“I plan to continue to stay in the Army and do my part to keep the country free.”

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Age: 39

Executive Vice President, Indiana Economic Development Corp.

In September 2001, Chad Pittman had a nice career going as a lawyer with Bose McKinney & Evans LLP, and his wife was about to deliver the first of their now-four children. Then 9/11 happened.

So on Sept. 27, nine days after his wife gave birth, he went home and announced that he’d enlisted in the Army.

“We were attacked, and a guy like me, who’s been blessed, who’s healthy, had a duty to serve our country in a uniformed capacity,” he said. “My wife was supportive. She knew that’s who I was and that’s who she married.”

Pittman served two tours of duty in Iraq in 2003 and 2008, which he called “the best experience I’d wish on nobody,” and also helped with Hurricane Katrina relief efforts in 2005. He still serves in the Army Reserves, where he’s earned the rank of major.

And when he’s not busy serving the country, the Carmel native and Indiana University graduate (bachelor’s and law school) has carved out a career in economic development that started when he left law to work for homebuilder C.P. Morgan.

Pittman came home from Iraq on Dec. 1, 2008, knowing C.P. Morgan was ready to shut down and needing to reinvent himself. Gov. Mitch Daniels had visited Pittman’s unit at Fort Stewart, Ga., and in Baghdad, and “he affected me and my feeling of what it meant to be a Hoosier like no one else has.”

Wanting to find a way to serve the state, Pittman joined the Daniels administration as the No. 2 economic development officer in February 2009.

In that capacity, he’s represented Indiana in hundreds of high-profile negotiations, including the CityWay project downtown, the Rolls-Royce consolidation and Chrysler’s investment.

“I never forget that it’s about the people who are around me,” he said. “I’m blessed to be associated with them and continue to do what I can to improve their ability to be successful.”•