UC Riverside undergraduate Jacob Bradfield shares a connection with UCR’s first student, Jim McMillin, who was admitted 70 years ago. They were both student veterans and entered UCR after serving in the United States Navy.
The day after McMillin was released from the Navy in 1954, he shook hands with UCR’s first chancellor, Gordon Watkins.
The day after Bradfield was released from the Navy in 2021, he started the long drive back from his base in Virginia to his family in California.
After high school, a lackluster retail job left Bradfield wanting to experience life outside his hometown of Temecula. So, he did what some of his family members had done before him and joined the military. Bradfield’s father served in the Marine Corps for 16 years, and his brother served in the Army for four years. After speaking to various branch recruiters, he decided on the Navy for its vast travel opportunities.
As a petty officer third class or PO3, he worked as an interior communication electrician. He served aboard USS Dwight D. Eisenhower, located in Norfolk, Virginia, and completed one deployment. Bradfield met a lot of people from all over the world and remained friends with many.
After serving for four years in the Navy, Bradfield decided community college would help him transition from a military veteran to a civilian student. After a couple of years at Mt. San Jacinto College, he entered UCR as a transfer student. Feeling at a disadvantage compared to classmates who started right after high school, he credits the Veterans Resource Center, or VRC, for enhancing his undergrad experience.
“The VRC has been my go-to place to do any schoolwork that I need to do,” Bradfield said. It’s filled with fellow veterans and military-affiliated students, and I know if anyone could relate to me in any way, it would be the members of this center.”
He also thanks Tami Thacker, VRC’s director, for her support.
“Tami has been such a great help at UCR, and I owe a lot of my success to her,” Bradfield said. “From the moment I got accepted into UCR, she has always been there for me when I’ve had any questions or concerns, and if she wasn’t able to help, she has always put me in contact with someone who knows the answer.”
Currently, Bradfield is researching robotic arms for his senior design project. “My group and I are creating a chess-playing robotic arm, which has allowed us to research different arms and angles that come with arms,” he said.
Bradfield, an electrical engineering major in UCR’s Bourns College of Engineering, is set to graduate in 2025.
After graduation, Bradfield will start his new career as an electrical engineer with NAVSEA, the largest of the Navy’s five systems commands that are responsible for designing, building, delivering, and maintaining ships, submarines, and systems. He learned of the position at a UCR STEM Career & Internship Fair in October, and applied, interviewed, and found out just a week later that he got the job.
“I worked with NAVSEA a handful of times on the ship, and I knew that when I graduated from college, I would like to work for them or any other government company that supports the military,” Bradfield said. “The whole objective of going to college is to have a successful career in whatever field we pursue, and I am extremely blessed to be given this opportunity.”
When asked how he observes Veterans Day, Bradfield said, “I take some time to myself to think about all the men and women who have served before me, with me, and after me, as well as those who have lost their lives giving the ultimate sacrifice.”
