Thomas was a captain in the United States Air Force and an F-15E instructor. He tallied more than 1,200 flight hours in the F-15E, including 400 hours leading combat missions, and earned three air medals. Most recently, as a flight commander, Thomas analyzed seven years of flight training data, establishing metrics to objectively track graduate quality and enterprise efficiency. He also led innovation conferences across three major commands to lay the groundwork for a unified data strategy that leverages emerging technologies. In previous roles, Thomas led mission planning teams for complex operations and wrote a coalition-wide bulletin that standardized procedures for mitigating risk to noncombatants during dynamic strikes. Beyond the Air Force, Thomas contributed research through Villanova University on the financial risk management practices of state and local governments.