A New Year, New Editor – Welcome Danielle Breteau

The American Shooting Journal Welcomes Danielle Breteau As New Executive Editor.

[su_dropcap style=”light” size=”5″]D[/su_dropcap]anielle Breteau is not one to be pigeonholed or boxed in by labels as she has lived approximately three lives in one. Born in Miami and a resident of over ten different countries, Danielle comes to us with a welcome depth of knowledge in this field.

In her time Danielle has held positions as a law enforcement officer – and in that capacity a member of a specials operations and tactics team – hostage negotiations team, and an undercover unit that targeted criminals in the child pornography trade, all over and above her road patrol duties.

Over the past ten years, she has been working as a high threat security contractor for the U.S. State Department and other government agencies as well as private industry in Iraq, Afghanistan, Kuwait, Jordan, Peru and the U.S. While in Iraq, Danielle was on the ambassador’s protective detail, and operated as the first female shift leader on the Worldwide Protective Service contract. In Afghanistan she was the tactical commander for the ambassador’s motorcade, and closer to home, she has provided protection for numerous celebrities. Danielle is a certified tactical firearms instructor for handgun and shotgun, ropes and rappel master, and has been shot and stabbed on odd occasions.

A supporter of both educational and professional endeavors, Danielle has degrees in music from the Conservatoire de Danse et Musique in Lyon, France, as well as a bachelors degree in criminal justice, specializing in human body language and emergency management. Her next degree will be in mechanical engineering as it is a passion of hers. Danielle has played bass clarinet for two symphonies in France, and most recently the Colorado Symphony, speaks French and, according to her, “enough Spanish to help anyone get into trouble, but not out of it.”

In her spare time, she assisted in the development of two nationally renowned and elite shooting ranges and would like all of her readers to know that she’s “considered an expert on absolutely nothing.”

Impressive enough if you didn’t actually know Danielle, it’s completely absurd that she’s done all of these things while also maintaining an outgoing, fun, humble and personable disposition. Her hobbies include her husband of four years, John who is from Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe, and served in the Special Branch for the BSAP, hiking, shooting sports, art and, of course, learning anything new.

While Danielle also has experience in many other things – ghost writing for Tom Clancy, piloting small planes, Eddie Money’s money – she is excited about the opportunity to work with the talented people at Western Shooting Journal and hopes to bring an additional perspective to this publication and you, our loyal readers.

by Jonathan Waldrop

Photographer: Ichiro Nagata