Soldier follows in dad’s footsteps in U.S. Army Reserves

For 19-year veteran Staff Sgt. Dan Wieman, he is following in his father’s footsteps of military service.
The Owatonna native just returned from serving a year long deployment with the U.S. Army Reserves to Djibouti Africa where he took part in Operation Enduring Freedom. This was Wieman’s third deployment as he previously served in Iraq and Afghanistan. 
He was one of 102 soldiers from the Mankato unit involved in the most recent deployment. 
Wieman credits his father, Carl Wieman, for drawing him into the military. Carl was drafted into the U.S. Army in 1972 for two years before transferring to the Army Reserves for another 25 years. Carl retired in 1998.
As a senior at Owatonna in 2001, Dan Wieman enlisted into the Army Reserves. Carl recalls talking to his son about joining. “I told him that if he joined, there is no turning back no matter how much he may not like it,” Carl said. “I also gave him the positives. You do get to travel, maybe not always to a place that you want to go to,” he added.
Dan Wieman was in Basic Training in Oklahoma in September 2001 when the 9/11 attacks put the world on edge. Nobody really knew what would happen next. At one point, they were all told they might become infantry, even though Dan had entered to be a truck mechanic. It was a time Dan’s mother, Denise, had wished she talked him out of serving the military.
During Dan’s tour in Iraq, his enlistment came up. He decided to reenlist for another six years. He hasn’t looked back ever since making that decision. He is approaching his 20th anniversary of service. 
“Dan has learned a lot in those years that he would not have learned in a normal civilian job,” Carl says. “Everything from how to get along with all kinds of people to now as a SSG and Squad Leader of how to protect and train your young soldiers. He has also had to help a few younger soldiers through some tough times while overseas,” he said. “We are very proud of him and even though he is our young son, he is like a father figure to some of the younger soldiers.”
During his most recent deployment to Africa, Dan’s work focused mostly on air travel operations. He was attached to a special forces unit. Dan is assigned six soldiers in his squad. He related how it’s easier to make six soldiers excellent rather than supervising the next level of 28 soldiers doing sub-par work. 
Dan especially enjoyed being assigned to special forces because he got to work with people from various branches of the military, including Marines, Air Force and Army. “It was fun getting to know people from all different walks of life,” he said. “We took care of each other. We all worked together,” he noted.
What complicated the deployment was the COVID-19 outbreak. “It took us out of our normal routine,” Dan said. “They restricted us on where we were going and what we did.”
While Dan is proud of following in the shadows of his dad, he jokes about putting his father in his place at times. “He tries to put his two cents in on what he did when he was in, but I remind him that times have changed,” Dan says. “There have been many changes since dad was in,” he added.
Dan began his most recent deployment on Aug. 16, 2019. When he’s not deployed, he commits one weekend every month and two weeks during the year for training with the Army Reserves.
He will return to work at the end of August as a truck driver for a company out of Faribault.  
“It is great to see Dan making a career in the U.S. Army Reserves following my footsteps,” Carl said. “We are proud of his military accomplishments. He has received many accommodations and awards, and he is a person that does not brag about them,” he said of his son. “He still stays very humble.”