SHREVEPORT – U.S. Army Reserve lieutenant colonel Josh Yarbrough served in the reserves for nearly 20 years before he joined the Army War College as a student.
The LSUS alumnus returned to campus Monday to share his story with hundreds at the Collaboratory, emphasizing a “call to service” on this Veterans Day.
While he’s found tremendous value in his experience in the armed forces, something as simple as volunteering in local schools or churches qualifies as service in an effort to better our communities and ultimately our nation.
“Whether it’s through military service or local service like being involved in the fire department or working with local schools and churches – doing little things helps make your community a better place,” Yarbrough said. “Our adversaries are actively stoking tension domestically while challenging our position around the globe … so we need to avoid demonizing each other and work on healing our divides. Let’s think about our shared values, why Americans do what we do and focus on making our communities better places to live.”
The Mansfield native went from playing with toy soldiers and fireworks in his grandparents’ backyard to seeing the world as a commander of various engineering battalions.
He’s spent time in Southeast Asia as a plans officer in the U.S. Army Pacific and deployed twice to the Middle East, serving in Afghanistan, Iraq, Kuwait, Jordan, Qatar and Syria among other locales.
Yarbrough managed construction operations commanding the 854th Engineer Battalion S-3 supporting operations Spartan Shield, Inherent Resolve, and Freedom’s Sentinel.
He also led combat operations supporting Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan while commanding the 704th Engineering Company.
Yarbrough did face major combat once outside of an Afghan village, being involved in an extensive firefight in which the truck he was driving hit a roadside bomb, injuring his leg.
“My birthday was coming up next month, and I had presents from my family in the truck, things like cheesecake, a photo album and red and blue leis,” Yarbrough recalled of the 2013 attack on July 4th. “Everything went everywhere, and I get out of the truck to find that our Afghan counterparts were picking up these leis and having leis ceremonies with the other soldiers.
“It was a really surreal moment in a warzone in which we were going to be shot at in about three minutes. It was really cool, and then you realize you have to get back to work.”
Yarbrough had plenty of non-combat experiences, like drinking Italian coffee in the western Afghan mountains or sleeping outside and seeing a sky unpolluted from nearby light. Only to see a number of scorpions encroaching on his position that pushed him to seek a sleeping spot off the ground.
He visited numerous historical sites in the region like Roman ruins from the Byzantine empire he’d only dreamed about in his LSUS history classes, which turned him into a “history nerd” after he discovered biology wasn’t his strong suit.
While on assignment in Thailand and Australia, Yarbrough had his own “Rocky moment” when the avid runner charged up the steps of the Sydney Opera House and celebrated at the top.
Enlisting in 2004 while he was an LSUS student and working at Best Buy, Yarbrough said his part-time Army reserves experience laid a solid foundation.
“My leadership and communication skills vastly improved after enlisting, and it helped me get promotions in my career and bettered me as a student,” said Yarbrough, who went full-time in the reserves about a decade later. “I spent most of my time in Jordan and Afghanistan when I was deployed, and these are beautiful countries with great cuisine.
“And I lived in a lot different states in different parts of this country, so I’ve been able to experience a lot of places and things.”
As a War College student, Yarbrough is an Army strategist and will assist senior leaders in speech writing and crafting policy statements as they interact with Congress members and other military branches.
He’s assisted in war games and other joint force fighting techniques as America strives to protect its position in the world.
“We live in a multi-polar world in which countries like Russia, China, the Democratic Republic of North Korea and Iran challenge us in every way,” Yarbrough said. “Our dominance is no longer assured … and we’re continually seeking advantage against our rivals and assuring American power both at home and abroad.”
