Daniel L. Davis is a retired

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

officer and an analyst of

United States foreign policy The officially stated goals of the foreign policy of the United States of America, including all the bureaus and offices in the United States Department of State, as mentioned in the ''Foreign Policy Agenda'' of the Department of State, are ...

. He was one of the earliest military officers to publicly criticize the

War in Afghanistan War in Afghanistan, Afghan war, or Afghan civil war may refer to: *Conquest of Afghanistan by Alexander the Great (330 BC – 327 BC), the conquest of Afghanistan by the Macedonian Empire * Muslim conquests of Afghanistan, a series of campaigns in ...

Early life and education

Davis was raised in

Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

, Texas, and enlisted in the Army in 1985. He briefly left military service to complete his

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

from

Texas Tech University Texas Tech University (Texas Tech, Tech, or TTU) is a public university, public research university in Lubbock, Texas, United States. Established on February 10, 1923, and called Texas Technological College until 1969, it is the flagship instit ...

, then was commissioned a second lieutenant through the

Reserve Officer Training Corps The Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC; or ) is a group of college- and university-based officer-training programs for training commissioned officers of the United States Armed Forces. While ROTC graduate officers serve in all branches o ...

program. He later received a master's degree in

international relations International relations (IR, and also referred to as international studies, international politics, or international affairs) is an academic discipline. In a broader sense, the study of IR, in addition to multilateral relations, concerns al ...

from

Troy University Troy University is a public university in Troy, Alabama, United States. It was founded in 1887 as Troy State Normal School within the Alabama State University System, and is now the flagship university of the Troy University System. It was one ...

Career

Military service

Davis served in Germany and

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

, earning the

Bronze Star The Bronze Star Medal (BSM) is a United States Armed Forces decoration awarded to members of the United States Armed Forces for either heroic achievement, heroic service, meritorious achievement, or meritorious service in a combat zone. Wh ...

during

Operation Desert Storm Operation or Operations may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * ''Operation'' (game), a battery-operated board game that challenges dexterity * Operation (music), a term used in musical set theory * ''Operations'' (magazine), Multi-Man ...

. Later, Davis left the Army to work in the private sector, while continuing to serve in the

United States Army Reserve The United States Army Reserve (USAR) is a Military reserve force, reserve force of the United States Army. Together, the Army Reserve and the Army National Guard constitute the Army element of the reserve components of the United States Armed ...

. In 2002, after the

September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...

, Davis returned to active duty. He was initially posted to the

Pentagon In geometry, a pentagon () is any five-sided polygon or 5-gon. The sum of the internal angles in a simple polygon, simple pentagon is 540°. A pentagon may be simple or list of self-intersecting polygons, self-intersecting. A self-intersecting ...

. During a second deployment to

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

, Davis was decorated with a second Bronze Star. He retired at the rank of lieutenant colonel.

Whistleblower

Davis was disturbed by what he felt was a program of official deception being presented to the public on the success of the

. In 2012, after returning to the United States, he sent a report on his observations to the

Department of Defense Office of Inspector General The Department of Defense Office of Inspector General (DoD OIG) is an independent, objective agency that provides oversight related to the programs and operations of the United States Department of Defense (DoD). DoD IG was created in 1982 as a ...

. Unclassified versions of the report were copied to several members of the

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature, legislative branch of the federal government of the United States. It is a Bicameralism, bicameral legislature, including a Lower house, lower body, the United States House of Representatives, ...

and the ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

''. Davis also wrote an article, "Truth, Lies, and Afghanistan: How Military Leaders Have Let Us Down”, published by ''

Armed Forces Journal ''Armed Forces Journal'' (''AFJ'') was a publication for American military officers and leaders in government and industry. Created in 1863 as a weekly newspaper, ''AFJ'' was published under various names by various owners in various formats f ...

'' in February 2012. The article drew praise from several U.S. lawmakers and received national press coverage, including by the ''New York Times'', ''

Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...

'', and

NPR National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...

Later career

In 2020, Davis published the book, ''Eleventh Hour in 2020 America: How America's Foreign Policy Got Jacked Up – and How the Next Administration Can Fix It.'' In 2025, Davis was selected by

Director of National Intelligence The director of national intelligence (DNI) is a Cabinet of the United States#Current Cabinet and Cabinet-rank officials, cabinet-level Federal government of the United States, United States government intelligence and security official. The p ...

Tulsi Gabbard Tulsi Gabbard (; born April 12, 1981) is an American politician and military officer serving as the director of National Intelligence, director of national intelligence (DNI) since 2025. She has held the rank of Lieutenant colonel (United Stat ...

for appointment as deputy director for mission integration. Gabbard withdrew the selection prior to Davis' appointment after news of its pendency leaked, prompting criticism from hawkish elements within the Republican Party. As of 2025, he is a Senior Fellow at the Defense Priorities Foundation. He also hosts the ''Daniel Davis Deep Dive'' podcast, analyzing war, national security, and politics.

Legacy

The Project On Government Oversight has described Davis as "one of the earliest public critics inside the military speaking out about the mounting failures in the Afghanistan War". He was awarded the Ridenhour Prize for Truth-Telling for his 2012 report on the war.

Personal life

According to Davis, his favorite film is ''

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington ''Mr. Smith Goes to Washington'' is a 1939 American political comedy-drama film directed by Frank Capra, starring Jean Arthur and James Stewart, and featuring Claude Rains and Edward Arnold. The film is about a naive, newly appointed United ...

''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Davis, Daniel L. American whistleblowers United States Army officers Texas Tech University alumni Troy University alumni Military personnel from Dallas Living people 20th-century births Year of birth missing (living people)