At JBSA-Fort Sam Houston, Janelle Madewell retired as a Major after a rare joint promotion ceremony with her husband.
SAN ANTONIO — A little girl from South Texas once wrote down a dream: to become a nurse in the military.
Years later, Janelle Madewell not only achieved that dream — she reached the rank of Major.
Friday afternoon, Madewell pinned on the rank during a rare joint promotion ceremony with her husband, Christian Madewell, at San Antonio Military Entrance Processing Station (MEPS) on Fort Sam Houston. Their children helped pin the couple’s new ranks during the ceremony, as Janelle became a Major and Christian became a Captain.
For the Madewells, the day marked several milestones at once: two promotions, a medical retirement, a growing family and the start of a new chapter.
“This is a big rarity,” Christian said. “You do see dual military. It’s not very common that those dual military members’ careers line up as ours have. My wife is my superior though.”
Christian said the ceremony was especially meaningful because it was their only opportunity to share that kind of milestone in the military.
“This is the first and only chance that we’ll have to do a joint promotion together since she’ll be exiting the Army,” he said.
Janelle said her dream of becoming a military nurse started when she was a child. She remembers writing a letter about it when she was 9 years old. While that letter was lost, a similar letter from her middle school years is now framed in their home.
“It’s very surreal for me, being from San Antonio and the south side, being extremely poor when I was little. I wasn’t sure what my future was gonna look like,” she said. “I was in a children’s shelter here for a long time next to the Alamodome.”
The Army helped shape that future. Janelle earned a full-ride scholarship to Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi, spent more than a decade in uniform and built a career caring for others.
“I think having a tough childhood made me always wanna help,” she said. “And so now I’ve gotten to fulfill that goal for people who couldn’t help themselves.”
Janelle was initially assigned to a burn unit, where she said she saw difficult injuries and trauma. Later, she suffered a serious shoulder injury while caring for a patient.
“I was working at Fort Bragg at Womack Army Medical Center at the time,” she said. “A patient didn’t react well to anesthesia and so they got into a wrestling match with me and took me to the ground, broke my arm, dislocated it.”
The injury required surgery. Years later, she tore the shoulder again and lost much of the fine motor skill in her right shoulder. She was eventually reassigned to a Soldier Recovery Unit.
“She’s had a series of surgeries and situations to try and get her back fit for duty, but inevitably she’s gotten to the point where she’s not fit for duty and she’s accepting a medical retirement,” he said. “[The retirement] almost came abruptly to us, but it’s been a great transition and it seems like everything’s kind of falling in place.”
The promotion also places Madewell among the Army’s field-grade officers, a leadership rank achieved by a relatively small share of women in uniform. Women account for roughly 19% of Army officers.
Her retirement comes as the couple prepares for several new chapters. The Madewells, who have a blended family, recently learned they are expecting their first child together.
Last year, Janelle also donated a kidney to save her father’s life. Christian said his father-in-law is now in much better health.
“It’s like an entirely different person from the person that I met,” Christian said of his father-in-law.
Janelle is not done caring for others. Her next chapter begins June 10, when she starts classes to become a nurse practitioner.
“If I get my nurse practitioner’s degree, then I can definitely do a lot more with a lot less hands on, so that’s the goal,” she said.
Christian said helping others has always been part of who she is.
“I think it’s just embedded in her,” he said. “She’s always been a person that wants to help others and that’s what she does. She does it well.”
For Christian, who is from Glasgow, Kentucky, the day was also a celebration of the life the couple has built together. The two met in Hawaii, married there in September 2023 and later moved back to the states to be closer to family.
“My wife’s the rock star in the household,” he said.
The milestones will continue next month when the Madewells travel to Denver for the Transplant Games of America from June 17 to 23. They will compete as a family during the inaugural year for the U.S. Armed Forces Transplant Team and take part in an attempt to set a Guinness World Record for the most living donors gathered in one place.
For Janelle, the journey from a childhood dream to a military career is proof that circumstances do not have to define the future.
“I think for any children watching who feel pretty helpless in their situation, who are unsure of their future, just go to the military,” she said. “There is a way out. You just have to make one.”