Hometown: Lexington, VA
Branch: U.S. Army 
Unit: Company B, 1st Battalion, 3rd Special Forces Group, Fort Bragg, North Carolina
Military Honors: Bronze Star Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster, Purple Heart, Meritorious Service Medal, Army Commendation Medal
Date of Sacrifice: November 27, 2018 - KIA in Ghazni Province, Afghanistan
Age: 29
Conflict: War in Afghanistan, 2001-2021

“Drew” Ross and his older sister, Sarah, grew up in Lexington, Virginia—in the heart of the Shenandoah Valley. Their father, Stephen, was a former Air Force Captain, an educator and coach at Lexington’s Virginia Military Institute. Their mother, Beth, managed the many challenges of a military family and was employed as a nurse.

At Rockbridge County High School in Lexington, Drew was an athlete who loved soccer. He graduated with the class of 2007 and received a nomination to the United States Military Academy at West Point from Congressman Bob Goddlatte.

Ross’s athleticism was apparent as he scored a perfect 300 on the Army’s Physical Fitness Test. While at the Academy, he majored in management and spent his summers completing Airborne School. He also attended Cadet Troop Leader Training in South Korea.

Graduating with the West Point class of 2011, Ross was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant. He then went to Fort Benning, Georgia, where he graduated from the Armor Basic Officer Leaders Course, the Army Reconnaissance Course, and earned his Army Ranger badge.

Ross served as an Armor Officer with the 6th Squadron, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Infantry Division based at Fort Stewart, Georgia. In support of Operation Enduring Freedom, his unit was sent to Logar, Afghanistan, for a nine-month deployment in 2013.

After returning from Afghanistan, Ross brought his combat experience to West Point’s Camp Buckner, where he helped with the Cadet Leader Development Training program at Camp Buckner.

After serving in the Army for five years, Ross completed the Special Forces Qualification Course at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, in the spring of 2017—earning the right to wear the Green Beret of the Army’s elite Special Forces.

He was promoted to the rank of captain and assigned to Company B, 1st Battalion, 3rd Special Forces Group out of Fort Bragg, as a Detachment Commander.

On February 17, 2018, Ross married Felicia Arndt of Appleton, Wisconsin. The two had dated long distance, seeing each other on weekends. While CPT Ross was at Fort Bragg, the couple made their home in nearby Aberdeen, North Carolina.

Six months later, in August 2018, CPT Ross and his unit were deployed to Afghanistan in support of Operation Freedom’s Sentinel, where he and his fellow soldiers advised and assisted Afghan forces.

On November 27, 2018, Ross was conducting a joint operation with Afghan forces in Ghanzi Province when his vehicle struck an improvised explosive device (IED). CPT Ross was killed, along with SFC Eric Emond (of Brush Prairie, Washington), and SSG Dylan Elchin (Hookstown, Pennsylvania). Days later, SGT Jason McClary (Export, Pennsylvania) died from wounds he received in the explosion.

CPT Andrew Patrick “Drew” Ross was laid to rest with full military honors at Arlington National Cemetery, across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C. (Section 60, Site 11841).

To honor his memory, the Ross family launched the Drew Ross Memorial Foundation, which “creates a pathway of healing and empowerment by bringing together the family, friends and communities of fallen service members.”

Sources
Card photo and story details submitted by Mrs. Sarah Ross Geisen, CPT Ross’s Gold Star Sister, and Mrs. Felicia Torvinen, CPT Ross’s Gold Star Wife
Drew Ross Memorial Foundation
Green Beret Foundation: Andrew P. Ross
Military Times—Honor the Fallen: Capt. Andrew Patrick Ross
VA News, Jan. 20, 2019: Army Veteran Andrew Patrick Ross
The Roanoke Times, Nov. 29, 2018: Roadside bomb claims life of Army officer from Lexington
U.S. Army History Special Operations Command History Office: CPT Andrew P. Ross
Richmond Times-Dispatch, Dec. 9, 2018: ROSS, Andrew Patrick
Burial Site: Find a Grave