Lieutenant General Roger G. Thompson, Jr., United States Army, Retired, is from Ashland, Kentucky. He graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point, NY in 1966 with a Bachelor of Science degree and served in the Army for 34 years. Beginning as a Field Artillery officer, he commanded firing batteries in Fort Hood, Texas, and in combat in Vietnam followed by key staff positions during the Cold War in West Germany. He became an Army transportation/logistics officer in 1972, graduated from the Whitman School of Business, Syracuse University with an MBA, and the Army Command and General Staff College before returning to West Germany in 1978 to serve four years in financial management and transportation staff positions in the Army’s VII Corps. Upon return to the United States, he was a Pentagon Logistics Staff Officer, commanded an Army Port Battalion in Charleston, SC, and graduated from the Naval War College earning an MA, National Security and Strategic Studies.
He was reassigned in 1986 to West Germany for five years where he was Staff Chief for Logistics, 3rd Infantry Division, then Commander, 37th Transportation Group, supporting over 200,000 military members and their families delivering ammunition, spare parts, mail, fuel, and food supplies. His command successfully deployed over 70,000 troops to and from OPERATION DESERT STORM while continuing daily support missions in Europe. Promoted to Brigadier General in 1991, he became the Army Budget Director for Operations and Support in the Pentagon, then Deputy Chief of Staff, Resource Management for Army Materiel Command, and then Commander of the Military Traffic Management Command with 27 ports worldwide. He completed his career with assignments as the Director of the Army Budget and Deputy Commander, the United States Transportation Command, providing all peacetime and wartime transportation support of the Department of Defense including deployments.
Upon Army retirement, he was Vice President, Membership and Meetings at the national headquarters of the Association of the United States Army (AUSA) from 2000-2016. He was elected to the Board of Directors, Force Protection Incorporated, an armored truck manufacturer, and served as Lead Independent Director from 2008-2011.
Currently, he is the volunteer Chairman of the Board of the Coastal SC Chapter of AUSA supporting Army members and Veterans. He also served as a mentor in the Citadel Business School, as a member of Military Academy Selection Committees, Flag Officer Advisory Committee to the Military Base Task Force, and a mentor in the Citadel Distinguished Scholars Program. He resides in Mount Pleasant, SC with his wife of 51 years, Inga Marie.
