JEROME NEAL – CLASS OF 1955

JEROME NEAL – CLASS OF 1955

Neal, Jerome of Fort Collins, Colorado

Jerome Neal, a native of Kalamazoo, Mich., graduated from Western Michigan University in 1955 as an ROTC Distinguished Military Graduate and accepted a Regular Army commission. After basic officer and airborne training at Ft Benning, Georgia, he was posted to Germany where he commanded an armored unit on duty along the border with East Germany. He served three years as an aide-de-camp to the Commanding General of the U.S. Army in Germany where he received two awards of the Army Commendation Medal.

He attended the Career Officer Course at Ft Benning, GA where he was promoted to Captain. Upon graduation he was asked to be a staff instructor at the US Army Infantry School. During an assignment in Washington, he was invited to join the Clandestine Service of the Central Intelligence Agency. Reluctantly resigning his commission, he served with the Agency for over three decades until his retirement in December 1991. He remained with the Agency on contract status until late 1992.

Mr. Neal spent most of his Agency career in Europe ostensibly as a diplomat or business executive. He dealt with senior foreign officials and prominent figures of the Cold War years where he gained recognition as an expert on Germany and Eastern Europe. During the Vietnam War he spent 18 months in country including the TET offensive followed by the first siege of Saigon. He was cited by the Agency for his performance of duty under hazardous conditions. During his final years with the Agency he held an executive position as a CIA Deputy Inspector General and returned to Europe where he directed a CIA field unit in a major city.

A longtime student of history, he has done graduate work in military and security affairs at Colorado State University. The History and Political Science departments at CSU have invited him to guest lecture at senior, graduate classes and seminars dealing with foreign relations and security affairs. He has appeared at the University of Colorado, Denver to speak on the Vietnam War. The National Park Service published his feature article on the Battle of Gettysburg. The Wyoming Journal of History highlighted his book review in its Winter 2000 issue.

Mr. Neal has long been active in volunteer work along with his other daily activities in Ft Collins and has become an avid horseman.