Brigadier General
Thomas R. Dickinson

Born in Charleston, South Carolina, on April 1, 1945, Thomas R. Dickinson graduated from Citadel Military College in 1967. Initially detailed to duty as an Armor officer, he began his Army career as a platoon leader in the 2nd Squadron, 6th Armored Cavalry Regiment at Fort Meade, followed by Ordnance assignments as Adjutant, 62nd Maintenance Battalion; and Commander, 794th Maintenance Company in Vietnam.

From 1971 to 1973, Dickinson served as Instructor and Tactical Officer for the Ordnance Officer Basic Course at Aberdeen Proving Ground, where he was instrumental in motivating young officers to stay in the service. He went on to serve in a series of important command and staff positions, to include: Commander, C Company, 704th Maintenance Battalion, Fort Carson; Materiel Officer and Battalion Executive Officer, 71st Maintenance Battalion, Nuremberg, Germany; Commander, 704th Maintenance Battalion, Fort Carson; and Commander, 4th Training Brigade, Fort Jackson.

From 1993 to 1994, Dickinson served as Assistant Commandant of the Ordnance Center and School. Shortly, after assuming this assignment, he revitalized hands-on, recovery training by retrofitting the School's aging recovery fleet with overhauled M578 and M88 recovery vehicles from the US Army Tank-Automotive Command. In 1994, he also planned and coordinated transfer of the Ordnance combat and training development directorates from Aberdeen Proving Ground to the newly reorganized and expanded Combined Arms Support Command at Fort Gregg-Adams, Virginia. Prior to culminating his career as Chief of Ordnance and Commanding General of the Ordnance Center and School from 1997 to 1998, Dickinson served as Deputy Commanding General and Executive Director of Industrial Operations, US Army Industrial Operations Command, Rock Island; and subsequently as the Commander, 13th Corps Support Command, Fort Hood, Texas.

During his tenure as the Chief of Ordnance, he assumed responsibility for training more than 63,000 Ordnance soldiers and was an admirable proponent for the Corps. Among other accomplishments, he promoted modular maintenance concepts that would support force projection and joint and combined operations, and developed new organizational structures to support the Force XXI Army. He also championed the force modernization necessary to support these new concepts and organizations, most notably by securing funds for the Forward Repair System. In addition, he revived a financially struggling Ordnance Corps Association by organizing an annual golf tournament and commissioning a series of Ordnance prints by artist, Don Stivers.

BG Dickinson retired in 1998 after 31 years of service to the Army and the Ordnance Corps.