Eike pledges to uphold Redstone’s tradition of service

Col. Erin Eike was a sophomore at Gustavus Adolphus College, when a friend invited her to an active-drill weekend for his Minnesota National Guard unit. Several months later – after going to a couple more drills and talking with her family and a recruiter – she enlisted.

Twenty-five years later, her military career has led her to Redstone Arsenal as the first female Garrison commander. At the Aug. 1 change of command, she reflected on her new assignment and the legacy of the installation she now commands.

“The legacy of Redstone Arsenal stands as a testament to the ingenuity and perseverance of those who have laid a foundation before us,” she said at the ceremony in Bob Jones Auditorium. “From its historic role in rocket propulsion research to its current advancements in technology, Redstone remains a leader in logistics, defense, base operations and homeland security, constantly shaping the future of innovation.

“In essence, Redstone is not just a place of history but a place where history is made. It’s a tremendous honor and a privilege for me to join the Garrison and uphold the tradition of service that Redstone Arsenal is known for.

“I’m also humbled to be the first woman to serve in this role in the storied 83 years of the Arsenal’s existence.”

Eike, a Windom, Minnesota native, has held various command and staff positions, including commanding the 59th Signal Battalion and serving as the Army Alaska G6 at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson. Her assignments include a deployment to Iraq, from 2007 to 2009, with the 44th Medical Command.

Coming to Redstone makes her 11th official move, with her most recent duty assignment as the chief of the Requirements Division in the J6 Command, Control, Communications and Computers Cyber, at the Pentagon. She was at the U.S. Air War College from August 2023 until May and received a master’s in strategic studies.

“I have had an amazing career,” Eike said in an interview early last week. “I feel so fortunate for all the people that I’ve met and the unique missions that each installation, each position provided.

“It’s the people that I’ve worked with and understanding how, as a collective, your efforts become much more than just individual efforts” that have made her military experience so rewarding.

“I think my background in Signal and the ability to adapt and change with technology helps me center in on the mission for the Garrison as well as the broader Redstone Arsenal,” said Eike, who earned a master’s in information technology management from Webster University.

Other roles include executive officer to the director of the Network Cross-Functional Team at Army Futures Command and the director of the Architecture, Operations, Networks, and Space Directorate at Department of Army Headquarters G6; operations team senior communications watch officer, National Military Command Center, Pentagon; and Brigade S6, 214th Fires Brigade, 4th Infantry Division, Fort Sill, Oklahoma.

An experience just weeks after Eike enlisted in early March 1998 in the Minnesota National Guard, with which she served three years, reinforced her decision to join the military.

During the March 29, 1998 tornado outbreak in Minnesota and Wisconsin, an F-3 rated tornado hit St. Peter, Minnesota, home of Gustavus Adolphus College, where several buildings were damaged or destroyed. More than 1,700 homes in St. Peter sustained significant damage.

“The Guard was activated and even though I didn’t even have a uniform, they called me in,” she said. She worked at an emergency operations center at St. Peter Armory, tracking personnel and supplies, answering phones and handling other tasks.

Eike witnessed the community support for people whose farms, homes or businesses were impacted. Even some Guard members affected by the disaster still responded.

“People showing up for each other, it was definitely impactful.”

Eike graduated from Minnesota State and Gustavus Adolphus College and was commissioned as a second lieutenant in 2001.

She shared some highlights of her career, including her first assignment at the 59th Signal Battalion.

“As a brand-new second lieutenant – going all the way up to Alaska and being out on my own for the first time – some outstanding military and civilians took me under their wing.”

She returned years later to command that same unit and was able to reconnect with some of the people she knew from her first assignment.

“It was rewarding to see them again and work with them again.”

Eike also met her husband, Col. Loren Todd, in Alaska at Fort Richardson. Todd is now the program manager for directed energy and laser weapons systems at the Rapid Capabilities and Critical Technologies Office.

In another assignment, Eike was executive officer to the director of the Architecture, Operations, Networks and Space Directorate at Department of Army Headquarters G6.

When the director was selected to stand up the Network Cross-Functional Team, “I went with him and became the XO for the Network CFT” as that team was stood up.

“That was a very eye-opening assignment because it dealt with future technologies and how we resource and how we build requirements for the Army, which is why I was very interested in going to the J6 and becoming the Requirements Division chief.”