Local Sgt. Ferraro Recommended for SAMC Board

(Rock Hill, S.C.)- Staff Sergeant Timothy Ferraro of the Rock Hill Recruiting Station was recently honored with a recommendation for the Sergeant Audie Murphy Club (SAMC) this month.

SAMC is an elite organization of Non-Commissioned Officers (NCOs) who demonstrate leadership and possess qualities and abilities that emulate those of decorated U.S. Army War Hero Sgt. Audie Murphy.  The SAMC recognizes those who have contributed to the development of a professional NCO Corps and the Army by concern for the needs, training, development, and welfare of Soldiers and military families.

SSG Ferraro is currently a Future Soldier Leader at the Rock Hill Recruiting Station. He excelled at all the prior boards and will go before the U.S. Army Recruiting Command (USAREC) SAMC Board June 13-15 in Fort Knox, Kentucky.  This is his Army story.

SSG Ferraro

“My name is Timothy Ferraro, and I'm a Soldier.  I am originally from Jacksonville, North Carolina.  As the child of a United States Marine, I have spent my life around the military.  Yet all throughout my childhood and into my early adulthood, I swore to myself I would never join the military. What I did know is that I wanted to have a career in the field of information technology (IT).  However, I discovered this field is difficult to enter without the proper education and experience. So when I was sixteen years old, I began working at a local restaurant.  I achieved the position of kitchen manager-the highest position one can obtain-by the time I was seventeen.  I worked there off and on for the next six years, occasionally leaving to work various other jobs.  At one point, I even worked for a local computer company but went back to the restaurant business because I made more money working in the kitchen.

By the time I was 22 years old, I was working six days a week for 40-50 hours.  I was not receiving benefits of any kind- just my weekly paycheck.  Moreover, I was not getting the important work experience I needed in order to begin a good career in the IT field.  After a friend's referral, I started researching the Army and found that it offered the Military Occupational Specialty (MOS) of 25B (Information Systems Operator - Analyst).  This specialty was the opportunity to finally do exactly what I had always wanted to do.  After talking with my recruiter and taking the proper steps, I enlisted into the Army as a Private First Class (E-3) in February 2005 so I could get the valuable training and work experience I needed to get an IT job in the civilian world.

I attended Basic Combat Training at Fort Benning, Georgia, where I received the training I needed to make the transition from civilian to Soldier.  I proceeded to my Advanced Individual Training (AIT) at Fort Gordon, Georgia.  During AIT, I learned the necessary set of skills to perform my job as a 25B in the Army.  I was instructed on some of the most new and advanced systems that were available in the IT world at that time.  It was during my time in AIT that I came to fully recognize why I had joined the Army in the first place. After I successfully graduated AIT, I was reported to my first duty station:  the 201^st Signal Company at Yongsan Army Base in Seoul, South Korea.  I was a 23-year-old man with less than a year in the Army, and I was already traveling overseas.  My time in Korea was amazing.  While I was on duty, I was given the opportunity not only to improve my technical skills but also to learn the leadership skills I would need as I advanced in the Army.  While I was off-duty, I enjoyed the numerous sights and activities Korea had to offer and learned about the culture from members of the Korean Augmentation To the United States Army (KATUSA) that served with us.  I only spent a year there before I went sent back to Fort Gordon for a permanent change of duty station (PCS).  I was assigned to Charlie Company, 63rd Expeditionary Signal Battalion.

Shortly after I arrived stateside, I deployed to Iraq for 15 months in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) 07-09.  While deployed, I was in charge of a 4-man team responsible for providing all of the communications for a Command Out Post (COP).  During my time overseas and at home, I continued to hone my skills as a 25B.  I was sent to multiple schools to further both my technical and tactical skills.

These schools range from Basic Tactical IT Networking, Battalion Command Post Node, and Tactical Message System to Modern Army Combatives Level I, Combat Life Saver Course, Warrior Leader Course, Advanced Leader Course, and the Army Recruiting Course. 

I am sure that if I had not joined the Army, I would still be working the same job, doing the same things I had done before.  Instead, as a result of hard work and consistent dedication to the Army Values, the Soldier's Creed, and the NCO Creed, I have earned the rank of Staff Sergeant (E-6) in just less than five years.  I have been to several different countries, attended numerous schools, and received many awards for my accomplishments since my military career began.  The Army has given me the opportunity to experience things I never dreamed I would get the chance to experience.

I am completely humbled and honored by the fact I was selected by my leadership to have the prestigious honor of competing for a chance to be inducted into the Sergeant Audie Murphy Club (SAMC).  The main reason I am interested in trying to get inducted into the SAMC is that I want to set the example for my Soldiers-past, present, and future.  I want to be the Non-Commissioned Officer that all Soldiers look up to.  I want my Soldiers to say, "I want to become the type of leader SSG Ferraro is when I become a NCO."  I love serving in the United States Army, and I want to instill that same passion and pride in my Soldiers.  Motivating Soldiers should be one of our highest priorities because they are the future of the Army.”

SSG Timothy Ferraro, Rock Hill Recruiting Station

Chloe Rodgers, Columbia Recruiting Battalion