JANUARY 21, 2026 — The U.S. Senate has confirmed Army Lt. Gen. Thomas M. Carden to serve as the 12th vice chief of the National Guard Bureau.
With this confirmation, Carden, a Georgia Army National Guard officer, will also receive a fourth star, marking the first time the National Guard has had two four-star generals and making him the first NGB vice chief to wear the rank.
The vice chief position originated in 1988, and the fiscal 2024 National Defense Authorization Act elevated it to four stars.
The vice chief assists the NGB chief, a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and principal advisor to the Secretary of War, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Army secretary and chief, and Air Force secretary on matters relating to the National Guard.
Carden will also assist the NGB chief in ensuring the manning, training, and equipping of more than 435,000 National Guard Soldiers and Airmen from the 54 states, territories, and the District of Columbia.
Carden most recently served as deputy commander, U.S. Northern Command, and vice commander, U.S. Element, North American Aerospace Defense Command at Peterson Space Force Base, Colorado. As deputy commander, Carden assisted the combatant commander in anticipating, preparing for and responding to threats against North America and within Northern Command’s assigned area of responsibility and provided oversight of U.S. Northern Command’s mission to provide Defense Support of Civil Authorities.
Carden graduated from Georgia Southwestern State University with a Bachelor of Science degree in history. He holds a Master of Arts in Human Resource Management from Webster University and a Master of Science in Strategic Studies from the U.S. Army War College.
Carden’s previous assignments include duties as the adjutant general, Georgia National Guard, deputy commanding general of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s Multinational Division Southeast, headquartered in Bucharest, Romania, and assistant adjutant general, Georgia National Guard, headquartered in Marietta, Georgia. He also commanded the 560th Battlefield Surveillance Brigade, Georgia Army National Guard, deploying to Iraq with the 48th Infantry Brigade Combat Team during Operation Iraqi Freedom, and Bosnia and Herzegovina during Operation Joint Forge. Carden has also been part of numerous domestic response operations during his service in the Georgia National Guard.
Details of his promotion and the ceremonious assumption of responsibility will be shared once they are available.
Carden succeeds Air Force Lt. Gen. Marc H. Sasseville, who retired in May 2024.
About the National Guard Bureau
The chief of the National Guard and the National Guard Bureau ensure proper manning, training, and equipping of the Army and Air National Guard so they can perform their missions as the primary combat reserve of the Army and the Air Force, fighting and winning the nation’s wars, protecting the homeland, and assisting communities in times of natural or human-caused disaster.
By National Guard Bureau