COL Thomas E. Stephens, ’62

Colonel Thomas E. Stephens walked the halls of Converse Hall in the late 1950s through 1962 when he graduated with his commission as Second Lieutenant. He has always been a lifelong member of The Ohio State University Alumni Association, a supporter of Ohio State Athletics, and a proud veteran of The United States Army. 

Upon earning his commission he went to Ft. Benning for infantry training and then on to Vietnam in 1965, where is served three bback-to-backyears in combat, returning stateside in 1968. After his first year as an 11A in Vietnam, he returned stateside for several months and completed SFQC at Ft. Bragg and then returned to combat as an 18A. He also spent time at the Defense Language Institute, studying Spanish and Vietnamese.

Following the war, he spent time in Southern California working with the Navy, training many members of the NWSC. He went on to work with the Air Force in Dayton in the 1970s, completed his Master’s in International Relations at Tulane before teaching ROTC at University of California at Santa Barbara as Lieutenant Colonel and then went on to serve in Diplomatic and Special Forces Assignments in Central America; namely El Salvador and Panama. His final assignment upon his promotion to Colonel was that of serving at the U.S. Army attaché in Madrid, Spain. He retired in 1990 and resides in Santa Barbara, California.