Chad D. Swan – Military History

Mr. Swan signed his aviation contract, letter of commitment to enter the United States Marine Corps in June of 1992 and attended Officer Candidate School, Class 151 in October. He received his commission as a Second Lieutenant in December and attended The Basic School in January with Bravo Company. Following The Basic School, Mr. Swan attended Flight School in Pensacola, FL and earned his wings in 1995. He consequently selected AH-1W Super Cobras and attended the Replacement Air Group (RAG) in Camp Pendleton, CA. After completing this training, he received his first orders to the HML/A-269 “Gunrunners” in New River, NC. With the Gunrunners he completed one combat tour in Kosovo participating in Operation Allied Force, Noble Anvil and Joint Guardian and returned to join 1st Battalion /6th Marines in Camp Lejeune as the Battalion Air Officer. While on the Unit Deployment Program (UDP) in Okinawa, he was designated the 4th Regimental Air Officer. During his time as a Forward Air Controller and Air Officer, he controlled over 3000 live coordinated, combined and sequential air/ground attacks.

Following the Unit Deployment Program (UDP) to Okinawa in 2000, he was screened and selected as the first Officer in Charge (OIC) of all Pioneer UAV Training in Pensacola, FL. During his tenure in command of the training, Mr. Swan was solely responsible for the realignment of all UAV Operator, Pilot and Mission Commander training to Chief of Naval Air Training. He was also in charge of all curriculum development, training manuals, and sortie based flight training for Pioneer UAVs. Following his command tour, he was assigned to Training Wing 6 (TW-6) as Operations Officer, in Charge of UAVs.

In 2005, Mr. Swan returned to the Cobra cockpit and was subsequently assigned to the HML/A-369 “Gunfighters” in Camp Pendleton, CA. He made numerous tours to Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom in the cockpit, Joint-ground and Joint-air assignments.. His position on the Multi National Corp- Iraq staff, working for Generals Casey and Chiarelli, as the Current Operations Officer In Charge (CUROPS OIC) was dignified by his selection to be the “Voice” of the country and provided all seven Ground Commanders their daily Battle Update Assessment (BUA). This video tele-conference was also live in the CENTCOM Headquarters, Secretary of Defense office, and the President of the United States (POTUS).

His Joint-Air assignment was highlighted by his selection to be the Combat Operations Division (COD), Senior Offensive Duty Officer (SODO) where he was in charge of both the Iraq and Afghanistan Theater Air Strikes. During his tenure he was selected as the Supervisor of both theaters and provided oversight to the Assistant SODO’s. He provided clearance for nearly 300 Deep Air Support missions and responses to Troops in Contact (TIC).

Mr. Swan then returned back to Pensacola, FL in Oct 2009 for his twilight tour where he was assigned the Senior Marine position at Naval Aviation Schools Command. After completing his FITC training, he was also designated the Senior Instructor and certified as a Master Training Specialist (USN). Mr. Swan retired from the USMC on the first of November 2012.

Mr. Swan’s personal decorations include:

1 x Defense Meritorious Service Medal
1 x Meritorious Service Medal
5 x Joint/Strike Air Medals
1 x Joint Service Commendation Medal
2 x Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal
2 x Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal
1 x Outstanding Volunteer Service Medal