Bradley Harms (BA, '95, history), a retired colonel in the U.S. Marine Corps, is one of the recipients of the 2025 Alumni Achievement Award from the University of Illinois Alumni Association. Harms will be honored alongside nine other awardees during the University of Illinois Homecoming Week, September 21-27, 2025.
Harms retired as a colonel in the U. S. Marine Corps in June 2025 after 30 years of active duty. For his final assignment, he served as chief of staff for the White House Military Office, directing a joint military command of more than 4,100 personnel supporting the president, vice president and first lady during the 2024 presidential election, transition and inauguration. The White House Military Office comprises the Presidential Airlift Group and includes Air Force One, Marine Helicopter Squadron One, Camp David, the White House Communications Agency, the White House Transportation Agency, the White House Medical Unit, the Presidential Food Service and a range of support staff.
As the longest-serving commander of Marine Helicopter Squadron One, Harms previously directed the largest aviation unit in the Marine Corps, leading more than 1,000 personnel in the 24/7, fast-paced, no-fail responsibility of providing global helicopter transportation for the president. Harms’ squadron completed more than 12,000 flight hours and 630 high-profile missions under his command, and he personally piloted more than 100 flights, including leading a combat deployment to Israel and providing support for the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landings in Normandy, France.
The grandson of a U. of I. professor and the son of two Illini, Harms received the national Navy ROTC Distinguished Naval Graduate Award when he graduated from Illinois. Commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Marine Corps, he completed training as a naval aviator and qualified as an aircraft commander for MV-22 tiltrotor, VH-3D, VH-60 and CH-46 helicopters. His assignments included combat deployments to Operation Enduring Freedom, Operation Iraqi Freedom and command of the Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 161 in Miramar, Calif.
Harms went on to graduate with distinction from the Command and Staff College at Marine Corps University with a master’s degree in military history. He graduated with highest distinction and a second master’s degree in national security and strategic studies from the U.S. Naval War College in Newport, R.I., and received a third master’s degree in international relations from The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University. He also served as the senior military fellow for the commandant of the Marine Corps at the Atlantic Council in Washington, D.C.
Harms’ awards and decorations include the Legion of Merit, the Defense Meritorious Service Medal, the Meritorious Service Medal with Gold Star, the Air Medal, the Navy/Marine Corps Commendation Medal and the Navy/Marine Corps Achievement Medal. He also was awarded the Matthew C. Perry Award for International Research by the U.S. Naval War College.
Editor's Note: This story has been adapted from the announcement on the University of Illinois Alumni Association website.