Experiences Around The World As An Army Historian On Active Duty, In The Reserves, And As A Civilian

Andrew Ziebell grew up in the area around Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and Northern Illinois. His father was an insurance underwriter in Chicago, and his mother was a registered nurse who worked night shifts in an Emergency Room and later transitioned to home health care. He grew up with an older sister, and fond memories of his childhood include wandering around Chicago when his dad took them to the city while he worked. Usually, Andrew gravitated to the library, where he focused on military history. He graduated from high school in 1997 and describes himself as a “typical underachiever,” but notes “I tested well.” Even though he enjoyed reading military history, he avoided the recruiters whenever they visited his high school. After graduation, he began his first semester of college, but midway through realized he probably would not pass, and he went to the Army recruiter’s office, where he was his recruiter’s first recruit. He was an easy sell, quickly volunteering for the Infantry. Two weeks later, he told his parents he joined the Army. He reported to OSUT (One Station Unit Training) at Ft. Benning, and after AIT (Advanced Individual Training) a Bradley specific course followed. Having never been exposed to weapons during his childhood, he did not much care for marksmanship, but he enjoyed the field training and felt that the Drill Sergeants wanted to teach fieldcraft to the privates. He describes his “one rebellious act” during Basic. Several privates broke into the room containing their civilian stuff to get “contraband” (most likely tobacco products), and Andrew retrieved a history book from his baggage, which was later discovered during an inspection. His first assignment was C Company, 2/5 Cavalry in the 1st Cavalry Division at Ft. Hood, Texas. He remembers shortly after arriving at the unit, 12 Soldiers failed the urinalysis, and his Platoon Sergeant specifically told him which Soldiers to “stay away from.” The unit was scheduled to deploy to Bosnia following a summer rotation to the Joint Readiness Training Center (JRTC). In August, they packed to deploy overseas. He remembers staging in Taszar, Hungary, and driving to Tuzla. Before crossing the border into Bosnia, they stopped to put on body armor. He describes conducting site security and Weapons Storage Site (WSS) inspections. They worked with elements from the Swedish Battalion, and he found the Bosnians a bit “stand-offish.” Overall, he felt that the deployment exposed him to the world, and he learned what not to do as a leader (especially when his Platoon Leader was fired). His new Platoon Leader was a prior service Lieutenant and Andrew felt that that was inspirational. Around this time, Andrew began considering becoming an Officer himself. He knew about West Point in high school but felt he could not attain the perfection that he thought Cadets exemplified. During an NTC (National Training Center) rotation, he talked to his Platoon Leader about Green to Gold, and then he talked to his Battalion Commander about ROTC, but his Battalion Commander recommended USMAPS. The Commander made some calls, Andrew sent off his SAT scores, and two weeks later he had orders for the United States Military Academy Prep School (USMAPS). He enjoyed his time at USMAPS, describing it as a “10-month ACT / SAT prep course.” Being prior service, he was a little older than some of his classmates and had a baseline of Army experience. He liked how USMAPS got him “back into the academic mindset.” Reporting to the Academy for R-Day, he found it was “not as bad as I thought,” and even though it was “kind of a blur” he felt it was fun and he was eager for more. Even though he was prior service and had Army experience, he did not know what it was like to be a Cadet, and had to learn that. He was a Plebe in his first semester when America was attacked on September 11, 2001. He remembers being in psychology class and an announcement was made that Plebes could watch television on their computers in their room, which he thought was strange. That night, he recalls a “Taps Vigil” being held on the Plain, and a blood drive. As a Cow and Firstie, he served as Company First Sergeant and Commander and took trips to France and England with the History Department. Picking a branch was easy; he selected Infantry again because “that’s what Army people do.” After graduation, he remained at West Point until November 2005, recovering from an ACL tear. At post night, he had selected Ft. Drum, but being in holdover status following graduation resulted in a post switch to Ft. Hood, Texas, where more Lieutenants were needed. In 2006, he was assigned to A Company, 1-66 Armor in the 4th Infantry Division, which had already deployed to Iraq. He was unsure of when he would join them, and in the end, he had 12 hours’ notice before he departed. He started as a targeting officer on a COIST team (Company Intelligence Support Team), but was assigned to a platoon three weeks later after the previous Platoon Leader was fired. Andrew enjoyed his time leading Soldiers, remarking, “I loved being a Platoon Leader on patrol. I had such great guys.” His platoon conducted a lot of presence patrols and searches for weapons and high value targets, “flooding the zone” in their area of operation around Taji. He describes his first fire-fight, where his platoon moved to contact in support of an Iraqi platoon that was ambushed. He returned from Iraq in December 2006. In September 2007, he was assigned to B Company, 1-66 Armor in the 4th Infantry Division as Company Executive Officer. He returned to Iraq for a year beginning in March 2008, and was operating in Rustyamiah, near Sadr City. He recalls a number of Soldiers who were “stop-loss’d” and how that resulted in low morale. As XO, one of his duties was leading the “Heavy QRF” (Quick Reaction Force) to support any TICs (Troops in Contact). After the Maneuver Captains Career Course in 2009, he was stationed in Grafenwoehr, Germany, where he served as the Brigade Assistant S4 (Supply Officer) and Company Commander in the 172nd Separate Infantry Brigade. While assigned as the Assistant S4, the Brigade put their tanks and Bradleys into mothballs because they were not taking them on an upcoming deployment to Afghanistan. In October 2010, he took command of C Company, 1-2 Infantry in the 172nd Brigade and in July 2011, he deployed to Afghanistan, where his company conducted operations from a remote combat outpost (COP Comanche) in RC East. They were separate from the Battalion and close to the Pakistani border. He felt that he was dealing with more crime than insurgency, and his role was to legitimize the Afghan government by interacting with the local leaders and helping the people. At one point, they went to Ghazni and worked with a Polish unit. In July 2012, they returned home. His next assignment, in January 2013, was as a Project Officer in the Army Test and Evaluation Command (ATEC) at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland. In June 2016, the timing was right for Andrew to transition to the Reserve Component. He went to the Reserve recruiter and discovered that a unit needed a Command Historian, and he joined the 200th Military Police Command at Ft. Meade, Maryland, where he was responsible for recording oral histories and collecting primary source material. He describes the make-up of a MHD (Military History Detachment) comprised of an A Team that focuses on the theater level, and a B Team that focuses on the operational level. Simultaneously, he also worked in several civilian jobs including serving as an Executive Assistant at the U.S. Army Center of Military History at Ft. McNair. Having just completed his Master’s thesis on Baltic State Security, he took an ADOS (Active Duty Operational Support Assignment), where he deployed to USAREUR in September 2017 as the Lead Action Officer on “All things Poland (and the three alts).” Returning from overseas, he took a job as a Defense Analyst for the RAND Corporation from February 2019 to February 2022. He then transferred to the 35th MHD and later the 53rd MHD, deploying to Afghanistan and Qatar from September 2019 to June 2020. In March 2022, he became an International Affairs Analyst at the National Guard Bureau Headquarters, and in August 2023, he returned to Aberdeen Proving Ground, where he became an International Programs Specialist at the U.S. Army DEVCOM C5ISR (Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Cyber, Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance). Currently, he is preparing to deploy to the CENTCOM Area of Operations with the 27th MHD A Team. Reflecting on his service on Active Duty, in the Reserves, and as a Civilian, he states, “I’ve done everything I’ve wanted to do,” including leading Soldiers, experiencing challenging times, and seeing cool places. Reflecting on West Point, he notes it is still a “Love – Hate Relationship.”