A Career Protecting Others: Alumnus Daniel Doerr Reflects on His Military Service
Making career moves while serving in the U.S. military can be tricky. “A lot of people still do it,” says Daniel Doerr, a Veteran and alumnus of the Korbel School, “even though you could be deployed and pulled away from your degree at a moment's notice. But graduate school at Korbel was worth it.”
Military service is something that appealed to Daniel from a young age. There were Veterans and active military personnel in his family, and moments like the September 11th attacks compelled him to join once he was an adult. “It’s always been about protecting people for me,” Daniel says. “That’s been a huge driving force in my life.” He began his military career in Fort Benning in Georgia — now known as Fort Moore. After deployments while on active duty in Afghanistan and again while in the Reserves to the South Pacific, he took a quick pivot to medical sales. After a break from the military, he relocated to Colorado, where he would soon re-enlist and serve at Fort Carson.
Through peers in the Denver area, he heard about the Korbel School and its expertise in security. It was an easy decision to enroll, even though he knew his military service would always come first. Thankfully, circumstances allowed him to pursue his degree uninterrupted.
Daniel graduated with his M.A in International Security in 2022, the same year his military service ended. His career trajectory has been unconventional. He’s stepped away from planned career paths for personal matters and has shifted focus once or twice. When prompted to give advice to others considering graduate school while mid-career, Daniel says to just go for it: “It was a really rewarding experience. I found community at Korbel, but since I was older and already established in Denver, I had community outside of school, too. I was similar in age to a few of my professors and had life experiences they didn’t. My professors felt like peers — peers who taught me a lot along the way.”
As an officer in the military, Daniel spent his time at Korbel side-by-side with students who had served in completely different capacities. “A good example is my peers coming in from the Peace Corps,” he says. “On the surface, the Peace Corps and the Army are diametrically opposed in their approach to foreign affairs. But we approached things with an open mind, and I’m proud of my friends in the Peace Corps and me for creating a space for open and safe dialogue. We ended up having excellent conversations about some difficult subjects, and in the end, I now approach security from a more well-rounded standpoint.”
For Daniel, Veterans Day can be challenging. “It’s a time to reflect on my own combat experiences, both positive and negative,” he says. “It tends to be somber as I think of the friends that I’ve lost, much like Memorial Day. But it’s a day to embrace the feelings and emotions that I carry with me, and also a day to pay homage to all those who’ve served. If I’m honest, it’s also a day to pat myself on the back, thinking how wild of a ride it was and how much I learned through it all.”
Daniel is currently a Physical and Digital Security Advisor for RedBag Inc. He works toward providing safety and security for K-12 school teachers, allowing him to continue protecting others as he did in the military. His security experiences — both in the Army and at Korbel — have given him unique perspectives that help him improve the safety of kids at school.
