Hometown Heroes: Dan Schwarz

Master Sergeant Dan Schwarz is an active Army National Guard member assigned to Camp Atterbury. He is in Alpha Company 2/20 Special Forces Operations, which includes 88 men. He has served at Camp Atterbury since 2016.

Raised in Omaha, Nebraska, Schwarz joined the National Guard in 1996 after high school. He attended college for a year and then started working in real estate selling timeshare units. Like many people, he was sent home from work on September 11, 2001, when the terrorists attacks on the United States took place. He drove home and watched in horror as the aftermath played out on television. Two weeks later he asked to deploy.

His first mission took him to Bosnia, and he recalls not knowing what to expect. His plane landed in Sarajevo, and as he and others stepped off the plane, he saw a line of Green Beret soldiers standing tall before him. He says he was awestruck and intimidated all at one time. When he heard his name called, he was excited to find himself assigned to assist the Green Berets as they tracked down people indicted for war crimes.

Following eight months in Bosnia were three back-to-back deployments in Afghanistan. It was between the second and third deployments in 2007 that Schwarz went through the Q course, or qualification course – the first step to becoming a Green Beret. The first phase of the 63-week Q course is known as selection, and it is a three-week selection process that involves forced ruck marches, land navigation over 15 miles, individual events and team events. The final event is a road march up to 32 miles known as the Trek. Schwarz carried a 70-pound pack for 30 miles over a rigorous course with challenging demands, under less-than-pleasant weather conditions. After selection began the hard training that included SERE (survival, evasion, resistance, escape), small-unit tactics, language school, demolitions school, and the Robin Sage exercise (unconventional warfare exercises).

In 2009 he returned to Afghanistan to assist and lead operations with the Afghan commando missions. During this deployment, COP Keating base was overrun by the Taliban and a distress call was issued. At the same time, Post Fritsche was also under attack. Schwarz boarded a helicopter that was nearly shot down while pushing the enemy back. This was a rescue and recovery mission, and he went for two days without sleep.

For avid military movie viewers, the film “The Outpost” portrays the COP Keating story.

Earlier in this same deployment, in another area of the country, three of the men in his unit plus an interpreter died. Their vehicle struck an improvised explosive device as they were assisting with cleaning the valley on a village stability mission. The names of his fallen comrades are Ron, Alex and Sev.

As his unit returned from a mission in Wardak Province at Camp Airborne, a journalist snapped photos of Schwarz and his men. Unbeknownst to Schwarz, his likeness soon became an action-figure. Recognized as “the Bearded Americans,” his unit wore beards to fit into the community they were living in. While Schwarz says the action figure does not even look like him (because of the beard), the badges and name band are exact.

Deployment number five was to Honduras. While much of the work involved narcotic missions and destroying airfields, supporting the people of Honduras was a huge part of the mission. “We build relationships; we genuinely care about those people,” he says. “Down along the line if we need support from them, there are those relationships that might be leveraged someday.”

Deployment six took him to Lebanon. His unit worked with various Lebanon special forces. ISIS had control over one-fourth of the eastern pocket of the country. Together they worked on the offensive to push ISIS out of the country. Assisting others is part of his job. “We want to work ourselves out of a job by building and training others,” Schwarz explains.

Next was a six-month Iraq deployment working with the Qwat al-Khasah division fighting off ISIS.

Niger, Africa, was his last and number-eight deployment, and lasted six months. Schwarz says in many ways, it was his most challenging deployment, and he phrased it as “the tyranny of distance” because the country is so vast. He explains that teams were spread out over five countries within Africa. It was logistically hard to support them, and their resources had been reduced. On this mission his unit was part of a team effort securing the release of Sister Suellen Tennyson, an elderly nun who had been kidnapped and held hostage in 2022 in Burkina Faso for five months.

In addition to eight deployments, he has had five joint combined exercises, including two in Slovakia, one in Panama and two in Germany. He was senior leader on exercises in Paraguay, Romania, Poland and the U.K.

For someone so young, at 46, Schwarz has a full military career under his belt. When asked what he feels the highlights of his career are, he says “it’s just my job.” When prompted for specifics, he cites a time in Bosnia when they rescued women who had been human trafficked. He takes pride in COP Keating when they rescued the American soldiers. He says taking part in the rescue of Sister Suellen Tennyson was a proud moment as well.

“The most important thing I’ve gotten out of it is my teammates; that’s what I’ll cherish the most,” says Schwarz.

Schwarz’s achievements include two Bronze Stars, one Meritorious Service Medal, one Joint Commendation Medal, two Joint Achievement Commendation Medals, six Army Commendation Medals, two Army Achievement Medals, a combat Infantryman Badge, and a special Forces Tab.

While stationed in Atterbury, Schwarz met Katie (Findley) in 2018, and they married in 2021 right before he deployed to Africa. He says their family collaboration is akin to “The Brady Bunch” of television fame. Schwarz has three daughters who reside in Nebraska: Rylie, 17, McKenzie, 13, and Charlyse, 11. Katie has three children: Brody, 13, Colton, 12, and Letitia, 10. They live in rural Franklin, and his family members in Nebraska are in awe as to how well he has adapted to living in the country. In his spare time he developed a large garden and built a deluxe chicken house. He harvested and canned the rewards of his garden. He enjoys attending his jujitsu club.

Schwarz is approaching retirement. Officially, his retirement date is March 1, 2025. However he has paid leave time due, so beginning in November his life will be changing dramatically. He has taken advantage of nonprofit groups that offer resources, mentorship and networking for those leaving the military. He has already started working on his master’s degree through Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business. He says now is the time for him to “outgrown my Peter Pan syndrome and get a real job.”

When asked about his plans aside from school and a new career, he says he wants to travel the world, and then with a smile, he adds, “I want to go to the places that other people visit.”