Chad R. Sundem
Inducted Saturday, September 28, 2019
Chad Sundem graduated from Moorhead High School in 1989. During high school, Sundem played football, hockey and baseball. He was a two-year hockey team captain and an all-conference player, a baseball team captain and Minnesota all-star team member, a member of the 1987 state championship football team, and Moorhead High’s 1989 most valuable senior male athlete. Sundem’s American Legion baseball team won the state/regional championship and placed fourth at the Legion World Series.
In college Sundem played baseball his freshman year and Division I hockey from 1989-1993. He lettered all four years and served as the team captain. Sundem earned his bachelor’s degree in environmental science from the United States Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., in 1993. He earned a master of business administration from Touro University International in 2005.
After 20 years of military service, Sundem retired as a lieutenant colonel in the United States Army in 2014. During his service, Sundem had one deployment to Cuba and combat deployments on five occasions to Iraq and Afghanistan. Early in his career he led more than 120 of America’s elite U.S. Army Rangers in the successful rescue of Private Jessica Lynch — the first American POW rescue since World War II. For his actions, Sundem earned the Bronze Star for Valor. Sundem finished his career as the commander of Task Force Rosser, a force of over 600 soldiers operating in Kandahar (Panjwaii District), Afghanistan, the birthplace of the Taliban. There they achieved unprecedented and historic success enabling the transfer of security to the Afghan Security Forces. Sundem was awarded two other Bronze Stars and the Army Valorous Unit Award for his actions in combat, as well as the Legion of Merit and numerous other decorations and commendations throughout his career.
In 2014, Sundem joined BNSF Railway Company as general director of transportation for the Springfield Division. He later moved to service design at Fort Worth, before being named general superintendent of transportation for the Central Region. In 2016, Sundem was selected as one of the 10 division field leaders for BNSF, and he is currently general manager for the Twin Cities Division, which operates across six states and one Canadian province.
Chad and his wife Batina have two children, Hannah and Bridger. They live in Edina, Minn.