Meet Capt. Humphrey of First Army's 177th Armored Brigade

Photo By Sgt. 1st Class John Healy | Capt. Joshua Humphrey serves with First Army Division East's 177th Armored Brigade and has been in the Army for 18 years  

UNITED STATES

02.09.2021

Story by Staff Sgt. John Healy 

First Army

Capt. Joshua Humphrey is a native of Omaha, Neb., who has been serving in the Army for 18 years, enlisting as an electronic signals intelligence Soldier.

His first duty station was Fort Shafter, Hawaii. Humphrey later moved to Buckley Air Force Base in Denver, Colo., to join the 743th Military Intelligence Battalion. It was there that he went on his first deployment to Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan.

While on this deployment, Humphrey worked on creating target packages for the Joint Task Force.

“It was very gratifying,” Humphrey said. “I could do a target package and if not that night, then the next night I’m watching it get actioned through the feed.”

Humphrey equates Military Intelligence with finding a needle in a haystack.

“It’s almost like going on a scavenger hunt,” he said. “You get the little bit of information and then dig deeper. Figuring out that big puzzle of what you think is going to happen.”

When Humphrey returned from his deployment, he applied to the Army’s Green to Gold Program at the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs, graduating with a degree in business management and a commission as second lieutenant.

Humphrey continued to progress in his military career, completing his company command time at Fort Carson, Colo., before moving to Mississippi to join First Army as an observer coach/trainer.

Humphrey’s previous interactions with the Army Reserve and Army National Guard were all during deployments. His experiences helped establish his respect for what our partners accomplish.

“A lot of people think the Active Duty life is hard,” he said. “For the National Guard and Reserve you’ve got you civilian job, family, and also you’ve got to manage and still have a career on the reserve or guard side. You can get orders at any time to deploy. Here on the Active Duty side that’s expected. For the National Guard and Reserve that’s a much bigger deal."

Humphrey is excited by the prospect of being able to work with our partners on a more personal basis.

“At the Joint Readiness Training Center or the National Training Center, you’re only with those OC/Ts for a couple weeks,” he said. “Here, we start the team-building process a few years out and work with the units all the way up to deployment. You get to see them go from their first training event to their last training event."

Humphrey is married with four children and is expecting a fifth this March. He and his family live in Gulfport, Miss.

"That way on days off or weekends we’re a bit closer to the beach and other things we like to do,” he said.

In his spare time, Humphrey enjoys spending time with his family, travel, sports, and the outdoors.

• Date Taken: 02.09.2021
• Date Posted: 02.10.2021 14:36
• Story ID: 388773
• Location: US