York resident Thomas Spencer, an Iraq War Veteran, retires after 37 years of service in Army National Guard

Latham, NY (02/07/2024) — New York Army National Guard Maj. Gen. Thomas Spencer, a York, Maine resident and veteran of the Iraq War and the Persian Gulf War, ended his 37 years of military service on February 3, 2024, during a ceremony at New York National Guard headquarters in Latham, N.Y.

Spencer has served as the 42nd Infantry Division Commander since April 2021. This included leading the deployment of the division to the Middle East in 2020.

The 42nd Infantry Division is one of eight National Guard division headquarters.

The 42nd Infantry Division, with headquarters in Troy, N.Y., has 20,000 Soldiers assigned to elements in New York, Vermont, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and New Hampshire. The ceremony was held at the New York State Division of Military and Naval Affairs Headquarters in Latham, New York.

"We volunteer to serve; we take on that obligation freely. Thank you to everyone for the past 37 years of service and for the time I had working with you," Spencer said. "We are a part of a bigger team, and we must fully commit to be a part of that team," he added.

Spencer has served in numerous leadership and staff positions in his 34-year career as an officer in the Army National Guard since being commissioned through the Reserve Officers' Training Corps in 1987.

"I am filled with gratitude and humility for this experience of being the division commander for the past three years, "Spencer said.

He is veteran of the 1991 Persian Gulf War. He was part of both Operation Desert Shield and Desert Storm, the invasion of Iraq and Kuwait, when he served as Platoon Leader in the 2nd Battalion, 18th Field Artillery from September 1990 to March 1991.

As a company commander in the 4th Battalion, 4th Aviation Regiment, he served as part of Operation Restore Hope in Mogadishu, Somalia, from December 1993 to March 1994.

He served as assistant division aviation officer for the 1st Armored Division in Bosnia from December 1995 to December 1996. He served in Iraq from January 2004 to January 2005 as the Operations Officer of the 197th Field Artillery Brigade.

Spencer holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the University of Southern Maine and a Masters in Strategic Studies from the U.S. Army War College.

His military education includes the Army Artillery Officer Basic and Aviation Advanced courses, Army Command and General Staff College, Army War College, and Army Strategic Education Program-Basic.

Spencer's awards include the Legion of Merit, the Meritorious Service Medal, the Army Commendation Medal, the Meritorious Unit Commendation, the Army Superior Unit Award, the National Defense Service Medal, the South West Asia Service Medal, the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, the Overseas Service Ribbon, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization Medal, the Kuwait Liberation Medal, the Army Aviator Badge, and the Parachutist Badge.

In civilian life, Spencer and his wife, Wendy, have three daughters, and he is a Pharmaceutical Sales Manager for Astellas Urological in New England and eastern New York.

The 42nd Infantry Division was first organized in World War I by National Guard forces across the United States.

The division's first chief-of-staff, Gen. Douglas MacArthur, said the division would stretch across the United States "like a rainbow." Since World War I, the division has been nicknamed "The Rainbow Division," and its patch is a rainbow.

The division liberated the Dachau Concentration Camp in World War II and deployed to Iraq in 2005. It was the first National Guard division to see combat since the Korean War.

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