AMARILLO, Texas – Andy Marshall is the chief executive officer and president of FirstBank Southwest, and he also has a distinguished military background. Marshall served in both the United States Air Force and the United States Army, where he gained valuable experience that shaped his leadership skills.
Marshall spent six years in the Air Force from 1979 to 1985 and five years in the Army from 1985 to 1990. His time in the military was marked by a deep sense of duty and a commitment to service.
“I used to say if I could take a branch of the service that treated their people like the Air Force and had the cool stuff like the Army, I would still be in today,” said Marshall. “I really enjoyed my time in the Air Force, but I spent a significant amount of that time with the Army and went to all the Army schools, and wanted to get out and join the Army.”
Marshall's journey into the military began during his sophomore year in college. He wasn’t sure about his future, but after talking to an Air Force recruiter, he decided to pursue a career in the service.
“I come from a military family, but it wasn’t that, I don’t know, I was in college, sophomore year in college, really, truly didn’t know where I wanted to go or what I wanted to do, and ended up talking to an Air Force recruiter and what he said sounded good and I came home and told my mother, after she got over being incredulous, she said it would probably be a good thing,” said Marshall.
During his time in the Air Force, Marshall was part of the USAF Security Police, now known as the USAF Security Forces. He was assigned to the 7th Operations Squadron, a unit that was deployed around the world.
“From that, I ended up being connected to the 7th Operations Squadron to a unit that would be deployed all over the world. Basically, we put out fires, if you will, if there was an incident with Air Force personnel or equipment was affected, they sent us,” said Marshall.
After leaving the Air Force, Marshall didn’t stay out for long. Within a few months, he joined the Army, driven by a desire to continue serving.
“I got out and got a cup of coffee. I was out for a couple of months, knew I wanted to go back into the army, and it was pretty clear. I didn’t feel right being out and being a civilian at the time,” said Marshall.
For the next four years, Marshall was stationed in Germany with the 2nd Cavalry Regiment. This was during the Cold War, and the regiment was responsible for guarding the borders between East Germany and Czechoslovakia.
“This was still during the Cold War. This regiment, the 2nd Cavalry Regiment, covered the East Germany/Czechoslovakia borders along with another cavalry regiment. I was a squadron border officer for the last two years there. I had 181 kilometers of the border that we protected. We patrolled it using two different border camps. We would rotate troops, the troops being in the cavalry, what a company is anywhere else, so 150 to 200 people would rotate up every six weeks, and I oversaw all of that. It was towards the later part of the Cold War, so it was pretty stable since World War II. We had incursions coming across, people trying to escape. We experienced some of that kind of stuff; it was pretty much East Germans/Czechoslovakian guards on one side, us on the other side with the Germans in the middle and it was an interesting tour, I think it very important because it was still a hot border, soon after I left, it didn’t become a hot border; they knocked down the Berlin Wall, and then everything was opened up after that,” said Marshall.
The 2nd Cavalry Regiment was soon deployed to Desert Shield and Desert Storm after the Cold War ended, as there was no longer a border to guard.
Marshall credits his military experience with helping him develop strong leadership skills.
“The military has a very structured approach to leadership and how they teach leadership. That structure doesn’t apply everywhere, but elements of it do, so whether you’re leading one person or leading a thousand people, the structure is still there. It gives you a good basis to adapt to lead at any level in an organization, and it truly helps me with this organization,” said Marshall.
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