Maj. Chad Hamrick, a 1991 graduate from Washington High School, retired from the United States Army on Feb. 11 after 23 years of service to this nation. Maj. Hamrick attended basic training in San Diego in April 1993 with the intent to use his service to pay for college. He was commissioned as an Army officer in August 2004 as a graduate from Old Dominion University’s ROTC program, where he majored in pre-med/ biology.

Maj. Hamrick has 28 different awards and badges, including the prestigious Legion of Merit, Combat Medical Badge, Combat Action Badge and two Bronze Stars for his actions in the Persian Gulf, Bosnia, Operations Iraqi and Enduring Freedom. He has held positions as a recruiter, instructor, squad leader, master gunner, aircrew, platoon sergeant, platoon leader, executive officer, hospital adjutant, forward surgical team detachment chief, commander and general’s aide de camp.

Maj. Hamrick has been stationed in California, Tennessee, Virginia, North Carolina, Colorado and Texas. He and his wife, Trish, of 20 years, the deputy chief of cadet personnel at the U.S. Air Force Academy, will settle down in Colorado Springs to give their boys (Hunter, 16, and Trevor, 10) some well-deserved stability. Hamrick plans to take advantage of some more schooling opportunities gained from his retired status as a wounded warrior and remain active in the community where he is a head coach for Colorado Youth Select Football and assistant for Pine Creek High School football operations.