Dan Tarbutton was born in Washington D.C. and grew up in Bethesda, Maryland. He received his Bachelor’s degree in Labor and Industrial Relations from Penn State University and was then commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the Marine Corps in 1995.

Most of Dan’s Marine Corps career was spent flying the AH-1W Super Cobra attack helicopter, including two deployments to Okinawa, Japan and three combat deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan.

In 2005, Dan was selected to join Marine Helicopter Squadron One (HMX-1) tasked with global helicopter support for the President of the United States. During this assignment, he was one of five Marine One pilots, leading helicopter missions across the United States and around the world for Presidents Bush and Obama. He also spent time as a liaison to the British Army in Afghanistan and later was the Executive Officer at The Basic School, the Marine Corps’ school for all newly commissioned officers. Dan’s personal military decorations include the Bronze Star, two Meritorious Service Medals, three individual action Air Medals and a Joint Commander’s Commendation from the British Army.

After retiring from the Marine Corps as a Lieutenant Colonel, Dan joined the Irvine Company as the Vice President of Strategic Initiatives within their multi-family business and achieved his Masters of Business Administration from the University of Southern California. In this capacity, Dan led a number of centralized operational functions, including the development and execution of a digital strategy that enabled significant evolution of the existing business model. After nine years with the company, he was recently promoted to Senior Vice President of Business Innovation. In this role, he works with and across the company’s operating divisions and corporate support groups to promote, coordinate and accelerate the company’s business innovation and transformation initiatives.

Dan lives in San Clemente, California with his wife Tanya, and two children.