Son of Salem-News.com Founder Graduates from Law Enforcement Academy

Nate is no stranger to a uniform. He has served not one, but two combat tours in Iraq with the U.S. Army's 101st Airborne Division, earning the rank of sergeant.

Proud parents Tim and Bonnie King with their new graduate

(TUCSON, Az.) - The son of Salem-News.com's Tim King, Nate (King) Tasch, graduated from a 17-week program at the Southern Arizona Law Enforcement Academy and is now a sheriff's deputy in Cochise County, Arizona.

"I am extremely proud of Nate and I know he will serve people in Arizona well. He made it through a very rigorous program and has again proven that he has what it takes to rise to a challenge and meet or exceed it," Tim King said.

Nate is no stranger to a uniform. He has served not one, but two combat tours in Iraq with the U.S. Army's 101st Airborne Division and earned the rank of sergeant. He is presently serving in the Arizona National Guard.

In his new role, Deputy (King) Tasch will patrol the areas that Billy the Kid visited and places like Tombstone and the OK Coral are locations he could be sent to on a law enforcement response.

The program he completed is intense and consists of physical education and hundreds of hours of classroom time. The recruits are taught to shoot, drive in high performance conditions, and they are taught the basic structure of the law and legal system they now represent. Of 59 students who began the program, 41 graduated last Thursday.

Tim and Bonnie King say Nate's achievements are among their greatest pleasures in life. Tim added, "I just don't have words for how this makes me feel; I know it is a dangerous profession but my son is a man at the top of his game and that will be his story in law enforcement as it was in Iraq where he was not behind the lines, but in combat situations frequently as a component of the Army's infantry security forces."

He says that the new job means no more war deployments for his son, and that is good news for Nate's wife Erin as well as the rest of the family.