Upon promotion in 1979, Major Thomas served consecutively, as an infantry brigade intelligence officer, 124th Military Intelligence Battalion operations officer and executive officer in the 24th Infantry Division, Ft. Stewart, Georgia; subsequently attending the Army's Command and General Staff College at Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas, in 1982–1983. Returning to Ft. Stewart and the 24th Infantry Division in 1983, he served as the division intelligence officer for 16 months. Selected for battalion command, then Lieutenant Colonel Thomas assumed command of the 302nd Military Intelligence Battalion in Frankfurt, Germany, in January 1985. In March 1987, he assumed duties at the Army's Personnel Center in Alexandria, Virginia, as chief of the Military Intelligence Branch. In 1988–1989 he attended the National War College in Washington D.C., and upon graduation, went immediately to Military Intelligence Brigade Command in Turkey, where he commanded the U.S. Army Field Station, Sinop, Turkey. After his command tour, Colonel Thomas was assigned to the Joint Staff in the Pentagon, where he began duty in the Joint Staff Operations as the deputy for intelligence in the Special Technical Operations Division of the Current Operations Division. Prior to the Gulf War, Thomas was ordered to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and was appointed director of the Central Command Joint Intelligence Center, where he served for the duration of Operation Desert Storm. In April 1991, he returned to his duties on the Joint Staff in the Pentagon. In October 1991, Thomas was selected for brigadier general and assigned as vice director for current intelligence, Joint Staff and Command Support, J-2/Defense Intelligence Agency. In June 1993, he was reassigned as deputy chief of staff of intelligence, Headquarters, United States Army Europe and Seventh Army in Heidelberg, Germany. On November 10, 1994, he assumed command of the United States Army Intelligence Center and Ft. Huachuca and was selected for major general in July 1995. Thomas's final assignment was as the chief of staff of the U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command, Fort Monroe, Virginia from June 23, 1998 until his retirement, September 30, 2000.
Retirement
Upon retirement Thomas served as the vice president of defense and intelligence programs at Coleman Research in Washington, D.C., until December 31, 2001. Currently he is vice president for army & joint operations at BAE Systems, Systems Engineering Solutions in Washington, D.C. Thomas joined MEVATEC Corporation in January 2002 as the vice president of Washington operations. After MEVATEC’s acquisition by BAE Systems in April, 2003 he transferred to Huntsville as the BAE Systems Analytical Solutions’ vice president for business development. In July 2004 he assumed duties as vice president and general manager of BAE Systems Analytical & Ordnance Solutions. A subsequent reorganization in the BAE Systems Customer Solutions Operating Group combined several lines of business into Systems Engineering Solutions, and Thomas’ responsibilities expanded their scope for Army & Joint Operations.
