JERRY TUTTLE

TUTTLE JERRY O. TUTTLE Vice Admiral , US Navy (Ret.) An only child of Depression-era Indiana farmers who rose from the ranks to become a highly decorated combat pilot and one of the great military innovators of the 20th century, died October 30, 2018 in Fairfax VA after a long illness. He was 83. Admiral Tuttle was an iconic, even cult, figure in the U.S. military who is generally credited with being the inventor of modern command and control and the pivotal personality that led Navy especially across the divide from the industrial to the digital age. He was seen by many as a genuine military genius and compared with the air power and blitzkrieg innovators of the 1920. Like Thomas Edison, Admiral Tuttle was a perpetual dynamo for whom innovation was a part of his essential character- a consequence of indefatigable and explosive energy, a unique intellect, technological curiosity, and relentless drive. One after another, his innovations continued throughout the span of his career and across the entire landscape of warfare, from submarines and satellites to cryptography, information technology, avionics, antennas, modeling and simulation, and above all, operational synthesis. Above all, he was an exceptional pilot. Like almost every other boy in America during the late 1940s, he was fascinated by the first jet airplanes. In time, he flew nearly all the Navy fixed-wing and jet carrier aircraft inventory. He made so many arrested landings on carriers that if one were flown each day it would take nearly three years to duplicate his feat. For a time, he was Navy's senior aviator- the "Gray Eagle". In Vietnam, Admiral Tuttle became a highly decorated combat pilot, flying 260 missions in the single-seat light attack A-4. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for personal heroism three times, and he held twenty-three Navy Air Medals. Combat contemporaries invariably describe him in the cockpit as intense, ferociously aggressive, and fearless under fire of North Vietnamese surface-to-air missiles and anti-aircraft guns. But he told an interviewer in 2006 that the most frightening moments in his life were when he proposed to Barbara Ann Bonifay, whom he met on a blind date at flight school in Pensacola in the summer of 1955. She said yes, and the couple were married for 62 years. They had five children In "Boots" - as she was known to their friends - Tuttle met his match. Beautiful, vivacious, and polished, she, too, had a brilliant mind, a formidable will and extraordinary reservoirs of energy. In particular, she had a gift for human empathy, and like her husband, she had innate leadership skills. During the frightening years Tuttle's squadron was in Vietnam and later during the long tours in which he had command at sea, she carried exceptionally heavy burdens for decades to look after families left at home. Together they were a matched set, and in the end, they both became legendary in the Navy. "They had a sort of gravitational pull that caused people in any room, no matter how large or small, to gather around them," said a wardroom friend. "He had a great laugh you could hear across a room, and inevitably all the action would gravitate around Boots' animated figure. It simply was not possible not to want to be around them." By the time he retired in 1994, his legacy was set in stone. "Before Admiral Tuttle," one long-time aide said, "Navy used manual Morse, teletypes and paper charts to drop dumb bombs from airplanes over short distances. When he finished, Navy had the Global Positioning System, AEGIS, modeling and simulation, the full use of three communications satellite constellations, digital workstations, and altogether new weaponry that flew up and down mountain sides and landed a thousand miles inland with accuracy that astounded the world." Admiral Tuttle's personal decorations include the Defense Distinguished Service Medal (3); Defense Superior Service Medal; Legion of Merit (4); Distinguished Flying Cross (3); Meritorious Service Medal (2); Air Medal (23); Navy Commendation Medal (4); Letter of Commendation from the Japan Defense Agency; and numerous campaign awards. Admiral Tuttle is survived by his wife, Barbara Bonifay Tuttle; five children, Michael, Vicky, Mark, Stephen and Monique; six grandchildren, Michael, Carleigh, Sean, Lauren, Scott and Caroline; and two great-grandchildren, Corianne and Taryn. Viewing will be Friday, November 9, 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Money and King Funeral Home, 171 Maple Avenue W, Vienna, VA 22180 Service with Full Honors Burial will be at a later date at Arlington National Cemetery. In lieu of flowers contributions can be made to the Naval Aviation Museum,1878 S. Blue Angel Pkwy, Pensacola, Florida 32508. To see the full obituary and sign the guestbook, go to: www.moneyandking.com www.moneyandking.com