Photo By Erin Thompson | Col. Francis X. Toomey, Commander, U.S. Army Intelligence School, Devens, 1985–1986... read more read more
by Erin E. Thompson, USAICoE Staff Historian
COLONEL TOOMEY ASSUMES COMMAND OF USAISD
On 4 September 1985, Col. Francis X. Toomey took command of the U.S. Army Intelligence School, Fort Devens (USAISD) in Massachusetts. Over the next year, Colonel Toomey would oversee the introduction and consolidation of the school’s technical training courses.
Colonel Toomey enlisted in the Army in 1955 and received his commission as a Signal Corps officer in 1958. After a brief assignment to the Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers, Europe (SHAPE) in France, Toomey was assigned to the 317th Army Security Agency (ASA) Battalion at Fort Bragg, North Carolina (known as Fort Liberty since 2023). He deployed to Florida during the Cuban Missile Crisis as the battalion’s communications security officer in October 1962.
In May 1963, then-Captain Toomey assumed command of the 226th ASA Company, supporting the U.S. Eighth Army in Korea. He then attended the officers advanced course at the ASA Training Center and School at Fort Devens. In April 1965, he deployed in the S-3 section of the 313th ASA Battalion for Operation POWER PACK, the American peace-keeping mission in the Dominican Republic [See This Week in MI History #38 30 April 1965]. There, Toomey served as a liaison between the battalion and the American forces’ headquarters and later received a Bronze Star for supplying vital signals intelligence support to the U.S. Armed Forces, Central Intelligence Agency, and U.S. Embassy.
One year later, his unit deployed to Vietnam under the cover designation 313th Radio Research Battalion in support of the I Field Force, Vietnam (IFFV). Toomey served as the battalion S-3, responsible for allocating resources for ASA personnel and liaising with the IFFV. After nine months, he took command of the 330th Radio Research Company also in Vietnam. Under his leadership, the company “established three collection sites, manual Morse and voice processing positions, a ground station for aerial direction finding aircraft, and a communication center.”
Toomey held numerous positions over the next two decades, including commander of Field Station (FS) Korea in 1974; G-2 for the 4th Infantry Division in 1976; instructor at the Army War College; assignment to the National Security Agency; and finally, commander of FS Sinop in northern Turkey in 1981. In 1982, Toomey returned to the United States as chief of the Directorate of Training and Doctrine at USAISD, which had replaced the ASA Training Center in 1976 [see This Week in MI History #154 1 October 1976]. By 1983, he was serving as the school’s deputy assistant commandant. A year later, he was deputy commander and chief of staff.
On 4 September 1985, Colonel Toomey took command of USAISD from Col. Joseph F. Short. Toomey’s previous deployments had impressed upon him the ever-changing technical needs of the Army. To try and keep up with these developments, Colonel Toomey implemented new training courses for Technical Control and Analytical Center (TCAC) operators and managers and courses for cryptologic maintainers working on the GUARDRAIL and side-looking airborne radar/infrared radar systems (SLAR/IRS). He also oversaw the consolidation of the Army and Air Force manual Morse intercept training at USAISD [see This Week in MI History #10 7 October 1986].
Colonel Toomey left USAISD in September 1986 and was assigned as garrison commander of Vint Hill Farms Station in Virginia. He was the installation’s last military intelligence commander before the station transferred to the Communications-Electronics Command. He retired in 1987 after thirty-three years of service, having received two Legions of Merit, a Bronze Star, five Meritorious Service Medals, and an Army Commendation Medal. Colonel Toomey passed away in 2014 at the age of seventy-eight and is buried in Arlington National Cemetery.
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| Date Taken: | 08.30.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 08.30.2024 16:59 |
| Story ID: | 479890 |
| Location: | US |
| Web Views: | 153 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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