T W F Bo a r d M e m ber Sp ot l ig h t
Monty Halcomb
Monty Halcomb:
B
A Lifetime of Service to Our Nation and Natural Resources
orn and raised in Tullahoma, Tenn., Monty Halcomb earned a bachelor’s degree in biology from Middle Tennessee State University, where he was an Army ROTC distinguished graduate. Over the summers, he attended Airborne and Ranger training and served four years as an Army officer, including a voluntary tour with the Army’s First Cavalry Division in Viet Nam as a medevac helicopter pilot. Stateside, he commanded the surgical hospital at Fort Lewis, Wa., before leaving the Army in 1972. As the Hospital Commander, he directed a law enforcement operation that captured and prosecuted a major heroin smuggling and distributing ring on base. During his military career, he earned a Silver Star, a Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry with Silver Star, five Distinguished Flying Crosses, two Soldier’s Medals, Air Medals and Bronze Stars, along with the Meritorious Unit Award and many others for his valor in combat and service to the nation. He went back to MTSU for a master’s in biology and became a doctoral candidate in the University of Tennessee’s wildlife and ecology department, but left in 1975 to build and direct the Tennessee Heritage program for The Nature Conservancy. Meanwhile, he flew Hueys for a Tennessee Air National Guard medical unit. In 1977, Halcomb left the Tennessee Heritage program to begin a 24-year career with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and was a distinguished graduate from the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center’s Criminal Investigator School and at the top of his class in Special Agent Basic School. His first assignment was as an agent/ pilot in New Orleans, La., where he flew fixed and rotary wing aircraft and served as the resident agent-in-charge. From there, he went on to Brunswick, Ga., to train state and federal agents in officer stress, safety and survival, import/export regulations, investigative procedures, ethics, and management of undercover operations. He developed and implemented the Service’s designated firearms instructor program and was a lead instructor in advanced firearms training.
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Later, he served as assistant special agent-in-charge in Denver, Colo., and as the special agent-in-charge of the Southeast region for USFWS, and held primary responsibility for supervising field operations, including the coordination of several major, multinational undercover operations and covert smuggling takedowns involving Australians, Canadians, Germans, Mexican Nationals, Saudi Arabians and Americans. He eventually was acting deputy regional director of the Southeast region before retiring in 2001. Now, Halcomb volunteers as a hunter safety instructor and trains Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency officers, is a commissioned deputy sheriff in Bedford County, and teaches ornithology, environmental problems seminars and basic biology at MTSU. His wife, Joanne, is also an avid conservationist and TWF supporter. Most importantly, she has been his best friend for more than 40 years. He’s also the chair of both the governance committee and the governmental affairs committee for the Tennessee Wildlife Federation’s board of directors, and has been actively involved in the Federation’s efforts this session to beat back harmful wildlife bills and to serve as the voice of reason for wildlife lovers on other key issues being debated in the General Assembly. In the past, he’s served as chair, vice-chair and secretary of TWF’s Board, and is a five-term representative to the National Wildlife Federation. Monty Halcomb’s career – from his time in the field to his tireless work as a volunteer, and everything in between – has been focused on preserving wildlife, protecting our natural resources and doing whatever it takes to increase the opportunities for people to enjoy them. For that reason and so many others, his service to the TWF deserves to be recognized. On behalf of everyone with a stake in wildlife and habitat, we salute Mr. Monty Halcomb, and express our sincere gratitude for his countless contributions.