Daniel
Blackmon

Bio

Twenty-eight years in uniform.

Colonel (Ret.) Daniel Blackmon served twenty-eight years as a United States Army officer, retiring at the rank of Colonel. A 1997 graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point, he held command and staff positions across the Army, including assignments in operations, planning, and leadership development.

West Point Association of Graduates.

Dan currently serves as a Class Advisor for the West Point Association of Graduates — the institutional role that connects classes of cadets to the alumni network that supports them throughout their service careers. The position requires a sustained relationship with the Academy, its faculty, and its admissions community.

MIT Seminar XXI.

Dan is a Senior Fellow of MIT's Seminar XXI — the MIT executive education program for senior military officers, government leaders, and national security professionals.

Father of two West Point cadets.

Dan is currently coaching two of his own sons through their West Point cadet experience. The same disciplined preparation pathway he used with his eldest son — from competitive high school recruit, to a Certificate of Appointment from the United States Military Academy, to dress gray cadet uniform — is the blueprint FORGE was designed to repeat for students nationwide.

Why FORGE.

Dan founded FORGE because the families he watched succeed had one thing in common: access. Access to someone who had walked the path, knew the standards, and would coach the student through every step. That access is not democratically distributed. FORGE was built to fix that — for the most motivated students, regardless of geography or resources.

Coaching is not delegated at FORGE. Every coach is personally vetted — professionals who have walked this path.