Dan Ritter, National Park Service Supervisory Exhibits Specialist, Historic Preservation Training Center

What was your role in the military and your dates of service?
I served as a Paratrooper with the 82nd Airborne Division, in the United States Army from Sept 1997 through Sept 2000.

How did you come to work for National Park Service?
I had always dreamed of working for the National Park Service (NPS) as child through visiting many National Parks with my family growing up. Following my enlistment, I attended college and university completing my Bachelor of Science Parks and Recreation Management and Master of Science in Resource Management. I accepted and worked in positions with the U.S. Forest Service, until accepting a position with the NPS in 2016.

What role do you play in National Park Service today?
I currently am a Supervisory Exhibits Specialist, Section Manager within the Historic Preservation Training Center (HPTC). I am charged with establishing and building one of several expanding HPTC Regional Support Teams operations centers across the country. I currently live and work in St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands,

Dan with a group of Youth Conservation Corps kids in St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands

operating within a partnership agreement with Christiansted National Historic Site. The Historic Preservation Training Center (HPTC) is dedicated to the safe preservation and maintenance of national parks or partner facilities by demonstrating outstanding leadership, delivering quality day-labor services, and developing educational courses that fulfill the competency requirements of National Park Service employees in the career fields of Historic Preservation Skills, Facility Maintenance, Risk Management, and Planning, Design, and Construction.