Command Staff

Colonel Thomas H. Palmatier was appointed Commander and Conductor of The U.S. Army Field Band of Washington, DC, in September 2007. Prior to this he served as Commandant of the U.S. Army School of Music, responsible for the training of Army Band Soldiers, Noncommissioned Officers, Warrant Officers, and Commissioned Officers for the Army’s 106 bands worldwide. His previous assignments include Commander of the U.S. Army Europe Band and Chorus, Executive Officer to The Adjutant General of the Army, and the Department of the Army Staff Bands Officer, overseeing band activities for all Active, Reserve, and National Guard bands. Earlier assignments included command and staff positions in Army bands around the world, to include service with The United States Army Band in Washington, DC. Additionally, he supervised musical support for the 1989, 1993, and 2001 Presidential Inaugural celebrations.

Colonel Palmatier holds a Bachelor of Music degree, magna cum laude, in Applied Music from the Crane School of Music in Potsdam, New York, and was selected to receive the Minerva Award in 2010, presented each year to an alumnus who has demonstrated outstanding lifetime professional achievement. He also has earned a Master of Fine Arts degree in Music from Truman State University in Kirksville, Missouri, and a Master of Strategic Studies degree from the U.S. Army War College. A member of the Army War College Association, he also belongs to the Adjutant General Corps Regimental Association.

Colonel Palmatier is former Director of the Rochester International Tattoo and former Principal Director of Music for the Virginia International Tattoo. He was also Music Director of the Dominion Brass Band, which won the Honors Section of the North American championships in 1996. His professional affiliations include the prestigious American Bandmasters Association, the North American Brass Band Association, of which he is Past-President and an Honorary Lifetime Member, and the National Band Association.

Colonel Palmatier has received numerous military honors to include two awards of the Legion of Merit and seven awards of the Meritorious Service Medal. He was the first Army Band Officer to earn both the Parachutist and Air Assault Badges. He also earned a combat patch for service in El Salvador. His wife, Shirley, is a retired Army Medical Corps officer, and his daughter, Gabrielle, is a ballet dancer and instructor in Los Angeles.

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Major Bruce R. Pulver joined The U.S. Army Field Band as the Deputy Commander and Associate Conductor in April of 2008. He holds a Bachelor of Music Education degree from the University of Southern Mississippi and a Master of Music Education degree from Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia.

Major Pulver began his military career in 1993, serving as a percussionist with the First Army Band at Fort Meade, Maryland and later the 98th Army Band at Fort Rucker, Alabama. Following these assignments, Major Pulver became the Executive Officer of the Army Ground Forces Band at Fort McPherson in Atlanta, Georgia. From 1998 to 2001, Major Pulver served as Commander of the U.S. Army School of Music. In 2002, Major Pulver became the Executive Officer of the United States Army Europe Band and Chorus in Heidelberg, Germany. His most recent assignment was serving as the Department of the Army Staff Bands Officer. Prior to entering military service, he taught in the Mississippi public schools as a high school and middle school band and choral director.

Major Pulver's extensive military training includes the successful completion of the Primary Leadership Development Course, Fort Campbell, Kentucky; Air Assault School, Fort Belvoir, Virginia; Officer Candidate School, Fort Benning, Georgia; Airborne School, Fort Benning, Georgia; Adjutant General Officer Basic Course, Fort Jackson, South Carolina; the Army Band Officer Course, Norfolk, Virginia; Adjutant General Captain's Career Course, Fort Jackson, South Carolina; and the Combined Arms and Services Staff School, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.

An accomplished Soldier, Major Pulver's numerous military awards and decorations include: the Meritorious Service Medal with two Oak Leaf Clusters, the Army Commendation Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster, the Army Achievement Medal, the Army Good Conduct Medal, the National Defense Service Medal with Bronze Star, the Global War on Terror Service Medal, the NATO Medal, the Outstanding Volunteer Service Medal, the Army Service Ribbon, the Overseas Service Ribbon, the Noncommissioned Officer Professional Development Ribbon, the Army Superior Unit Award, the Air Assault Badge, and the Parachutist Badge.

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Captain Leonel A. Peña assumed responsibilities as Associate Bandmaster of The United States Army Field Band and Director of the Soldiers' Chorus in April of 2009. Prior to this assignment, he served as the Commander of the Staff & Faculty Company at the U.S. Army School of Music in Norfolk, Virginia. His earliest assignments were at Ft. McPherson in Atlanta, Georgia, where he served as Executive Officer & Associate Conductor of the Army Ground Forces Band, and later as Staff Bands Officer for U.S. Army Forces Command (FORSCOM).

Captain Peña earned a bachelor's degree from Southwest Texas State University and a master's degree from Central Michigan University. He has also earned certification from the Contemporary Commercial Music Vocal Pedagogy Institute at the Shenandoah Conservatory of Music. He has performed and recorded with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Chorus and Virginia Symphony Orchestra Chorus.

Captain Peña's military education and training include the Adjutant General Officer Basic Course, the Army Band Officer Course, the Army Bands Captain's Career Course, the Army Instructor Training Course, the Army Instructor Evaluator Course, the Systems Approach to Training Course, the Training Developer Middle Managers' Course, and the Airborne Course.

His military awards and decorations include the Meritorious Service Medal, two Army Commendation Medals, three Army Achievement Medals, the Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, the Military Outstanding Volunteer Service Medal, and the Airborne Parachutist Badge.

In 2005 he was appointed by Kentucky Governor Ernie Fletcher to the Honorable Order of Kentucky Colonels.

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Originally from Indiana, Captain Sharon Toulouse considers Kansas her home. She graduated from the University of Kansas with a bachelor's degree in music education. Following graduation she served as Assistant Director of Bands at Lawrence Free State High School in Lawrence, Kansas until the opportunity arose to return to the University of Kansas where she earned a masters degree in instrumental wind conducting under Dr. John P. Lynch.

In September 2005, Captain Toulouse attended Officer Candidate School at Fort Benning, Georgia where she was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant. Following Officer Candidate School she attended the Basic Officer Leader Course II at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, the Adjutant General Officer Basic Course at Fort Jackson, South Carolina, and the Army Band Officer Basic Course at the U.S. Army School of Music at Naval Amphibious Base Little Creek, Virginia. Captain Toulouse's first duty assignment was as the Executive Officer and Associate Conductor of the United States Army Training and Doctrine Command Band at Fort Monroe, Virginia.

Captain Toulouse graduated from the Army Band Captain Career Course in February 2009 and was assigned to The U.S. Army Field Band where she currently holds the position of Administration Officer.

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Chief Warrant Officer Gordon K. Kippola enlisted in the Army in 1982 after earning a Bachelor’s Degree in Music Education from Oral Roberts University in Tulsa, Oklahoma. After completing Basic Training at Fort Rucker, Alabama, Mr. Kippola completed Advanced Individual Training at the United States Army Element School of Music in Norfolk, Virginia. Following this, Mr. Kippola was assigned to the 6th Army Band in San Francisco as a trombone player.

Other assignments during Mr. Kippola’s enlisted service include the 2nd Infantry Division Band at Camp Casey, Korea; the 1st US Army Band at Fort Meade, Maryland; the 8th US Army Band in Seoul, Korea; and the 399th Army Band at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri. He also completed a staff assignment at the Armed Forces School of Music.

Mr. Kippola was appointed a Warrant Officer in 1996, with his first assignment at the 10th Mountain Division Band, Fort Drum, New York. He then commanded the 1st Infantry Division Band in Germany and Iraq. Prior to his assignment as an Associate Bandmaster with The U.S. Army Field Band, he commanded the 77th Army Band at Fort Sill, Oklahoma. His awards include the Bronze Star Medal, the Iraq Campaign Medal, the Humanitarian Service Medal, and the Military Outstanding Volunteer Service Medal.

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Command Sergeant Major Loran McClung was appointed Band Sergeant Major of The United States Army Field Band of Washington, DC in August 2009. He is the second to hold the post. Originally from LaVerne, California, he enlisted in the Army in 1983.

Prior to his appointment as Band Sergeant Major, CSM McClung served as the Non-Commissioned Officer in Charge of the Concert Band of The United States Army Field Band. He has also served as lead alto saxophone with the Jazz Ambassadors and on the Field Band arranging staff.

CSM McClung attended the University of Nevada - Las Vegas and California State University - Los Angeles, where he studied saxophone and woodwind doubling with Charles McLean, Fred Howler, David Hawley, and Ralph Garofalo.

Command Sergeant Major McClung's military awards include the Meritorious Service Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster, the Army Commendation Medal with two Oak Leaf Clusters, the Army Achievement Medal with five Oak Leaf Clusters, the Superior Unit Award with Oak Leaf Cluster, the Good Conduct Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, and the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal.

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