http://www.al.com/news/huntsvilletimes/index.ssf?/base/news/120954699038640.xml&coll=1
COL. STEVEN FRONIABARGER
Anti-establishment protester decided to change sides
In the '60s, he marched with the rest of the anti-war crowd, waving
draft cards and chanting, "Hell no, we won't go."
He was one of the first arrested for demonstrating, and in 1968, after
the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., he vowed to remain anti-
establishment.
But John F. Kennedy's famous challenge - "Ask not what your country
can do for you; ask what you can do for your country" - always stuck
in Army Reserve Col. Steven Froniabarger's mind. It later changed his
life.
"I stepped back and took a look at myself and said, 'You know what,
this could go in the wrong direction and I could get in a lot of
trouble,' so I divorced myself from that," said the 58-year-old
Froniabarger, who joined the U.S. Army when he was 28 years old.
"That speech caused me to change course. I was able to catch myself
and redirect my aggressions into something productive for this
country."
Froniabarger went to Wiley College in Marshall, Texas, and moved back
to his home state of Illinois after graduation in 1975, but his
business degree left him overqualified for his factory job.
Realizing that he was heading for a dead end in his career,
Froniabarger left and joined the Army.
A stint in Germany led to one of his great ideas - one that he said
will outlive him.
He saw soldiers unable to train because once their targets were
destroyed, they had to wait on them to be replaced. But Froniabarger
found a way to repair those targets and keep the ranges operational.
"My idea, after 30 years, is still valid, still relevant," he said.
"Every target that is repaired is the result of my idea."
Froniabarger had a knack for teaching, and he was able to relate to
fellow soldiers and train them without losing his pupils in jargon and
technical terms.
He left Germany and spent seven years in Korea as a contingency
contracting officer. He donned his battle gear every day and
volunteered for the most dangerous or most unwanted jobs.
"I've always taken those jobs that no one else wanted to do and made a
career out of it," he said.
He continued that trend when he settled in the Reserve, taking on the
much-dreaded task of arranging military funerals.
At the time, Froniabarger couldn't guarantee a 21-gun salute for
veterans' families, so he promised instead to tell them about their
loved one's service, since many families of those veterans heard
little about their military careers while they were alive.
"I wanted them to know," he said. "I wanted them to hear what I had to
say about their loved one's service because it's not going to be very
long before we pass the key to this country to (their children and
grandchildren)."
Froniabarger now manages contracts for the Patriot missile system. He
hopes to focus on teaching younger children to appreciate math and
science.
He plans to stay involved with the Army as long as he can.
"I was one of those guys that was against the establishment," he said.
"But now look at me. I'm part of the establishment."
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