A Life of Intensity, Passion, and Service.
Dan Markert ’91 lived an extraordinary life. Sadly, we lost Dan on March 18, 2025. This was a man who was called too soon. He contributed so much during his lifetime and had much more to give. He was a man of many diverse interests. Dan's close friends and wife have contributed to this story of a resolute officer, scholar, pragmatist, husband, and father. We will miss him - the contributions he made and those that were yet to come.
From an early age, Dan Markert ’91, aspired to be a soldier and he pursued his dream with unwavering determination. One of the reasons he attended CMC was because of the full ROTC scholarship the Army offered. Dan also enlisted in the Army as part of the simultaneous membership program while serving as a ROTC cadet. This program gives the participants practical experience and leadership opportunities in the military prior to their commissioning.
Dan’s time in the ROTC program was filled with drama and creativity. In 1991, on the final Field Training Exercise of his senior year, Dan became the consummate warrior leader, displaying both consistency and an ability to surprise. He was part of the advanced party for the exercise, arriving ahead of his classmates, most of whom were stressing over completing theses. When the ROTC class arrived at Camp Pendleton, he surprised his peers with a poncho shelter made by Fieldcraft, a piece of gear that would prove less troublesome and far more useful than everyone else's shelter-halves (pup tents).
It was no surprise that Dan assumed the task of leading the Opposition Force (OPFOR) during the exercise. Somehow, Dan had procured and carried an AK-47, a Warsaw Pact Chest Magazine Vest, and a black beret to complete the enemy look. Over the course of 24 hours, Dan played the role of OPFOR Infantryman to the hilt, achieving both character and mindset. He surfaced out of the mist and frigid night ready to do battle. With a tight circle of his enemy comrades around him, Dan let loose a volley of (blank) rounds from the AK-47, jolting everyone into stark fear and angry wakefulness. Dan’s reaction was just to shrug, grin and say with an impish smile: "Won't happen again!" It was hard to stay mad at Dan for long.
He was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant and Distinguished Military Graduate (DMG) in 1991 and pursued a wide range of assignments beginning with a branch choice of infantry. His distinguished military service spanned three decades and included two tours in Afghanistan, rear detachment command supporting operations during the Global War On Terror (GWOT) and numerous mobilizations to support civil authorities with the California National Guard.
In 2010, with Dan’s first deployment to Afghanistan, he served as Chief of Operations for the Coalition’s advisory mission in the country’s volatile eastern region. He was responsible for coordinating combat operations across four provinces with the 101st Airborne Division, including battle actions in the Pesh and Kooringal Valleys. Dan oversaw combined efforts with Afghan Army, Police, and Border Police units, serving as the operational glue between U.S. forces and their Afghan counterparts. Not surprisingly, he refused to be a desk-bound planner and made regular battlefield excursions, visiting Afghan-run posts and working shoulder-to-shoulder with local commanders. During Operation Bullwhip, the largest air assault since Desert Storm, he worked tirelessly to ensure every detail was addressed and contingency plans designed. His work helped raise the Afghan planning processes to new levels at a critical time in the war and laid the groundwork for lasting partnerships.
On one morning update meeting in Afghanistan, Dan was briefing then Major General John Campbell about poor defensive conditions at an Afghan outpost. Passionate and direct, Dan didn’t just give a brief assessment—he provided details and then more details. After multiple attempts to cut him off, Campbell thanked him…but Dan kept right on briefing. Failing to quiet Dan with hand signals, his boss finally muted him in mid-sentence. Afterword, the chief of staff of the 101st called Dan’s boss and said: “Whoever that is, he never briefs again!” This was classic Dan Markert—relentless, mission-focused, and unwilling to sugarcoat the truth. He was benched for a week but was reinserted into action soon after.
After returning from Afghanistan, he assumed command of the 2nd Battalion, 223d Infantry Regiment in 2011. In this role, he led the Officer and Warrant Officer Candidate School, one of his most enjoyable assignments. In addition to being the commandant of these two schools, Dan developed an enthusiastic interest in cross-country skiing and taught himself how to ski. He had always been fascinated with shooting, marksmanship, and competition and owned several firearms. These interests led him to serve as the California State Marksmanship Coordinator and coach the State Biathlon Team competing in both Army marksmanship competitions and biathlons. And somehow, Dan even found time to earn a Master of Science degree in Health Sciences with a concentration on Emergency and Disaster Management from Trident University International.
Dan returned to Afghanistan in 2018 as the Operations Director for the Train, Advise, and Assist Command – South, responsible for Kandahar and adjacent provinces. He led operational planning and oversight for coalition troops from the US, Australia, Romania, and Bulgaria across four Afghan provinces. This responsibility was to provide combat support including drones, aviation, artillery, and front-line advice partnering with Afghan Police and Army units. Dan was there, in person, coaching, training, and aiding in the aggressive accomplishment of his mission. He acquired the moniker of "Yea Sayer," because he constantly pushed the general officers to approve strike missions, even when there was reluctance from the rest of the command and staff. This came from his desire to employ the full range of U. S. combat assets available and apply maximum combat pressure on the Taliban forces.
The country was once again in flux, but Dan’s planning expertise helped shift the momentum. Working alongside Afghan partners, he played a key role in retaking contested areas like Tarin Kowt and reestablishing U.S. presence at key installations, including the relief of the city and airport at Tarin Kowt. He believed in the concept of forward advising, working in the field alongside Afghan forces in the battlefield, not just at their bases, and helping reinvigorate the advisory mission across the region.
When a coordinated attack left his command group pinned down in a palace, Dan’s calm leadership and battle-tested instincts helped evacuate personnel safely. Whether rebuilding infrastructure or managing crisis under fire, Dan made the complex coordination look simple and he always brought the team back in one piece. He was promoted to Colonel during his second deployment to Kandahar.
Upon his return from Afghanistan, Dan was selected to be the State Director of Plans and Operations (J3) for the California National Guard. His culminating assignment came during a historic combination of crises. Over the course of a single year, Dan planned and supervised more than 68 domestic operations, ranging from COVID-19 response and civil unrest to wildfire suppression to search and rescue. He coordinated the Guard’s earliest COVID mission, deploying the 129th Rescue Wing to a quarantined cruise ship in San Francisco Bay. As the pandemic escalated, he led statewide efforts that delivered over 1.4 million food boxes and mobilized medical strike teams for more than 347,000 hours of hospital support. His team also conducted over 150,000 COVID tests and nearly 29,000 vaccinations. In the summer of 2020, Dan directed the National Guard’s deployment to Los Angeles, Sacramento, and other parts of California in support of state and local law enforcement during the civil unrest following the death of George Floyd.
When wildfires erupted in California in July 2021, Dan’s planning enabled the swift deployment of aircraft, medevac crews, and firefighters to the state’s largest blazes, including the record-setting Dixie Fire. He also led the creation of “Task Force Rattlesnake,” a rapidly deployed wildfire fighting team that has since seen action in more than 150 incidents. In January 2021, Dan calmly helped deploy 250 California Guard soldiers to secure Washington, D.C. following the Capitol attack. In every mission Dan undertook he brought order to chaos while quietly building systems and making decisions that shaped the state’s Guard response for years to come. He completed his Guard service and retired in 2021 as a full colonel.
Dan always had a passion for physical fitness and became a certified trainer for Tacit, a strength and conditioning program. He worked with the company founder to develop his own workout routine that he then taught and coached others with energy, enthusiasm, passion, and intensity. He developed a personal mantra and philosophy of "practice, coach and compete" that he practiced in his own life and preached to family and friends. He believed this philosophy helped him and would help others to achieve success.
Dan also became enamored with "Kifaru Equipment" and became a new product tester for the company. He owned nearly every piece of gear the company produced and was a believer in the quality, superiority, and efficiency versus the Army's "Load Bearing Equipment" (LBE). He championed the equipment to all his colleagues.
Dan’s passion for maps, digital cartography, and computers defined his service. He became a lead architect of mapping tools that transformed how the Guard planned and executed domestic operations. He was well known for bringing his personal computer everywhere he went so he could test new tools, access things outside of the military network and show people his ideas.
With a knack for seeing future applications, he recognized the power of digital mapping to provide real-time insight and built practical systems that modernized operations and planning.
That same drive led him to design, build, and operate a state-of-the-art command center for the Guard, considered best in class across the nation. The center integrated cutting-edge technology from Silicon Valley with advanced geospatial awareness, giving leaders a real-time view of operations—something more often seen in movies than in real life. Military officials from Washington, state leaders, and first-responder agencies visited to see the model he created, which became a benchmark for how to integrate technology into disaster response. His innovations supported the California National Guard through COVID response, wildfires, floods, civil unrest, and major engineering deployments.
While Dan is not present to convey the "Life Lessons Learned" his career accomplishments offer these insights:
- Develop Expertise. Become an expert at something and know your craft. Learn to practice, coach, and compete.
- Achieve Family, Work, Life Balance. It is important to manage time so that equal amounts of time are devoted to these three areas. It is easy to allow one area to overshadow the other two.
- Listen to Critics, Accept Feedback, But Make Your Own Decisions. It takes bravery and courage to go against the prevailing opinions of others, but do not be afraid to take the risk and make a contrary decision if you believe you are in the right.