Isaac Rademacher (born March 10, 1977) is a

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

Lieutenant Colonel and a 2000 graduate of the

United States Military Academy The United States Military Academy (USMA), also known Metonymy, metonymically as West Point or simply as Army, is a United States service academies, United States service academy in West Point, New York. It was originally established as a f ...

West Point, New York West Point is the oldest continuously occupied military post in the United States. Located on the Hudson River in New York (state), New York, West Point was identified by General George Washington as the most important strategic position in Ameri ...

. Rademacher grew up in

Decatur, Illinois Decatur ( ) is the largest city and the county seat of Macon County in the U.S. state of Illinois, with a population of 70,522 as of the 2020 Census. The city was founded in 1829 and is situated along the Sangamon River and Lake Decatur in ...

. Isaac Rademacher was featured in the documentary ''

Brothers at War ''Brothers at War'' is a 2009 documentary film directed by Jake Rademacher and produced by Rademacher and Norman S. Powell. The film follows several US soldiers in the Iraq War. The film's executive producers are actor, director, and Presidential ...

'', which was directed and produced by his brother, Jake.

Military experience

Isaac Rademacher reported to the

West Point The United States Military Academy (USMA), also known Metonymy, metonymically as West Point or simply as Army, is a United States service academies, United States service academy in West Point, New York. It was originally established as a f ...

in the summer of 1996 and graduated in the Class of 2000. Among his honors was the

General John Pershing General of the Armies John Joseph Pershing (September 13, 1860 – July 15, 1948), nicknamed "Black Jack", was a senior United States Army officer. He served most famously as the commander of the American Expeditionary Forces (AEF) on the Wes ...

Award for graduating at the top of his class in military tactics and studies. The day after graduation, Isaac married the former Jennifer Eilen, a fellow West Point classmate. Isaac was commissioned in the Infantry and attended the Infantry officer basic course at

Fort Benning, Georgia Fort Benning is a United States Army post near Columbus, Georgia, adjacent to the Alabama–Georgia border. Fort Benning supports more than 120,000 active-duty military, family members, reserve component soldiers, retirees and civilian employees ...

, while his wife attended the Ordnance officer basic course in

Aberdeen, Maryland Aberdeen is a city located in Harford County, Maryland, United States, northeast of Baltimore. The population was 16,254 at the 2020 United States Census. Aberdeen is the largest municipality in Harford County. Aberdeen is part of the Baltimo ...

. Upon completion of the officer basic course, Isaac attended and graduated the Army Ranger school in the spring of 2001. Isaac and Jennifer Rademacher were assigned to the

82nd Airborne Division The 82nd Airborne Division is an airborne infantry division of the United States Army specializing in parachute assault operations into denied areasSof, Eric"82nd Airborne Division" ''Spec Ops Magazine'', 25 November 2012. Archived from thor ...

Fort Bragg Fort Bragg is a military installation of the United States Army in North Carolina, and is one of the largest military installations in the world by population, with around 54,000 military personnel. The military reservation is located within C ...

. Isaac in the 1-504th Parachute Infantry Regiment and Jennifer in the 782nd Main Support Battalion. Isaac served as an Airborne Infantry Platoon Leader for two years and spent the last six months with his platoon in Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan in 2002–2003. Upon his return, Jennifer deployed to Kuwait in early 2003 in order to support the start of the war in Iraq. Following Jennifer's return in the summer of 2003, he deployed to

Fallujah Fallujah ( ar, ٱلْفَلُّوجَة, al-Fallūjah, Iraqi pronunciation: ) is a city in the Iraqi province of Al Anbar, located roughly west of Baghdad on the Euphrates. Fallujah dates from Babylonian times and was host to important J ...

, Iraq as the Battalion S-5, responsible for the

civil-military operations Civil-military operations or CMO are activities of a military force to minimize civil interference on and maximize civil support for military operations. CMO is conducted in conjunction with combat operations during wartime and becomes a central p ...

within his battalion's area of responsibility. Isaac returned in February 2004 in time for the birth of his daughter, Hunter, in April. In the fall of 2004, Rademacher deployed to northwestern Iraq with the F Company, 51st Infantry Regiment – the

XVIII Airborne Corps The XVIII Airborne Corps is a corps of the United States Army that has been in existence since 1942 and saw extensive service during World War II. The corps is designed for rapid deployment anywhere in the world and is referred to as "America ...

Long Range Surveillance Company. One of his brothers Jake joined him on this deployment in the summer of 2005 as part of the filming of

Returning home in the fall of 2005 from his Operation Iraqi Freedom tour, Rademacher attended the Infantry Captain's Career Course in Fort Benning. Upon completion, he returned to Fort Bragg and assumed command of the Long Range Surveillance Company. After a year of training, he deployed in the summer of 2007 as the commander of the Long Range Surveillance Company to Northern Iraq for a fifteen-month deployment. Rademacher has completed three combat tours in

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom and one combat tour in

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bord ...

in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. He has completed

Ranger School The United States Army Ranger School is a 62-day small unit tactics and leadership course that develops functional skills directly related to units whose mission is to engage the enemy in close combat and direct fire battles. Ranger training wa ...

and earned

Airborne Airborne or Airborn may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Airborne'' (1962 film), a 1962 American film directed by James Landis * ''Airborne'' (1993 film), a comedy–drama film * ''Airborne'' (1998 film), an action film sta ...

and HALO Military Freefall wings.www.defenselink.mil
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Awards and decorations

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rademacher, Isaac 1977 births Living people United States Army personnel of the Iraq War United States Army personnel of the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) Place of birth missing (living people) United States Army colonels United States Military Academy alumni