LEE COUNTY (March 10, 2026) – Corporal Vintel Thomas of the Lee County Sheriff’s Office graduated from the National Command & Staff College’s Command and Staff Leadership Program on March 6, 2026, as part of its #034 session.
Corporal Thomas has been a part of the Lee County Sheriff’s Office since 2019. He is also a Sergeant First Class (E7) in the Army National Guard, assigned to a Military Police unit in North Alabama. He originally began working through the National Command & Staff College’s Command and Staff Leadership Program in February 2025 as part of the #033 session, but due to being activated to serve out military orders, he restarted his program to be part of the #034 session beginning in September 2025. He completed the residency portion of the program in Orange Beach, Alabama, in February & March 2026.
The National Command & Staff College’s Command and Staff Leadership Program is a graduate-level program designed to elevate the leadership abilities of the graduates so that they can continue to improve their agencies. It consists of 240 hours of online study and an 80-hour residency portion.
Throughout the program, the participants work through different types of training including online & in-classroom study, lectures, 41 essays, practical exercises, a capstone research paper, and case studies on topics such as approaches to topics such as leadership, personnel management, the human factors of leadership and officer wellness, building and maintaining a professional culture, ethics, and crisis communication.
The main objective of the program, according to the National Command & Staff College’s website, is “to improve leadership capability by creating more aware leaders, including intentionally deeper investments in the human domain and aligning mission and values. Graduates will be leaders and mentors for their people, dedicated to personal and professional growth, committed to promoting open communication, shared values, and focused on mission accomplishment.”
When asked about the program, Corporal Thomas stated, “I believe in continuous personal and professional development, of oneself, as a person, as a public servant, and as a leader. The National Command & Staff College provided that avenue of approach for me. It gave a holistic view of what it means to be a leader, clearly defined what being a leader is, and what modern-day leadership looks like. I plan to use the leadership fundamentals I learned from that program in my personal, professional, and spiritual life while developing others, who will replace me one day, along the way.”
Sheriff Jones commented, “Training and education of our agency members is critical to providing professional public safety service to the people of Lee County. The National Command and Staff College provides students with proven leadership, management, and self-development concepts to enhance their abilities to be successful in their chosen career of protecting and serving our communities.”
Corporal Thomas joins his fellow LCSO deputies Captain Bill McGuire, Lt. Jeff Snyder, and Lt. Gregory Sumner, who graduated from the #019 session in July 2023; Lt. Mitch Allen, Lt. Jessica Daley, Lt. Derick Eidahl, and Sgt. Clayton Feagins, who graduated from the #023 session in January 2024, and Sgt. Ben Causland and Sgt. Dylan Pugh, who graduated from the #028 session in January 2025.
