Lieutenant General (Ret.) Thomas Metz:

Advisory Board Member

Lieutenant General (Ret.) Thomas F. Metz brings to Intelligent Waves’ Board of Advisors the experience of a combat commander who led over 120,000 coalition troops belonging to Multi-National Corps-Iraq, during OPERATION IRAQI FREEDOM (2004-2005) combined with almost 40 years of commissioned service in the US Army.

General Metz was commissioned as an infantry officer following his graduation from the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York in 1971. He served in a series of positions of increased responsibility throughout a distinguished career as a leader and trainer of Soldiers from Europe, to Korea, Iraq, and the United States. From his start as a platoon leader in the 1st Battalion, 509th Parachute Infantry Regiment, Mainz, Germany, General Metz has commanded at every level from a rifle company up to III Corps and Fort Hood, Texas.  After over three years as the III Corps Commander, he served as the U.S. Army’s Training and Doctrine Command’s Deputy Commanding General. General Metz’s final assignment was the Director of the Joint IED Defeat Organization, where the mission was to defeat the IED as a weapon of strategic influence in support of all the US Combatant Commands with an annual Congressional budget of $4 billion.

General Metz was a key player in laying the groundwork for the Army’s ongoing transformation as the Director of the 4th Infantry Division’s Experimental Force, 1995-1997, then as the Assistant Division Commander for the same command the following year.  From 1998-2001, General Metz served in two key billets for prioritizing and allocating resources for our Armed Forces as a Deputy and Vice Director in the Joint Staff Force Structure, Resources, and Assessment Directorate, J-8. 2001-2003, General Metz commanded the 24th Infantry Division and Fort Riley, KS with service prior to the initiation of Operation Iraqi Freedom as the Central Command’s Chief of Staff.

General Metz earned a master’s degree in mechanical engineering from North Carolina State University and taught thermodynamics and fluid mechanics at United States Military Academy, West Point, NY. He also holds a Professional Engineer’s License for the Commonwealth of Virginia.  He is a graduate of the Army’s Command and General Staff and War Colleges, an expert infantryman, and he earned the Ranger Tab and senior parachutist wings.  His awards include Defense Distinguished Service Medal, Distinguished Service Medal (with 3 Oak Leaf Clusters), Legion of Merit (with 3 Oak Leaf Clusters), Bronze Star Medal, Meritorious Service Medal (with 2 Oak Leaf Clusters), and Army Commendation Medal (with 3 Oak Leaf Clusters).