Command Sergeant Major Daniel K. Elder

United States Army

Command Sgt. Maj. Daniel K. Elder is a native of San Bernardino, California. He joined the Army in December 1981 and attended Initial Entry Training at Fort Knox, Kentucky, graduating as an infantry fighting vehicle mechanic.

During his Army career, Command Sgt. Maj. Elder served as a mechanic, recovery vehicle operator, squad leader, maintenance team chief, senior instructor, senior drill sergeant, battalion and brigade motor sergeant, first sergeant, NCO Education System lesson developer, depot sergeant major, and as both a battalion and brigade sergeant major. His served with the 13th Corps Support Command at Fort Hood, Texas, and in Iraq before he was selected to become the command sergeant major of the U.S. Army Materiel Command at Fort Belvoir, Virginia.

His most significant contributions to leader development stem from his founding of the original NCO Website and its successors, Squad-leader.com and Firstsergeant.com. He was awarded the first-ever Army Knowledge Management Pioneer Award in August 2003 by the Army CIO/G-6. In October 2005, he donated his websites to the Army, which became the BCKS NCO Net, winner of an Army 2007 AKM Award.

At the U.S. Army Sergeants Major Academy, Command Sgt. Maj. Elder served as a lesson developer. His operational deployment experience includes Operation Joint Endeavor in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Operation Iraqi Freedom.

He was selected to serve as the command sergeant major on the transition team of Army Chief of Staff Gen. George W. Casey, where he interviewed senior enlisted leaders throughout the Army. He was general editor and author for the Center of Military History book Sergeants Major of the Army and was a long-serving advisory team member for the Army Research Institute. He also authored the book Educating Noncommissioned Officers and has published numerous articles for various periodicals. He has consulted with publishers and authors for a number of other titles, including Guardians of the Republic, The Three Meter Zone and The Shake and Bake Sergeant.

Command Sgt. Maj. Elder has earned an associate’s degree from Central Texas College and a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Touro University. He is a graduate of all levels of NCOES. He has completed the Command Sergeants Major Course, Garrison CSM Course, Battle Staff NCO Course, CSM Force Management Course and the National Defense University’s Keystone Command Senior Enlisted Leader Course. His military awards include the Distinguished Service Medal, two awards of the Legion of Merit, the Bronze Star Medal and four awards of the Meritorious Service Medal. He is a recipient of the Ordnance Corps Association Order of Samuel Sharpe.

Following his retirement from the Army, Command Sgt. Maj. Elder joined Computer Sciences Corp. in 2008. He has achieved certification in knowledge management by the KM Professional Society and serves as a knowledge management advisor in support of III Corps and Fort Hood in Killeen, Texas.

Command Sgt. Maj. Elder is married to the former Gloria Reese. They have two children: Danielle, 25, a teacher in Copperas Cove, Texas, and Courtney, 21, a U.S. Coast Guard Academy cadet in the Class of 2011.