Ambassador Thomas Armbruster, a Foreign Service Officer from 1988 until 2016, was sworn in as Ambassador to the Republic of the Marshall Islands in August 2012 and served as Chief of Mission until May 2016. Ambassador Armbruster’s overseas postings include Russia, Tajikistan, Mexico, Cuba and Finland. Domestic assignments included Diplomat in Residence at City College in New York City and Polar Affairs Officer in Washington, D.C.
Armbruster was the chief U.S. Negotiator for an emergency response treaty with Russia and led trade and counter-narcotics missions to Afghanistan. Since leaving the Foreign Service, Armbruster has worked as an international consultant and is currently leading a team in the State Department’s Inspector General’s Office.
Ambassador Armbruster is the only American diplomat to arrive in the Soviet Union by kayak. He is a private pilot and scuba diver. Armbruster is the recipient of career achievement, meritorious and superior honor awards from the State Department and a Presidential award of honor from President Hilda Heine of the Republic of the Marshall Islands.
Prior to joining the Foreign Service, Ambassador Armbruster was a journalist with KGMB-TV in Honolulu, Maryland Public Television, and Hawaii Public Radio. Publications include a chapter in the book “Inside a U.S. Embassy” and articles in Chesapeake Bay, Above and Beyond, the Foreign Service Journal, OpsLens, the Geostrategists, the Ambassadors Review, and State Magazine.
Armbruster has Masters Degrees from St. Mary’s University in San Antonio and the Naval War College in Newport. He is fluent in Spanish and Russian. Armbruster was born in El Paso, Texas and lives in San Antonio with his wife Kathy and dog Skipjack. Tom and Kathy have two children, Bryan and Kalia, who grew up in the Foreign Service.