VETERAN SALUTE: Working in the NCIS Army equivalent

TOPEKA (KSNT) – Dan Danker felt he had possibly one of the best jobs in the military.

Working for the Army equivalent of the NCIS, Dan spent four years overseas in Germany working in the Criminal Investigation Division Intelligence Field Office.

When Danker was drafted back in 1969, the conflict in Vietnam and the Cold War were both in full swing.

“The Army and the U.S. Military in Germany was acting basically as a tripwire in case Russia invaded,” Danker said.

Serving four years across the ocean, Dan found himself in the middle of that conflict.

“Our job, the third armored division, was tasked with stopping the Russians,” Danker said. “My job was one of the little support cogs in that third armored division.”

Dan was assigned to an operation called Detachment D of the 503rd MP Company CID. That operation kept Dan on his toes inside and out of the intelligence office.

“On occasion, I was sent somewhere with documentation to deliver as a courier, or sent to meet someone and escort them somewhere,” he said. “The job had a fair amount of variety to it.”

Focusing on the intelligence and military police side of the job kept that office position interesting year-round.

“Any military operation needs both of those functions,” Danker said. “At the time of battle nobody cares about paperwork, but the rest of the time the Army runs on paperwork. That’s what keeps the gas flowing.”

Today Dan is fully retired in Topeka, where he’s keeping in close contact with family across the country.