Feeney, Mike

Bobby Ciarletta

1969-02

Teacher

Major

2003-11

2009-04

2005-Spring

2010-02

Bronze Award

Mike Feeney joined the reserves while in college at Oneonta, NY. One summer, he traveled to Fort Leonard, MO for his basic combat training (BCT). For his interview with Mahwah Military Memories, Feeney described BCT as a challenge; for example, one sergeant yelled “Like the razor I am cold and sharp, I can cut and make you bleed.” Feeney joined the Second Platoon, C “Charlie” Company of the 35th Combat Engineer Battalion. He left BCT early August, 1988.

In fall 1988, during college, Feeney reported to his reserve unit on weekends; it was a Company of the 464th Combat Engineer Battalion, in Binghamton, NY. He was thrilled when he qualified as an “expert” with a M-16 A1 rifle, at Seneca Depot in upstate NY. When he graduated college, he returned to Fort Leonard Wood for AIT (Advanced Initial Training), with the B Company of the 32nd Engineer Brigade, which he found, “less stressful and more adventurous.”

Feeney returned home in July 1989. He lived in Rockland County, NY, and became a landscaper, but also joined the New York National Guard. Next, he attended OCS (Officer Candidate School) at Camp Smith, Peekskill, NY. Despite being only 22 years old and a Private First Class among more experienced men, he completed the program successfully.

In June 1991, Feeney became Second Lieutenant of the NY National Guard. Then, he was put on IRR (individual ready separation), as the size of the military was reduced. In late winter 1993, he was an officer for a reserve at Caven Point in Jersey City, NJ. Then, he attended QMOBC (Quartermaster Officer Basic Course) in Fort Lee, VA, from April to August of 1993, and lived well. He came home and accepted a teaching job in Mahwah that August. He also switched reserve units, to Edison, NJ, and then Fort Totten, Queens, NY, and was promoted to Captain. A friend then helped him find a position as Assistant Operations Officer for a battalion at the new Fort Wadsworth, Staten Island, NY. At the same time, he taught eighth grade, tutored, and coached high school track. Though, the events on September 11, 2001 made his job in the reserves busier.

As conflict stirred in the middle east in November 2003, Feeney was chosen to command the 976th Transportation Detachment; he led 15 of his soldiers to Iraq, for supply convoys. He took an indefinite leave of absence at Ramapo Ridge Middle School in Mahwah, where he taught sixth grade social studies. He left the Mcguire Air Force Base in February 2004, and arrived at Camp Virginia, in the Kuwaiti desert. They used several HMMWV to transport supplies on trips to Baghdad. This was a relatively simple task, until the Sadr Uprising in April, 2004. The insurgency had grown, and life became dangerous, since overpasses were destroyed and IEDs (Improvised Explosives) were also being used on the roads.

He came home from this tour in spring 2005. He taught again, and was promoted to Major, as a S1 officer for Fort Wadsworth, and was still assisting subordinate detachments. He also received a Bronze Star for his leadership in Operation Iraqi Freedom. While he was in Iraq, his Ramapo Ridge students sent him many letters. Feeney had organized an effort for his school community to send classroom supplies to the Iraqi children; for “Children Helping Children”, they gathered more than 400 shoeboxes of supplies.

Later on, Feeney’s trajectory changed. He re-assigned with Fort Totten and attended a MFHQC (Military Field Historian Qualification Course) in Fort MacPherson, GA, in April 2007. At the 78th TSB Headquarters, along with SGT McCabe, he did work documenting, taking photographs, and interviewing personnel in training activities, before heading off to Iraq again in April 2009. They went to Camp Basra on a mission to record history. He also saw ancient places, like the ruins of Babylon, the Ziggurat of Ur, and Alexander’s amphitheater. He encountered interesting people, such as British coalition soldiers, the last Romanian unit to serve in Iraq, as well as SGT Brenda Bushera, a musician and vocalist, the New England cheerleaders, and Florida Marlins players.

Feeney finally returned home to his family in northern New Jersey, in a February 2010 snowstorm! He retired from the US Army Reserves on August 4, 2011. Throughout his years in the military, he found it was always difficult to re-adjust to civilian life, always expecting to be sent overseas again. He said, “My years in the military had taught me to expect the unexpected.”

Now, he is a member of American Legion Post 53, VFW Post 850, and Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA).

Mike Feeney, in Lauren Paolillo, ed. Mahwah Military Memories (2017).

Lani Buess, School Supports Teacher in Iraq, Suburban News North, p. 3, 12, January 19, 2005.

Raiders 9U Squad Wins Title, Photo, The Ridgewood News, p. 13, August 11, 2017.