Dane G. Franta

From The Pentagon to Your Mortgage

I spent 20 years in the United States Air Force doing one thing: managing money at every level of the organization. At my peak, I deployed to Baghdad as the Comptroller for a 4-star theater headquarters, directly executing over $670 million in a combat zone. I then commanded the comptroller squadron at Joint Base San Antonio (the largest installation in the entire Department of Defense), managing a $618 million annual budget and payroll services for 40,000 employees. I finished my career at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, where my 29-person team managed $325 million in annual resources across three continents.

Throughout that career, I served everywhere from a forward operating base in Baghdad to the halls of the Pentagon, where I worked directly for the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force, Financial Management and Comptroller, the top financial official in the entire service. My job was to help shape the Air Force's $170 billion annual budget and five-year defense program. That's a level of financial analysis most loan officers have never encountered.

"I lead without fear to build future leaders. I challenge the status quo and the concept of doing things the way they've always been done."

I didn't retire and then figure out what to do with my financial background. I channeled it directly into real estate investing while still in uniform, and then into mortgage lending once I separated. The transition wasn't a pivot; it was a direct application of the same skills I used every day for two decades.

20 Years. 7 Countries. Billions Managed.

Commissioned in 2004 through Air Force ROTC with a degree in Economics from the University of St. Thomas, I spent my career serving on financial management staffs at every level, from a Flight Commander in Turkey to a MAJCOM Budget Analyst in Germany to the Pentagon's Budget Corporate Support branch.

I deployed twice: once to Camp Victory, Baghdad, Iraq as a Budget Officer supporting Multi-National Forces-Iraq, and once to Camp Lemonier, Djibouti as the J8 Comptroller for a Special Operations Command and Control Element. I know what it's like to make consequential financial decisions under pressure, with limited information, in austere environments.

I later earned a Master of Arts in International Relations from the University of Oklahoma and graduated from the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College. I commanded three different squadrons: Aviano Air Base, Italy; Joint Base San Antonio, Texas; and Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington, leading teams of up to 150 military and civilian personnel.

I Have Skin in the Same Game.

When you bring me an investment property deal, I'm not analyzing it theoretically. I have personally completed 54 real estate transactions (33 purchases and 21 sales), which is how I maintain a portfolio of 12 active long-term rentals alongside 9 completed fix-and-flip projects. I've used my own VA home loan benefit twice. I've been on every side of the table: the active duty borrower, the investor-borrower, and now as the loan originator.

That means when we talk DSCR ratios, projected rent, ARV on a rehab, or portfolio loan structures, I understand the real-world implications, not just the underwriting guidelines. I know what a good deal looks like, what a risky one looks like, and how to structure financing to maximize your returns.

It also means I understand the frustration of needing a lender who actually gets it. I became that lender.

Why I Became a Loan Officer

After retiring, I wanted to do work that mattered, work that played to my actual strengths. Financial analysis, structured thinking, helping people navigate complex decisions under pressure: those are the things I did for 20 years. Mortgage lending is a direct application of all of them.

I specialize in VA loans because I know the military community firsthand and understand the benefit better than most civilian loan officers ever will. I specialize in investment lending because I'm actively doing it myself. And I specialize in non-QM lending because the borrowers who need it most (the self-employed, the unconventional, the ones who don't fit a neat box) deserve someone who actually works to find them a solution.

Lead Forward isn't just a tagline. It's how I've operated my entire life. Every mission, every deployment, every deal: you move forward with a plan.