Brothers serve community, state, nation
For The Madera Tribune
Samuel Chadwick is a graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy and has just been cross-commissioned as a First Lieutenant in the U.S. Space Force.
One joins U.S. Space Force
Madera’s Chadwick brothers have given new meaning to the term “local heroes.” Samuel, the oldest, is a graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy and has just been cross-commissioned as a First Lieutenant in the U.S. Space Force. He is perhaps the first Maderan to enter the brand new branch of the U.S. military.
His younger brother, Daniel, is following Samuel’s footsteps as a freshman at the U.S. Air Force Academy.
Sam is currently attending the Air Force Institute of Technology at Wright-Patterson AFB in Ohio where he is working on his Master’s Degree in Cyber-Security and Computer Networking. He is a 2012 Madera High School graduate, a 2013-14 Greystone Military Preparatory School graduate, and a 2018 graduate of the United States Air Force Academy where he earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Engineering.
Sam and his wife Grace have a two-year-old daughter, Galya.
Daniel Chadwick is a 2018 Madera High School graduate, a 2019 United States Air Force Academy Preparatory School graduate, a 2019 Northwestern Military Preparatory School graduate, and is now a “Doolie” (freshman) at the United States Air Force Academy where he is studying engineering and setting his sights on becoming a pilot.
He is a manager on the academy’s men’s NCAA basketball team and is preparing for the Class of 2024 Recognition in March this year — a three-day rite of passage that will give him the right to move from “Doolie” to a Cadet 4th Class.
In doing so, he will earn the coveted “prop and wings” pin for his cap and be awarded a set of privileges, including the right to wear civilian clothing when off-duty, among other things.
Dan was nominated to the AFA by Congressman Jim Costa and, under all COVID-19 protocols, entered Basic Military Training at the academy last June and began collegiate academic classes in August.
Both Samuel and Dan are Eagle Scouts — Troop 116 and 118. Both were MHS Robotics Team 1323 members, athletes (track, cross country), band members, and both had challenging medical setbacks (broken bones) that they overcame to be able to attend an academy.
Both brothers earned congressional nominations for the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and the U.S. Air Force Academy.
Sam and Daniel Chadwick come by their determination to serve honestly from their parents. Their mother, Gloria, is a retired state parole agent, having served four years with the California Youth Authority and 21 years with the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. She served not only the Madera area, but the entire Central Valley, from Los Banos to Chowchilla to Fresno.
Their father, Mark, is still working. He has been with the state for 26 years, the majority of that time with the California Department of Water Resources as an Information Technology Manager and currently FEMA activated for the COVID-19 Pandemic with DWR.
Mark is a veteran of the U.S. Air Force, having enlisted in 1979 and honorably discharged in 1983.
The Chadwicks are devout Christians and credit all of their family’s success to their faith in Jesus Christ and to their parents who instilled in them a work ethic and developed their determination to succeed and serve in life.
They they have passed those character traits on to their sons.
