Raymond A. Thomas

Raymond A. Thomas III
General Raymond A. Thomas Commander, United States Special Operations Command
Born	(1958-10-06) October 6, 1958 Pennsylvania, United States
Allegiance	United States
Service/branch	United States Army
Years of service	1980–present
Rank	General
Commands held	United States Special Operations Command Joint Special Operations Command
Battles/wars	Operation Urgent Fury Operation Just Cause Gulf War Iraq War War in Afghanistan
Awards	Defense Superior Service Medal (5) Legion of Merit Bronze Star Medal (5) Purple Heart

General Raymond Anthony Thomas III^[1] (born October 6, 1958) is a senior officer in the United States Army and current commander of United States Special Operations Command.

He has participated in numerous combat operations, such as; Operation Urgent Fury 1983, Operation Just Cause in 1989, Gulf War in 1991, and since 2001 the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Every year between 2001 and 2013 (minus his time in Iraq with the First Armored Division in 2007) Thomas deployed to Afghanistan as part of various special operations units.

Military career

Thomas was born in Pennsylvania in 1958 and graduated from the U.S. Military Academy in 1980.^[1]^[2] Thomas was a member of the 75th Ranger Regiment.^[3]

Thomas crossed over from the special operations realm into the conventional warfare realm when he was selected by Lieutenant General Mark P. Hertling, then-commander of the First Armored Division, to be his deputy commander during the Iraq War, from 2007 to 2008. During that tour the division worked alongside Arabs and Kurds and despite the difficult relationship between the ethnic groups Thomas was praised by Hertling for "his ability to quickly fuse intelligence" adding, "He helped us fight better." After his tenure in the First Armored Division came to an end Thomas returned to Special Operations.^[4] From 2010 until 2012 Thomas served as the deputy commander of Joint Special Operations Command.^[2] As a major general, Thomas was in charge of all U.S. and NATO special forces in Afghanistan from 2012 until 2013.^[2]^[5] Every year between 2001 and 2013 (minus his time in Iraq with the First Armored Division in 2007) Thomas deployed to Afghanistan as part of various special operations units.^[3]

After commanding all US and NATO SOF units in Afghanistan Thomas was promoted to lieutenant general and was reassigned the CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia where he served as the Associate Director of the Central Intelligence Agency for Military Affairs.^[2] In August 2014, Thomas replaced Joseph Votel as the commander of Joint Special Operations Command, Votel was promoted to four-star general and replaced Admiral McRaven as the commander of U.S. Special Operations Command.^[3] In a ceremony at MacDill AFB, FL March 30, 2016 General Thomas took command of USSOCOM.^[6]

Awards and decorations

Combat Infantryman Badge with Star (denoting 2nd award)

Master Parachutist Badge with 2 Combat Jump Devices

Ranger tab

Military Free Fall Parachutist Badge

Joint Chiefs of Staff Identification Badge

United States Special Operations Command Badge

75th Ranger Regiment Distinctive Unit Insignia

Honduran Parachutist Badge

Unidentified foreign parachutist badge

1st Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment Combat Service Identification Badge

13 Overseas Service Bars

Defense Superior Service Medal with four bronze oak leaf clusters

Legion of Merit

Bronze Star Medal with four oak leaf clusters

Purple Heart

Defense Meritorious Service Medal with two oak leaf clusters

Meritorious Service Medal with two oak leaf clusters

Joint Service Commendation Medal

Army Achievement Medal

Army Presidential Unit Citation

Joint Meritorious Unit Award with oak leaf cluster

Valorous Unit Award with one oak leaf cluster

Meritorious Unit Commendation

National Defense Service Medal with one bronze service star

Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal with Arrowhead device and service star

Southwest Asia Service Medal

Afghanistan Campaign Medal with two campaign stars

Iraq Campaign Medal with two campaign stars

Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal with service star

Global War on Terrorism Service Medal

Army Service Ribbon

Army Overseas Service Ribbon with bronze award numeral 4

NATO Medal for the Former Yugoslavia with service star

Kuwait Liberation Medal (Saudi Arabia)

Kuwait Liberation Medal (Kuwait)

References

1 2
1 2 3 4 "New Senior Appointment at CIA – Matthew Aid". matthewaid.com. Retrieved September 4, 2014.
1 2 3 "New Commander Takes Over JSOC at Fort Bragg | Military.com". military.com. Retrieved September 4, 2014.
↑ "The New York Times". nytimes.com. Retrieved September 4, 2014.
↑ "Defense.gov News Release: General Officer Assignments". defense.gov. Retrieved September 4, 2014.
↑ http://www.socom.mil/News/Pages/VotelrelinquishescommandofUSSOCOM.aspx

External links

Media related to Raymond A. Thomas III at Wikimedia Commons

Military offices
Preceded by Joseph Votel	Commander, Joint Special Operations Command July 29, 2014 – March 30, 2016	Succeeded by Austin S. Miller
Preceded by Joseph Votel	Commander, United States Special Operations Command March 30, 2016 – present	Succeeded by Incumbent

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