WHY NOT?
Shannon Robinson, Staff Writer
Dan Warren
Air Force – E8 Senior Master Sergeant
You find a lot of veterans with a military lineage in their family or an early drive and desire to serve their country. For Dan Warren, a boy from small town Wisconsin, the military was simply a way out. When his friend joined the Air Force as a senior in high school, Warren decided “why not?” and signed up too. Three months after graduation, he went to bootcamp at Lackland Air Force Base.
Warren wasn’t sure where he wanted to go or what he wanted to do in the Air Force, so he went in Open General hoping to figure it out along the way. He was placed in Security Police training and stayed for Security Police Forces training for 6 to 8 weeks after bootcamp in San Antonio had completed. Soon after, he was “selected” to go to Ft. Dixie, NJ for the Army’s basic combat training. His first assignment as a Security Police Officer was 18 months in Miami before he deployed to Panama in May of 1989.
Warren made the rounds on base in Panama for 90 days before being sent back to Florida. “South Florida was… shitty” he said; that’s when he decided to put in an assignment request for World Wide Remote, hoping to go anywhere else.
His first stop was Taegu Airbase in Korea, where he stayed from ’89-’90. At the start of Desert Storm, he went back to Panama City to deploy with his unit; however, by the time he got here, they had already left. So, he was stuck again in the city he hated for about two years, working with the military police, reservists, and National Guard who replaced all the active-duty servicemen and women who deployed.
After the two years, Warren was thrilled when he could finally leave Florida and move to San Vito, Italy. Yet, to his frustration, due to military shut downs, the San Vito base was closed, and Warren had to move back. This time, he received priority assignment, and transferred to Langley Air Force base in ’94. From there, he deployed to Saudi Arabia. By the time he returned home, Warren was an E5 ready for a career change.
He initially wanted to become a dog handler; Warren applied, went through the process, and was told he had too much time in the military to qualify. It was then that Warren’s military journey came full circle; he applied for Combat Arms and had to go back to San Antonio to teach weapons training at Lackland bootcamp.
Warren describes his two years of teaching like one long Groundhog Day; new classes came in and out, the same repetitive courses taught day after day, group after group. He hated the central Texas heat as he spent half his day on the range, running drills.
While he hated San Antonio, it was where Warren met his wife. She pushed him to go through college and get his Bachelor’s degree in Criminology. It was at this point Warren faced a crossroads: he could either try to become an officer or change career paths again. He opted for the latter, changing his path to computer networking.
It was with computer networking that Warren hit his stride. He traveled from his first assignment at Kelly Air Force Base to Saudi Arabia and back to San Antonio, securing top secret buildings and running computer repair crews. Desperately wanting to get out of San Antonio after his third time there, Warren made it to the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs. He stayed there for three years, managing the Academy’s servers and routers, frequently busting kids for contraband content.
Warren continued with computer networking until 2009 when he tested for his E9 promotion. Warren recalls sitting at his desk, waiting for his promotion test results. On one screen, was the pending results page. On the other screen, his retirement paperwork was ready to submit. When his test results came in 30 points under the cut-off score, Warren eagerly switched screens and submitted his retirement.
Dan looked into teaching Jr. ROTC after retirement. His wife is a teacher, and his friend taught it; so, as is his way, Dan said “why not?” again and looked for ROTC vacancies. The only vacancy in Texas was at Robert E. Lee High School in Midland. Dan scored the job immediately because he was the only applicant—no one wanted to move to Midland.
He stayed in Midland for five years before a vacancy came up at Ryan High School in Denton in 2014. Warren currently runs the ROTC program there.
Among his accomplishments with the Air Force, Warren also achieved his Master’s in Criminology. He remarks that the military gave him some much-needed maturity and leadership ability. He especially looks at his time with the Military Police as what taught him to be assertive; it’s what taught him to confront and handle uncomfortable or dangerous situations with effective force.
For a man who entered the military with zero knowledge, an open mind, and easy-going attitude, Dan Warren certainly traveled everywhere he could with the Air Force. He took every opportunity he could to move, grow, and succeed. Now, he works to transfer the same quality of excellence and pride that he gained from the military to the kids he trains.