Armbruster, Thomas Hart, 1958-

<p>Thomas Hart Armbruster was sworn in as Ambassador to the Republic of the Marshall Islands on August 16, 2012.</p>

<p>Ambassador Armbruster served as Diplomat in Residence in New York City from 2010 until 2012 and was Consul General in Vladivostok, Russia, Deputy Chief of Mission in Dushanbe, Tajikistan and Consul General in Nuevo Laredo, Mexico. Other overseas assignments include Helsinki, Havana and Moscow. Ambassador Armbruster has served as Polar Affairs Officer in Washington, DC and was the Chief U.S. Negotiator for an emergency response treaty with Russia. He has led trade and counternarcotics missions to Afghanistan and is the only American diplomat to have arrived in the (then) Soviet Union by kayak. He speaks Russian and Spanish.</p>

<p>Ambassador Armbruster has a bachelor's degree from McDaniel College in Westminster, Maryland and a Masters Degree in Conflict Resolution from St. Mary's University in San Antonio, Texas and a Masters from the Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island.</p>

<p>Ambassador Armbruster is the author of "U.S.-Russian Nuclear Cooperation: Actionable Intelligence," published by the Naval War College and has published articles in State magazine, the Foreign Service Journal, Chesapeake Bay magazine.</p>

<p>Q: Today is Wednesday, November 28, 2018. We are having our first session with Ambassador Thomas Armbruster. Ambassador, where were you born and raised?<br>
ARMBRUSTER: I was born in El Paso, Texas, at Fort Bliss and raised in Maryland mostly.</p>
<p>...</p>
<p>Q: Then where in Maryland?<br>
ARMBRUSTER: We were in Towson, Maryland, Baltimore County, and then Severna Park near Annapolis.</p>
<p>...</p>
<p>Q: OK, so let’s go back. As you are approaching the end of your four years in college, did you do any other travel or a year abroad while you were in college.<br>
ARMBRUSTER: I did not. I got out of college. I married Kathy Chandler Armbruster, and for our honeymoon we booked a Yugoslavian freighter and went from Baltimore to Savannah to Casablanca. I think it was my way of telling Kathy, “OK we are going to travel a lot in life!” That was my reintroduction to travel. It was a great trip; we had a lot of fun.</p>
<p>...</p>
<p>Q: All right you take your honeymoon. What are you two thinking then about the future. Are you thinking about further education or work or?<br>
ARMBRUSTER: Actually, I realize now neither one of us had a job at the time. We were quite confident we would get them.So we came back from Morocco and my dad was editing the Perspectives magazine at the East-West Center in Hawaii. Kathy and I moved in with mom and dad. Kathy got her masters in library science and I worked at the University of Hawaii as a communicator withresearch ships at sea, and then started a journalism career working for Hawaii Public Radio.Then I worked for NPR in Washington and then Maryland Public Television and then back to Hawaii with the CBS affiliate KGMB-TV.</p>

<p><b>Experience</b><br>
Senior U.S. Foreign Service Officer (ret)<br>
U.S. Department of State<br>
Jun 1988 – Present (32 years 2 months)<br>
...<br>
Journalist<br>
CBS News<br>
May 1987 – May 1988 (1 year 1 month)<br>
Honolulu, Hawaii<br>
Reporter for CBS affiliate KGMB-TV.</p>
<p>...</p>
<p><b>Volunteer Experience</b><br>
Member Board of Directors<br>
Strategies for International Development<br>
Feb 2019 - Present (1 year 6 months)</p>
<p>...</p>
<p><b>Languages</b><br>
Russian<br>
Full professional proficiency<br>
Spanish<br>
Professional working proficiency</p>

<p>Thomas H. Armbruster (1958–)<br>
Career Foreign Service Officer<br>
State of Residence: New York</p>

<p>Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary (Marshall Islands)<br>
Appointed: August 3, 2012<br>
Presentation of Credentials: September 6, 2012<br>
Termination of Mission: Left post on May 25, 2016</p>