Daniel James Gilbert

Dan Gilbert was born at Genesee Memorial Hospital, in Batavia, NY. on 1 December 1952. His parents are Reed D. Gilbert (deceased 2013) and Frances Arlene Owens Gilbert (deceased 2021). He has five siblings including two older brothers: Robert and Gary; two younger brothers: William and Jeffrey (deceased 1984); and one younger sister: Laurie. His very early years were spent in the Batavia, New York area where his father initially taught high school agriculture, then worked for Wayne Feeds and later Clay Equipment Corporation as a regional sales manager. His parents moved the family back to their home town of Rushford, New York in 1960 where Dan attended third through twelfth grades at Rushford Central School and graduated from high school in 1970. Dan was awarded an Army ROTC four-year scholarship during his final year of high school and thus joined the Cornell University Army ROTC program in September 1970. He graduated from Cornell University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Agriculture as a Distinguished Military Graduate and received a commission as a Regular Army Second Lieutenant of Infantry on 3 June 1974. While stationed at Fort Campbell, Kentucky he met Second Lieutenant Lila Anne Priddy. They were married at South Chapel on Fort Campbell, Kentucky on 6 January 1979. Dan served in various infantry assignments including rifle platoon leader, weapons platoon leader, heavy mortar platoon leader, rifle company executive officer, rifle company commander, assistant battalion S-3, battalion S-4, brigade S-3, brigade executive officer, division deputy G-3, and division G-3. He served tours with the 2nd Infantry Division in the Republic of Korea, the 101st Airborne (Air Assault) Division at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, the 3rd Infantry Division in the Federal Republic of Germany, the 9th Infantry Division (Motorized) and the 199th Infantry Brigade (Motorized) at Fort Lewis, Washington. He served in various general staff positions with Headquarters, Fifth Army at Fort Sam Houston, Texas, Headquarters Central Army Group in the Republic of Germany, Headquarters United States Army Central Command in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia during Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm, Headquarters V Corps in the Federal Republic of Germany, and Headquarters United States Army Europe in Taszar, Hungary during Operation Joint Endeavor. He served in several training assignments including command of the 3rd Battalion, 28th Infantry Regiment at Fort Jackson, South Carolina; Deputy Commander, Operations Group, Combat Maneuver Training Center in the Federal Republic of Germany; and Deputy Commander, Operations Group Delta, Battle Command Training Program at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. Dan’s awards and decorations include: Legion of Merit, Bronze Star Medal, Defense Meritorious Service Medal, Army Meritorious Service Medal (6th Award), Army Commendation Medal (2nd Award), Joint Meritorious Unit Award, Meritorious Unit Commendation, National Defense Service Medal (2nd Award), Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal, Southwest Asia Service Medal with 3 Bronze Service Stars, Korean Defense Service Medal, Armed Forces Service Medal, Army Service Ribbon, Overseas Service Ribbon (3rd Award), Kuwait Liberation Medal (Kuwait), Kuwait Liberation Medal (Saudi Arabia), Parachutist Badge, Air Assault Badge, and Ranger Tab. Dan is a graduate of a number of Department of Defense and Army schools including the Infantry Officer Basic Course, the Jungle Operations Training Center (Panama Canal Zone), the Infantry Officer Advanced Course, the Army Command and General Staff College, the School of Advanced Military Studies, and the Department of Defense Language Institute (German). While on active duty with the US Army, he earned a Master of Arts Degree in Business Administration and Management from Webster University in St. Louis, MO. He also earned a Masters of Military Science in Theater Operations from the Army Command & General Staff College, School of Advanced Military Studies. He retired from active duty after 23 years of service on 31 July 1997 at the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. After retiring from the Army, Dan worked 20 years in the modeling, simulations and training industry for several different defense companies including: Dynamics Research Corporation, Illinois Institute of Technology Research Institute, AB Technologies, Aegis Technologies Group Inc., SAAB Training USA, and Parsons Corporation. He held a number of positions in the defense industry including: Senior Systems Analyst, Deputy Program Manager, Program Manager, Project Manager, Operations Manager, and Vice President. He retired from Parsons on 31 December 2015 as a Vice President, but later worked part time as a Technology, Modeling, Simulations, and Training Consultant for 7 months. He retired for good in June 2017. Dan and Lila reside in Cape Canaveral, Florida.