Dan was commissioned an officer in the great U.S. Army Field Artillery in 2001 through the ROTC program at the Rochester Institute of Technology. Dan was stationed in Baumholder, Germany, with the 2nd Brigade Combat Team of the 1st Armored Division from 2002 through 2005. From Germany, Dan was deployed to Iraq serving as a civil-military affairs officer and then platoon leader (2003-'04). Dan left the active service in 2005, and was recalled from the Inactive Ready Reserve (IRR) in 2007 for a second tour to Iraq, during which he served as a foreign military advisor (2007-'08).