Colonel Tom Catudal was born on October 16, 1956 in Ft. Riley, Kansas. He graduated from Hayfield School, Fairfax, Virginia, in 1975. His hometown is Conyers, Georgia. On 20 August 1979, he graduated from the University of Georgia with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Computer Science and was commissioned in the Regular Army, a Second Lieutenant through the Reserve Officers Training Corps program. Entering active duty, he attended the Signal Officers Basic Course and Radio Systems Course at Ft. Gordon, Georgia and completed Ranger training (1978) and Airborne School (1980).

COL Catudal’s initial assignment was with the 440th Signal Battalion, 22nd Signal Brigade, Darmstadt, Germany, from March of 1980 until December 1984. He served in numerous platoon leadership positions was the battalion assistant S-3, and served as the Commander of B Company (Combat), 440th Signal Battalion supporting V-Corps and units deployed in the Fulda Gap. In June 1985, COL Catudal graduated from the Signal Officers Advanced Course, Ft. Gordon, Georgia. He attended the Air Force Institute of Technology, Wright Patterson AFB, Ohio, and graduated from the Telecommunications Operations Course in the Fall of 1985. COL Catudal continued his graduate studies at Georgia State University, Atlanta, Georgia, from Fall 1985 through Summer 1987. He graduated with a Master of Science Degree in Computer Information Systems (MS/CIS) in August 1987.

In October of 1987, COL Catudal was assigned as a Theater Automated Data Processing Plans Officer on the Joint Staff of the Commander in Chief, U.S. Pacific Command (USCINCPAC) J6, Directorate for Command, Control, and Communication Systems. He was responsible for requirements analysis and planning of Headquarters USCINCPAC and subordinate Joint and service component command’s Worldwide Military Command and Control System (WWMCCS) supporting the U.S. Pacific Command (USPACOM). COL Catudal graduated from the United States Army Command and General Staff College (CGSC), Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas, on 7 June 1991. Following CGSC he was assigned as the Signal Officer of the lst Brigade/504th Parachute Infantry Regiment and the Battalion Executive Officer for the 82d Signal Battalion, 82d Airborne Division, Ft. Bragg, North Carolina. There he participated in numerous no-notice deployment exercises providing division level communications for rapid deployment force projection and entry operations.

From July 1993 to April 1995, COL Catudal served as the Senior Signal Observer/Controller for the Joint Readiness Training Center (JRTC). His responsibilities included the assessment and training of all aspects of signal operations supporting Light, Airborne, and Air Assault Infantry Divisional Ready Brigade and Ranger Regimental Task Forces undergoing Joint Force Projection Operations in simulated Low to Mid intensity combat and other-than-war environments. COL Catudal commanded the Army’s only corps, forced entry, airborne signal battalion, the 50th Signal Battalion (Corps) (Forced Entry) (Airborne), Ft. Bragg, North Carolina from June 1995 until June 1997. His unit provided en-route, forced entry, contingency communications support to the XVIII Airborne Corps Commander and Assault Command Post as the Initial Army Force and/or Joint Force Commander anywhere in the world within 18 hours notice. His unit worked closely with the USS MT Whitney Command Ship and supporting Air Force EC-135 and strategic and tactical lift crews to provide assured ARFOR/JTF force projection communications.

COL Catudal attended the United States Army War College, Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania, during the academic year 1997-1998 and graduated in June 1998. He was assigned to the Joint Staff Information Resource Management Office (JSIRMO), Pentagon, Washington, DC. His duties included Chief, Operations Division, and Chief, Systems Engineering and Integration Division and Deputy JSIRMO. He then served as Joint Staff Deputy Chief Information Officer (CIO), and Technical Director and Chief of Information Technology (IT) Systems. He was responsible for technical direction of, including planning, programming, and budgeting for and operations and maintenance of, Information Networks and messaging services supporting Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Joint Chiefs of Staff, Office of the Secretary of Defense and the Joint Staff.

In August 2001, COL Catudal was assigned as the Deputy Director for Information Operations, Networks, and Space (IONS). After the terrorist attack on 11 September 2001, he coordinated with military and industry IT leaders to rebuild Pentagon Communications and IT infrastructure within 72 hours. He was then assigned as the Director of Operations, Office of the Army Chief Information Officer/G6 (CIO/G6), Secretary of the Army and was responsible for operational matters concerning planning, fielding, execution and proponency for worldwide command, control, communications, and computers (C4) and IT support during peacetime, crises, contingencies and war. He assisted in the oversight and execution for the Army's annual $5B C4 IT programs supporting strategic, operational, and tactical and continuity operations. COL Catudal served as the CIO/G6 representative to the Army Strategic Planning Board supporting the War on Terrorism, and Operations Noble Eagle, Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom. He deployed to Baghdad, Iraq, as the Director of Information and Communication Technology (ICT), Chief of the Communications Support Office (CSO), and CIO of the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA), managing and directing over $300 million in ICT support to over 17,000 U.S. and Coalition customers throughout Iraq in a non-permissive combat environment. COL Catudal’s last assignment was the Director of Logistics Information Management, Army G-4, responsible for supporting $490B in logistics programs, equipment recapitalization, equipment systems and support inventory through the delivery of responsive, reliable and integrated ICT to the Army, connecting the Army and Joint logistician.

COL Catudal’s decorations include the Legion of Merit, Bonze Star, Defense Meritorious Service Medal with oak leaf cluster, the Meritorious Service Medal with three oak leaf clusters, the Army Achievement Medal, the Army Superior Unit Award, the Joint Meritorious Unit Accommodation Award and the Government War on Terrorism and Expeditionary medals. He is authorized to wear the Joint Chiefs of Staff and Army Staff Identification Badges and the Third Army Patch for serving in combat. He is a Senior Parachutist, Ranger Qualified and awarded the German Parachutist Badge. He is the recipient of the Regimental Signal Corps Association’s Bronze Order of Mercury.

On a personal note, COL Catudal is the recipient of the George T. Malanos award for academic excellence in the Master of Science/Computer Information Systems (MS/CIS) program from Georgia State University. He is an active member of the Beta Gamma Sigma honorary business fraternity (Chapter of Georgia) and advisor for technology to the University of Georgia Lamar Dodd Technology and Art Committee. COL Catudal has a commission of ‘Colonel’ on the staff of the Governor of Kentucky in the Honorable Order of Kentucky Colonel and is the serving President of the Albert J. Myers (Washington, DC) Chapter of the Signal Corps Regimental Association. He is actively engaged in professional technology advancement organizations including the Government Information Technology Executive Council (GITEC), the Lexington Institute, Armed Forces and Communications and Electronics Association (AFCEA), and the American Council for Technology (ACT) Industry Advisory Council (IAC).

COL Catudal is recognized as one of the 2005 Federal -- the top executives from government, industry and academia who had the greatest impact on the government information systems community in 2004 because of the impact he made in the way agencies and companies develop, acquire, manage and use information technology. He was also selected as the AFCEA International Award Winner 2005 - Meritorious Award for Engineering and received recognition from the American Council of Technology (ACT)/ Industry Advisory Council (IAC) as the recipient of the “Dedication to People" 2005 Leadership Award.

He is married to the former Nancy Ann Weyant. They have five children: their sons are Michael, twenty-four, and Joe, twenty-two years old; and their daughters are Maureen, twenty; Anna, nineteen, and Sarah, eighteen years old.

COL Joseph “Tom” Catudal is retiring 31 August 2005 with over 26 years of service to the Nation and the U.S. Army, Signal Corps.

Posted on April 14, 2004

Illinois soldier remembered as a loner who loved his country

By Jan Dennis- Associated Press

PEORIA, Ill. - Gregory Goodrich didn't talk much about his part-time career in the military, focusing instead on everyday interests from books and the environment to his plans to return to teaching.

But friends say Goodrich, an Army reservist from Bartonville who was killed Friday in Iraq, had a patriotic streak that matched the racing stripe on his fuel-friendly Ford Festiva.

"He was one of those guys that if someone said something bad about his country, he'd rip your head off, as quiet as he was," said Teddy Quinn, who worked with Goodrich for six years at a Peoria auto parts store.

The 37-year-old private was a something of a loner outside of work, but worked hard to help customers and co-workers and "could always put a smile on your face," Quinn said Wednesday.

The military announced Tuesday that Goodrich was killed during an ambush near Abu Ghraib, west of Baghdad.

"It hit me pretty hard. You don't expect it to happen to a guy as nice as Greg," Quinn said.

Goodrich was part of a fuel convoy from the Bartonville-based 724th Transportation Company that was attacked by rocket-propelled grenades and small arms fire, the defense department said. Two other members of the Army Reserve unit - Sgt. Elmer Krause, 40, of Greensboro, N.C., and Pfc. Keith Maupin, 20, of Batavia, Ohio - remained missing Wednesday, according to the defense department.

Friends remembered Goodrich as an avid reader who showed up at least once a week at the Peoria Public Library, where he knew the staff by name.

"He never spoke about being in the Army. He was very talkative, almost like he needed us as friends," Maria Garcia, the library's assistant head of circulation, told the (Peoria) Journal Star.

Quinn said Goodrich was also an ardent environmentalist who ate Grape Nuts or trail mix for lunch, rode bikes and drove an older car that was high on gas mileage and low on pollution.

"I was driving a big Chevy Caprice and he said 'You're just killing the environment,'" Quinn said.

Goodrich grew up in the Peoria area, and later moved to Georgia, where he graduated from college and became a teacher, Quinn said. After coming back home, he started working at the auto parts store, saving money to pay for classes to get his Illinois teaching certificate, Quinn said.

"That was his passion. He loved to teach and help people," Quinn said.

Goodrich lived in Peoria before moving to nearby Bartonville about a year ago, friends said. Few people in town knew him yet, but Mayor Marcia Markwalder said the city is protective of its hometown soldiers, and she hopes to do something to pay tribute to the fallen soldier.

"It's very nerve-racking, personally, for us," said Markwalder, whose nephew is a member of the same reserve unit. "You feel like that's your own homeland security."

These men and women have their own troubles, are far away from friends and family, but never too busy to help. I include those wearing stars and eagles but mostly the ones wearing bars and stripes. The latter ones in another context might be called boys and girls, but here are men and women. Many make less than ticket takers at a movie theater and are trusted to make decisions that lots of people will never and could never handle. Some have just completed school, some are in the middle and many will use the G.I. Bill to finish their education, but right now all of that is on hold. They carry the responsibility of million-dollar machines, international relations, and often human life. Sometimes saving it and sometimes taking it. These are kids you should be proud of. Who do you think took Baghdad? It was young captains and sergeants, ROTC grads, guys from Ft. Stewart, Ft. Benning, Warner Robbins, you get the idea; your neighbors.

Just remember when you watch the news and you get past all the international politics, finances and government agendas, its about people. People doing their job. When you hear reporters talk of hundreds or thousands of troops moving in and out of places it often sounds like cattle. Just a numbers game. Remember they are individuals. If you know someone personally its easy for you to relate; if you don't, let me tell you they are a fine lot of Americans. You should be proud of your countrymen and proud of yourselves for supporting and producing these people from the fabric of your society. Thanks again for everything, for giving of your time, of yourselves.
—LT Christopher "Catfish" Anderson, USN, UGA '96