Lawrence Guzman Romo (born July 13, 1956) is an American civil servant and former

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Aerial warfare, air military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part ...

officer. He served as director of the Selective Service System in the Obama Administration. He is a former National Commander of the

American GI Forum The American GI Forum (AGIF) is a congressionally chartered Hispanic veterans and civil rights organization founded in 1948. Its motto is "Education is Our Freedom and Freedom should be Everybody's Business". AGIF operates chapters throughou ...

, and served from August 2018 to August 2021. He is the current American GI Forum National Legislative Director and was appointed by Congressman Adam Smith to serve on the Base Naming Commission until October 2022.

Early life and education

Romo was born and raised in

San Antonio, Texas ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , subdivision_t ...

and earned his

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University o ...

degree from the

United States Air Force Academy The United States Air Force Academy (USAFA) is a United States service academy in El Paso County, Colorado, immediately north of Colorado Springs. It educates cadets for service in the officer corps of the United States Air Force and U ...

in 1978 and a

Master of Education The Master of Education (MEd or M.Ed. or Ed.M.; Latin ''Magister Educationis'' or ''Educationis Magister'') is a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. This degree in education often includes the following majors: curriculum a ...

degree from Northern Montana College in 1983.

Military career

Romo served in various assignments for the

, both on

active duty Active duty, in contrast to reserve duty, is a full-time occupation as part of a military force. In the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth of Nations, the equivalent term is active service. India The Indian Armed Forces are considered to be o ...

and in the

reserve Reserve or reserves may refer to: Places * Reserve, Kansas, a US city * Reserve, Louisiana, a census-designated place in St. John the Baptist Parish * Reserve, Montana, a census-designated place in Sheridan County * Reserve, New Mexico, a US vi ...

. He served as a

admissions advisor in various positions, supporting the operation of the Minuteman Missile Weapon and Launch System, in training operations, and as an air transportation officer. Upon retiring from the U.S. Air Force Reserve as a lieutenant colonel, Romo was the USAF Academy liaison officer director for South Texas. He joined the

United States Civil Service Commission The United States Civil Service Commission was a government agency of the federal government of the United States and was created to select employees of federal government on merit rather than relationships. In 1979, it was dissolved as part of t ...

in 1987, serving from 1987 until 1992 as an item manager for the Directorate of Special Weapons, and from 1992 through 1999, as the transition assistance program specialist at the

Kelly Field Annex Kelly Field (formerly Kelly Air Force Base) is a Joint-Use facility located in San Antonio, Texas. It was originally named after George E. M. Kelly, the first member of the U.S. military killed in the crash of an airplane he was piloting. ...

. He also served as the chairman of

Bexar County Bexar County ( or ; es, Béxar ) is a county in the U.S. state of Texas. It is in South Texas and its county seat is San Antonio. As of the 2020 census, the population was 2,009,324. Bexar County is included in the San Antonio–New Brau ...

Veterans Committee and a member of the American Legion,

, Association of United States Army, and the Military Officers Association of America. He served as chairman of the San Antonio Commission for Children and Families for the City of San Antonio, Texas. Prior to being Selective Service System director, he was the soldier and family assistance program manager for the

United States Army Recruiting Command The United States Army Recruiting Command (USAREC) is responsible for manning both the United States Army and the Army Reserve. Recruiting operations are conducted throughout the United States, U.S. territories, and at U.S. military facilities in ...

Director of the Selective Service System

While director of the Selective Service System, Romo supervised the agency that registers all United States citizens and foreign nationals living in the United States who are male (except prisoners and mental hospital patients) and who are between 18 and 26 years of age. Romo's term as director ended with the Obama administration, and he was replaced by Adam J. Copp, who served on an interim basis. President

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of P ...

later selected former Member of the

Washington State Senate The Washington State Senate is the upper house of the Washington State Legislature. The body consists of 49 members, each representing a district with a population of nearly 160,000. The State Senate meets at the Legislative Building in Olymp ...

, Don Benton, who took office in April 2017.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Romo, Lawrence 1956 births Living people People from San Antonio United States Air Force Academy alumni United States Air Force officers Montana State University–Northern alumni American civil servants Obama administration personnel