Rear Admiral David M. Thomas, Jr.
Rear Admiral Thomas, a native of Norfolk, Virginia, graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 1981 and is a distinguished graduate of the Industrial College of the Armed Forces.
Assignments at sea included USS SHREVEPORT (LPD-12) as Main Propulsion Assistant and Navigator; Engineer Officer in USS ESTOCIN (FFG-15) and USS WILLAMETTE (AO-180); Flag Lieutenant to Commander, Second Fleet; Executive Officer in USS LEYTE GULF (CG-55); command of USS ROSS (DDG-71); and command of Destroyer Squadron Twenty-Six.
Ashore, Rear Admiral Thomas served in the Surface Warfare Junior Officer Assignment Branch of the Bureau of Naval Personnel; in the Personnel Plans and Policy Division of the Joint Staff; as Flag Secretary to Commander, Naval Surface Force, U.S. Atlantic Fleet; on the staff of the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations as Executive Officer to the Director of the 2001 Quadrennial Defense Review and Executive Assistant to the Director of Operations, Plans, and Policy (N3/N5); and as Chief of Staff to Commander, Second Fleet.
Upon selection for Flag Officer, Rear Admiral Thomas has served as the Deputy Chief of Staff for Global Force Management and Joint Operations on the staff of Commander, U.S. Fleet Forces Command; as Commander, Joint Task Force, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba; as Commander, Carrier Strike Group TWO; and his current assignment as Commander, Naval Surface Force Atlantic.
He has been awarded the Defense Superior Service Medal, the Legion of Merit, the Navy and Marine Corps Medal, and the Bronze Star Medal as well as various other personal and unit decorations.