Indiana National Guard Adjutant General, Maj. Gen. R. Martin Umbarger, is pleased to announce the selection of Col. Timothy Thombleson to serve as the Director of Plans, Operations, Training and Mobilization (J-3) for the Joint Force Headquarters, Indiana National Guard.
Col. Thombleson will succeed the current Director, Col. Jerry Hadley, who retires at the end of December after 28 years of distinguished military service.
Col. Hadley, a career infantry Soldier and three-time combat veteran of Iraq and Afghanistan completed his most recent combat tour in December 2012. While serving as commander of the 76th Infantry Brigade Combat Team and all coalition forces in two Afghan provinces, he led over 2,500 soldiers from the U.S., Australia, Slovakia, and Singapore as well as mentoring several thousand Afghan National Army soldiers and Afghan National Police. He commanded a 950-member infantry battalion task force during his 2008 deployment to Iraq. In 2004, he served in Afghanistan as the operations officer and executive officer for an infantry brigade task force.
Col. Thombleson is a career infantry soldier and two-time combat veteran of Iraq and Afghanistan. Thombleson currently serves as the full-time deputy commander of the Indiana National Guard Atterbury-Muscatatuck Center for Complex Operations and as the traditional (part-time) commander of the 219th Battlefield Surveillance Brigade stationed at the Johnson County Armory in Franklin, Ind. He served as deputy commander of one-star task force deployed to Afghanistan in 2009. In 2003, he served as executive officer of an infantry battalion deployed to Iraq and then commanded that same battalion for three years following its return from overseas. Key assignments include chief of staff and G3 (Operations and Training) for the 38th Infantry Division; mobilization and readiness officer, and force integration and readiness officer.
Thombleson joined the Indiana National Guard in 1984 and received his commission from the Indiana Military Academy Officer Candidate School program in 1987. He attended the Infantry Officer Basic and Armor Officer Advanced courses. He is a 2012 graduate of the United States Army War College earning a Masters Degree in Strategic Studies. He also holds a Marketing degree from Indiana State University.
He and his wife Deedra live in Martinsville, Ind., with their two children. “It is an honor to be asked by Maj. Gen. Umbarger to serve in this critical staff position at Joint Force Headquarters,” said Thombleson. “I look forward to returning to the shop where I had the pleasure of being a team member during the challenging early years of the Global War on Terrorism. I’m excited to meet our new challenges while leading to positive results for members of the Indiana National Guard.”
“Tim Thombleson is a combat-tested leader with a solid resume of relevant experiences which postures him to effectively lead the largest and most complex staff section in the Joint Force Headquarters,” said Maj. Gen. Umbarger. “Col. Thombleson assumes the daunting task of transitioning our operations and training construct from a mobilization and war-time posture to a post-conflict model of traditional weekend training assemblies and annual training periods. This effort is further complicated by the ever-declining defense budget which will challenge our organization for years to come.”
“I join all the members of the Indiana National Guard team in thanking Col. Hadley for his service and sacrifice and wishing him and his family the best as they enter the next season of their life,” Maj. Gen. Umbarger said. “He leaves an enviable legacy of leadership which will inspire and challenge future leaders.”
The mission of the plans, operations, training and mobilization directorate is to attain and maintain overall combat readiness and domestic response preparedness of Indiana Army and Air National Guard units and individuals for both war-fighting and emergency response missions. This directorate also oversees the Indiana National Guard Counter-Drug Program and monitors the readiness and operations of a Weapons of Mass Destruction Civil Support Team.
