Currently serving as both the Land Component Commander and Director of the Joint Staff, BG D. Rodger (Dan) Waters commissioned as a second lieutenant of Aviation upon graduation from Officer Candidate School in August 1992. He started his career with the 1-285TH Attack Aviation Regiment (AH-64) at Silver Bell Army Heliport, Arizona, where he served as both attack and scout platoon leaders. As commander of the “Wolf Pack” (UH-60) he deployed with the 10TH Mountain Division for Operation Joint Guardian in Kosovo. As a lieutenant colonel he served as the first commander of the 17TH Special Troops Battalion and as a colonel he commanded the 991ST Multifunctional Brigade.
Staff assignments include a tour with the 11TH Armored Cavalry Regiment as Brigade Tactical Group operations officer at the National Training Center as Part of Operation Noble Eagle, with the 82ND Airborne Division as an Afghan National Army Planner and Operations Officer as part of Operation Enduring Freedom, and as the Security Cooperation and Partnering Division Chief for U. S. European Command. BG Waters also served as Staff Director to the U.S. House of Representatives Select Subcommittee on Intelligence and Counterterrorism, as Chair for the Department of Military Science at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas, and as a Brookings Institute Legislative Fellow.
BG Waters’s military education includes the U.S. Air Force Air War College, National War College (earning a Master of Science in National Security Strategy), Leadership at the Peak at the Center for Creative Leadership, Senior Executives in National and International Security Program at Harvard University, and Harvard Cybersecurity: Intersection of Policy and Technology. In his civilian studies, he earned a Master of Business Administration at the University of Nevada-Reno, a post-graduate certificate in Advanced Public Policy Leadership from George Washington University, and an Executive Certificate in Public Policy from Harvard University. Furthermore, he is a graduate of both the Harvard University Senior Executive Fellows Program and Syracuse University National Strategic Studies Management Course.
BG Waters's decorations include the Defense Superior Service Medal, Legion of Merit, Defense Meritorious Service Medal, the Meritorious Service Medal with one Silver Oak Leaf Cluster, and the Air Medal. He earned the Army Senior Aviator Badge, Army Aviation Badge, Parachutist Badge, Pathfinder Badge, Air Assault Badge, U.S. Navy Scuba Badge, and Ranger Tab. Additionally, he is a 1999 recipient of the General Douglas MacArthur Leadership Award.
BG Waters is happily married to the former Kimberly Jane Jenner, and they have three adult children.