Lt Col Leah M. Meyer is the Department Chair and Professor of Aerospace Studies and Commander of Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps (AFROTC) Detachment 410, at the University of St. Thomas, St. Paul, MN. She is responsible for recruiting, educating, and training students from among fifteen universities and colleges for commissioning into the Air Force and Space Force as second lieutenants.
Lt Col Meyer was commissioned in 2006 as a distinguished graduate from AFROTC Detachment 415 at the University of Minnesota – Twin Cities. Her career includes a variety of experiences across 4 Air Force Specialty Codes, and she is dual-qualified as a Contracting Officer and Maintenance Officer. As a Contracting Officer, she lead an ACAT source selection at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio for the Afghan Trainer Program, traveling to Afghanistan to lead site visits in support of Combined Joint Special Operations Task Force-Afghanistan (CJSOTF-A). As a Maintenance Officer, she ultimately served as the Officer-in-Charge of the CV-22 fleet in the 71st Aircraft Maintenance Unit and deployed to Uganda and leading a team of 45 working Aircraft Battle Damage Repairs. In 2015, she graduated Air Command and Staff College (ACSC) at Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama as a Distinguished Graduate. Following ACSC, she was the Director of Staff for Officer Training School at Maxwell AFB, AL. She then served as Commander of the 5th Contracting Squadron at Minot Air Force Base from 2019-2021.
Prior to her current assignment, Lt Col Meyer served as the Executive Officer for the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Contracting, Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics, Washington, D.C. She supported all aspects of contracting relating to the acquisition of weapon systems, logistics, operational and enterprise efforts for the Air Force and provides contingency contracting support to the geographic combatant commanders. She was part of a highly skilled staff of mission-focused business leaders and acquisition change agents that delivered $825 billion in Space, Air Superiority, Global Strike, Global Mobility and Information Dominance platforms. She also supported the training, organizing and equipping of 8,000 contracting professionals, who execute programs worth over $65 billion annually.
- Meritorious Service Medal with two oak leaf clusters
- Air Force Commendation Medal with four oak leaf clusters
- Air Force Achievement Medal with one oak leaf cluster
- National Defense Service Medal
- Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal
- Nuclear Deterrence Operations Service Medal
- Global War on Terrorism Service Medal