Dan Godbee was born in Atlanta, Georgia on July 31, 1955. His family moved to Oak Ridge, Tennessee in 1958 and he grew up there. He was educated in the public schools of the City of Oak Ridge and graduated from Oak Ridge High School in June 1973. In his teen years Dan was active in the Boy Scouts (attaining the rank of Eagle with gold palm in 1972), the school cross-country team (lettering his senior year), his local Church (serving as a junior deacon), and the school band (playing baritone for 4 years).

Upon graduation from high school Dan attended the Georgia Institute of Technology and graduated with a Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering (with honors) in December 1976. He was awarded membership in Pi Tau Sigma (ΠΤΣ), the National Mechanical Engineering Honor Society, during his junior year. At college Dan was a student-member of the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE), the American Society of Heating, Refrigeration, and Air-conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE), and the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME). During his senior year Dan took the State of Georgia Engineer-In-Training (EIT) exam, and passed with a score of 98%.

After graduation from college Dan immediately entered the United States Army and served six years on active duty. Initially he was a Special Forces Engineer Sergeant and subsequently re-enlisted to become a Special Forces Medical Sergeant. Dan served in two units during his active military service; the 5th Special Forces Group, and the 82nd Airborne Division (1st Battalion, 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment). During six years of active duty with the 5th Special Forces Group and 82nd Airborne Division, Dan served in various positions as a Special Forces Engineer, Combat Diver, Special Forces Medic, Dive Medical Technician, and Arabic Linguist. With the 82nd Airborne Division (1st Battalion, 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment) he deployed as part of the first battalion on the Sinai Multinational Force and Observers in 1982. His experiences on active duty range from teaching demolitions to Baluchi tribes-people in Southeast Iran, to Arabic translating on the Sinai Multinational Peacekeeping Force (MFO), to advising a Sudanese Special Forces platoon near Khartoum, Sudan.

After separation from active duty in January 1983, Dan returned to Georgia Tech to continue academic pursuits in graduate study. Dan took numerous courses in Computer Science to obtain an extensive background in this critical and ever-changing area of technology. After a six month break in late 1985 to work with his Army Reserve unit as a summer trainer at West Point and to attend Special Forces Operations and Intelligence School, Dan re-entered Georgia Tech in January 1986. He obtained a Master of Science Mechanical Engineering with area of concentration in Computer-Aided Engineering (CAE), in December 1987. Dan continued his graduate education in an attempt to obtain a Ph.D. in Industrial Engineering. Dan was awarded membership in Alpha Pi Mu (ΑΠΜ), the National Industrial Engineering Honor Society in 1988. Dan completed the requirements for a second Masters Degree (Industrial Engineering) with an area of concentration in Human-Machine Systems in March 1989. For the remainder of 1989 and most of 1990 he interrupted his Ph.D. efforts to compile three manuscripts; Special Forces Bibliography, an indexed guide to references about the U.S. Army Special Forces; The Atlanta Campaign Order of Battle, a comprehensive and multiply-indexed list of units, and commanders, that participated in the Civil War campaign for Atlanta; and Dictionary of Slang and Non-Standard Russian, a lexicon of so-called “street” terms and phrases usually left out of standard language dictionaries. (He also produced a companion Order of Battle Chart which he copyrighted but has not published.)

During graduate school, Dan worked as a private engineering consultant, primarily providing hardware upgrades and software installation and training to local businesses and the U.S. Army at Fort McPherson, GA . He served in B Company, 3rd Battalion, 11th Special Forces Group in the U.S. Army Reserve (Columbus, GA) from May 1983 to June 1994 when the unit was inactivated. He was activated with the Army Reserve for Operation Desert Shield in 1990. In the 11th SFG Dan served as a Special Forces Medic, Intelligence Sergeant, Team Sergeant, and Company Operations Sergeant.

In October 1990 Dan went to the U.S. Army Civil Affairs and Psychological Operations Command (USACAPOC) G-3 Special Projects for the first fielding of the Center Level Application Software (CLAS) System. After completing implementation and training, Dan worked at the CLAS development office at Fort McPherson, Georgia for several more months.

Dan married the former Marcia Louise Dillaha of Atlanta, Georgia on June 29, 1991. For the balance of 1991 and most of 1992 Dan did several periods of duty with his Army Reserve unit; Company B, 3rd Bn, 11th SFG. Dan attended Special Forces Paramedic Class Number 3 where he was class leader and graduated 3rd in his class. Dan’s first child, Walter William, was born on August 3, 1992. Soon afterward Dan participated in Recovery Operations after Hurricane Andrew for three weeks where he ran a primary care medical clinic in the Perrine Army Reserve Center. Dan’s wife, Marcie, was an Associate School Psychologist for the Heard County school system for five years. For three years Dan was the full-time caregiver for his child, Walter.

Dan attended medical school at Mercer University School of Medicine in Macon, GA and graduated with an M.D. on May 29th, 1999. In medical school Dan was a member of the Christian Medical and Dental Society (CMDS), serving as Secretary-Treasurer in his second year. During his senior year Dan was elected President of the Student Government Association (SGA), and also received student of the year awards in Emergency Medicine and Anesthesia.

Dan did his Emergency Medicine residency at Louisiana State University Medical Center – Earl K. Long in Baton Rouge, LA and served as Chief Resident his final year. Dan was the Inaugural recipient of the Ed Howell Award for Resident Research and member of the Executive Committee of the Louisiana College of Emergency Physicians. His second child, Amelia Anne Godbee, was born on June 25, 2000.

In March 2003 Dan was activated with the Army Reserve and served as an Arabic Linguist and Deputy Brigade Surgeon for the 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division with the first deployment of an Army STRYKER Brigade in combat. While on that deployment, Dan served as the Minister of Health for Ninewah Province, Iraq. As the Minister of Health Dan directed 15 public hospitals, 4 private hospitals, 200 primary health clinics, set-up an EMS system of 60 ambulances, and managed a budget of $35 million.

Dan was in the Florida Army National Guard from 2005 to 2018. As the Battalion Surgeon for the 3rd Battalion, 20th Special Forces Group (Airborne), Dan served a second combat tour in Iraq in 2006-2007, and then a third combat tour in Afghanistan in 2010-2011.

Dan’s military service includes time in Iran, Israel, Egypt, Sudan, Germany, Great Britain, Denmark, Kuwait, Iraq, and Afghanistan.

He is an Emergency Medicine Physician and worked as a faculty physician in the Emergency Medicine Residency Program at Earl K. Long Hospital for 13 years. Dan held Directorships in Advanced Life Support and Emergency Ultrasound at LSU Medical Center – Earl K. Long Hospital. He has been an attending physician at Our Lady of the Lake Medical Center in Baton Rouge and at Lane Memorial Hospital in Zachary, LA.

He’s the Medical Director for East Baton Rouge Parish and the City of Baton Rouge Emergency Medical Services. He serves on the department’s Special Response Team and Hazardous Materials Team. In addition, he is the medical director for all eleven Fire Departments in East Baton Rouge Parish and the City of Baton Rouge Police Department. He actively serves on the East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff’s Office Dive Team.

In his past volunteer efforts, he was the Council Physician for the Istrouma Area Council of the Boy Scouts of America, along with being an assistant-Scoutmaster and an assistant-Cubmaster. He was medical director of the LSU Fire and Emergency Training Institute and was a volunteer firefighter-medic for Fayette County Fire and Emergency Services in Fayetteville, GA. Currently, he is an instructor at the National Fire Academy in Emmitsburg, MD, and for two tactical medicine courses (Basic Tactical Operational Medical Skills in Houston, TX and CONTOMS with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.) For over 20 years Dr. Godbee has been a contributing editor and the medical editor for the Journal of Special Operations Medicine.

Dan’s wife of 33 years is Marcia Dillaha Godbee who is originally from Little Rock, AR. She was a school psychologist in her professional life. They have two children, a son Walter who is 32 years old and a daughter Amelia who is 24 years old.

Both of his parents were natives of Georgia and were married in Atlanta. His father, Dr. Herschel W. Godbee, was from Savannah and was a retired Chemical Engineer research scientist from Martin Marietta Energy Systems in Oak Ridge, Tennessee; and also an adjunct professor of Nuclear Engineering at the University of Tennessee. His mother, Doris G. Godbee, was from Atlanta and was a Registered Nurse in Oak Ridge. His older brother, J. Douglas Godbee, was an Assistant District Attorney for the 5th Judicial Circuit of Tennessee in Rogersville, Tennessee. His younger brother, Benton A. Godbee, is a scheduler at the Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland, Ohio.