April 28, 2025 • 5 mins
Mike Tate who served with the Army National Guard joins us to discuss his time in the military and how that experience has helped him in the workplace.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Things will start at the Ford Presidential Museum and then
there's a little parade that goes over to the JW.
Marriott where there's an amazing lunch and that's the Military
Monday Focus to talk about the Armed Forces Thanksgiving. And
since it is Monday and we have a proud veteran
in studio with the Army National Guard, Mike Tait is here. Mike,
(00:20):
thank you so much for coming in today.
Speaker 2 (00:22):
Thanks for having me.
Speaker 1 (00:24):
We're going to get to your job at Gentex and
how maybe the military helped prepare you for what it is,
the important job that you have today. But take us
back a little bit for those I think sometimes when
we look at Hollywood and how things like basic training
are depicted, it's not necessarily the same thing. Any positives
come out of that in your perspective, Yeah, basic training
(00:47):
was actually fun for me. I grew up playing sports
and played football at Catholic Central and then Forest Hill Central,
and I remember two today practices all the time, and
you know, just the physical grind, but the you know,
the benefit of just working with others. And so when
I was in basic training, it just it honestly.
Speaker 2 (01:06):
Felt like football practice. A lot of the times, but
we got to work together and really develop a strong
teamwork bond.
Speaker 1 (01:13):
Fort Jackson in South Carolina.
Speaker 2 (01:14):
Yes, sir, in the summer, in the summer, Yeah, yeah,
it was brutal, but it was a good time.
Speaker 3 (01:23):
I wanted to ask you in the fact of the
Army National Guard because we have different folks in from
different branches and what stood out to you and your
experience with the National Guard, because a lot of different things,
right that you're involved with.
Speaker 1 (01:35):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (01:36):
Absolutely, So when I joined, you know, my father served
in the military for twenty five years. My grandfather was
a navigator on a B seventeen bomber during World War Two.
So growing up, I always the two men I looked
up to the most were my father and my grandfather,
and they both served in the military. So I knew
that I wanted to serve in some capacity, and I
(01:58):
also wanted to go to college. So the arm Me
National Guard was an opportunity to serve but also to
pursue college at the same time. So that's really the
thing that stood out. But I guess for me, you know,
we did one week and a month, two weeks in
the summer, and you had to be ready at all times.
And you know, back when I joined in nineteen ninety nine,
(02:20):
we weren't obviously involved in all the conflicts that we
would end up getting into Post nine to eleven. But
I did deployed Iraq in two thousand and four, and
our National Guard unit, even though we did two weeks
in the summer and just one week and a month,
we had to be ready. So we deployed in two
thousand and four to two thousand and five, and it
was it was really a good time and happy to
(02:41):
serve my country.
Speaker 4 (02:43):
I'd like to ask, it's okay. Between your grandfather and
your father serving in the military, do you remember any
specific lessons or things that they told you or taught
you during their time of service that kind of shaped
your passion to join and serve our country.
Speaker 1 (02:57):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (02:57):
Yeah, My dad always taught me about being resilient, to
always work hard, and uh, if you start something, finish it.
So I learned a lot from him. He taught me
how to be a man, and he had a lot
of good experiences in the military. He grew up as
a black man in the military at a time when
there weren't a lot of officers in his position, and
(03:19):
and he just taught me the value of hard work
and putting your best foot forward. So something that I
really looked up to was my father and my grandfather.
Just he didn't he didn't share a lot of stories,
but seeing pictures and seeing the way that he lived
his life, it was just just awesome to grow up with. Uh,
with that experience.
Speaker 3 (03:39):
That's great. I imagine like Steve growing up with the Colonel,
as he referenced his step dad. You know, it was
passed away. But now somebody's stories that he shared with
us that you were never late, right, because I know
Steve was never like yeah.
Speaker 2 (03:52):
I mean I think some people in my life would
disagree now, but yeah, I mean, my my dad was
very strict, uh, and he we used to joke he
would make boys that wanted to date my sister fill
out fill out an application. And there's some truth to that.
But he was a very strict guy and learned a
(04:12):
lot of discipline from the military, for sure.
Speaker 1 (04:14):
And talk to us a little bit about how then
that works, all that stuff that you learned in the military,
all those years at Gentex, and how you put that
to work into practice.
Speaker 4 (04:24):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (04:24):
So I'm a material planning manager at GenTech, so supply chain,
which you can imagine over the past five years with
COVID and now terrorists, there's a lot of supply chain
impact there. And you know what I learned in the
military is you have to stay calm through chaotic situations.
There's always a solution to a problem, and you just
have to walk through step by step and respond instead
(04:48):
of react all the time. So I learned a lot
about that in the military, and I lead a great team.
In twenty nineteen, I helped launch our business resource for veterans.
I'm very passionate about giving back to those that made
sacrifices for this country. So we have a great veterans
business resource group. I'm the executive sponsor for that group now.
(05:10):
And Andrew Prinz, who's who is a Marine, leads that
group now and he does a fantastic job.
Speaker 1 (05:17):
Well, that is Mike Tate, who served proudly in the
Army National Guard, the Armed Forces. Thanksgiving is May sixteenth
at the JW. Marriott Armed Forces THX dot Com. Tickets
are still available. Thank you for coming in today and
thank you for your service.
Speaker 2 (05:34):
Thanks a lot for having me
Things will start at the Ford Presidential Museum and then
there's a little parade that goes over to the JW.
Marriott where there's an amazing lunch and that's the Military
Monday Focus to talk about the Armed Forces Thanksgiving. And
since it is Monday and we have a proud veteran
in studio with the Army National Guard, Mike Tait is here. Mike,
(00:20):
thank you so much for coming in today.
Speaker 2 (00:22):
Thanks for having me.
Speaker 1 (00:24):
We're going to get to your job at Gentex and
how maybe the military helped prepare you for what it is,
the important job that you have today. But take us
back a little bit for those I think sometimes when
we look at Hollywood and how things like basic training
are depicted, it's not necessarily the same thing. Any positives
come out of that in your perspective, Yeah, basic training
(00:47):
was actually fun for me. I grew up playing sports
and played football at Catholic Central and then Forest Hill Central,
and I remember two today practices all the time, and
you know, just the physical grind, but the you know,
the benefit of just working with others. And so when
I was in basic training, it just it honestly.
Speaker 2 (01:06):
Felt like football practice. A lot of the times, but
we got to work together and really develop a strong
teamwork bond.
Speaker 1 (01:13):
Fort Jackson in South Carolina.
Speaker 2 (01:14):
Yes, sir, in the summer, in the summer, Yeah, yeah,
it was brutal, but it was a good time.
Speaker 3 (01:23):
I wanted to ask you in the fact of the
Army National Guard because we have different folks in from
different branches and what stood out to you and your
experience with the National Guard, because a lot of different things,
right that you're involved with.
Speaker 1 (01:35):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (01:36):
Absolutely, So when I joined, you know, my father served
in the military for twenty five years. My grandfather was
a navigator on a B seventeen bomber during World War Two.
So growing up, I always the two men I looked
up to the most were my father and my grandfather,
and they both served in the military. So I knew
that I wanted to serve in some capacity, and I
(01:58):
also wanted to go to college. So the arm Me
National Guard was an opportunity to serve but also to
pursue college at the same time. So that's really the
thing that stood out. But I guess for me, you know,
we did one week and a month, two weeks in
the summer, and you had to be ready at all times.
And you know, back when I joined in nineteen ninety nine,
(02:20):
we weren't obviously involved in all the conflicts that we
would end up getting into Post nine to eleven. But
I did deployed Iraq in two thousand and four, and
our National Guard unit, even though we did two weeks
in the summer and just one week and a month,
we had to be ready. So we deployed in two
thousand and four to two thousand and five, and it
was it was really a good time and happy to
(02:41):
serve my country.
Speaker 4 (02:43):
I'd like to ask, it's okay. Between your grandfather and
your father serving in the military, do you remember any
specific lessons or things that they told you or taught
you during their time of service that kind of shaped
your passion to join and serve our country.
Speaker 1 (02:57):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (02:57):
Yeah, My dad always taught me about being resilient, to
always work hard, and uh, if you start something, finish it.
So I learned a lot from him. He taught me
how to be a man, and he had a lot
of good experiences in the military. He grew up as
a black man in the military at a time when
there weren't a lot of officers in his position, and
(03:19):
and he just taught me the value of hard work
and putting your best foot forward. So something that I
really looked up to was my father and my grandfather.
Just he didn't he didn't share a lot of stories,
but seeing pictures and seeing the way that he lived
his life, it was just just awesome to grow up with. Uh,
with that experience.
Speaker 3 (03:39):
That's great. I imagine like Steve growing up with the Colonel,
as he referenced his step dad. You know, it was
passed away. But now somebody's stories that he shared with
us that you were never late, right, because I know
Steve was never like yeah.
Speaker 2 (03:52):
I mean I think some people in my life would
disagree now, but yeah, I mean, my my dad was
very strict, uh, and he we used to joke he
would make boys that wanted to date my sister fill
out fill out an application. And there's some truth to that.
But he was a very strict guy and learned a
(04:12):
lot of discipline from the military, for sure.
Speaker 1 (04:14):
And talk to us a little bit about how then
that works, all that stuff that you learned in the military,
all those years at Gentex, and how you put that
to work into practice.
Speaker 4 (04:24):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (04:24):
So I'm a material planning manager at GenTech, so supply chain,
which you can imagine over the past five years with
COVID and now terrorists, there's a lot of supply chain
impact there. And you know what I learned in the
military is you have to stay calm through chaotic situations.
There's always a solution to a problem, and you just
have to walk through step by step and respond instead
(04:48):
of react all the time. So I learned a lot
about that in the military, and I lead a great team.
In twenty nineteen, I helped launch our business resource for veterans.
I'm very passionate about giving back to those that made
sacrifices for this country. So we have a great veterans
business resource group. I'm the executive sponsor for that group now.
(05:10):
And Andrew Prinz, who's who is a Marine, leads that
group now and he does a fantastic job.
Speaker 1 (05:17):
Well, that is Mike Tate, who served proudly in the
Army National Guard, the Armed Forces. Thanksgiving is May sixteenth
at the JW. Marriott Armed Forces THX dot Com. Tickets
are still available. Thank you for coming in today and
thank you for your service.
Speaker 2 (05:34):
Thanks a lot for having me
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