Col. Daniel P. Maeder to speak at Pekin Veterans Day ceremony

Pekin will host a Veterans Day program on Friday, Nov. 10. Coffee and refreshments will be at 8 a.m., with the program beginning at 9 in the high school gym.

The guest speaker will be Col. Dan Maeder, a native of Richland and a 1987 graduate of Pekin Community School District.

Maeder earned a Bachelor of Arts in Secondary Education from William Penn College in 1992, a Masters Degree in Education Leadership from Drake University in 2001, and a Specialist Degree in Education from Drake in May 2011. Col. Maeder is a 1997 graduate of Officer Candidate School at the Iowa Military Academy, the Engineer Officer Basic Course in 1998, the Engineer Captains Career Course in 2006, and Intermediate Level Education common core of the Command and General Staff College in 2011. He was promoted to Colonel in October 2021.

Col. Maeder is in his 35th year of service in the Iowa National Guard. He began his military career by enlisting into Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 224th Engineer Battalion in Fairfield, Iowa as a Combat Engineer. During his nine years of enlisted service, he served as a Combat Engineer, Assault Team Leader, and Reconnaissance NCO, and in 1991 he deployed with Alpha Company, 224th Engineer Battalion to Germany in support of Operation Desert Storm.

In 1996, Col. Maeder enrolled in Officer Candidate School and earned the commission of Second Lieutenant in 1997. His officer assignments have included Platoon Leader, Company Executive Officer, Company Commander, Battalion S4, OCS Company Commander, Battalion Executive Officer, Troop Command Assistant S3, G37 Training Division Chief, 2-34th Brigade Special Troops Battalion Commander, 224th Brigade Engineer Battalion Commander, 734th Regional Support Group S3, Garrison Commander, Camp Dodge Joint Maneuver Training Center, J3 Joint Operations Center, and currently serves as the 734th Regional Support Group Commander located at Camp Dodge in Johnston, Iowa.

Col. Maeder served as Battalion Supply and Logistics Officer during the 224th Engineer Battalion’s mobilization and deployment to Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2005. Serving a total of 18 months on active service, he was responsible for coordinating all movements of personnel and equipment to and from the Iraqi Theater of Operations. During this time, the 224 Engineer Battalion received numerous awards including the Army Meritorious Unit Commendation, the 2005 National Guard Association of the United States Walter T. Kerwin Readiness Award, the Association of the United States Army General Milton A. Record Award, and a 2005 Department of the Army Deployment Excellence Award.

Col. Maeder’s awards include the Bronze Star, Meritorious Service Medal, Iraq Campaign Medal, Army Commendation Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster, Army Achievement Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster, and the Engineer Regiment’s Bronze Order of the de Fleury Medal.

Dan and his wife Angela reside in rural Davis County, Iowa and are the parents of Mary (Sean) Kuhl, Hunter (Erica), Carson, and Cora and the grandparents of Brynlei, Adrian, and Brooks Kuhl and Hattie Mae Maeder. Col. Maeder currently serves as Superintendent of Schools for two school districts, Davis County in Bloomfield, Iowa and Moulton-Udell in Moulton, Iowa.

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