“The battle was called the Battle of Jalibah Airfield, after an airfield in Iraq that had Iraqi Russian-made jets there, and that was our mission, and it was our job, to take that airfield, and in the process of doing that, a mortar round went off in front of my vehicle and hit me in the arm. So we had to, you know, we had, I had to finish the job first. I was wounded, but we were, you know, it was in the middle of combat, so we had to finish the job first.”

Many know Mr. Ford as a math teacher and a loyal supporter of SCH athletics. Many people don’t know he is a West Point graduate and a decorated Army veteran. 

Mr Ford has been connected to the military since his birth. His father, Dr. John Ford also attended West Point. “What primarily inspired me to go off to West Point was the fact that my father had gone there, and I had been there once as a kid, and it was just the the awe of the place, just the reputation was just so when you’re, you know, seventeen-years–old, you’re looking at schools, and you hear of the reputation of a place like West Point, it was just, yeah, let’s do that,” said Ford.

Mr. Ford’s mother, Mary Ford, said,   “JA’s Dad is a man of integrity and intelligence. He is also industrious. I think those qualities were supported and enhanced while at West Point. It is possible that JA saw those qualities as ones to develop there. Also, West Point is a very math-oriented school — an ability both JA and his Dad share.  Plus it is just one darned good school!”

During Ford’s time at West Point, he said there was an “unwritten philosophy that they would purposely give you too much to do, and you would have to just figure it out. A typical undergraduate degree will be anywhere from 110 to 120 credit hours over four years. My academic transcript from West Point has 165 credit hours on it. West Point taught me how important it is to establish routines so you can put stuff on autopilot and not have to think about it like, what do you do the same each and every day?”

After his graduation at West Point, Ford was deployed as an officer in Operation Desert Storm. In Desert Storm, Mr. Ford played the role of a fire support officer. “That is an artillery position, and the job is to be with the military units up front, either infantry or armor and when they’re attacking something, if they need artillery support, it’s my job to identify targets and call in the targets.”

While deployed, Mr. Ford sustained an injury while in battle at Jalibah Airfield. His mother recalled the moment she found out about his injury. “When we returned home, the phone was ringing just as we walked in the door. They called to say JA had been wounded, but that it was not life-threatening. What did that mean? She said that was all the information she was allowed to give. So we called our other son who was in the Air Force in Nebraska at that time to see if he could get more info. He called the field hospital, but they wouldn’t tell him anything. So JA’s Dad told him to call and ask to talk directly to JA. He did, and they connected him! They talked and we learned the nature of the injury and though very concerned, were relieved it was not worse.”

Mr. Ford received a Purple Heart for the injury he sustained in Operation Desert Storm. The Purple Heart is awarded to service members of the military who have been wounded or killed in war. Mr. Ford was also awarded the Bronze Star Medal for continuing the mission while wounded.

Ford served three years in the army and then pursued “operations management, specifically in car rental.” He was “running locations, various locations around the country. I did that for about eight years.”

Then, he said, “I needed to find something else that would interest me. And my main motivation at that point in my life was the fact that both my parents are educators. And I said, Well, maybe it’s in my blood.”

His mother “did not predict JA would become a math teacher, but looking back can see qualities that might have led to this career path.  His creative side, combined with problem-solving, works well for assessing needs and developing lesson plans and approaches.”