Biography

Tracy Ferro was born on October 15, 1962, in New City, New York to Ralph and June Ferro. In 1980, he graduated from Clarkstown Senior High School South, located in West Nyack 18 miles north of New York, and joined the United States Air Force at the age of 17.

After completing basic training and bypassing technical school, Mr. Ferro was assigned to the 90th Strategic Missile Wing, F.E. Warren Air Force Base, Wyoming. Initially assigned to the General Purpose Vehicle Maintenance Shop, he was later selected to be on the Mobile Maintenance Team due to his mechanical skills and ability to think outside the box and with minimal supervision while he was still junior in rank.

In 1982, Mr. Ferro received orders to Ramstein Air Base, Germany, where once again he was put in the Mobile Maintenance position and as supervisor of the Minor Maintenance Shop. He took on a part-time job teaching Vehicle Maintenance for City Colleges of Chicago and worked his way up to Staff Sergeant.

In 1986, he was ordered to Chanute Airforce Base, Illinois to become an instructor for the 3340th Technical Training Group. Having never gone through any type of technical training in the Air Force, Mr. Ferro brought a new perspective to the program and was one of only two instructors to be fully qualified to teach the entire basic course, every advanced course, and both Mobile Training Team courses. During his last year and a half he performed technical training in the field at more than 25 different air bases throughout the world.

Mr. Ferro longed to return to Germany and in 1990 was able to do so, having been assigned to the 606th Tactical Control Squadron and later transitioning to an Air Control Squadron. He started out as a Vehicle Mechanic at Basdahl Complex in northern Germany, living on Karl Schurz Kaserne in Bremerhaven. In 1992, he moved with the unit to Bitburg Air Base, Germany, which was soon to close as a result of drawdowns. In 1994, the unit was once again assigned to a new base, Spangdahlem Air Base, 20 miles away. During his tenure at the 606th he was promoted twice and went from being a Vehicle Mechanic to taking charge of the Combat Readiness Branch, which included Vehicle Maintenance and Operations, Security and Armory, Disaster Preparedness, Mobility, and the Independent Duty Medical Technicians. He was responsible for setting up unit level and individual deployments throughout the European Theater and deployed all or part of the unit to a northern location as far north as Tromso, Norway, and as far south as Lecce, Italy, Zaragoza, Spain, and Poznan, Poland. In his capacity as Combat Readiness Superintendent, he was responsible for more than $350 million in equipment at different times.

In 2000, Mr. Ferro retired from the Air Force and moved to Biloxi, Mississippi, where he married Kathy and took on being a father to Matthew. He worked as a mechanic in Biloxi for ten years until his vision became so bad that he could no longer fix vehicles safely and drive, transitioning into a life without sight.

Mr. Ferro first attended the Gulf Coast Veterans Health Care System (GCVHCS) Blind Rehabilitation Center (BRC) in December 2015 and has returned on an inpatient basis two additional times. He enjoyed the program so much that he decided to volunteer in any capacity possible. As a BVA member in Mississippi, he was contacted by the Louisiana Regional Group with a proposal to merge the two groups. After working with the Louisiana leadership for a year, he was asked to run for president of the combined regional groups in 2019. He won that election and was re-elected in 2020 and 2021. He was also selected as the BVA representative for the GCVHCS BRC and National Representative for VA Volunteer Services, now known as the Center for Development and Civic Engagement. At the same time, he worked toward his Veteran Service Officer certification.

Mr. Ferro has written several articles for the BVA Bulletin and has sat on numerous committees. He believes firmly in helping blinded veterans, regardless of where they live, and enjoys helping veterans who are not blind but who need assistance. He enjoys woodworking, traveling, teaching, and spending as much time as possible with the “love of his life”; his “beautiful bride,” Kathy!