Lt. Col. Christopher Thompson ’05, ’10G knows sacrifice—as does his wife, Cheyanne Bacon ’05.
Three times between 2007 and 2017, when Thompson was deployed by the New Hampshire Army National Guard to serve in northern Iraq and other countries in the Middle East, Thompson had to leave his family behind. Bacon worked double time, raising their sons, Ethan, 13, and Haven, 11, and even delivered Haven on her own while Thompson supported her via webcam, from afar.
“Deployment is harder on the families,” Thompson says. “When you deploy as a solider, it’s very regimented. You have a routine, working 18-plus hours a day. Cheyanne had it harder, dealing with all that goes with being home alone, raising children and maintaining a home.”
The couple met as high school sophomores in Exeter, NH, and believe that Thompson’s service is worth the stress, the separation, the nights alone. “It’s difficult, but it’s so rewarding to do that mission and come home,” says Thompson, who will visit campus on Veterans Day to speak to students.
His message is multifaceted. Be the best person you can be. Take advantage of all the opportunities available to you as an American. Develop a work ethic. “In honor of service members, do that to the best of your ability and enjoy the freedom and privileges we have in this country, and make the most of them,” he says. “That’s the message of Veterans Day, current and past.”
Long before he could articulate his own advice, Thompson followed it—at Plymouth State.
Having signed up with the Army National Guard as a high school junior, he spent one weekend a month and two weeks in summer in service while working on his bachelor’s in information technology and a minor in anthropology / sociology minor. As a PSU junior, he entered the officer candidate program and worked full time for the military out of an office in Concord, NH.
“It was very, very difficult,” Thompson recalls. “If you can prioritize and have good time management skills and take advantage of programs that are available, you will do well.”
Thompson was a second lieutenant when he graduated in 2005. He continued in the Guard full time, but also began strategizing a business idea and re-entered PSU as an MBA student. His studies were halted in 2007 with his first one-year deployment. He completed his degree in January 2010, then redeployed in October 2010.
Serving in Iraq in 2010 and 2011, Thompson commanded a unit that escorted military vehicles delivering goods, driving over 150,000 miles in hostile territory. He was responsible for 135 people running combat missions across northern Iraq, along with $40 million in equipment. In 2016–2017, his deployment was broken into two missions: Operation Spartan Shield, designed to build partnerships in the Middle East, and Operation Inherent Resolve, for which his team conducted military strikes, destroying ISIS targets.
Today, Thompson is deputy director of operations for the New Hampshire Army Guard. “It’s about making sure the National Guard functions as a whole,” he says. His broad scope of service spans from mobilizing units overseas to setting up operation centers—like those that made COVID vaccine clinics available across the state during the pandemic. “We’re about training, equipping, and manning,” he says.
Thompson is also an entrepreneur, selling scrapers made of ABS polymer plastic through a business called Scrape Safe. The idea for this tool, which can scrape any surface without damaging it, evolved through conversations with an engineer friend.
Now 42 and living in Nottingham, NH, Thompson says that his anthropology studies at PSU were extremely helpful in preparing him for immersing himself in different cultures while on combat tours. Organization Behavior, an MBA course, was key in imparting leadership success and helped him as a commander.
Thompson enjoys spending time with his family, has helped coach his sons’ sports teams, and loves fishing, hiking, and being outdoors. There always exists for Thompson and others in the military the possibility that they will be deployed again.
“Everyone sees the news, and it’s unsettling, across the world,” he admits. “As scary as deployment is on families, I took the oath to do that, and I want to do that for citizens and the country.”
