ANNISTON ARMY DEPOT, Ala. -- The depot's newest member of the command staff, Sgt. Maj. Ronald Ferdinand, arrived at the end of August.
Born in New Orleans, La., Ferdinand wanted to follow in his father's footsteps and join the military.
"My father was in the Air Force and I wanted to jump out of airplanes," he said.
After joining the Army in 1989, Ferdinand went into logistics, working in unit supply until he was promoted to sergeant major in October 2008. At that time, he became a senior logistician.
His duty assignments since becoming sergeant major have all been outside the continental United States.
First, he served as a battalion sergeant major in Hawaii. He then took a brigade to Kuwait, where he served for a year with the Army Materiel Command at Camp Arifjan.
Following that deployment, Ferdinand was named the commandant of the U.S. Army Non-Commissioned Officer Academy in Alaska.
"I'm happy to be back in the continental U.S. and back in the South," he said.
This assignment will be Ferdinand's first time living in Alabama and it was a chosen assignment for him.
Following his time spent in strategic logistics in Kuwait, Ferdinand wanted an assignment which would place him within AMC's enterprise again.
"I wanted to be back in AMC and working at the strategic level," he said.
Anniston Army Depot was his first choice.
Not only will it provide him with the type of work he wants to do - ensuring his fellow war fighters have the equipment they need at the time they need it - ANAD's location will put him in close proximity to family members.
Ferdinand said his extended family is spread throughout the country, but a number of them live in the South, particularly in Atlanta and Tuscaloosa.
He is already enjoying his return to the South, especially the cuisine.
"This is one of the closest places to Louisiana when it comes to food," said Ferdinand.
As a senior NCO, Ferdinand said his job in the military is never about him and he is looking forward to assisting the ANAD workforce.
"This job is not about me. It's about where they need me and where I can make a big impact on the team," he said.
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