Danny Keeton, my Technician, has been a regular Mr. Fix-it for most of his life. At the age of four, he disassembled pocket watches, reassembly proved to be a bit more difficult at that time. He began repairing his own cars as a teenager and continues that practice today. Dan has worked extensively in the field of electronics since 1974.

Dan graduated from Morgan County High School in 1970; attended Morehead State University for one semester after high school then enlisted in the Army in January 1971. He began his Army career as a private and retired as a Chief Warrant Officer II. While on active duty he worked as a UH1 helicopter crew chief (the guy in charge of keeping the bird in flying condition); a weapons specialist for Cobra helicopters, he ran a Cobra armament and avionics (radios and "black boxes" that controlled the missile systems on the aircraft) repair hop during his tour of duty with a combat aviation unit. As a Warrant Officer he ran the weapons repair section for Central and South America while stationed in the Republic of Panama, and repaired weapons systems on the M1-A1 and M1-A2 Abrams tanks, including laser range finders; night vision equipment; turret control boxes; all computer systems. At his last duty station, he was responsible for the weapons control computers (Line Replaceable Units) on individual tanks, fire control equipment, artillery, Bradley fighting vehicles. He also repaired TOW Missile systems.

During his years with the Army, Dan completed a Devry Institute of Technology course in consumer electronics. The course consisted of constructing several pieces of electronic equipment, and the "final exam" in 1975 consisted of building a 25 inch solid state color TV. He successfully completed the course and watched the television for another fifteen years. He used his newly acquired knowledge in electronics to perform reasonably priced repairs for his friends and co-workers.

While on Active Duty, he studied and then taught electronics at the University of Hawaii. After retiring from the Army, he worked at the Louisivllle, Kentucky Circuit City Service Center for nearly 14 years before the Center was moved to Marion, Illinois. Dan repaired VCRs, televisions, CPUs, computer monitors, DVD players, audio equipment, and satellite receivers. He trained and supervised a staff of five technicians who repaired satellite receivers for Sony and Hughes Corporation. He also managed to earn both a Bachelor of Arts and Master of Science degree from the University of Louisville while working full time at Circuit City.

For the past year, Dan has been repairing McIntosh and Marantz audio, both tube and solid state, for his Nephew, Timothy.

AWARDS: He won First Region Aviation Soldier of the Year in 1975. That came about primarily because he took the initiative and implemented his idea to improve the firing capablity of the M134 mini gun. Using a very simple technique involving the ammunition loading system, he changed the mini-gun from an exercise in frustration for the Air Cavalry to one of the smoothest operating weapons they could have hoped for at that time. He submitted the suggestion, field tested and successful, that would insure that the number of rounds that a mini-gun could fire would be limited only by the amount of ammunition that could be carried, but the decision makers at the top decided that it just couldn't work. (I'm sure someone's, a contractor who supported a U.S. rep's campaign, bottom line would have been adversely affected by implementing that idea, but that's just me.)

Dan emerged as distinguished graduate (top of the class) from every military school that he attended, i.e., Aircraft Maintenance 1971; Aircraft Weapons System Repair - 1975; NCOES - 1975; Warrant Officer Candidate Course - 1984.

He is ISCET certified electronics tech and is also an test administrator for ISCET (International Society of Certified Electronics Technicians).

He is Microsoft A+ certified.