COL Chad Harris enlisted as an infantryman in the Army in 1994 and was later selected to attend Officer Candidate School at Fort Benning, Georgia. LTC Harris was commissioned in 1995 as an Armor Officer, where he served as an armor platoon leader and armor company executive officer in 2nd Battalion, 34th Armor Regiment, 1st Brigade, 1st Infantry Division at Fort Riley, Kansas. COL Harris later served as the aide-de-camp to the ADC-M 24th ID at Fort Riley, Kansas.

After attending the Armor Officer advance Course, COL Harris served as the M Company Commander, and later, the Headquarters and Headquarters Troop Commander in 3rd Squadron, 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment at Fort Carson, Colorado. He deployed to Iraq in April 2003 as the HHT Commander during OIF 1. After returning to the US, COL Harris served as Observer/Controller Team Lead, training National Guard and Reserve units for deployment to Iraq.

COL Harris joined the Acquisition Corps in 2005 and attended the Naval Post Graduate School, graduating in 2006 with a Master's in Business Administration in Defense Systems Acquisition Management. He served as a Test Officer at US Army Operational Test Command (USAOTC), Fort Hood, Texas working on engineer equipment to include the Mine Resistant Ambush Protected Vehicle (MRAP), the MRAP Ambulance, and the Line of Communication Bridge.

In 2009, COL Harris returned to Iraq as a Team Chief on the Army Test and Evaluation Command's Forward Operational Assessment Team (FOA XII). Upon his return to the US, COL Harris served as the Assistant Product Manager (APM) for Maneuver Support in the Robotic Systems Joint Project Office (RSJPO) in Warren, Michigan. While serving as the APM, he managed the Talon Engineer Robotic Systems, and the M160 Light Robotic Flail System. In 2011, COL Harris was assigned as Commander, Yuma Test Center (YTC) where he commanded one of the Army's largest test centers. While at YTC, he led an organization comprised of 1500 Soldiers, civilians, and contractors responsible for testing a wide variety of equipment from artillery and armor systems, to unmanned aerial systems to counter IED systems. After leaving YTC, COl Harris became an Army War College Fellow conducting strategic studies at the University of Texas, Austin. In 2015 COL Harris was assigned to the Pentagon, as a Lead Requirements Analyst on the Joint Staff J8.

His awards include the Bronze Star with "V", the Bronze Star, the Meritorious Service Medal, the Army Commendation Medal, the Army Achievement Medal, and Parachute Badge.

LTC Harris is from Sparks, Nevada. He is married to April Avila Harris, together they have a 9 year old son Gryffin and a 5 year old son Austin.