MLB’s Joe DiMaggio and Ted Williams. The NFL’s Alejandro Villanueva. The NBA’s Giannis Antetokounmpo.

There are few professions which rely on discipline as much as the military and sports, and even fewer people who have had careers in both. Those athletes often take breaks from their professional playing careers to serve time — Williams famously broke up his baseball career when he was drafted to serve in the Marines in World War II — but the Aviators’ James Franklin is not one of them.

Franklin, in his second year with Los Angeles and third in the UFA, is currently on active duty in the U.S. Air Force as an aircraft electrician after enlisting in 2013 upon graduating high school. While he is currently stationed in Los Angeles, Franklin’s service has taken him around the world, as he’s served in both South Korea and England.

“I've seen so much of the world, and I met so many amazing people,” Franklin said. “That's kind of what I got out of it.”

His first stop abroad took him to RAF Lakenheath, which is over 70 miles northeast of London and within 30 miles of Cambridge. Working on the F-15 jet, Franklin enjoyed the hands-on work of putting a plane back together and seeing his fixes work in action.

“[It’s] just so gratifying to have a problem, troubleshoot it, fix it, and then see the jet take off successfully,” Franklin said. “I was a pretty good electrician, but man, just the friendships I made along the way kept me in it and the travel experiences, and it's provided for me well. And it's not just financially, but like, spiritually and mentally, it's provided for me a lot.”

Even with his travels overseas, Franklin kept up with the game he fell in love with in his youth.

Growing up in Dothan, Alabama, Franklin stumbled onto a pickup game of ultimate. The now 6-foot-6 Franklin had tossed the frisbee around with his dad and sister but never was into field sports, competing as a swimmer when he was younger. 

“I had such poor field awareness and I just, I sucked at running,” Franklin said. “My good buddy of mine used to say that I looked like a baby giraffe running around. It was just super uncoordinated. It was hard to watch.”

While Franklin only started out in pickup games, the scene grew as more experienced players moved to Dothan and taught Franklin how to play the game.

“They brought a more cerebral approach to how to play,” Franklin said. “And they brought that college acumen to playing frisbee to us dumb idiots just running around throwing a disc. And it was even more addicting.”

Franklin started playing in tournaments and then joined a club team after a couple of years, further advancing his game.

Once he moved to England, though, he kept up his passion and joined the Cambridge Ultimate Club in 2015.

“There were some guys on the team who played for Team Great Britain and went to Worlds and traveled with that team,” Franklin said. “They were so smart. And I really appreciated how they thought about the game and how they broke it down for me.”

A North American team has won the Open Division at the World Ultimate Championships in 14 of the 15 instances of the event since 1983, meaning those countries produce the best players, but Franklin still liked the way England and the rest of Europe ran the sport.

Frisbee is a small sport in Great Britain, which is why Team Great Britain describes it as such on the team website: “competing internationally for Great Britain is a realistic ambition for the right players.” 

Still, for Franklin, it’s the events in England that set the ultimate scene apart.

“In the UK, in my experience, it was just the scale of the tournaments that they would have,” Franklin said. “It felt much more accessible in the UK, in my opinion. It was just a much larger event and [that’s] not to say that USAU doesn't put on great tournaments. I think it's just a scale thing.”

After playing with Cambridge for three years, Franklin then moved to South Korea, which offered a very different type of ultimate than the structured setting he was used to in England.

“The leagues are competitive, but it's more community and fun based,” Franklin said. “The Republic of Korea ultimate scene just had some amazing people in it, amazing people running the league that were so passionate about the community and the sport, and it was so cool to be a part of that.”

Given his military status, Franklin occasionally had some scheduling issues for frisbee tournaments. A few times in South Korea, Franklin had to cancel flight tickets to a different country for a frisbee tournament after a military tasking led to a stop movement order.

But with a great leadership team, Franklin believes his job has not hampered his ultimate career too much, ranging from his time in South Korea to his time now with the Aviators.

“I think it's generally accepted, at least in my experience, that the time that we give should be equal to the time that we get back,” Franklin said. “I have a great leadership team right now at [March Air Reserve Base] where they just let me go for the weekend. … They’re all about it, they’re fine with me taking time.”

Franklin still credits England as a huge stepping stone in his skill development because of the country’s small ball approach and his young age at the time, but he kept up his abilities in South Korea. When he moved back stateside, Franklin’s sister bought him a tryout ticket for the Tampa Bay Cannons of the then-AUDL, and he made the team.

During his rookie year in 2019, Franklin played in 10 games and put up 17 goals for the Cannons, tying for third on the team in that category. It was not easy for Franklin, who still played in all but two of the games, even though he lived around six hours away from Tampa.

Franklin would not stay with the Cannons, as he got stationed in South Korea again, but once he moved back to the United States, it was not long until he made his way back to the professional ranks.

“When I moved back from Korea, I went back to my home of record, which is still Alabama, so I flew into Alabama, hung out with my family for a little bit, went to some concerts and then I bought my car, which I still have,” Franklin said. “[I] loaded up with as much as I could and [my dog and I] just drove out to SoCal from Alabama.”

Living here ever since, Franklin was recruited to the Aviators after meeting former Aviator Chris Mazur at a Hat Tournament, who then put Franklin in touch with former LA head coach Jeff Landesmann.

After receiving an offer from Landesmann, Franklin has played for the Aviators the past two seasons and has been a scoring machine despite still being on active duty.

“I was just playing with house money,” Franklin said about joining the team last season. “It's worked out really well for me. I feel like I'm playing more confidently and I'm having more fun. And those two things, in my opinion, are the biggest keys to success.”

The successes have certainly come for Franklin, who leads the Aviators this season in both goals and scores. Franklin has at least five scores in seven straight games, punctuated by a pair of five-goal games on the team’s trip to the Northwest.

After playing in a Tampa Bay system that focused on the deep ball, the small ball skills Franklin learned in England have helped him adapt to the evolving UFA.

“I came back to the States with more of a vision of the field and more of a respect for moving around, and the handler space, and how to throw out of power positions, and just more nuanced things,” Franklin said. “[England is] very small ball, very like quick releases and throw-and-go type things, and the game has evolved to move like that now.”

Franklin learned an appreciation for both styles, combining his skills into one dominant player at the professional level as he grew out of his baby giraffe phase. 

The 31-year-old has already had a career season, more than doubling his assist total from last season with 24 in 2025. Assists were not a major goal of Franklin’s heading into the season, but the results have still come for him.

“I feel comfortable shooting to these guys like John Lyle and Sean McDougall, you know they're going to come down with it,” Franklin said. “I think we all make it easy on one another. … We're developing some real chemistry on the field together and it just feels like I look up and, ‘oh, there's Sean. He's open again. I guess I'll put it to him.’”

The chemistry has resulted in two wins, and the Aviators have shown improvements while gearing up for the rest of the season. Franklin is one of the main cogs for the Aviator O-line, playing one of the most important roles for the plane-themed team. He scored a team-best 32 goals last season and is on pace to surpass that with 26 goals and four games remaining.

Playing for the Aviators gives Franklin a chance to pilot the LA O-line. As an electrician, Franklin does not fly for the Air Force, but he certainly takes flight on the field. 

The Aviators’ next game takes place against the San Diego Growlers this Saturday at Great Park Championship Stadium. Fans can buy tickets to watch Franklin and the rest of the Aviators at 6 p.m. here.