Brigadier General John Ferrari
30th White Sands Missile Range Commander
18 August 2011 – 16 August 2012
Brigadier General John G. Ferrari assumed command of White Sands Missile Range on 18 August 2011. Prior to taking command at White Sands, he spent 18 months serving in the NATO Training Mission in Afghanistan as the Deputy Commander for Programs responsible for planning and executing resources in order to generate and sustain the Afghan Army and Police.
He was commissioned from West Point into the United States Cavalry with a Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science. He earned a Master’s in Business Administration from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
Brigadier General Ferrari joined the NTM-A / CSTC-A team from the Joint Staff where he was the Chief of the Current Operations Branch for the J-8. Upon commissioning, BG Ferrari served with the 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment on the East/West German Border and deployed with them to Desert Storm. He was then assigned to the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment at Fort Bliss and deployed to Kuwait. Brigadier General Ferrari also served as a strategic planner for Combined Joint Task Force Seven in Iraq during Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Other assignments include serving as an economics instructor at West Point; as a program integrator in the Army’s Program Analysis and Evaluations Directorate, Headquarters Department of the Army; and serving for a year in the National Security Division of the Office of Management and Budget as part of the Executive Office of the President, in Washington DC. Brigadier General Ferrari spent two years with Army Materiel Command prior to attending the Industrial College of the Armed Forces. He joined the NTM-A / CSTC-A team from the Joint Staff where he was the Chief of the Current Operations Branch for the J8. Previously, he was assigned as a student at the Industrial College for the Armed Forces. Upon commissioning, Brigadier General Ferrari served with the 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment on the East/West German Border and deployed with them to Desert Storm. He was then assigned to the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment at Fort Bliss and deployed to Kuwait.
His decorations and awards include the Defense Superior Service Medal (Oak Leaf Cluster), the Legion of Merit (Oak Leaf Cluster), the Bronze Star, the Defense Meritorious Service Medal, the Meritorious Service Medal (two Oak Leaf Clusters), the NATO Meritorious Service Medal, the Joint Service Commendation Medal (Oak Leaf Cluster), the Army Commendation Medal (four Oak Leaf Cluster), and the Army Achievement Medal (four Oak Leaf Cluster). He also earned the Valorous Unit Award, the Joint Meritorious Unit Award (Oak Leaf Cluster), and the Army Superior Unit Award (Oak Leaf Cluster).