then Add to Home Screen.
A part-time Indiana Army National Guard lieutenant colonel with a wealth of government relations experience in her home state and the nation’s capital has joined the association staff.
Danielle Chrysler will work on joint and personnel issues for the NGAUS government affairs team.
Her portfolio includes the association’s No.1 issue, Duty Status Reform, as well as GI Bill parity and military construction.
She is stepping in for Julian Plamann who is preparing to serve as the Maryland National Guard’s bilateral affairs officer in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Maryland and BiH are linked in the Guard’s State Partnership Program.
Chrysler and Plamann worked together at the National Guard Bureau.
“Julian and I were battle buddies back in LL [the NGB legislative liaison shop],” Chrysler said.
“We are extraordinarily lucky to have Danielle join the team,” said Jon Eisberg, the NGAUS vice president for government affairs. “She comes to us with immense experience and knowledge not just about the Hill, but also about the Guard.”
“Danielle is the perfect fit to temporarily take the joint portfolio while Julian completes her Guard assignment overseas,” he continued. “Danielle knows the issues, has the right contacts and has all of the skills and personality to advance our members’ goals.”
Chrysler, or DC as she is known to friends and colleagues, started work at the National Guard Memorial, the association’s headquarters in Washington, D.C., shortly after the 148th General Conference & Exhibition, in Indianapolis, where she was part of the host state’s ops team.
Chrysler joined the Indiana Guard in 2009, planning only to serve for “four years,” she said with a chuckle. “It took over my life.”
She has held key leadership roles throughout her career, including executive director of the Indiana Office of Defense Development and Army Congressional Branch chief at NGB.
She also served as legislative director for former Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels.
Chrysler comes from a long line of Indiana Guardsmen. One of her grandfathers was a top warrant officer in the Indiana Army Guard, and her sister served in the Army Guard before moving over to work intelligence on the Air side.
She didn’t join the Guard right out of school, but much later after she lost a friend, Senior Chief Petty Officer Dusty Marcum, who was killed in Bagram, Afghanistan, Sept. 12, 2008.
“I really felt the need to serve,” she said. “It means so much to me.”
(In September, Jennifer Hickey, the NGAUS deputy director of communications, ran the Midwest Everest 50-miler in honor of Marcum.)
Later, Chrysler deployed to the Middle East in 2019-2020 with the 38th Infantry Division as part of Task Force Spartan, where she served as executive officer for Maj. Gen. Gordon Ellis, commander of the 38th ID.
Today, Chrysler commands the Indiana Medical Readiness Detachment, a battalion-level asset responsible for the wellness of all Army Guard Soldiers in the state.
She has been a true citizen-Soldier supporting the Guard for years.
“I’ve always been a life member of NGAUS,” she said. “I remember coming here with all the captains,” for an early OPD program prior to what is now called Capitol Summit.
She continues to be active in her state association, currently serving as secretary of the National Guard Association of Indiana.
Chrysler graduated from Butler University with a bachelor’s degree in political science and has a master’s degree in business/finance from Indiana Wesleyan University.
An avid baseball fan, Chrysler was excited to attend her first World Series game last week by happenstance. She was in Tampa for a defense forum and was able to find tickets to watch the Tampa Bay Rays host the Milwaukee Brewers.
A native of Whiteland, Indiana, she currently resides in Arlington, Virginia.
—By Rich Arnold
