BG Ferdinand “Ferd” Irizarry (USA, Retired) serves as NEC-SE’s Principal – Senior Advisor and Director of Geostrategic Development Lines of Effort.
He is an entrepreneur, philanthropist, and retired U.S. Army officer with over 36 years of joint, interagency, and multinational civil-military operations experience.
Since leaving military service, BG Irizarry has focused on the application of emerging technology for the defense industrial base. He is a principal and the senior advisor with the JMH Group – a DC-based business consulting, marketing, and government relations firm dedicated to increasing and accelerating business opportunities for clients and partners. Besides consulting, BG Irizarry is a Senior Mentor for planning and executing brigade theater-level Command Post Exercises. He is also the Chairman of the Patriot Foundation – a non-profit that disperses millions of dollars in scholarships to educate severely wounded members of the armed forces and their dependents.
Before retiring, BG Irizarry was the Deputy Chief of Staff, G-3/5/7 U.S. Army Reserve Command and Chief, Readiness, Office of the Chief of Army Reserve. In this capacity, he was responsible for ensuring the operational readiness and deployment of the 205k-member U.S. Army Reserve and a multibillion-dollar operating budget.
BG Irizarry previously served as the Deputy Commanding General for the United States Army John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School/Special Operations Center of Excellence. In that position, he orchestrated the successful accreditation and recognition of the school as a training Center of Excellence.
His previous assignments include Deputy J9 (Civil-Military Cooperation) for the ISAF Joint Command; executive officer to the Under Secretary of the Army; Commander, 95th Civil Affairs Brigade (Airborne); Chief of Staff/G-3/5/7, United States Army Civil Affairs and Psychological Operations Command (Airborne); the Director of the U.S. Army Special Operations Forces proponency, and Chief, Civil Affairs/Civil-Military Operations training and doctrine development. Additionally, he served tours on contingency operations in Bosnia, Kosovo, and Afghanistan with joint and multinational units.
In addition to the Patriot Foundation, he is a founding member/Treasurer of the Special Warfare Museum Foundation. Additionally, he is a member of the Small Business Association Veteran Owned Business policy sub-committee, Defense Alliance of North Carolina, North Carolina Veterans Business Association, Fayetteville-Cumberland Economic Development Board, and the Military Affairs Council.
Ferd is married to Karen, a Licensed Clinical Social Worker. They have two children and reside in Fayetteville, North Carolina.
