Thomas D. Croci is an American politician and naval officer from the state of

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

. A Republican, Croci represented the 3rd District of the

New York State Senate The New York State Senate is the upper house of the New York State Legislature; the New York State Assembly is its lower house. Its members are elected to two-year terms; there are no term limits. There are 63 seats in the Senate. Partisan com ...

from 2015 through 2018. He served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Central Asia in the

Trump administration Donald Trump's tenure as the List of presidents of the United States, 45th president of the United States began with Inauguration of Donald Trump, his inauguration on January 20, 2017, and ended on January 20, 2021. Trump, a Republican Party ...

, from February 3, 2020 to January 19, 2021. He was elected to his first political office,

town supervisor The administrative divisions of New York are the various units of government that provide local services in the State of New York. The state is divided into boroughs, counties, cities, townships called "towns", and villages. (The only boro ...

for the Town of Islip, in 2011. Croci was first elected to the State Senate in 2014.

Life and career

Croci graduated from

Connetquot High School Connetquot High School (CHS) is a public high school serving students from the communities of Bohemia, Oakdale and Ronkonkoma, and parts of Sayville and West Sayville, in the 9th-12th grades, located in Bohemia, New York. It is part of the Conn ...

and received a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

from

James Madison University James Madison University (JMU, Madison, or James Madison) is a public research university in Harrisonburg, Virginia. Founded in 1908 as the State Normal and Industrial School for Women at Harrisonburg, the institution was renamed Madison Coll ...

Harrisonburg, Virginia Harrisonburg is an independent city in the Shenandoah Valley region of the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. It is also the county seat of the surrounding Rockingham County, although the two are separate jurisdictions. At the 2 ...

where he earned a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University o ...

degree in Political Science.Yancey Roy and Rick Brand
GOP State Sen. Tom Croci won't seek third term
''Newsday'' (May 2, 2018). He graduated from

New York Law School New York Law School (NYLS) is a private law school in Tribeca, New York City. NYLS has a full-time day program and a part-time evening program. NYLS's faculty includes 54 full-time and 59 adjunct professors. Notable faculty members include Ed ...

in 1997 and then joined the U.S. Navy, where he went to

Officer Candidate School An officer candidate school (OCS) is a military school which trains civilians and enlisted personnel in order for them to gain a commission as officers in the armed forces of a country. How OCS is run differs between countries and services. Typ ...

Pensacola, Florida Pensacola () is the westernmost city in the Florida Panhandle, and the county seat and only incorporated city of Escambia County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 54,312. Pensacola is the principa ...

.Sophia Chang
Tom Croci, Islip Town supervisor, returns from deployment in Afghanistan
''Newsday'' (June 27, 2014). He spent eight years on

active duty Active duty, in contrast to reserve duty, is a full-time occupation as part of a military force. In the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth of Nations, the equivalent term is active service. India The Indian Armed Forces are considered to be ...

and attained the rank of

commander Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countries this naval rank is termed frigate captain ...

in 2013. He served in

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bord ...

and was on the staff of the Homeland Security Council under President George W. Bush and also served on the Barack Obama presidential transition team. Croci thereafter returned to active duty as an intelligence officer in Afghanistan, sixteen months into his first term as

for

Islip, New York Islip ( ) is a town in Suffolk County, New York, United States, on the south shore of Long Island. The population was 335,543 at the 2010 census, making it the fourth most populous city or town in the state. The Town of Islip also contains ...

; he returned to Islip in 2014. Croci was formerly an aide to Republican state Senator

Lee Zeldin Lee Michael Zeldin (born January 30, 1980) is an American attorney, politician, and officer in the United States Army Reserve. A Republican, he has represented New York's 1st congressional district in the United States House of Representative ...

. Croci was elected to New York State Senate for the 3rd district in November 2014, and was elected to a second term. Croci abruptly left the state Senate to rejoin the U.S. Navy in May 2018 without resigning his seat. According to ''Newsday'', Croci's absence threw "a monkey wrench into the day-to-day operations of the State Senate" by depriving Senate Republicans of a governing majority. Croci did not seek re-election in November 2018.Democrats see chance to flip state Senate in November

News 12 Networks The News 12 Networks are a group of regional cable news television channels in the New York metropolitan area that are owned by Altice USA. All channels provide rolling news coverage 24 hours a day, focusing primarily on regions of the metr ...

(October 1, 2018). Croci resides in

Sayville, New York Sayville is a hamlet and census-designated place in Suffolk County, New York, United States. Located on the South Shore of Long Island in the Township of Islip, the population of the CDP was 16,853 at the time of the 2010 census. History The e ...

References

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Croci, Tom Living people People from Islip (town), New York James Madison University alumni New York Law School alumni New York (state) lawyers United States Navy officers Town supervisors in New York (state) Republican Party New York (state) state senators 21st-century American politicians Trump administration personnel United States Department of Defense officials 1972 births