Alumni in Action: Daniel Reither Went from Marine Corps Officer to Software Engineer at CACI — and Keeps Sending the Ladder Back Down

Daniel Reither spent eight years on active duty as a telecommunications planner and officer in the Marine Corps, then kept serving as an engagement leader and software engineer for the Marine Innovation Unit. He'd always been the guy who wanted to know how things worked — a self-described "DIY guy" who loved building things. The pandemic finally gave him the time to sit down and learn how to build with software. "As soon as I learned even just like a fraction of how to do it, I was hooked," Daniel said. "I knew that's what I wanted to do after leaving active duty."

Finding a community, not just a curriculum

Daniel had plenty of bootcamps to choose from. Code Platoon won him over before he'd even finished reading the website. "As soon as I read Code Platoon's mission statement, I knew that's where I wanted to go to become a software engineer," he said. What sealed it was the people he'd be learning alongside — veterans, transitioning service members, and military spouses who shared his origin story. "It was really comforting to be in this new world with not familiar faces, but people that spoke the same language," Daniel said.

Drinking from a fire hose

Daniel graduated from Code Platoon's Romeo Fullstack Software Engineering Platoon, and he's candid that the program was harder than he expected. "I felt like I was trying to drink from a fire hose that was hitting me directly in the face," he said. What got him through it was feeling like a teammate, not a customer. "The staff and instructors were so supportive the entire time. They really made it their mission for me to be a success. I never felt like just a student paying tuition."

His "aha" moment wasn't even a graded assignment. Each week, someone in the cohort ran the retro — and whoever's photo popped up on-screen was up next. Daniel, fresh off learning how to deploy a Django app, decided to rebuild that random picker himself, just for fun. "It wasn't something I had to do," he said. "But I was able to build this really simple — but interesting — way to display who's up next. It was a little rudimentary, but I had so much fun doing it. That was the moment I was like, wow, this is really cool."

From Career Services to a paid apprenticeship at Travelers

That same support carried into the job search. Career Services built a framework for the chaos of hunting for a first tech job — structured hours for applications, interview prep, and networking with fellow students and alumni. But Daniel points to something bigger: employer relationships. "The real power of Code Platoon during that time was the connections that they made with other employers," he said. Career Services brought Travelers Insurance's Engineering Development Program in front of Daniel's entire cohort — and four of his 33 classmates, Daniel included, landed roles there.

That connection turned into a one-year paid apprenticeship with Travelers, which turned into a full-time engineering role. "There wasn't a set tech stack that we were going to fall in on," Daniel said of the transition. "A lot of the skill sets I picked up at Code Platoon made that easier — it was about being nimble, playing to my strengths, and knowing where I was a little weaker."

Still holding the ladder

Daniel has since moved on from Travelers, relocating to Chicago for a new role with CACI — but he hasn't moved on from Code Platoon. He's an active champion for the program inside CACI, regularly flagging open roles back to Career Services for new graduates. "All the success that I have from leaving the military up until right now, I really owe to Code Platoon, its staff, and its network of professionals," Daniel said. "I want to make sure I'm holding the ladder there for other members of the military community who are transitioning out, or veterans or spouses trying to start a new career in something they're excited about."

His advice to incoming cohorts: stop thinking of this as becoming a software engineer, and start thinking of it as becoming an entrepreneurial technologist. "Find someone else's problem, build a solution, find your customer, and sell it — and sell yourself," he said. "You're going to change the world around you, and you're going to be handsomely compensated while doing so."

Thinking about your own transition into tech? If you're a veteran, service member, or military spouse weighing what's next, Code Platoon's programs are built to get you there — Career Services included. Apply to Code Platoon and start writing your own story.