MAJOR GENERAL THOMAS E. WHITECOTTON III
Retired effective Jan 3, 2001
Major General Thomas E. Whitecotton assumed duties as Deputy Commanding General (East), Fifth United States Army, Fort Sam Houston, Texas, on January 16, 1997. As the Deputy Commanding General, he assists the Commanding General in exercising training, readiness, and mobilization oversight responsibilities for Reserve Component units within a nine-state region.
General Whitecotton began his military service in May 1962 when he was commissioned in the Corps of Engineers through the ROTC Program at the University of Missouri School of Mines. Immediately prior to his current assignment at Fifth U.S. Army, General Whitecotton served as Commanding General, 35th Engineer Brigade (Corps), Missouri Army National Guard. While on active duty with the U.S. Army, he served as a Tactical Officer in the Engineer OCS Regiment at Fort Belvoir, Virginia, and later attended Engineer, Special Forces, and language schools before serving as an advisor to the 401st Battalion, Republic of Vietnam. He served as a Construction Officer for the U.S. Embassy, in Seoul, Korea, and as the Engineer Officer of the Kennedy Center for Special Warfare at Fort Bragg, North Carolina.
EDUCATION:
1962 University of Missouri School of Mines - BS - Chemical Engineering
1980 University of Missouri - BS - Civil Engineering
1981 University of Missouri - MS - Civil Engineering
1977 Command and General Staff College
ASSIGNMENTS:
1. May 62 - Jul 62, Control Group (Reinforcement)
2. Jul 62 - Sep 62, Student, Engineer School, Fort Belvoir, Virginia
3. Oct 62 - Dec 63, Platoon Leader, Company B, 802d Engineer Battalion, Korea
4. Dec 63 - Jul 64, Committee Chief, S3 Section, later Assistant S3, Headquarters, First Training Regiment, Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri
5. Jul 64 - Sep 65, Company Commander, Company A, 44th Engineer Battalion, Korea
6. Sep 65 - Mar 66, Tactical Officer, Company C, First Battalion, Engineer Officer Candidate Regiment, Fort Belvoir, Virginia
7. Apr 66 - Mar 67, Intelligence Officer, Headquarters, Engineer Officer Candidate Regiment Fort Belvoir, Virginia
8. Mar 67 - Sep 67, Student Engineer School, Fort Belvoir, Virginia
9. Sep 67 - Nov 67, Student Special Weapons School, Fort Bragg, North Carolina
10. Nov 67 - Dec 67, Student, Defense Language Institute, Fort Bliss, Texas
11. Dec 67 - Jan 69, Engineer Advisor, USAMACV, Vietnam
12. Jan 69 - Oct 69, Administrative Officer, Headquarters, First United States Army, Fort George G. Meade, Maryland
13. Oct 69 - Nov 71, Engineer Construction Advisor, Construction Officer, and Engineer Advisor, Second Republic of Korea
14. Nov 71 - Oct 71, Engineer Staff Officer, Headquarters, First Battalion, USAIMA, Fort Bragg, North Carolina
15. Oct 73 - Dec 78, Engineer Branch Advisor, Chief Engineer Team, and Engineer Branch Advisor, Army Readiness Region V, Fort SheridanIllinois, with Duty Readiness Group, St. Louis, Missouri
16. Dec 78 - Jan 80, Control Group (Reinforcement)
17. Jan 80 - Sep 81, Temporary Position, Headquarters, Missouri Army National Guard, with duty at Headquarters 35th Engineer Brigade, Jefferson Barracks, Missouri
18. Sep 81 - Jun 86, Assistant Operations Officer, Facility Engineer, and Plans Officer, 35th Engineer Brigade, Missouri Army National Guard, Jefferson Barracks, Missouri
19. Mar 88 - Feb 89, Commander 880th Engineer Battalion, Jefferson Barracks, Missouri
20. Feb 89 - Jan 92, Assistant Corps Engineer, Headquarters, 35th Engineer Brigade, Jefferson Barracks, Missouri
21. Feb 92 - Aug 93, Director of Facilities, Headquarters, State Area Command, Missouri Army National Guard, Jefferson City, Missouri
22. Aug 93 - Feb 97, Commander, 35th Engineer Brigade, Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri
23. Feb 97 - Jan 01, Temporary Position, Headquarters, State Area Command, with duty as Deputy Commanding General, (East), Fifth United States Army, Fort Sam Houston, Texas
MAJOR AWARDS AND DECORATIONS:
Legion of Merit
Bronze Star Medal
Meritorious Service Medal (with 1 Oak Leaf Cluster)
Joint Service Commendation Medal
Army Commendation Medal (with 1 Silver Oak Leaf Cluster)
Army Achievement Medal
Army Reserve Component Achievement Medal (with 3 Bronze Oak Leaf Clusters)
National Defense Service Medal (with Bronze Service Star)
Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal
Vietnam Service Medal
Armed Forces Reserve Medal (with 1 Bronze Hourglass Device)
Army Service Ribbon
Overseas Service Ribbon
Army Reserve Component Overseas Training Ribbon (with Numeral 6)
Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal
Armed Forces Honor Medal 1st Class
Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross Unit Citation
Parachute Badge
CIVILIAN OCCUPATION:
Retired, President, Mid-States Construction Services
OTHER ACHIEVEMENTS:
Listed in Who's Who in America (51st Edition), authoring several papers including "Similitude and Analogy Applied to the Prediction of Three Dimensional Heat Flow in Solids," and " Decision Support System, Army Corps of Engineers."
EFFECTIVE DATE OF PROMOTIONS:
2LT USAR 27 May 62
1LT AUS 9 Jan 64
1LT USAR 27 May 64
CPT AUS 31 May 66
CPT USAR 26 May 68
MAJ AUS 9 May 69
MAJ USAR 29 Sep 78
MAJ ARNG 18 Jan 80
LTC ARNG 8 Mar 83
COL ARNG 13 Feb 89
BG (Line) ARNG 16 Aug 94
MG (Line) ARNG 30 Sep 97
(Current as of February 2001)