General A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of highest military ranks, high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers t ...

Raymond Anthony Thomas III (also known as Tony Thomas; born October 6, 1958) is a retired

general officer A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". OED O ...

of the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

and former commander of the United States Special Operations Command. He participated in numerous combat operations during his career, such as

Operation Urgent Fury The United States invasion of Grenada began at dawn on 25 October 1983. The United States and a coalition of six Caribbean nations invaded the island nation of Grenada, north of Venezuela. Codenamed Operation Urgent Fury by the U.S. military, ...

1983,

Operation Just Cause Operation or Operations may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * ''Operation'' (game), a battery-operated board game that challenges dexterity * Operation (music), a term used in musical set theory * ''Operations'' (magazine), Multi-Man ...

in 1989,

Gulf War The Gulf War was a 1990–1991 armed campaign waged by a 35-country military coalition in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Spearheaded by the United States, the coalition's efforts against Iraq were carried out in two key phases: ...

in 1991, and since 2001 the wars 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 ...

and

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

. Every year between 2001 and 2013 (minus his time in Iraq with the 1st Armored Division in 2007), Thomas deployed to Afghanistan as part of various special operations units.

Military career

Thomas was born in Pennsylvania on October 6, 1958 and graduated from the

United States Military Academy The United States Military Academy (USMA), also known metonymically as West Point or simply as Army, is a United States service academy in West Point, New York. It was originally established as a fort, since it sits on strategic high groun ...

in 1980. Thomas was a member of the

75th Ranger Regiment The 75th Ranger Regiment, also known as Army Rangers, is the U.S. Army's premier light infantry unit and special operations force within the United States Army Special Operations Command. The regiment is headquartered at Fort Benning, Georgi ...

. He led a Ranger Rifle platoon from A Company,

2nd Ranger Battalion The 2nd Ranger Battalion, currently based at Joint Base Lewis–McChord south of Seattle, Washington, United States, is the second of three ranger battalions belonging to the United States Army's 75th Ranger Regiment. History World War II For ...

during the

Invasion of Grenada The United States invasion of Grenada began at dawn on 25 October 1983. The United States and a coalition of six Caribbean nations invaded the island nation of Grenada, north of Venezuela. Codenamed Operation Urgent Fury by the U.S. military, ...

in 1983, that was dropped from an

MC-130 The Lockheed MC-130 is the basic designation for a family of special mission aircraft operated by the United States Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC), a wing of the Air Education and Training Command, and an AFSOC-gained wing of the ...

onto a landing strip in

Grenada Grenada ( ; Grenadian Creole French: ) is an island country in the West Indies in the Caribbean Sea at the southern end of the Grenadines island chain. Grenada consists of the island of Grenada itself, two smaller islands, Carriacou and Pe ...

. After completion of Infantry Officer Advanced Course in early 1986, he was assigned as Assistant S-3, Plans/Liaison Officer with

Fort Benning Fort Benning is a United States Army post near Columbus, Georgia, adjacent to the Alabama–Georgia border. Fort Benning supports more than 120,000 active-duty military, family members, reserve component soldiers, retirees and civilian employees ...

, Georgia until 1987. Thomas was then assigned as a company commander with

3rd Ranger Battalion The 3rd Ranger Battalion, currently based at Fort Benning, Georgia, is the third of three Ranger Battalions belonging to the United States Army's 75th Ranger Regiment. History World War II Ranger Organization by Major Herman Dammer After the ...

. In 1989, during the

Invasion of Panama The United States invasion of Panama, codenamed Operation Just Cause, lasted over a month between mid-December 1989 and late January 1990. It occurred during the administration of President George H. W. Bush and ten years after the Torrijos– ...

, he led his Ranger Rifle Company in another combat jump. In 1992, Thomas volunteered for and completed a specialized selection course for assignment to

1st Special Forces Operational Detachment-Delta The 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment–Delta (1st SFOD-D), referred to variously as Delta Force, Combat Applications Group (CAG), Army Compartmented Elements (ACE), "The Unit", or within Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC), Task Fo ...

, also known as Delta Force. He served as Operations Officer, Troop Commander, Executive Officer and B Squadron Commander from 1992 to 1994 and 1996 to 1999. In June 1995 Thomas earned a master's degree from the

Naval Command and Staff College The Naval War College (NWC or NAVWARCOL) is the staff college and "Home of Thought" for the United States Navy at Naval Station Newport in Newport, Rhode Island. The NWC educates and develops leaders, supports defining the future Navy and associat ...

Newport, Rhode Island Newport is an American seaside city on Aquidneck Island in Newport County, Rhode Island. It is located in Narragansett Bay, approximately southeast of Providence, Rhode Island, Providence, south of Fall River, Massachusetts, south of Boston, ...

followed by assignment as Executive Officer,

from June 1995 to July 1996. From 2000 to 2002, he served as commanding officer of the

1st Ranger Battalion The 1st Ranger Battalion, currently based at Hunter Army Airfield in Savannah, Georgia, United States, is the first of three ranger battalions belonging to the United States Army's 75th Ranger Regiment. It was originally formed shortly after ...

, 75th Ranger Regiment. Secretary Johnson meets with SOCOM (30028628961)

Thomas crossed over from the

special operations Special operations (S.O.) are military activities conducted, according to NATO, by "specially designated, organized, selected, trained, and equipped forces using unconventional techniques and modes of employment". Special operations may include ...

realm into the conventional warfare realm when he was selected by Lieutenant General

Mark P. Hertling Mark Phillip Hertling (born September 29, 1953) is a former United States Army officer. From March 2011 to November 2012, he served as the Commanding General of United States Army Europe and the Seventh Army. Hertling served in Armor, Cavalry, p ...

, then-commander of the 1st Armored Division, to be his deputy commander during the

Iraq War {{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 ...

, 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 1st Armored Division came to an end Thomas returned to

. From 2010 until 2012 Thomas served as the deputy commander of Joint Special Operations Command. As a major general, Thomas was in charge of all United States and NATO special forces in Afghanistan from 2012 until 2013. Every year between 2001 and 2013 (minus his time in Iraq with the 1st Armored Division in 2007) Thomas deployed to Afghanistan as part of various special operations units. After commanding special forces units in Afghanistan, Thomas was promoted to lieutenant general and was reassigned to

CIA headquarters The George Bush Center for Intelligence is the headquarters of the Central Intelligence Agency, located in the unincorporated community of Langley in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States; near Washington, D.C. The headquarters is a conglome ...

in Langley, Virginia where he served as the

Associate Director Associate may refer to: Academics * Associate degree, a two-year educational degree in the United States, and some areas of Canada * Associate professor, an academic rank at a college or university * Technical associate or Senmonshi, a Japanes ...

of the

Central Intelligence Agency The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gathering, processing, ...

for Military Affairs. 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

William H. McRaven William Harry McRaven (born November 6, 1955) is a retired United States Navy four-star admiral who served as the ninth commander of the United States Special Operations Command (SOCOM) from August 8, 2011 to August 28, 2014. From 2015 to 2018, ...

as the commander of United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM). In a ceremony at MacDill Air Force Base, Florida, on March 30, 2016 Thomas took command of USSOCOM and received his fourth star. General Thomas retired from active duty on March 29, 2019. Thomas currently resides in the Tampa Bay area and was honored prior to Game 5 of the

2021 Stanley Cup Finals The 2021 Stanley Cup Finals was the championship series of the National Hockey League's (NHL) 2020–21 season and the culmination of the 2021 Stanley Cup playoffs. The series was between the Montreal Canadiens and the defending champion Tamp ...

Dates of rank

Awards and decorations

References

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas, Raymond A. 1958 births Living people United States Military Academy alumni Military personnel from Pennsylvania United States Army Rangers College of Naval Command and Staff alumni United States Army personnel of the Gulf War United States Army personnel of the Iraq War United States Army personnel of the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) Recipients of the Defense Distinguished Service Medal Recipients of the Defense Superior Service Medal Recipients of the Legion of Merit United States Army generals