Colonel Erik K. Rundquist

 


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Colonel Rundquist

Colonel Erik K. Rundquist retired from active duty on 1 August 2019 and he currently serves as the Senior Aerospace Science Instructor at North Henderson High School in Hendersonville, North Carolina. His last operational assignment was as the Commander, Air Force Installation & Mission Support Center (AFIMSC) Detachment 8 (ACC). He served as the AFIMSC Commander’s senior representative to Headquarters Air Combat Command. His responsibilities included providing responsive management of AFIMSC’s enterprise-wide assets to support Air Combat Command’s missions, 14 bases, and 170 operating locations worldwide.

Colonel Rundquist was born at Whiteman Air Force Base, Missouri and received a regular commission upon graduation from the United States Air Force Academy in May 1991. He has served in various duty positions to include group commander, squadron commander, Major Command division chief, joint staff officer, operations officer, and ground combat instructor. He has deployed on several contingencies to include supporting the United Nations Protection Force in the Balkans, Operations ALLIED FORCE and SHINING HOPE in Albania and Kosovo, DETERMINED RESPONSE (USS Cole) in Yemen, ENDURING FREEDOM in Kyrgyzstan and Afghanistan, and IRAQI FREEDOM where he conducted an operational combat jump into Bashur, Iraq with the 173rd Airborne Brigade. He commanded security forces at Tallil, Iraq, was the J7 for the Combined Joint Special Operations Air Component Command at Balad, Iraq, and commanded the 455th Expeditionary Mission Support Group and Joint Task Force 1/455 at Bagram and Parwan Province, Afghanistan.

Colonel Rundquist is a rated military parachutist and is a graduate of the United States Army Infantry Mortar Leader’s Course, John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Anti-terrorism Instructor Qualification Course, Airborne School, and the Air Assault School. He maintains active status as an External Fellow to Boston University’s International History Institute and regularly lectures on military history and international security issues. He is currently a PhD candidate with King’s College London with a focus on counterinsurgency and terrorism. He has contributed to three major Air University book publications concerning air base defense and insurgency.

 

EDUCATION

1991      Bachelor of Science in Military History, United States Air Force Academy, CO

1997      Squadron Officer School, Maxwell AFB, AL

2004      Master of Military Art and Science, US Army CGSC, Ft Leavenworth, KS

2006      Air War College (Correspondence)

2009      National Defense Fellow, Boston University, MA

2010      Joint Professional Military Education II, Joint Forces Staff College Norfolk, VA

2012      Master of Social Science, Maxwell School, Syracuse University, NY

 

ASSIGNMENTS

  1. February 1992 – July 1993, Flight Security Officer, 90th Missile Security Squadron, FE Warren Air Force Base, WY July 1993 – September 1993, Flight Leader, 48th Security Police Squadron, Royal Air Force Lakenheath, United Kingdom
  2. September 1993 – March 1994, Chief of Security Forces and J-3 Staff Officer, JTF Provide Promise, Pleso Airfield, Croatia
  3. March 1994- July 1996, Flight Leader; then Security Police Administration Flight Commander, 48th Security Police Squadron, Royal Air Force Lakenheath, United Kingdom
  4. June 1996 – December 1998, Director Contingency Support Operations, 421st Ground Combat Readiness Squadron, Headquarters Air Mobility Warfare Center, Ft Dix, NJ
  5. January 1999 – May 2003, Operations Officer; then Commander, 786th Security Forces Squadron, 86th Contingency Response Group, Sembach Air Base, Germany
  6. May 2003 – June 2004, Student, U.S. Army Command and General Staff College, Ft Leavenworth, KS.
  7. June 2004 – July 2006, Commander, 4th Security Forces Squadron, Seymour Johnson AFB, NC.
  8. July 2006 – June 2008, Chief, Security Forces Division, Headquarters Air Force Special Operations Command, Hurlburt Field, FL and J-7 Director, Installations and Mission Support, Combined Joint Special Operations Air Component Command, Balad, Iraq.
  9. June 2008 – June 2009, National Defense Fellow, Institute for the Study of Conflict, Ideology and Policy, Boston University, MA.
  10. June 2009 – June 2011, Program Manager, Antiterrorism, Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Homeland Defense and Americas’ Security Affairs, Pentagon, Washington, DC.
  11. July 2011 – July 2012, Commander, 455th Expeditionary Mission Support Group and Joint Task Force 1/455, Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan.
  12. August 2012 – July 2017, Chief of Security Forces, Headquarters Air Combat Command, Joint Base Langley-Eustis, VA.
  13. July 2017 – June 2019, Commander, Air Force Installation and Mission Support Center Detachment 8, Joint Base Langley-Eustis, VA.

 

MAJOR AWARDS AND DECORATIONS

Defense Superior Service Medal Legion of Merit with oak leaf cluster Bronze Star with two oak leaf clusters Defense Meritorious Service Medal

Meritorious Service Medal with four oak leaf clusters Joint Service Commendation Medal

Air Force Commendation Medal with oak leaf cluster Joint Service Achievement Medal

Air Force Achievement Medal with oak leaf cluster Kosovo Campaign Medal with Service Star Afghanistan Campaign Medal with two Service Stars

Iraq Campaign Medal with Arrowhead Device and three Service Stars United Nations Service Medal

NATO Medal with two Service Stars

 

ACHIEVEMENTS / DATES OF PROMOTIONS

Second Lieutenant May 1991
First Lieutenant May 1993
Captain May 1995
Major Apr 2002
Lieutenant Colonel Mar 2006
Colonel Oct 2010

(Current as of February 2020)