Interview with MAJ Mark Holzer
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UNCLASSIFIED A project of the Combat Studies Institute, the Operational Leadership Experiences interview collection archives firsthand, multi-service accounts from military personnel who planned, participated in and supported operations in the Global War on Terrorism. Interview with MAJ Andrew Ferguson Combat Studies Institute Fort Leavenworth, Kansas UNCLASSIFIED Abstract In this interview, MAJ Andrew Ferguson, US Army, Signal, discusses his deployment to Iraq as a battle captain in 2004 in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF). MAJ Ferguson discusses a typical day, his interaction with the Iraqi's along with some difficult challenges he faced during deployment. MAJ Ferguson reminisces about a couple of specific memories he has from his deployment and closes his interview by stating, "the biggest lesson I've ever learned is that you have to be on the ground to see what's going on. You have to talk to the Soldiers. You have to find out what the units need. You have to proactively seek [out] information on the battlefield. That is probably the biggest lesson I've learned; battlefield circulation". UNCLASSIFIED Interview with MAJ Andrew Ferguson 13 July 2010 AS: My name is Angie Slattery (AS) and I'm with the Operational Leadership Experiences Project at the Combat Studies Institute, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. I'm interviewing MAJ Andrew Ferguson (AF) on his experiences during Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF). Today's date is 13 July 2010 and this is an unclassified interview. Before we begin, if you feel at any time that we're entering classified territory, please couch your response in terms that avoid revealing any classified information, and if classification requirements prevent you from responding, simply say that you're not able to answer. Before we talk about your deployment experience, I'd like to capture a little bit of your background in the Army. If you could expand on that for me, please? AF: Yes. I was a 1995 graduate of Abilene Christian University; ROTC. I went to the Infantry Officer Basic Course (IOBC) in Fort Benning, Georgia and was then assigned to Fort Bragg, North Carolina as a platoon leader in 3-325th, 82nd Airborne Division. I went to the Signal officer transition course where I became a Signal officer. I was then with the 51st Signal Battalion on their deployment to El Salvador and the 46th Corps Support Group (CSG) as their CSG communications officer (S6). I was finally assigned as the 35th Signal Brigade network operations officer at Fort Bragg. Following that I went to the Signal officer advance course with a follow-on assignment to Camp Casey, Korea and the 2-9 Infantry Regiment in 2nd Infantry Division (ID). After that I went to Fort Hood, Texas where I was a Signal officer for 2-82nd Field Artillery (FA) and then I commanded Delta Company, 13th Signal Battalion in the 1st Cavalry Division (CAV) at Fort Hood. After command I was moved to the division communications section (G6) in the 1st CAV where I deployed for my first rotation to OIF II. Following that I went to Georgetown University and then returned to Fort Hood and the 1st CAV G6 where I served as the communications and network operations officer during OIF 06-08. I returned to Fort Hood and remained in the 1st CAV G6 and assumed the role as deputy G6 when we deployed to OIF 09. Following that I came here to intermediate level education (ILE) at Fort Leavenworth. AS: What inspired you to join the Army? AF: I don't know if it was so much inspiration as it was fortune. I filled out some ROTC applications, the Army accepted it, and I just kind of went with the flow. I never had any real intentions of staying with the Army but after four years I liked it and kept doing it. AS: With all the many branches within the army, what made you decide to specialize in Signal? AF: In college I realized that technology is advancing so I wanted to do something that, quite honestly, gave me marketable skills in the real world. That was probably my primary focus as to why I chose Signal Corps. AS: How many deployments in support of the Global War on Terror (GWOT) have you had? AF: I've been on three; OIF II, OIF 06-08, and OIF 09. Operational Leadership Experiences Project, Combat Studies Institute, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas 3 UNCLASSIFIED AS: Can you briefly describe your professional position and your responsibilities for each deployment? AF: In OIF II I was in the 1st CAV G6 as the division radio officer. I was mainly focused on combat radios such as airborne signal intelligence payloads (ASIPS), ANPC 5, single channel tactical satellite (TACSAT), and enhanced position location and reporting system (EPLRS), and I was also the primary communications person for the division tactical command post (TAC). For OIF 06-08 I was the communications officer who had responsibility for all combat net radio, all cellular telephone operations, and all video teleconference (VTC). In the middle of that rotation I moved to become the network operations officer where I was in charge with the tactical data network which provided all data and phone service throughout the Multi-National Division-Baghdad (MND-B) area of responsibility (AOR). I had approximately 60 or so different nodes throughout MND-B to include joint service station (JSS) and combat outposts (COPs) that we were continuing to put out during the surge. For OIF 09 as the deputy G6 I was second in charge for all communication related issues for MND-B and focused on staff synchronization between the G6 staff and the brigade combat teams (BCTs), the division staff, and the corps G6. AS: For the purpose of today's interview we're going to talk about your first deployment which was to OIF II from February 2004 until February 2005, correct? AF: That is correct. AS: When did you first find out that you would be deploying to the Middle East on that first deployment? AF: It was kind of strange. Originally the 1st CAV was supposed to go to OIF I. We were in the process of getting ready to get on the boats when we were called down. We knew about six months before February that we were going to go replace 1st Armor Division (AD). We had a mission rehearsal exercise (MRX) in the winter between December and January to prepare. We had ample time to prepare. AS: Do you remember your immediate thoughts when you found out you were going to be deployed? AF: I was actually excited. This is kind of what we sign up to do. This is why we serve the Army and do what we do. The initial response was actually excitement. AS: What was your family's reaction? AF: Not so much excitement. Obviously they realize that it would be a year away from me. At that time a lot of people were scared; there was a lot of stuff on the news about casualties so there was a lot of fear in the family. They were not happy. AS: Did you do some pre-deployment training for this deployment? AF: We did plenty of pre-deployment training. We had MRXs; there were National Training Center (NTC) rotations; there were command post exercises (CPXs). There was your standard Operational Leadership Experiences Project, Combat Studies Institute, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas 4 UNCLASSIFIED individual training like rifle ranges. There was a whole litany of pre-deployment training. I definitely felt well trained going in. AS: What were some of the things about the training that you found most beneficial? AF: The most beneficial piece of the training was that we were incorporating a lot of new technologies. The 1st CAV was the first time to field the command post of the future (CPOF). We had trained with it; there were a lot of other technologies we were using as well. The fact that we were able to train with those systems prior to really helped us out. Now the whole theater has CPOF across it. I think that was the most beneficial part of the training -- getting the chance to train on CPOF prior to deploying. AS: Were there any parts of your pre-deployment training that weren't very helpful? AF: I think the biggest piece of our pre-deployment training -- which I think is a carryover from the old Desert Shield/Desert Storm days -- was all the focus on the nuclear, biological, and chemical (NBC) training. The NBC threat was not as great so I think the NBC training was kind of wasteful. AS: Did you have any contact with your counterparts prior to deploying? AF: Personally, no, but we did send pre-deployment teams over to do recons, take pictures, and scout the area. We had situational awareness of the area of operations (AO) we were going into. Our deputy and t he G6 had both been over there. They knew what was going on and they could relay that to us. AS: Before you arrived did you have a clear picture of what your unit would be doing before you got there? AF: Yes, we knew. The very first thing we had to do was get the division command post (CP) set up. At the time there was no building so we were basically on the side of a hill setting up tents and trying to provide comms for the division staff members as well as making sure we had connectivity with all of the subordinate brigades. That was our primary focus; just making sure we filled all the comms requirements.