As its eighth senior leader, Gen. Richard H. Thompson made his mark on the U.S. Army Materiel Command.
Thompson died Feb. 21, at his home in Fairfax, Virginia. He was 89.
Thompson commanded AMC from June 1984 to April 1987 when its headquarters was located on Eisenhower Avenue in Alexandria, Virginia. The headquarters moved to another temporary location at Fort Belvoir, Virginia, before the permanent location was established on Redstone Arsenal, Alabama, in 2011.
AMC Commander Gen. Dennis L. Via said the organization mourns Thompson's loss.
"General Thompson led AMC through challenging times and made a lasting impact on our organization," said Via, the organization's 18th commanding general. "He commanded at a time of great change and oversaw the fielding of many new systems, including the Pershing II."
Thirty-two days into his command, Thompson made history by changing the name of the U.S. Army Materiel Development and Readiness Command, or DARCOM, back to its original moniker of the U.S. Army Materiel Command.
"That was probably the best decision I ever made," Thompson said in a 1991 interview for AMC's Oral History Program. While other commanders had attempted to change the name, Thompson said he was able to do it because he didn't ask anybody.
Thompson made history in other ways as well.
He was one of two AMC commanding generals to receive a direct commission.
Thompson enlisted in the Army in November 1944 and achieved the rank of staff sergeant. He was commissioned as a second lieutenant after World War II.
He also is the only Soldier in the Quartermaster career field to ascend from the Army's lowest rank of private, to its highest rank of four-star general.
Thompson served overseas with the 155th Field Artillery Battalion of the 36th Infantry Division as a Fire Control Operator in World War II. When he returned, he remained with the Army Reserve until the Korean War began. He volunteered then for active duty, serving at various logistics posts until his retirement in 1987.
Having served in World War II, and the wars in Korea and Vietnam, Thompson said he was able to make comparisons. After World War II, Thompson said being a veteran was not a big deal because it seemed like everyone was a veteran.
"When I came back from the Korean War, they barely noticed you," he said. "When I came back from Vietnam, I was spat upon … it was a totally different world."
Thompson said he gained experience at every echelon in the Army and throughout AMC, and serving as commanding general was a culmination of his career.
"Obviously, you don't have, for a logistician, a more challenging job than the job that I think the commander of AMC enjoys -- and I literally mean the word 'enjoy,'" Thompson said.
Thompson was inducted in the Quartermaster Hall of Fame in 1991. The Logistics Automation Training Facility of the Army Quartermaster Center and School at Fort Lee, Virginia, is named in his honor.
Thompson will be inducted into AMC's Hall of Fame along with five other AMC former commanding generals in a March 14 ceremony.
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Gen. Richard H. Thompson
Gen. Richard H. Thompson, the eighth commanding general of the U.S. Army Materiel Command, died Feb. 21, 2016, at his home in Fairfax, Virginia. He was 89.
Thompson married his wife, Patricia, in 1949. She preceded him in death in December 2008.
He is survived by his children, Christine Moore, Claudia Thompson-Deahl and Richard Thompson Jr.; five grandchildren, six great-grandchildren and siblings Robert Thompson and Eleanor Westerholm.
A memorial service was held in Fairfax Feb. 29. A funeral service at the Old Post Chapel at Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall and burial at Arlington National Cemetery will follow at a later date.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Quartermaster Museum, 2220 Adams Avenue, Fort Lee, VA 23801.
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