Mr. Mike Ferguson is the Director of the Joint Exercise Division and the Congressman Owen Pickett Wargaming Center at the NDU Norfolk Branch Campus. He joined NDU in 2003. Mike graduated from Villanova University in 1989 with B.A. in Political Science and minors in History and Naval Science. He earned an M.S. in Operations Research & Systems Analysis from the Naval Postgraduate School in 1999. In 2016, Mike was awarded a Master of Public Administration Degree from Old Dominion University, and is a member of the Pi Alpha Alpha Honor Society. A believer of lifelong learning, Mike continued his academic work at Old Dominion University and completed a Graduate Certificate in Geospatial Information Science in May 2017.
Mike served as a commissioned officer in the U.S. Marine Corps from 1989-2003. During his military career, he participated in Operation Provide Comfort in Northern Iraq and Southeastern Turkey, Operation GTMO, the Haitian relief operation in the Caribbean and Cuba, and Operations Restore & Continue Hope in Somalia. During his assignment at Marine Aviation Weapons and Tactics Squadron One at MCAS Yuma, he organized and was the first Director of the Unmanned Aerial Vehicles Division, tasked with integrating UAVs into Marine tactical aviation operations and establishing command and control procedures. He also served as a Modeling and Simulation Operations Officer at the Joint Warfighting Center, U.S. Joint Forces Command, where he planned and participated in training exercises and operational mission rehearsals for Combatant Command, Coalition and NATO headquarters.
Mike is responsible for all aspects of the curriculum supporting Joint Operational exercises, and the operations of NDU’s Congressman Owen Pickett Wargaming Center.