Colonel Sherrell on duty at Pentagon during 9/11

Colonel Chandler ‘Skip’ Sherrell. CONTRIBUTED

MADISON – Immediately after graduation from Auburn University, Colonel Chandler ‘Skip’ Sherrell entered the U.S. Army at Fort Rucker in 1985. Within two weeks, he and fiancee Lauri married.

“At Fort Rucker, our oldest daughter Ashley was born. We worked as aide-de-camp for retired Brigadier General Rod Wolfe,” Sherrell said.

In Illesheim, Germany, he twice served as Troop Commander and, later, Squadron Executive Officer. “I had the privilege of leading 30-plus great Americans of an AH-64A Attack Company in combat during Operation Desert Storm — most importantly, bringing them all home safely,” Sherrell said.

Sherrell then served at Fort Knox, Ky.; Washington D.C. and Fort Leavenworth, Kan. At Fort Bragg, N.C., he saw a peacekeeping deployment as Squadron Executive Officer for 3-229th Aviation to Bosnia with IFOR/SFOR.

Back in Washington, Sherrell was a Special Assistant to the Chief of Staff, Army. “I was on duty in the Pentagon on 9/11 and was fortunate to only lose personal items — a horrific day for our country,” he said. He also served as Congressional Fellow for Sen. Max Cleland.

In 2003, he had battalion command of 1-2 Attack Aviation at camps Page and Eagle, South Korea. Next, Sherrell returned to D.C. as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Deputy, Legislative Assistant. He then handled Brigade Command, Task Force 49 at Fort Wainwright, Alaska.

“I deployed Task Force 49 headquarters to Iraq commanding Multi-National Corps Aviation Brigade in Balad eight months and then reforming Aviation Brigade Task Force assigned to Multi-National Division South in Baghdad for the final five months,” Sherrell said.

Sherrell attended Air War College in Montgomery and then moved last to the Madison area as Chief of Staff, Aviation and Missile Command.

His college credentials include a bachelor’s degree at Auburn and master’s degrees from Troy University, Army Command and General Staff College and Air War College. He works as Vice President, Business Development for Science and Engineering Services.

Colonel Sherrell credits wife Lauri “single-handedly raising three wonderful daughters … Ashley of Nashville; Heather and husband Alan Millington of Madison; and Christina, third-grade teacher at Mill Creek Elementary School.”

“We’re thrilled to live in the Huntsville/Madison area. Others elsewhere marvel at community support for our active duty soldiers and veterans. It’s all true. The city is very supportive of our men and women in uniform. That support continues after retirement — and a big reason so many want to live in this vibrant, growing area of the state,” he said.