Lawrence S. Thomas III is a retired

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

brigadier general Brigadier general or Brigade general is a military rank used in many countries. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries. The rank is usually above a colonel, and below a major general or divisional general. When appointed ...

, most recently assigned as the chief of staff and commander of the New Jersey Air National Guard at

Fort Dix Fort Dix, the common name for the Army Support Activity (ASA) located at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, is a United States Army post. It is located south-southeast of Trenton, New Jersey. Fort Dix is under the jurisdiction of the Air Force A ...

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

. He graduated from

Ohio University Ohio University is a Public university, public research university in Athens, Ohio. The first university chartered by an Act of Congress and the first to be chartered in Ohio, the university was chartered in 1787 by the Congress of the Confeder ...

in 1977, and he received his commission as an Ensign 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 ...

that August. After becoming a

Naval Aviator Naval aviation is the application of military air power by navies, whether from warships that embark aircraft, or land bases. Naval aviation is typically projected to a position nearer the target by way of an aircraft carrier. Carrier-based a ...

, Thomas qualified in the

F-14 Tomcat The Grumman F-14 Tomcat is an American carrier-capable supersonic aircraft, supersonic, twinjet, twin-engine, two-seat, twin-tail, variable-sweep wing fighter aircraft. The Tomcat was developed for the United States Navy's Naval Fighter Experi ...

aircraft and was assigned to the . He attended and graduated from the United States Navy Fighter Weapons School (TOPGUN) in 1981, and was one of the Navy's initial cadre for the

F/A-18 Hornet The McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet is an all-weather, twinjet, twin-engine, supersonic aircraft, supersonic, carrier-based aircraft, carrier-capable, Multirole combat aircraft, multirole combat aircraft, designed as both a Fighter aircraft, ...

. Thomas joined the New Jersey Air National Guard in 1986 as a member of the

177th Fighter Wing The 177th Fighter Wing (177 FW) is a unit of the New Jersey Air National Guard, stationed at Atlantic City Air National Guard Base, New Jersey. If activated to federal service, the Wing is gained by the United States Air Force Air Combat Command ...

Atlantic City Atlantic City, often known by its initials A.C., is a coastal resort city in Atlantic County, New Jersey, United States. The city is known for its casinos, Boardwalk (entertainment district), boardwalk, and beaches. In 2020 United States censu ...

, after spending almost a decade aboard the USS Nimitz, NAS Lemoore, California and NAS Oceana, Virginia. He has participated in many missions, including deployment to

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

Key West Key West ( es, Cayo Hueso) is an island in the Straits of Florida, within the U.S. state of Florida. Together with all or parts of the separate islands of Dredgers Key, Fleming Key, Sunset Key, and the northern part of Stock Island, it cons ...

, and

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...

to enforce the southern no-fly zone in

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

F-16 The General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon is a single-engine Multirole combat aircraft, multirole fighter aircraft originally developed by General Dynamics for the United States Air Force (USAF). Designed as an air superiority day fighter, it ...

contingency missions over

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

Washington D. C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

, and

Camp David Camp David is the country retreat for the president of the United States of America. It is located in the wooded hills of Catoctin Mountain Park, in Frederick County, Maryland, near the towns of Thurmont and Emmitsburg, about north-northwe ...

following the

September 11, 2001 attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial ...

. He has served as the operations officer for the 119th Fighter Squadron and both the Vice Commander and then Commander of the 177th Fighter Wing. In 2003, he served as the commander of the

108th Air Refueling Wing 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

during the wing's mobilization for

Operation Iraqi Freedom {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Iraq War {{Nobold, {{lang, ar, حرب العراق (Arabic) {{Nobold, {{lang, ku, شەڕی عێراق (Kurdish languages, Kurdish) , partof = the Iraq conflict (2003–present), I ...

. He continues to command the 108th and 177th Wings as the commander of the New Jersey Air National Guard. During his tenure as commander, Thomas has engaged at the national level, including in the

Base Realignment and Closure Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) is a process by a United States federal government commission to increase United States Department of Defense efficiency by coordinating the realignment and closure of military installations following the end o ...

(BRAC) process. Thomas has received several decorations, including the Meritorious Service Medal with bronze oak leaf cluster; the Aerial Achievement Medal; the Air Force Commendation Medal with three oak leaf clusters; the

Air Force Organizational Excellence Award The Air and Space Organizational Excellence Award (ASOEA) is a unit award of the United States Air Force and United States Space Force created by the Secretary of the Air Force on 26 August 1969 as the Air Force Outstanding Unit Award. The award i ...

; a

Navy Unit Commendation The Navy Unit Commendation (NUC) is a United States Navy unit award that was established by order of the Secretary of the Navy James Forrestal on 18 December 1944. History Navy and U.S. Marine Corps commands may recommend any Navy or Marine Co ...

; a Navy "E" Ribbon; the Navy Expeditionary Medal; the National Defense Service Medal with one bronze star; the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal; the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal; the

Sea Service Ribbon A Sea Service Ribbon is an award of the United States Navy, United States Marine Corps, U.S. Marine Corps, United States Coast Guard, U.S. Coast Guard, the United States Army, U.S. Army, and the NOAA Commissioned Officer Corps which recognizes thos ...

with two bronze stars; the

Air Force Longevity Service Award The Air and Space Longevity Service Award (ASLSA) is a military award of the United States Air Force and United States Space Force established as the Air Force Longevity Service Award by Air Force General Order 60, on 25 November 1957 by General ...

with four oak leaf clusters; an Air Force Training Ribbon; and several awards and decorations from the New Jersey National Guard.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas, Lawrence S. III Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Ohio University alumni United States Navy officers United States Naval Aviators United States Air Force generals Place of birth missing (living people)