Congressman Doug Lamborn is pleased to announce that former El Paso County Veteran Service Officer and 21 year Army veteran Jim Tackett has joined his Colorado Springs office as the new Senior Veterans Liaison. In this capacity, Jim will serve as the main point of contact and caseworker for veterans in the Fifth Congressional District.
"Jim is an outstanding individual with a sterling community reputation for selflessly serving our brave veterans. I am so grateful that Jim has decided to come out of retirement in order to continue his dedicated service to his fellow veterans. With the experience gained working on 10,000 cases, Jim brings invaluable expertise to my Congressional office."
- Congressman Doug Lamborn (CO-05)
"I appreciate this opportunity to serve in Congressman Lamborn's Colorado Springs office. With over 100,000 veterans in the Pikes Peak Region, this is a very important job. With Congressman Lamborn's passion for helping veterans, I know that I will have all the tools and resources I need in order to provide the best possible service to our community."
- Senior Veterans Liaison Jim Tackett
Jim Tackett Bio
In December of 1972, Jim joined the U.S. Army and trained as an Aviation Mechanic/Crew Chief on CH-54 Sky Crane Helicopters. He was stationed at Ft. Wainwright, Alaska in September 1973 until he was honorably discharged from active duty in December of 1978.
Jim moved to Colorado Springs in 1983 and began studying at Pikes Peak Community College. It was there in March 1986, that he began working under the VA work-study program with El Paso County Veterans Service operating the Ft. Carson Veteran Service Office, an organization assisting active duty, veterans and survivors with all benefits administered by Department of Veterans Affairs.
In March of 1987, he joined the Colorado Army National Guard again as an Aviation Mechanic on OH-1, OH-58 and Huey helicopters at Buckley ANG Base. He became a Huey Crew Chief in mid-1990s and retired from the Guard in 2002.
In February of 1988, he was hired as an Assistant Veteran Service Officer for El Paso County Veteran Services. In 1994, he was promoted to the Operations Officer for El Paso County Veteran Service Office.
In February of 2000, he participated in the start-up of the Colorado Veterans Resource Coalition (CVRC), a 501C3 nonprofit organization, to address homeless veteran issues in Colorado Springs. He was quickly voted President of the CVRC and still serves as President of CVRC today. The CVRC currently operates 5 facilities that provide housing for nearly 40 veterans or families in various programs overseen by CVRC. Since its founding, the CVRC has assisted more than 1,000 homeless veterans.
In the spring of 2001, he participated in another 501C3 start-up. The El Paso County Homeless Veteran Stand-down Committee, which operates the Annual Homeless Veterans Stand-down in Colorado Springs by assisting them with benefits, clothing, haircuts, referrals and a meal in October of every year. He served as Vice-President of this organization for several years but no longer serves on this committee.
In the summer of 2002, he was elected to the Executive Board of the National Association of County Veteran Service Officers, an organization dedicated to providing the best training for County VSOs across the nation and working with legislators to make veterans benefits easier to obtain for all veterans. He served 6 years as Board Member, 2nd Vice-President and 1st Vice-President (2 years in each position).
He was promoted to El Paso County Veteran Service Officer in August of 2008 and stayed in that position until he retired in February of 2015. During this same period from 2008-2015, he also served on Congressman Lamborn’s Veterans Advisory Board and the Pikes Peak National Cemetery Committee.
During his time working with veterans, Jim filed more than 10,000 claims for benefits, most of which were successful and he directed an office that handled the highest volume of claims in the State of Colorado and produced the highest dollar of amount of benefits for veterans of any other county office in the state.
Jim is a Life-Member of the American Legion, a member of The Retired Enlisted Association, has been married for 41 years, and has two adult children.
