My name is Tom McDonald; full name, Thomas B. McDonald III. I am the son of a military father. Seeing that as a quick way to get my life going, I joined the military, graduating from the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York. After Army Ranger and Paratrooper training, I settled into my chosen specialty: Military Communications. Along the way, the Army paid for a Masters Degree in Systems Engineering at the University of Arizona, Tucson. I enjoyed a 26 year career, commanding both an Airborne Signal Battalion and a Brigade, and finishing up as the J6 (Director, C4 [Command & Control, Communications, and Computers]) of USCENTCOM, retiring as a colonel.
Following the service, I went into business. After three years, I formed my own company, consulting on design and marketing of large, complex C4 systems, and in representing foreign C4 Systems companies in the US. At one point I worked with DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) on an idea conceived while the J6. I served as a County Planning Commissioner for a few years, and became active in various ministries, notably as a Chaplain in a local chapter of the Georgia Baptist Disaster Relief (Clean Up & Recovery) Organization.
My most life-changing event occurred at the Army War College. It was there that I discovered I was not a Christian. I had always thought I was because I went to church often and enjoyed it. I found I only knew about the Lord Jesus; I did not know Him personally. So, in May of 1976, I gave my life to the Prince of Peace at the Army’s War College. The irony still brings a smile. That decision had a profound and still growing impact on my life.
My military service afforded me the up-close and personal opportunity to observe and interact with men of all ages, but especially with young men in their late teens and early twenties. Under such conditions one gets to know them, their behaviors and their backgrounds. Those years of experience with young men is, in great measure, what has informed my insights for my book, “Genuine Manhood!”. What is needed now is for us as a people to get back to what made us a great nation in our early years – if it is not too late. And that must begin in the home. More about this under the Books tab.
My wife, Kay, and I have a wonderful blended family of five children, eleven grandchildren and six great-grandchildren. We like to travel, to serve in ministry, to visit with family and friends, to read, to write, to teach, and to enjoy the fruit of good health. I should say also that Kay does not fully share my passion for hunting, though she does enjoy the venison…
