Growing up in the military and being the oldest of three boys helped form Chase Lainez’s goals for the future: serving in the U.S. Air Force and becoming a registered nurse.

He joined the Air Force Junior ROTC soon after enrolling as a freshman at Air Academy High School. His interest in nursing surfaced years earlier when his twin brothers were born premature and each barely weighed a little over 3 pounds. He said he was impressed with the care they received in the neonatal intensive-care unit.

“As I continued to visit them in the NCIU, I witnessed the utmost compassion and care provided by the nurses who spent day and night with them” Lainez wrote in his Best & Brightest application. “I’ve watched them grow, over the last six years into rambunctious, vibrant and seemingly never-tired young boys. I not only want but need to provide the same level of care and compassion for other people within my community.”

Toward this end, he has taken numerous biology, anatomy and chemistry courses, many of which were honors level, in which he excelled. He is concurrently enrolled in certified nursing assistant program at Pikes Peak State College.

Lainez also is a varsity athlete participating in several sports, including wrestling and track.

His academic and athletic achievements have served him well in JROTC, where he is a member of the school’s award-winning Raider Team, composed of JROTC cadets who participate in events that test physical and mental prowess.

At the May 2023 JROTC Fitness National Competition, “Chase was the strongest in several events of the 12 male members of the team,” said retired Air Force Col. Robert B. Huber, senior aerospace science and JROTC instructor. The team placed second overall.

Huber added, Chase is “a squadron commander in AFJROTC, in charge of a group of 70 freshmen as their mentor and role model.”

Lainez has lived in multiple places around the world due the moves his family has made during his father’s Army career. In addition to joining JROTC as a freshman, he also joined Student 2 Student, an organization focusing on welcoming new students from military families.

“Through these two organizations, I have had the opportunity to meet and mentor dozens of students from all over the country,” Lainez wrote. He added that he knows the value of a friendly face in a new environment.

This is why, he explained, “While in leadership positions as a JROTC cadet, my goal has always been to make the organization feel like a family and to make new students feel comfortable pursuing their goals and interests.”

In addition to his leadership role in JROTC, Lainez is president of Keep Colorado Clean, a club that addresses maintaining and improving the ecology of Air Academy High School and the community.

He added, “My experience as a military dependent has also shaped my future goal of becoming a nurse, where I will be able to use my interpersonal skills to improve the quality of care and the lives of the patients I will be treating every day.”