[1][2] Ferriter graduated from The Citadel with a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration in May 1979, and was commissioned in the infantry as a Second Lieutenant.

He was posted to Fort Lewis, Washington, in October 1986, where he was S5 (Civil Military Operations) and then S1 (Personnel) on the staff of the 2nd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment, and then commander of its B Company.

[3] In August 1998 he became a Senior Service College Fellow at Tufts University's Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy in Medford, Massachusetts.

[3] Ferriter was deputy commanding general (operations) of the XVIII Airborne Corps at Fort Bragg from August 2007 until January 2008, when he returned to Iraq for a second tour as deputy commanding general (operations) of the Multi-National Corps – Iraq, again returning to duty as deputy commanding general (operations) of the XVIII Airborne Corps at Fort Bragg in April 2009.

This was followed by duty as commanding general of the United States Army Maneuver Center of Excellence there from October 2009 to November 2010.

[3] From January to October 2011 Ferriter was deputy commander for advising and training of the United States Forces – Iraq as part of Operation New Dawn.