Services
Advisory Profiles
Thomas J. Wilson, Rear Admiral, United States Navy (Ret)
Rear Admiral Thomas J. Wilson, USN (Ret) is a native of Charleston, S.C., and graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 1973. Early tours at sea were in cruisers, carriers and a destroyer. He served as executive officer in USS TRUXTUN (CGN 35).
Rear Admiral Wilson's first command was USS BARBEY (FF 1088). He deployed to the Arabian Gulf, arriving 2 August 1990 and was part of the initial Gulf maritime interception operations for Operation Desert Shield. After decommissioning BARBEY in March 1992, he was assigned as Head, Surface Junior Officer Assignment Branch in the Bureau of Naval Personnel, Washington DC.
He returned to sea as commanding officer USS VICKSBURG (CG 69) in May 1994. This tour focused on joint and combined operations in the European, Atlantic and Central command areas. VICKSBURG operated with allied forces in Operation Sharp Guard and Deny Flight. She also provided life saving services for Cuban asylum seekers in Operation Able Vigil as well as continuing operations in the Arabian Gulf in the embargo operations then underway against Iraq.
Ashore again Rear Admiral Wilson was the Chief, Pacific Command Division, Current Operations Directorate on the Joint Staff where he was engaged in national level crisis planning and management for combat operations as well as numerous non-combat contingencies around the globe. He was subsequently assigned as the executive assitant to the Director for Operations where he gained invaluable insight into political-military processes.
Upon promotion to flag rank he was assigned sequentially as the 34th Commander, Standing Naval Force Atlantic, Deputy Director, Surface Warfare Division, OPNAV Staff and as the Oceanographer and Navigator of the Navy, sponsoring all meteoroligical and oceanographic resources for Navy as well as guiding the policy decisions for transition into electronic chart generator and use.
Since retiring in 2003 Rear Admiral Wilson has held positions as president and chief operating officer of a small defence contractor and as an associate partner in IBM Global Business Services prior to starting his own business as a defense consultant. He specializes in market analysis and programmatic due diligence in support of mergers and acquisition in the defense and aerospace industries as well as guiding businesses as they engage with the Department of the Navy. In addition to his own consulting business RADM Wilson is a member of The SPECTRUM Group, as defense aerospoace and intelligence consulting and lobbying group.