FORT DRUM, N.Y. -- A Fort Drum man who has devoted almost three decades of his life to federal service is preparing for the next big change in his life -- retirement. Having served for more than 29 years in a wide variety of roles, Greg Ferguson says he is ready to move on and see what other challenges life may have in store for him.
Ferguson, a self-proclaimed "Army brat," moved to the North Country in 1967 when his father negotiated a deal with his branch.
"My father agreed with his branch that if they could get him settled somewhere, he would go back and forth to Vietnam," Ferguson recalled. "He ended up going to Vietnam several times -- I think three or four different times."
The stability that this arrangement provided was very important to Ferguson's father. He, like his Family, grew to love the area, and upon retiring from the Army, he took a position as the civilian chief of operations for the Directorate of Logistics at Fort Drum.
When Ferguson finished high school, he was not sure what he wanted to do with his life. Certain that college was not something he was ready to pursue at the time, he worked a variety of jobs before deciding that he wanted to become a police officer.
"I thought 'OK, I'll go into the Army and get some experience,'" he said. "So I joined the Army in September 1976."
Ferguson became a military policeman and spent the majority of his time in service working as a military police investigator at Fort Sill, Okla., and in Kaiserslautern, Germany. In 1983, he was ready for a change.
"I got out of the military and came back here, because this was where my Family lived," Ferguson said. "I worked for Burns International Security Services for a couple of years before getting moved down to New York City."
This new placement was not one Ferguson enjoyed. He disliked the city, so when a job as chief of the Clayton Police Department opened up, he applied.
"I got the job, and then just before coming back up here in March of '85, I was told they had changed their minds," he said. "The board decided to go with the senior patrolman who was working for the department."
At that time, Fort Drum was in the process of adding to its civilian ranks. Ferguson applied for a position as a crime prevention officer and began working on Fort Drum in May 1985.
"Although I was hired as a crime prevention officer, they were building the new Provost Marshal's Office at the time," he said. "I ended up working directly with the provost marshal to set up this new office."
By August 1987, Ferguson had been promoted to administrative assistant for the chief of police at the Provost Marshal's Office. Just a year later, he was detailed as deputy provost marshal.
"Prior to me, the deputy provost marshal was a military position," he explained. "Col. Joe Tyo was my boss, and he realized that we needed continuity. It was a great opportunity for me, because I was there from the get-go. It was easier to build the organization, having been there from the beginning."
Little did Ferguson know this would not be the last time that he would be asked to build an entirely new office from the ground up.
"In 1998, they came up with the idea of creating the Directorate of Emergency Services," Ferguson said. "They merged law enforcement, physical security and the fire department together."
Ferguson said it made sense to combine these separate entities into one cohesive team, since they already depended so greatly upon one another. He was hired as director of emergency services.
"I got to help build the directorate and plan out how these departments would all work to-
gether," he said.
In his role as director of emergency services, Ferguson worked directly under the supervision of Judy Gentner, then deputy to the garrison commander.
"At first I worked for the lieutenant colonel in charge of the military police," Ferguson said. "She (Gentner) was the one who decided that as director of emergency services, it didn't work for me to be under the battalion commander anymore. So, she was really responsible for pulling me into the garrison as a director."
"Judy was probably the strongest mentor I ever had," he said.
After the events of Sept. 11, 2001, it quickly became apparent that the Army would send Soldiers into Afghanistan. Ferguson volunteered to deploy and assist in setting up security measures and protocols.
"We were an advance group that went into Bagram to start setting up so that 10th Mountain Division could move in," he said. "Tenth Mountain Division was the first to move into Bagram, and I was proud to be a part of that."
Ferguson said it was important to him to be able to serve his country and to ensure that each forward operating base was as safe as possible before troops began moving into Afghanistan.
"My main interest was in making sure that the Soldiers over there were safe and secure -- that we had provided the best possible environment for them," he said. "We had all the safety and force protection measures in place so that they could do their jobs without having to worry about those things."
For his efforts, Ferguson was awarded a Bronze Star.
Shortly after returning from deployment, Ferguson began dating Carolyn Olin.
"She was the commanding general's executive assistant," he recalled. "I had known who she was for a while, but didn't really know her. I finally asked her out, and she's been with me ever since April of 2002; we got married the following April."
In November 2005, Ferguson won the Stalwart Award for the Northeast Region. This coveted award is given to Soldiers and Civilians who stand out as leaders and exemplify the spirit of the Installation Management Agency, now the Installation Management Command.
"The Stalwart Award gave me some personal recognition, but in my mind, it was all through the contributions of the people who performed the missions of each of the functions I was assigned to," he said. "It's easy to be recognized when you have a great team behind you."
It was around this time that Gentner approached Ferguson and asked if he would be interested in helping her to build another new department.
"Judy asked me if I would be interested in becoming her director of human resources," he said. "This was another new directorate that did not exist at the time. I thought it was time to move onto new challenges, so I took that position and was able to build the DHR up."
In 2006, both Carolyn and Greg Ferguson deployed to Afghanistan -- she to set up for a division deployment and he to look at force protection measures.
"I didn't see Carolyn very often, because I was busy visiting all the different FOBs so I could check their security, determine what kind of defenses they had, determine the force protection level of each place, look at their ammunition supply point -- all of those things," he said.
Despite the inherent danger in being deployed to a war zone, Ferguson said he was not overly worried about his wife's safety while she was in Afghanistan.
"I had a pretty good idea of what security was like -- especially in Bagram -- since I had been there," he said. "I knew it was relatively safe, and I felt comfortable with her being there. There's always a risk, but in life there always will be. Deploying was part of contributing to the team, and we both felt strongly about that."
After working in DHR for six years, Ferguson once again began to long for new challenges.
"I was speaking with Jim Jacaruso (director of plans, training, mobilization and security) and he asked if I wanted to swap jobs," Ferguson said. "We both wanted new challenges, so we requested the swap, and it went through in January of 2011."
In November 2012, Ferguson decided to retire from DPTMS. After making his intentions known, he was approached by the new deputy to the garrison commander, Mike McKinnon.
"Mike asked me if I really wanted to retire," Ferguson said. "He asked if I would consider coming back to DES instead, and I accepted."
"Greg is an amazing public servant," McKinnon said. "He has served with distinction in multiple assignments within DES and also as the director of DHR and DPTMS. Greg is among the most highly decorated Civilians on Fort Drum."
Ferguson said he felt that returning to DES was an opportunity to come full circle, and he accepted the offer. Since returning, he said he has had the opportunity to watch several individuals and teams grow and receive recognition for the outstanding work they have done.
"When I see them being recognized, that is when I'm proudest," he said. "It's not about the directors -- it's about the staff we have. I've always told people -- if you want to succeed, find the best people you can and surround yourself with them. If I've been successful, it's only because I've always had great people working with me -- not for me, but with me."
Although Ferguson will retire from DES on Friday, he said he would have been proud to retire from any one of the directorates he has worked in.
"It's the people I'll miss," he said. "I really think this workforce is one of the best in Installation Management Command. Over the last 30 years, we've had a lot of challenges on Fort Drum. We continue to face challenges, and yet our workforce keeps moving forward. It's the 'can-do' attitude here that makes Fort Drum so great."
Ferguson said he looks forward to having more time to spend with his three children and four grandchildren.
He said he may return to writing -- something he used to enjoy but put on hold due to the demands of his busy schedule working as a director.
Unlike many retirees, Ferguson said he is not looking forward to retiring -- he's simply ready to see what this new phase of his life has in store.
"I'm not counting down the days, and I'm not excited about leaving," he said. "I've done everything I set out to do, and I don't feel like I'm leaving anything unfinished.
"I'm just content and ready to see what's next for me and my Family."
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