Chad Rickard is a retired U.S. Army Sergeant Major with 27 years of military service. He began his military career in the U.S. Marine Corps with boot camp at Parris Island, South Carolina and School of Infantry at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. Following a short tour in the Marines and a 4 year break in service he enlisted in the California Army National Guard before returning to active duty with the U.S. Army following the attacks on September 11, 2001.

Chad participated in the invasion of Iraq in 2003 as a member of the Army's 4th Infantry Division and returned to Iraq in 2005 for an 18 month tour with the Army's 3rd Infantry Division at the height of some of the fiercest fighting in Central Baghdad. In 2008, as a senior enlisted infantry advisor, Chad embedded with the newly formed Afghan National Army in Khost Province, Afghanistan. There he spent nine months in heavy combat against Haqqani Taliban forces along the Afghanistan/Pakistan border. This combat tour provided the material for his first book, "Mayhem 337: Memoir of a Combat Advisor in Afghanistan."

Chad retired in March 2019 at the rank of E-9/Sergeant Major. He has received the Bronze Star with Valor and two Oak Leaf Clusters, the Purple Heart with two Oak Leaf Clusters, the Army Commendation Medal with Valor and one Oak Leaf Cluster, a Meritorious Service Medal and numerous other campaign awards and citations. He currently resides in Paso Robles with his wife Cami and their two children, Savannah and Matthew.

Please Note: Due to New Years falling on the first Wednesday of the month, our January dinner will be held on January 8th. Be there!