Lt. j.g. Thaddeus H. Tate, Jr. enlisted as a naval intelligence analyst in 2009, and, since then, he has been chasing his career goals at full speed. Now a member of the Navy JAG Corps, Tate was selected in 2018 for the In-Service Procurement Program (IPP). He is now attending Officer Development School, and he will begin his first tour as a judge advocate at Region Legal Service Office, Naval District Washington (NDW) at the end of 2020.
Tate originally hails from New Orleans, La. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Political Science from Troy University, class of 2015, and a Juris Doctorate from George Mason University in Washington, D.C., class of 2019.
Tate completed his first year of law school while working full-time as an intelligence specialist in the Pentagon at the office of the Deputy Chief of Naval Operations for Information Warfare. He also previously served with Explosive Ordnance Disposal Group Two and the Navy Expeditionary
Intelligence Command. Tate chose to apply to the IPP because he “wanted [his] success to be measured by the good [he] can do, not billable hours,” he said.
Tate was selected for the IPP during his second year of law school. That summer, he was admitted to George Mason’s highly selective travel abroad program in Italy, where he received instruction from U.S. Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch. In 2019, he attended another study abroad program in the United Kingdom, where he was taught by U.S. Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh. Later, he served as a legal intern for Eliana Davidson, the Department of Defense's deputy general counsel for Intelligence and Security, as well as at OPNAV 14.
He graduated law school in December 2019 and passed the Washington, D.C. bar exam in February of this year. This summer, he returned to Italy and also interned at the OPNAV N2N6 legal office.
Tate’s prior assignments include: maritime interdiction operations intelligence analyst and human intelligence collector at Navy Expeditionary Intelligence Command in Virginia Beach; Intelligence Department (N2) leading petty officer (LPO) and Explosive Ordinance Disposal (EOD) intelligence support analyst at EOD Group Two in Virginia Beach; and Intelligence Production Shop LPO for Chief of Naval Operations-Intelligence Plot at the Pentagon.
In addition to rate and Navy Enlisted Classification awarding training, Tate is a graduate of the Department of Defense’s Strategic De-briefer Course; Naval Special Warfare Intelligence Course; Maritime Security Intelligence Operations Course, Security Reaction Force Basic and Advanced; and Expeditionary Combat Skills.
Additionally, Tate has operational experience at U.S. Central Command and FIFTH Fleet as an intelligence specialist. His personal awards include three Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medals and three Good Conduct Medals. He is also qualified to wear the Expeditionary Warfare Pin and the Information Warfare Pin.
When asked how he was feeling about the next steps in his career, Tate said, “I feel a sense of accomplishment, since I embarked on this journey in 2014 and finally reached this milestone. However, I also feel a certain sense of mourning. I have been an intelligence specialist since I was 18 years old. I am passionate about our nation's intelligence missions and I know I will miss it.”
He will be attending a Basic Law Course at Naval Justice School in October before starting his first rotation as a judge advocate at NDW in December.