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    HomeAbout UsBiographiesDisplay      080421-F-JZ511-225.JPGEngage On
        
        080421-F-JZ511-225.JPGMAJOR GENERAL KATHY E. THOMASMaj. Gen. Kathy E. Thomas is the mobilization assistant to the Vice Commander, Air Force Reserve Command, Robins Air Force Base, Ga. 
General Thomas was commissioned in 1972 after completing Officer Training School. While stationed at Minot AFB, N.D., she was one of the last Woman Air Force squadron commanders in Strategic Air Command. She helped write the plan to completely integrate women in the Air Force. While stationed in Thailand, she supported the rescue of the merchant ship SS Mayaguez, and as the wing commander's executive officer she was involved in the resettlement of evacuees following the evacuations of Phnom Penh, Cambodia, and Saigon, Republic of Vietnam. 
The general transferred to the Air Force Reserve in 1978 as an intelligence officer. She has served as an interrogator, escape and evasion instructor, and  Latin American specialist, serving extended tours of duty with U.S. Southern Command. In 1994, she assumed duties as the senior Reservist assigned to the Deputy Under Secretary of the Air Force for International Affairs. There she was selected to assist the U.S. Chairman, Committee on Women in North Atlantic Treaty Organization forces. Concurrently, she served for two years as an adjunct Reserve Officer Training Corps professor of aerospace studies at San Diego State University. In 1995, while assigned to the Air Force Space Command, she served at wing, numbered air force and unified command levels. Subsequently, as the mobilization assistant to the Superintendent, U.S. Air Force Academy, she was the chief architect of the Leadership Development Council and led the Officer Development System implementation team for the cadet wing. **EDUCATION** 
1969 Bachelor of Science degree in political science, California Western University
1974 Squadron Officer School, by correspondence 
1975 Air Command and Staff College, by correspondence 
1979 Master of Business Administration degree in international business, American Graduate School, Ariz. 
1991 Reserve Component National Security Course, Fort Lesley J. McNair, Washington, D.C. 
1992 Air War College, by seminar 
1997 Senior Reserve Officer Component Course, Army War College, Carlisle, Pa. 
1999 Joint Air and Space Operations Senior Staff Course, Hurlburt Field, Fla. 
2000 Ukrainian National Security Program, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass. **ASSIGNMENTS**1. September 1972 - July 1974, section commander, 91st Supply Squadron, Minot AFB, N.D. 
2. August 1974 - April 1975, Woman Air Force squadron commander, Minot AFB, N.D 
3. May 1975 - February 1976, executive officer to the wing commander, Utapao Royal Thai Base, Thailand 
4. February 1976 - April 1978, base personnel introduction and quality force officer, Mather AFB, Calif. 
5. May 1978 - March 1979, personnel staff officer, Air Force Intelligence Service, Fort Belvoir, Va. 
6. April 1979 - May 1981, executive support officer, Air Force Intelligence Service, Fort Belvoir, Va. 
7. July 1981 - May 1983, human intelligence officer, Air Force Special Activities Center, Fort Belvoir, Va. 
8. July 1985 - August 1989, intelligence plans, programs system staff officer, Air Force Intelligence Service, the Pentagon, Washington, D.C. 
9. September 1989 - October 1994, international political military affairs officer, Deputy Under Secretary of the Air Force for International Affairs, the Pentagon, Washington, D.C. 
10. November 1994 - October 1995, senior individual mobilization augmentee to the Deputy Under Secretary of the Air Force for International Affairs, the Pentagon, Washington, D.C. 
11. October 1995 - April 1996, individual mobilization augmentee to the Commander, 21st Space Wing, Peterson AFB, Colo. 
12. April 1996 - July 2001, mobilization assistant to the Commander, 14th Air Force, Vandenberg AFB, Calif., and space surveillance crew duties at Cheyenne Mountain Air Station, Colo. 
13. July 2001 - September 2002, mobilization assistant to the Commander, North American Aerospace Defense Command, and Commander, U.S. Space Command, Peterson AFB, Colo. 
14. September 2002 - April 2003, mobilization assistant to the Commander, U.S. Strategic Command, Peterson AFB, Colo. 
15. April 2003 - October 2003, mobilization assistant to the Vice Commander, Headquarters Air Force Reserve Command, Robins AFB, Ga. 
16. October 2003 - November 2004, mobilization assistant to the Superintendent, U.S. Air Force Academy, Colorado Springs, Colo.
17. November 2004 - present, mobilization assistant to the Vice Commander, Air Force Reserve Command, Robins AFB, Ga. **MAJOR AWARDS AND DECORATIONS** 
Defense Superior Service Medal 
Legion of Merit 
Meritorious Service Medal with two oak leaf clusters 
Air Force Commendation Medal with three oak leaf clusters 
Air Force Organizational Excellence Award with oak leaf cluster **OTHER ACHIEVEMENTS** 
1982 Outstanding Young Women of America 
1990 Lifetime Membership Award, Girl Scouts of America 
1990 Outstanding Intelligence Officer IMA of the Year, Pacific Region 
1990 Reserve Outstanding IMA of the Year, Pentagon and Washington, D.C. area
2000 Life member, American Veterans
2002 Women of Distinction, Soroptimist International of the Americas of Camelback, Inc. 
2002 National Leadership Award for Women in Aerospace **EFFECTIVE DATES OF PROMOTION** 
Second Lieutenant July 13, 1972 
First Lieutenant July 13, 1974 
Captain July 13, 1976 
Major April 2, 1985 
Lieutenant Colonel June 14, 1990 
Colonel June 1, 1994 
Brigadier General Oct.1, 1998 
Major General Nov. 20, 2002 
(Current as of September 2005)
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