Daniel McFarland

Dan served as the Chief of Human Intelligence (HUMINT) for the Director of Defense Intelligence for Sensitive Activities and Special Programs within the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence and Security. Dan led a diverse team overseeing Department of Defense global HUMINT activities and championing Defense HUMINT policy and enterprise investment. A career intelligence professional, Dan has extensive operational, special mission and special operations experience.

Prior to retirement from the United States Army, Dan served as the Principal Military Assistant to the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence and Security and as a Special Assistant to the Chief of Staff, Army. From June 2017 to April 2018, he served as a senior national security and defense consultant to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) where he guided the transformation of the UAE Armed Forces. In May 2018, Dan founded Slipstream Capital, a private equity search fund specializing in the acquisition and growth of a single high performing lower middle market company. Following the outbreak of COVID, Dan returned to government service in July 2020.

Dan's military assignments include: Director of Intelligence (J2), NATO Special Operations Component Command / U.S. Special Operations Joint Task Force (Afghanistan); Garrison Commander, Fort Huachuca, Arizona; Commander, 2d Military Intelligence Battalion; Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) HUMINT and counterintelligence staff officer (J2X); JSOC crisis action planner; and special mission unit intelligence officer (S2). Dan also founded JSOC's Joint Exploitation Squadron and served multiple operational rotations throughout Europe, Asia, the Balkans and the Middle East.

Dan was a US Army War College Fellow at the Central Intelligence Agency (2010). He holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the Citadel and a Master of Business Administration from the Sellinger School of Business, Loyola University in Maryland. Dan married Kim Winiger from Savannah, Georgia and has two sons. Christian is a graduate gemologist and Conor is an infantry lieutenant in the U.S. Army.