Lt Col Gary Tait MBE

That the Parliament is saddened at the passing of Lt Col Gary Tait MBE; acknowledges that Gary joined the Army in 1983 as a member of the 1st Battalion The Royal Scots (The Royal Regiment), progressing through the Rifle Company appointments, which included a tour in the Signal Platoon and as an Armoured Infantry Gunnery instructor; further acknowledges that he held appointments at the Scottish Divisional Depot as an instructor and RMAS as an officer cadet; notes that he was deployed on operational tours in Northern Ireland, the Gulf War, Bosnia, Iraq and Afghanistan; understands that, after receiving The Queen’s Commission in 2002, Gary held posts as a Unit Welfare Officer, Officer Commanding the Regimental Recruiting Team and Regimental Career Management Officer; notes that he was employed at the Army Personnel Centre as a staff officer before attending Staff College in Shrivenham for nine months, after which he studied at Kings College London for an MA before accepting a senior staff appointment in Divisional Headquarters; believes that Gary was the lead staff officer for the implementation of the Army Recovery Centre at the Erskine Edinburgh home; notes that, from 2010 to 2016, Gary returned to regimental duty and undertook two further operational tours in Helmand in Afghanistan and supported a further tour of duty in Kabul; further notes that he held the post of executive officer for 6 SCOTS based in Glasgow from 2016 to 2018, and was latterly employed as the SO1 for Service Personnel Welfare at MOD Whitehall; acknowledges that Gary was also engaged as a director with the British Forces Broadcasting Service, as the chairman of McCrae’s Battalion Trust and patron of the Ancre Somme Association Scotland; understands that he recently led a team that was named the Army Benevolent Fund fundraisers of the year; acknowledges that he was appointed an MBE in 2002, received The Queens Commendation for Valuable Service in 2014 and the Chief of the General Staff’s Commendation in 2016; posthumously commends Lt Col Tait for his outstanding work for the Army and the benefit of others, and sends its deepest condolences to all his family and friends.