Lieutenant General
John C. "JT" Thomson III, US Army

Lieutenant General John C. “JT” Thomson III

U.S. Army, Retired 

Inducted 2023

John “JT” C. Thomson was born in Bamberg, West Germany. As an Army “brat” he grew up all over the United States and overseas.  He graduated from the U.S. Military Academy, West Point, in 1986 with a Bachelors of Science in Computer Science and was commissioned into the Army as a Field Artillery Officer. For the first seven years of his career, Thomson served in Europe during the Cold War and deployed in support of Operation Desert Storm to Southwest Asia with the 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment. He then took command of Bravo Battery, 4th Battalion, 20th Field Artillery. He then returned stateside where he attended Long Island University earning a Masters Degree in Leadership and Counseling. In 1998, he graduated from Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth and was assigned to the 4^th Infantry Division, then located at Fort Hood, Texas. There he served as executive officer at both the Battalion and Brigade level and  deployed to Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Upon redeployment, he served as Battalion Commander of 2d Battalion, 4^th Field Artillery at Fort Sill, Oklahoma. Thomson then served in Washington D.C. at the Pentagon on the Joint Staff. While on the Joint Staff, he collaborated extensively with the U.S. State Department on global security affairs. He then deployed again in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom before attending the Joint Warfighting School, Joint Forces staff College in Norfolk, VA. After another deployment during Operation Iraqi Freedom, he took Brigade command at the 41^st Fires Brigade at Fort Hood, Texas in 2009. Thomson then headed back to the Pentagon to serve with the Army Staff. In 2013, he returned to the 4^th Infantry Division, then located at Fort Carson, Colorado, as the Deputy Commanding General (Support) where he deployed in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. Following that assignment, he was selected at his alma mater as the 75^th Commandant of Cadets at the U.S. Military Academy, West Point. He then commanded the 1^st Cavalry Division during their deployment in support of Operation Freedom’s Sentinel. Following redeployment, he became the Deputy Commanding General for III Corps, and then commanded the NATO Allied Land Command in Izmir, Turkey. LTG  John Thomson retired in 2020 after 34 years of active military service to his country. He went on to further serve after military retirement by becoming a Senior Mentor for the U.S. Army’s Mission Command Training Program. Today he shares his knowledge from being a career-field artilleryman with the next generation of soldiers. LTG (R) Thomson also volunteers on the Board of Directors for the General Raymond T. Odierno Foundation.