David M. Thomas (born 1958) is a former senior officer in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

Early life

Thomas's father was a career Navy officer. Thomas, and three of his brothers, are graduates of the

United States Naval Academy The United States Naval Academy (US Naval Academy, USNA, or Navy) is a federal service academy in Annapolis, Maryland. It was established on 10 October 1845 during the tenure of George Bancroft as Secretary of the Navy. The Naval Academy ...

. All are retired, including one who was in the Marine Corps. Another brother served in the Peace Corps. His two uncles also were Navy officers via Officers' Candidate School programs. Thomas graduated in 1981. Thomas was a 1976 graduate of Thomas Sprigg Wootton High School in Rockville, Maryland.

Navy career

In 1999, Thomas commanded the

destroyer In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, manoeuvrable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against powerful short range attackers. They were originally developed in ...

USS ''Ross''. He has served aboard the USS ''Shreveport'', USS ''Estocin'', USS ''Willamette'', and the USS ''Leyte Gulf''

9-11 rescue efforts

Captain David Thomas was serving in

the Pentagon The Pentagon is the headquarters building of the United States Department of Defense. It was constructed on an accelerated schedule during World War II. As a symbol of the U.S. military, the phrase ''The Pentagon'' is often used as a metony ...

on September 11, 2001, when

al Qaeda Al-Qaeda (; , ) is an Islamic extremist organization composed of Salafist jihadists. Its members are mostly composed of Arabs, but also include other peoples. Al-Qaeda has mounted attacks on civilian and military targets in various countr ...

hijackers crashed a passenger jet into it, causing an explosion, fire, and consequent injuries and loss of life. Thomas was one of the people who spontaneously volunteered to enter the damaged part of the building to rescue survivors. When asked about his rescue efforts on September 11, Thomas replied: His fire-damaged uniform now hangs in the Smithsonian's American History gallery.

8th Commander of Joint Task Force Guantanamo

Mark Buzby hands over Guantanamo to David Thomas

On May 27, 2008,

Rear Admiral Rear admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, equivalent to a major general and air vice marshal and above that of a commodore and captain, but below that of a vice admiral. It is regarded as a two star "admiral" rank. It is often regarde ...

David Thomas replaced Rear Admiral Mark Buzby to become the 8th Commander of Joint Task Force Guantanamo, and the

Guantanamo Bay detention camp The Guantanamo Bay detention camp ( es, Centro de detención de la bahía de Guantánamo) is a United States military prison located within Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, also referred to as Guantánamo, GTMO, and Gitmo (), on the coast of Guant ...

. On April 2, 2009, Thomas defended inviting visiting VIP entertainers to view detainees at Guantanamo. Miss Universe 2008 Dayana Mendoza and

Miss USA 2008 Miss USA 2008 was the 57th Miss USA pageant, held in Las Vegas, Nevada on April 11, 2008. At the conclusion of the final night of competition, Crystle Stewart of Texas was crowned the winner by outgoing titleholder Rachel Smith of Tennessee. ...

Crystle Stewart had both been invited to visit Guantanamo on a

USO The United Service Organizations Inc. (USO) is an American nonprofit-charitable corporation that provides live entertainment, such as comedians, actors and musicians, social facilities, and other programs to members of the United States Armed F ...

tour, where they signed autographs. Both women stirred controversy after they published accounts of their visits. Thomas had authorized the women to view captives.

Carol Rosenberg Carol Rosenberg is a senior journalist at ''The New York Times.'' Long a military-affairs reporter at the ''Miami Herald'', from January 2002 into 2019 she reported on the operation of the United States' Guantanamo Bay detention camps, at its nav ...

, reporting in the ''

Miami Herald The ''Miami Herald'' is an American daily newspaper owned by the McClatchy Company and headquartered in Doral, Florida, a List of communities in Miami-Dade County, Florida, city in western Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County and the M ...

'', wrote that Thomas "brushed aside" concerns that by allowing civilians to view the captives he was violating the clause in the Geneva Conventions that protect captives from the humiliation of public display. Thomas asserted that the beauty queens had been allowed to view the detainees in Guantanamo just as if they were reporters.

Commander, Naval Surface Forces Atlantic

On July 10, 2009, he began his assignment as commander,

Carrier Strike Group 2 } Carrier Strike Group 2 (CSG-2 or COMCARSTRKGRU 2) is a U.S. Navy carrier strike group, tracing its history originally to 1931. The aircraft carrier is the strike group's current flagship. As of Aug 2020, other units assigned to Carrier Strik ...

, serving in that capacity until July, 2010. In July 2010, he was named Commander, Naval Surface Forces Atlantic (COMNAVSURFLANT), the senior Surface Warfare Officer (SWO) in the Atlantic Fleet, a position he held until September 4, 2013.

BAE

After he left the Navy Thomas was hired as an executive at

BAE Systems Inc. BAE Systems Inc. (formerly BAE Systems North America) is an American subsidiary of British defense, security, and aerospace company BAE Systems plc. The American subsidiary operates under a Special Security Agreement which allows it to work o ...

, a firm which builds and maintains large vessels, including

US Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage of ...

vessels. In 2018 he was put in charge of BAE's

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...

facility.

References

External links

*
Official U.S. Navy Biography
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas, David M. 1958 births Living people Place of birth missing (living people) United States Naval Academy alumni Recipients of the Legion of Merit United States Navy admirals Guantanamo Bay detention camp People associated with the September 11 attacks