Thomas V. Draude

Thomas V. Draude (born April 25, 1940) is a retired United States Marine Brigadier General. Draude retired in 1993 after 31 years of military service. Since retirement, Draude served with USAA and the Marine Corps University Foundation. He is currently an adjunct faculty member of University of South Florida in Tampa, Florida, teaching on courses on The Vietnam War and U.S. Military War Doctrine.

Early life Thomas V. Draude was born on April 25, 1940, in Kankakee, Illinois. His father, Henry Joseph Draude, was a German immigrant who worked as a plumber and steam fitter from age 14 until his death in 1978. His mother, Marjorie Cloonen Draude, daughter of Irish immigrants, was a registered nurse and the Kankakee County Tuberculosis nurse at the time of her death in 1960. His sister, Helen Ingram, died in 1992. His other sister, Sharon, resides in Kankakee.

Draude graduated as Valedictorian from St. Patrick Central High School (now Bishop McNamara High School) in 1958 and was captain of his school's first undefeated football team. He was selected to the McNamara Hall of Honor.

He graduated with distinction from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1962 and was selected to compete as a Rhodes Scholar. In 1987 Draude reported to Headquarters Marine Corps for duty as the Secretary of the General Staff working for the Chief of Staff of the Marine Corps. Selected to the grade of brigadier general in 1989, he was assigned to the Pentagon under the Deputy Secretary of Defense. His assignment was to implement David Packard's Defense Management Report, designed to improve efficiencies and find savings in the United States Department of Defense. At the end of one year the implementations was completed, and he volunteered to serve in Desert Shield. For his service he was awarded the Defense Distinguished Service Medal. Assigned to be the Assistant Division Commander of the First Marine Division, he joined the division in Saudi Arabia in October 1990. The division's focus changed from defensive to offensive in November with the arrival of the Second Marine Division. Draude's focus was on the logistics support of the division as well as planning artillery raids and the assault into Kuwait. He was also designated the deception officer for Marine Forces using amphibious forces, tanks, artificial tanks and artillery pieces, and Task Force Troy to achieve surprise and capture of most of the Iraqi forces. For his performance he was awarded the Legion of Merit Medal with Combat "V".

His final assignment was Director of Public Affairs at Headquarters Marine Corps. His focus was maintaining the positive relationship established with the members of the media in Desert Shield/Desert Storm to enable the Marine Corps to tell its story to the American people. He also restructured the enlisted Public Affairs training to produce Marines capable of being spokespersons in all media channels. From March 1992 until his retirement he also served as President George H. W. Bush's Commission on the Assignment of women in the Armed Forces, one of two active duty personnel on the 15 member commission. It studied, reviewed, interviewed, and traveled for nine months before submitting its recommendations. In the process, it raised questions about the role of women in the military and raised the conscientiousness of the American people to this issue. Draude recommended that women be given a chance to qualify for positions previously denied them aboard combatant vessels and in combat aviation, and then be allowed to serve.

After 30 years of active service, Draude retired in 1992. For his years of service he was awarded the Navy Distinguished Service Medal at a ceremony conducted by his dearest friend (and former Commandant of the Marine Corps) General Charles C. Krulak, USMC.

Post Marine Corps career In February 1993 Draude began his next career with USAA, headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. He began as vice president of Support Services at the home office and was in charge of the vehicles and aircraft, printing and publishing, food services, supply and storage, and retail stores in the company.

Assigned as senior vice president and general manager of USAA's Western Region of its Property and Casualty line, Draude headed operations covering California, Arizona, Alaska, Hawaii, and Nevada. At this time USAA began expanding membership to enlisted members of the Armed Forces and their families as well as to officers. In response, Draude established a "Military 101" course for employees, most of whom had no military experience, to aid in their support of this expanding membership.

In February 1995 he was transferred to Tampa, Florida to head the Southeast Region and its 1700 employees. The region covered the states of South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and the Caribbean Islands, and represented approximately 20% of the total USAA membership.

In the Spring of 2004, General Draude was contacted by General Carl E. Mundy who was Chairman of the Marine Corps University Foundation in Quantico, Virginia. The Foundation was seeking a new CEO and General Draude was asked to consider competing for the position. He was selected and began his service in September 2004.

The Foundation is the development arm for the Marine Corps University (MCU) as well as the support of the Operating Forces and Supporting Establishment of the entire Marine Corps. Its focus is on Professional Military Education and Leadership provided by Academic Chairs, visiting scholars, battlefield studies and other related activities. The Foundation also provided the initial funding for the Leadership Communication Skills Center in 2005 that ensured the re-accreditation of MCU by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS). MCUF did so again in 2015 with its funding of The Center for Problem Solving and Critical Thinking, an additional MCU educational program, to complete the SACS requirement for re-accreditation. MCUF also initiated the Center for Case Studies which uses the Case Method to educate Marines at MCU, The Basic School, and throughout the Marine Corps, from the grades of private to general officer.

General Draude also taught an elective at the Marine Corps Command and Staff College (C&SC). His course on Information Operations satisfied the academic requirement for awarding the additional Military Occupational Specialty of Information Operations Staff Officer. Nearly one hundred Marine Officers were eligible for this specialty designation as a result of completing this elective and participating in the C&SC's Exercise "Nine Innings" at the end of the Academic Year.

For his service to MCU, it awarded General Draude an honorary doctoral degree in Warfare Studies and the Leonard F. Chapman, Jr. Award for outstanding service to the Foundation. The Expeditionary Warfare School named its auditorium after him in recognition of his service to its students.

He retired as president and CEO of MCUF on 30 June 2015 and resides in Tampa, Florida.

Writing experience

In 2023, Draude published his first full-length non-fiction effort, a business leadership tome called The 4 F's of Leadership: Lessons from the Battlefield to the Boardroom. Draude's effort is an examination of aspects of leadership that are rarely discussed or shared: Fatigue, Fear, Failure and Feelings. In this book, Draude reflects on his over thirty years in the Marine Corps as well as his subsequent twenty-five years of experience in leadership in the business and non-profit worlds.

Draude's unusual approach focuses on four critical competencies and how to navigate each through his own lens of experience and interpretation. Draude believes that successful leadership in both the military and civilian sectors requires an understanding of these four under-appreciated topics, which we should recognize as part of our human nature. The book is currently rated at 4.9 out of 5.0 from reader feedback on Amazon.

Adjunct professor experience

Since 2016, Draude has been an adjunct professor at several Tampa-area universities (St.Leo 2016–2019; University of South Florida 2016-current), instructing to undergraduate students on a variety of military and political science topics.

Draude has featured two core classes that were leveraged at both higher education institutions: "The Vietnam War" and "Why and How We Fight U.S. Wars". Both courses feature Draude's innovative hub instruction framework, which feature a wide range of guest speakers that each speak to a unique aspect of the topical matter, in an intentional effort for the students to benefit from wide and differentiated perspectives that challenge traditional opinions on both the challenging times of the Vietnam War era, as well as the policy and lens of our nation's war-time military decision making.

As an example, the Vietnam class has featured Draude's own experiences as a young Marine Corps officer, but also those of war protesters, Vietnamese boat people and political figures involved in negotiations and decision-making.

Personal

Draude has been married to Marysandra Campagna Draude, a former Marine officer, since November 1966. They have three children:, Loree, a former naval aviator (F/A-18 and Lockheed S-3 Viking); Patrick, a retired Naval Intelligence commander and now a military analyst for the Federal Government; and Ryan, Head of Loyalty and Digital at Giant Food LLC, and a part-time adjunct professor of Loyalty Strategy at Georgetown University and Omnichannel Marketing at George Washington University. They also have four grandchildren, Sam, Julia, Priya and Leena.

Decorations and medals

Brigadier General Draude's decorations and medals include:

Note: The gold US Navy Parachute Rigger badge was worn unofficially by USMC personnel in place of US Army parachutist badge from 1942 to 1963 before it officially became the Navy and Marine Corps Parachutist insignia on July 12, 1963, per BuPers Notice 1020. Members of the Marine Corps who attended jump school before 1963 were issued the silver Army parachutist badge but may be depicted wearing the gold Navy Parachute Rigger badge as it was common practice during this time period.