FOIA Leadership
Richard Thompson
Detailed Director, Office of FOIA, Records, and Assessment Compliance
Rick has been detailed as the director for the Office of FOIA, Records and Assessment Compliance (FRAC) where he will oversee three directorates: Privacy and Records Management Directorate (PRAD), Enterprise Record Service and Freedom of Information Act services.
Prior to Rick’s detail he was assigned as a Supervisory Management Analyst for the Enterprise Risk Management Directorate (ERMD) where he serves as the Program Manager for the Enterprise Risk Registry (ERR) and Supervisor for a team of Risk Analysts, IT specialist and contractors. Through the ERR and his team, Rick oversees enterprise risk management support for all OIT Divisions, mission critical program areas as well as OIT’s Risk Profile submissions to the VA. Rick and his team received the ultimate rating on a Security Control Assessment achieving a 98% compliance rate. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Rick used his planning skills to develop readiness checklists for re-opening VA facilities nation-wide. The readiness checklists will ensure that all VA facilities are prepared to protect the health of Veterans and VA employees as they return to duty stations. Rick currently resides with his wife and family in Asheville NC, where he enjoys photography, fishing, and the mountain life.
As a 23-year Veteran of the U.S. Army Military Police Corps, Rick served in multiple law enforcement and tactical combat support positions. Rick served as an Army Recruiter, Drill Sergeant, installation Provost Marshal and culminated his career as the Battalion Sergeant Major for the Fort Shafter Military Police Battalion in Hawaii. Rick is a distinguished member of the SGT Morales Club and was awarded the Order of the Marechaussee.
After the 9/11 tragedy, Rick was challenged as a DA Civilian to stand up a 300-person Department of the Army Police Company. He served as the Chief of Police and DA Police Academy (Pacific) Commandant for 6 years. Rick was intermetal in writing the Army Regulation 190-56 DA The Army Civilian Police and Security Guard Program. The organizational structure he developed for the DA Police academy and in-service training and training curriculum were later adopted by the United States Army Military Police Corps as the standard for DA Police Companies and DA police academies throughout the United States.
Rick joined the VA Office of Information Technology in 2007. He uses skills developed with the Army Military Police Corp to methodically research, investigate and assess critical program risks, internal controls, records management, and physical security. Rick served initially as a management analyst in the Information Technology Oversight and Compliance (ITOC) organization, where he conducted Physical and Environmental and record management assessments of VA facilities. Rick’s experience was called upon again to re-write the VA Handbook 0730 “Security and Law Enforcement” during which he developed the requirements for VA’s Key and Lock Control still in use today. Rick’s organizational abilities helped stand up the Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) Office. At the ERM Office, he served as the Business Office Director, helped design the OIT Enterprise Risk Management Framework and the OIT’s ERR system. To this day, Rick continues to set the standards that other organizations adopt and emulate.
