Fourth of July Festival Parade-Sponsored By Dosher Memorial Hospital

North Carolina 4th of July Parade Sponsored By:

The NC 4 th of July Festival Committee is pleased to announce this year’s
parade Grand Marshal will be Colonel Chad Blacketer, Commander, 596th Transportation
Brigade, Sunny Point, N.C.
“Each year, the committee strives to honor those who are or have been in service to our country,
and this year is no exception,” said Wayne Berry, Parade Committee Chair.   “The parade is one
of the biggest highlights of the entire festival, and as the new Commander of MOTSU, we
couldn’t think of a better person than Colonel Chad Blacketer to lead the procession this year.”
Colonel Chad Blacketer’s military career began in 1995 as a Multi-Disciplined Counter-
Intelligence Analyst. His enlisted duty assignments include the 532nd Military Intelligence
Battalion, 501st Military Intelligence Brigade, Seoul, Korea, and the 902nd Military Intelligence
Group, Fort Meade, MD. After serving nearly three years, he was selected for the Army Green to
Gold Program. In 2000, COL Blacketer was commissioned through the Army ROTC program at
Ball State University, where he earned his commission as a Second Lieutenant in the
Transportation Corps.

COL Blacketer began his commissioned service as a Platoon
Leader, Company Executive Officer, and Assistant S3 in the 106th
Transportation Battalion, 101st Corps Support Group and later
served as the Deputy Division Transportation Officer in the 101st Airborne Division
Headquarters, Fort Campbell, KY. Following the Captains Career Course, he served as the
Support Operations Officer and an Observer Controller/Trainer in the 191st Infantry Brigade
before being selected to command the Maintenance Company in the 5th Stryker Brigade Combat
Team, 2nd Infantry Division, Fort Lewis, WA. After company command, he served as the Joint
Acquisition Review Board officer in the XVIII
Airborne Corps/Multi-National Corps-Iraq, Baghdad, Iraq. Upon completing the Command and
General Staff College, he served as the Division Transportation Officer for the 1st Cavalry
Division and then the Support Operations Officer in the 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team,
Fort Hood, TX.
COL Blacketer received his joint qualification while serving in the United States Transportation
Command J3 and J5/J4, Scott AFB, IL. Following his assignment with USTRANSCOM, he
served as the Battalion Commander for the 841st Transportation Battalion, Joint Base
Charleston, SC. Following command, he served as the Division G4 in the 1st Infantry Division,
Fort Riley, KS. In his last assignment, he served as the Future Operations Chief for Military
Sealift.

His deployments included combat tours in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2001 and 2008
and Operation Enduring Freedom in 2011. His military education includes the Joint Planners
Course and the Joint and Combined Warfighting School. COL Blacketer’s military schools
include the Parachutist, Air Assault, and Pathfinder courses.
He and his wife have four beautiful daughters.
WECT TV6 and Dosher Memorial Hospital sponsor the parade. The parade will be televised live
on WECT TV6 and will be presented by WECT-TV6’s Gabe Ross and WHQR’s Rachel Lewis
Hilburn.