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Dan Walton has one foot in the independent home improvement industry and one in the military but is fully dedicated to both. As a communications specialist for Do it Best, Dan also currently serves in the Indiana Air National Guard.
His career in the military started in 1993 when he joined the Air Force after spending three years at Indiana University. He served active duty in the Air Force for four years, working in avionics on the navigation systems, flight instruments and autopilot systems for fighter jets.
At the end of 2010, Dan enlisted in the Indiana Air National Guard, this time going into munitions, where he builds bombs, does missile testing and handles other related tasks.
“I’ve had two completely different jobs in my two stints in the military because of what was available at the time,” Walton says. “Both of them are a lot of fun, and I’ve had a great time learning both. They’re all related to planes, but in very different ways.”
In 2023, Dan spent almost five months deployed in Saudi Arabia and has also been deployed to two different bases in Afghanistan and one in Kuwait.
Dan’s father was a Marine and enlisted in the Indiana Air National Guard shortly after Dan was born.
“He was a master sergeant, so it was really neat when I got to call him the day I became master sergeant to let him know there’s another master sergeant Walton in the family,” Dan says.
While his father was an inspiration to him, it was falling in love in college that drove him to the military. Dan met his
now-wife Michelle during his third year in college and wanted to find a better way to provide for a family.
“I realized this was the girl who I was going to be spending my entire life with,” Dan says. “I thought instead of racking up student debt spinning my wheels at college, I could go into the military and start making money to build our lives together. So my motivation for going into the military was more of a romantic thing.”
After he left active duty, Dan worked in a factory, but he didn’t see a strong future there. When his oldest son was just a newborn, Dan heard about an opening at Do it Best in IT support, which he thought would be a good fit with his avionics background, and went for it. His instincts were right, and he moved up into the communications department where he still works 23 years later.
“I joined Do it Best for the same reason I got into the military—it was what was best for my family,” Dan says.
Tradition Lives On
Being part of a tradition that dates back to the start of the country is one of Dan’s favorite parts of serving.
“When we were deployed in Kuwait in 2014 and 2015, we were the first Air Force squadron stationed there to participate in the coalition air strikes against ISIS,” Dan says. “They reactivated us as the 332nd Air Expeditionary Wing—that 332nd designation hadn’t been used since World War II when it was used for the Tuskegee airman. So the tradition part
of serving is very cool.”
The people he has worked and served with have also been a highlight, and Dan appreciates the bonds he built with them and the commitment each of them has for the military. Dan says the military is his other family.
“You’ve literally gone around the world with them, gone to war with them, been in bunkers during rocket attacks with them,” Dan says. “The commitment to excellence in the military is unmatched, and I’ve never been able to find its equal in the civilian world. Working at Do it Best is as close as it gets. I think that’s one of the reasons why I have been here for 23 years now.”
Just Like Family
Just like Dan has his military family, he’s also become a part of the Do it Best family and the larger independent home improvement retail family. One of his favorite parts of his job is putting together the North American Hardware and Paint Association (NHPA) Young Retailer
of the Year nominations.
“The people you meet in this industry are a different breed,” Dan says. “I love the fierce independence of the retailers in this channel, and I have met some of the coolest people from across the country who have become great friends. Some of them even check on me when I am deployed overseas.”
Dan says the Air Force teaches service before self, excellence in everything they do and integrity first.
“Those are the same values we uphold here at Do it Best, putting members first and doing whatever’s best for them,” Dan says. “It truly is the closest thing I’ve ever experienced in the civilian world that equals the level of dedication you’re taught as the norm in the military.”
Do it Best has also been extremely supportive of Dan during his time in the Indiana Air National Guard. He recalls one specific time when he was deployed in Kuwait and his unit was working out of a building where the power lines had been cut, so they were building bombs by flashlights and generators.
“The commitment to excellence in the military is unmatched, and I’ve never been able to find its equal in the civilian world. Working at Do it Best is as close as it gets. I think that’s one of the reasons why I have been here for 23 years now.”
“I sent a wish list back to Do it Best, and less than two weeks later, tons of supplies showed up,” Dan says. “Do it Best doesn’t just let me be in the Air National Guard, they support me in doing it.”
In 2016, Do it Best won the Pro Patria Award from the Indiana Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve in recognition of their support of employees in the Guard and Reserves. This award is given to only one employer statewide each year.
While his military skills haven’t directly translated to his role at Do it Best, he has transferred many of the characteristics he honed, including being a quick learner and figuring out how to be adaptable.
“I had no clue how to do either of my military jobs before I started, but learned quickly,” Dan says. “Also, everything changes in the military all the time so you have to learn to take it in stride and how to work through it.”
