| Gregory Tarl Parke | |
|---|---|
| Personal details | |
| Born | January 29, 1954 |
| Political party | Republican |
| Occupation | pilot |
| Religion | United Methodist |
Gregory Tarl "Greg" Parke (born January 29, 1954 in Boston, Massachusetts) is a retired United States Air Force Lieutenant Colonel who was a Republican candidate for U.S. Senate in Vermont.
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Lt. Col. Gregory T. Parke was born in Boston, Massachusetts on January 29, 1954. His father was a high school teacher and principal in Proctorsville, Enosburg Falls, and Fair Haven, Vermont. He graduated high school from Sanborn Seminary in Kingston, New Hampshire and went on to earn a Bachelor of Science Cum Laude from the University of New Hampshire's Whittemore School of Business. While in college he was introduced to the writings of Austrian economist F.A. Hayek and Russian-American libertarian writer Ayn Rand, whose free market philosophies would later influence him in his political career.
Greg Parke is married to Sharon Colton Parke and they have two children.
An Reserve Officers' Training Corps Distinguished Graduate, Parke was commissioned a Second Lieutenant in the United States Air Force and was awarded the Presidential Saber.
He entered active duty attending Undergraduate Pilot Training at Columbus Air Force Base in Columbus, Mississippi. After earning his pilot's wings, Lt. Parke started his operational career in the T33 at Tyndall Interceptor Lead-In School in Panama City, Florida. He then went on to Griffiss Air Force Base in Rome, New York as an air defense pilot in the F-106 Delta Dart. After two years he was selected for duty as an advisor to the Royal Saudi Air Force in Ta’if, Saudi Arabia, where he spent two years instructing Saudi pilots in the employment of the F-5 Tiger-II. Captain Parke was then assigned to America's front-line fighter, the F-16 Fighting Falcon, and stationed at Torrejón Air Base in Spain for three years as a NATO nuclear strike pilot. Maj. Parke ended his tour there as Wing Chief of Training.
Just before the Gulf War broke out, Major Parke was reassigned to the Office of the Secretary of the Air Force, International Affairs. As a Country Director he dealt with military issues relating to Eastern Europe and the Middle East. He concluded his Pentagon tour as Executive Officer for the Deputy Under Secretary for International Affairs. He was then promoted to Lt. Colonel and assigned to An Shas Air Base in Cairo, Egypt, where he commanded an advisory group assisting the Egyptian Air Force in the training and development of an Egyptian F-16 Fighter Wing.
Upon completion of his two years in Egypt, Lt. Col. Parke was assigned to Luke Air Force Base in Phoenix, Arizona as Assistant to the Director of the Goldwater Gunnery Range. There he was instrumental in development of the Environmental Impact Statement, which secured the military's continued use of the Goldwater Range, a critical national resource, for an additional 25 years. Lt. Col. Parke retired from Luke Air Force Base on New Year's Day 2000.
In 2002, he was an unsuccessful candidate for the Republican nomination for the U.S. House from Vermont, losing to William Meub.
In 2004, he was the Republican nominee for Vermont's at-large U.S. House seat, running as a fiscal and social conservative who emphasized the need for a strong national defense. Parke was a firm defender of the Bush Administration's War on Terror and the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. He lost the general election to incumbent Representative Bernie Sanders (I-VT).
In 2006, he was an unsuccessful candidate for the Republican nomination for the U.S. Senate from Vermont, losing to Richard Tarrant.
In 2007 Parke formed Silver Skye Aviation, a contract pilot service company, flying corporate jets for clients around the world.
Parke is a member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, the American Legion, and the Air Force Association.
In 2009 Parke purchased the former Ira C. Allen Mansion (popularly known as the "Marble Mansion") in Fair Haven, Vermont. In the spring of 2010 Parke began the Marble Mansion Inn bed and breakfast.