Speaker Bio
Lieutenant General N. Ross Thompson III
Military Deputy to the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Acquisition, Logistics & Technology,
Pentagon, Washington DC
Lieutenant General N. Ross Thompson III is the Military Deputy to the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Acquisition, Logistics & Technology. Prior to his current assignment, General Thompson was the Director, Program Analysis and Evaluation, HQDA, G-8 between October 2004 and September 2006.
From 2001 to 2004, he served as the Commanding General of the U.S. Army Tank-Automotive and Armaments Command. Prior to this, he held a wide variety of important command and staff assignments including three years as the Military Deputy Director, Program Analysis and Evaluation Directorate, Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff, G-8, U.S. Army.
General Thompson is a distinguished military graduate of the College of William and Mary. Initially assigned to the 82nd Airborne Division, he served as a platoon leader, company executive officer and company commander from 1975 to 1979. After receiving a Master’s degree in operations research from George Washington University, he attended the Ordnance Officer Advanced Course. From 1980 to 1983, he served in Germany with the 4th Brigade, 4th Infantry Division (Mechanized), as a company commander, assistant brigade S-3 and brigade S-4.
Staff assignments included tours as operations research analyst in the Military Personnel Center and Strategic Defense Command from 1983 to 1986. After graduating from the College of Naval Command and Staff in 1987 with a Master’s degree in national security and strategic studies, he was assigned to Korea as the executive officer of the 194th Maintenance Battalion. General Thompson then served on the Armor Anti-Armor Task Force in the Office of the Chief of Staff; as the materiel development team chief in the Armored Systems Modernization Coordination Office, Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations and Plans; and as the coordinator for the Chief of Staff’s weekly Requirements Review Council.
From 1991 to 1993, General Thompson commanded the 27th Main Support Battalion, 1st Cavalry Division. He graduated from the Industrial College of the Armed Forces in 1994. For the next two years, he was the special assistant to the Commanding General, Army Materiel Command. From July 1996 to July 1998 he commanded the 45th Corps Support Group (Forward), Schofield Barracks, Hawaii.
General Thompson’s awards and decorations include the Army Distinguished Service Medal, Legion of Merit with second oak leaf cluster, Meritorious Service Medal with fourth oak leaf cluster, Army Commendation Medal, Army Achievement Medal, Department of the Army Staff Identification Badge, senior parachutist badge and Ranger tab.
