Fra Noi Embrace Your Inner Italian
As a Geospatial Engineer for the Army National Guard, Zachary DeRose creates maps that help U.S. and allied troops plan their military operations.
The son of Edward and Cristine Churchill DeRose, Zachary DeRose was born in Worth, Illinois. He has an older half-brother and a younger sister. When DeRose was 3 years old, the family moved to Plainfield, where he grew up. DeRose’s paternal grandfather emigrated from Sicily.
Most holidays were celebrated at DeRose’s paternal grandparents’ home in Oak Lawn because his maternal grandparents lived in downstate Illinois. “We always had big family feasts, 20 to 30 of us at the table,” DeRose says. “My grandma used to make cannoli a lot.” Though his mother didn’t prepare Italian dishes, “she made good food all the time,” DeRose says.
DeRose attended Meadow View Elementary School and continued to Aux Sable Middle School. During his years at middle school, DeRose took a personality/aptitude test and the results indicated a possible suitability as a Combat Engineer in the National Guard. “I thought it was funny and showed my buddy,” says DeRose.
He began thinking about his future while a student at Plainfield South High School and, remembering that test, wondered about the National Guard. “I don’t know if it was one of those subconscious things,” he says. His buddy was also interested in the National Guard and while looking for more information, learned of its college-tuition assistance program. He signed up and eagerly told DeRose, and the pair talked about all that the National Guard had to offer. Much to the dismay of his parents, DeRose joined the Army National Guard during his senior year, in February 2019. “They were very emotional,” says DeRose, “very much against it.”
His mother told him, “Oh, no, don’t do it, talk to your grandpa,” DeRose says. His maternal grandfather had served in the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War. The jeep he was driving took a rocket hit and flipped over. “My grandpa was the only survivor,” says DeRose. “I called my grandpa and he said, ‘Oh, yeah, you should do it, 100%.’”
DeRose took the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB) and scored well. “I could do pretty much anything for a job,” he says. His parents were against a Combat Engineer’s duty because that involved handling explosives. “So they convinced me to do something else,” DeRose says. He chose to become a 12 Yankee (12-year) Geospatial Engineer. “I put them through a lot of stress and thought I’d just kind of switch it off,” DeRose says. “That’s when I chose a little bit of a safer job.”
He graduated high school in May 2019 and drilled at the Marseilles Training Center before leaving for basic training at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, in June. DeRose remembers watching a Stanley Cup hockey playoff game in St. Louis while waiting for transportation to the reception area. The St. Louis Blues won the Cup. “It was pretty legendary because hockey is my favorite sport,” he says.
DeRose was away from home for the first time and initially missed his family. “The isolation is a little tough sometimes,” he says. “For the most part, when you’re at basic training you’re with a lot of people who are going through the same thing, so you gotta get your own family away from home.”
He completed basic and moved on to advanced training, also at Fort Leonard Wood. DeRose finished the training exercises in January 2020 and began college classes at Illinois State University.
While a full-time college student, DeRose continued to train one weekend a month with the 108th Sustainment Brigade out of the Chicago Armory in Humboldt Park. He also trained a couple of weeks during the summer and again in October. In August 2023, he attended air assault school. “I rappelled out of helicopters and cargo-hooked loads for the helicopter to pick up,” he says.
DeRose graduated with a bachelor’s degree in computer science in December 2023 and one month later deployed to the Middle East. During the October training session, DeRose’s brigade was attached to the 34th Infantry Division out of Minnesota and subsequently renamed the 34th Division Sustainment Brigade. “They needed us, sustainment brigade, so that’s kind of how our name got changed,” says DeRose. “We supported the 34th Infantry Division when we deployed.”
DeRose was stationed in Kuwait for nine months as one of four Geospatial Engineers working in the Intel Section. He fielded requests for products such as task organizational charts and maps. The flowcharts indicated the hierarchy and relationships of various units, allowing officers to actually see the command structure and ensuring that everyone understood their particular roles and tasks at hand.
Maps included Middle East cities, ports and military bases, and the location of U.S. troops. DeRose processed requests from subordinate units as well as those higher up. “Really anybody in the Middle East with us, allied forces or U.S. forces requesting a printout of something,” DeRose says. “Sometimes technology goes down, so it is important to have hard-copy maps that you could look at and plan operations with.”
DeRose created maps of all sizes, occasionally as large as 30 feet by 30 feet. The map was printed out in sections and taped together. “Those would take a decent amount of time to set up on the floor or on the wall,” he says. DeRose remembers working on these large-scale maps with his buddy. “It came in really handy to have somebody else to work with, especially for setting up the big maps and transporting them,” he says.
DeRose returned to the United States in November 2024. Before he deployed, DeRose had been assigned as Sergeant to the 33rd Infantry Division out of Champaign and he now began drilling with them. “You miss the old people that you deployed with,” DeRose says, “but you meet new people and you think, ‘OK, these guys are cool.’”
He was commissioned as Warrant Officer this past summer and, as a Geospatial Engineer Technician, has taken on a higher role, communicating with the commanding officer. “Basically you and the commander make the ultimate decision within the unit,” DeRose says. Based on the product requested, DeRose makes recommendations such as if a particular path looks more dangerous, shorter, better, etc. “I can’t tell him exactly, but I can advise,” DeRose says.
DeRose is employed with security at a local suburban hospital. Currently in his seventh year with the Army National Guard, DeRose is looking forward to rising through the ranks. “I’m hoping to get a couple more deployments and do my 20,” he says. “It’s good serving my country. I enjoy it. I get a lot out of it and I recommend it.”
The above article appears in the April 2026 issue of the print version of Fra Noi. Our gorgeous, monthly magazine contains a veritable feast of news and views, profiles and features, entertainment and culture.
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