Jerry Thomas (Royal Marines officer)

Jerry Thomas
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Service/branch	Royal Marines
Years of service	1975 – 2013
Rank	Major General
Commands held	42 Commando 3 Commando Brigade
Battles/wars	Operation Palliser War in Afghanistan
Awards	Companion of the Order of the Bath

Thomas joined the Royal Marines in September 1975. After serving as Chief of Staff for 3 Commando Brigade, he became commander of 45 Commando in September 1997 in which capacity he was deployed carrying out humanitarian work in the wake of Hurricane Mitch and then became chief UK advisor to the Sierra Leone Armed Forces during Operation Palliser in 2000. He went on to be Assistant Commander Operations at Fleet Headquarters in January 2002, in which capacity he coordinated 3 Commando Brigade's deployment on Operation Jacana during the War in Afghanistan. After that he became Director of Operations for Defence Intelligence in March 2003 and commander of 3 Commando Brigade which was deployed to Afghanistan as Task Force Helmand in October 2006. He then became Senior British Military Advisor at United States Central Command in April 2007 and Assistant Chief of the Defence Staff (Intelligence Capability) in March 2009 before retiring from the Royal Marines in May 2013.