Lieutenant General Thomas J. Plewes served as Chief, Army Reserve, and Commanding General, U.S. Army Reserve Command until his retirement on May 25, 2002.  Prior to assuming that position in May 1998, he served as Deputy Commanding General, U.S. Army Reserve Command.  He became the first three-star Chief, Army Reserve, in the history of the Army reserve on June 13, 2001.

Lieutenant General Plewes’ positions in the Army reserve included service as Commanding General, 310^th Theater Army Area Command, Assistant, Deputy Commanding General for Reserve Affairs of the United States Army Materiel Command (AMC), Assistant Deputy Chief of Staff for Logistics, and Deputy Commander for Operations of the U.S. Army Depot System Command.

Prior to his assignments in AMC, he was Chief of Staff, 310th Theater Army Area Command, and Commander, 510th Theater Army Support Group, Baltimore, Maryland.  He held a variety of positions in the 310th Theater Army Area Command, with experience as Commander, Special Troops; Training Officer; and Deputy Chief of Staff for Security, Plans and Operations.  He commanded the 1066^th General Supply Company and the 328^th Engineer Detachment after entering the Army Reserve in 1969.  On Active duty, from 1966-1969, he served with the 3^rd Engineer Battalion of the 24^th Infantry Division in Germany and Fort Riley, Kansas as Commander, Company B; Commander, Atomic Demolitions Platoon, and was also the assistant Operations Officer.

His military education includes Engineer Officer Candidate School, the Quartermaster, Engineer and Ordnance Advance Courses, Command and General Staff College, and the Army War College.  His awards include the Distinguished Service Medal, Legion of Merit (with two Oak Leaf Clusters), the Meritorious Service Medal (with two Oak Leaf Clusters), the Army Commendation Medal, the Department of Defense Identification Badge, and the Army Staff Identification Badge.

He was a member of the congressionally chartered Reserve Forces Policy Board, and is a past president of the Senior Army Reserve Commanders Association. He is a Senior Fellow of the Institute of land Warfare of the Association of the U.S. Army. He is an active member of the Reserve Officers Association and a Fellow of the American Statistical Association.

In his civilian capacity, Lieutenant General Plewes serves as a program director for the National Academy of Sciences.  Lieutenant General (Retired) Plewes was Vice President of Logistics Management Resources, Inc., a supplier of logistics automation services to the federal government, and Associate Commissioner of the U.S. Bureau of labor Statistics, where he had responsibility for the Nation’s labor force information.  He graduated from Hope College, Holland, Michigan, with a bachelor’s degree in Economics, and received a master’s degree in Economics from the George Washington University.