wanted to do that throughout my life.”