Cadre & Staff

Lieutenant Colonel Daniel Peck

Professor of Military Science

LTC Peck commissioned through ROTC as an Active Duty Field Artillery Officer in 2005. He has served in training and operational positions throughout his career, most recently as Chief of Operations for Human Resources Command at Fort Knox.

Assignments include the 82nd Airborne Division, 1st Infantry Division, Temple University Army ROTC, and 210th Field Artillery Brigade (Korea). He has deployed to Afghanistan twice and Iraq once.

Education: B.S. Business and Technology Management (Clarkson University); M.Ed. Adult and Organizational Development (Temple University). Ranger-qualified and Airborne.

Lieutenant Colonel Christopher Figueroa

Assistant Professor of Military Science

LTC Figueroa commissioned as a Military Police Officer from the United States Military Academy at West Point. He later became a Foreign Area Officer with Arabic language training and security cooperation experience in Bahrain and Mauritania.

Prior assignments include company command with The Old Guard, Afghan National Police operations, and advisor training roles. Awards include the Bronze Star and Defense Meritorious Service Medal.

Education: B.S. Management (West Point); M.S. International Affairs (Georgia Institute of Technology); Associate of Arts in Arabic (Defense Language Institute).

Captain Michael Parks

Assistant Professor of Military Science

CPT Parks enlisted in 2003 as an Infantryman and later served as a Military Police Soldier and CID Special Agent before receiving a direct commission as an Engineer Officer in 2015.

He has extensive experience in protective services, deployments, and engineer leadership roles in both the Active component and Army Reserve / AGR. He joined the Vanderbilt cadre in 2024.

Education includes degrees in philosophy/theology and Geological Engineering.

Captain Jade A. Cruz

Assistant Professor of Military Science

CPT Cruz began her career as an enlisted CBRN Specialist in the Army Reserve, commissioned through the early commissioning program at New Mexico Military Institute, and has commanded Chemical companies, including a forward element in Kuwait in support of Operation Spartan Shield.

She holds a B.S. in Biochemistry with a minor in Microbiology and was selected into the Active Guard Reserve program.