Join us this Friday at Maggiano's to greet Lieutenant Colonel Thomas W. Ariail and his dog Normandy, a 140-pound Great Pyrenees therapy dog who Tom now chauffeurs as Normandy spreads cheer throughout the community. Tom and Normandy will help us to commemorate Veteran's Day. 

Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Ariail served in the United States Army for over 23 years in worldwide assignments in various combat zones. Son of a career Army officer, Tom was born in Orleans, France and grew up on various military bases around the world. He graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1984 and was commissioned as an Armor officer, serving at Fort Knox, Kentucky.

In 1988, he was assigned to 3^rd Armor Division in Friedberg, Germany as a commander of a tank company. In 1991. Tom was deployed to participate in Operation Desert Storm in the Middle East. In 1999, Tom was selected to command the military seaport at Bremerhaven, Germany for two and a half years conducting missions in Germany, the Baltic, Scandinavia, and Balkans to include supporting combat operations in Bosnia and Kosovo.

In 2001, Tom became the Army Chief of Transportation at Fort McPherson, Georgia. Soon after the events of 9/11, he deployed to the Middle East for two years planning & managing coalition theater transportation missions for combat operations in Afghanistan, Iraq, and the Horn of Africa until the end of 2003. He returned to Fort McPherson and was assigned to Headquarters U.S. Forces Command as the Chief of Transportation. There he supported units and installations across the United States and combat missions overseas until he retired in 2008. After the military, Tom served as an executive operations, supply-chain, and leadership consultant to the Center of Disease Control (CDC) and other agencies.

Colonel Ariail is an Eagle Scout, holding a Bachelor of Science degree from the United States Military Academy and a Master of Business Administration from Embry Riddle Aeronautical University. He is also a graduate of the Army Command and General Staff College, Logistics Management College, and Executive Supply Chain Leadership from Penn State University. His major decorations include the Legion of Merit, Bronze Star with oak leaf cluster, Meritorious Service Medal with clusters, and the Australian Chief of Defense Force Commendation Award.

Tom has lived in Dunwoody for over 20 years and is the commander of the Dunwoody & Sandy Springs Veterans of Foreign Wars. Tom has two daughters: Isabelle (25), an Oklahoma University meteorologist working in London; and Madeline (22), a recent Georga College graduate and aspiring veterinarian. He now chauffeurs his sidekick, Normandy, a 140-pound Great Pyrenees therapy dog who spreads cheer throughout the community.