LeRoy Frahm

LeRoy came to Lawrence in 1975. He has broad experience in electronics, from electronic tubes to solid state and surface mounted-technology. He has built and designed electronic equipment, physics demos, and resurrected old electronic instruments for faculty, plus the usual troubleshooting and repairs for faculty research and laboratory support in the physical sciences. LeRoy has helped many offices on campus with his troubleshooting and repairs. Among those were the Lawrence Chapel’s electronics in the construction of the Brombaugh organ; and for the Theater Department’s production of The Devil and Danial Webster, he designed and constructed a wireless self-igniting cigarette for the Devil!

LeRoy Frahm joined the US Air Force in 1966, serving 2 tours in Vietnam working forward operating locations on fixed-wing AC-119 Shadow gunships.

After the Air Force, going to school on the GI Bill®, he joined the 440thAW, Milwaukee. His last 13 years in the Reserves, LeRoy was the First Sergeant for the 440th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron, and was an adjunct instructor in the Professional Development Center, Robins AFB.

LeRoy holds several certifications by Air University, Maxwell AFB as an academic instructor and a facilitator in Total Quality Management (TQM), Stephen Covey’s The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Senior Enlisted and Junior Officer Leadership Development. Among the courses at the First Sergeant Academy, he taught USERRA, UCMJ and Counseling.

His final deployment was Operation Iraqi Freedom, as First Sergeant for the lead C-130 Expeditionary Wing, was responsible for about 500 maintainers and flyers, launching 28 missions around the clock, from Iraq to Afghanistan. LeRoy retired as a Chief Master Sergeant in 2005.

LeRoy is a volunteer with Employer Support for the Guard and Reserve, trained as an Ombudsman, and received the National Ombudsman of the Year Award in 2009. As the Wisconsin Ombudsman Director, he is considered a “go-to” subject matter expert on USERRA in Wisconsin.

In 2021, the Department of Defense awarded LeRoy, the James M. Roche Spirit of Volunteerism Award for exceptional contributions to ESGR’s mission over a sustained period of time. This is the highest award for a civilian volunteer in DOD.