Public Domain Picture: Chase Savage

After graduating from a rural high school in Mississippi, Chase Savage enlisted in the U.S. Marines Corps in 2003 at the age of 18. Growing up, Savage was active in sports and an avid outdoorsman. He felt that joining the military to assist in our country's efforts was a top priority in the wake of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. Following boot camp, he spent several months training in his specialty as a rifleman before being deployed with the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit to Fallujah, Iraq. Near the end of this deployment, on November 10, 2004, he was injured by an improvised explosive device (IED) while operating a machine gun in the turret of his Humvee. Savage was transported back to the United States where he underwent 10 months of recovery and ultimately lost a portion of his right arm as a result of the injury. After retiring from the Marine Corps, Savage returned to Mississippi to pursue a bachelor's of science degree in wildlife management at Mississippi State University. He graduated from MSU with honors in the spring of 2010 and immediately accepted a position with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. He is currently stationed in Region 5 with the Office of Law Enforcement in Baltimore, Maryland. Located at the BWI Airport, Savage is a wildlife inspector where he interdicts illegal shipments of fish and wildlife being imported/exported to and from the U.S. and facilitates the movement of legal shipments regulated by the Service.

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April 1, 2014