Fort Meade Commander Hands Over The Reins

When Col. Daniel Thomas took over as installation commander at Fort Meade in 2008, there were plans for new buildings on base, but dirt hadn’t yet been moved.

Things changed fast in three years.

Thomas will relinquish his post to new commander Col. Edward Rothstein on Tuesday, but will do so on a military base that has seen massive growth, including the completion of several buildings tied to the federal base realignment and closure activities.

“Here we are at the tail end of this and the employees and have pretty much all arrived,” he said. “And now we’re looking at other expansion in the areas of support and [security] and intelligence. It’s like being a member of a team that pulled together in every direction and accomplished a great thing. That to me is the biggest satisfaction, of being a part of that team.”

During his time at Fort Meade, Thomas saw the opening of the new headquarters for the Defense Information Systems and Agency and Defense Media Activities. He helped secure a new Warrior Transition Unit for soldiers coming home from war, and also leaves with plans for a new golf course on base well underway. Along the way, he got to meet countless soldiers and their families at events ranging from Earth Day picnics to Independence Day celebrations.

Thomas will be officially retired from the Army by February, but plans to remain in the workforce in a civilian role. He will leave military service after more than 25 years spent in roles including platoon commander to intelligence director, in far-flung places such as Iraq, Afghanistan and Qatar.

He had previous experience as commander of a military base, having spent two years with the 279th Base Support Battalion at Bamberg. But that experience could only prepare him for so much.

“All installations are not the same,” he said. “Many of the things that were priorities over in Germany were simply not even issues or things I devoted attention to here, because it’s a totally different environment.”

While installation commander at Fort Meade, he tackled big picture issues, like BRAC and its impact, to smaller issues centering on the quality of life for service members. The soft-spoken Colorado native was equally at ease briefing local government officials and assisting a soldier with a home repair.

Despite being far away from the battlefield, he said he never lost site of the importance of his job.

“You recognize that without the support for the mission entities on the installation and the soldiers and their families, the mission doesn’t get done,” he said. “You can say ‘all I want to do is the sexy door-kicking stuff,’ or you can realize that doesn’t get done unless you take care of your people.”

To read Col. Thomas' farewell letter to the Fort Meade community, click here.