Veteran Profile

NEW YORK–John "Jack" Morrow, son of J.D. and Susan Morrow of Pomeroy, retired from over 20 years of military service at the rank of major last January 31, 2022.

Veteran's Day is a ceremonial day to recognize our fallen, inactive, active and retired veterans, and we do so with grateful reverence. It was Friday, November 11, 2022, that Jack Morrow, a 1995 Pomeroy High School graduate, returned my call to speak with me about his recent retirement from over twenty years of military service. He had just returned from a White House breakfast and ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery where he, along with Vice President Kamala Harris, First Lady Jill Biden and other high government officials paid tribute to our military fallen. President Biden was at a Global Summit in Egypt.

Morrow enlisted in the Army February 17, 1998, then was assigned to A Co., 94th Engineer Battalion in June of that year. He was then deployed to North Macedonia in August where he served until February 1999. His next deployment took him to Albania for a few months from April through July 1999, then he was deployed to Kosovo in July to November that same year.

The following year, Morrow was appointed to West Point in June, 2004, then graduated with a B.S. in German and Russian in May, 2004. He was assigned to B Co. 16th Engineer Battalion (Armored) in Giessen, Germany, as a Combat Engineer Platoon Leader in December of 2004.

Two years later, he was deployed to Tal Afar and Ar Ramadi, Iraq, from January, 2006, to February, 2007, where he led over 240 patrols to detect and destroy roadside bombs. He also conducted explosive building demolitions, destroying seven city blocks of buildings used as attack fire positions by insurgents.

He continued his education at Princeton University from August, 2007, to June, 2009, where he graduated with an MPA in International Relations. Morrow was then assigned to 22nd Brigade, 6th Iraqi Division Military Transition Team as a Combat Advisor in in June 2009. It was there he assisted Iraqi Brigade Executive Officer with logistics and maintenance planning.

Following this assignment, he was deployed to Baghdad, Iraq, from August to October, 2009. He was reassigned to Combined Joint Interagency Task Force 435 as Aide-de-Camp to the Deputy Commanding General in October, 2009. His deployment at that time was to Kabul and Kandahar, Afghanistan, in October, 2009, to November, 2010.

"I assisted Afghan Ministry of Justice in their efforts to create a viable legal system to investigate, prosecute, and incarcerate criminals," Morrow said.

He was assigned as Commander, 693rd Engineer Company (Sapper) in October 2011 where he remained until his deployment to Maiwand District, Kandahar Provide, Afghanistan, in October, 2021. He commanded a company responsible for patrolling to detect and destroy roadside bombs there until April, 2013.

It was in August of 2013 he was assigned as Assistant Professor in the Department of Social Sciences at the United States Military Academy at West Point, where he taught until June of 2017. At that time, he was assigned as Group Operations Officer, Area Support Group at Qatar where he served from June, 2017-18. He was then assigned back to West Point as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Behavioral Sciences and Leadership from June, 2018, until retirement in January 31, 2022.

During his military career Morrow received the Legion of Merit award, two Bronze Stars, and a Purple Heart.

The military has seen some transformation over its life span, and a noticeable change during Morrow's over 20 years of service is how military battle and strategies are implemented and their outcome.

"Over my twenty plus years of service, the one thing that really stands out to me is our military is really good at winning firefights and battles and not very good at winning wars," said Morrow. "Battles are won with tactics, individual soldier fitness and toughness, and firepower. Wars are won with strategy, nerves of steel, and brainpower.

"For at least the last 20 years, our armed forces have won every battle in which they have fought, and that hasn't been enough to win wars," Morrow commented. "The challenge our civilian statesmen, generals, and admirals face is how to translate battlefield success into war-time victory," he said circumspectively.

He noted that this job is a challenge and, as an observer, he can only speculate based on an outward diagnosis, but acknowledges there is no one good answer.

"Please don't take that observation as a statement that I could do any better than those at the top," he remarked. "It's one thing to diagnose the problem; it's another to know how to fix it, and right now I'm not confident anyone has a good answer for the latter, let alone me."

As for many military service personnel, there is always that one instance or assignment that stands out above all others–that one which is a memory spoke of often. Morrow had one such occurrence during his 2012 tour in Afghanistan.

"When I commanded the 693rd Engineer Company in Afghanistan in 2012, we were tasked with clearing a dirt road that was about ten miles long," Morrow said reflecting on his assignment. "It led from a small town to an outpost, and no military vehicles had driven on it in several years. The order came down to close the outpost, which meant getting trucks to the outpost to haul all of the equipment away. I knew it was a big mission, so I led it directly, and I took my entire company with me.

"Six days, several wounded soldiers, and 82 bombs later, we made it to the outpost," he stated. "It was horribly tedious work, driving painfully slow, stopping to probe for bombs buried in the road, often finding them only after they exploded, evacuating wounded soldiers, and dragging burned-out vehicles out of the road to keep pushing forward. One day we only moved forward 100 meters," he said.

He understands that there are what might be considered tougher missions out there, but the common denominator is mental wear and tear. This mission presented just that, exacerbated by less-than-purposeful equipment and casualties.

Accepting this challenge and achieving success was what Morrow considered the making of his company. "Let me be clear, there are far more dangerous missions out there, but it was mentally challenging trying to stay focused for so long and dealing with all of the setbacks along the way," Morrow said. "Because only the blasting caps in the bombs were metallic, we had tremendous difficulty detecting them under the soil. Our equipment wasn't well suited for the task, but we just had to keep pushing forward to accomplish the mission knowing that every hour or so, someone else would trigger an explosion from a bomb buried in the road.

"We did eventually make it to the outpost, and the infantry there gave us a hero's welcome," he said. "Even now, a decade later, my soldiers still talk about that mission. It defined us as a company, and for most of the men, it was the hardest thing they will ever do. I look back and wish I had done a lot of things better, but at the same time I am proud that we accomplished our task. I've never experienced anything like that before or since.

Presently, Morrow is currently employed by Morgan Stanley as Vice President in Talent Development. He resides in New York City with his wife Michelle. They are seeking to adopt through the foster care system. "I was adopted at the age of seven by JD and Susan, and it made a tremendously positive difference in my life, so my wife and I decided to do the same. We are not across the finish line with that yet, but will continue to go through the process until we have one or two children placed with us," Morrow stated.

As for the East Washingtonian, we recognize and extend our gratitude and appreciation to John Morrow for his service to his country and the people within it.

As a side note, Morrow said when he went to the White House for a breakfast meeting on Veteran's Day, he had his November 3, 2022, East Washingtonian with him. I would say it is a historical first for this small home-town newspaper.