The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
Texas Lottery Veteran Recognition: Derek Wood
09.18.2026 | Longhorn Sports Properties / Learfield
The Army Retired Sergeant First Class and current UT Austin staff member will be honored when Texas Football hosts UTSA on Sept. 19.
Born and raised on the island of Oahu, Derek Wood says he also inherited the Hawaiian warrior spirit. When considering possible career paths, Wood was intrigued by military service – and particularly the U.S. Army.
"I inquired specifically about the Infantry. It kind of embodies that warrior spirit," Wood said. "Infantry is combat arms. It's the ultimate physical challenge of leading from the very front of the battlefield. Growing up as a multi-sport athlete gave me a foundation that directly translates to the demands of the Army's Infantry."
He enlisted in February 2001; seven months later, the September 11 attacks changed the path for everyone, and Wood's vision for a stable military career unfolded as a series of rapid deployments into hostile fire combat zones.
Wood's first combat assignment was with the Third Infantry Division (Sledgehammer Brigade), whose tactical march covered roughly 400 miles in 21 days from Kuwait to the heart of Baghdad, culminating in the historic armored "Thunder Run" offensives that broke Saddam Hussein's regime in April 2003. His final deployment was with the First Calvary Division (Long Knife Brigade), which included the transfer of authority in northern Mosul and marked one of the final stages of the U.S. military's logistical drawdown in Iraq.
Wood deployed five times in 12 years and 10 months of service, including 12- and 15-month combat tours throughout Iraq and Afghanistan, starting with the ground invasion of Iraq in 2003, and continuing through 2004-05, 2007-09, and 2010-11.
"Typically, if you fall into this kind of rapid deployment cycle, you don't deploy as much as I did," Wood said. Experience was vital because "at the time, there were few combat Infantry soldiers who were assets during both the start and the peak of the Global War on Terror."
Wood served every position in a dismounted Infantry squad, including Platoon Sergeant, and advanced from Private E-1 to Sergeant First Class, E-7, a Senior Non-Commissioned Officer, in just seven years. Among his 16 military awards and decorations, Wood received, most notably, two Bronze Star Medals and two Meritorious Service Medals. In addition, he received the Combat Infantryman Badge (CIB), the Expert Infantryman Badge (EIB), Drill Sergeant Identification Badge, and the Order of St. Maurice Centurion Medallion, awarded in recognition of his demonstrated tactical and technical competence as an Infantry leader and his contributions to the Infantry Branch.
"With the progression of rank comes sacrifice," Wood said. "It's the sacrifice not just of the service member but the dependents, the family."
During the early days of deployment, frontline soldiers lacked reliable means to communicate with loved ones back home. Wood said they didn't talk for months at a time. In 2004, Wood's second child, daughter Kelsey, was born while he was in Afghanistan. "I first saw my daughter when she was 11 days old. I was there for 14 days of 'R & R' and went back to Afghanistan," Wood said.
The path of rapid deployments eventually took its toll, and due to injuries sustained during active-duty service, Wood medically retired in 2014. Transitioning into civilian life through the Wounded Warrior program, Wood earned undergraduate and graduate degrees at the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor in Belton, Texas.
"It is 25 miles from Fort Hood, and as a transitioning soldier, at a private Christian university, just speaking for myself, it was the best thing for me," Wood said. "Being there, taking classes in Old Testament and New Testament, it rekindled and reminded me of my faith."
Wood's children are in Austin, and his daughter Kelsey decided to attend The University of Texas. "Believe it or not, when I found out she was going to accept UT, I wasn't working at UT at the time, and I started looking for opportunities," Wood said.
The day after his daughter's incoming student-parent tour on the Forty Acres, Wood began a new career chapter on campus as an events and operations coordinator within the McCombs School of Business. Being on the same college campus as his daughter inspired Wood to tap into his "warrior ethos" and accelerate a two-year master's program in addition to his full-time workload.
"I'm trying to make up for all the time I missed. I missed her childbirth," Wood said. "I just thought, 'Can I really crank this out and basically be in the same class as my daughter at UT?'"
Wood completed his second graduate degree, and he and Kelsey participated together in the university-wide commencement at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium last May. They are both Texas Exes, class of 2026.
"With the military, I've learned life lessons. We make a choice – daily, weekly, monthly, yearly – my choice, daily and weekly, in all actuality is keeping that warrior's ethos," Wood said. "Physical training, being disciplined to work full-time and go back to school for a second graduate degree, mental discipline, time management – all of what I learned in the military, I transition it over to my post-military life."
Thanks to the Texas Lottery, great things are happening all across Texas. The Texas Lottery consistently contributes nearly $2 billion of lottery revenue each year to good causes like public education and veterans' assistance programs. Beginning with the first veterans' dedicated scratch ticket game in 2009, the Texas Lottery has now contributed over $311 million to the Fund for Veterans' Assistance.
Since 1992, the Texas Lottery has generated more than $43 billion in revenue for the state of Texas. Through strict adherence to its vision, mission and core values, the Texas Lottery is dedicated to ensuring that this support continues. The Texas Lottery's functions and activities are administered by the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation (TDLR), the state agency responsible for licensing and regulating a broad range of professions, occupations and industries in Texas.
