Public Service

Dr. Fretz has lived a life of service as a result of the example his parents and his mentors in school and Scouting. Additional details beyond the list below, along with media links, are available on his Linkedin page.

SCHOOL AGE

From his early leadership roles in Scouting, to his years as a youth leader and acolyte at St. Francis Episcopal Church, he invested in leading others to good things as early as age 12. His father brought him along to donate blood at age 16 and he has donated gallons over his life.

SCOUTING (1972 – Present)

His Scouting adventures started at Bobcat, the (then) lowest joining rank and ran to Eagle. Along the way he got his Arrow of Light, and served as Junior Assistant Scoutmaster and SPL for several years. He also led a Philmont Trek.

As an adult Leader, he served in various councils as he moved around with the Navy. During his time in Hawaii, he served with Troop 180 as Assistant Scoutmaster for the Crater Scouts, and was tapped for Order of the Arrow membership. He continued as ASM and Chartered Org Rep for Troop 24 in Great Lakes, IL, while stationed there. Upon returning to Southeast Michigan, he helped with an Explorer Post and then Troop 8 and Venture 8 as ASM, Scoutmaster and Explorer and Venture Advisor. He served as District Advancement chair and was awarded the District Award of Merit. He was a Scout Lifeguard for over a decade, most famously re-certifying and teaching swimming to his Scout Troop in Saddam’s pool in Baghdad, Iraq.

In retirement, he continues to support the District and Council with fundraising and Pro Bono education events, and leadership of the Council’s Eagle Scout committee. Awarded the National Outstanding Eagle Scout medal in 2022.

AMERICAN RED CROSS (1996-2004)

Trained and served as an Instructor for 4 different centers in 2 states over 8 years. Taught Adult, Child, and Infant CPR, with AED, as well as First Aid and Disaster Preparedness.

2 gal ARC blood donor starting age 16.

GOVERNMENT/NATION

20 years of service to the US Navy, including 3 deployments to the Persian Gulf combat zone across two wars. He was given multiple awards and recognitions for his public service while in uniform.

He served the Navy after retirement for over a decade as a Pro-bono curriculum consultant and visiting professor for NETC’s “Teaching In Higher Education” course.

He serves as GS-15 State Director for the Selective Service System in the State of Michigan. His boss works for the President.

VETERANS

After retirement from the Navy, he found that serving other vets helped him recover from the mental struggle after Iraq. As a result, he became heavily involved in local veterans wherever there was a need. He built the mentor training program for one of Michigan’s first Veterans Treatment Courts (Washtenaw County), and helped start other courts.

As a result, he was asked to found a Veterans Community Action Team (VCAT), by the State MVAA, as one of 10 helping groups to coordinate information and care for 50,000 veterans across 6 states. His VCAT9 team received the Veterans Administration’s ‘Abraham Lincoln Pillar of Excellence” award and visited DC. He founded a 501c3 charity to ensure long term support for VCAT9.

After completing his PhD and being an officer in the Student Veterans of America chapter on campus, he stuck around to support them for over 10 years, Investing thousands of hours and over $100,000 he helped those veterans build the most dynamic and engaged veterans suppport system in any campus in America. This included over 200 days of programming a year, summer leadership devlopment treks, and constructing an entire veterans academic/social center without any help from the University. For this he was awarded a Distinguished Service Award and Championship Belt from the UM SVA.

He serves on the board and as part time host and producer for Veterans Radio America, which broadcasts nationwide on veterans issues.

He has served for 10 years helping establish the academic discipline of Veterans Studies, serving as an editor on the Journal of Veteran Studies and as a board member of the Veteran Studies Association.

He also serves a Pro-bono coach and mentor for the Honor Foundation, a charity dedicated to enhancing the transition of special forces veterans who are leaving the military.