COL Thompson earned his commission as an Infantry officer through ROTC in December 1996 at the University of Wisconsin- Madison.  He has served in numerous key command and staff positions and has served on multiple combat deployments to Afghanistan and Iraq. Command opportunities include OSUT Company Command, Mechanized Infantry Company Command, and Ranger Company Command. At the battalion level, he commanded 2^nd Battalion, 505^th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 3^rd Brigade Combat Team, 82^nd Airborne Division. COL Thompson is most recently a graduate of the Navy War College, where he earned a master’s degree in National Security and Strategic Studies. He and Stacy, his wife of over 22 years, have 2 children, Marshall (16) and Allison (13).