MSG Daniel Chandler
MSG Daniel Chandler was born at Ft. Lewis, WA and grew up all over the United States and Europe. He had the opportunity to call Washington State, Colorado, and New York as home and primarily grew up in New Jersey. Daniel was able to spend time living in Munich, Kasierslauter, and Baumholder, Germany. He enlisted into the U.S. Army in July of 2007 with an 18X contract and attended the U.S. Infantry School at Ft. Benning, Columbus, GA. Upon successful completion of Infantry School, Dan attended Airborne School where he earned the Airborne Parachutist Badge in October of 2007.
His first assignment was as a Special Forces Trainee in 1st Special Warfare Training Group (Airborne), Special Warfare Training Center (SWTC), US Army John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School (USJFKSWCS), Ft. Bragg, NC. Dan started his time in the Special Operations Preparation course prior to attending Special Forces Assessment and Selection (SFAS) in February 2008 where he was successfully selected to attend the Special Forces Qualification Course (SFQC). While attending SFQC, Dan attended and successfully completed Warriors Leadership Course (WLC), French foreign language training, Small Unit Tactics (SUT), to include Survival, Evasion, Resistance, and Escape (SERE), Special Forces Engineer Training, and Robin Sage. Dan graduated from the SFQC in July of 2010 and was awarded the coveted Green Beret.
Next assigned to Charlie Company, 3rd Battalion, 10th Special Forces Group (Airborne), he was assigned as an Engineer Sergeant on his first Special Forces Operation Detachment-Alpha (SFOD-A) from August 2010 to July 2014. While a member of his SFOD-A, Dan deployed multiple times to Africa where he was a Primary Instructor of SUT during a Joint Combined Exchange Training. He later deployed back to Africa in support of missions that covered the central African region. Dan deployed a third time to Djibouti, Africa. Dan ended his time with his first SFOD-A with a deployment to Afghanistan. During his time, he was able to attend and pass Ranger School.
In 2014, Dan was assigned to Alpha Company, 1st Battalion, 10th Special Forces Group (Airborne) in Stuttgart, Germany. He found himself back in Afghanistan immediately upon reporting to Germany. After successfully completing his deployment, Dan was reassigned to Charlie Company 1st Battalion. During his time in the 1st Battalion, Dan deployed and trained alongside multiple military forces in Central Europe, Baltic, and Balkan regions while supporting NATO initiatives. While assigned to Charlie Company, Dan was able to attend and successfully complete the Special Forces Sniper Course, Military Freefall Course, and the Static Line Jumpmaster Course.
From 2018-2021, Dan was assigned to the 2nd Special Warfare Training Group (Airborne), SWTC, USJFKSWCS, Ft. Bragg, NC to be an instructor at SFARTAEC and SFSC. He was fortunate to have the opportunity to teach and train fellow Green Berets and to advance their capabilities in specialized tactics of long-range marksmanship, rifle marksmanship, and direct-action techniques.
After completing his time as an instructor, Dan returned to 10th Special Forces Group and was assigned to the Bravo Company, 2nd Battalion and went back to a SFOD-A. As an SFOD-A Team Sergeant, he was in charge of leading 10 Noncommission Officers of a Military Freefall SFOD-A. During his time as a Team Sergeant, he deployed two more times to Europe.
Dan enjoyed his time in the Special Operations community for 17 years and was sad to leave the 10th Special Forces Group. However, Dan is super excited to be here at the University of Arizona and has a strong connection to the community. While training in the Tucson area, he was able to experience the uniqueness of Tucson and was happy to take his final assignment here at the Army ROTC program as the Senior Military Science Instructor (SMSI). Dan enjoys military tactics and is eager to help mentor the next generation of US Army Officers. In his free time, Dan is pursuing a degree in Economics, and he enjoys working out at the gym, being outdoors, and riding his motorcycle.
MSG Chandler’s awards and decorations include the Bronze Star Medal, Meritorious Service Medal, Army Commendation Medal, Army Achievement Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal, Afghanistan Campaign Medal Campaign Star, Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, NATO Medal, the Combat Infantry Badge, Parachutist Badge, Military Freefall Parachutist Badge with Bronze Service Star, Military Freefall Jumpmaster Parachutist Badge, German Jump Wings, Ranger Tab, and the Special Forces Tab.