The Wedemeyer Strategic Lecture Series: Gen. Raymond “Tony” Thomas, Commander of US Special Operations Command

The Wedemeyer Strategic Lecture Series honors the intellectual and strategic legacy of Gen. Albert Wedemeyer (USMA ’19), one of America’s most significant and under-recognized military strategists, by bringing to West Point subject matter experts on the role of the individual leader in complex operations. These experts will give lectures and lead round table discussions for cadets, staff, and faculty in performance psychology, in-extremis leadership, and strategic engagement.

This event features Gen. Raymond “Tony” Thomas, commander of US Special Operations Command. Prior to assuming command of USSOCOM, Gen. Thomas served as commander of Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC), Fort Bragg, N.C. Gen. Thomas’s other assignments as a general officer include: associate director for military affairs at the Central Intelligence Agency; commanding general, NATO Special Operations Component Command – Afghanistan; deputy commanding general, JSOC; deputy director for special operations, the Joint Staff in the Pentagon; assistant division commander, 1st Armored Division in Iraq; and assistant commanding general, JSOC.

Prior to being promoted to brigadier general, Gen. Thomas also served as the JSOC chief of staff and director of operations. His other formative and key, joint, and special operations assignments include: commander, Joint Task Force – Bravo, Soto Cano, Honduras; commander, 1st Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment, Savannah, Ga.; and commander, B Squadron, 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment – Delta, Fort Bragg, N.C.

He is a graduate of the US Army War College, Carlisle, Penn., and the Naval Command and Staff College, Newport, R.I.

Gen. Thomas is a native of Philadelphia, Pa. He attended the United States Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., and was commissioned an infantry second lieutenant upon graduation in 1980.