[2] Appointed by Governor Patrick Quinn in 2012, Krumrei was the first chaplain to head any state's National Guard having never before held a position of command.

The appointment was immediately questioned by Lieutenant Colonel Grant Winsor Speece, a chaplain retired from the Minnesota Army National Guard, who correctly asserted in a letter to the editor that "it is inappropriate for a military chaplain to serve in a position of command".

Then, because of influence by Christians in the Wisconsin Army National Guard, of which at the time he was an enlisted soldier,[4] Krumrei was baptized in 1977.

Krumrei has explicitly stated his positive impressions of the skills of women who serve in military roles.

[6] Immediately before his appointment as adjutant general, Daniel Krumrei was minister of the Parkway Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Springfield, Illinois.